Shueisha Inc. initiates the SHUEISHA MANGA-ART HERITAGE project to make manga art available in India and worldwide
The project is aiming to make classics such as ONE PIECE, the Rose of Versailles, and Innocent available worldwide, including India. Utilizing the original drawing (genga in Japanese) digital archive project help create a global manga art market.
Shueisha is a well-known Japanese publication house in India for its magnificent manga titles. For example, ONE PIECE, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, My Hero Academia, and so on. The company believes that manga is the art that should be disseminated and based on this vision. Therefore, they have begun to utilize the digital archive of original manga drawings in 2008 to start a new manga-art project.
The outline of MANGA-ART HERITAGE project
This project is a new initiative aimed at shining fresh light on the drawings created by manga artists and imbuing these works with lasting value as works of art. Shueisha uses the finest available printing technologies and materials to produce high-quality manga artwork. In addition, they issue blockchain certificates that consistently record each piece of art’s provenance. It also allows to guarantee the value of these works and pass them down to the next generation. Through this new project, Shueisha helps ensure that manga art is passed down among manga lovers. While also they aim to create a manga-art market as an integral part of the overall global art market.
Firstly, they have initiated this project by selling the works from three artists: Eiichiro Oda (ONE PIECE), Riyoko Ikeda (The Rose of Versailles), and Shinichi Sakamoto (Innocent). Each of these works that are well known in their printed versions are in their original drawing (genga) format excellent examples of never-before-seen coloring and detail.
Background behind the launch of this new project
Shueisha, founded in 1926, played a formative role in releasing multiple manga works right after World War II. The company’s goal has always been to deliver as inexpensively as possible the most entertaining manga to a wide range of readers. They are continuing to build on this challenge. At the same time, it is no longer rare for manga, which were once something children bought for fun with their pocket money, to be exhibited at art galleries and museums both within and outside of Japan. Therefore as part of their mission, they are working towards a system to help preserve manga and its artwork and to pass it down for future generations. As one initiative towards achieving this goal, they are launching this cross-border manga art e-commerce project.
Source: Shueisha Inc.
