The author, Kamito Anok with Vishü Rita Krocha and Lanutemsu at the book launch of 'Short Remedy,' which was held at Juni Book Café, Dimapur on May 7. (Morung Photo)
PenThrill marks its 86th publication
Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 7
Manga made its debut entry today in Nagaland as PenThrill published its 86th book titled ‘Short Remedy’ here, at Juni Book Café, Duncan. Written under the pen name of Kamito Anok, the 21-year-old is a digital illustrator and writer, who is currently enrolled in B.Voc of Fine Arts at Wandering Minds Institute of Fine Arts, Dimapur.
Manga is a genre of comic books and graphic novels with its origin in Japan, and are almost always published in black and white. Kamito, whose real name is Noklem N Walem has done several writings digitally and draws his artistic inspiration from Japanese manga, particularly influenced by authors such as Fujimoto Tatsuki and Sui Ishida.
During the book launch, Vishü Rita Krocha, publisher of PenThrill Publication House, acknowledged the event as ‘a day of many firsts.’ She expressed excitement in publishing the first ever manga from this remote corner of the world, while noting manga’s growing popularity and influence. It was also a first for the author and the publisher to meet in person today, while they had been communicating digitally over the past few months. ‘Short Remedy’ is the first manga that the publisher has read, as she talked about how the work carries ‘a beautiful tale primarily told through the combined use of text and illustration.’
In the process of publishing the book, she also learnt that manga encompasses an enormous variety of themes and depict a wide range of emotions. “While it might have started as children’s entertainment, manga is now considered a literary form worthy of serious critical evaluation,” she noted. Because it allows people to enjoy a media that is both visually and intellectually appealing, Krocha maintained that it has the potential to appeal to more people across gender, race and age, especially the youth today, who are drawn to Japanese culture, such as the ‘cosplay.’
According to Krocha, the fact that it will allow people who are reluctant to read to also have a literary source which is not text heavy, but still promote reading made it ‘more appealing.’ She believed that the book will spark greater interest for the art loving community to weave untold stories surrounding different issues and in the process enable ‘our society to cultivate the culture of reading.’
The story features the main character— Ohta who is cursed, where as soon as a person leaves after speaking with him, they immediately forget that they ever had a conversation; becoming a void in their minds. He thus becomes “nothing.”
Special guest at the event, Lanutemsu, who is the principal of Wandering Minds Institute of Fine Arts, while acknowledging his student said that the event was not just about launching of a book, but that it has birthed a new author in the society. He urged the young people gathered to support the debutant by buying and reading the book. Priced at Rs 499, the 84-paged graphic novel will be found at local book stores.
