Embassy of Japan in the UK

The search for the best manga talent in the UK is on as the Embassy is now accepting entries for its manga writing competition, Manga Jiman. We caught up with Sara Ferreira and Gisela Martins, the winners of last year’s competition, to find out how they won and what they have been getting up to since.

After Portuguese duo Sara and Gisela moved to London to work as illustrators and concept designers, their long-standing interest in manga made them curious about what opportunities there were for mangaka in the UK. “We were both researching and came across the Manga Jiman website” they told us. “This was back in 2011 and unfortunately the deadline had already passed but we made the decision that we would participate in 2012. As for the reason why, we are manga fans and striving illustrators and besides wanting to take this challenge, we felt this would be an excellent opportunity to gain a feel for the UK manga scene.”

Having dutifully waited for the 2012 competition to come around, their manga almost did not make it to the Embassy by the given deadline.

First prize winners, Sara Ferreira and Gisela Martins

Winning the competition has opened up quite a few doors for Sara and Gisela and a proud moment for them was appearing on national television in their home country. “We had spoken to our friends about the victory and written about it on our blog. We weren't expecting it, but during the following days there were a couple of e-mails from Portuguese newspapers requesting interviews, and soon after we were contacted by RTP 1, the national television channel, asking if we could appear on a morning show via Skype to talk about the contest. While we were discussing details we realised that on the date of the show, we would actually be in Portugal giving workshops at an event called Iberanime LX, and they quickly asked us to be on the show in person. So there we were, hyperventilating and smiling for the cameras.”

The design for this year’s Manga Jiman leaflet

Whilst their victory precludes them from entering again this year, they still have a big role to play. It has become a tradition for the previous year’s winners to provide the artwork for leaflets promoting the following year’s competition.

With the theme for the 2013 competition being ‘voyages of discovery’, Sara and Gisela explain the concept behind their design: “We knew that the Embassy would soon release articles about the Choshu Five and, after learning more about them, we fell in love with the spirit and courage of these five young men. When we began the first sketches we just knew we had to incorporate them into the leaflet design, which was no easy task as this meant having five characters in a restricted area. We aimed to give them different personalities while merging in their garments Japanese with English elements and (search for them - they're there!) five koi swimming above Big Ben - referring to the connection to the past and what they contributed to the present. We hope you like it just as much as we did!”

Finally, last year’s winners have some sound advice to those who are thinking about whether to enter this year: “To everyone hesitating, just go for it! You never know until you try and you have nothing to lose! ...But organize your time wisely!”