Insert Trumpets Here

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 7 + 8

Hmm, I never realized how scary electronics can be in the dark. But you won't betray me, right, my dear desktop? Right?

Ch 8 was so short that I thought that I should do it as well. I'll try to finish the volume 1 batch before hell freezes over.

Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 7 + 8 (IF)
Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 7 + 8 (MU)
Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 7 + 8 (4SH)

Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 7 + 8 PSD source (IF)
Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 7 + 8 PSD source (MU)
Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 7 + 8 PSD source (4SH)

Speaking of the volume 1 batch, what do you guys think the resolution for the scanned pages be? I can edit it at the resolution I scanned it in as (3121 x 4446px), but the file size will be pretty damn huge (probably around 200MB for the batch volume).

Saturday, October 30, 2010

OH WHAT THE FUCK

22 (not 30, oops) years later, GAINAX is adapting Gunbuster to manga AGAIN...on Young Ace.

Edit:
>I wonder if the last chapter will be full-color.

Oh, it had better be.

Pokemon Special ch 404 (chapter not found), vol 36; November and December schedules

Ah, well, all winning streaks have to come to an end sometime, especially when I have to revert all of the pages in 395-398 with no denoise.

Since I have limited storage on 4shared, I won't upload the chapter there, and I'll eventually remove all of the chapters. The 2400p volume is more than the 200MB limit, so I won't upload it there.

Pokemon Special ch 404 2400p (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 404 2400p (MU)

Pokemon Special ch 404 1200p (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 404 1200p (MU)

Pokemon Special ch 404 PSD source (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 404 PSD source (MU)

I removed denoising for almost every page in 395-398. Furthermore, I'm trying out a new fix for the bane of my existence, CDisplay(Ex). They apparently have a problem with displaying indexed images that have an alpha channel. Considering that it's the only viewer that has this defect, I would like to say: FUCK YOU. Even default Windows picture viewer works fine with them.

Pokemon Special vol 36 2400p (IF)
Pokemon Special vol 36 2400p (MU)

Pokemon Special vol 36 1200p (IF)
Pokemon Special vol 36 1200p (MU)
Pokemon Special vol 36 1200p (4SH)

Like volume 33, the batch PSD source is too large to be uploaded, and I'm too lazy to write a script to diff/patch everything, so just download the chapter sources. I just turned off a few layers to revert the denoising.

Anyways, volume 37 will be out in late November and will be translated in late December. I'm now confident enough to publish the schedule for the next two months:


November 2010 December 2010
Slot 1 Cyber Blue vol 4 [END] (180 pages / 2.5 weeks = 72 pages / week) Kindaichi vol 38 (Legendary Vampire Murders) (150 pages left / 1.5 weeks = 100 pages / week) Mudazumo Naki Kakikaku vol 5 (200 pages / 2 weeks = 100 pages / week) Pokemon Special vol 37 (200 pages / 2 weeks = 100 pages / week)
Slot 2 Noririn ch 9-12 (100 pages / 2.5 weeks = 40 pages / week)
Slot 3 Ryoshka Ryoshka (overdue chapters) (12 pages / week)
Running Series Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan (36 pages / month = 9 pages / week)
?????? ?????????????? ?? and ????? ????? scripts (40 pages / week)
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan (36 pages / month = 9 pages / week)
?????? ?????????????? ?? and ????? ????? scripts (40 pages / week)
Kaibutsu Oujo vol 13 scripts (40 pages / week)
Total Average Workload 173 pages / week 161 pages / week 201 pages / week 201 pages / week

This chart doesn't really show how much work each page requires, on a scale of "spread with nothing on it" to "Kindaichi page with tons of text and sound effects".

The theme for next month will definitely be "cleaning up after myself"; I'll finish off Cyber Blue, catch up with Noririn (all of the chapters I have, at least), and reach a "save point" for Kindaichi. I would like to continue, but Kindaichi is a really hard manga to translate and edit. I'll have to have tons of free time before diving into the next cases, which are all two-volumes long.

The workload for the joint projects with Animexis are still unknown, so it's just an estimate. I submitted my first script to them a week ago, and Kanapox, the Animexis leader, just told me that they just finished cleaning it and will typeset and release next week. I assume that it's going to be a weekly thing, like Kaibutsu Oujo, except that it cycles between the two series. The good thing is that the projects only have 5-10 chapters out right now, so there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Of course, the purpose of all of this is to deflate my workload (you really can't see it in the charts, heh), and clear the way for the new series. If /a/nonymous scanlations is a country, then it just experienced 266% hyperinflation in the last few months, from 3 to 11 series. I don't regret any of them, but I have to at least keep it in check by catching up with most of them. Of course, completely new series that I don't have to catch up are even better, so Young Ace's 7o3x, Dragon Age's Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi and good! Afternoon's Demon 72 (written by Kaibutsu Oujo's author) seem tempting.

