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Manga Creator Kia Asamiya States Eye Cataract Surgeries Were a Success

Manga creator Kia Asamiya said on Twitter on Wednesday that his planned surgeries for his eye cataracts were successful, and that his visual acuity has been restored to 1.0 (equivalent to 20/20 vision in American distance acuity), but that he would let himself stabilize and observe the aftermath of the surgery over time to see the final effects.

He added that he would be able to attend the screening of the Steam Detectives anime on Saturday, though he would have to wear goggles.

He thanked everyone for their support, and apologized for not being able to respond to messages from fans and clients, but that he read all messages sent to him. Finally, he said that he would take it easy for a bit and run at "low gear."

When Asamiya first shared in February that he had eye cataracts, he said that he had already been seeing double images. On April 29, he reported that his vision had become so bad that he could no longer count his own fingers, and was not able to read messages on LINE and Messenger.

Asamiya was scheduled to launch a new manga titled Captain Symphonica (image above right) on Takeshobo's Web Comic Gamma website in January, but Asamiya stated that the manga "will probably start at the end of this month." Web Comic Gamma has not released any announcement regarding the manga's launch date.

The "retro future sci-fi action" story revolves around silver-winged spaceship "Blitzen" that protects the peace of the solar system by making use of the sonic star weapon "Symphonica Waffe."

Asamiya ended the Speope! (Space Opera!!) manga with the simultaneous release of the seventh and eighth compiled book volumes on December 26. The manga launched in Shonengahosha's Young King Ours magazine in March 2019.

Asamiya created the Silent Möbius, Steam Detectives, Compiler, and Junk: Record of the Last Hero manga, among others. He provided character designs for the Martian Successor Nadesico anime (which he later adapted into the Nadesico manga), adapted the Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace film into a manga, and wrote and drew the Batman: The Child of Dreams comic. Many of his manga have been adapted into anime.

Viz Media published his Silent Möbius and Steam Detectives manga in North America, while CPM Manga published Nadesico, and DrMaster published Junk: Record of the Last Hero. Manga Planet licensed Silent Möbius in July 2020.

Thanks to DokoMadeMo for the news tip.

Source: Kia Asamiya's X/Twitter account