Milan, 22 May 2024 – ‘Bread and manga’. And we’ve said it all. The nickname chosen by Caterina Rocchi, thirty-year-old designer and founder (but also director) of the Lucca Manga School, gives a perfect idea of what his life is. Even as a child she spent her time between sheets of paper and colored pencils. A predisposition that soon turned into passion. So she blossomed a talent, especially when she got to know the world of manga.
Study Japanesedo the shuttle between Italy and the Land of the Rising Sun, supported by parents who don’t try to change her mind. Unlike many adults who remain perplexed when faced with her choices or those of her peers who consider her drawing an oddity and marginalize her. In Tokyo, Caterina has the opportunity to learn from Japanese artists prominent, honing his skills and developing a completely original style. Through hard work and a sincere love for what he does, he begins to achieve recognitions and publishes some of his drawings in Japan. Not only that, he has the opportunity to support a manga artist in the role of assistant and another in that of assistant manager.
He collaborates with leading companies in the sector, forms partnerships with renowned brands, participates in national fairs and writes books. Up to what today he considers his greatest pride and pride: the Lucca Manga School. A very inclusive reality since it is open to all students without distinction of age, gender and psychomotor abilities. “For me – he underlines – the important thing is that members learn, do something they like and meet people who can understand them. When we talk about art, we touch on something very personal that must always be respected”. A school that has become in 14 years a point of reference for lovers of Japanese drawing and which presents every yearto interesting news. “We are about to launch – he announces – a course for editors, unique in Italy. Because you never stop growing and learning.”
Caterina Rocchi, founder and director of the Lucca Manga School (Credits Luigi Rizzo)
When did your passion for drawing begin?
“I was born there. Ever since I was a child, wherever I went I had my backpack with paper, pencils and colours. I couldn’t help it.”
What about comics?
“Comics were my first reading. The favorites were Mickey Mouse, Lupo Alberto – although I didn’t understand why he always wanted to be alone with the chicken (laughs, ed.) – and Dylan Dog”.
When did manga arrive?
“One day, by chance, when I was in elementary school. While I was at the newsstand, I noticed a little book that had a girl in a Japanese school uniform on the cover and I was immediately intrigued.”
Did he buy it?
“Yes and it was the first manga I read. It was the fourth issue of the ‘Peach Girl’ series (Japanese shojo manga created by Miwa Ueda, ed.), which in Italy is quite famous, but ironically in Japan it is practically unknown”.
What were you struck by?
“First of all from the fact that the female characters were the protagonists. Then from the story, simple, at times almost banal, but which could have been mine or that of any of my classmates.”
Aspects that he had never found before?
“Mickey Mouse or Lupo Alberto, for example, are adults with a house, a girlfriend, no parents to answer to. The characters in the manga were more like me. And I felt understood, instead of always having to be myself, making the effort to identify with someone.”
Experience a story through the eyes of the protagonist…
“It’s one of the key points of the manga. You feel involved, because there is a strong identification with the characters. This is also thanks to the fact that you can read their thoughts (the balloons, ed), useful for understanding their psychology more deeply and which allow us to experience their emotions more intensely. The backgrounds are also fundamental, used in an emotional rather than descriptive way.”
After the first manga?
“I never stopped. When I finished reading it, I said to myself: ‘I want to do this, I want to do something like this.’
As well as?
“As well as a Japanese manga. But in Italy it was practically impossible. At first it was difficult to find the series and get advice from someone who specialized in the topic. Fortunately, in middle school, my classmate passed me Naruto (manga written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto, ed)… But it wasn’t enough for me. Until, one day, I told my parents what my desire was: ‘I want to be a manga artist’.”
Answer?
“After having explained what a mangaka (author of comics with manga characteristics, ed), their reaction was: ‘Well, start studying Japanese, because manga drawing is learned in Japan and you have to go there’. I will never stop thanking my mother and father for the support they have always given me. If I am who I am today, I owe it to them too.”
And he started studying
“I was 13 and at 14 I went to Japan for the first time with my mother. She studied with me, after all it was only her eighth foreign language… She accompanied me the first seven times, then I continued to fly to Tokyo alone at least once a year but they were already business trips”.
In the meantime he attended art high school
“Yes, a school where I had the opportunity to learn a lot, but no manga. In fact, when some teachers found out that I was reading them, they started lowering my grades, saying that there was too much of that technique in my drawings.”
Could he do everything?
“After finishing school I left for Japan for two months, where I studied the language and drawing. When there is a true passion, certain rhythms don’t matter. I was (and am) very obsessed and I didn’t see and ask for anything else: no fashionable clothes, no scooter, no disco nights. I just wanted to draw.”