Also, since my enemy has tightened his diabolical grip on the top suggestion from when I was accepting recommendations, I can now reveal the top winners of the recommendations. Since my efficiency depends on how I like the series, I didn't judge them objectively. No hard feelings, eh:
  1. Greed Packet Unlimited (re-picked up by Taruby after 500 days)
  2. Mardock Scramble
  3. Cloth Road (picked up by Webcity)
  4. Thermae Romae
  5. I am a Hero (picked up by Gantz_waitingroom and Mango Scans)
  6. Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge (supposed to be picked up)
  7. Rabuyan
  8. Sumire 16-sai and Sumire 17-sai
  9. Yondemasu yo, Azazeru-san
  10. Jiya
  11. Teizokurei Monophobia
  12. Deus X Machina (picked up by Riceballicious)
Four of the top six got picked up in a span of a week, so you can see why I was panicking.

Greed Packet Unlimited was the top one because I just happened to like it, despite its generic magic action. Its scanlator, Taruby, just picked it back up after almost 1.5 years of waiting for raws from his scanner. Mardock Scramble is likely to eventually get picked up next year because its first movie (out of three) is releasing in a week:



Cloth Road is pretty cool, and I would've picked it up, if not for the 8 overdue volumes. It seems to be in capable hands now, so check it out. Other series are worth a look as well.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Pokemon Special ch 403

I came back home at about 10PM with 12 pages left to do on this chapter. Now typically, I set aside 30 minutes to distribute the chapter, from completion, to QC, to conversion/compression, to uploading, and finally to this blog post. Therefore, I "fuck yeah"'d when I completed the chapter on exactly 11:30PM. My winning streak is still safe.

Pokemon Special ch 403 2400p (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 403 2400p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 403 2400p (4SH)

Pokemon Special ch 403 1200p (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 403 1200p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 403 1200p (4SH)

Pokemon Special ch 403 PSD source (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 403 PSD source (MU)

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Monday, October 25, 2010

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Pokemon Special ch 399

The current opinion is split between denoise and no denoise, so I'm defaulting back to no denoise unless there's a significant demand for it.

Pokemon Special ch 399 2400p (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 399 2400p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 399 2400p (4SH)

Pokemon Special ch 399 1200p (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 399 1200p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 399 1200p (4SH)

Pokemon Special ch 399 PSD source (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 399 PSD source (MU)

Denoise Poll

Today, MangaStream picked up Vinland Saga over Hox. Now, as a scanlation group on the so-called Big 3, they use intensely high denoising and cleaning (though they apparently forgot to use the descreening filter to avoid the moiré pattern). That might work for Bleach and One Piece, but it just murders the art of manga like Vinland Saga and Otoyomegatari.

Then it occurred to me that I had never asked you guys about what level of denoise/cleaning is best. The current procedure is this:
  1. Rotate/resize/crop (there's more steps if it's a spread like this)
  2. First curve
  3. DeNoise (Vivacity DeNoise/EQ, threshold = 18.45, noise reduction = 1)
  4. Second curve
  5. Using the "Average" filter on parts that should be flat shading
The next Mudazumo volume will also be cleaned because its scene aren't incredibly complicated as well. However, the denoise threshold is lower at around 11-12.



It might also apply to Noririn if I end up having to get the volume raws myself.

Which ones look the best? I'm welcome to suggestions and comments on this matter.

Pokemon Special ch 398


I recently had a rather trivial epiphany, that instead of just aiming for the "one chapter every 1-3 days" rule, I should instead set a page quota per day. If I do a few more pages than the usual 17-18 pages per chapter, I can get this volume done faster, hopefully before the November deadline, so I can finish Cyber Blue and catch up with Noririn. It's working well so far; life is all about the small things that add up, I guess.

Back to the topic, I had a hard time choosing a good preview picture that won't spoil this chapter, so I chose one that brazenly spoiled it.

Pokemon Special ch 398 2400p (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 398 2400p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 398 2400p (4SH)

Pokemon Special ch 398 1200p (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 398 1200p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 398 1200p (4SH)

Pokemon Special ch 398 PSD source (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 398 PSD source (MU)

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Pokemon Special ch 397

I lost my internet connection yesterday; my productivity suddenly increased by 200%. I had to use this book called the dictionary that seems to be a physical manifestation of its internet counterparts. How curious.

Pokemon Special ch 397 2400p (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 397 2400p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 397 2400p (4SH)

Pokemon Special ch 397 1200p (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 397 1200p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 397 1200p (4SH)

Pokemon Special ch 397 PSD source (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 397 PSD source (MU)

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I HAFF DUAL AUDIO: Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva v2 (now with dub, correct fonts and names)

We're rather irked that no one has made a good dub release yet, so here is a dual-audio release, based off of the UK DVDISO on Demonoid. The official sub has also been ripped and added, and our subs have been updated with the correct names. On the bright side, we got "Melina" right (but just about everything else wrong).

