Cyber Blue ch 31 (end)

I finally bring you the last chapter to Cyber Blue. What did you all think? I thought that these last few chapters salvaged the series as much as it could from the various problems it developed over volume 2 and 3. Of course, Tetsuo Hara's art was consistently great throughout the entire series.

Cyber Blue ch 31 (end) (IF)
Cyber Blue ch 31 (end) (MU)
Cyber Blue ch 31 (end) (4SH)

Cyber Blue ch 31 (end) PSD source (IF)
Cyber Blue ch 31 (end) PSD source (MU)
Cyber Blue ch 31 (end) PSD source (4SH)

Here's volume batches, untouched from their releases. Volume 4 batch fixes a few typos and translation mistakes:

Cyber Blue vol 1 (IF)
Cyber Blue vol 2 (IF)
Cyber Blue vol 3 (IF)
Cyber Blue vol 4 (IF)

Cyber Blue vol 3 (MU)
Cyber Blue vol 4 (MU)

Cyber Blue vol 1 (4SH)
Cyber Blue vol 2 (4SH)
Cyber Blue vol 3 (4SH)
Cyber Blue vol 4 (4SH)

Batch source for volume 4:

Cyber Blue vol 4 PSD source (IF)
Cyber Blue vol 4 PSD source (MU)

Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 14

And with this, we're finally caught up with the most recent Ryuushika Ryuushika; the next one will be up right before Christmas. I'll try to get volume 1 batch up by then so I can whitewash my terrible mistakes from the annals of hist-er, I mean, so you can enjoy the 60 or so extra pages.

Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 14 (IF)
Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 14 (MU)
Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 14 (4SH)

Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 14 PSD source (IF)
Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 14 PSD source (MU)
Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 14 PSD source (4SH)

Young Ace 2010-12 Raws Part 2

Now that I have my sleek and speedy scanner, I can proceed to burn through the rest of the stuff I wanted to scan from Young Ace 2010-12. I still haven't gotten my rotary trimmer yet, otherwise I could proceed to scan all 900 pages or so of this magazine in one or two hours.

These raws are leveled and resized through a macro; they aren't meant to be scanlation-grade raws, but preview releases. If you want to rely on me for raws, you had better contact me.

I did notice that the scans can get distorted sometimes, probably because it's not very high-quality paper.

Inari, Konkon, Koiiro wa ch 4 (I think that's the correct chapter number)

Inari, Konkon, Koiiro wa ch 4 raw (IF)
Inari, Konkon, Koiiro wa ch 4 raw (MU)

Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt ch 4

Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt ch 4 raw (IF)
Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt ch 4 raw (MU)

Teizokurei MONOPHOBIA ch 4.7

Teizokurei MONOPHOBIA ch 4.7 raw (IF)
Teizokurei MONOPHOBIA ch 4.7 raw (MU)

Those Who Chase Ageha ch 17

Those Who Chase Ageha ch 17 raw (IF)
Those Who Chase Ageha ch 17 raw (MU)

Cyber Blue ch 30

The final battle. Enjoy.

Cyber Blue ch 30 (IF)
Cyber Blue ch 30 (MU)
Cyber Blue ch 30 (4SH)

Cyber Blue ch 30 PSD source (IF)
Cyber Blue ch 30 PSD source (MU)
Cyber Blue ch 30 PSD source (4SH)

There's still one more chapter to tie everything together.

Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 13

Keeping the releases coming while I'm on a roll. One more chapter to go before I catch up!

Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 13 (IF)
Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 13 (MU)
Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 13 (4SH)

Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 13 PSD source (IF)
Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 13 PSD source (MU)
Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 13 PSD source (4SH)

Read My Lips

For Pokemon Special, I will only translate chapters from Shogaku Yonensei, and volumes. Period.

Cyber Blue ch 29

Sadly, there was no ATATATATATATATA sound effect as Blue punched Galgo around, but with the power of Youtube, you can listen to this while reading the chapter.



Cyber Blue ch 29 (IF)
Cyber Blue ch 29 (MU)
Cyber Blue ch 29 (4SH)

Cyber Blue ch 29 PSD source (IF)
Cyber Blue ch 29 PSD source (MU)
Cyber Blue ch 29 PSD source (4SH)

Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 12

Extra short chapter, but wallpaper-grade spreads nonetheless. I think I may have broken out of my very unprofessional streak of typo-ridden releases for this series, but you meddling, sharp-eyed readers keep finding more.

Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 12 (IF)
Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 12 (MU)
Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 12 (4SH)

Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 12 PSD source (IF)
Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 12 PSD source (MU)
Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 12 PSD source (4SH)

Cyber Blue ch 28

Alright, time to kick the pace up a notch. Now for the final battle you've all been waiting for.

Cyber Blue ch 28 (IF)
Cyber Blue ch 28 (MU)
Cyber Blue ch 28 (4SH)

Cyber Blue ch 28 PSD source (IF)
Cyber Blue ch 28 PSD source (MU)
Cyber Blue ch 28 PSD source (4SH)

J-Comi notes

Ken Akamatsu's J-Comi beta is now up, with all 14 volumes of Love Hina. It'll have more out-of-print manga in the future, so this a good sign.

Anyways, the manga are distributed in secured PDF files. Since they even disabled printing, it took me a while to rip the images automatically, but it's doable with some PDF converters. The HQ PDF files are at 827x1120, and the LQ PDF files are at 420x595. There are some ads at the beginning, middle and end of the volume, but it's fairly unobtrusive.

I'll be following this with interest.

Noririn ch 12

Well, that concludes all of the Noririn chapters I have. It's around chapter 18 or 19 in Evening, but since no one scans it anymore, I can't catch up until volume 2 comes out sooner or later.

Noririn ch 12 (IF)
Noririn ch 12 (MU)
Noririn ch 12 (4SH)

Noririn ch 12 PSD source (IF)
Noririn ch 12 PSD source (MU)
Noririn ch 12 PSD source (4SH)

Pokemon Special vol 9

After far too many troubles and delays, the Pokemon Special Restoration Project is proud to release its first volume, volume 9. It's the Chuang Yi translation copied onto Japanese raws, so it's properly scanned and reads right-to-left.

Pokemon Special vol 9 (IF)
Pokemon Special vol 9 (MU)

More people are always welcome on the team, as long as you pass my tests.

Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku 5 raws; ScanSnap S1500: raws, raws everywhere

I finally got the latest Mudazumo. It's as crazy as the spoiler pics and summaries I've been reading, so I can't wait to finish these last five chapters of Cyber Blue, the last available chapter raw of Noririn, the next 50-page Fractale chapter, and the three Ryuushika chapters...Damn, it'll take a while. Feel free to spoil yourselves in the meanwhile.

Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku vol 5 raw part 1 (IF)
Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku vol 5 raw part 2 (IF)
Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku vol 5 raw (MU)

In retrospect, I might have to rescan the cover on a flatbed later, but all grayscale pages are fine.

I also got a new scanner, the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500. It was more or less designed to be marketed to the new jisui (self-scan) movement in Japan, which is all about scanning books for self-viewing. Here's a demo:



I got this volume scanned in record time, so I'm sure that I can use the extra time to pay back my crippling debt in the future if I keep spending my savings like this.

Cyber Blue ch 27

Of course, everyone has a backstory, even the villain-turned-hero.

Cyber Blue ch 27 (IF)
Cyber Blue ch 27 (MU)
Cyber Blue ch 27 (4SH)

Cyber Blue ch 27 PSD source (IF)
Cyber Blue ch 27 PSD source (MU)
Cyber Blue ch 27 PSD source (4SH)

Noririn ch 11

Going to school with a piece of bread in your mouth seems to be the defining characteristic of Japanese schools, as is football for America, or wizards for England (?).

Noririn ch 11 (IF)
Noririn ch 11 (MU)
Noririn ch 11 (4SH)

Noririn ch 11 PSD source (IF)
Noririn ch 11 PSD source (MU)
Noririn ch 11 PSD source (4SH)

Cyber Blue ch 26

After being sidetracked by 2 weeks...good thing I only have regular monthly raws.

Cyber Blue ch 26 (IF)
Cyber Blue ch 26 (MU)
Cyber Blue ch 26 (4SH)

Cyber Blue ch 26 PSD source (IF)
Cyber Blue ch 26 PSD source (MU)
Cyber Blue ch 26 PSD source (4SH)

Mudazumo Dainiji Kaikaku authors

Ohhh, so that's what they mean by "official anthology". These authors will be featured in Mudazumo Dainiji Kaikaku:

• Santou Yuka
• Goto Hayako
• Houjou Akira (not the one on MU)
• Ooi Masakazu
  
• Higashiya Meme
• Sano Tae
  
• Oohashi Rui
• Oshikiri Rensuke
• Tominaga Yukari
• Shiwasu Touko
• Midzuki Riyo
• Fujishima Jun
• Kasai Riichi
• Tani Kazuya
• 黒川春姫
• Itou Kurosuke
• Tsuge Aya
• Fujio
  
• Ide Eiji
• Kijima Tenshin
• Nagai Michinori
• 唐草ミチル
• Magari Hiroaki
• Ikejiri Ericson
• Sakamoto Kenshirou
• Karasuya Satoshi
  

Consensus: meh.