And his classmates?
“At school I was always considered a loser, of the worst kind, with associated episodes of bullying. For me it was difficult to make friends or find people who had the mental flexibility to look beyond what might have seemed an initial oddity.”
Caterina Rocchi, founder and director of the Lucca Manga School (Credits Luigi Rizzo)
What happened at 17?
“I invited one of my Japanese teachers to Italy during the winter holidays. Since I was going to take a course with him, I thought I could extend this possibility to other people too. So, in the end, there were five of us. That small class was the beginning of the Lucca Manga School.”
How did the path evolve?
“We really liked that impromptu experience, so we thought we’d propose it again once a year. First with a space at Lucca Comics then…then the situation got out of hand and here we are with a real school, more than 200 courses per year and 1300 students”.
What is the training offer?
“Short, biennial courses, online or on site, for all ages: from 8 years old and up. And there is also the possibility of staying in the school with the Homestay formula (for students aged 14 and over, ed.). Students can live together, with teachers and staff, sharing lessons, meals and free moments.”
The teachers?
“Mainly Italians, especially for a question of translation. But all highly qualified and updated thanks to courses with Japanese teachers. Then, there is a parterre of Japanese teachers who come to the school once a year.”
She teaches?
“I used to teach, but my role as director has become increasingly demanding and I would not be able to dedicate myself to the students as I would like. I founded the school at 17 and at 19, my long-time teacher, Matsuda Ikuo, told me: ‘I came to take the courses, you’ve seen how they work, now you do the basic ones and for the more difficult ones you call me’. I could only say yes, because in Japan, in the teacher-student relationship there are no ‘no’s or even ‘maybes’”.
Such a young teacher, was it difficult?
“I have never struggled to impose myself, even with students much older than me. Do you think that in the first class I had, I found two thirty-year-old boys and they were the best: respectful, precise and silent”.
Do students come prepared?
“No, there are people who have never even tried to draw. For this reason, classes are made up of a maximum of ten people. In this way the teacher can follow each student: the theme is the same for everyone but it is worked on different levels, based on everyone’s preparation”.
Running a school is quite a responsibility
“Absolutely yes, being the primary source of income for people is hard. If I cause a disaster, it’s not just me who loses, but also all the people who depend on me and their families as a result. But I like being a director, because through my work I can help many categories with a single gesture. The teachers, who work flexibly while maintaining time to create their own works, the students who have the opportunity to study real Japanese techniques without having to go all the way to Japan like I did, the parents who see their children open up and meet new people”.
What do you prefer to draw?
“As a child I only drew cats and horses, especially My Little Pony. Then, when I learned about manga, I moved on to people. Today I like to draw girls and their clothes, which above all have a minimal and very feminine style. The same one I’ve been against for a long time. I was trying to bring out edges that didn’t belong to me, but when I let go, I found myself and my safe space.”
Your favorite phase?
“Colors because I can indulge myself as I want. While when I draw a body, the anatomy is the same and there is less creativity.”
Is paper and pencil or a graphics tablet better?
“With the tablet there is more freedom to experiment, especially with colors. There is also much less waste. I won’t hide from you that sometimes I have been reluctant to use watercolors because they are so beautiful and precious. But I always recommend continuing to use paper and pencil for reasons of hand memory. This is why we advise parents not to give the tablet to their children too early.”
What is drawing for you?
“A means of communication. The drawing must convey emotions and sensations to those who look at it. It must be a sort of conversation between the spectator and the work.”
Why is there this manga boom in Italy today?
“Animation and streaming services kept many company during the Covid pandemic. At home, after finishing the classic TV series, many found themselves watching and discovering some Japanese series. And they were fascinated by them. Then, from anime they discovered manga. But there are also those who had a passion for a long time and had never managed to bring it out, because they didn’t find great possibilities and opportunities.”
What do you recommend to those who want to do this job?
“We need to study a lot, because we don’t realize how much work goes into a comic. To draw manga you need to know anatomy, perspective, table compensation, story structure. You don’t have to know how to write or draw, you have to know how to do both.”
And who does it as a hobby?
“I find it beautiful, but it must be experienced as such. Unfortunately, however, we have this toxic concept of monetizing our passions: a hobby doesn’t have to become a job.”
Is there anything particular you’re working on at the moment?
“I recently went to Korea to create useful contacts for our webtoon courses, i.e. comics for mobile phones (vertically scrolling, accessible from smartphones, ed). Then, we are preparing for the summer courses, which will start soon.”
What’s new in sight?
“We are about to launch a course for editors. Yes, because we need professional figures who support artists and cartoonists in their work. It would be the first in Italy and we can only be proud of it.”