The old video source is still used, because we can't encode videos, and the UK DVD honestly looks worst (comparescreenshots isn't working for me for some reason). Here's the UK DVD:

Here's the Japanese DVD:

Someone could probably run some sharpening filter on the UK DVD if the BD still isn't uploaded, but that someone isn't me.

Also, the audio might be slightly off, since PAL != NTSC. In the end, I settled on an offset of 1000ms and stretch by 1.042727 (no idea why it isn't just 29.970 / 25), but I'm not completely sure. Edit: It certainly sounds fine, though.

Edit 2: A lot people are getting frightened by this. When I said that it might be slightly off, I meant a margin of error of about +/- 30 ms.

Anyways, enough technical talk, here's the downloads:

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva v2 Torrent (nyaa)

This time, we'll maintain the DDLs so that there won't be any fiascos:

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva v2 DDL Part 1 (IF)
Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva v2 DDL Part 2 (IF)
Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva v2 DDL Part 3 (IF)
Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva v2 DDL Part 4 (IF)
Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva v2 DDL Part 5 (IF)
Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva v2 DDL Part 6 (IF)

No patches because it's pretty much a complete remux. I guess you could mux the audio in for yourself if you wanted to, but again, it's not offset correctly. Use these settings on mkvtoolnix:

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva v2 English dub track (IF)

And no, we're not planning any 720p release.

Pokemon Special ch 395

Back to Pokemon Special...time for shit to hit the fan.

Pokemon Special ch 395 2400p (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 395 2400p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 395 2400p (4SH)

Pokemon Special ch 395 1200p (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 395 1200p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 395 1200p (4SH)

Sources will come later because it's 400 MB even when compressed, and 755 MB when decompressed. I'm now editing at the resolution I scanned it as, so the cover PSD (at 6368x4261) is 130MB itself. I could probably halve that by deleting one of the layers, but that would defeat half of the point of uploading the source, which is to back up my work.

Edit: DURRR HURRR It's actually 395. This is why you don't release at 3AM

Edit 2: Source:

Pokemon Special ch 395 PSD source part 1 (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 395 PSD source part 2 (IF)

Pokemon Special ch 395 PSD source part 1 (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 395 PSD source part 2 (MU)

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Professor Layton vs. Gyakuten Saiban PV

As demanded by dudebro, here's the subbed preview for the new Layton vs. Wright game. I had to do a transcode to eliminate some pesky pixels at the bottom, but whatever.

Professor Layton vs. Gyakuten Saiban PV v2 (IF)
Professor Layton vs. Gyakuten Saiban PV v2 (MU)
Professor Layton vs. Gyakuten Saiban PV v2 (4SH)

Edit: new youtube upload with correct styling

Ryoshka Ryoshka vol 1 (extras) raw

I finally had the courage to take apart this holy volume of 136 beautifully drawn pages, all colored. Of course, scanning all 136 pages at the standard 600dpi for each page would take forever, so I only scanned the essential pages:
  • cover, inner cover
  • first and last pages of each chapter (except the last page of chapter 6), since they don't have the large logo blocking the art
  • the mini-chapters, which were presumably ABe's pilot chapters
That's still 64 pages, though. Thus, the batch volume will be released between chapter 7 and 8.

Ryoshka Ryoshka vol 1 raw (IF)
Ryoshka Ryoshka vol 1 raw (MU)
Ryoshka Ryoshka vol 1 raw (4SH)

Monday, October 18, 2010

Kindaichi Case Files: The Legendary Vampire Murders ch 3

While waiting for my lethargic scans, I recommend you go read Q.E.D. and its sister manga C.M.B. It's more like Conan's smaller mysteries, but the minor plot doesn't get in the way of the mysteries, which are consistently good. Plus, it's less focused on Japanese wordplay and more on science and math in general, like a serial murder centered around Euler's formula.

Speaking of science, this current mystery could probably be solved easily by biology majors. I think there has only been one Kindaichi mystery based on computers...damn.

Kindaichi Case Files: The Legendary Vampire Murders ch 3 (IF)
Kindaichi Case Files: The Legendary Vampire Murders ch 3 (MU)
Kindaichi Case Files: The Legendary Vampire Murders ch 3 (4SH)

Kindaichi Case Files: The Legendary Vampire Murders ch 3 PSD source (IF)

Kindaichi Case Files: The Legendary Vampire Murders ch 3 PSD source (MU)
Kindaichi Case Files: The Legendary Vampire Murders ch 3 PSD source (4SH)

Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan live action trailer



I like how he says "that was a lie."

