I Have a Question – Yan Kai, Chief Cartoonist of Mainland China

Yan Kai, China’s most famous cartoonist. One of the “Three Swordsmen” of Chinese Comic in the age of “Comic’s King”; author of the first new comic separate in China, “Snow Coconut”. Yan Kai entered the comic industry in 1994. Today, he is still committed to domestic original animation & comic business, establishing a company and forming a domestic top-level comics creating team. CGGE had a chance to have an in-depth interview with Yan Kai on the development of domestic comic industry.

CGGE: You entered the comic industry in 1994. As the pioneer of China’s new original comic and one of the “Three Swordsmen” of Chinese manga, you are praised as the “first man of Chinese original story comics” and “the chief Comist of mainland China” by the domestic and overseas industry. How did you embark on the road of original comics?

Yan: Because of “interest” and “luck”.

In fact, most things in life can be attributed to these two words. Starting with interest and succeeding after hard work is called “good luck” while exhausting and hurting yourself in failures is called “fate”. I belong to the former.

As a baby of 3 years old, I was fond of doodling. At the age of 7, when asked by my family what I would like to do when I grow up. I asked: “Can drawing picture-story books be counted as painting? If so, I want to be a painter…” When I was in high school, I wrote dozens of original novels and illustrated for them, which I thought was cool. Then, the classic pirated new comics were imported into mainland, including “The Dragon Ball”, “Saint Seiya” and “City Hunter” in the early 1990s. When I saw it, I fell in love with them. I think this is a kind of art form that combines painting skills, scriptwriting skills and film and film language. Since then, I have set my own goal in life, and I have been a cartoonist in my life. After that, it was a variety of self-study exercises.

This process is not always smooth. I have a title called “The pioneering veteran of the domestic original comic in China” as I belong to the first generation of cartoonists. At that time, the area of Chinese new comic was a wasteland. With no masters to learn comic from, I had to explore and understand everything all by myself. Neither do I have a colleague as only a few people knew the comic. Nor were there any platform for publishing my works. It was hard for others to understand what I was doing, as comic at that time was like the current games,  unpopular as a rat crossing the street in the eyes of parents and teachers.

In 1994, I accidentally spotted the magazine “Comic’s King” in a kiosk, which became a turning point in my life. “Comic’s King” is the first magazine in China in the form of a new comic book. In addition to publishing popular Japanese manga serials, it also encourages submission of China’s original comics. For me and many people who wanted to draw original comics at the time, it felt like The Monkey King, who was trapped under the Five Elements Mountain, finally meeting Tang’s monk. On the evening of the same day, I submitted comic drafts to the editorial department of “Comic’s King”. Fortunately, Wang Yongsheng, the editor-in-chief of “Comic’s King”, appreciated my manuscript. At that time, he was planning to create China’s first new comic studio. Limited by conditions, he decided to select only three young people nationwide. And I was chosen. I spent three days trying to persuade my parents to allow me to drop out of college, and go to Beijing to pursue my comic dream. What finally worked was the word “If I want to go to the university, I can always do it as the university is always there. However, if I miss this opportunity, I might miss an entire era.”

Thanks to God, I did not miss that era. I arrived in Beijing with my dreams, published my debut “Snow Coconut” on “Comic’s King”, and became an original cartoonist who published the first comic separate in China. From then on, I went through ups and downs, fighting all the way till present.

All of my heartfelt gratitude go to my teachers and colleagues who have helped me in the past 25 years. Without them, I wouldn’t have the luck.

CGGE: In the 1990s, many people did not recognize cartoonist as a profession. How do you view the current domestic development of original comic? What do you think is the road to developing Chinese comic in the future?

Yan: Yes, the comic book author was not a recommend job. Neither is it now. (laugh). Because it is too tiring (laugh)! Drawing 12 hours a day is our daily routine. I used to say that when I chose to draw comics, I chose “the condensed life restricted to the table.”

The domestic creation environment for original comic has been much better in the past few years than that in the earlier years. The generation who suffered most was actually the one in the 1990s. Not understood, no income, no platform, not to mention resources. It is a group that lived by dreams. Few of them has survived.

Now, due to the support from the government and capital for the animation industry, the entire animation industry has made a qualitative leap compared to 10 years ago. The numbers of practitioners, works, and platforms have greatly increased. To debut became easier, the audience has increased, the market and capital are closer to the industry, and even the industry chain of the industry has begun to be linked, and there are excellent cases of linkage development. Large groups and capitals, such as Enlight Media and Alpha, are building their internal ecological chains. Most domestic teams with excellent originality have received financial support from 2014 to 2017. As the environment improves, the competition situation has also escalated. Blockbusters such as “Monkey King: Hero Is Back” and “Big Fish & Begonia” as well as the rise of the online platforms like Tencent Animation & Comics and Kuai Kan Comics in the new era, have boosted the industry to some extent.

