Hentai Mangaka That Have Gone Mainstream

I define "mainstream" manga as such: manga that is appealing to a diverse demographic, from children to adults, has a large and diverse fan base, large industrial/corporate backing, and has become a part of our everyday lives.

Certain hentai mangaka have successfully transitioned to the mainstream; examples include, MAYBE ("Tales of Wedding Rings", Tasogare Otome X Amnesia), Gujira (Himitsu no Reptiles), tosh aka Shun Saeki ("Shokugeki no Souma"). In my opinion, I think it's good for them. I don't consider them "sellouts", it is their choice if they wanted to continue as hentai mangaka or wanted to focus on something that they really enjoy, and at the same time profitable. I don't think being a hentai mangaka is a low-paying gig, but mainstream allows you expand your horizons with stories and characters that the mangaka feels a personal connection, and if you hit it big all the better. Nothing beats satisfaction like knowing that so many individuals, not just a few, enjoy the work that you have worked so hard.

With that being said, I also feel that unfortunately a few hentai mangaka fail in the mainstream market. These are several factors:

Art: once you have a particular style it is difficult to change it, or even have a diverse one. If you started as a hentai artist and go mainstream, your art might attract an audience you did not want. That audience may very well out you and if others learn about, they may see your mainstream work in a different light. It becomes especially difficult if your drawings are still very hentai-looking.

Characters: drawing characters is hard, even harder is writing them. Nonetheless, if you can create great characters they can make the work great and class up your reputation. You are no longer seen as a hentai mangaka, but as a great mangaka. If your characters are eerily similar to your previous hentai characters, it just shows that you are not much of a character creator.

Story: Is your story original or very well executed? Can you use tropes cleverly by subverting them, playing them straight, or parodying them? If so, then it really shows your range as a writer and why you made it into the mainstream. If your stories still involve certain aspects from your previous hentai works, or they they have the same storyline without sex, then it lacks originality and the story becomes boring.

The hentai artist DISTANCE did a mainstream work titled "Mouhitsu Hallucination", I discovered it while searching for ecchi manga. Not only did he use his hentai name but the story was very hentai-esque. A horny male character, surrounded by beautiful women with each having a hentai trait, the characters were copy and paste-they looked exactly like his hentai characters, sex tropes and fan-service were overused, the story was so average even for an ecchi genre. Ecchi manga can be dramatical or comical, but I feel DISTANCE failed. After about 5 chapters I lost all interest and stopped reading.

MAYBE on the other hand, his work "Tales of Wedding Rings" is very enjoyable for me. It is a fantasy story with harem, comedy, and action tropes. The art is well done, though he needs to improve hands and background. The characters are funny and they interact with each other in a unique way. Fan-service is still there but not exaggerated, it is both tasteful and comedic. All in all it is a fun and enjoyable fantasy manga.

I sometimes need a transition period when I learn that a particular mangaka has done hentai works in the past. Learning about it causes me to view their work in a different light. For MAYBE, I think I was fortunate enough to know that he wasn't a hentai mangaka until after I got to read "Tales of Wedding Rings", but even then his stories seem to stand well against his hentai works. His previous and multiple mainstream works can attest to that.

Anyway, I want to ask you: what do you think of hentai mangaka that have gone mainstream? Do you like it or approve? Do you see differences and/or similarities between their hentai and manstream manga? Which do you think they do a good job, hentai or mainstream? Do you miss their hentai or not? Was it surprising and does it bother you to know a mangaka you like does hentai? The most important one, do you think they succeeded or failed to go mainstream? Just like the reasons I've given above.

Note: only mangaka that started in hentai are valid. Mangaka that only have done one hentai work, or do it as a hobby or side job does not count. Examples, Oh Great, Kouta Hirano.

Why do you view hentai as almost illegitimate? I don't think that because an artist has made hentai or is currently making hentai, that somehow would change my perception of him in any sense. There's been quite a few that has done hentai on the side as a means to make a quick buck through difficult times and I don't fault them for doing so.

The major difference between hentai and non-hentai is the underlining purpose of it. The intent of hentai is in the end to get you off or to explore erotic themes, something like that. This doesn't mean that it could be any less valuable or meaningful than any other form of art but I do think that the vast majority of hentai work is disposable. For the record, I'd say the same about the very trashy ecchi series as well, there's nothing really to them. Anyway, I digress. The point being that the nature of hentai makes it different and this difference shapes the form. It's about creating eroticism through character actions, interactions, personality, etc (story) and to express this through panel layout, locations, character expressions and poses etc (art). What makes a great hentai artist is how you use the narrative to strengthen the eroticism or maybe you're just great at drawing cute lewd girls.

Making regular manga is a whole different story because now you're being compared to all the other stories in the magazine you're being published in and first impressions matter a whole lot more than in hentai. I don't really have time to get into all of it right now and I'm getting hungry.

Anyway, apart from Maybe, the only one that I can think of right away is Tachibana Roku. He's drawing a series called Kawaii Joushi o Komarasetai and its incredibly cute. It hits all the right notes.

I don't know if I even answered any of your questions, sorry if I went on a completely off topic tangent.


Being a mangaka can be very hard since you have to gain a following before you get paid and getting into a magazine is hard. They rely a lot on money they can get by self publishing in cons like comiket. This applies to mangakas in general as well. I'd say it's advised to have a part time job so you can exercise your hobbies without any financial burden.

