This is Asahi Sasagawa reading as Annamarie Nightshade in Kyoto recently. Hopeless, Maine in Japan – thanks to Dr Abbey!
Takeshi Ohbayashi is the narrator for Hopeless, Maine in Japanese –
This was for a public performance based on the opening of Personal Demons. Dr Abbey has adapted the graphic novel script into something that can be performed to a Japanese audience – which is pretty wild. He’s sorted the casting and no doubt directed it as well. The original plan was to have Mari Shimizu reading young Salamandra. Mari Shimizu was the original voice of Astro Boy, but sadly she’s not been well lately.
If you want to take the project out into the world, we have a history of performance and welcome more of it. Quite some years ago, Keith Errington put together a Hopeless Home Companion radio show, based on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion, which has been out a few times. The Ominous Folk used to do musical tales from the island. If you want to play with the setting you certainly don’t need to be faithful to the graphic novels.
The limited edition print run of Personal Demons has arrived in Japan!
Dr Abbey with the Sloth/Japan personal Demons, somewhere in Tokyo!
At this point, we’re looking at three potential Japanese shows this summer! There’s a limited edition print run for the first one, and if that sells out, we may well be looking at proper Japanese versions, possibly even in translation – although Dr Abbey has to sleep at some point and we don’t want to entirely wear him out!
Here’s a celebratory Sloths in Okinawa that our publisher Nic did for the first show, which happens in July.
We’re very excited to be part of an exhibition in Japan this summer – organised by Dr Abbey. Bits of Hopeless will be there, alongside work from our excellent steampunk chums Dr Geof and Jennie Gyllblad. Also other people that we don’t really know.
In honour of this event, Sloth Comics has put together a special edition limited print run of Personal Demons (The first half of The Gathering for UK folk). We’re massively excited about this. It’s hardly normal for a small, indy comic like ours to go on sale in Japan. There’s even talk of doing a larger print run, in translation!