Of course, at this stage, there are also challenges to face. Previously, in order to compete for market share, the emerging platforms adopted the “Data First” competition strategy, which has brought serious consequences to the development of the industry. This kind of strategy intensified the phenomena “Bad money drives out good” and “Operating based on the data matters more than high creation quality of IPs”. With the recession of capital this year, the industry is likely to go through a difficult time of two years. But this is also the two years of shuffling. Companies that don’t understand the industry, and can’t create good works will be obsolete. They enter this industry only for the capital and data. Left is the mainstay that can truly create value for the industry.

How long does it take for an online comic to smoothly transition to paid reading? Can the industry establish a benign ecosystem for authors’ growing? Do we put data in the first place? Or should we adopt Japanese or American methods of creation? That is, to form a dream team and create elaborate works? All of these affect whether how well the original comics can go in the future. They are also the problems we are facing. The readers, the audience, the author, the platform, the capital, and the social forces should be incorporated to hlep the domestic original comic go higher and further.

CGGE: From an original cartoonist to setting up your own cultural company, how do you balance the relationship between comic creation and comic liquidating? How do you view the process of incorporating the “fan economy” into the comic liquidating?

Yan: … The process of changing from a simple cartoonist to a boss of a cultural company… um… is basically forced by the industry…

In my eyes, focusing on the creation of comics is what I want and love most. But unfortunately, I belong to the “first generation” of cartoonists in China, which means that I can’t merely focus on painting like a Japanese cartoonist. In the absence of various industrial resources, it means that you have to do everything by yourself, from looking for platforms to doing market research, from cultivating teams to business operations, from project negotiations to government docking…It is unrealistic to just think about creation in a bad creative environment. If I hadn’t set up my own company, I guess I have already disappeared like many partners in this difficult 25 years of domestic comic development. Of course, setting up a company and becoming a “businessman” is always painful for an author. I have to create and consider operations of the company at the same time. While I am drawing a draft, there would be an employee or a customer coming in to ask me to hold a meeting or sign my name. When the deadline is approaching, I would receive news that the government has cancelled the activities…All of these really drive me crazy. (laugh)

The identities of an “author” and a “businessman” are contradictory, but I think they have something in common. Both good authors and good businessmen are desperate to present good works for readers and audiences. I am not a cartoonist eager to pursue personal art. Convinced that comic is “the art of mass entertainment”, I care about realization of my works in the market. I have been following the creation guideline of “Market first, art second, then the personal”.

We are currently exploring the infiltration of “fan economy” into the area of comic,  which is indispensable for any creator or team seeking future development, and also a difficulty. It tests the team’s operational ability instead of their creative ability. At present, many domestic teams with powerful operational capabilities yet poor works have surpassed teams with great creations. This is the reality. A team with experience in Internet operations has an advantage in the “fan economy.”

CGGE: During your 20 years’ comic career, you have created a lot of comics and gradually established the brand of “Yankai Culture”. In addition, Yankai Culture partnered with Enlight Media to found Beijing Manyan Star Culture Co., Ltd. in 2015 . With the resources of Enlight, Manyan Star adapts the IPs from Yankai culture into film & television works. Could you tell us which classic comics are in production?

Yan: Wow, I appreciate it that you have prepared yourself well for this interview. At present, we are doing the preliminary work for animation and film adaptations of “Star Guardians” series. The comic “Snow Coconut” is being restarted, and has been scheduled for animation and film adaptations. However, the projects are still in confidentiality, and it is not appropriate to announce them now. When the time is right, we will expose further information.

CGGE: With a large number of comics now being adapted into animations and games, the corresponding derivatives are constantly entering the market. In your opinion, which factors do you consider when you decide whether a comic should be adapted into games, animations, etc.? How do you view your work being put on the big screen in the future?

Yan:The aspects for assessment are numerous and complex. At present, the concept of “data stream” is popular in the industry. An IP with more powerful data support has greater development value. But personally, this is not the only standard. Of course, data-supported works certainly have the value of adaptation and derivation. However, sometimes the data might be manufactured rather than real. It might be the result of performance considerations and exchange of benefits. Sometimes, the data stream only proves that the work spreads quickly on the Internet, yet it may be difficult to adapt. Sometimes the distributor buy a “work” that looked like an IP at a very high price, but finally find that he has only bought a “name” and all the content of the story needs to be rebuilt. It’s pretty common.

Therefore, to decide whether a work has the potential to be adapted and built into an industrial chain, it is not enough to merely consider the data. In addition to excellent “data”, the following factors should also be assessed:

“Worldview”: Does the work have a distinctive worldview? Is it huge or true enough? (It should be real in the first place, then distinctive and huge to be worthy of long-term investment.)

