MangaKa

I saw positive reviews and thought MangaKa might offer something genuinely useful for artists needing quick reference poses or background elements. When purchasing I assumed: if this software doesn't provide significant advantages over free alternatives, why would anyone buy it? It should deliver either streamlined simplicity, or specialized depth in character posing functionality. It delivers neither. The core issue isn't that MangaKa fails to be an all-purpose 3D suite, I never expected that. What's frustrating is that it doesn't excel at the narrower tasks it ostensibly exists for. If you're unfamiliar with 3D software and want intuitive pose creation, you'll find MangaKa's interface offers no meaningful advantage over learning Blender basics. If you hoping for advanced rig features (adjustable joint constraints, dynamic muscle deformation, sophisticated IK systems) you'll discover those either don't exist or are fragmented across DLC packs that each cost nearly as much as the base software. The DLC situation deserves mention. Core functionality feels deliberately limited to encourage additional purchases, which might be acceptable if the base product demonstrated clear value. Instead, it feels like paying for a foundation that requires constant additional investment to approach basic usability. Also what kind of software doesn't ask if I want to save changes before quitting?

I really wanted this to be good but I cant recommend this. the posing is clunky, the modeling is worse, and half the "included models" are locked behind paywalls as pricy as the software itself, just learn blender.

I really wish I could like this software. But locking basic features (like importing 2D Images) behind DLC seems highly unethical, especially when you consider that the DLC costs as much as the software on its own. I completely understand why the devs would want to be compensated for their continued updates, but I don't think it's reasonable to expect users to pay so much for such basic features, given that there are free alternatives. I'd happily pay for these features, but the current price is way too high to be justifiable. To make matters worse, the support base for this tool is pretty dismal, their tutorial website no longer works as of the time of this review, and searching "MangaKa Tutorial" or even "MangaKa Software Tutorial" on Youtube will give you a lot of results which aren't related to this software specifically, due to how the software's name is basically just the Japanese word for "Manga Artist," or "Manga Author." What I will say is this; if you're just looking for something to pose models, or quickly layout a 3d space, this software does a decent job, but I would highly recommend doing your research before purchasing this product.

If you're using Clip Studio Paint then you don't need this. Instead, just spend those money on CSP GOLD points to get some good assets available on CSP. The camera control is not the best, other controls can be finicky and, the included 3D assets is ok but not the kind of asset that I'd use on my work at least. If your drawing software doesn't have a 3D support feature then maybe you'll get some benefits from this software. and those DLC prices are 😬

STAY AWAY! I really don't like being so negative about an indie dev who might just be a single person... but this is a special case. What a Major slap in the face. Released a solid app only to resesign the app around predetory dlc practices. Locking off full posing if not all posing control to dlc... dude. This is one of those "stay away" warnings due to the demonstration of the devs ability to take away features you paid for just to try to sell them back to you. The power and control made it easy to overlook the clunkieness and crashes... but now... nnnno.

After looking at this for 10 minutes I'm very unimpressed. What I wanted is already in free programs or behind the steep DLC price. I'm very much regretting buying this despite the short time, but plan to at least give this an hour of my time. I seriously should've looked at the reviews but foolishly assumed the ALL REVIEWS summary was enough. I didn't even realize there was DLC. It's obvious that I'm not going to get what I want out of MangaKa. If there was a workshop my opinion would be wildly different. Also quick note, I do not like the controls. Annoying to have to constantly switch between modes when those buttons aren't being used for anything anyways. Update: After using MangaKa for an hour I can say it's not worth the price. Simple features, like importing 3D and 2D models, are behind DLC. The only thing I liked is labeled as deprecated and shouldn't be used. What does this mean? Is it going to get removed in the future? It worked fine when I used it. I don't care to stick around to find out. One thing I did find really interesting is the auto generator. Auto generating a city and only having to edit the details sounded really appealing to me, but I could not figure out how to use it. I believe it's behind DLC. The community at least looks fine. I see a lot of cool things get made by these people and the dev seems reasonably active and helpful. There's also a website that offers tutorials and other things. If you want to spend a few days learning the program, and spend over $50 on DlC, then go ahead, but I'll just stick with the free programs.

Man, why the hell this feels like youre still using a demo? you just unlock the save file options? and why the ♥♥♥♥ a PEN TOOL! 3D IMPORT AND 2D TOOL which is i think a feature needed to this program is A DLC? it should be built in to this program! SO SCUMMY! im not gonna tolerate it devs! heres for your incompetence a plus 1 to a mixed review! enjoy!

I would like to see an android tablet port for this. Not user friendly on surface pro in my experience.