Do You Want the Kimba Manga to be Published in English?

On September 4, 2007, Publishers Weekly Comics Week published an interview with Ioannis Mentzas, Editorial Director/Executive Vice President of Vertical, Inc., publisher of many Tezuka works. As part of that interview, the possibility of publishing Jungle Emperor in English was discussed:

PWCW: Any interest from Vertical in licensing Kimba the Lion [a classic manga and anime work by Tezuka]?

IM: We’re interested, but the depiction of black people in Kimba is problematic. If everyone can for a moment put their sensitivity aside then we can do it. Otherwise people may be offended by the stereotypical drawing of Africans. A disclaimer might not be enough. And the author no longer being alive, it can’t be redrawn. If people promise to be understanding, we will publish it.

Of course, we would first have to talk to Tezuka Productions, too. They might have their reservations. I know for a fact that they are very careful about Kimba. They got into trouble in Japan in the early 1990s when certain groups said that it should be taken off the shelves—and it was. So they added a disclaimer and now you can buy it, but you don’t see it that much in bookstores.

The thing is, MW was part of a line I had in mind from the beginning. When we did Buddha and it was successful, we were confident that we would be able to do more Tezuka works. I had a lineup in mind; MW is the second to last, next is Dororo. After that, I’ll take requests.

Since he said he'll take requests, and since his email address is available on the Vertical, Inc. web site, it should be ok for me to publish it here: mentzas@vertical-inc.com