“German manga no longer have to hide behind those from Japan”

Who has influenced you artistically? What are you currently working on? What do you recommend to comic beginners? In the Tagesspiegel questionnaire, illustrators give insights into their work and their passion for the art form. Today: The manga artist Racamiwhose new work “The Curse of the Purple Smoke” recently released on Altraverse.

1. What comes first in your work: words or images?
First come words (the rough planning and script for each chapter), then scribbled pictures and words (the rough storyboard with text), and then the worked out pictures (the completion of the pages as they will be printed at the end).

2. Do you listen to music while drawing and how does it influence you?
Music is an essential part of my work, especially when creating the rough storyboard. Depending on the general mood of the chapter or scene, I have different playlists that I can use to make it easier for me to get into the emotional world of my characters and stay there. Later, when I’m finishing the pages, it’s more shallow, musical background banter or even just the sounds of rain or something similar, which is supposed to counteract the frustration when the lines don’t go the way I want them to when I’m inking.

3. What do you like to eat or drink at work?
In my opinion, food, including crumbs and drawing utensils, don’t mix well, so I don’t eat at my workplace. When it comes to drinks, I like coffee or espresso with oat milk or ginger mate.

4. If your apartment were to catch fire, which manga would you definitely save from your shelf?
The 14-volume series „Tramps like us“ and to be honest, my own old stuff from when I was still self-publishing, since that won’t exist anymore, as I’m now lucky enough to have my stories published by Altraverse.

5. Which illustrators and authors had the most influence on your own development?
Yayoi Ogawa, the author of “Tramps like us”, Aki Irie, author of “Ran and the grey world”Mika Yamamori et al „This Lonely Planet“With Kaori Ozaki „Our Summer Holiday“ and Inio Asano with “Time on the Edge” are works and authors that I return to again and again because I find their stories, drawings or narrative styles very inspiring in very different aspects.

6. Which comic would you recommend to someone who doesn’t normally read comics?
Of course, this depends a lot on what the person reads, but with Action you can „Dragon Ball“ You simply can’t go wrong. If you prefer to read slice-of-life short series, I can recommend anything from Kaori Ozaki recommend, because everything she has published in Germany so far has a maximum of three volumes and is still enchanting. When it comes to mystery, I can „Bright Sun – Dark Shadows“ recommend and if you want to read a psychological drama then „Boy‘s Abyss“. If you want to go in the direction of adventure, then “The Secret of Scarecrow”, “Cold – The Creature” and „Charon 78“as well as “Kiela and the last farewell” if you are looking for something fantasy/romance.

7. Do you think the manga is currently getting the attention it deserves?
No, I don’t think so, but I am full of hope for the future, as manga has received a little more positive attention thanks to the greater acceptance of anime. This is a very positive development, as manga was partly stigmatized, especially in the early years of its German publication. It has now become much more ‘normal’ to watch anime and thus also to read manga, but at the same time we are still a long way from the Japanese situation, where manga has not only become part of mainstream society, but is even recognized as an art form. But as I said, I think we are on the right path, and we now just need to keep going.

© Altraverse

8. Which contemporary manga artists deserve more attention than they currently have?
In my opinion, all German-language productions. Some readers still differentiate between manga that come from Japan and manga from other countries and make hasty judgements based on origin, as the Japanese works are attributed more positive qualities. The times when manga from German-speaking countries ‘had’ to hide behind those from Japan are not only long gone, in my opinion European manga even have their own unique qualities due to the different socialization of the authors, which you might not find in Japanese manga.

9. If you have a high If we had to award a prize for manga lifetime achievement, who would get it?
Since the German-speaking manga author scene is much younger than the Japanese one, I would like to differentiate here and name one for both.
For Japan it would be (unfortunately post mortem) Akira Toriyama (“Dragon Ball”). I don’t think anyone outside of Japan has inspired as many people to pick up a pen and try their hand at writing their own stories as he has.
For the German-speaking mangaka (this means manga artists) I would give the prize to Gin Zarbo I think that all German-speaking mangaka who are still active are absolutely passionate about what they do, but I don’t know anyone who has achieved so much and is as passionate about what they do at such a young age as Gin Zarbo, and I think that is evident in every interview or when she talks about her work.

10. How would you describe to a blind person what is special about your comics?
I am often told that sensitive emotionality in the narrative and the believable portrayal of the characters’ feelings as well as the implementation of various lighting moods are what distinguishes my manga from others.

11. What are you currently working on when you are not filling out questionnaires?
To expand the collection of empty coffee cups on my desk. And if I have time, I’m working on the second volume of my new series “The Curse of the Purple Smoke”, volume 1 of which has already been published by Altraverse.

© Altraverse

12. Why would you advise a young person to become a manga author – and why would you advise him or her against it?
I would advise anyone who can’t help but constantly come up with stories and who thinks that manga is the best medium for this. If you can’t stop, then try to do it as often and as much and as well as you can in your life. For everyone else, I would say that drawing manga can also be a wonderful hobby and not everyone has to become a mangaka. You can still love what you do if you find another focus in your life, because if you want to become a mangaka, manga will be exactly that.

13. How does it feel to hold your drawings in your hands as printed books?
It’s just wonderful and at the same time surreal in the best possible way. I never dared to hope that I would ever see anything of mine in print. When I then decided to self publish some stories, it was overwhelming. And then Altraverse came along and took it up a notch and made things possible that I would never have dared to dream of. I’m just very grateful that my stories are now being brought out into the world as printed books.

14. What grades did you get in art class?
Everything from a one to a four minus was there, but it was never enough to get a five.

15. What can you not draw at all?
Cars, motorcycles and generally mechanical things are a nightmare for me, although I am a big believer that you can learn almost anything by drawing if you invest enough time. So unfortunately, when it comes to cars, I have just been lacking time.