On August 30th, students of the NHIS Japanese program were invited to participate in a manga workshop at the Yu Language Honolulu Center, hosted by RAKKA Sensei. RAKKA Sensei is an Osaka-based illustrator from the Osaka Sogo College of Design.
Four different students were chosen to participate because of their interest in art. Kele Sensei, the Japanese program’s teacher, chose Haedyn Carba, Havenrae Laggui, Jay Stark, and Trust Tinai to go to the manga workshop. The Japanese program at NHIS was invited to participate because the Yuu Language Academy, one of Nanakuli High’s partners, comes to the school often to give cultural presentations. This was one of the opportunities they brought to NHIS to learn from a professional artist.
The purpose of this workshop was to share RAKKA Sensei’s experience as an illustrator and to give more information about studying abroad in Japan. It was also to teach the students how to draw in a specific art style called “chibi.” The “chibi” art style is a style that originated in Japan. It’s common in anime and manga where the characters are drawn in an exaggerated way. Typically, the heads are drawn oversized and the limbs are short and stubby along with the body with very minimal detail in the character.
“I feel really inspired from the event because I got to see how the new art style was drawn,” said Laggui “I don’t normally draw cutesy stuff, I usually draw realism, so it was really interesting, and I did learn a lot from that.”
RAKKA Sensei presented about herself and her work, showing the art she made as well. The students also got a presentation about the college she graduated from and now works at. Osaka Sogo College of Design has graduated many animators who have drawn famous anime like One Piece.
“I feel like the event went really well; our students were really respectful, they worked really hard on their pieces, got good feedback from RAKKA Sensei, and it seemed like they had a really good time. So, I hope it was both educational and enjoyable for the students that were able to attend,” said Kele Sensei.
Overall, the workshop was a success. Everyone who went learned something and gained new skills and information. Both Kele Sensei and the students were extremely grateful for this opportunity and for being invited to it.
“The genre of manga is very vast and there’s so many different genres. It can benefit anyone, and anyone who wants to be adventurous without having to go anywhere” said RAKKA Sensei.
