Sakasabane (partially found Christmas themed one-shot manga; 2007)
Cover illustration of the manga.
Status: Partially Found
Sakasabane (サカサバネ, Inverted Wing) is a one-shot manga written and illustrated by independent Japanese manga artist Sho Shibamoto that was first released in 2007. The manga is Shibamoto's second published work, and is notable for featuring the first appearance of the Sky Golems, a race of near-indestructible creatures bent on world annihilation who serve as recurring antagonists of much of Shibamoto's subsequent work.
Plot
Due to the lack of information and images from Sakasabane available online, the full plot of the manga is difficult to determine. From what little of the manga is available, the following can be inferred: following an unspecified event involving the creation of the Sky Golems that likely lead to the near-extinction of the dragon species, a dragon with inverted wings named Sakasabane-kun, a fennec fox girl named Neri, and an unnamed human man (heavily implied to be Santa Claus) meet on a "Winter Island" where it snows all year round.[1] The unnamed man allows Neri and Sakasabane-kun to stay with him in his home, with him treating them as though they were his own; bathing them, cooking them meals, reading them stories, and allowing them to watch over him as he builds toys, with Sakasabane-kun later returning the favor by flying the man's sleigh through the night sky.[2]
Availability
Printing of the manga was completed in August 2007,[3] with Shibamoto later selling these prints at the 2007 COMITIA doujinshi convention. From this point on, no more prints of the manga would be produced until 2017, when Sho Shibamoto held a solo exhibition wherein he sold printed and framed illustrations from his web manga Flower Knight Dakini. Alongside this, reprinted copies of Sakasabane were also available for purchase, with 150 copies of this new print being sold at a price of ¥1,500 each.[4] To date, this has been the only other release of Sakasabane to have taken place, and while Shibamoto did briefly express interest in making the entire manga available as a Kickstarter backer or Note support reward, these plans were ultimately not acted upon.[5]
The manga currently remains impossible to be viewed in full as a result of its limited print run and obscurity, with no physical copies beyond those photographed by Shibamoto having surfaced, and the manga also not being released officially or unofficially on any digital space or storefront. Multiple panels of the manga have surfaced online though various sources, but the full work remains lost.
Gallery
Panels
Physical Copies
Physical copy of an initial print of Sakasabane.
Physical copy of a reprint of Sakasabane next to a physical copy of Flower Knight Dakini Chapter One.
Box of reprints of Sakasabane.
Other
Artwork drawn by Sho Shibamoto in 2010 that features Sakasabane-kun and Neri.
Artwork of Sakasabane-kun drawn by Sho Shibamoto at an unknown date.
Artwork of Sakasabane-kun drawn by Sho Shibamito in 2017.
Artwork of Neri drawn by Sho Shibamito in 2017.
Snow sculpture of Sakasabane-kun (far right) in a panel from Chapter 12 of Sho Shibamoto's manga Pandemonium: Wizard Village.
References
- ↑ Page on Sho Shibamoto's website that contains an illustration from and short description of Sakasabane. Retrieved 20 Dec '22
- ↑ Tweet containing multiple panels from Sakasabane. Retrieved 20 Dec '22
- ↑ Post on Sho Shibamoto's blog about the completion of Sakasabane's printing. Retrieved 20 Dec '22
- ↑ Post on Sho Shibamoto's website about his exhibition that mentions the Sakasabane reprints. Retrieved 20 Dec '22
- ↑ Thread in the Lost Media Wiki Forums about Sakasabane. Retrieved 20 Dec '22