Ariga comments on character submissions, gives us some pointers
A few days ago, we posted that Hitoshi Ariga was taking applications for fan created characters to appear as “throwaway characters” in upcoming issues of Rockman Gigamix. So far he is purely delighted about the number of submissions that have come in so far, including those from outside of Japan. However, Ariga also feels there may have been a little something lost in translation. For that reason, he wants to give us some specific pointers to keep in mind when submitting entries from now on:
- Please do not enter robots created by Dr. Light and Dr. Wily.
- The chosen robots that appear will not be villains.
- The chosen robots that appear will not face Rockman.
- They are defense robots who are protecting the Earth from enemies from space.
- The storyline for the upcoming Gigamix issues is set in stone, so these characters will not have any impact in the story.
- The robots will not do anything in particular in the comic, and probably will not have any lines.
- It is possible the robots will be destroyed the moment they appear (so don’t expect the selected robots to do anything cool).
- Not every robot submitted can be used, unfortunately.
He also makes a point that should he select any robot who was entered with the intention of being a Wily robot or the like will not have such a background in the comic and apologizes. Now of course, I made it pretty clear in the last post these would be throw away characters, and there was no point in making a character overly cool or with a deep background. But I can’t blame people for wanting to enter their cherished designs, even if it’s just to show off. Just remember that this is Ariga’s work, and I imagine he’s slightly embarrassed to bring this up. Then again, I do feel most non-Japanese entrants had the right idea, and plenty of Japanese entrants are “Something Man” entries themselves. Nevertheless, Ariga could have easily ignored non-Japanese entries as well, so I think this is rather big of him.
Anyway, just keep those points in mind and keep the submissions coming!
Filed under: Mega Man News
….whats the point then?
The point is to create throwaway characters. That was always the point.
The point is to see your character in the Rockman manga, even if he doesn’t do anything important, and even if it’s only a panel or two. I think that’s a pretty darn cool idea. I’d do it too but I haven’t a clue how to pronounce Oekaki, much less work it or draw in it XP
Also, you get your name in the credits right? How cool would it be to have your name in a japanese manga.
Let me just throw this out. In a lot of cases, people wrote in their entries that the characters were Wily robots or were enemies to Mega Man, etc. If you just take that out, then a lot of entries become completely suitable. So, just don’t add such details.
@Windsor: You don’t need to use the oekaki script, you can just upload an image you’ve drawn. Check the original post for details.
@Harpu: I have no clue if and how Ariga intends to credit the entries he selects.
I would suitably edit my characters if I could just navigate the @#$% website…
Well, here’s a thing that we all can do: maybe you created a character with a deep background (like me), but it’s very clear that Ariga won’t use that background you created for your character. Then, you only have to post an image of the character you created, and not to explain him his/her story. It doesn’t matter if your character appear in the manga but he/she doesn’t have the story you created; it’s a pleasure to see your own character in Ariga’s manga (and style)!!!
That’s what I think, and that’s also what I think that Heat Man means.
(I’m Spanish: sorry if my English isn’t that good…)
Using my entry as an example… the only details I provided were name and signature weapon, as well as inserting a comment to Ariga.
Well, now I feel kinda stupid for even attempting that little Wily detail in mine…^^; EVERYONE ELSE WAS DOING IT!! LOL
But it clears the instructions up a lot more. I think when we read your translation in the initial post as “scrubs to be destroyed,” everyone was thinking they’d be involved in some kind of fight against Rock or some other canon RM.
I also have a better impression of what he means now that my copy of Gigamix arrived today. In the Battle and Chase chapter intro, Ariga has a lot of random, generic racer bots at the starting line and occasionally on other pages. Actually, you can see it in one of the Akihabara scans, so I don’t have to scan mine:
http://www.akiba-ch.com/img.php?s=c&img=2009100312
That’s probably going to be the extent of the winner’s appearance, to give a visible example.
So even if they are protecting the Earth, and get a chance to fight something, background characters might be a better description.
I don’t know why everyone thinks they’ll get some remarkable and glorious moment in some manga.
It’s nothing big, and he just wanted to let his fanbase get to at least appear in a minor form in his comic. I mean, he could make the throwaway character himself, but its a little something for the community.
Everyone needs to stop trying to make some new OMEGA BIG ULTIMATE BOSS character.
Shake: Stop being a Buzz Killington. There was fun, then you went >( and we all went ;__;
By the way, when we’ll know what characters Ariga tried? :O Or the only way to know it is to read the manga and find it out ourselves…? xD
Heck, I knew they were throwaway characters. That didn’t stop me from submitting a finished drawing I did months ago. In fact, that just shows I was even MORE lazy then some by reusing an old drawing.
We have new found strengths and reasons to face the task with optimism and have discovered that there are more things we want to learn together, for the youth and for ourselves. ,