An ambitious project launched in October 2019 by Yassine LAALMI, Meriem LAALMI, and the YouTuber L’Ermite Moderne via a triumphant crowdfunding campaign, TSUBOMI is materializing day after day, both in its position as an independent publishing house and through continuous development. of its dedicated mobile application.
TSUBOMI: the publisher close to its authors
Specialized in the original creation of manga, Asian comics, and digital distribution, TSUBOMI aims to offer international visibility to talented artists who are still unknown, approached directly in Japan, but also elsewhere in the world.
To date, no less than 11 exclusive titles are available for pre-release in the publisher’s catalog, with two new chapters made available to subscribed readers each week, on Wednesdays and Sundays, via a series rotation system.
With a certain freedom left in the publication deadlines as well as a more advantageous method of remuneration than the norm, TSUBOMI pays particular attention to the well-being of its authors, as well as to their working conditions.
Each artist is free to choose the type of publication that suits him best, in order to develop his project with complete freedom, without having to undergo the usual pressures inherent in the activity of mangaka, and thus better reconcile his passion for manga with his family life or another activity.
The TSUBOMI app: a digital preprint magazine directly on your smartphone
If the publishing house intends to offer its titles in paper format in the future, it is currently focusing on its mobile application, which went online just two months ago, on December 11, 2022.
Available in three languages to date: French, English, and Japanese (or the author’s native language), the application makes it possible to find in pre-publication all the works directly published by TSUBOMI, for €5.49 per month or €53.99 per year, which is cheaper than the price of one manga per month.
At this price, the reader can access the entire TSUBOMI catalog and read or re-read all their favorite series while directly supporting their authors financially.
From a technical point of view, the application is very well thought out, with the possibility of navigating from page to page both via the traditional horizontal reading, from right to left, and with a “webtoon” type reading, à la vertical. The options also allow you to calibrate the quality of the images yourself, allowing everyone to adapt the application to their current reading conditions.
Finally, the last option and not least: TSUBOMI offers to find the storyboards of each board directly in the chapter, which will undoubtedly delight the most curious readers or those interested in drawing in general. A really nice little bonus, which brings the authors a little closer to their audiences.
Titles of all kinds
Among the first eleven series available now on TSUBOMI, many genres are present: from horror to romance, action, or even post-apocalyptic science fiction, there is something for everyone. every taste!
In order to test the application ourselves, we were able to read some of these titles, including Eternal Blue by MIMISHIKI and Telomere by Kakio Tsurukawa. If it is obviously difficult to judge a work on only its first two or three chapters, these two mangas marked us by their unique styles and their particular themes.
Eternal Blue par MIMISHIKI
Eternal Blue takes advantage in particular of a neat and detailed drawing and does not hesitate to play with the codes of gore and horror to underline the obvious cruelty of its fanciful universe. The story is openly inspired by the tales of the Brothers Grimm, and will certainly appeal to anyone sensitive to this kind of series.
Synopsis
Ao, the demanding and sarcastic boss, wastes no time when it comes to putting Mikio, the Royal Library‘s new employee, to the test.
Both guardians of knowledge and protectors of the mental health of readers, they dedicate themselves together to an incredible fight against formidable enemies: the Evil Books.
“YOU HAVE TALENT, YOU ARE A DREAMER AND LONELY…THESE TWO THINGS ARE ESSENTIAL TO BEING A GOOD LIBRARIAN.
Telomere by Kakio Tsurukawa
As for Telomere, it was mainly its quirky characters that won us over. It’s certainly not the first time that we have followed a story of survivors of a zombie apocalypse, but this one is interesting in that the undead in question seem endowed with conscience and empathy, to the point of helping see to sacrifice for our protagonists on several occasions.
Add to that the muteness of Yuki, one of the main characters, which is an interesting character to develop in a universe where danger lurks around every corner, as well as the presence of an unknown robotic threat, and you get a cocktail full of twists and turns, which really makes you want to dive deep into the daily lives of our heroes.
A violent virus has decimated the entire world population. Twenty years later, billions of zombies roam the earth.
Kou and her twin Yuki travel through devastated Japan and lead their own expeditions. They will have to face many dangers and a brand new threat…
“YOU ZOMBIES, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO CARE ABOUT ALL THIS…”.
