Skip to content 
Issei Itokawa, the author of the manga On the Balcony Again Today, has issued a heartfelt plea to international readers via a post on X, urging fans to support the series by advocating for official translations in their countries.
The manga, currently unavailable in official translated versions, is being accessed through unofficial channels, leaving both the author and the Japanese publisher uncompensated.
In the post, the Itokawa expressed gratitude for the global appreciation of their work but highlighted the challenges faced when readers resort to unauthorized translations.
They emphasized that continued reliance on such versions threatens the sustainability of creating manga for international audiences.
Since Itokawa felt that lobbying from a sole author in Japan wouldn’t be of much help, they urged the fans to help them and take proactive steps.
“Can you use a little of your time and send a message to the publisher in your country to publish a translated version of On the Balcony Again? It seems that there is no point in lobbying from the author living in Japan, so I would be happy if you could lend me your help.“
Acknowledging the difficulty of the request, the author apologized but underscored the broader impact on the manga industry. They noted that many Japanese creators work tirelessly to produce comics and rely on proper channels for fair distribution and compensation.
According to a recent ABJ report, manga piracy was costing Japanese publishers USD 800 million per month.
Issei Itokawa started serializing On the Balcony Again Today manga in Kodansha’s seinen manga magazine Morning from Sep 15, 2022.
MAL describes the plot of the manga as:
A freelance designer loves to relax from work through gardening on his balcony. There, he starts talking to his new neighbor next door and over the wall without knowing her face.
Source: X
