# Garo and Heta-uma (Japanese Underground Manga and 'Bad-Good' Illustration)

> The deliberately crude, naive-looking drawing of Japan's alternative manga and illustration, centred on the magazine Garo (1964-2002) from the 1970s. Wobbly pen lines, flat or scratchy fills and unpolished hand lettering were chosen on purpose, as 'bad but good' (heta-uma), against the polished look of commercial story manga. Garo also ran realist gekiga, which is outside this idiom. Modern viewers regard a rabbit painting attributed to Tokugawa Iemitsu as an early precursor. The idiom reached illustration and marketing in the 1970s and 1980s.

- Period: 1970–1989
- Where: East Asia
- Origin: Tokyo, Japan: the idiom grew in the 1970s around the monthly manga anthology Garo (founded July 1964 by Katsuichi Nagai, published by Seirindo until 2002); illustrator Shoji Yamafuji heard the term 'heta-uma' ('bad but good') in the early 1970s, and the idiom declined by the end of the 1980s
- Branch: Counterculture
- Also known as: Heta-uma, ヘタウマ, Garo manga, Alternative manga
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/garo-heta-uma/

## How it works

- Draw with a wobbly, unrefined pen line and leave the awkwardness visible as the intended look.
- Simplify figures into childlike, lopsided, distorted shapes with blank or scratchy faces.
- Fill areas with flat tone or loose hatching rather than polished shading or screentone.
- Letter titles and speech by hand, uneven and unpolished, as part of the drawing.
- Hold a deadpan, absurd or rebellious tone and let a crude drawing carry a sharp or surreal joke.
- Keep the printing plain: mostly black ink on paper, with colour used sparingly.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (occasional)
- [Dynamic asymmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dynamic-asymmetry/) (occasional)
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Generous white space](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/generous-white-space/) (characteristic)
- [Sequential narrative](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/sequential-narrative/) (occasional)
- [Flat hierarchy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-hierarchy/) (occasional)
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [Experimental & distorted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/experimental-and-distorted/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (characteristic)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)

### Form & shape
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (defining)
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (characteristic)
- [Squiggles & confetti](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/squiggles-and-confetti/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Paper & letterpress bite](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/paper-and-letterpress-bite/) (characteristic)
- [Grain & noise](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grain-and-noise/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (characteristic)
- [Ornament-free](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornament-free/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Comic & cartoon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/comic-and-cartoon/) (defining)
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (defining)

### Medium & production
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (defining)
- [Offset printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/offset-printing/) (characteristic)

### Tone & intent
- [Ironic & self-aware](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ironic-and-self-aware/) (defining)
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (characteristic)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (characteristic)
- [Warm & approachable](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/warm-and-approachable/) (occasional)

Avoids: Gloss & highlights, Halftone & Ben-Day dots, Modular grid, Grotesque & neo-grotesque, Naturalistic depiction, Straight photography, Authoritative & institutional, Luxurious & glamorous

Palette: #f1ead8, #161412, #8a8478, #d8392b

Typefaces: Uneven hand-drawn katakana and hiragana lettering inside the drawing, Hand-lettered Garo titles and credits in brush and pen

Known for: Penguin Gohan, drawn by Teruhiko Yumura ('King Terry') and written by Shigesato Itoi, serialised in Garo (1976); Yoshikazu Ebisu, heta-uma artist; Takashi Nemoto, heta-uma artist; Garo magazine (Seirindo, July 1964 to December 2002)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Angura Theatre Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/angura-poster.md) (1965–1985)
- Alike in its design choices: [Arab Press Caricature (Rose al-Yusuf to Naji al-Ali)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/arab-press-caricature.md) (1925–present), 73% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Natural Wine Label Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/natural-wine-label.md) (2007–present), 72% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Arab Independent Comics (Samandal, TokTok, Lab619, Skefkef)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/arab-independent-comics.md) (2007–present), 70% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [L'Association and French Alternative Comics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/l-association-comics.md) (1990–present), 68% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Zagreb School of Animated Film](https://stylogeny.com/styles/zagreb-animation.md) (1954–1980), 68% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Rubber-Hose Revival (Cartoon Mascot Graphics)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/rubber-hose-revival.md) (2017–present), 67% alike

## Sources

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heta-uma
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garo_(magazine)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teruhiko_Yumura

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Garo and Heta-uma (Japanese Underground Manga and 'Bad-Good' Illustration)”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/garo-heta-uma/