I have to wonder what you mean by it being out of copyright in Japan.... the Lewis estate is perhaps the most persnickety (and that’s the nice and professional way of putting it.......) of all fandoms of which I’m aware.

 That being said.... they technically aren’t writing Fan fiction as much as they’re making fan art... 

Regardless, i think it is very cool, and that the artist did an amazing job!

 Just be careful that this thread doesn’t devolve into the realm of Fan fiction or I’ll have to close it.

DiGs: Talk About Narnia Moderator

I think there is a fine distinction between a trainee artist doing artwork based on Narnia, and someone running online publication of the stories (in any language) with their own illustrations.

[The latter usually becomes quite extensive, and has web pages with commercial advertising. The holder of publication rights will take action in such cases]

@digorykirke

I mean that up until 2018 copyright in Japan only lasted 50 years after the death of the writer thus Lewis's work has passed into the public domain there.

Apparently there is another anime styled Narnia in the form of a light novel under the Kadokawa Tsubasa Bunko publishing and unlike the manga (which only currently has MN and LWW) all 7 books are done! I have a physical copy of the Tsubasa version of LWW with PC arriving soon.

Posted by: @boethius

I mean that up until 2018 copyright in Japan only lasted 50 years after the death of the writer thus Lewis's work has passed into the public domain there.

Even if a work is in the public domain publishing fan fiction is still just an indication that a person isn't creative enough to create their own original writing. It doesn't make it any more ethical than violating copyright.

Posted by: @azog-the-defiler

Even if a work is in the public domain publishing fan fiction is still just an indication that a person isn't creative enough to create their own original writing. It doesn't make it any more ethical than violating copyright.

Well, FWIW, C. S. Lewis wrote a book called Till We Have Faces that took inspiration from a story that was part of the public domain. I thought it turned out great.  

That being said, modern "official" sequels to classic books rub me the wrong way too. I wouldn't say they're unethical though or even that they're all badly written. I just don't want anyone to treat them as canon.

Posted by: @col-klink

Well, FWIW, C. S. Lewis wrote a book called Till We Have Faces that took inspiration from a story that was part of the public domain. I thought it turned out great.  

Till We Have Faces is a retelling of a story that's been around for 1000s of years. I wouldn't list that as an equivalent to copycatting a relatively recent author's work since the stories were likely retellings of older stories, to begin with. Also, TWHF is one of my favorite C.S. Lewis books. It made me want to read Metamorphoses by Ovid.

Posted by: @col-klink

That being said, modern "official" sequels to classic books rub me the wrong way too. I wouldn't say they're unethical though or even that they're all badly written. I just don't want anyone to treat them as canon.

I would be too afraid of what would be done to an author's work. They likely wouldn't approve, and I really couldn't see it as being the same characters.

I have some doubts about the claim that Lewis's writings are out of copyright in Japan. Not too long ago I read something from the Estate indicating that only in Canada were they out of copyright.

I would think, however, that the texts are under the legal control of the approved publisher. HarperCollins is said to have very tough lawyers who deal with illegal use of them.

I was curious to see if anyone else has any information about this. I found the manga randomly on a pirate site, and it really shocked me by how well made it was. I've been trying to find out more about this and was curious if it was official and would be given an English release. I know Star Wars and other IP's have official manga adaptations, so I was curious. 

Here's what I've found so far

It is not on bookwalker, where most ebook versions of manga end up, or amazon

The Japanese name is Narnia Koku Monogatari, and it is laid out like a standard book release with title page, volume numbers, etc. 

The creators are called Kyoko TSUCHIYA and Iori Tamaki. One was a minor design staffer for a few different projects, and the other one I don't find anything on, except for a twitter page showing work on the book and also a comic about her cat, which is super cute. I can post a link to that if anyone is interested.

Not sure if this is relevant or not but I've been trying to find out if it will get a global release. Because goodness, this artwork and storytelling is beautiful and the most accurate adaptation I've seen. They're about halfway through the Magician's Nephew in the english scanlation (unofficial translation). If you have the option, look up the artwork, I'm not sure if it's legal or not but I got this image off the bing search.