Making comics truly is a journey. The time it takes to read never really reflects the months and years in the making. It’s something I never fully appreciated before becoming a creator.
Top 5 Cosplay From London Super Comic Con
After a break from comic conventions over December and January, we had two in February. Just like buses, wait for ages and two come along almost at once!
It’s great for us though. We got to showcase our latest manga Hot Lunch at the London Anime & Gaming Con as well as hold two talks on stage on each day of the event. Public speaking can be nerve-wracking, but when we get to talk about the mayamada universe, creating stories and comics we jump at the chance.
After LAGC, we exhibited at the London Super Comic Con for the first time and meet a whole host of great artists, old friends, and fantastic cosplayers…
New Year, New Comic: Hot Lunch
The release of our second manga, Serious, was a big step to growing the mayamada universe. In 2016, we’ll be taking it several steps further with a regular release of titles over the year.
Samurai Chef Creators: Writers
Over the past few weeks we’ve been looking back at the making of the complete edition Samurai Chef manga, talking to the people who played a part is bringing it to life.
We’ve heard the thoughts of the book’s illustrator (both of them), editor and printer. Without every one of these people the book would not have been possible, let alone look as good as it does!
But we couldn’t let them have all the fun, so here are our thoughts on the Samurai Chef book too:
Which part of the book did you work on?
Lao and I created the Samurai Chef character and story.
This involved developing the plot, creating the characters within the story and writing the script for Pinali to translate into the final comic pages.
We were also responsible for managing various elements of production from writing, to the Kickstarter, all the way up to the printing.
What was your highlight during the process?
Seeing the story slowly come together with each completed comic page.
Even though we already knew how the story would unfold, it was amazing to see the words of the script come to life visually page by page.
Pinali has a talent for bringing the characters to life and seeing the little touches she added along the way meant we could experience the story in a new light.
What was the biggest challenge for you?
The editing process. After we got through enjoying the comic, we had to get to the work of making sure it was printed without any mistakes.
We also wanted to get the book finished in time to send books to our Kickstarter backers before Christmas and for Hyper Japan in November. There was a lot of pressure on to put everything together in a short space of time.
Luckily we had a great editor, Lara-Lee, who caught all spelling a grammar mistakes…turns out there were a lot of them! But she stayed alert throughout the whole process and is the reason the book reads as well as it does.
What do you hope readers will take away from Samurai Chef?
Without giving too much away, there are some lessons in teamwork that hopefully come through over the course of the book.
Aside from that, we hope people will take away the belief that if you have a good idea you can bring it to life. The Samurai Chef is an original story idea that we created from scratch. If you’re working with your own idea, it can be done!
Who is your favourite character in the book and why?
We love all the Samurai Chef characters equally as if there were our own children…but we like Zane more equally.
He doesn’t have a huge part in the book but we liked the way he maintains a cool assuredness and balances out Kamu’s somewhat unstable energy.
Other notable mentions go to Ms Yasahsii, Jimi and of course the Samurai Chef himself.
What’s next for the Samurai Chef and mayamada?
The Samurai Chef story is complete for now, but it’s not the end of the character and another book is definitely a possibility in future.
For now we’ll be working on releasing comics for other mayamada stories. Serious is coming next, but expect to see something from 11th Hour and Hot Lunch stories too.
We’ve got a lot happening in 2015 including new clothing designs and event plans too. Stay tuned…
Antix On Balcony TV
Balcony TV is an online music show featuring new and established musicians doing acoustic sets on balconies around the world.
This summer we got to see Antix perform a stripped down version of “You’re Crazy”. Check out the video below and see if you can spot the mayamada t-shirt 😉
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFnfl9EiiW4
Introducing The New mayamada.com!
Even though many of you have complemented the old mayamada website, we felt it was still time for a change to push things forward.
We’ve been hard at work on the new website so it’s now easier for you to get products, find out about every mayamada character and see events past and present.
