Insert Trumpets Here

Friday, April 30, 2010

Cyber Blue ch 10

Finally, Blue vs. Joe-K. Somewhat formulaic, but exciting nonetheless

Cyber Blue ch 10

I skipped KO script this cycle because I want to finish Hanako 4 to get to PokeSpe 34. KO script will be once a week for now. Cyber Blue 2 will also finish in 2 weeks, but I'm busy after that, so I'll leave that slot open for 2 weeks until Mudazumo 4 gets here, unless DerpScans pulls out more back issues.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Hanako to Guuwa no Tera ch 15

This chapter concludes the Mary arc. The rest of the series doesn't quite match up, in my opinion. The last boss was somewhat of a cop-out (hint: she's not a Nukekubi), and just didn't have the mystery of this arc. Plus, we get to see a proto-Yuno in Nozomi.

Hanako to Guuwa no Tera ch 15

Speaking of Yuno, she's done it again in the MN 51. I don't have the raw, and probably no one is going to have the raw for some time (at most until volume 11 is released in September with the pilot episode). According to (what I can understand of) 2ch, the death was pretty brutal (throat slit, chest cut open, head bounced off). That makes me want to read it more!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Cyber Blue ch 9

A bit of an anti-climax this chapter; the fight between Joe-K and Blue is next chapter. But I really liked this one, because up till now, the plot has been pretty cliched. Joe-K, in this chapter, is shown to have some wits, compared to the straightforward Blue. Expect some Batman vs. Joker dynamics between them

Cyber Blue ch 9

Monday, April 26, 2010

Kaibutsu Oujo ch 38 release, 40 script, 57 raw

Ah, finally, the train arc. Been looking forward to this since forever. Contains everything I love about Kaibutsu Oujo in 3 chapters.

FTH just changed their domain name, by the way: http://fth-scans.com/ . New KO releases should be constantly on Sunday now.

Kaibutsu Oujo 38

If you can't wait for the conclusion of the train arc, here's the ch 40 script

Kaibutsu Oujo 40 script

And since RP closed, here's this month's KO raw. Hiro, Flandre and Francette explore the deep sea and copyright infringement with Studio Ghibli

Kaibutsu Oujo 57 raw

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Pokemon Special vol 34 Raw

Well, here's the entire volume, fresh from my hairdryer and scanner. I only ask of you to...not attribute me in any way. Seriously, this activity is (more) illegal (than the regular scanlation). What kind of fucking idiots would want to put watermarks on their raws?

I also want you to spread this raw as much as possible, on Perfect Dark, Share, Winny, the works, so it's harder to find the origin.

The images have been mostly unprocessed other than the dust removal filter. However, since it weighed at a hefty 260MB, here's the resized 1200px height raws (66MB).

Pokemon Special vol 34 Raw (1200h)
Pokemon Special vol 34 Raw (unresized)

Hanako to Guuwa no Tera ch 14, vol 3

Here's the exciting solution to the Mary allegory. Only Hanako or House + X Files (that sounds awesome) could possibly have such a bizarre mystery.

Hanako to Guuwa no Tera ch 14

Volume release is out; changes include changing the color pages to JPEG, because the nonexistent quality boost isn't worth 10MB. This change will be applied to all future release, provided that I remember to do it.

Hanako to Guuwa no Tera vol 3

Edit: Oh, and yea, the next volume to replace Hanako 3 is Hanako 4

Speaking of volumes, Pokemon Special 34 just arrived; I'll be destroying, er, scanning it today, if I can find where the hell that dirty spot in the top right corner came from.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Cyber Blue ch 8

Blue's body count rises. Just who will stop this man!?

Cyber Blue ch 8

I skipped KO script this cycle because I originally planned to replace Hanako 3's slot with PokeSpe 34. However, I reevaluated the situation, and put PokeSpe 34 and 35 after Hanako 4. After all, it would be cruel if I just left the Mary arc hanging. A 4-year old volume has priority over ones that aren't even several months old.

