UNICO: AWAKENING manga by Gurihiru & Samuel Sattin
Created by Octas Inc
Welcome to the UNICO: AWAKENING pre-order store! Please feel free to browse and add items, and reach out with any questions you might have.
We currently don't have shipping prices entered for physical rewards in BackerKit. We plan to wait until closer to fulfillment to enter & charge you for the physical items on your survey to get the most accurate/fair fulfillment prices. We will update backers after entering those shipping prices before we charge you in BackerKit. If you have any questions please click the "need help" on your survey.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
UNICO: AWAKENING UPDATE #25 - ESTIMATED ARRIVAL!
19 days ago
– Sat, Mar 09, 2024 at 05:50:25 PM
A word from writer Samuel Sattin
Hello Everyone!
As Unico: Awakening continues through production, we wanted to provide some big news: we have the estimated arrival date for your manga, posters, artifacts, t-shirts, and various other rewards!
Our estimated time of arrival for your rewards is 6/17. This is a conservative estimate, as we are allowing for protracted shipping times.
Please stay tuned for shipping estimates; though it appears as if they will remain close to the original estimate (if not exactly the same).
Additionally, I’m beginning to do events in anticipation of the release of UNICO: AWAKENING. In late February, I made an appearance at the comics retailer convention ComicsPro in Pittsburgh, PA.
Check out these great flyers that Scholastic was handing out. “Miyazaki meets the Mandalorian” indeed!
While at Comics Pro, I provided a presentation on UNICO: AWAKENING to a big room filled with comics retailers and the reaction was incredible. Wherever we bring this story, good things seem to follow.
Tokyo, in the early aughts, was a weird place. Lonely single men wanted to marry action figures instead of women. High school girls worked at maid cafes and were paid to act like Manga characters. Nightclubs filled with kids in anime cosplay who danced to remixed versions of cartoon theme songs.
People’s private obsessions, once confined to bedrooms and computer screens, were transforming entire city blocks.
Long before global media, Pharrell Williams, and millions of tourists twigged to the strange new energy emerging from Japan, author Patrick Macias was there, chronicling the emergence of “Cool Japan” in a famous blog entitled “An Eternal Thought in the Mind of Godzilla.” Now with biting humor and cultural insight, he looks back on the trends, personalities, and happenings that dominated the bleeding edge of Japanese pop culture in those years. You’ll meet maids who imitate Michael Jackson, anime producers sent to prison for guns and drugs, school girls determined to resurrect surf rock, nightclubbers who worship “uncool foreigners,” and all manner of wide-eyed ex-pats, weirdoes, and dreamers who came to Tokyo in search of a stranger, more surreal version of life.
Sounds great, right? Pick up a copy if you’re so inclined!
Thank you all again for your continued excitement and patience as we move through production and fulfillment. We know that it’ll be worth the wait!
世界的なメディアやファレル・ウィリアムス、そして何百万人もの観光客が、日本から生まれた奇妙な新しいエネルギーに気づくずっと前から、作家のパトリック・マシアスはそこにいた。「An Eternal Thought in the Mind of Godzilla」と題された有名なブログで、「クールジャパン」の出現を記録していたのだ。今、彼は痛烈なユーモアと文化的洞察力をもって、当時の日本のポップカルチャーの最先端を支配していたトレンド、個性、出来事を振り返る。マイケル・ジャクソンの真似をするメイド、銃とドラッグで刑務所に送られたアニメ・プロデューサー、サーフ・ロックの復活を決意した女子学生、「かっこ悪い外国人」を崇拝するナイトクラバー、そして、より奇妙でシュールな人生を求めて東京にやってきた、目を見開いた外国人、変人、夢想家たち。
UNICO: AWAKENING UPDATE #25: COVER REVEAL!
about 2 months ago
– Tue, Feb 06, 2024 at 01:27:48 PM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
UNICO: AWAKENING UPDATE #24: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
3 months ago
– Mon, Jan 08, 2024 at 09:38:23 AM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
UNICO: AWAKENING UPDATE #22 - HOME STRETCH!
5 months ago
– Thu, Nov 09, 2023 at 08:21:48 AM
A word from writer Samuel Sattin
Hello Everyone,
This is going to be a short update, but I have great news: I can happily confirm that the UNICO: AWAKENING manga will be completed as of next week!
We are jumping for joy, and again, we thank you for your support while we’ve brought this beautiful story to life.
Please stay tuned in the coming weeks as we maneuver the production and fulfillment process.
In the meantime, here are some top secret snippets of my favorite new moments from the manga. As has been mentioned before, we ask that no one shares these images outside of this update.
All my best, and my sincere thank you for backing this amazing campaign. We appreciate each and every one of you.
UNICO: AWAKENING UPDATE #21: LATE PLEDGE UPDATES
6 months ago
– Sat, Sep 23, 2023 at 06:12:00 PM
A word from writer Samuel Sattin
Hello Everyone,
Thank you so much for celebrating the Scholastic news with us! We’re so excited for what’s in store.
In the meantime, we just wanted to provide a quick update concerning the late pledge system. We’ll soon be removing access to the manga tiers in BackerKit. As of 10/01/23, it will no longer be possible to do a late pledge for the soft cover or digital pdf of the UNICO: AWAKENING manga; the same goes for both the English and Japanese versions. Other add ons will still be available for late pledgers, including pins, posters, shirts, and artifacts.
