Creating Wordless Manga

For many manga fans, the dream of publishing in Japan feels like just that - a dream. This is doubly true if you don't read, write, or speak Japanese, and while there's absolutely nothing wrong with publishing in another country or an online forum, it feels somehow special to be able to break into the publishing culture that produced the work that inspired you. Enter Kadokawa's World Manga Contest. Open to applicants from anywhere in the world, the contest offers both cash prizes and the chance to work with Kadokawa's editors to serialize a manga in Japan. Entries can be made in two categories: either traditional manga with dialogue, or the trickier-than-it-seems wordless category. This year, two of the Silver Prize winners in this category came from India and the United States, and we had the chance to discuss their creative process and goals as manga creators. 

The creators of Heartsteel  are actually a team of two siblings: the elder handles writing and planning, and the younger handles art. This adds to the impressiveness of their work, particularly in the wordless sphere, because everything has to be fully understood by both creators to pull off any kind of story, let alone the emotional work their piece does. But both masterlynx and REKU, whose Dungeon Duo is a cheery, fun D&D-style adventure, are creators to keep an eye on, creating very different but equally intriguing works. If you haven't had the chance to read their entries, you can do so here.

Anime News Network: Creating a story without words is ostensibly difficult, especially in a setting where auditory elements are also disallowed. What are the greatest challenges you faced in conveying the plot of your works using only images and sound effects?

masterlynx

masterlynx: When we first discussed the wordless contest, our biggest concern was that we had never created something wordless before—it was a real challenge. I came up with a simple plot that could work, inspired at the time by a sci-fi Steel Troops-style idea. Initially, I wanted something cute, but we also felt it needed a fun and engaging action sequence at the end.

We made Kumiko one of the main protagonists of Heartsteel, and she can't talk. This helped shape the story, as we focused on making readers fall in love with her through her silence, curiosity, and cuteness.

We were unsure about using sound effects [SFX], so we avoided them at first. But by the final action scenes, something felt missing, so we added SFX in English since we weren't familiar with the Japanese ones.

The biggest challenge was the tight deadline. We didn't have time to create a proper storyboard, and although the initial idea was different, we had to rush and cut many scenes—including cute moments between the cyborg and Kumiko. That's why the ending feels rushed, as it jumps quickly into the final action sequence.

REKU

REKU: It is difficult! What I found interesting was that drawing the characters performing actions wasn't hard as long as it was well choreographed, but to me, the most challenging aspect was conveying to the reader why they are doing the action. I wanted both of my characters to have their own goals and work together, so I relied on them imagining their goal, which helped as a shorthand, a visual technique that has always been present in comics and manga. But when it came time for the characters to have a conversation, I found myself redrawing it several times and cutting panels until finally I was left with what I felt was a clear visual communication of what they were saying and the deal they made.

That pushed me to revisit Dragon Ball, which I had watched as a kid. When I learned that it was created by Akira Toriyama, I discovered manga for the first time—and that's what really shocked me. The idea that a single person could create so many pages consistently, with that level of creativity and storytelling, felt completely different from anything I had seen before. That moment really sparked my goal of becoming a mangaka.

Heartsteel

© KADOKAWA CORPORATION

Later on, I found Yūsuke Murata and became fascinated by his art style and action choreography, which I started studying seriously. While we've always been connected to Japanese cartoon culture, through shows like Doraemon, it was Dragon Ball that truly pulled us into manga. There's something about manga—the combination of dynamic storytelling, personal authorship, and emotional expression—that just connected with us more deeply than other forms of comics.

REKU: I'm American, so I grew up reading American comics, and manga wasn't very popular at the time, but once I discovered it as a teenager, it was such an eye opener! I didn't realize comics could be so different than what we typically saw. As a teen, I loved the expressive nature of manga, the ability to flip from something dramatic and emotional to having a character scream with a chibi face in the span of a panel or two always amazed me. Even today, we don't have that in U.S. comics. We have quippy dialogue and characters being sardonic, or we have entirely goofy cartoonish comics, but I've always felt that manga truly excelled at conveying a more full gamut of emotions.

