MJ Review: Let’s Draw Manga: Yaoi

[Jason]

Title: Let’s Draw Manga: Yaoi
Author/Illustrator: Botan Yamada
Genre: Art Instruction/Drawing, Graphic Arts
Published By: Digital Manga Publishing
Price: $19.95 USD


As the popularity of manga continues to soar worldwide and in the US, more and more would-be mangaka are reaching for their pencils and sheets of Type-B Deleter paper. Dozens of ‘How To’ books on creating original manga have been published to help budding artists, including DMP's line of tutorial-driven books by Japanese creators. In the latest volume of their Let’s Draw Manga series, the publisher tackles yaoi and presents a fun, pretty, but very general look at how readers can create their own original Boys Love manga. While there are a handful of good pointers throughout the book, there’s not enough information to really help novice artists. More experienced pencilers don’t get anything to sink their teeth into either.

One of the best things about the book is Botan Yamada’s illustrations, which really capture the spirit of yaoi artwork. The men are gorgeous and are shown in a range of different expressions. She offers some good tips when it comes to designing characters, including some handy rules-of-thumb for how suits and other pieces of men’s clothing should fit (assuming your seme or uke is of the lithe and beautiful physique -- which, 10:1 he is, since this is yaoi).

Another nice point about Let’s Draw Manga: Yaoi is the section about posing characters in romantically suggestive ways. There are short studies on how do clinches, hugs, and kisses. Also, some yaoi/BL terminology is explained for readers who are just getting their feet wet in the genre. Common archetypes like the younger seme coming on to an uke who is supposed to be higher in rank at school or work are explained.

Things start getting a little murky in the technical areas like inking, toning and anatomy. The information is vague, more like a brief overview, and I can’t imagine it being too helpful for someone trying to put together his or her first manga. The section on perspective -- the thorn in every artist’s side -- is way too understated. Then again, what makes yaoi manga appealing to many readers isn’t how well a vanishing point recedes in the panel as much as it is the sex…

…of which there is none in Let’s Draw Manga: Yaoi. The topic is craftily avoided, making the guide book feel more like it should’ve been called something more benign like "Let’s Draw Manga: Shounen-Ai." Maybe the concept of including a tutorial on how to draw cute, bouncing penises made everyone on the book’s staff giggle too much during meetings, but there are ways to convey intimacy without being graphic. Considering how much of yaoi focuses on actual lovemaking between characters, a short section on how to capture that sort of romance should have be essential.

As an overview of the genre, Let’s Draw Manga: Yaoi is fun book with attractive artwork and a few good tips. Unfortunately, it’s not the quintessential guide to help bring a yaoi manga to life. However, if novice artists use this along with a couple of other art sources and a stack of favorite 801 or Kitty Media titles, the possibility is there for some really great manga to be made.

Reviewer: Anne
Proofer: mjules
Editor: Firedog