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Ablaze Launches Kickstarter Campaign for Gannibal Manga (Updated)

Ablaze Publishing launched a Kickstarter campaign on Thursday for its planned release of Masaaki Ninomiya's Gannibal horror manga.

The Kickstarter will offer a limited-edition hardcover version of the manga in a complete 13-volume box set. Other rewards include a digital version of the first volume, a hardcover plus digital version of the first volume, a digital collection of volumes 1-6, a hardcover collection of volumes 1-6, and a digital complete collection of all 13 volumes. Masaaki Ninomiya will also draw an original sketch for the two highest reward tiers. Other rewards include a bookplate and backers' names in the back of the book releases.

The Kickstarter campaign is offering an early bird special for the first 24 hours of its launch.

Ablaze has provided ANN with covers of the first three volumes of the manga and a four preview pages.

Image courtesy of Ablaze Publishing

Image courtesy of Ablaze Publishing

Image courtesy of Ablaze Publishing

Image courtesy of Ablaze Publishing

Image courtesy of Ablaze Publishing

Image courtesy of Ablaze Publishing

Image courtesy of Ablaze Publishing

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Ablaze plans to release the manga's first volume in North America in November and the second volume in February 2024. The manga will still be available digitally and physically outside of the Kickstarter campaign, but the hardcover edition is exclusive to the Kickstarter.

Ablaze describes the story:

In GANNIBAL, Daigo Agawa is a resident police officer who has been recently assigned to the remote mountain village of Kuge. He is initially warmly welcomed by the villagers, but with the suspicious death of an old woman, he gradually becomes aware of the anomaly of the village and begins to suspect that “The people in this village are eating people.”

Ninomiya debuted the manga in Nihonbungeisha's Weekly Manga Goraku magazine in October 2018, and ended it in November 2021. The manga's 13th and final compiled book volume shipped in Japan in February 2022.

The manga inspired a live-action series that premiered in December 2022 and aired for seven episodes. Disney+ and Hulu are streaming the show worldwide. According to entertainment news website Variety, Disney+ stated the series is the most-watched locally produced original series on Disney+ Japan based on hours streamed.

The series will get a second season with a returning cast and staff.

Update: The Kickstarter campaign has reached its goal within hours of launching.

Source: Email correspondence