The new table looks like this:





































April May June July August
Slot 1 Cyber Blue vol 1 Cyber Blue vol 2 Cyber Blue vol 3 --or-- Mudazumo vol 4 Vacation Cyber Blue vol 3 or 4
Slot 2 Hanako to Guuwa vol 3 Hanako to Guuwa vol 4 Pokemon Special vol 34 Pokemon Special vol 35
Slot 3 Kaibutsu Oujo Kaibutsu Oujo [END] (at least, the overdue chapters)


I might pick up the last chapters of Mudazumo 4 if DerpScans runs out of back issues. September is a bit unclear, because I'm moving and have to handle a lot real life stuff.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Dammit


Who would've thought that DerpScans would be using donation money to buy the back issues instead of just the volume? Well, I lost. Good job, brofist here.

Mudazumo ch 24+ out by DerpScans

I guess I don't have to sacrifice my preordered volume for scans

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Hanako to Guuwa no Tera ch 13

This arc represents everything I love about Hanako to Guuwa. Supernatural, mysterious, and a bit scary (at least more than the last few). Enjoy this while you can, because the endgame is wimpy.

If you just played Ace Attorney Investigations, then you'll probably be familiar with the premise of this case. It seems that butterflies and flowers always represent bilateral symmetry. It's way more clever than AAI's last case, though, because this case is something that only this manga and its premise can do. Just a hint: connect "bilateral symmetry" and "Kanae's father and mother built the house for her birth".

Hanako to Guuwa no Tera ch 13

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Cyber Blue ch 7, vol 1; Kaibutsuo Oujo ch 37

The Prince character finally makes his appearance

Cyber Blue ch 7

And by the way, the chapter title should be "The Laughter of Death!!", not "The Smile of Death". Fixed ToC:

And this is the first volume of Cyber Blue, all bundled up. Changes include the new ToC, and some stylistic changes in chapter 2 regarding dialogue over intercoms and TV (bold italic -> italic)

Cyber Blue volume 1

The next volume in Cyber Blue vol 1's slot is Cyber Blue vol 2.

Kaibutsu Oujo 37 just came out too

Kaibutsu Oujo ch 37

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Kaibutsu Oujo Chapter 39 script, volume importing, near future

Chapter 38 script had a bit of a misnumbering near the end. Here's the updated script along with a new chapter script

Kaibutsu Oujo 38 script v2
Kaibutsu Oujo 39 script

[Image removed at Mike's request]

On the next order of business, I finally ordered the manga volumes, through the awesome Mike. He suggested that I use bk1 instead of Amazon Japan, which worked out fantastically, since the estimated shipping is only 2000-2300 yen for this order. Here's a guide I found on ordering from bk1. Er, ignore the domain name. I swear, it's a comprehensive guide on importing and scanning manga. People who are into those stuff should be experts on this anyways.

All in all, a projected $43 out of $51 of donation money will be used.

Anyways, the orders are Mudzumo volume 4 and Pokemon Special volumes 34 and 35. Since they're running series, they'll preempt Cyber Blue and Hanako when choosing the next volume. It just so works out that Hanako volume 3 will end by the time Pokemon Special 34 will arrive, about a week from now. Here's the approximate changeover schedule for the next few volumes.








































April May June July August
Slot 1 Cyber Blue vol 1 Cyber Blue vol 2 Mudazumo 4 Vacation Cyber Blue vol 3
Slot 2 Hanako to Guuwa vol 3 Pokemon Special vol 34 Pokemon Special vol 35 Hanako to Guuwa vol 4 [END]
Slot 3 Kaibutsu Oujo Kaibutsu Oujo [END] (at least, the overdue chapters)

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Hanako to Guuwa no Tera ch 12

This is the last normal chapter of Hanako. After this, it's 3 chapters of Mary, a flashback, and then the 3-chapter endgame.

Hanako to Guuwa no Tera ch 12

I also realized that the title for this chapter may have been a bit off. It should be "Red Paper, Blue Paper", not "Red and Blue Paper". Here are the fixed pages if you can't wait for the volume release.

H-Bomb dropped, 40-60 running manga raws dead

I knew that this day would once come, that those French fuckers from RP would blow us all up. Well, Raw-Paradise, controlling around 40-60 running manga scans closed its doors today. My scanlations aren't affected, since Kaibutsu Oujo is scanned by the Japanese, and Cyber Blue and Hanako are not running. But where am I going to get the exciting conclusion to Mirai Nikki now!?

