'Can You Believe It? an Angel From Across the Ocean Bought Me a Coffee' — Manga Fans Donate $5,600 and Rising to Japanese Artist Whose Financial Plight Went Viral

Opening up about how they “can barely afford cheap coffee,” a Japanese manga artist’s frank social media post about financial struggles has gone viral. Overseas fans stepped up, not only offering words of encouragement but also donating over 900,000 yen (around $5,600), with the amount continuing to rise. Shiten Akiyama is the author and artist behind Horizon, a mysterious slice-of-life manga about exhausted office worker Mieko who has a life-changing meeting in her local park. Although the manga is only officially available to buy in Japanese at the moment, Horizon has gradually built up a buzz among overseas fans since Akiyama started the series in 2025, with some going the extra mile to purchase Horizon volume 1 despite the language gap. In February, Akiyama, who often posts on X in English, announced that, “Horizon has crossed the horizon!! It is an honor that my manga has reached crazy manga fans overseas,” adding, “I have two wishes: the development of manga culture and the birth of new works. That alone keeps my right arm drawing an abnormal number of lines.” Despite this optimism, in an X post on April 19, Akiyama revealed the economic reality of being an up-and-coming mang