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Shō Shibamoto Holds Kickstarter for More English Flower Knight Dakini Manga Chapters

Manga artist Shō Shibamoto launched a crowdfunding campaign on March 9 to fund the production of chapters 7 to 9 of his self-published web manga series Flower Knight Dakini. The campaign has surpassed its goal of US$3,168 and earned US$3,800 (converted from yen).

Shibamoto announced last week that the campaign reached its goal in its first three days. He said that there are no plans for a stretch goal, and the funds raised past the initial goal will be used to fund his work. The crowdfunding campaign will end on April 8.

Shibamoto launched a previous Kickstarter campaign in March 2018 to fund an English version of the first six chapters. The campaign surpassed its goal, and the English release debuted for Kindle in August.

Shibamoto posted the first chapter of Flower Knight Dakini (Hana no Kishi Dakini) in April 2017 and the ninth and most recent chapter in October. Shibamoto describes the story:

The main characters are Eiden, an aspiring painter who got caught up in the great destruction caused by the Sky Golems and can't paint anymore because of the shock…and Dakini, a mute warrior with mysterious fighting abilities on a mission to defeat the golems. While traveling together to challenge the menace that threatens their world, they face their traumas and their past while pursuing their mission and hopes.

Simona Stanzani is translating Flower Knight Dakini. Stanzani previously translated Shibamoto's Pandemonium -Wizard Village-, which ran simultaneously in Japanese and English on Shogakukan's now-defunct Ikki-Para webcomics site.

The story of Flower Knight Dakini is linked to Pandemonium -Wizard Village- and Shibamoto's Tsunousagi manga, which Shogakukan also published.

Shibamoto debuted as a manga artist in 2008, after his short story "Baku" won the seinen manga division of Shogakukan's 62nd Newcomer Comic Grand Prize. He had previously earned a jury recommendation for self-published manga at the 2007 Japan Media Arts Festival Awards. In addition to Tsunousagi and Pandemonium, Shibamoto drew the Yo-kai Watch koma-san ~Hanabi to Kiseki no Jikan~ and Yo-kai Watch koma-san ~Tamaki to Nagareboshi no Tomodachi~ manga.

Sources: Email correspondence, Kickstarter