At least I won't see that fucking watermark again

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Cyber Blue ch 6


There's actually a gunfight this time, instead of just cockteasing us with Blue's hax abilities.

Cyber Blue ch 6

Rules

After further reflection on my actions as of late, I have come to the conclusion that I should probably restrict myself.

You see, as someone who can understand Japanese and Chinese, I can understand most manga out there. It's my wish to share that understanding with everyone else, as cheesy and naive as that sounds. I also may not understand some of the dialogue and thoughts as I'm quickly thumbing through the raws, so this also benefits me.

I also have a "cheap Chinese goods" philosophy, that by driving supply up, I can lower the price of a scanlation (time?) and increase the quantity. That way, I can force other scanlators to pick up their game too, and that benefits me as well for some of the manga I can't understand as well.

However, I hit the age-old macroeconomic problem of infinite desire (to translate) and limited resources (time and energy to translate).

That's why, as of this moment, I'm establishing scanlating rules for myself. It may seem silly, but if no one else recognizes it, it just doesn't exist to me.
  1. Only 3 active volumes. Right now, the volumes are Cyber Blue vol 1, Hanako vol 3, and Kaibutsu Oujo vol 9. Upotte is a special case, since it's a monthly with one untranslated chapter.
  2. Must finish the volume, and the manga if it has ended, and there's less than 4 volumes remaining.
  3. Release time is at most 3 days (unless on vacation), but at least 1 day.
I'll try to be a less impulsive scanlator from now on, picking projects at random. After today, I don't think I'm cut out to handle Pokemon Special, so consider ch 365 as an one-time offer.

Cyber Blue will continue tomorrow night

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Pokemon Special ch 365


I haven't cleared it with the group that is normally doing this. Dante, their editor is busy for now, so vol 33 is temporary if it I get permission to scanlate it. So don't go about posting this everywhere just yet.

Pokemon Special or Pokemon Adventures, in the words of Pokemon series creator Satoshi Tajiri, "is the comic that most resembles the world I was trying to convey." This is the only manga I follow that has more chapters than days in a year, and that's because it's pretty damn good. It has excellent plot, good characters (shh, Yellow and Emerald don't exist), and awesome action. I'm looking forward to the anime adaptation myself.

Edit: This may have gotten out of hand, because I'm getting a lot hits on this particular page. Sorry for yanking your chains, these pics are from the clever Japanese artists on Pixiv, the Japanese equivalent for DA. Here are some other images





;_;

Anyways, here's ch 365 and its cleaned, Chinese version:
PokeSpe ch 365
PokeSpe ch 365 cleaned Chinese

Raw obtained from Ryan Cheong

It's my first time cleaning a raw, so the levelling is probably bad.

Cyber Blue will either come late at night or next morning. If I'm scanlating Pokemon Special regularly, then I'll probably do a 4-day cycle of PokeSpe, Cyber Blue, Hanako, and KO (script). Hanako will probably run out first unless I haven't negotiated the purchase of PokeSpe 34 along with Mudazumo 4 yet.

Kaibutsu Oujo Chapter 36 scans, 38 English script

The KO scanlation machine is up and running!

For the Halibut blog post
Chapter 36 scans
Chapter 38 English script

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Hanako to Guuwa no Tera ch 11


This chapter is...stupid, so I thought I would get rid of it fast

Hanako to Guuwa no Tera ch 11

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Cyber Blue ch 5, KO ch 34 redux


Back to our regular Cyber Blue. At least a good guy doesn't die this chapter. Seriously, Fatso, that drug-selling kid, Tom...

Cyber Blue ch 5


Ala-Atra is disintegrating quickly because several members joined the military. What's with scanlators and the military? I just got a recruitment call from USMC this afternoon. Is translating manga part of national security?

Anyways, fortunately, the KO team isn't part of the mess. Releases will now be by "For the Halibut". Chapter 34 with professional typesetting and editing was just released, 36 will follow soon.

