Contest #7 - September 2004: I was very pleased with all of the entries that we recieved, everyone worked very hard! Thank you so much to -everyone- who took the time to enter, you all did an absolutely wonderful job. There were a total of 4 judges for this contest: myself, Izumi, Maq, and ManaEXE. Each judge was asked to rate each manga from 1 to 10 (10 being the best), and was then asked to leave a comment of critique on each one. Each judge was then asked to chose a favourite out of all the entires, and those selected entrants recieved an extra 2 points. The points were then added up, and whomever recieved the most, was the winner of the contest. As you can tell from the results, the judging was very close. Congrats to the winner, and to all those who entered! Thank you all again so much! ~~~ On to the Entries! ~~~ Artist: Tabby (~ 1st Place Winner! ~) Manga: (( Entry Here )) *ManaEXE's Pick!* Total Points: 38 Ryouko's Comments: Absolutely beautiful linework, inking, and text! "I didn't hire nannies to raise you to be a whiner!" XD lol! Poor Enzan! This was by far one of the funniest and most entertaining entries we received. The only downside is that there's no shading. n.n; Had you'd gone one extra step, this entry would've been perfect. Izumi's Comments: Haha! The last panel was the perfect ending for this. XP I love the way you drew Ms. Millionaire. Awesome! ManaEXE's Comments: My most favorite one of the bunch, just thinking of Ms. Millionare being Enzan's mom is scary. XD In a good and funny way. The expressions also added to the comical mood, I love the little crying Enzan at the bottom of page 3. >D All of the line art and text was very very clean and easy to read. Which was really nice. The idea is very original and cute, as well. The framing could of been a tad more creative, like adding frames with diagonal lines perhaps, but the placement, art and humor made up for that. X3 Maq's Comments: This one had me rolling. The last panal with Blues and Snakeman was golden. It could have used some shading to bring it out more, but it's still good. Artist: Meta (~ 2nd Place Winner! ~) Manga: (( Entry Here )) *Ryouko's Pick!* Total Points: 36.5 Ryouko's Comments: Absolutely, absolutely beautiful. I would expect nothing less from you! This was the most serious entry we got, and it was a very pleasant surprise. The ending kind of confused me a bit though, it took awhile to figure it out. Izumi's Comments: Wow @_@ Your art style is absolutely stunning. I wish you'd had more pages to work with, the plot kinda loses its concisiveness due to the length. It was nice to see a serious story in here, though! ManaEXE's Comments: Very VERY wonderful mini manga. It's very creative with the idea of how the Dark Soul was "born"..even though it was a bit violent. XD But the detailed artwork and shading made up for it, and the text is very pretty. The one teeny weeny problem was that the text was a little too pretty at times and it made it look a little awkward. That's a very small down side to this though, definately a favorite out of the bunch. Maq's Comments: Beautifly drawn and shaded. I love Saito's hairstyle. Story was kinda creepy in a cool way. Artist: Gutsman (~ 3rd Place Winner! ~) Manga: (( Entry Here )) *Izumi's Pick!* Total Points: 34 Ryouko's Comments: Such originality! All of these stories were -hilarious- XD They remind me of the comic strips from the newspaper. Seeing as this was the only entry we received in this style, kudos to you. Izumi's Comments: 4-Koma! Original and funny! I really loved all of these, especially -san wa iranai. XD ManaEXE's Comments: These 4-panel comics gave me much amusement. XD Although I didn't quite understand the one with Meijin-san in it. o_x I didn't take off any points for the framing because 4-panels are meant to look that way. Each idea was original in its own way, I especially liked the one with Blues in it! The artwork and text are all clear and easy to see, as well. Maq's Comments: Several mini comics, each one funny by itself. I think Blues farting was my favorite. Artist: Ross Manga: (( Entry Here )) Total Points: 33 Ryouko's Comments: I think this was one of my most favourite stories out of all the entries. It was just so very touching! Very nice art, shading, and panel use. Awesome job! Izumi's Comments: Concise and sweet! This story was well-developed and I liked it a lot. The greyscale artwork came off beautifully as well. Nice! ManaEXE's Comments: This mini manga had a very cute storyline, and having Meiru playing a narrator