Interest

Jojo's Araki, 1,000 Twitter/Facebook Fans to Redraw Kingdom Manga

The collaborative "Social Kingdom" campaign launched in Japan this Friday to celebrate the upcoming television anime adaptation of Yasuhisa Hara's historical manga Kingdom. Manga creators Hirohiko Araki (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, BAOH), Takehiko Inoue (Slam Dunk, Vagabond), and Hiroshi Motomiya (Salaryman Kintaro, Ore no Sora) are participating in the project to redraw the 26th volume of the Kingdom manga.

Beginning on May 18, 1,000 of the campaign's Twitter and Facebook fans are joining the manga authors to recreate the volume. Participants select one of the about 1,000 panels from the book, redraw Hara's illustrations, and upload the art to create a new version of the manga. Visitors to the campaign's website will then vote for the best submissions, and contributors of the top 100 pieces will each receive a "Social Kingdom" booklet created from the project's art.

Voice actors from the manga's anime adaptation and celebrities who like Kingdom will also participate. Anyone with a Twitter or Facebook account can contribute. The campaign's creators plan to submit the "Social Kingdom" project to Guinness World Records as the "Manga Written by the Most People."

The manga's story begins with Xin and Hyō, two boys without families in the Warring States Period when China has been embroiled in war for five centuries. Despite living like slaves, the boys strive to realize their dream of becoming warlords.

Hara's manga has been running in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine since 2006, and the 26th compiled book shipped in Japan on May 18. Jun Kamiya (D.I.C.E., Blue Seed, The Third: The Girl with the Blue Eye) is directing the anime adaptation at the Studio Pierrot, and Naruhisa Arakawa (Blue Seed, Steel Angel Kurumi, Elemental Gelade) is in charge of series scripts. The anime is slated to premiere in Japan in June.

Sources: Comic Natalie, Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web

Image © Yasuhisa Hara/Shueisha