Be prepared because this will be a long post. I will be sharing about how Botan was written and everything regarding its webtoon which used to be quite popular in Webtoon Indonesia. Image Via - Webtoon I first started writing Botan when I was in high school My high school life wasn't fun and all I had was writing and friends who appreciated me and my writing. Before I wrote Botan, I wrote Aki no Mikazuki (Autumn Crescent Moon) to entertain my friend over facebook. We were both very interested in Shinsengumi. I was and still am specially interested in Hijikata Toshizo while she was and still is interested in Saitou. I wrote Aki no Mikazuki with Saitou as the main romance or what fans call 'canon' and 'OTP' with the heroine, Himawari. Then, I thought why wouldn't I write one for Hijikata with the premise, 'If I lived in that era... If I could be with him'. That is why when this friend of mine read Botan, she said she recognized me in the heroine, Sayo. I continued writing and I also shared the stories in Fanfiction.net under a certain fandom to see how readers react to it. It turned out positive and I even met my editor through it! (You know I love you, K!). A friend suggested I should sell my story in the form of novel and I agreed to that. However, I thought I wanted to make in thick volume so, the story would end in just a few volumes. That moment, college project kicked in and I was required to make something. It didn't take long for me to decide that I would produce Botan's first volume. I went ahead to fix the ending and edit it. It was all before I knew the online distributor/publisher, Nulisbuku.com. So, I opened up Pre-order which a lot of friends and fans ordered. Even until now, I still love Hijikata and I am still processing the second volume. Image Via - Webtoon Regarding Botan's webtoon as many Indonesian friends know, it was successful in the beginning. Talking about beginning, a friend (which people know as Obatachan23) talked to me how she wanted to try participating in Webtoon Challenge but she didn't know how to make a story. I thought we could collab and Botan was far enough to be made into first season of webtoon, so I suggested Botan to her. She agreed and we immediately discussed the parting, the editing and all. She would be the illustrator and I would be the editor. Since, I had no pen tablet, I couldn't help with the illustration. I compromised every time she failed to fulfill the deadline. She had a lot of problems whether it was black out, corrupted files, or computer error. I didn't want to give any pressure because she had a lot going on although I wanted to be stricter. I suggested in the beginning to complete the whole season first before uploading, but she didn't heed my advice. I thought she could handle with one episode per week. Well, things did not turn out great. By episode six and seven, she was super late. I also asked a friend to help as assistant. Yet, everything still went super slow. I expected that she would bail out from this project sooner or later. She did and I was angry she couldn't fulfill her promise. I was also angry that she didn't listen to my advice. She said she had a project with someone and she could not continue Botan. I was angry but I couldn't get mad at her because she helped me many times before. So, I made the notice that Botan's Webtoon would be discontinued. Later, I found out that the project she was working with was another Webtoon but it was produced by Naobun Project who, in terms of popularity, was better. I was still annoyed but I thought I should just support her. I did everything I could by sharing the webtoon on my facebook to support the project. However, within two-three episodes, she was found plagiarizing Japanese manga from various sources. I was very surprised at the news that I shared my disbelief and also my trust that she wouldn't do such thing. I sent her a message because she deleted her facebook account. I asked her and she said she only drew based on the storyboards from the producer. In the end, she was removed from the team and another illustrator replaced her. Even until now, I don't know whether she did plagiarize or not. Image Via - Litekoreablog You must be wondering why I must disclose this information. It is because Botan was sort of dragged into the mess. People started commenting about the plagiarizing case in the comments of Botan's Webtoon. I hope readers can separate the case with Botan because Botan and I are not involved whatsoever in the plagiarizing case. Image Via - Webtoon Taking this chance, I would like to answer questions fans sent me. 1. Will Botan's novel be published in Indonesian? Perhaps. I am a student and I do not have the budget to have it translated. I also don't have the talent to translate it myself. Being able in language does not mean being able in literature. 2. Where can I purchase Botan vol 1? If you live in Indonesia, you can go to this link. Set an account and order it. If it doesn't work, please send the inquiry to the admin's email. If you still have no idea, you can DM me at my instagram @yariitan97 3. Will Botan be available at local bookstore? I am not sure... For now it is available online through nulisbuku.com. Perhaps one day 4. Will Botan ever return to Indonesia Webtoon? To be honest, I would love to have it on webtoon. However, I haven't found any illustrator with the flexibility and capability to fulfill an episode per week. Let's hope Botan can one day return to Webtoon. I hope this post clears up the situation and condition. Please keep supporting Botan. If you are new to the original form of Botan which is a novel, you can read two chapters for free here!
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