Here are some of the changes…
Brand New Layout
We’ve brought together all the main mayamada highlights in one place so you can get a better picture of what’s new with mayamada at any time.
New Online Shop
Our shop has been given a major overhaul for 2013. More items are now available available to purchase. Not only t-shirts but caps, accessories and the new Samurai Chef manga book.
You can also create your own account to view order status and history. And as always, we accept all major credit cards or you can pay with your Paypal account.
Blog
The blog has been brought into the main site so you can always come back to mayamada.com to see what the latest news is.
You can also check out out our Facebook Page to get involved with the brand.
Characters
It has be a long time coming but character profiles are now up on the site as well as manga for each. This includes an online preview of the Samurai Chef manga.
Right now you can take a look at the 11th Hour, Hot lunch and Samurai Chef shows. Before the year is up, expect to see this section of the website grow with more shows and more characters.
Take a closer look at the mayamada cast of characters >
Events
You can also keep up to date with all mayamada event past and present in one place.
The events section is the place to find out the next event coming up, or to see a selection of videos and photos from events gone by so you never miss out.
And for the full photo galleries, you can always head to our Facebook page.
See what events are coming up >
But don’t just take our word for it. Have a look for yourself ^_^
mayamada.com – Original Anime Inspired Clothing
Mayamada Prime Time Volume 1: Our Kickstarter Campaign
Since we started making teaser pages of manga for each of our shows, people have continued to ask as when is the full book coming out. We didn’t have an answer for them, until now that is.
Today we launched our long awaited Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds needed to create a full mayamada manga book. We wanted to do this in a big way and really showcase our world of fantasy television in manga form and we’re so excited to get the word out to you all.
To make this happen we’ve teamed up with four great artists to produce the artwork for four of the first four shows on the mayamada network: Samurai Chef, The 11th Hour, Hot Lunch, and Serious. The last one is a brand new show.
But why am I doing so much talking? You can find out all the details on our Kickstarter page where you can find out how to get involved: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/401125455/mayamada-prime-time-manga-vol-1
We’ll have many more details on the progress of the campaign over the next month, including all the rewards you can get for supporting the book.
Stay tuned!
Mayamada Manga: Hot Lunch Part 2
We’re back with the next episode of Hot Lunch, showing the story of a slick team of food thieves led by Taishi – a tiger on a mission for revenge.
A few years have passed since Taishi was booted out from the Circle of Flavour apprenticeship and he is now looking to recruit his team members to help with his plan to take down the chef cartel.
The first on the list is Tancho: A smart-mouthed strategist who has outgrown his current crew and is looking for his next big opportunity.
Enjoy ^_^
“Recruiting Tancho” page 1
“Recruiting Tancho” page 2
Mayamada Manga: Hot Lunch Part 1
If you saw our first manga page for the Samurai Chef and wanted more, you’re in luck! We’ve got another series of pages just for you.
This time we’re turning our attention to Hot Lunch – the show about a slick team of food thieves lead by Taishi. With the help of his team he’s on a mission to bring down the infamous chef cartel: The Circle of Flavour.
Over the next few weeks you’ll get to see what lead to Taishi’s quest to take on the Circle. Check out the first two pages below.
Hot Lunch: Taishi’s Story Page 1
Hot Lunch: Taishi’s Story Page 2
All our pages are being done in collaboration with artist Pinali. Be sure to visit her site too.
We’ll have more of the Hot Lunch story to come very soon…stay tuned!
Mayamada Manga: Samurai Chef
Here is something new for fans of mayamada and manga. We’ve been continuing our work with Pinali – a great artist helping us bring mayamada to life.
Together we’re turning the shows on the mayamada network into pages of manga.
The first show to get the treatment is the Samurai Chef. Enjoy ^_^
Tell us what you think of the manga treatment in the comments below or on our Facebook page.
If you plan on going to MCM this month, stop by our stall and say hi. We’ll be including printouts of this and other pages in every t-shirt package.
Before that, you’ll be able to check out more manga pages from our other shows over the next week…Stay tuned!