We have prepared an amazing article for all the manga fanatics out there! We are gonna talk about all types of manga panels, their feel, and where you can use these panels!
Many of us weebs have dreamt of making our own Mangas, I know I have. I had even started drawing and learning how to draw but sadly I don’t have steady hands.
There are several types of panels in Manga and depending upon the story you wanna convey the panel you wanna use changes. I promise this article will also be informative for all the beginners who have just started drawing mangas and are still exploring their ways.
All Types of Manga Panels
Let us start exploring the world of mangas!
Classic Four Panel
I think everyone is familiar with this one. It is the most common type of panel for any visual novel, for example, comics, manga, newspaper comic strips, etc.
A Four-Panel is when you divide the page into four or so parts like the quadrants of a circle but instead of a circle, it’s a rectangular page. This kind of panel is usually used in comedic manga or comics.
Four-Panels are very common in western comics and newspaper comic strips, famous examples include Garfield, The Family Circus, and many more.
A Four-Panel is generally used for comedic purposes or in some cases to convey a short story or a particular scene in a story. These panels are rarely used in mangas but nonetheless are quite important to miss out on.
Four panels used in Japanese are widely different as they are divided into strips instead of quadrants though these types of panels are not widely popular in the wester world.
Action Sequences
While portraying action sequences the panels used are generally bigger in size to illustrate more details in the scene. It has to be more detailed and made so the illustrations should logically be larger in size making the details easier to draw.
In manga action sequences the details of the scene are of importance to the reader because they explain various things about the story and the character.
Action sequences are usually seen in shounen anime and some of the most important aspects of shounen anime are powers, world-building, character traits, thus keeping that in mind the manga panels are generally bigger than half the page.
The rest of the space on the page is either covered by narration, sometimes a wide perspective of the fight, or maybe some dialogue.
Dialogue Based
The most basic panel one should master as a beginner! While drawing a manga, keep in mind that creating an engaging storyline is as important as drawing amazing scenes and expressions. Every beginner should strive to achieve the best dialogue-based panels they can draw.
These panels are heavily story-based and achieve the most amount of story progression out of all the panels at a mangaka’s disposal.
These types of panels usually divide the page into rectangular strips of scenes and maybe some squares in there somewhere just to keep things dynamic.
They are usually drawn from a certain perspective with a set of dialogues and then the perspective changes to a different angle for the next set of dialogues, this keeps the storytelling crisper and aesthetically pleasing.
Spreads
My absolute favorite manga pages to look at. Spreads are the most aesthetic manga panels out of all the types of panels.
Spreads are basically full-page artworks with much more detail, a more sophisticated art style, and some subliminal messaging. Some spreads even cover two side-by-side pages!
Also, there are always Easter Eggs in spreads and if you are a hardcore fan finding this is the best time pass you could ask for.
One of my favorite spreads is an absolute masterpiece from Masashi Kishimoto from the Pain Arc. I think everyone who’s watched Naruto Shippuden knows this scene that I’m talking about. The iconic Shinra Tensei Manga Panel.
One Piece also has one of the best spreads from all of the manga. Oda is an amazing artist and on top of that his spreads always have hidden messages for the fandom and some interesting Easter Eggs.
Conclusion
Summing up, there are tons of ways one can draw mangas and use various types of panels. Paneling in a manga is equally important as other aspects, it is the most basic skill a mangaka should develop if they dream of achieving greatness in the industry.
One could say that panels are the vessel that contains your imagination, though I believe that one’s imagination should know no bounds while presenting your creative art, boundaries are the most important.
It is those boundaries that touch the reader through the pages you draw.
Thus containing your imagination as a mangaka and choosing the perfect panels for your manga is one of the most important skills you should develop for your arsenal.
