The geopolitical series hopes to educate people on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On 24 February, just as Russia was launched its invasion of Ukraine and people were trying to make sense of the situation, a small buzz on Twitter started in Japan because of the chapters of the manga If There Is Conflict, Call Hatta (Funso Deshitara, Hatta Made) that were urgently made available for free.

If There Is Conflict, Call Hatta follows the work of Yuri Hatta, a globe-trotting geopolitical consultant who uses her skills of chisei (a portmanteau of the Japanese words for “knowledge” and “geopolitics”) to help de-escalate conflicts between nations. And when she’s not out solving complex diplomatic issues, she likes to kick back and watch pro-wrestling.

It is the second and third volumes of this manga that have released for free because in them Hatta goes to Kyiv at the request of her former college roommate to help defuse a potential crisis with Russia.

Although it’s a fictional story, it is based on the real history between these countries as well as the rest of Eastern Europe. It also outlines many of the issues behind the current situation in detail and has bits of more casual trivia about Ukrainian culture, like their traditional food of Broscht, to keep people interested and help us gain a deeper appreciation for the region.

▼ The free release was suddenly announced via Twitter by the manga’s magazine.

The full series was published in the weekly magazine Morning since 2019, but moved to their online platform D-Morning, where new episodes continue. However, for a limited but undetermined period the Ukraine arc in its entirety can be read freely on the website Comic Days immediately and without any registration.

Unfortunately it is only available in Japanese, but every bit helps when it comes to educating and giving a background to what’s going on. By getting as much information as possible we can prepare ourselves for whatever happens next in this rapidly unfolding situation.

Source: Twitter/@morningmanga, Comic Days
Top image: Kodansha Comic Plus
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[ Read in Japanese ]