<p>Although not every manga has the author(s) drawing depictions of themselves, many do and I have yet to come across an example where it was anything other than the ‘chibi’ or superdeformed style of drawing when it was supposed to be a human face.</p>
<p>Anthropomorphic animals, non-human avatars, masks, and so on are also popular.</p>
<p>Sometimes it becomes so exaggerated it seems silly and intentionally self-demeaning.</p>
<p>Clearly it’s an established trope, or standard, by now but why?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-07T13:44:14.227Z
I believe most of the time it's due to personal privacy.
Aki Tanaka
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-18T01:37:29.927Z
Counterexample, Junji Ito in the end of volume bits in Uzumaki, this is the only counterexample I can think of though
Gatchwar
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-04T15:01:51.107Z
First, you have to ask whether a manga artist is necessarily is proficient enough in a realistic drawing style before asking why don't they draw themselves. If this doesn't hold, then you'd have to ask why won't they draw themselves in their manga style. And that's where you might get an answer. If they aren't drawing themselves, but a caricature of themselves, then why go all out when they are overworked as hell? Those superdeformed characters do the job well enough as an avatar while being simple enough that they are not that much hard work to do. Pragmatically, they are their best choice.
paulnamida
<tropes><manga-production><mangaka>
Why are manga authors so reluctant to draw their own faces in their works?
# Why are manga authors so reluctant to draw their own faces in their works?
Posted by: username_0 on 2021-11-06
Although not every manga has the author(s) drawing depictions of themselves, many do and I have yet to come across an example where it was anything other than the ‘chibi’ or superdeformed style of drawing when it was supposed to be a human face.

Anthropomorphic animals, non-human avatars, masks, and so on are also popular.

Sometimes it becomes so exaggerated it seems silly and intentionally self-demeaning.

Clearly it’s an established trope, or standard, by now but why?
**Tags:** tropes manga-production mangaka
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I believe most of the time it's due to personal privacy.  
> **username_2**: Counterexample, Junji Ito in the end of volume bits in Uzumaki, this is the only counterexample I can think of though  
> **username_3**: First, you have to ask whether a manga artist is necessarily is proficient enough in a realistic drawing style before asking why don't they draw themselves. If this doesn't hold, then you'd have to ask why won't they draw themselves in their manga style. And that's where you might get an answer. If they aren't drawing themselves, but a caricature of themselves, then why go all out when they are overworked as hell? Those superdeformed characters do the job well enough as an avatar while being simple enough that they are not that much hard work to do. Pragmatically, they are their best choice.  
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## 0 answers