“Plot”: Is the plot of the work wonderful? Is the magnitude sufficient? Suitable for long dramas & movies? (The comic series of 3 years or less is basically insufficient from the perspective of adapting the film and television drama)

“People”: Is the character shaping three-dimensional and likable? Do the fans of the work prefer characters, or even the author, to the work? (It’s better that they prefer characters to the work.)

“adaptability”: Can the work be adapted into any work? Or does the work have such a profound two-dimensional nature that it can only be adapted into animation? (A considerable number of works are not suitable for adaptation into live-action series.)

“duration”: It is often neglected in IP purchases. Actually, a new-born hot work that has only existed for 1-2 years is not comparable to a work that has serialized for 10 years. (The older the work, the more suitable it is for creating a large IP. A new-born hot work is only suitable for making quick money.)

When we create our own works, we pay special attention to the aspects above. Any work that fails to meet the standards above will be directly rejected when we submit the comic creation proposals. Characters should be lovable and sufficient; the worldview should be spectacular and open; the plot should be framed aboratively; It must be adaptable for live-action performances; As for the “duration”, as long as the market and the audience recognize the work, we make a creative plan of 10 years to 20 years for it, so that we cover the childhood and adolescence of one generation, and let them spend for the brand for the rest of their lives.

For example: “Star Guardians” has been serialized for 10 years and accumulated a huge number of fans for its original work. Featuring a world view of star sea (cosmic level) and  more than 100 characters, it has various derivative works. The work implies game hierarchies in its setting and is suitable for being adapted into animation and live-action science fictions.

“The Legend of Celestial” has been serialized for 12 years and accumulated a huge number of fans for its original work. Featuring a world view of Chinese and Western immortal hierachy and more than 100 characters, it has various derivative works. The work implies game hierarchies in its setting and is suitable for animation adaptation.

“Snow Coconut”… “Flight in Tang Dynasty”…etc.

Of course, I myself have been expecting our work to be on the big screen and have been working hard for it. In addition to my own wishes, it is also the desire of readers who have favored our comics for many years. Strictly speaking, the glorious period of most of our works is in the age of paper media. In the Internet age, we have less opportunities than the new generation. But we always believe that after the capital’s impetuous period, our high- quality works will soon be spotted by collaborators who also want to produce good works. Just as the “Star Guardians” was seen and discovered by the Enlight Media, many of our other high-quality IPs are expected to meet new partners.

CGGE: As a veteran of the comic industry, what do you think is the most important thing for a comic practitioner? What are the necessary qualities and skills for them? What do you want to say or suggest to the current young comic practitioners? Is there any experience to share with us?

Yan: I hold different opinions on this issue at different stages. The most difficult thing at this stage is that comic practitioners should get down to their work in the restless society, and avoid being tempted by the outside. The time when Bad money drives out good has not completely gone. Sometimes, the platform’s instructions like “quantity matters more than quality”, or a little jealoucy of the popularity of peers, may make you choose a completely separate development path. If you go with the trends and draw the popular “President Comics”, though you or the team can make quick money, it will shorten your career life. Only if you create with determination, can you make progress and stand out in the future.

As for the necessary qualities and skills? It does not make any sense to emphasize the ability to paint, plan or write a script like we did in the past.

What we need is to organize a group. The competition in the Internet age is unimaginable in the era of paper media age. It is impossible to enter the top competition area with the strength of one or two people. Creation, marketing, platform relationships, fan operations, capital docking capabilities… Each of them matters now. Joining or forming a team is a basic condition for newcomers to take part in the industrial competition. With plenty of platforms and opportunities at this stage, it is relatively easy for us to get the opportunity to publish our works, which is a double-edged sword. Without adequate preparation, creators would fail quickly in  the market. Even if a creator is able to serialize now, it does not mean that he can always live on serial. If a team can not produce a hit, the team will not survive. If creators produce “flowing” works, they earn cash, not future; if a team focus on quality, it may not survive long enough to meet success, with plenty of IPs accumulated…

Anyway, never give up. In my early years, I emphasized personal persistence. As I have been in the industry for more than 20 years, I have seen too many geniuses who only survived a short time. I have also seen many people who can barely qualify (me included) their jobs, survived and lived well purely for love for the industry and toughness. Now, in the new era, the team’s persistence matters most. Only if you survive will you be spotted; only if you have great love and tenacity for your career will you truly seize the opportunity to make achievements when you are spotted. Make your life shine for the love of anime.

We expect cooperation with friends from all walks of life. Looking forward to make achievements together with you! Fighting! (laugh)

October 9, 2018

                                          CG Global Entertainment Co., Ltd.

Reporter: Sophia