

Since 2007, Hikaru Nakamura’s Saint Young Men manga comic series has followed the daily lives of two young men who just happen to be the revered central figures of Christianity and Buddhism. The divine figures have reincarnated, not so save the souls of humanity, but to spend some time enjoying a low-key lifestyle while sharing an apartment in the comparatively sleepy town of Tachikawa in West Tokyo. The story follows their day-to-day lives, including Buddha’s fascination with the manga based on himself and Jesus’ long locks and wispy beard getting him mistaken for Johnny Depp by schoolgirls at a local convenience store.

To celebrate the upcoming theatrical animated adaptation of Saint Young Men, publisher Kodansha is allowing the free reproduction and use of a portion of the series.

The editorial staff of Kodansha’s Morning comic anthology announced on April 30 that they are offering a creative commons license for the first four pages of the series’ opening chapter, Buddha’s Day Off.

Under the license (classified as a CC BY-ND 2.1 JP agreement), the images may be freely reproduced provided there are unaltered and the original creator is credited. The license is valid not just for personal-use websites and blogs, but for commercial sites, newspapers, and magazines as well. The license stipulates that all four pages must be presented in their entirety, and is applicable only to the four pages expressly mentioned.

The images are available here on Kodansha’s Morning website, in both JPEG and TIFF formats. The idea to offer the license came directly from Nakamura, in hopes of making as many people as possible familiar with the story’s premise before the animated movie’s theatrical release. In the meantime, you can check out the film’s trailer, and the first four pages of the manga, below. Saint Young Men opens on May 10.

▼ Jesus secretly reveling in girls thinking he looks like Johnny Depp.

Source: IT Media

Top image: TV Tropes

Insert Images: Morning