Yatta! I just drew manga with Google Arts and Culture’s Giga Manga web app and you can too

Over on Google’s Arts & Culture blog this week, the company revealed a new interactive experiment that allows anyone to magically draw manga-style ink artwork, all while exploring and learning about the history of manga. For those who are unaware, this popular Japanese art style originated in the 12th Century on animal scrolls and rose to prominence in the 1950s through the publishing industry. It was even used during WWII for war propaganda before publications like Astro Boy, Kimba The White Lion, and others took the world by storm.

Most people reading this may be more familiar with modern “Shōnen” manga like Dragon Ball Z, Full Metal Alchemist, and so on, but its roots go way further back than that. In fact, the “Father of Manga”, Osamu Tezuka began drawing his first pieces when he was 17 years old, back in 1947.

Anyway, if you’re interested in trying your own hand at this, and you’ve already enjoyed spending some time learning all about manga via the new “Manga Out of the Box” series, you can visit Giga Manga on the web to make your own. Don’t worry, if you’re not quite an artist, that’s what makes this special – Google’s AI and machine learning automagically with nothing but a few lines from your hand. Add a bit of color, and let the tech giant take over and make it beautiful.

In this unique experiment, all you need to do is sketch a few simple lines and add some splashes of color – then let machine learning fill in the rest. You can also draw freeform to personalize your creation further. And when you’re done, the tool will help you discover manga similar to the one you’ve drawn.

The Keyword

My favorite aspect of the experiment is the row of related artwork that appears below your own attempt. Google Arts & Culture has many experiments that often pair your face, your own drawing, and so on with famous works of artists past. You can tap or click one to explore their work further and see who you draw most like! It’s a fun little way to waste some time, and I hope you try it out as manga, or at least anime has touched your life in some way or another this generation.