The works of the famous manga creator Naoki Urasawa will finally appear in digital form. Urasawa has announced new digital versions of his work, including 20th Century Boys, on its YouTube channel and website.
The first series of Urasawa’s works to be digitized includes his current manga series, Asadora!, 20th century boys and his entourage, 21st century boys, the anthology of short stories Sneeze, and sports manga, Jigoro!.
A second series of Urasawa’s works, including the thriller monster, critically acclaimed, will be released in February. So far the releases have been announced for Japanese e-book retailers only, with no announcements of an international release for these new digital releases.
Urasawa is hesitant to make the jump to digital distribution, as the author has made it clear that he still prefers printed books and has expressed them have some concerns that the two pages may not display properly on a smartphone or on the screen of an e-reader.
“Manga should be read two pages at the same time“he said. Urasawa even went so far as to add a disclaimer to new digital publications that reads”This work is designed in such a way that, with a certain intention, it can be read two pages at the same timeUrasawa encouraged other manga artists who are concerned about their two sides being shared in digital publications to also use the disclaimer in their works.
While the video was theoretically created to promote digital releases of his work, Urasawa also announced a more “passive-aggressive” competition for Japanese readers to get physical copies of the latest Asadora! to buy. Readers can obtain a special proof of purchase that reads “We love paper books!“for the chance to win a custom illustration drawn by the author.
Despite the stress of its layouts destroyed by the smartphone screen, Urasawa recognized the benefits of the digital medium and even announced that some of these digital releases will also include additional color pages. “I’ve been thinking hard about how to read digital comics in the best possible condition“he said, adding”A digital comic is a great way to reproduce the original images“.
Many of Urasawa’s works, including the critically acclaimed, monster and the winner of theEisner Prize, 20th century boys, are available in physical format for Planet Manga, and a new Deluxe Ultimate Edition for 20th Century Boys for Panini Comics is coming out.