From a nerdy artist standpoint, manga helped me see that visual storytelling doesn't have to be so grid-based. I've always felt that U.S. comics are overly reliant on the use of a grid, specifically the 9-panel grid. It is a fantastic framework and tool that has served U.S. comics (and French comics, bandes dessinées) well; some comics really shine at utilizing it, but I've always found it personally restrictive. Manga regularly has such interesting panel layouts while still being narratively coherent; it's a true strength that has actually sprung from artists being limited in terms of page economy. As artists, there is only so much space we have on each page to convey something visually; it's almost a waste not to adjust panel sizes and layouts to suit your story, to embrace the emotion and impact from moment to moment. Panel sizes and layouts are as much a tool in the artist's arsenal as drawing emotions and faces well. This is something I think manga truly excels at. As you can see, I'm very passionate about this particular topic and could babble about it endlessly!

Heartsteel deals with themes of humanity and innocence shattered by war. What do you want readers to take from it in relation to the world today? Is there a specific message you'd like readers to pick up on?

Heartsteel

© KADOKAWA CORPORATION

masterlynx: We never set out to make Heartsteel a very dark story. But as we developed it, a deeper meaning naturally started to come through. In the end, it became a story about innocence—about a small, kind-hearted girl like Kumiko, who doesn't even understand what war is, being caught in a world shaped by it. She's curious and pure, especially since she grew up watching her mother build robots, which is why she's drawn to the cyborg. The cyborg itself represents peace—it's a being created in a world of conflict, yet capable of feeling and understanding emotions.

The contrast is important. Humans created war, and even created machines that can feel, yet those same machines can recognize what's worth protecting. The antagonist reflects hatred born from that same world, while the cyborg chooses to protect it—because it understands that there are still innocent people like Kumiko who deserve to be safe.

So if there's one thing we'd want readers to take away, it's this: even in a world filled with war and human hatred, there is still something precious worth protecting. And often, it's the innocence of people who don't even understand the conflict around them—but suffer because of it anyway.

There's a delightful, lighthearted D&D feel to Dungeon Duo. Are you a D&D fan? What made you decide to work in this fantasy subgenre?

Dungeon Duo

© KADOKAWA CORPORATION

REKU: Thank you! I love playing D&D with my friends, so I'm glad that shows in the work! I also wanted it to feel a little bit like some of the classic manga and anime I grew up with, things like Ruin Explorers and Slayers. To be honest, it's much more fun and lighthearted than my first concept.

I had originally roughed out an entirely different one-shot for the contest, and I still really like it, so maybe I'll make it one day. It was a sci-fi short with some darker, sadder elements, and I realized that if this short won any sort of prize, I might be expected to do a similar work in the future, so at the last minute, I started over from scratch. My reasoning was admittedly because I wanted to do something that I thought KADOKAWA would likely publish, but also something that I knew I would have unabashed fun drawing. Something action-packed, a little silly, and with some ecchi elements. KADOKAWA publishes a lot of dungeon and fantasy light novels and manga, so it seemed like a logical jump.

Both of you chose to work in genres that have fantastical elements. Are fantasy and science fiction your preferred genres? Do you have any specific inspirations behind your work?

masterlynx: We honestly enjoy all kinds of genres, but we naturally lean more toward action and adventure. At the same time, we also really love fantasy and sci-fi. The reason we chose sci-fi for Heartsteel came from both of our interests coming together. Yash really wanted to draw cool action sequences—large-scale destruction, futuristic ettings, and dynamic fights—while I wanted a softer, emotional story centered around a cute female character. So we worked on an idea that could balance both.

One of the biggest influences behind this choice was a childhood favorite, Doraemon: Nobita and the Steel Troops. That movie played a major role in shaping the tone and direction of Heartsteel, especially the mix of emotional storytelling and sci-fi elements.

