Dragon Tofu

[watanabe_ringo]

Hello all! Here is the summary for my manga, Dragon Tofu:

Toshiki and Kazu Fujiwara are brothers who live an ordinary life in an ordinary world working as insurance salesmen. While Toshiki is content with this salaryman life, Kazu strives to be part of a Guild: a registered group of individuals who hunt artifacts and capture criminals. After finishing up a quest, they begin to unravel the truth: that everything is not as normal as it once seemed.

[watanabe_ringo]

Hello all! Here is chapter 1 of Dragon Tofu !










These are the first 10 pages! if you would like to continue reading, please click my signature!

[Killer B !!SAMA!!]

Hello mate ive read the first 10 pages and i think its interesting ill
need to read ur chapters first. The pineapple surfer at first is really a pineapple i thought its only a name ,is this kinda like onepunchman like the ranking thing btw like i said i need to read ur chapters first before commenting nc work

[watanabe_ringo]

Hello mate ive read the first 10 pages and i think its interesting ill
need to read ur chapters first. The pineapple surfer at first is really a pineapple i thought its only a name ,is this kinda like onepunchman like the ranking thing btw like i said i need to read ur chapters first before commenting nc work

Thank you!! Well, it is definitely a ranking system! I tried to do a simple system of F-A ranking for criminals as well as artifacts! haha. and yes alot of the people that read it really gravitate towards pineapple surfer idont know why  thank you very much for reading the first 10! If you ever get around to finishing that chapter or any of the others i would lovet o hear your feedback and comments! Always trying to get better at the craft

[Suuper-san]

maaaan I haven't seriously read Japanese for ages lol I was not expecting the rest to be in Japanese XD
I made it though a couple of chapters.
While I don't personally like the random object characters, the overall flow of the story is very stable and you've definitely got yourself a good plan for getting so many chapters out, and a pretty good quality to boot.
I laughed when they found the secret wall in the rows of bricks.
Ah I see there is English underneath lol well it was good reading practice for my Japanese XD
Overall it's not my personal cup of tea, but I'm sure there's many who would like it.
And more than that, you've shown a massive amount of dedication and focus to draw so many pages and a consistent high quality.
How long does it take to draw a page/chapter of manga?

[watanabe_ringo]

maaaan I haven't seriously read Japanese for ages lol I was not expecting the rest to be in Japanese XD
I made it though a couple of chapters.
While I don't personally like the random object characters, the overall flow of the story is very stable and you've definitely got yourself a good plan for getting so many chapters out, and a pretty good quality to boot.
I laughed when they found the secret wall in the rows of bricks.
Ah I see there is English underneath lol well it was good reading practice for my Japanese XD
Overall it's not my personal cup of tea, but I'm sure there's many who would like it.
And more than that, you've shown a massive amount of dedication and focus to draw so many pages and a consistent high quality.
How long does it take to draw a page/chapter of manga?

Thank you very much for the response! To start, yes my website i split it into Japanese and English! I put English on the bottom so that is my bad i can see why it could have been missed haha.

Thank you on the feedback for the characters! While it may seem random for now, i hope i can get to a point in the story where it breaks down why they are who they are 

I really appreciate the comments on my drawing and quality. I actually never knew how to draw most of my life. It wasn't until maybe feb 2020 that i started trying to draw myself (when i drew the first chapter of Dragon Tofu) because i figured no one else would be as invested as me in my project, especially when i have no money to give at the moment. During the pandemic, i had a wfh job so it was a lot easier to have a fast output. I put it on myself to release every 2 weeks, and in my opinion especially with no deadline neccesary it affected my quality. After a while I told myself it's better to take a bit more time if the quality can be better ( in both art and story).

I'd say currently since i'm working a job that requires 9 hours in an office, it takes me about a month and a half to finish a chapter. Definitely slower than i hope. On average before that i would be able to do a good amount in about 3 weeks! The reason it takes longer is also that i am releasing in both Japanese and English simultaneously, so i need to make sure both are correct in terms of grammar ahha so i have a friend proofread.

I once heard a phrase that stuck with me, and it went along the lines of: "if you can look at the previous chapters and think you are better now, then you are on the right track. If you look at it and it looks the same as you are, then you are stagnating." of course that doesn't necessarily apply to pros of their craft, but for amateurs, i see it as as long as i'm better than i was yesterday, i am on the right path! Thank you for giving it a chance!

[Suuper-san]

yep definitely if you look back and can see improvement then that's worth its weight in gold. But always remember that no matter how much progress you make, there's always stuff you can improve on, so dont stop improving!!

I think having a job slows most of us artists down, I have my own job which does the same. I don't work a full week but I lose a whole 2 days a week which I always think I could be drawing in. But making the most of your time that you have is for the best, no point complaining about time you dont have

I think it's pretty cool that you can release in Japanese and English, I'd definitely love to do the same at some point with my mega serious works. Do you find you get any interest from Japanese audiences?

I'd take a mega stab in the dark and guess the science explosion intro has something to do with the random shaped characters
oh talking of random shaped characters, I've been reading Hard-boiled cop and Dolphin and it sort of has similar vibes top your work, maybe check that out for some ideas if you haven't already

all the best and keep it up!
it'll always be a slow start when you're starting from zero but you'll build up an audience soon enough I think if you keep working at it and releasing new chapters. (all the while building up your art and storytelling skills XD)

[watanabe_ringo]

yep definitely if you look back and can see improvement then that's worth its weight in gold. But always remember that no matter how much progress you make, there's always stuff you can improve on, so dont stop improving!!

I think having a job slows most of us artists down, I have my own job which does the same. I don't work a full week but I lose a whole 2 days a week which I always think I could be drawing in. But making the most of your time that you have is for the best, no point complaining about time you dont have

I think it's pretty cool that you can release in Japanese and English, I'd definitely love to do the same at some point with my mega serious works. Do you find you get any interest from Japanese audiences?

I'd take a mega stab in the dark and guess the science explosion intro has something to do with the random shaped characters
oh talking of random shaped characters, I've been reading Hard-boiled cop and Dolphin and it sort of has similar vibes top your work, maybe check that out for some ideas if you haven't already

all the best and keep it up!
it'll always be a slow start when you're starting from zero but you'll build up an audience soon enough I think if you keep working at it and releasing new chapters. (all the while building up your art and storytelling skills XD)

Thank you! Yes, definitely always can become better no matter what the craft!
Will definitely take Hard boiled cop and dolphin a look! thank you for the rec.

Yes I have noticed Japanese people tend to like it as well and they always talk about how they like how the world building is unique. That's usually the big takeaway and they like certain comedic scenes.

Thank you ! I am always trying to get better in terms of art and paneling and everything, and hopefully the fruits of my labor shine! 

[Suuper-san]

at least compared to my manga, you're already using some pretty higher level techniques that even pro mangaka use, such as panel-less scenes, abundant use of tone and shade, overlapping character shots (where they are above other panels), as well as emphasis lines, and varied shape speech bubbles and fonts.
I can't fault you on much, except perhaps the more complex backgrounds seem a little sketchy overall, such as where Toshiki is holding his mug in his introduction panel, the office background is a tad sketchy. But you can still see it's an office, so it's not bad per se.
Perhaps you could use more sound effects? maybe you are later on in the chapters but just in this portion I dont see any. They can really make a scene pop.

am always trying to get better in terms of art and paneling and everything

totally understandable, myself included!! my advice would be to break down the things you want to get good at rather than just "everything", into more specific goals, like pose composition, hand accuracy, tone/shade etc. Then you are able to study these things individually and improve them.