KO 34 Redux

Friday, April 9, 2010

Rainbow Ep 1 Sub Draft (up to 6:00)


Inspired by X Nebula's Night Raid sub, I started a Rainbow sub. After 6 minutes through, I realized that I suck at subbing. I will probably ask the Chinese subbing KTXP to lend me their subs so I don't have to time it myself.

In any case, here's the first 6 minutes if I eventually choose to abandon it, or if someone else wants to pick it up.
Rainbow Ep 1 Sub Draft (up to 6:00)

It's translated mostly with the first chapter of the manga, with Chinese-to-English filling in the rest. I'm horrible at spoken Japanese, so some of the retranlations may be inaccurate.
Rainbow Manga

Edit: Oh, and can anyone direct me to tutorials on timing and styling? Thanks

Edit 2: "We are recruiting a TLC for RAINBOW. Translation is almost complete, as is editting and typesetting and other misc. stuff."

I guess applying for Commie's Rainbow TLC sounds easier, nvm lol.

Edit 3: Apparently, the position is filled (?). nvm, I guess. I hope they release soon

Hanako to Guuwa no Tera ch 10


Continuing our tour of dropped manga, here's Hanako to Guuwa no Tera. Many of you might recognize those faces, and for a good reason. The author of Hanako is Sakae "3-faces" Esuno, the author of Mirai Nikki. This is his first manga. Unfortunately, there's no yandere in Hanako, which is why it ended after 4 volumes.

MangaUpdates
MangaFox

Hanako to Guuwa no Tera focuses on "Folklore Detective" Asou Daisuke, who specializes in supernatural cases involving allegories, urban legends, etc. Hanako is his loli allegory companion, who can warp through toilets, and Kanae is his love interest/secretary whose life he saves in the first chapter.

Hanako ch 10
Hanako vol 3 and 4 Raws

Edit: Also, I finally claimed a generous donation given by a kind Danish anon. It's $51 after fees. I would like to import some volumes (Mudazumo vol 4, Genkaku Picasso vol 2), but the overhead for shipping on Amazon jp is ¥3000. If you are or you know a scanlator who wants to import another volume (Pokemon Special, I'm looking at you), I would be willing to split shipping costs.

I don't have (nor never needed) a credit card, though, so you'll be handling the purchase.

I feel a bit sheepish for accepting the donation for restarting KO translations, since KO 36 is delayed "b/c of Kampfer", according to the editor

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Cyber Blue ch 4


Lol, enough shenanigans from yesterday. Crunch time is unexpectedly over, after one day. I'm pretty much free for the next 2 weeks, so expect a new chapter everyday, unless I'm doing the next KO script. I'll probably alternate Cyber Blue with Hanako, Upotte or Himizu, though, to keep things fresh.

Edit: QC is off today...Here's v3 with Credits and page 132

Cyber Blue ch 4 version 3

Oh, and I uploaded the raws to Birdy II (well, 4-15 anyways) and Master Keaton. Birdy II is on GotLurk, but here's the PD raws anyways

Birdy II Raws
Master Keaton Raws

Monday, April 5, 2010

Bunch of Stuff Uploaded

Since KO 36 is taking some time, I've uploaded KO 34-37 scripts into the KO MF folder. They're pre-proofread drafts, though.

Kaibutsu Oujo English Scripts

I also finished downloading and repacking the Himizu raws, in case anyone wants it. It's high on the potential projects list, but it'll take a few months for me to get there. I'm not even sure what I want to translate next, Hanako, Kindaichi, or Himizu

Himizu Volume Raws

Also, fuck yea, RoC

Makes up for the horrible Chinese in Senkou no Night Raid

Edit: I was sitting on this, but since the DVDISO is showing no sign of completion, and a brave man is finishing my bad subtitles, here's a DivX rip of Mudazumo, fresh from Share

Mudazumo OVAs DivX

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Cyber Blue ch 3


Keeping the rhythm going

Cyber Blue ch 3

I also put up a page of past, present, and potential projects. It also has nice links in case any other scanlator wants to take up a project. Someday, you'll also be able to vote...

Projects

Friday, April 2, 2010

Cyber Blue ch 2


The rest of the chapters are only 20-30 pages (it was in Jump, after all), so they should come out more quickly. Like, around 2-3 days per chapter.

Cyber Blue ch 2