Mangaka is a game where people draw comics in quick, 5- to 8-minute rounds. From playtests and personal experience, I’ve found that there’s nothing to get you in the drawing mood like music! You can play whatever you like, but to me, hyper-dramatic music from ’80s movie montages, and anime songs, are the most appropriate to the fiery burning spirit of Mangaka. It’s strongly recommended that players cue up some inspirational tunes during the Drawing Round. Most songs are about 3-4 minutes long, too, so playing music helps you keep track of time when you’re drawing.
(Warning: although many comic artists draw while listening to music, not so many comic artists write while listening to music, because the lyrics can be distracting from the writing process. If your manga end up always containing the lines “dare to keep the dream alive” or “we are the champions,” consider changing the music. In any case, pick music that everyone can agree on, or don’t use music at all.)
If you’ve got Spotify, here’s a Mangaka spotify playlist with some recommended songs. If not, here’s another list of appropriately dramatic tunes:
* Joe Esposito, “You’re The Best”
* Queen, “We are the Champions” (also see the Jonathan Coulton cover)
* Survivor, “Eye of the Tiger”
* Survivor, “Burning Heart” (Rocky IV soundtrack)
* Survivor, “Moment of Truth” (Karate Kid soundtrack)
* John Cafferty, “Hearts on Fire” (Rocky IV soundtrack)
* Pete Bellotte, “Push it to the Limit” (Scarface soundtrack)
* Kenny Loggins, “Danger Zone” (Top Gun soundtrack)
* Van Halen, “Right Now”
* Stan Bush, “Fight to Survive” (Bloodsport soundtrack)
* Bonnie Tyler, “Holding Out for a Hero” (Footloose soundtrack)
* Andrew W.K., “Don’t Stop Living in the Red” (sadly, this song is only 1:37 long)
* Bone Symphony, “One Foot in Front of the Other” (Revenge of the Nerds soundtrack)
* Hironobu Kageyama, “Cha-La Head-Cha-La” (Dragon Ball Z soundtrack)
* Hironobu Kageyama, “Burning Blood” (Saint Seiya soundtrack)
* Tomoyasu Hotei, “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” (Kill Bill soundtrack)
* “Moete Hero” (Captain Tsubasa soundtrack)
* …and your high-energy anime soundtracks of choice