#i could go on more abt kamatani's style

[ittibittium]

Shimanami Tasogare - how to support the series, and a guide to Yuhki Kamatani’s other works

Lately, there’s been a surge in posts and threads recommending the manga Shimanami Tasogare, a slice of life LGBTQ+ manga that centers around the life of Tasuku and other members of the LGBTQ+ lounge that have entered into his life, which has recently reached its final chapter. The series is written and illustrated by Yuhki Kamatani, an x-gender and asexual mangaka best known for their debut series Nabari no Ou.

If you’ve read Shimanami, or are considering it, there are a number of ways you can support the series and the mangaka by buying copies of the original Japanese volumes and/or its localizations, and by supporting Kamatani’s other series as well.

There are currently 3 volumes published in Japan, with the fourth (and last) volume set to publish in August. Right now, in addition to the Japanese and Chinese versions of Shimanami Tasogare, the series is currently being localized in an additional 3 languages, and will be localized in English for next year:

Spanish: Sombras sobre Shimanami (”Shadows over Shimanami”) published by Ediciones Tomodomo

2 volumes. Comes with a special bookmark if you order it online through the publisher.

(I’ve also heard that it has additional colour pages that are in b&w in the other versions, and possibly also the online omakes?)

French: Éclat(s) d’âme (”Soul Shards”/”Radiance of the Soul”/”Sound of the Heart”/etc etc) published by Editions Akata

2 volumes (volume 3 releasing in August, volume 4 likely near end of this year, if the pace they’re going keeps up. Delay of ~1 month for publications in Canada (difficult to order online, but physical in-store copies should be easier to track down if you live in Quebec...? you can order it online from renaud-bray, but they don’t tend to have the volumes in stock on the release date so far (vol 3 set to release in CAN oct 1, so we’ll see) chapters only has the ebooks online and seems to have given up on the physical copies, but has phys copies of vol 1 available in QC))

You can read the first chapter in French here.

Italian: Oltre le Onde (”Beyond the Waves”) published by J-POP

1 volume (volume 2 releasing in October)

English: Finally got licensed! Yay! And is scheduled to released on May 7, 2019!

In addition to the physical copies, you can also buy ebook versions for about half the price, which would also save you on import costs if you don’t live in a country it’s readily offered in. You can find these via the amazon sites for each country, and physical copies are also offered by other local bookstores.

Kamatani has also been colouring special versions of the covers for the French release:

While there is no word of any English localization right now, Seven Seas Entertainment (the same publisher that localizes My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, My solo Exchange Diary, and The Bride was a Boy) does monthly consumer surveys asking for titles people want localized. However, they’ve also tweeted that “As a Shogakukan title, it's very unlikely [Shimanami Tasogare is] available to anyone other than Viz for publishing.“ But that doesn’t mean it’s not impossible, so requesting it is still worth a try, and hey, you’ll be entered into a raffle to win a free book from them anyway. You can also suggest Kamatani’s other titles which haven’t been localized into English yet either, which are published by a different publisher than Shimanami in Japan. They haven’t put up their June survey yet though, so keep an eye out. edit: the survey is now live!

Shimanami is now licensed in English by Seven Seas!! Please consider suggesting their other series (Shounen Note, Busshi no Busshin) for licensing in the future as well!!

The Storytelling Style of Yuhki Kamatani

If you’ve read Shimanami, you’re no doubt familiar with their stunning use of imagery and visual metaphors in their work. Their visual storytelling brings a whole other level of intricateness and emotion to their pieces. These visual metaphors often carry over multiple pages, and return in later story arcs. Their visual storytelling also makes up some beautiful spreads.

(Shimanami Tasogare, Busshi no Busshin / Shounen Note, Nabari no Ou)

When it comes to plot, Kamatani tends to focus on the grey, rather than black and white stories of morality. There is never any distinct good or evil --- everyone has their own motives that move them, and these motives lead them all to take actions that affect everyone else. Everyone has their own shortcomings, their flaws, and everyone has their strengths, and the ability to either help or hurt the people around them. And the potential to grow. Their stories focus on topics like self discovery, personal growth, and the many definitions of family and friendship, and span many genres, from slice of life, action, and historical fiction, and include LGBTQ characters and arcs!

Other Works

Brief introductions to Nabari no Ou, Shounen Note, and Busshi no Busshin under the read more.

Nabari no Ou

Kamatani’s first and most well known series. It was made into a 2 season anime, and both the manga and anime have been adapted into many languages, including English, and has numerous other adaptions such as drama cds as well. However I really don’t recommend watching the anime before or instead of the manga. Many of the character backstories are changed, as well as the arcs and overall story, as the anime changes the ending and ends before the manga. The majority of the important arcs and character development occurs in the parts not included in the anime.

An action manga set in a modern ninja world. The series centers around Miharu Rokujou, a 14-year-old boy who is the possessor of a secret ninja art called the Shinrabanshou, which gives the user the power of creation and knowledge of the universe. However, he wants nothing to do with it or the ninja world, despite how much his situation and the people around him drag him into it. He later meets an enemy ninja named Yoite who wants Miharu to use the Shinrabanshou to erase his existence before he dies, and the two make a promise to find a way to make it so Yoite never existed, while also collecting the other forbidden arts of other villages which would help them find a way to remove the Shinrabanshou from Miharu for good.

Shounen Note

Shounen Note: Days of Evanescence is Kamatani’s second main series. All eight volumes have been localized in Spanish by Ediciones Tomodomo under the name of Shonen Note. If you order it from the Spanish publisher’s website, it also comes with special bookmarks/postcards for each volume.

The story is a slice of life, somewhat sports-y type manga with its competitive choir competitions. It centers around Yutaka Aoi, a middle schooler with a love for singing who joins his school choir, and later an opera group. It follows the stories of him and his choirmates, as well as Vladimir, a Russian boy soprano, as they compete in choir competitions, perform in operas, and attempt to support their town. It’s also jam-packed with really neat visual metaphors.

Busshi no Busshin

Busshi no Busshin - The Sculptor's Buddhakaya is the series Kamatani was working on prior to Shimanami Tasogare, and for some time, simultaneously, before putting the series on hiatus to focus on Shimanami. Other than Chinese, it has not yet been localized in any other languages, but currently has five volumes.

The story is historical fiction with lots of action. It follows Sou, a Buddhist image sculptor (busshi) who can use a technique called raigou to call Buddhas and other gods into the sculptures he carves. While fighting the goddess Mizuchi who was attacking his homeland, he summons the Bodhisattva Myoujou to save them, but the two are easily defeated and eaten in half, leaving each with only half their body. In a last ditch attempt to survive, Sou manages to fuse his remaining body with the remaining half of the statue he had used to summon Myoujou. Five years later, he finally reawakens, but must now face the return of Mizuchi and the Heike clan who seek revenge for their defeat alongside the family of busshi that took him in .