Toshi
Maybe-san
The author of black butler still draws black butler yaoi doujins. Hisasi did the art for Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta? light novels and his own manga union. Masou HxH too. yuzuki'n and cuvie too. Like dance in the vampire bund or Spice and wolf... done by hentai artists. Like Masamune Shirow and ghost in the shell and appleseed? He still draws pron. The guy who did Highschool of the dead and triage x? A lot of hentai. Hell he owns the hentai drawing group Digital Accel Works. Hentai is an art form. Even when you use it as a stepping stone... most still enjoy making dirty chinese cartoon porn. There alot of old hentai doujin creators that went to mainstream or still do hentai in their spare time.

@users/ryssen
I didn't say that hentai manga and hentai mangaka are "illegitimate", rather I was referring to how society, in general, views pornographic art as less worthy. Hentai mangas' main purpose is eroticism like you said, but just like anything that can be deemed unworthy, with effort, hentai manga becomes credible or worthy of any work of art. The panel placement, dialogue, art, and characters, improve with practice. When the mangaka decides to go mainstream, they should already have a bevy of experience, and the result of that experience should be evident. This is what I meant when I mentioned that DISTANCE, in my opinion did not do a good job. His mainstream work was very Borderline-H, had cliche characters and settings from ecchi manga, and on a personal note, I feel that he really wasn't into it.


True, but this can cause issues that may negatively affect the art of manga. If what it takes to succeed in the manga magazine is to "follow the leader", innovation and originality may become more of an afterthought. I don't think this is exclusive to mainstream manga magazines, I'm not sure, but I think hentai manga magazines have the same process for a mangaka to break through. Hence, to be a recognized hentai mangaka, it is not enough to just draw erotic art and dialogue. You also have to draw original and appealing stories.



When I meant by "low-paying gig" I meant relative to the manga industry. I'm well aware that the manga industry is a very hard-working profession: you must submit an original work, then work some time as an assistant while continuing to work on your original project, when you become an official mangaka you are expected to work for many hours in a tight schedule, and must stay competitive in the published magazine or you may lose your job. I don't think hentai mangaka have it easier or harder compared to mainstream magazines, maybe a little more work, but it is comparable. For comparison, think about actors, producers and studios of erotic professions. Some think it's a low-paying gig or that they shouldn't be paid much: that is what I meant that hentai mangaka is a low-paying gig. Also don't worry about going off topic, that is what discussions are about.

@users/animefreak-usa
The response you gave is surprising. It's what I like about learning that certain mangaka had work in hentai manga. It certainly explains why some characters in mainstream manga are impossibly-looking sexy (and the exaggerated breast size).


I can attest to that, I draw manga, and hentai manga is what I love to draw most: primarily because it is great practice for anatomy, shots, and perspective (and because it's erotic).
Speaking of Shirow Masamune ("Ghost in the Shell"), his TV Tropes page mentioned (humorously) that apparently he's been doing so much hentai that fans say it intervenes with his non-hentai works.

Methonium is doing the "Plus-sized Elf" manga under the pseudonym Synecdoche. Admittedly it's still kind of ecchi, but a pretty good read nonetheless. I recommend it.

I miss Hanaharu Naruco. He's gone off doing character designs for anime now.

Yes.
Lovers in Winters and
Nobel-shoukyuu no Hito no Katei Kyoushi. Plus an ecchi called
Momo no Musume!

Right I wasn't going to say anything but I Figured What the Hell , Yeah given that Vampire Bunds Tamaki nozomou Has did a few hentai work but all genitalia was whited out and only 1 book he did had mosiac , Koume Keito has done a couple hentai but his most recognizable work is Pollinic girls attack , true he did draw Spice and wolf but his version only consisted 10-11 vols and that Novel has been previously worked on by a few other artists that doesn't even draw hentai. Shouji Sato Only originals were Fire x3 and Triage X , High school of the Dead was his late brothers story and he only did character design on it , Digital Accel works was most likely his brothers company as well

it's fine to call out the other book authors you provided titles to but it's preferably better for people to know the rest of the names to artists who did theirs.

EDIT Takeda Hiromitsu has also done a mainstream book Maken-Ki for those who doesn't know it was by him , but lately it's previous chapters were more Borderline H than how it started I'm glad he went back to doing Hentai it's well suited for his art style, sometimes I do enjoy his vanilla and harem stories but personally he should bring out more Cheating Milf stories I'm really craving those.

It's even harder to get picked up by a magazine. A lot of artists wants to become an established name and that isnt so easy. Once they do, then yeah getting localized will be easier.



ShindoL is one. He's born in New York.

I don't think they view the western market as a viable crowd to market themselves towards. There are artists that has become popular through pixiv, twitter etc that have made themselves known through other means than contests or whatever.

Similarly I don't think the publishing editorials are looking for new artists in the west, maybe some are but I think one of the rules would be to speak Japanese. You have to understand that this is Japan and they have this big assumption that westerns wont understand their culture. And so their thinking is "won't understand our culture" = "won't be able to appeal to a Japanese audience".



If you're being published then I think it's required that you live in Japan. It's probably fine for a monthly magazine or a web based one. But if you're playing on being in Shounen Jump that I don't think you have a lot of chances living outside of Japan. Mainly because of the tight work schedule but also Japan being in the past with a lot of work related practices. Like they still use fax machines and love having stuff in print.