Amanda and Angel, here, bringing you our excitement over the latest Kickstarter campaign to publish more work by Tezuka Osamu!
Amanda: As far as I’m concerned, the wider the availability of Tezuka Osamu’s work, the better! Fortunately, Digital Manga, Inc. seems to feel the same, as they’re running their tenth Kickstarter project (nine of which have been focused on Tezuka) to translate and republish pieces of this seminal mangaka’s huge volume of work. Back in 2014, DMI partnered with Tezuka Productions to publish Tezuka’s backlist of manga titles in English. Interestingly, they’ve done quite a bit of this publishing through Kickstarter, which for me points to just how much Kickstarter has changed the publishing landscape. This time, the goal is to publish shoujo manga Storm Fairy and reprint Unico. And less than a week into the campaign, they met their $14,000 goal!
Angel: Their choice of manga to publish this time sounds like a great entry point for new manga readers, and for those maybe looking to expand their manga horizons, like me. Storm Fairy is a collection of three supernatural short stories. Tezuka explores the perception of beauty and transformation in each story, in the guise of fairies and animal companions. His artwork promises an engaging and thought-provoking experience.
Amanda: As excited as I am about Storm Fairy, I am even more excited about DMI’s stretch goals: republishing Unico. I don’t know about you, but I have some pretty strong childhood memories of the anime version of Unico. Mostly, I remember that the anime is bizarre (to say the least), but Unico is about a cute unicorn who brings happiness to everyone around him, and who wouldn’t love that and want to see more of it? Actually, I don’t think I’ll ever watch the anime again, but I do want to read the manga. Call it morbid curiosity if you wish, but I need to find out if the manga is anywhere near as messed up as the anime. Anyway, while, yes, DMI has previously printed Unico, they’re going for a higher quality reprint.
Angel: While the campaign may have reached its initial goal, supporting this Kickstarter means more of Tezuka’s work to explore and enjoy. With manga readers growing only more numerous by the day, revisiting and republishing this artist’s portfolio can help to develop appreciation for manga, and the creators and characters that populate it.