The original script for Heartsteel was actually much longer, but due to the deadline, we had to cut a lot of plot points and moments. Still, the core idea remained the same: combining the heartfelt innocence of a young girl with intense sci-fi action—and that blend is what ultimately defines Heartsteel.

REKU: Fantasy and science fiction are 100% my preferred genres! I don't think I would ever draw a manga that didn't involve some sort of fantastical or sci-fi element to it. I love manga because of the escapism. There are some incredible mangaka who do amazing biographical works or human dramas set in reality, but I am not among them! Give me goofy aliens and cool magic systems.

Dungeon Duo

© KADOKAWA CORPORATION

Manga's iconography has become fairly global; were there any specifically Japanese symbols you used? Did you combine that with iconography from your own culture's comics landscape?

masterlynx: We've been reading manga and watching anime for a long time, so most of our understanding of iconography naturally comes from there—especially works like Dragon Ball. That said, for Heartsteel, we didn't directly rely on Dragon Ball's style. Since we were working with female characters, our focus was more on making them feel cute and emotionally expressive.

A big influence for us was One-Punch Man, particularly how it uses simple, comical expressions and symbols to convey emotions so effectively. That approach inspired a lot of how we handled character reactions. We were also inspired by characters like Anya from Spy × Family, especially in terms of expressive and cute visual storytelling.

Overall, most of our iconography is rooted in Japanese manga and anime culture because that's what we've grown up with. We didn't really incorporate much from Western or Indian comic traditions in this project. For the action sequences, One-Punch Man—and especially Yūsuke Murata's choreography—was a major influence, as we've closely studied his work over time.

Heartsteel

© KADOKAWA CORPORATION

REKU: I didn't use any Japanese symbols, actually. I didn't even use sound effects because I wanted my entry to be understandable without them, plus I didn't want there to be anything that needed translation. However, I did try to utilize manpu often to convey emotion in the characters, and I used the “?” and “!” punctuation symbols often, which I may have been too reliant on! There is also one moment when the characters are discussing splitting the treasure between them, so I drew a cartoonish bag with a “$” money symbol on it, then cut the bag in half with a dotted line down the middle. I think that was a simple, somewhat elegant solution, if a little heavy-handed.

What's your process for creating wordless manga? Do you have a written outline similar to a script, or do you jump right to the storyboarding? Does it differ from your process when creating manga with dialogue?

masterlynx: Honestly, our process for Heartsteel was pretty unstructured because we found out about the contest very late. We didn't really plan things properly—I came up with the basic plot in about an hour, without writing a full script. I just did some quick research on futuristic and apocalyptic settings, and then Yash jumped straight into drawing.

I shared rough ideas for layouts and how the story should progress, but we didn't create a proper storyboard. We initially aimed for a 12–15 page one-shot, so we started working page by page. Each day, I would guide Yash with directions and ideas, and we'd adjust things as we went. But as we progressed, we realized we couldn't include all the elements we had discussed, so we had to cut a lot and focus on finishing within the deadline.

For our usual projects, the process is a bit different. I do write a script—but mostly for myself—so I can clearly explain everything to Yash. He understands things better through direct explanation and visualization rather than just reading a script.

This was our first time working on something major with Kadokawa, and we learned a lot—especially from our editor—about properly structuring scripts and creating storyboards. Before Heartsteel, our process was honestly a bit messy, but this experience really helped us grow.

Dungeon Duo

© KADOKAWA CORPORATION

REKU: My process for creating wordless manga is quite similar to creating manga with dialogue. I usually start with a loose outline of what I want to happen, generally a paragraph or two. Then I take that, and I work it into a bullet point list, each bullet point represents a page. I use 1-2 sentences per bullet point to convey what happens on each page. From there, I move to rough thumbnails to try and get the visual pacing and flow right. This is usually where the most actual writing and big changes get done. I see this step as a very fluid one, flexible and easy to change; all things here need to serve the story and clearly convey that story. Then I move onto pencils, then onto inks and tones.

