Publisher MAG Garden has expressed its support for the recently launched Comitia crowdfunding campaign, which attempts to keep the lights on for Japan’s biggest original independent comics festival. On the official website, the publisher also details many authors that they would not have come into contact with if it were not for the event, signalling just how important this campaign really is.
Chief among the authors detailed is Kero Yamazaki, author of The Ancient Magus’ Bride, who said in her comment that “it was thanks to Comitia that I was able to meet with my editors.” Her series has been serialised in MAG Garden’s Monthly Comic Garden since 2013, constituting one of the publisher’s greatest successes.
“To think that Comitia isn’t able to function in this current situation is very sad indeed. This was a long time ago, but it was because of Comitia that I was able to meet with my editors and do a job like this where I draw manga. Once again, I think that Comitia is a place where you can express many different forms of appreciation and desire, which no one will deny; where you can make like-minded friends, or simply enjoy your time alone. I look forward to the day where I can participate again, in that place where light and darkness come together.” – Kero Yamazaki
Other authors featured include Seeichi Tokiwa, author of Kitsune to Tanuki to Iinazuke, Shin Ayutami of Sewayaki JK to Kubidake Dullahan, and Kawo Tanuki of Dragon Goes House-Hunting. All of these authors came into contact with MAG Garden through their amateur work at Comitia, making it clear just how important it is to support the crowdfunding campaign.
Ideally, it should not take a publisher such as MAG Garden coming forward to convince people to donate to the Comitia crowdfunding campaign – the prospect of it fading away should be more than enough. And, to a certain extent, it hasn’t: the campaign has already gathered a whopping 63 million yen as of the time of writing. Considering that the committee’s original target was only 30 million yen and that there’s still 57 days left to go, I’d call that a success.