Mudazumo volume 5 will be awesome, though. Because Mudazumo 5 just came out and Pokemon Special 37 preordering hasn't been made available on bk1 yet, I've already ordered it, so I'll try to get raws up as soon as I receive it. I'm trying to get one of those expensive-as-fuck scanners the Japanese jisui scanners use so I can automate scanning, possibly even scan more of YA.

Pokemon Special BW ch 01

What interests me isn't the hot-blooded Black. It isn't his Wargle, which only evolves from Washibon at freaking level 54, or the fact that its nickname is "War". No, the most interesting part is what Black does with his Munna. Game Freak needs to add this feature in Pokemon Gray or whatever they call the third game.

Anyways, since the official translation hasn't come out yet, all translations will be consistent with Kazowar's open patch and Bulbapedia.

Also, I forgot to add a new series to MangaUpdates in advance. Even though it's still part of Pokemon Special, I have no idea what the chapter numbers will be, so it would be easier to make this into a completely new series on MU.

Update Nov 18: Fixed

Shogaku Yonensei is actually a normal-sized magazine with a small booklet containing the manga chapters, so importation should be cheaper than expected, especially since fujisan delivered on Young Ace after all (for a cheap $17.93). However, either way, magazine importation for just one series is a luxury. Thus, the costs and donations of Pokemon Special magazine importations will be kept tightly on this separate page. I'll only pay for my own mistakes and for costs of transactions with PayPal and BoA, which charges $0.75 per international transaction.

I'll state my policy clearly right here and right now: magazine importations under this agreement will stop when the deficit goes over $20. Ok? Great. I'm well-funded right now, but it's never too early to donate.

Pokemon Special BW ch 01 2400p (IF)
Pokemon Special BW ch 01 2400p (MU)
Pokemon Special BW ch 01 2400p (4SH)

Pokemon Special BW ch 01 1200p (IF)
Pokemon Special BW ch 01 1200p (MU)
Pokemon Special BW ch 01 1200p (4SH)

Pokemon Special BW ch 01 PSD source (IF)
Pokemon Special BW ch 01 PSD source (MU)

Pokemon Special BW ch 01 raw (IF)
Pokemon Special BW ch 01 raw (MU)
Pokemon Special BW ch 01 raw (4SH)

The last chapter of HGSS was also included, but it won't be scanned or done until Cyber Blue and Noririn chapters are finished. Negotiations with the Chinese group broke down because the actual raw scanner's profile is private (baidu also functions as a social networking site). Since HGSS is over anyways, it isn't really worth the trouble to use my nonexistent social skills to negotiate for BW raws that are weeks late.

And no, I will not play a telephone game and translate the Chinese HGSS 2010-11 release.

Ken Akamatsu, bro extraordinaire

From ANN:

Manga creator Ken Akamatsu (Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Love Hina) announced on Monday that he is launching a "J-Comi" website that will eventually post out-of-print manga for free with advertising support. He is working with Ryusei Deguchi (Abenobashi: Magical Shopping Arcade) and other fellow manga creators, in part to deal with the current situation of manga being scanned and uploaded without authorization.

Under the proposed plan, the site will distribute out-of-print manga with the creators' permission and with advertising. The advertising revenues will then be split among the creators. The site will use PDF (Portable Document Format) files without DRM (digital rights management).

A beta version of the site will launch on November 26 with 14 volumes of Akamatsu's hit manga Love Hina, and the site will tally the number of downloads and clicks as a test of the business model. The site will formally launch on January 10, 2011. Akamatsu will post more information on the official J-Comi blog and on his own Twitter account.

Fuck yes, what a bro. Better than the DMI and whatever portal thing those publishers are trying to set up.

Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 11

As if my failures from last week weren't humiliating enough, I've finally been proven wrong. She is in fact named Ryuushika, not Ryoshka as ABe says. I should have done more research before and realized that Ryuushika is the alternate pronunciation of her real name, Kimika (龍鹿, literally "dragon deer"). I sincerely apologize to all readers and affiliates. I will fix this error in the first 10 chapters when I do the volume releases.

Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 11 (IF)
Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 11 (MU)
Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 11 (4SH)

Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 11 PSD source (IF)
Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 11 PSD source (MU)
Ryuushika Ryuushika ch 11 PSD source (4SH)

Somewhat unrelated, but I didn't know that ABe drew an alternate cover for OreImo's drama CD:


Error: Page 12: "let's buried it"

Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 3

Back to the reason why I relentlessly F5 tracking.post.japanpost.jp at the start of each month.

Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 3 2400p (IF)
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 3 2400p (MU)
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 3 2400p (4SH)

Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 3 1200p (IF)
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 3 1200p (MU)
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 3 1200p (4SH)

Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 3 PSD source (IF)
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 3 PSD source (MU)

CLARIFICATION: It has become apparent that my poor choice of wording has somehow led people to think that I'm dropping this. I didn't mean that; I meant that this series might end within 4-6 chapters because it's using the movie plot and not the LN plot. I would like to continue translating this as much as I could, but even I can't magically conjure up new chapters (or translate LNs).

7o3x ch 1

This is THE toughest chapter I have scanlated to date. You only have to flip to pages 14 and 15 to find out why. Also, it's 75 pages long, has lots of instances of text pasted on the art, and came from magazine raws.

Anyways, this manga is about competitive quiz bowls/shows. I've participated in some during my high school career, though those were focused on science rather than general trivia.

Come to think of it, other than National Quiz and that one episode of Ergo Proxy, there hasn't been any other anime/manga about quiz bowls/shows, so no matter how many generic shounen battle tropes it employs (well, YA is a seinen magazine), it will be somewhat original.

The official title is "Nana Maru San Batsu ~7o3x~", but since "Nana Maru San Batsu" just means "7o3x" anyways, I'll use that. Besides, "7o3x" is simpler and sorts to the top alphabetically. Supposedly, it's derived from a rule that says that you win when you get seven right answers, or get disqualified when you get three wrong.

I'll just let the first chapter do the explaining for itself, so here are the downloads:

7o3x ch 1 2400p (IF)
7o3x ch 1 2400p (MU)
7o3x ch 1 2400p (4SH)

7o3x ch 1 1200p (IF)
7o3x ch 1 1200p (MU)
7o3x ch 1 1200p (4SH)

7o3x ch 1 PSD source part 1 (IF)
7o3x ch 1 PSD source part 2 (IF)
7o3x ch 1 PSD source part 3 (IF)
7o3x ch 1 PSD source part 1 (MU)
7o3x ch 1 PSD source part 2 (MU)
7o3x ch 1 PSD source part 3 (MU)

Oh, and here's the text version of the questions on pages 14 and 15, and the answers I got.

To continue the inflation analogy, the price of maintaining a new series is pretty damn high now, and doubly so for a manga that requires tons of cleaning. There's no harm in giving a try for now, but I might suspend it at times, or just drop it if it's not worth the trouble anymore.

In regards to Gunbuster, its new manga will follow my usual policy for manga adaptations of anime: it will only be translated if the anime hasn't aired yet (ex: PSG, Fractale), or if there is a significant difference from the anime. The art style alone isn't enough, but if it really does have the last chapter in full color, then I'll translate that.

Pokemon Special HGSS 2010-11 (in Chinese)

I like to imagine scanlation as a strategy game. Unfortunately (?), the Chinese have developed the ultimate weapon before me: "monthly" scans.

I say "monthly" because this issue was from a month ago. One of the team members says that getting the magazines have been problematic, which I can attest to right now, since I'm getting B&W's first chapter from a Taiwanese store.

Anyways, you can read this chapter here. I sent a message asking for raws, but my requests with Chinese scanners always go unnoticed. Perhaps I should ask again once I get B&W chapter so I can have something to bargain with. There are two groups scanning Pokemon Special in Chinese ("特别特别汉化组" and "时代汉化组"), and this group isn't scanning volume 36, so my raws might not be enough leverage for them.

Also, in retrospect, I should have composed my message in Simplified Chinese instead of Traditional Chinese.

Young Ace 2010-12 Raws

Well, scanning random chapters didn't work so well last time, so I'll just scan the ones that are requested. Also, starting this issue, I'll post upload resized versions on to Share; it's better than nothing, right?