When creating manga with dialogue, my process is largely the same, though I am writing dialogue for the character through almost every step of the process, or in my sketchbook. I will find myself adjusting dialogue up until the very last stage, all to better fit the scene and tone. It also allows me to stretch scenes and move things around easier. To be candid, this can be a little messy way of doing things, but it feels far more natural and less constrictive than writing out a full script with dialogue to work from.

Were you concerned about creating something universal when considering your pieces for this contest? Was that a factor in deciding what stories you told, or did you simply create what you wanted to without considering that?

masterlynx: Honestly, we didn't really think about making something “universal” while creating our entry. Our main goal was simply to showcase what we enjoy the most. We weren't overthinking what message to deliver or what kind of story would appeal globally.

One big reason for that was that we weren't taking the contest too seriously at first. We knew there would be many incredible submissions, probably much better than ours, so our main aim was to gain experience and hopefully get some editorial feedback since we still considered ourselves amateurs.

Heartsteel

© KADOKAWA CORPORATION

We did briefly think about what might resonate with the judges, but we weren't confident in guessing that, so we decided to just focus on what we genuinely wanted to create. The idea itself was quite spontaneous, inspired by a movie we've loved since childhood—Doraemon: Nobita and the Steel Troops. Even now, we still rewatch it sometimes, and that influence naturally shaped the direction of our story. In the end, we just followed our instincts—combining action, emotion, and a sense of innocence—without really aiming for universality. It just came out that way naturally.

REKU: This is an interesting question because my thoughts on this might be a little unconventional. My first priority was for it to ultimately be something I wanted to draw, because at the end of the day, this is a representation of my work and of the type of work I want to be doing. A lot of these contests have incredible entries with deep emotional moments; these are wonderful, and the winners of this contest were no exception! But I also had a moment of clarity where I realized that I would likely stand out more if I didn't do that, if I instead did something more fun, but I did it with full force. It was a bit of a gamble, but I feel I was more true to myself by doing it.

Honestly, I wasn't too concerned with a universal element while I was creating it, because the fantasy genre is so common now that it transcends regional barriers, so the setting wasn't an issue. The only things that the people needed to be able to understand were the characters and their goals. At the end of the day, I think those are the two most important elements of a story for a reader to latch on to, whether it's a wordless manga or not. In Dungeon Duo, that goal is treasure, and luckily for me, that is also pretty universal!

Is there a specific comic artist – manga or otherwise – who has influenced you? What was it about their art that spoke to you?

Dungeon Duo

© KADOKAWA CORPORATION

masterlynx: The artist who first inspired us has to be Sensei Akira Toriyama. Dragon Ball is what got us into this whole world, and his ability to create such fun, expressive characters and iconic action really left a strong impression on us.

Yash, in particular, has practiced from many different artists like Eiichiro Oda, Takeshi Obata, Takehiko Inoue, and Kōhei Horikoshi. But overall, our biggest influences remain Toriyama-sensei and Murata-sensei. You can especially see that mix in Yash's style, which draws a lot from Dragon Ball, One Piece, and One-Punch Man.

REKU: Oh, there are too many to name, so I will try (and likely fail) to keep it short… My top manga influences are probably Yasuhiro Nightow, Hiromu Arakawa, and Tsutomu Nihei. Hiromu Arakawa's thoughtfulness both to character depth and magic systems, as well as the intersection of those things, is just the best there is in my opinion. Plus, it's where my fondness for silly cow characters came from (I should probably change my creator icon). Anything Yasuhiro Nightow draws is so unabashedly “rule of cool,” from Trigun to Gungrave to Blood Blockade Battlefront, and his comedy is so genuinely good. He is someone I want to see continue drawing manga forever. And Tsutomu Nihei is the ideal I strive for in terms of being an artist who can evolve and grow. Seeing his unique take on the fantasy genre with Tower Dungeon and getting lost in its world and his visual storytelling is a treat that I recommend to everyone who has working eyes.