Friday, October 15, 2010

Fractale ch 1

This anime has piqued my interest because it (a) is in the noitaminA time slot, (b) directed by the (in)famous Yamakan, and (c) looks like a certain Ghibli film. Unlike other manga adaptations such as PSG and Star Driver's, this series is actually available online through GanGan Online (same magazine as Ryoshka Ryoshka). Therefore, I'll get 4 chapters out before I drop this when the anime starts airing in January, like PSG.

Fractale ch 1 (IF)
Fractale ch 1 (MU)
Fractale ch 1 (4SH)

Fractale ch 1 PSD source (IF)
Fractale ch 1 PSD source (MU)
Fractale ch 1 PSD source (4SH)

Coincidentally, I figured out how GanGan Online's URL scheme works:

http://www.square-enix.com/jp/magazine/ganganonline/comic/[series name]/viewer/[chapter]/books/images/2/[page number, not padded].jpg

So the first page of Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 12 is:

http://www.square-enix.com/jp/magazine/ganganonline/comic/ryushika/viewer/012/books/images/2/1.jpg

Pathetic, Square Enix.

But wait, THERE'S MORE!

Route 225 finally arrived. It's a manga based on a mystery novel by Fujino Chiya, as drawn by Shimura Takako. The summary is this:

"The story, also adapted into a live-action film, is told from the point of view of 14-year-old Eriko, who is left in charge of her younger brother Daigo, when her parents disappear. Contrary to most manga, in Route 225, the disappearing parents are a major part of the plot. Mum and Dad have somehow been transported to an alternate world, from which they are still somehow able to dial back cryptic messages to Earth mobile phones."


In May, after I paid Mike for his services, he said that I overpaid him a little, so I could choose a manga volume to be shipped in with his own order. So, I asked /a/ what totally overlooked one-shot they want to see. True to their fashion, I got Birdy II (which is still not getting translated), the Tsukihime manga (which just got picked up), etc. Finally, Yamada!AD/TRAP/M6, the purveyor of Taka Tuesday threads, suggested this manga. One-shot (well, one volume)? Check. Completely unknown...everywhere? Check. Intriguing mystery? Check.

So now, 5 months later, I'm...still not ready to pick it up. I didn't notice that it's 280 pages long, which definitely won't fit in November.

Now the chart looks li-

IF YOU CALL NOW,

YOU'LL GET TWO NEW JOINT PROJECTS WITH ANIMEXIS. THAT'S RIGHT, TWO WHOLE BRAND-NEW PROJECTS!

Well, it might turn out to be three, depending on how interesting the new series about quiz-battling in Young Ace is.

Since I don't know how fast we'll make our releases (Animexis is slightly slower, but damn, they know how to clean and edit), I won't update the chart to only fail my goals again. I'm moving Route 225 to January so I can finish up with Cyber Blue and catch up on the remaining scans I have of Noririn in November. Mudazumo 5 and Pokemon Special 37 stands to take up the entirety of December and maybe a bit of January. Then, if I haven't imploded yet, I'll make my next move.

Oh, and I suppose there's also the Pokemon Special Restoration Project, which is shaping up nicely. The workload is presumably negligible because I'm only doing page merges and the intro/end of each volume.

Please Don't Steal Credit Cards

I opened PayPal today and saw this:


Apparently one of the donators issued a chargeback. I suspect that it was because the card wasn't his in the first place, since the name he requested was different from the name on the card. Nevertheless, I was at a lost for what to say, so here's the conversation I had with dudebro instead (excuse his language). I'm red and he's blue:

By the way, dudebro is a for-contract graphics designer who raked in hundreds of dollars per month while he was still high school. Fuck him.

Edit: Anyways, back to the topic, I agree that donators shouldn't have to be punished for the exorbitantly high fee that PayPal charged. Therefore, donations are only set back by $25, the amount that was donated then retracted.

Moreover, does anyone know a better donation collection service? Fuck PayPal.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 6

I really should get around to scanning the mini-chapters from the first volume. Yes, it's apparently possible to make chapters shorter than 12 pages. The art is still really gorgeous, though.

Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 6 online (IF)
Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 6 online (MU)
Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 6 online (4SH)

Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 6 online PSD source (IF)
Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 6 online PSD source (MU)
Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 6 online PSD source (4SH)

Errata: Page 5: s/birds/bugs/

Recruiting for: Pokemon Special Restoration

Well, a reader by the name of Dakota has given me a link to someone who has scanned volumes 1-27. I'm still in the process of rehosting them. If you want to check them for yourself, you have to decrypt them using this (press the giant "D" button, select the .enc file, press the left button on the bottom, and enter "Guill666" as the password).