Nana Maru San Batsu 7o3x ch 01 (I'll most likely pick this up)

7o3x ch 1 raw (IF)
7o3x ch 1 raw (MU)

Share: (一般コミック・雑誌) [ヤングエース] [杉基イクラ] ナナマルサンバツ～７○３×～ 第01話 [2010-12] (臨時代行初心者自炊).rar 28,433,878 2c8037e84aa46cd34a4565f6b5945fe669d964b2

Sugar Dark ch 6

A Japanese exchange student living in Korea requested this.

Sugar Dark ch 6 raw (IF)
Sugar Dark ch 6 raw (MU)

Share: (一般コミック・雑誌) [ヤングエース] [めばえx大岩ケンヂ] シュガーダーク 第06話 [2010-12] (臨時代行初心者自炊).rar 15,071,699 175e5d86a9693d38220d7006d57fafcf7bf1af60

Blood Lad ch 15

Blood Lad ch 15 raw (IF)
Blood Lad ch 15 raw (MU)

Share (messed up with the file name a bit): (一般コミック・雑誌) [ヤングエース] [小玉有起 ] ブラッドラッド 第15話 [2010-12] (臨時代行初心者自炊).rar 13,312,460 ab0128b00eb5c5c9eef566943f9eec587d0a4a7e

Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 3


Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 3 raw (IF)
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan ch 3 raw (MU)

Share (oh fuck, not again): (一般コミック・雑誌) [ヤングエース] [入間人間x佐藤敦紀 ] 嘘つきみーくんと壊れたまーちゃん 第03話 [2010-12] (臨時代行初心者自炊).rar 14,658,042 b7f70891084b4e0f04c49367e0b29ca159ad24bc

PSG ch ? (later)

Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 9 + 10

Since I'm so close to catching up, I might as well put a little more effort into it.

Update: v3 uploaded on 02:32 PST, Nov. 9

Maybe I should put more effort into proofreading.

Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 9 + 10 v3 (IF)
Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 9 + 10 v3 (MU)
Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 9 + 10 v3 (4SH)

Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 9 + 10 PSD source (IF)
Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 9 + 10 PSD source (MU)
Ryoshka Ryoshka ch 9 + 10 PSD source (4SH)

Noririn ch 10

Man, looking at the stuff Kitoh writes here, he was probably dying to make this manga for ages. It's a shame I didn't bring my bike with me.

Noririn ch 10 (IF)
Noririn ch 10 (MU)
Noririn ch 10 (4SH)

Noririn ch 10 PSD source (IF)
Noririn ch 10 PSD source (MU)
Noririn ch 10 PSD source (4SH)

Magazine Importation

I've been asked by someone what the cost for importing magazines is. In particular, Shogaku Yonnensei for Pokemon Special's Black and White arc, which just started, but this applies to all of the series without magazine scans:

• Pokemon Special: Shogaku Yonensei (along with Corocoro Ichiban and Pokemon Fan, but I think Black and White is only on Yonensei) (monthly)
  
• Noririn: Evening (biweekly)
• Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku: Kindai Mahjong (biweekly)
  
• Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan: Young Ace (monthly)

Keeping in mind that the typical manga magazine issue is around 800-1000 pages long and weighs approximately 1-2 kg (Young Ace issues weigh 1.5 kg), the current importation options are:

• bk1: I use it to import volumes. The fastest shipping options are EMS, OCS and FedEx, but it has other, less efficient shipping methods (see 4, 5, 6). bk1 DOES NOT have Shogaku Yonensei, though it has Evening, Kindai Mahjong and Young Ace.
• HMV: Uses EMS, but only has Young Ace.
• MangaOh: Uses EMS, but doesn't have Shogaku Yonensei.
• fujisan: It has all of them at inexpensive prices ($17-$20 / issue)...but they haven't delivered yet. Subscriptions seem to take a month or two to start. This is the best choice if they actually pull through.
• Amazon Japan: It's a reliable source that has everything, but the base shipping price for shipping to North America is 3000 yen (US$37). Nevertheless, additional items only cost 300 yen, so it's ideal for simultaneous purchases of more than two issues.

That's all I know right now from importing issues of Young Ace, which is costing lots of money, but that's unimportant to me, because it's a great magazine. If the joint projects with Animexis works out and we build up some trust, I might be able to rely on Kanapox (their leader and scanner) for Young Ace scans instead, since they import it as well.

If you know any cheaper options, please tell me, I'm more than happy to spend my (or your) money in a more efficient manner.

