Manben: Behind the Scenes of Manga with Urasawa Naoki

Urasawa Naoki no Manben (Naoki Urasawa's Manga Exertions) is a TV Documentary airing on NHK Educational TV. It follows acclaimed mangaka Naoki Urasawa (creator of 20th Century Boys and Monster) as he sets out to break new ground for manga even further than he already has. In an attempt to educate viewers about manga and preserve the intricate craftsmanship and process of Japanese artists on video for future generations, he invites a manga artist to have their workplace filmed for a couple of days, so as to display them in the process of crafting chapters for their current serializations. After the footage has been shot, Urasawa meets with the artist and they discuss the footage, talking about the artist's workplace and workflow, the difficulties involved in the mangaka lifestyle, their reasons for drawing manga in the first place, and their perspective on the current industry and their own work.

This production, originally released in 2015, has captivated audiences with its unique storytelling. As a Documentary series, it brings a fresh perspective to the Documentary genre, maintaining a strong viewer rating of 8.2 across its 4 seasons.

• Storyline Highlights:
• • Explores themes within Documentary.
• • Produced in Japan.
• • Original Language: Japanese.