Pokemon Special vol 09 raw V2 (changes naming convention and dpi)
Pokemon Special vol 10 raw
Pokemon Special vol 11 raw
Pokemon Special vol 12 raw
Pokemon Special vol 13 raw
Pokemon Special vol 14 raw
Pokemon Special vol 15 raw

Now, when I brought up the example of costing $300 to import all of volumes, I was just talking about the monetary cost of even getting the raw. If you assume that translating one chapter takes 2-4 hours, translating 270 chapters will take...forever.

It's true that if I were to try to restore them, I don't have to clean or even translate these, since I could just copy over the Chuang Yi translations. However, since I already have a lot of other projects, I am not going to do them myself. Nevertheless, if there are lots of volunteers, I could help mentor a separate group dedicated to doing these 18 volumes. What about 28 and 29? Let's finish 9-27 first, then we'll talk.

What is the job?

You copy over the Chuang Yi translations to the Japanese raw. It's that simple. You might have to do some clone stamping and copying over Pokedex entries from emulators (that's how I "translate" the Pokedex entries for DP), but we're ignoring sound effects for the sake of efficiency.

Seriously, the only tools you'll use are:
  • text tool (T)
  • rectangular select tool (M)
  • lasso tool (L)
  • bucket tool (G)
  • clone stamp (Alt-S, S) or maybe spot healing (J) if it's simple enough
What are the qualifications?

  1. You have Photoshop and you have opened it at least once. You could also use Paint.NET, Gimp, etc. but I only remember how use Photoshop now, so I may not be able to help you.

    As an upstanding citizen, I encourage you to buy--wait, who am I kidding, just pirate the damn thing if you don't have it. Well, I don't know if that portable version can receive updates, so just look on TPB if you want the full version (or a version that can work with x64).
  2. Lots of free time. I estimate that each chapter may take 5 hours at the very start, but it should accelerate once you get used to it.
  3. Tolerate repetition. As a CS major, I just love repeating myself, but think carefully if you have the perseverance to last 270 chapters. Well, it's obviously going to be less than 270 if there are more than one team member, but 135 chapters, 90 chapters, 62 chapters are still large sums. Consider that I've only made 90 releases in the past 6 months, not counting the 20 scripts for Kaibutsu Oujo.
If you're interested, comment below so others can see how many people are volunteering as well.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Young Ace 2010-11 Raws

Well, now that I have 900 pages of manga lying around, I might as well scan them, right? I will not pick up any of these series (well, maybe MONOPHOBIA), but I hope that they are eventually translated by others.

These raws are scanned at 350 dpi with only the descreening filter. There are a few tears, especially with MONOPHOBIA.

This issue was bought with (grossly misused) donation money. Although I'm well-funded until next year, it can't hurt to donate now.

Another ch 05 (not registered on MangaUpdates)

Another ch 05 raw (IF)
Another ch 05 raw (MU)
Another ch 05 raw (4SH)

Blood Lad
ch 14

Blood Lad ch 14 raw (IF)
Blood Lad ch 14 raw (MU)
Blood Lad ch 14 raw (4SH)

Teizokurei MONOPHOBIA ch 4.6


Teizokurei MONOPHOBIA ch 4.6 raw (IF)
Teizokurei MONOPHOBIA ch 4.6 raw (MU)
Teizokurei MONOPHOBIA ch 4.6 raw (4SH)

Those Who Chase Ageha ch 16 (later)
Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service - Floating Cloud Project Part 2 (later)

I can scan some other series in YA, but because of ongoing negotiations with Animexis, I don't want to hurt feelings. Thus, their series (PSG, Upotte, Disappearance of Yuki Nagato, Hoozuki-san Chi no Aneki) will not be scanned. Also, MPD Psycho is on break, I think.

The magazine will be thrown away by 12:00 am PST on October 19th, 2010, so make your requests as soon as possible.

I cannot guarantee the future availability of more raws, so don't get too dependent. Like I said, Animexis has contacted me, and there's the possibility of a joint project or some kind of raw-sharing deal. Furthermore, because Lying Mii-kun might end soon, so I will not buy any more issues after that.

Edit: Oh, and this issue came with a Mari figure. I'm not a fan of either Eva or figures, so contact me with your bid if you want it. Sale goes to highest bidder.

Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 2

I admit defeat. I was completely unready for such a complicated task as cleaning magazine raws. I tip my hat to all of you magazine cleaners. May you overcome your masochistic tendencies one day.

Anyways, I'll re-release this when the volume comes out, and I hope that I'm competent enough to clean those. At the very least, I fixed the blacks on this magazine raw.

Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 2 2400p (IF)
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 2 2400p (MU)
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 2 2400p (4SH)

Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 2 1200p (IF)
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 2 1200p (MU)
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 2 1200p (4SH)

Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 2 PSD source part 1 (IF)

Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 2 PSD source part 2 (IF)
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 2 PSD source part 1 (MU)
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 2 PSD source part 2 (MU)
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 2 PSD source part 1 (4SH)
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 2 PSD source part 2 (4SH)

Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 2 raw (IF)
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 2 raw (4SH)

I'll probably regret this, but I'll be taking any request for Young Ace 2010-11 raws.

Errata: Woah, now that's a lot errors. Replacement pages coming right up.

Thanks to irecinius.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Bad News, Everyone!

I have a several pieces of bad news to announce, in order of increasing badness.

First, 时代汉化组 started Pokemon Special volume 36 on their own. I'm afraid I'll have to disqualify all applicants -- all zero of you.

Second, Noririn, along with the rest of Evening, have not been scanned and uploaded onto Share/PD for 2 issues, so I'm moving it to "Periodic Projects." I'll still translate chapter 9-12 in late November as per the current schedule, but if no one scans any more Evening issues, I'll have to wait for the volumes.

Third, since Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan is an adaptation of the movie, instead of a direct adaptation of the 10-volume LN series, there are rumors that it will end in five or so chapters, which matches up with the movie release date.

Fourth, I believe that the recommendations have reached some kind of asymptote. I hate to keep on disappointing submitters, so I'm not taking recommendations anymore.

Lastly, my suspicions have been confirmed. Mediafire has been deleting my files without me noticing. Although I'm a firm believer of Hanlon's razor, this is unacceptable, whether it was out of stupidity or intentional enforcement of copyright laws. For the time being, I'm moving to ifile, because I get, like, 40 MB/s on there. I haven't been updating my ifile folder because the stupid site keeps logging me out automatically, but I'll upload all of the volume releases and source files on there soon.

I'll also need a 3rd mirror just in case ifile and MegaUpload turns on me as well. Please suggest any file-hosting services you would like to see me mirror my releases on that:
  1. has unlimited or very large (> 5GB) bandwidth limit
  2. no expiration
  3. some kind of folder structure feature
  4. loose enforcement of copyright laws
The most possible candidate right now is 4shared, but I'm open to anything. I guess I could try getting an IRC bot, but that would require money.

Pokemon Special ch 374


Well, the delay of the day was my depression over REDLINE. A few weeks ago, there was a thread on /a/ with just this link:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-09-22/redline-opens-in-california-japan-in-same-october-weekend

Now, since I live in California, I was ready to jizz rainbows and unicorns. But I opened it and

>Redline to open at San Francisco's Viz Cinema on October 8, in Japan on October 9

I just moved from the Bay Area three weeks ago. My reaction:

In retrospect, I should've stopped being an indecisive idiot and ordered plane and/or train tickets immediately, but I made my decision too late. dudebro, who still lives in the Bay Area, didn't get to see it because of a stupid traffic jam caused by John Lennon's birthday, but he's going back tomorrow.

TO ALL READERS AROUND THE BAY AREA! YES, ALL ~300 OF YOU! GO SEE REDLINE, NOW! AND EVEN IF YOU DON'T LIVE AROUND THE BAY AREA, GRAB A PLANE TICKET AND FLY TO SF NOW! Well, except for Taiwan and Australia, you lucky chaps get local screenings at Kaohsiung and Southport respectively.

On the bright side, I did manage to nab the OST off of PD. Here's all 42 tracks, converted to CBR 320 kbps mp3:

REDLINE OST


Back to Pokemon Special, I'm proud to announce that with this release, the first two-thirds of the DP arc is now complete. No more summary-reading, no more Chinese scan-skimming.

Volume 36 will start after a short break. Young Ace 11 just arrived, so I should have Lying Mii-kun ch 2 ready by tomorrow

Pokemon Special ch 374 2400p (MF)
Pokemon Special ch 374 2400p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 374 2400p (IF)

Pokemon Special ch 374 1200p (MF)
Pokemon Special ch 374 1200p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 374 1200p (IF)

Pokemon Special ch 374 PSD source part 1 (MF)

Pokemon Special ch 374 PSD source part 2 (MF)
Pokemon Special ch 374 PSD source part 1 (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 374 PSD source part 2 (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 374 PSD source part 1 (IF)
Pokemon Special ch 374 PSD source part 2 (IF)

Volume release contains typo fixes as usual. The sources ended up being 2GB, so I'm not going to even try to split or diff that.

Pokemon Special vol 33 2400p (MF)
Pokemon Special vol 33 2400p (MU)
Pokemon Special vol 33 2400p (IF)

Pokemon Special vol 33 1200p (MF)
Pokemon Special vol 33 1200p (MU)
Pokemon Special vol 33 1200p (IF)

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Pokemon Special ch 373

Well, thanks to everyone's donations, we've not only met the October and November goals, but the December goal ($30) as well. The financial stability of /a/nonymous scanlations is now secured...at least until next year, but future goals are only $30 because it's only just Young Ace.

