Media Do International has confirmed to TheOASG that they are aiming to release a fixed version of Kei Ohkubo’s ARTE sometime this month.
Originally, the first volume was released on digital platforms October 2 last year. However, a major issue was its page count (56) was at odds with its price point ($6.99). This was likely a factor as to why, despite being listed initially, it was no longer available to buy on Nook on release day. It later became unavailable to purchase on other digital services at some point since its October release.
Stephanie Borria, who works in Operations and Marketing for MD-i, confirmed that the page count issue has been fixed, in addition to answering their plans for the title. “I am happy to say that a lot of progress has been made and we are aiming for a re-release this month.”
Stephanie also confirmed that there have been measures put in place to ensure a situation like this doesn’t happen again. “It’s important for us that our readers know that we want to correct any and all errors that we make so they can have the best reading experience.” If anyone purchased ARTE through any digital service, they can ask the platform for a refund, she also added.
ARTE has had a fairly interesting localization experience — it was one of the titles hosted by the Silent Manga Audition Community a couple of years ago until they had to end that part of their service. Then with MD-i, it was getting a brand new release as a volume. Now they will look to re-release it again, and we will have to see if there will be no issues regarding its release and future releases moving forward.
Here’s a synopsis of the manga:
16th century Firenze, Italy. One girl, One ARTistic ambition! The Birthplace of the Renaissance era, where art is thriving. In one small corner of this vast city, one sheltered girl’s journey begins. She dreams of becoming an artist, an impossible career for a girl born into a noble family. In those days, art was an exclusively male profession, with women facing strong discrimination. In spite of these challenges, Arte perseveres with hard work and a positive attitude!