Announcement: Enter The Natural Stadium

Hello. This is AkiTaka again.
I hope everyone is doing well.
In case I’ve been overtweeting the past year, my apologies if I was being a bit of a woodpecker.

I find it hard to believe that it’s been half a decade since the host of the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup was announced. Many soccer fans, such as myself, were stoked for some time, at least until the pandemic came and made things uncertain.

Now, while it’s true that new stadiums have become environmentally friendly to a degree, the way matches have been played has changed little, and has remained that way for centuries. Players have often dreamed of exploring the world beyond the standard stadium they’ve been used to as a way to hone their skills and take them to limits that they’ve never reached otherwise.

Hence, after 5 years of planning, conceptualizing, and teasing, as well as in honor of World Wildlife Day, I am proud to announce my next major upcoming Web Manga serial to the public:

It’s Sonic the Hedgehog meets Roy of the Rovers or even Captain Tsubasa as Kicktory tells a story set in our time on an alternate vision of our Earth where humans and animals live alongside each other, contributing to the unified cause for a balance of nature and civilization.

This cause is also set to extend into the sporting world as a force from outer space has remained aware of the Earth’s history of their treatment of the environment for some time, looking to start a new kind of championship that takes advantage of the Earth’s irregular terrain and naturally imperfect landscapes. Known as Natural Stadiums, they have the potential to push the physique of players to their fullest potential, ranging from the mastery of slope physics to hydrodynamic drag. To make this dream a reality, whoever is deemed worthy of taking on this kind of challenge is invited to participate and compete in that very tournament christened the Dream Cup. Host Location(s): the 3 major nations of North America: The United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Biceps Bighorn, a teenage American Bison and high school jock, Slapp Dreamcastor, a young Canadian Beaver with a flair for hands-on science and engineering, and Quint Sinpello, a struggling teenage Mexican Hairless Dog with dreams for his impoverished community join forces to form a team of 3 players known as the United Dreamers, as do many others from other walks of life all over the world who have also answered the call to take part in this experience of a lifetime for additional motives. From the heights of Mt. Garibaldi to the crevasses of the Grand Canyon, to the chills and thrills of the Columbia Icefield to the depths of the Florida Keys, this race for the ultimate prize in the future of soccer will ultimately serve as the test of their sporting prowess beyond their homes and the stadium!

However, meanwhile, there is a secret force at play putting the Natural Stadiums at risk of being the designated locations of future man-made stadiums, potentially rendering this Dream to be short-lived…

Future information regarding this new ongoing series will be unveiled on a semi-daily to semi-weekly basis, depending on my schedule. Here’s what I CAN tell you as of now, though:

• This series will primarily be produced with the Affinity Creative Suite(V2, by the way), courtesy of the chaps of Serif Ltd.
• The first chapter will be made available to read on Medibang’s Manga Plus Creators simultaneously in English, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Korean the day it launches, with French and Spanish translations to follow.

As far as things are progressing, this Adventure of a Lifetime Worth Getting the KICK out of is set to begin Summer 2023!