This time, the delay was caused by TWGOK (excellent OP theme, by the way) and Squid Girl premiers. Fortunately, Soredemo Machi wa Mawatte Iru subs aren't out yet, otherwise that might lead me to an infinite loop of productivity loss.

Anyways, for this chapter and the previous chapter, I finally figured out that Photoshop x64 comes with BOTH 32- and 64-bit versions. Now, the denoising is done with Topaz Vivacity and the good ol' average filter, which is why the shading may look a little flatter and more constant. Hopefully my cleaning skills are up to snuff for the first manual magazine-to-release scan I'll be doing next week with Lying Mii-kun ch 2.

Pokemon Special ch 373 2400p (MF)
Pokemon Special ch 373 2400p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 373 2400p (IF)

Pokemon Special ch 373 1200p (MF)
Pokemon Special ch 373 1200p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 373 1200p (IF)

Pokemon Special ch 373 PSD source (MF)
Pokemon Special ch 373 PSD source (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 373 PSD source (IF)

Monday, October 4, 2010

Administrative Changes: Donations, Hiring

Donations

It has come to my attention that this operation is just flat broke. Worse even; because of several errors I've recently made, I'm ashamed to say that we're in the deficit for about $50-100. I'm not a business major, dammit.

While I won't make you guys suffer for my stupidity, it would be nice if you could share my burden, even just a bit. The goal this month is $55 to try to recoup some of the losses and pay for Pokemon Special 37, Mudazumo 5 ($30-40 together), and the next two issues of Young Ace ($22 / issue). The costs for those 4 items is really just $80 instead of $110 over these two months, so I would be ecstatic if the donations even just broke that.

Furthermore, you get immortalized in the credits page of the volume as an "evil background sponsor." I don't think PayPal donations allow you to leave messages. In any case, if you want a special title or if you want to specify which volume you want to be credited, just contact me, somehow prove that you're the donor, and tell me what you want.

Hiring

Now, before you get all excited, I'm currently only "hiring" for Japanese-to-Chinese translators. Why?

It's becoming apparent that no Chinese group is going to scan Pokemon Special 36 and possibly Mudazumo 5 soon. I can read Chinese, but writing is too difficult. Thus, it's a good time to experiment with expanding the one-man team and into the international scene.

Currently, I'm not looking for Japanese-to-[insert other language here] translators, but you can use my PSD files all the same. I would like you to contact me so obese ego can get even more inflated, but whatever, as long as it get translated, I don't care.

What is the position?

You translate Pokemon Special 36 to Chinese. That's it. "You" can refer to either a group or a single person. I don't care.

What you produce can also be negotiable:
  1. Script - You translate to a text script, I'll typeset and release.
  2. Parallel translation - I'll clean the raw first and give it you, then we'll translate to English and Chinese at the same time.
  3. Sequential translation - I'll release the English version as usual, then you take the PSD and translate into Chinese.
  4. Hit-and-run - You just take the raw and handle your own releases on your own.
I don't care how it's done, as long as it's somewhat efficient.

What are the qualifications?

There's no qualifications for picking it up. I open source my stuff so other groups can pick it up easily. As long as you can read Japanese (maybe assisted by my English translation) and write Chinese, I'm happy.

That's different from English-to-Chinese, because my accuracy will limit even the best translator. For example, assuming that my accuracy is only 90% of the time, even if you're English-to-Chinese translation skills are perfect, our release will only be 90%. That said, if the Japanese-to-Chinese translations are worse than Japanese-to-English-to-Chinese, I'll pick the latter.

I'll only "endorse" the best group. I have no idea how it will work, but it will depend on how many people/groups actually apply. Given that this blog post will be read by a primarily English crowd, the chances are slim, but it can't hurt to try.

What are the rewards?

Well, I won't provide any financial rewards; this operation is already deep in the red as it is. I guess you could put it on a file host that generates money like DepositFiles and Fileserve. Although I do not condone such behavior for myself, some translations are better than none.

Of course, there's the usual reward of internet fame. It's pretty addictive to see your release get downloaded hundreds and thousands of times. Well, the Chinese scene is mostly based on online readers, but you'll be loved anyways.

TL;DR


I want a translator to translate Pokemon Special 36 to Chinese. How we cooperate can be negotiated, from being a part of /a/nonymous scanlations (/無/名漢化組?) to a group that just cooperates with me, like School Rumble Fantrad for Ryoshka Ryoshka releases in French.

