Afternoon Festival – Red cover

Monochrome red cover created for the Afternoon Festival 2006, the annual event celebrating the authors and works published in Kodansha’s anthology magazine Monthly Afternoon, which that year marked its 20th anniversary.

For the occasion, over 1.000 bookstores joined a large-scale campaign featuring author signing sessions and exclusive bonuses tied to the series running in the magazine. While there’s no official confirmation, this cover was likely offered as a bonus at participating stores, with the purchase of a volume of Vinland Saga or another title serialized in Afternoon.

Part of a covers’ set dedicated to the serialized works from the magazine, each designed in the same red monochrome style. So far, the following have been confirmed:

1. Vinland Saga
2. Genshiken
3. Mushishi
4. Okiku Furikabutte (Big Windup!)
5. Shion no Ou
6. Kujibiki Unbalance
7. A celebratory cover featuring all the works together

The only Japanese cover variant ever produced for Vinland Saga.

The texture of the wooden ships, the cartographic detail of the maps, the iconic moments and characters of the manga…truly a hidden jewel for collectors, lost to time until its recent discovery