The author and artist of Dead honor manga talks about his life and creation process to tell his story.

In this interview, we speak with an independent mangaka from Vacaville, California, who has lived in the same mobile home park their whole life. Wanting to be known for their powerful storytelling and character-driven work, they are the creator of Dead Honor — a raw, emotional manga that explores redemption, morality, and the human condition through a death row tournamen.

From MMA and combat sports to inspirations like Kengan Ashura, Tokyo Ghoul, and Bojack Horseman, their journey as a creator is defined by passion, resilience, and a deep desire to make readers truly feel something through every story they tell.

Read Dead Honor manga here

Who is the amateur mangaka Ryuga

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and where you’re from?

I’m from Vacaville California, and I’ve lived here my whole life. The same mobile home park, too.

What motivates you to keep pursuing your goals, both personally and professionally?

The idea of being able to create influential stories that people can find value in. I want to make people feel the same way other stories made me feel. And honestly the glory of making a popular story is pretty enticing lol

What’s something people would be surprised to learn about you?

That I practice combat sports, specifically MMA and have competed. Though dead honour doesn’t make that too surprising. I just love fighting!

What inspired you to become a mangaka? Was there a specific moment or work that sparked your passion for manga?

It’s hard to narrow it down. But I’d Kengan Ashura and how it presented fights with so many characters, Tokyo Ghoul and how thoughtfully it wrote its characters and presented their dynamics, and the boxer and how it told an unorthodox story so damn masterfully.

How did your childhood or upbringing influence your decision to pursue storytelling in manga?

It’s kinda sad, but I was a very lonely child. All I had was my toys and the stories I made with them.

All I had was the stories I consumed and created for a long time, so I’m surprised it took me till high school to realize that’s what my passion was.

Manga/webcomics felt like the best way I could present my stories, I get to present my full vision without interference

Where do you draw your inspiration from when creating new stories and characters?

Anything, really, I’m blessed to have a mind where inspiration comes relatively easy. I’ll take bits and pieces of my life, shows, or even pre-conceived notions of some media then Frankenstein it together to create something new!

For example, a moment in the sitcom Scrubs influenced how I wrote Paul Calleys backstory in dead honour.

Are there any specific artists, manga series, or other creative mediums that heavily influence your work?

Besides Kengan ashura, I think Bojack horseman is what showed how thoughtful and nuanced writing could truly be. I was blown away and chased that level of quality ever since. This led to my obsession with writing characters and character driven stories

What motivates you to keep going when you’re struggling with a project or feeling uninspired?

Just idea of the very few people that do read my story is enough to motivate me. It feels nice to have tiny community, it feels personal.

As for being uninspired, I have a little hack. Consume media that might feel like it has nothing to do with your story. It sounds weird but who knows, you can take an idea then portray it in a way no one else thought of.

What do you hope your readers take away from your stories? Is there a specific message or feeling you try to convey through your writing?

To be broad, I mostly just want people to care about the characters I write. Whether it be hate, love, annoyance, joy, etc. I want to make people invested in what I write and wait with baited breath for what happens next

About your book

Can you tell us a bit about the current story you are working on? What is the main plot or premise?

Dead Honor is simply put, a story about bad people who did bad things. Now faced with the end of their lives in a death row tournament they have nothing else to do but reflect.

The worst part is that only one person can leave this tournament alive

Who are the characters?

Among the many characters, here’s five Nathan Silang: an underground mma fighter who allegedly killed his wife and Father. Whether or not he did doesn’t change the fact that this man isn’t quite right Joon Eun: a korean assassin placed in the the tournament for wringing his family and government.

He remains calm through it all Terra Truman: a 17 year old kid who snapped in his shitty town, now placed in the tournament for killing dozens of his classmates in revenge.

He has a relatively cheerful demeanor despite it all Andrew Silva: supposedly a violent gang leader and cop killer. He’s surprisingly patient beneath his angry and stoic demeanor. Roy: the youngest prisoner here at age 14.

He supposedly did a horrible thing to a girl his age but its clear it isn’t true. Despite his monstrous strength his guilt holds him back throughout the tournament

What inspired the central theme or message of your current work? Did it come from personal experience or something else?

The central theme of dead honor is that for every heinous act or horrible person there’s a long LONG story behind it all. It’s not to portray these characters as good characters let alone role models.

But that its important to understand the whole story and think about what to do after its all said and done.

