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Digital Manga's Wonder 3 Kickstarted Adds Kimba, Goast Man Manga

posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Black Jack, Astro Boy-themed merchandise also added as rewards

North American publisher Digital Manga Inc.'s Wonder 3 (Wonder Three) Kickstarter campaign added the dual language "Leo Edition" of Osamu Tezuka's Jungle Taitei (Kimba the White Lion) manga, as well as the Japanese hardcover version of Tezuka's Goast Man manga as backer rewards on Wednesday.

The campaign also added new reward tiers for various Osamu Tezuka merchandise: Black Jack collector's cards, iPhone 5 cases, and earphone jacks; a vinyl Leo figure, Leo earphone jacks, and a Leo bathmat; an Astro Boy spoon and fork set; a Pinoko doll; and the Let's Draw Manga: Astro Boy book. Previously announced pledge rewards include wooden collector's coins, baseball shirts with the Wonder 3 logo, a Moleskine journal with optional name embossing, and cel art.

Tezuka serialized his Jungle Taitei manga series in Manga Shōnen from 1950 to 1954. It was adapted into a 52-episode TV anime series, which aired in Fuji TV from 1965-1966. NBC dubbed this series in English for syndication in the United States, where it premiered in 1966 with the title Kimba the White Lion. The manga has since been adapted into multiple television anime series, OVAs, and films.

The Kickstarter campaign aims to raise US$46,500 by October 30. If the Kickstarter is successful, Digital Manga will print the three-volume Wonder 3 series in hardcover, with over 200 pages in each volume. As of press time, the Kickstarter has earned US$23,926.

Digital Manga describes Wonder 3:

Wonder 3 takes place in an alternate Earth in the year 196X and the world is overrun with war and violence. The Galactic Federation consisting of all the advanced species of the universe convene to decide the future of Earth, but due to a lack of information they decide to send an elite team, Wonder 3, to observe human species for one year and determine whether or not humans are worthy of saving. Upon landing on Earth, the three members of Wonder 3 – Bokko, Nokko, and Pukko – disguise themselves as animals and come across the two Hoshi brothers who defend humanity in their own way. With a time limit of one year, what can Wonder 3 learn from the Hoshi brothers about life on Earth?

The Kickstarter also includes a stretch goal to print Tezuka's The Film Lives On single-volume manga. Digital Manga will print the manga if the campaign reaches US$55,900. Digital Manga describes The Film Lives On:

The single volume stand-alone manga is about friends Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro pursuing their dreams of becoming animators, but they soon have a falling out. Musashi falls in love with a woman named Otsu, but her yakuza family disapproves of their relationship, so they burn over 500 cels of Musashi's animation and damage his eyesight in the process. Despite all his tribulations, Musashi perseveres through adversity to make his animation truly “alive.”

Tezuka launched the Wonder 3 manga in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine in May 1965, where it ran for a year until May 1966. Mushi Productions produced a 52-episode television anime adaptation of the manga in 1965.


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