Contact me through the comments or e-mail if you're interested. Here are the raws again if you want to see how difficult they are:

Pokemon Special vol 36 unfiltered (MF)
Pokemon Special vol 36 unfiltered (MU)
Pokemon Special vol 36 unfiltered (IF)

Pokemon Special vol 36 1200p (MF)
Pokemon Special vol 36 1200p (MU)
Pokemon Special vol 36 1200p (IF)

Of course, like me, you can also use Serebii's summaries as a clutch. I think they actually come from a Chinese source, but I could be wrong.

Cyber Blue: the Lost Children

Well, I lack the manpower and funding, so I think that I won't even pick up the first chapter of the Cyber Blue remake. The poll results said a resounding "no" anyways, so I took it down.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Pokemon Special ch 371

I never quite understood the plot device of "no, Luke, I am the gym leader/E4/champion." Is the education in Sinnoh really so bad that they don't even know their leaders and can't do simple arithmetic? I know they're 10-year olds, but the names of 8 gym leaders + 4 Elite Four + 1 Champion aren't hard to remember.

Pokemon Special ch 371 2400p (MF)
Pokemon Special ch 371 2400p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 371 2400p (IF)

Pokemon Special ch 371 1200p (MF)
Pokemon Special ch 371 1200p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 371 1200p (IF)

Pokemon Special ch 371 PSD source (MF)
Pokemon Special ch 371 PSD source (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 371 PSD source (IF)

Our Alliance ch 1 reupload


Hmm, I noticed something very weird, and that was that my release for Our Alliance ch 1 was removed. I certainly don't remember doing such a thing myself, because I usually just make the file private instead of deleting it if I wanted to cut off the links. Ironically, Our Alliance is probably the only manga I can legally scanlate, since it's made free by the publisher online. Furthermore, I'm fairly sure that my translations are in favor of the glorious and supreme United States of America, so the righteous CIA didn't have to break into the MF data center and erase these 5.34MB of the Truth.

Well, I'm not too clear on copyright laws for these things, but here's a reupload anyways. Nothing was changed, so ignore this if you already have it downloaded

Our Alliance ch 1 (MF)
Our Alliance ch 1 (MU)
Our Alliance ch 1 (IF)

Our Alliance ch 1 PSD source (MF)
Our Alliance ch 1 PSD source (MU)
Our Alliance ch 1 PSD source (IF)

Pokemon Special vol 36 raw

This time the delay is caused by GALACTIC PRETTY BOY. Weekends are more likely to cause delays now.

Well, this volume had barely reached my doorstep when volume 37 was announced. Thankfully, it's going to released at the end of November, so it's going to get pushed back to December along with Mudazumo 5.

Looking at the summaries on Serebii, 38 is likely to be the last volume for this arc, tying it with RS as one of the two longest arcs. Will it get as good as RS? Maybe, maybe not

Anyways, here's volume 36. Releases on this volume (and, most likely, on other vol 33 chapters) will be edited on the unfiltered raw then resized down to 2400p and 1200p:

Pokemon Special vol 36 unfiltered (MF)
Pokemon Special vol 36 unfiltered (MU)
Pokemon Special vol 36 unfiltered (IF)

Pokemon Special vol 36 1200p (MF)
Pokemon Special vol 36 1200p (MU)
Pokemon Special vol 36 1200p (IF)

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Pokemon Special ch 370

Bah, got delayed by FLY AWAY NOW FLY AWAY NOW FLY AWAYYYYY~

Anyways, this chapter is the start of a new policy change, which is to introduce denoising. Although putting black paper in the back of the scanner to absorb the light helps, the texture of the black construction paper still reflects back. Denoising, using PictureCode's Noise Ninja (since Vivacity doesn't work with 64-bit PS), should eliminate some of the problems.

I need to step up my scanning game to match Kirin Studios for Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan, since they aren't answering me. To be fair, my message did sound like a Nigerian prince scam, only with an American scanlator who wants to scam your hard-earned raws. At any rate, I subscribed to Young Ace from Fujisan, which seems to be the cheapest game in town for importing magazines. It's still $17 per issue and I have no idea how fast they ship (I hope they're not using sea transport, which will take 1-3 months).

The technical ramifications of using denoising are fascinating. On one hand, the file sizes have decreased dramatically, from a little less than 1MB / page to 700KB / page. On the other, the effects of neuquant compression is slightly visible now, so I might have to increase the maximum number of colors in the future. (On an unrelated note, I wish this website had an option to make the comparison private)

Well, enough talk, here's the chapter:

Pokemon Special ch 370 2400p (MF)
Pokemon Special ch 370 2400p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 370 2400p (IF)

Pokemon Special ch 370 1200p (MF)

Pokemon Special ch 370 1200p (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 370 1200p (IF)

Pokemon Special ch 370 PSD source (MF)
Pokemon Special ch 370 PSD source (MU)
Pokemon Special ch 370 PSD source (IF)