As we get closer to the completion and printing of the materials, we’ll be closing the campaign entirely so we have enough time to fulfill orders. The last available day to pledge for add ons of any kind in BackerKit will be 11/01/23. After that, we will no longer be providing access to add ons. So:
Last call for the book: 10/01/23
Last call for add ons: 11/01/23
While I have your attention, I wanted to let you know that Irodori Comics is launching a Kickstarter campaign for a box set featuring four seminal stories by Isaki Uta, the mangaka and creator of the acclaimed manga Is Love The Answer? which was published in the US by Kodansha. Isaki Uta is known for their comics centered about characters navigating their experiences and relationship with their gender and sexual identities. The Kickstarter pre-launch page for the box set Isaki Uta: The Lost & Found Collection, featuring four of their most acclaimed stories, is now live.
Isaki Uta is best known for their short stories Mine-kun is Asexual, Silkscreen, and other stories which have appeared in Éclair: A Girls' Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart and Éclair Blanche. Is Love The Answer? was their first solo work to appear in print in English. Now Irodori Comics presents the Isaki Uta: The Lost & Found Collection box set, featuring four classic doujinshi available both in print (for the first time) and digitally:
Mine-kun is Asexual
In "Mine-kun is Asexual," Mine doesn't like sexual intimacy in a relationship. He can kiss a girl, but it's not something he wants to do if he can help it. But Murai loves him so much that she's willing to overlook the fact that she can't hold his hand; that she can't cuddle up next to him when they watch movies together; that she can't fall in love with him the way that she hopes to be loved in return. In the eyes of those around them, is this even a relationship that's meant to last, or is it a train wreck just waiting to happen?
Leaper
Leapers—individuals who were born on February 29th that age at a rate four timese slower than that of a normal person and can live for over 300 years. Mio Aono is one of these leapers and like many, experiences all the emotions that come with living beyond the normal, mortal lifespan. This story won an honorable mention in the Monthly Afternoon Magazine Manga Competition and jumpstarted Isaki Uta's career! Originally published in 2008, this landmark work has been updated and re-released as a doujinshi and localized in English for fans to enjoy.
Mermaid in the Bottle
Takeru has always felt like another cog in the wheel of corporate society, but things take a strange turn when he and his sister discover a mermaid inside a cosmetic lotion bottle. Memories of childhood; a brother and sister separated in the aftermath of a failed marriage; corporate money disappearing off the ledgers... Mermaid in the Bottle is Isaki Uta's tour-de-force first foray into self-publishing and features a unique story looking into the bitter-sweet relationship of a brother and sister with a shared, troubled past.
Silkscreen
A girl falls in love and devotes herself to them, but they don't conform to her expectations, perhaps because she looks at them through a blurry curtain. Silkscreen touches on a bittersweet romance between a lesbian and a genderqueer individual, who later comes out as a trans man. Those familiar with Isaki Uta's previous works like Mermaid In The Bottle, Leaper and Mine-kun is Asexual, will know that the author has a unique style of storytelling that leaves a lot to the reader's interpretation. Silkscreen is a bittersweet story that briefly explores the concepts of identity, rejection, and acceptance.
We are currently in the last stages of finishing up the manga, and will keep you updated with next steps around shipping and fulfillment of your rewards.
All my best, and my sincere thank you for backing this amazing campaign.
講談社から米国で出版され、高い評価を得たマンガ『Is Love The Answer』の作者でありマンガ家でもあるイサキ・ウタの4つの代表的なストーリーを収録したボックスセットのキックスターター・キャンペーンが始まった。イサキ・ウタは、自分のジェンダーやセクシュアル・アイデンティティに関する経験や関係をナビゲートするキャラクターを中心としたコミックで知られている。Kickstarterのプレローンチページでは、ボックスセット「Isaki Uta: イサキ・ウタ:ザ・ロスト・アンド・ファウンド・コレクション」のKickstarterプレローンチページがオープンした。
イサキ・ウタは、短編集『峰くんはアセクシャル』や『シルクスクリーン』などで知られ、『エクレア』にも掲載されている: 心に響くガールズ・ラブ・アンソロジー』『エクレール・ブランシュ』などに収録されている。Is Love The Answer? "は、英語で印刷された初のソロ作品である。そして今、イロドリコミックスが贈る: イサキ・ウタ:ザ・ロスト&ファウンド・コレクション』ボックスセットは、4つの名作同人誌が紙版(初版)とデジタル版の両方で入手できる:
少女は恋に落ち、彼らに身を捧げるが、彼女がぼんやりとしたカーテン越しに見ているせいか、彼らは彼女の期待に沿わない。シルクスクリーン』は、レズビアンと、後にトランスであることをカミングアウトするジェンダークィアとのほろ苦い恋愛を描いている。Mermaid In The Bottle』、『Leaper』、『峰くんは無性愛者』など、伊崎うたのこれまでの作品を知っている人なら、この作家が読者の解釈に多くを委ねる独特の語り口を持っていることを知っているだろう。シルクスクリーン』は、アイデンティティ、拒絶、受容という概念を簡潔に探るほろ苦い物語である。