role was actually pretty interesting. The ending was amusing as well. The artwork and text is very clean and clear, and the use of tones and shades was done wonderfully. The only thing I saw that could of been done better was the framing used in the comic. I only saw squares, would of been nice if there were some more creative frames. Maq's Comments: Kinda sweet comic about Netto and Meiru, but it doesn't really explain the ending of the story very well. Artist: Kyogre Manga: (( Entry Here )) Total Points: 31 Ryouko's Comments: Such a unique style! I really like your inking techniques. The story here was absolutely adorable, the Forte bit was just precious! Definately a cute story. Izumi's Comments: Kekeke, Forte's so cute here! The artwork was quite unique too--good job! ManaEXE's Comments: The cleanliness of the comic was wonderfly done, and the arrangement was also very well done. The originality is great in some parts but not so great in others. The arguement between Netto and Meiru, and the idea of Forte carrying around "digi chow" was funny. But Gospel being Forte's pet is used too often. ^^; Maq's Comments: This one threw me off at first since it didn't tell you to read from right to left. But Netto and Mairu argueing in the background more then makes up for that. Artist: Gate Manga: (( Entry Here )) *Maq's Pick!* Total Points: 30 Ryouko's Comments: *giggles* It's a maid outfit! XD Poor poor Enzan. The overall story was very cute, as were the drawings. However, a bit more depth to the plot would have helped considerably. What bet did Enzan lose with Yaito? What was Netto doing in Yaito's house? Just a bit more and you would have had it. :) Izumi's Comments: XD Super-cute, though it was a little bit short! Love the expressions! ManaEXE's Comments: The text and line art are very very clean, which I liked. The idea of Yaito tricking Enzan into being her "slave/maid" is hysterical. XD Enzan trying to fake at being his own "twin sister" was funny as well. There was only one slight problem with the comic, the arrangment and framing could of used some tweaking. Otherwise, it would of been perfect. :3 Maq's Comments: Any manga with Chaud (Enzan) in a maid's outfit is great in my opinion. Simple and to the point comic. Artist: Lavi Manga: (( Entry Here )) Total Points: 29 Ryouko's Comments: It was nice to see someone center their story on a minor character, I thought you did this very well. Some of the vertical text was very hard to read, which interrupted the flow of your story. However, you did a nice job with the shading in your art. Izumi's Comments: Nice to see a deviation from the main characters, and a little of Madois backstory! Very nice! ManaEXE's Comments: I really liked the story in this one, it was neat to see someone's ideas on how Madoi and Coloredman got together. :3 The artwork was also nicely done, along with the backgrounds. I liked the computer typed text but it was kind of weird when the text was placed vertically. The background clashed with the type at times, as well. It would of helped a lot if there were word bubbles for the text, that way the backgrounds would of been just white. Maq's Comments: Though it was hard reading the vertical text, Madoi as a little girl is drawn so cute! Artist: Osiris Sky Dragon Manga: (( Entry Here )) Total Points: 29 Ryouko's Comments: Yet another entry based on a minor character. XD -Awesome- to see someone make use of tonage in their artwork. The text was also very easy to read, which was a big plus. Go Bubbleman de puku! Izumi's Comments: Ooh~ We bubbling! Nice to see a focus on a minor character. With a few more pages, this story, could have been awesome. As it was it was still pretty neat! Ganbare Bubbleman! ManaEXE's Comments: The tones, shading and line work here were done so nicely here. Lots of eye candy. The arrangment and framing was also very well done, creative, and not repeatitive. There's lots of humor, which I liked, but it wasn't completely original. The scoring and Bubbleman wanting revenge and losing miserably was done in a similar way already. I gave Osiris credit for the beginning and ending of the manga, since those parts were original to me. :3 *Was amused by Burnerman the most* Maq's Comments: Whee! Screentones! Bubbleman punching out Shademan-sama was CLASSIC! Cute comic Artist: RollXtremeEXE Manga: (( Entry Here )) Total Points: 29 Ryouko's Comments: Rockman looks awfully scary as a chibi. o.o Very nice artwork though. ^^ You really put a lot of thought into your panels. Very cute story, too! Izumi's