96th JUMP Treasure Newbie Manga Award is Accepting Entries!! Our June judge is: Horikoshi Kohei-sensei
This month we’re speaking with Horikoshi-sensei, author of My Hero Academia to learn how to make epic characters during our “Character Enhancement Month”! This week, we’re showing off the best techniques to captivate readers! Learn all there is to know about “Character Design”!! You can do it!!
My Comic Academia Boku no Comic Academia ~4th Period: Character design~
Q: Please tell us the parts about each character that you’re most particular about!
A: I don’t really have any in particular, but I do make sure to create something that describes the character’s appearance. I try to make it so that the character can be identified very easily, even if you zoom in only to their eyes.
All Might – Quirk: One for All Bangs that shoot up to the sky & a thick muscled heroic body!!
Midoriya Izuku – One for all Honest eyes, and twisty perm!!
Bakugou Katsuki – Explosion Extreme explosive hair and eyes!!
Iida Tenya – Engine A good student’s glasses and a blessed body
Todoroki – Half cold half hot White and black hair shows off his half-half quirk
Uraraka Ochako - Zero Gravity Soft and girly hair!!
Asui Tsuyu – Frog Wet jet-black hair & large round eyes…
Q: How do you express if the character is cool or cute? A: I can’t draw cool and stylish things. I tend to draw things I thought are gaudy and ‘cool’ but ends up being kind of lame. I have already accepted this. I think you should just draw what you like, the best that you can. Also, keep in mind that girls tend to have a “round” silhouette.
Q: Is there anything in particular that you like about your villains’ designs? A: For the villains I want people to think “So scary!” or “Disgusting!” at first glance, so I tend to make them grotesque. I have a lot of fun with this.
The way you shade and focus on the contrast gives the readers a bad feeling about the characters!!
A monster that appears in chapter 1. It’s slimy and kind of disgusting.
For the Nomu, I gave them eyes that are unreadable.
The hands are drawn realistically to make Shigaraki even more creepy.
It’s all about trial and error!!! “Being able to tell what kind of character it is from a glance” is the most important part of character design!! “How do you want to express them?” It’s important to think through this carefully and how you want to incorporate this into your design, often through trial and error.
all credit to the translation belongs to memera don’t reblog without crediting them