Our new comic book, La Fête des Ombres - The Shadow Festival - (which I was telling you about here) is available in pre-order (FRENCH VERSION) on the publisher website! What an emotion!

When Olivier and I started the project, we had no idea how much we would like this story and its characters. One day, while walking, Olivier revealed his idea to me: a haunted love story between a young woman and a ghost, in the heart of the Japanese countryside. I was immediately charmed by the pitch, but I did not yet know who this young woman or this ghost were.

The idea was born before we had to start the project. It allowed us to think about the character of our heroine and her design through many sketches. We also spent time looking for a name that would suit her. “Naoko” means “upright / obedient or honest child”. You will agree, it is not an easy name to honor. And our Naoko is rather a dreamy and melancholy girl. This inner duality has made her a fragile and touching character in our eyes.

When we drew Onibi, our first comic book, all the characters in the story were real people and friends that we had met in Japan. So it was normal for us to be already attached to them. But The Shadow Festival is a fiction and this is the first time we have discovered the feeling of becoming attached to fictional characters in this way

Over the months, by accompanying Naoko in her thoughts, her memories, her emotions, we have come to appreciate her very much. Maybe this is normal, after all we have thought about her every day for a year, we have sought to understand her, to discover her. This is why I feel very moved that she may soon be in the hands of our readers.

Pre-orders come with a free print and give buyers the chance to win the original watercolor illustration of this print by random draw. It's a lovely idea from Alexandre and Delphine from Issekinicho editions who commissioned this illustration from us so they could then offer this competition. If you've been secretly dreaming of an original watercolor by Atelier Sentô, this might be your chance, hehe! ^^

Another great idea of ​​Issekinicho editions is to offer bundles at reduced prices with our previous titles Onibi and Dreams of Japan. I am super happy with this offer because it allows us to put all our books back in the spotlight and it is the opportunity of a partnership with Omaké Books, the publisher of Dreams of Japan. Alexandre Bonnefoy, publisher of Issekinicho and Florent Gorges, publisher of Omaké Books know each other well and we have enjoyed working with these two small publishing houses. So it's nice to see this little collaboration.

Now, we are leaving the French Alps where we spent two magnificent snow-covered weeks making beautiful hikes, snowmen, eating good cheese and specialties. Now, we return to the Basque Country, south of France, where we will find the sea, the green plains and the Basque cake! But from now, I would like to go back to my grandparents' chalet more often because we are incredibly lucky to be able to enjoy the mountains during winter. These two weeks have been refreshing and have given me plenty of energy to start the year and start working on volume 2 of The Shadow Festival!