Comments: LOL, how like Netto to overlook the obvious! Very cute story! ManaEXE's Comments: Very original and amusing idea. Poor poor Rockman, at least he looked cute! And the part where Netto was shocked by how easy it was to actually fix him made me laugh, as well. XD I think it would of been better if the images were a little bigger, and if the text wasn't in bold print. The text was too bulgy and the letters kind of blurred out, making it a tad difficult to make out at times. The comic was a little too busy, spreading out the frames could of helped some in this case. Maq's Comments: Not too bad. Seeing Rock as a chibi is always cute. The comic itself was rather small so it was hard to see all of it. Artist: MalikKitsune Manga: (( Entry Here )) Total Points: 28 Ryouko's Comments: Plushies are always cute. ^^ Your story was a bit confusing though. o.o Maybe if there were a bit more of an explanation for the plushie craze... Poor Blues though. XD *giggles* "I want my Enzan-sama..." Izumi's Comments: Cute art style and cute story! Hooray for plushies! o/ ManaEXE's Comments: This comic is very cute, I loved the part where Roll poked at Blues about why he had a plushie as well. XD The only problem with the idea is that it kind of sort of based on EXE, I just felt that since everyone else made theirs completely EXE this should of focused completely on EXE as well. The text was sort of hard to read at times, and the framing is neatly done but could of been a bit more creative. Maq's Comments: I kept waiting for the plushie to turn into Chucky. I thought this story was very simple but kinda sweet. *snrks* "I want my Enzan-sama" XD Artist: Kurt Manga: (( Entry Here )) Total Points: 27 Ryouko's Comments: Very well drawn, the manga panels flowed along very smoothly, making it easy to read and follow along. However, it would have been nice to see a bit more shading or toneage. The story is a bit overdone, we know Netto is always striving to beat his rival. But the battle was illustrated very well, fights are never easy to do. :) Good job! Izumi's Comments: Poor Netto always gets gypped! XD The fight scene was pretty darn cool too~! ManaEXE's Comments: The small bits of humor put into this comic amused me, like the part where Rockman yells at Netto for not charging the chip. The line art is clean as well as the text, but it would of been better if the text was typed out here, since the lettering got rather small. The overall originality is pretty good, I've never seen it officially done. Maq's Comments: Poor poor Netto. You had to figure he's had this sort of thing happen to him before. Artist: Leo Manga: (( Entry Here )) Total Points: 27 Ryouko's Comments: lol! Regal Burger. XD I love Blues' attitude in the first page. n.n; The third page is just outright hilarious. XD I love the eyes! Good job with your entry. ^^ Izumi's Comments: Hah! I was anticipating someone would bring Bubbleman to the party. :) Funny! ManaEXE's Comments: Bubbleman was just too funny. X3 Him going through all that to capture his idols is adorabley amusing. Only downside of the originality is I believe there was a fan chase in one of the mangas, only with Rock being the target, so I put half credit on originality. Also, the framing could of used some touching up, the blocks could of been more creatively placed. Maq's Comments: *snicker* Regal Burgers XD I think Bubbleman should have said "pupupupu" instead of "mwahahaha" but that's just me. Artist: Diamond Avatar Manga: (( Entry Here )) Total Points: 26 Ryouko's Comments: I'm glad you included a script, because the manga itself was very hard to read. However, the dialouge you wrote was very heart touching, and very well thought out. Your drawings are also done well, and it was nice to see you took the time and effort to add shadings. Very nice and cute manga. :) Izumi's Comments: Cute story! I liked how it went into detail about such an important part of Netto. A bit wordy, but good nonetheless, and all the expressions were awesome. :) ManaEXE's Comments: The lineart is clean and easy to see, and the arrangment was done well. I didn't have big problems with getting lost in the text. Also, the idea is very original when it comes to explaining a possible way Netto got his bandana. One problem was the text was a tad hard to read in some areas, mostly when it needed to get small to fit all the text into a single bubble. Maq's Comments: Words were very hard to read. It was a cute story though. Tells a little something about Netto and Meiru's relationship. Artist: Douglas Manga: (( Entry Here )) Total Points: 26 Ryouko's Comments: I love the 'look like naruto!' bit. XD Very inventive. Heehee. And the eyecatch. And the plot holes. And Elecman! (yes he is hard to draw, isn't he?) I am glad you decided to add in the text digitally, it's much easier to read. Not only that, but it's comic book text style. ^_^ Your drawings were well done, but the story was a bit weak. However, the humor mostly made up for that aspect. Nice job! Izumi's Comments: This was a much better way of Netto getting his new PET than the unspoken one in Axess. XP Beautiful artwork too. Nice work! ManaEXE's Comments: The randomness of Higure was hilarious. XD Poor guy. Also, Netto getting zapped by the older version of the PET was original and amusing as well. The artwork's contrast is very clean and nice on the eyes. This comic has potential, but I don't think it was original enough. It was mostly based on a fight between Rock and Elecman, which is normal. I just really like Higure so I raised the score a tad. XP Maq's Comments: This story wasn't so bad, except it really didn't go anywhere. The circles on Blues' shades (and the comment on Starman) were a nice touch Artist: Breakman Manga: (( Entry Here )) Total Points: 23 Ryouko's Comments: I can tell you definately have some drawing talent, all of your expressions are poses are done exceptionally well. However, I would have liked to see you take that one step further in actually inking your finished work. This wouldn't even really need shades or tonage to be truly successful. The story is kind of done-over, we see Rockman yapping at Netto to do his homework all the time. Still, interesting idea in hurtling his own PET at him. :) Izumi's Comments: Awesome artwork! The idea was good too, but the ending seemed a tad bland. Still, I liked it! ManaEXE's Comments: The artwork and arrangement is very nicely done here. It's clean and I was able to understand it easily. The humor was also amusing, especially the part where Rockman spontaniously flies toward Netto to get his attention. The only big problem with it was it wasn't really original, in my opinion. ^^; Netto and Rockman fighting over homework is pretty normal in the EXE series. Maq's Comments: This comic was cute, but it would have been interesting to see just how Rockman launched himself at Netto. Artist: Sketch Manga: (( Entry Here )) Total Points: 22 Ryouko's Comments: *giggles* Starman's personality always amuses me, and you did very well in reflecting it in your manga. Battles are hard to illustrate, so kudos to you for giving it a try. However, your panel lines are rather ruggad, and the art is a bit too light, making it hard to concentrate on. Izumi's Comments: This manga was cute, though the plot was a little lacking. Very to-the-point, though. :) Starman wins! ManaEXE's Comments: This comic was....strange. o_o I do like randomness but this is a little too random. But it hasn't been done before, and the ending was cute so I gave points for that. I sort of had some issues reading some text and the art was too light at times. It made it hard for me to see what was going on. Maq's Comments: Anything with Starman is automaticly cool. It was hard to read the handwriting in spots, and some of the drawings were so feint it was hard to see. Artist: Neko Manga: (( Entry Here )) Total Points: 18 Ryouko's Comments: Your drawings were kind of too light to really see any of the details. If you are going to add type-written text, inking your artwork would have made it seem a little less jarring to the eyes. However, your story was cute, though a little confusing. ^_^; Izumi's Comments: Cute. :) I like how it followed the gameverse, with Netto's link! Always need more of those. ^^ Still, the ending was a little confusing. Nice work though! ManaEXE's Comments: This comic has potential, but I honestly think the author could of done much much better. ^^; The Neko idea is sort of original since Netto got nekofied instead, but it was still done in a similar way before. One other issue I had was I wasn't completely sure of what was going on at some parts, like when Enzan called the first time. Also, the artwork could of used a little fixing in contrast, it was hard to see and the text was difficult to read where it wasn't typed. Maq's Comments: This one was too lightly drawn to be able to read/see it well, and the story didn't really make too much sense to me. Congratulations to the winner, and thank you to all of those who entered! I hope to see you all again soon!