As for western comic artists, I love the works of James Harren, Matias Bergara, Becky Cloonan, and Gigi Cavenago, plus I'm a big fan of old school Heavy Metal magazines (Metal Hurlant in the UK), which featured a lot of artists from all over the world like Moebius, Druillet, Simon Bisley, and Vaughn Bode.

What do you think the benefit of wordless manga is? Is it something you'd like to do again in a longer format?

Heartsteel

© KADOKAWA CORPORATION

masterlynx: We gained a lot of experience from creating a wordless manga—it pushed us to improve in ways we didn't expect. As we move toward a more professional path, we feel that participating in wordless manga (and manga contests in general) is extremely valuable. But wordless manga in particular offers something special—it gives you opportunities to grow that most other formats don't.

We'd definitely like to explore it again, especially in a longer format. It has huge potential, particularly for slow, silent, and psychological storytelling, as well as visually rich genres like fantasy.

What makes it so powerful is the challenge: you have to communicate everything without dialogue. That forces you to think differently and rely completely on visual storytelling—expressions, composition, pacing, and flow. It pushes your creativity and makes you come up with new ways to convey emotions and ideas purely through imagery. Because of that, it really helps improve both your storytelling instincts and your ability to express ideas visually.

REKU: Earlier, you asked if I considered any elements to make my story more universal. I believe that wordless manga makes the work inherently more universal. It is challenging for the artist, but there is no need for translation, which is ultimately a huge benefit. Because manga is a visual medium, it is unequivocally this medium's greatest strength and most defining feature. Otherwise, it's just a novel. Novels are great, but the difference between both mediums is what makes them each wonderful and unique.

I would love to do more wordless manga in the future! I'm not sure how long I'd be able to do one, but maybe I can finish the original one-shot I had planned for this contest one day.

What are your plans going forward? Do you hope to make manga your career?

masterlynx: Yes, we definitely want to keep creating stories and pursue this as a full-time career—it's what we truly enjoy and feel most confident doing. Our main goal going forward is to get serialized in Japan and continue improving while working toward our dream of living there and creating more manga.

Dungeon Duo

© KADOKAWA CORPORATION

In terms of what we want to create next, we're planning a series heavily inspired by works like Dragon Ball, combined with things we personally love—like Chinese mythology, especially Journey to the West, along with kung fu elements and old-school game influences. Games like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and, especially, God Hand are big inspirations for us, and our upcoming work is strongly influenced by God Hand. We want to blend all of these elements into something unique that reflects our style and passion.

REKU: I absolutely plan to make a career in manga! That is my goal. I am currently working with an editor on a work to hopefully be serialized this year. It's weird sci-fi fun, so I hope people keep an eye out for it!

Do you have any advice for other aspiring comic creators?

masterlynx: Our biggest advice would be simple: don't give up on the thing you truly love. For us, it wasn't an easy path. Yash struggled with studies but had a strong passion for art. Because of our financial situation growing up, he had to teach himself—he never went to an art college or had formal training—and still kept improving on his own without giving up.

For me, I also always wanted to be an artist, but as the older brother, I had responsibilities to handle. So instead, I focused on guiding him—helping him grow in the direction I couldn't fully pursue myself, hoping he'd get the opportunities I didn't have. That's something we both held onto: no matter the situation, we didn't quit. And that's what we'd say to anyone starting out—keep going, no matter how tough it gets. There are more opportunities now than ever before, so focus on improving, keep creating, and put your work out there. Just keep making cool things and trust the process.

REKU: I think a lot of aspiring creators sometimes want to make big, flashy action scenes. Which is great because they are fun and look nice, but those fights are nothing without the characters who are fighting. It's important to remember that your readers become invested in a story through the characters. The more relatable and compelling those characters are, the more rewarding and emotional those big fight scenes become.

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.