Anyways, back to the topic of the post, if you are a fan of Pokemon Special, Noririn, or Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku, and have disposable income to spare ($20-40 / issue, depending on the shipping method and shop), you're more than welcome to negotiate some sort of deal with me. However, I prefer to cut up the raw and scan it myself so I can manage the quality, so the magazine will come to me. I can scan and upload other series in the magazine, as long as it isn't the entire issue.

If you can only spare part of the money, but want me to subscribe anyways, try commenting below. A few donors contributing $5 per month is fine as well, as long as I don't lose too much money.

In other news, Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku is coming out with an anthology in December called Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku: Dainiji Kaikaku (Reform without Wasted Draws: Second Reform). I think it's going to be an anthology of side stories, but I'm not sure. I'll probably put that off until January, delaying Route 225 by two weeks or so.

CDisplay(Ex) problems solved (?)

As you may or may not know, I use a program called pnqnqi to compress my PNG release files. It's an image quantizer that I found produces slightly smaller files than Photoshop's built-in Save For Web or other PNG optimization programs; the release archives are about 3-5% smaller. They all save grayscale images to indexed images, which are significantly smaller, because manga pages only have a small range of colors.

However, as I (and a few other scanlators) have painfully learned, CDisplay has a bizarre problem with indexed images that have transparency. Through some testing, I found out the problem was that any palette color with an alpha value of less than 255 is displayed as fully transparent. I have no idea why it does that.

People who use Save For Web can just make sure that the Transparency check-box isn't checked. For pngnqi, there's no option to disable transparency, so I used to just turn the alpha channel off with ImageMagick after I compressed it. Now I've "solved" the problem by changing line 599 in pngnq.c:

rwpng_info.trans[remap[x]] = map[x][3];

to

rwpng_info.trans[remap[x]] = 255;

This completely disables transparency. You'll need any flavor of gcc along with libpng and zlib to compile it. Strangely enough, I don't see a perceptible difference between the images, other than it works in CDisplay.

On a somewhat related note, does anyone have a better Hello World tutorial for OpenCL than ATI's? I was thinking of rewriting certain parts of pngnqi in OpenCL to try to make it faster and to start learning GPGPU programming, but it would hard if I can't even get the first example up and running in the first place.

Cyber Blue ch 25

At least 2 minutes in this manga isn't as ridiculous as Frieza's 5 minutes.

Cyber Blue ch 25 (IF)
Cyber Blue ch 25 (MU)
Cyber Blue ch 25 (4SH)

Cyber Blue ch 25 PSD source (IF)
Cyber Blue ch 25 PSD source (MU)
Cyber Blue ch 25 PSD source (4SH)

Noririn ch 9

Like I've mentioned before, there's no available raws after chapter 12, but I'll translate 9-12 anyways while waiting for volume 2 to come out sometime next year. My policy for magazine scans is to redo them when the volume raws come out if the volume raws are better, and this is no exception.

(Ryoshka Ryoshka's volume raws are invariably worse, since its chapter raws are published online without any printing or scanning, so I'm only doing the pages that are exclusively featured in the volume)

Rin's mom has a creepy "just a planned" smile. Not even a "nico" sound effect, not even a background hinting to the devious nature of the character. Just a simple lines denoting her subtle joy and surprise. Forget Light's helicopter scene, forget Keima's "I can see the ending" gig. This is it, the smile of a mastermind:

Noririn ch 9 (IF)
Noririn ch 9 (MU)
Noririn ch 9 (4SH)

Noririn ch 9 PSD source (IF)
Noririn ch 9 PSD source (MU)
Noririn ch 9 PSD source (4SH)

Cyber Blue ch 24

I'm finally back to finish this up, 7 months after I started. This volume redeems the series slightl--Oh, who am I kidding, the fights are awesome. Look forward to them in the next two weeks.

Cyber Blue ch 24 (IF)
Cyber Blue ch 24 (MU)
Cyber Blue ch 24 (4SH)

Cyber Blue ch 24 PSD source (IF)
Cyber Blue ch 24 PSD source (MU)
Cyber Blue ch 24 PSD source (4SH)

Fractale ch 2

Hmm, I can't say that I'm gaining faith in what might be Yamakan's last anime. Come on, show us something novel and good.

Fractale ch 2 (IF)
Fractale ch 2 (MU)
Fractale ch 2 (4SH)

Fractale ch 2 PSD source (IF)
Fractale ch 2 PSD source (MU)
Fractale ch 2 PSD source (4SH)