How did you come up with the idea for this “Dead Honor, Was it a sudden inspiration or something that developed over time?

Strongly inspired by Kengan ashura, I mainly wanted to make a story with a simple plot with a strong focus on characters. This story was mainly to help find my style and direction while playing to my strengths and slowly building on my weaknesses

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced while writing this story, and how have you dealt with it?

Backgrounds- I hate doing Backgrounds but I feel so limited without them. But mostly through flashbacks I force myself to practice them. Reference photos I take in public are what really helped me improve here, and now I feel less limited in what I want to portray now

What kind of journey do you want your readers to experience when they follow the story, Are there specific emotions or thoughts you want to evoke?

A bleak experience to say the least. But through it all i want people to feel hope even in hopeless situations. To cherish that hope the brief moments you have it. That, and understanding in situations that are hard to understand.

Do you have a clear ending in mind for your current series, or are you letting the story evolve as you write?

The ending is very clear in my head. But the journey to get there is what’s constantly changing

What role does symbolism or metaphor play in your writing, Are there hidden layers to your story that readers might not catch at first?

Symbolism and metaphors, despite how on the nose they can be, are the main way I portray the story. Whether it be feelings consequences. I don’t imagine people would miss much of what I say despite surreal I make the imagery

How has your story evolved from the first draft to where it is now? Have there been any major changes along the way that surprised even you?

Primarily just formatting and doing more traditional manga techniques, especially the panel borders.

About becoming a mature mangaka

What advice would you give to aspiring mangakas who are just starting out and want to improve their skills?

Create a story, but not the one you want, not yet. But keep at it, don’t stop making your practice story until its done (with as many breaks as needed. Be healthy about it). Just doing dead honor made me feel like I fast tracked my improvement

What is the best platform to upload your book for maximum visibility and engagement?

Either tapas or webtoon, or even creating your own website helped people too.

What is the most important skill or technique you think every aspiring mangaka should master?

The ability to listen to and take into account constructive criticism while also filtering out pointless negative feedback back. Learn to kill your ego every now and again.

What tools or software did you use to create your manga?

Just a Wacom drawing tablet and paint tool sai 2 as my drawing program.

How did you decide how much to charge for your manga?

It’s free! And if I manage to get a big enough audience then I’ll consider a patreon. But for now I don’t want any barriers preventing people from reading my stories.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about self-publishing their manga?

Don’t expect success over night, expecting to blow up immediately will only deflate you in the end. Just spread your story slowly but surely as best you can.

Don’t expect success over night, expecting to blow up immediately will only deflate you in the end. Just spread your story slowly but surely aa best you can

Usually i just wake up, do my morning routine, then do two or three pages for a twenty page chapter. Then every other Saturday I drop the chapter. This schedule honest makes my life more organized.

How do you balance writing the story with drawing the art? Do you focus on one first or work on both simultaneously?

I primarily focus on the art and visual storytelling. I have to admit, the words and speech bubbles are an afterthought sometimes.

Do you prefer working digitally or traditionally, and why?

Digital, easy. My art style is very scrappy and I’m prone to mistakes. Doing it Digital makes it much easier to fix things.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing new mangaka today compared to when you started?

The main problem is balancing my new adult issues with dead honor. As a high-schooler I didn’t have to worry about half the problems I do now.

Do you see yourself exploring other genres or mediums outside of manga, such as novels, anime, or games?

Absolutely, I have at least 5 other stories, all different in genre that I want to create before I die. As for mediums, I definitely want an anime for my stories or at least work on a game.

Where do you hope your career as a mangaka will be in five or ten years?

I want to have created a cult following by then, a small but dedicated fan base with at least 5 stories under my belt by then.

Personal Reflection

Looking back, what has been the most rewarding moment in your journey as a mangaka so far?

The fact was able to make a friend of mine tear up while reading dead honor. The fact I was able to weave a story that made them feel that strongly meant the world to me. Ill never forget that moment.

Thank you to Ryuga author of Dead honor manga

Ok, thats a wrap. Thank you so much for finding me worthy of an interview. I honestly didn’t think dead honor would’ve reached someone like you. This meant the world to me. Thank you so damn much :).

A huge thank you to Ryuga for taking the time to share their journey and creative process with us. Their dedication to storytelling, honesty about the struggles of self-publishing, and passion for connecting with readers through Dead Honor are truly inspiring. We can’t wait to see where their creativity takes them next — and we’ll be following every new chapter along the way.

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