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Digital Manga Reaches Stretch Goals to Print Tezuka's Unico, Crime & Punishment

Digital Manga Publishing's Storm Fairy Kickstarter campaign reached both of its stretch goals to publish Osamu Tezuka's manga Unico and Crime & Punishment. The campaign ended on Thursday with US$38,142 in funding.

The company's first stretch goal, at US$26,000, will allow it to reprint Unico with better quality color and paper than the company's 2013 release.

The story of Unico centers on a unicorn who has a power to help those who love him. The titular character travels through time and to different countries to make new friends.

The original release was also funded via Kickstarter.

The campaign's second stretch goal, at US$31,500, will fund a print release of Crime & Punishment, which Digital Manga released digitally earlier this year.

The campaign's initial goal of US$14,200 will allow the company to translate, localize, and publish Osamu Tezuka's shojo manga short story series Storm Fairy (Arashi no Yōsei). The one-volume book is a collection of three short stories, slated for November 2015.

Digital Manga also used Kickstarter to raise funds to print Tezuka's Ludwig B, Captain Ken, and Alabaster manga. Most recently, Digital Manga met its Kickstarter goal to publish Clockwork Apple, and met stretch goals to publish Brave Dan, and to reprint Barbara and Swallowing the Earth.

Digital Manga's Kickstarter campaign to publish Tezuka's 13-volume The Three-eyed One manga and seven-volume Rainbow Parakeet manga failed to meet its US$380,000 goal last year. Digital Manga president Hikaru Sasahara said that he originally wanted to use Kickstarter to fund 50-70 books a year, but has switched to a goal of 20-30 volumes in order to lower the cost of publishing including licensing fees, advanced royalties, labor, and other expenses. He added that he would like to launch a new campaign for one to five books almost every month, with a week or two in between each campaign.

Thanks to Francis LeBlanc for the news tip.