Early March 2021. One image related to the font got a lot of feedback on Twitter.
This image was posted with the post "I'm not particular about it, but the font makes the gag manga sharper, so I made it to show it to the editor." The usage scene is summarized in an easy-to-understand manner along with the actual lines.
Posted by Zenyu Shimabukuro. He is a manga artist who has an intractable disease called "ulcerative colitis" but is serializing the fight against the disease in the form of a gag essay on the manga app "GANMA!".
This time, while touching on the buzzed images, Professor Shimabukuro answered a written interview about his commitment to fonts and how he was involved as a manga artist.
When I was in elementary school, I was drawing on the blackboard in an empty classroom
――Thank you for answering the interview this time! Originally I was watching Mr. Shimabukuro's manga, so I was very surprised to see that Fontworks fonts were used in the example tweets (laugh)
Please tell us about Professor Shimabukuro's profile.
Shimabukuro-sensei: Nice to meet you, I'm Zenyu Shimabukuro. My favorite radical is 阝. At the age of 21, he made his serial debut as a monthly rival with "Uncle of the Frog", and now he is serializing the gag essays "Cho yo Hana yo" and "Accident Produce with De-Yin Ca".
I have been diagnosed with "ulcerative colitis" and have been hospitalized and discharged repeatedly for 10 years, but for the past two years I have been happy without being hospitalized for the first time.
――What made you want to become a manga artist?
Shimabukuro: I've been painting since I was a kindergarten child. I've always wanted to be a manga artist since I knew the profession of a manga artist. I'm glad I got used to it.
Also, when I was in the sixth grade of elementary school, when I was drawing a dragon on the blackboard in an empty classroom, my homeroom teacher found it. The teacher was impressed and said, "Mr. Shimabukuro is good at painting." At that time (I ... I can be a manga artist ...), I decided to become a manga artist.
It's a letter, but I can understand the voice
――As I mentioned at the beginning, the image of "Use of fonts properly" tweeted by Professor Shimabukuro was a big buzz. What made you decide to post here?
Mr. Shimabukuro: The image itself is [How to use fonts that I always pay attention to when drawing gag manga], and I sent it when I asked the person in charge of the serialized work to "use it properly like this". is. I wanted to use different fonts to give momentum to the tension in the manga and the voice played in the brain, so I asked the person in charge to explain it and typeset it.
One day, a friend who read my manga said, "Zenyu's manga uses fonts well. It's a character, but I can understand the voice." At that time, "Oh, be careful of yourself." I'm glad that the reader was able to understand what was happening. ”I thought, and somehow posted it on Twitter. I was surprised because I didn't think I would buzz myself.
You don't know where the demand is.
――I think it's rare to buzz up to this point not only with Fontworks posts but also with font-themed tweets. I think this tweet shook the font industry! (Lol)
Do you remember how you started to be aware of fonts?
Professor Shimabukuro: At first, I used to draw analog paper manuscripts and illustrations, so I don't think I was interested in fonts. After I started drawing my hobby pictures on my PC and started typing the lines, I started to worry a little ... The first thing I became aware of was the font that the person in charge attached to the lines during the first serialization. After seeing the types of.
With that as a starting point, I found my own way to gain momentum with fonts.
――You introduced a lot of Fontworks fonts in the example image. What was your encounter with our fonts?
Professor Shimabukuro: Since I started working at Medibang Paint about 6 years ago, I started using different fonts myself, but Medibang has a lot of Fontworks fonts. I touched various fonts. It was a lot of fun.
After that, I was also taken care of by mojimo.
――You also used mojimo! How was it when you tried it?
Dr. Shimabukuro: I used to use "mojimo-manga" for work and hobbies while I was in the hospital, but I could use it with Medibang Paint or CLIP ST Universal Design IO PAINT without any problems. There are many types of fonts, even just "manga", so it will color the manuscript when you put out the lines. Since there were communication restrictions, it was really helpful to be able to use my favorite fonts even offline.
I can't use all of them, so I can express a lot of emotions with fonts when I make manga, and it's fun for me as a gag manga artist.
If you put characters in the dialogue while changing the font, even graffiti will become a cartoon.
――Next, I would like to take a deep dive into Professor Shimabukuro's manga production!
Please let me know if you are particular about putting characters in manga yourself.
Mr. Shimabukuro: I answered a little in the previous question, but since it's a gag manga, I value the momentum. After that, the number of fonts used in one story should be at most 3-4 types. But I just want to use many fonts, because the tired eyes of come out various a lot of fonts on reading, the main dialogue Antic Cezanne, the Tsukkomi New Rodin, blurring the Matisse used properly in ...... like a feeling, I try not to tire my eyes.
――What do you think is the meaning of putting characters firmly in casual comics like those posted on Twitter?
Shimabukuro: It's easy to read, isn't it? It's not that handwritten characters are bad, but I'm not that beautiful, so I think it's easier to read and the screen will be cleaner if you type the characters.
Also, if you change the font and put characters in the dialogue, even graffiti will become a manga. That feels good. It's certainly a lot of work to type characters in every frame while changing the font, but the manga when the lines were included in the balloon of the manuscript I drew for the first time! I was really impressed.
――I'm very happy to hear that! If the manga itself is a "picture", is the line using the font called a "picture frame" ... I think that the quality of the "work" can be improved by combining the two.
Can you tell us your favorite Fontworks fonts and why?
Mr. Shimabukuro:
・ New Rodin: The screen is tight with the most momentum, and it is easy to play in the brain!
Matisse Bold: Yes, it sounds like a voice! cool! It tends to be used as a decisive line!
・ Skip: Feeling that you can see the mood
・ Reggae: I like it because it's easy to regenerate in the brain when I use it for intense Tsukkomi, and it matches very well when I use it for Kansai dialect.
I use most of the fonts selected by "sense", so I don't know if they will sympathize with me (laughs).
-It certainly looks like a "yes voice"! (Laughs) I can understand the feeling of Skip
So the next question is the last one.
Please give a message to those who are aiming to become manga artists!
Mr. Shimabukuro: Those who are aiming to become manga artists, Keishirou, fonts are good!
If the technique of communicating in manga spreads in the form of letters, and if there is a technique that makes the picture read in letters even if it is a little poor, it will be fine as a manga .... Fonts really help me ... like puns. But no, the font is really good.
It is also recommended because it looks great on the screen when posting manga on SNS.
--Today, really, no, thank you for the font! I'm looking forward to seeing Mr. Shimabukuro's manga in the future!
Zenyu Shimabukuro
A sickly hospitalized gag manga artist. I had chronic persistent ulcerative colitis. Total colectomy at the age of 23, 5th stoma. Ostomate. The 10th operation was successful. Debuted as a monthly boy rival, "Uncle of the Frog". "Intestinal yo nose yo" is being serialized at GANMA !.
Manga app "GANMA!"
