A Manga Built From Memories

Many people are familiar with Japanese comics, also known as manga. But striving to actually create one is a project currently unique to senior artist Nathan Fordelon. For Fordelon, the process isn’t just about indulging in free time, it is a profound act of remembrance for fellow student and friend Anna Huang who passed away last spring.

“I’m starting this project in memory of her, and I wanted to show off who she was to me and some of the adventures that we went on,” Fordelon explained. “I was inspired to make a manga specifically because it was something we really connected over.”

Manga, known for its distinctive panel layouts, expressive art styles, and visual storytelling techniques, has long been a creative influence for Fordelon, and continues to remain a popular phenomenon of Japanese culture for readers worldwide. But translating real memories into a narrative comic presented a new challenge. From the beginning, Fordelon wanted the project to do more than recount events: it needed to capture personality and the feeling of shared experiences.

The first goal of the project, as Fordelon described it, was to translate those shared memories and history into a sequential narrative. As a result, he hopes that it will ensure that Anna’s personality isn’t just remembered, but also experienced by the reader themselves.

“I started off by checking out a bunch of manga from the Campolindo Library, and I learned how panels are laid out, different tropes, and how artists use art styles to convey comedy or tone or onomatopoeia,” Fordelon said. “The main thing I focused on was readability and how certain elements of the artwork guide the reader’s eyes throughout the page.”

Another challenge that Fordelon described was also related to how he wanted to visually represent the story itself. Rather than sticking to a single style he chose to incorporate two different artistic approaches to help distinguish between time periods in the narrative.

“The art style I’m going for is kind of a mix of photography and a cartoonish style,” said Fordelon. “The story starts off in the present day, and the art style is very realistic. Then it flashes back in time, to when the style is being more cartoonish and whimsical.” He emphasized several times that this choice of stylistic shift would help him reinforce the emotional contrast between the present and the memories being revisited: the story being grounded in reality versus the softer, more animated flashbacks reflecting a lighthearted and playful side of the narrative.

To ensure that the settings feel authentic Fordelon spent time gathering references, and including visual details of familiar locations around town that he and Anna often visited together, which maintains consistency and realism across multiple panels.

Fordelon estimated that the finished project would be around 12 pages long which is slightly shorter than the average manga chapter. In addition to the story itself he planned to include a dedication and a cover page to give the project a polished and official feel.

Although Fordelon reported back in early March that the project was still in its early stages, Fordelon has worked on it consistently since mid-February. “Hopefully I’ll be able to finish it in a month,” he said at the time. “At first, I needed to finish getting some references about the town.”

Many Campo students pursue diverse forms of creative expression, as observed in passion projects and lifelong hobbies, which functions as an innovative exercise and a way of preserving a part of themselves through art. From the perspective of manga, these comics have a unique ability to combine visuals, dialogue, and pacing to capture emotion in a way that can feel immediate and personal. For Fordelon, that storytelling format not only lines up with his own artistic skills, but also feels like the most meaningful way to honor someone who shared his love for the medium.

“She was someone I could be comfortably dumb around,” said Fordeon. “My main goal,” he added, “is to make this a project that Anna’s loved ones and even people who didn’t know her can use to really see who she was.”

And for Fordelon that experience is ultimately what matters most: ensuring that Anna’s spirit, humor, and personality continue to live on within the pages of the story.

To see the completed manga, please go to thecampoclaw.com.