Kyochuu Rettou: Recent Developments - Official JP Site Removes Chapter Reading

Fuck! Seems that the web viewer on the official site for the chapters of Kyochuu Rettou have been deactivated. Fuck! Now only the first and most recent chapter is available to be viewed. Fuck! Fuckity fuckity fuck fuck fuck!!!!! Ahem. Now, what does this mean may you ask? Well, for one thing, I won't be able to view the kanji for translation save for chapter raws 1-8 which have already been put online at Bezald Family, and the most recent chapter, number 15, I think. And second, now I have to frickin' search the net to see if there are any scans or rips of the JP web release, and I doubt there fucking are. Sheesh. I'm pissed off even more so because I planned to fuckin' screencap the chapters this coming Monday to have a backup just encase this sort of thing happened. Fuuuuck! Didn't expect it to be this soon. The second volume isn't even out yet. So that was sort of my personal cut-off date to screencap the chapters. Meh.

Anyway, the first and second volume (2nd coming out on the 20th this month) are available to buy and I already ordered the first a few days ago (before I knew this happened), so I guess I'll have to go ahead and order the second volume sooner or later as well. Meh. However, most of the following chapters are 18 pages long after chapter 4 so possibly most of what was on the JP official site I already have, or is in the second volume so there is still hope yet. We'll have to wait and see on that, though. Hmm. Also, the Chinese have done all chapters available (1-15) but like most Chinese groups they love to have shitty, ugly, fucktard watermarks on their images. Then again, I could use that for scans and the like but that still leaves kanji to be translated, and ain't no way in hell am I going the Song Dynasty route. Ugh! O, woe is me. Meh. Again, we'll have to wait and see what happens, so that'll be all for now. Umm, bye, I guess. 

P.S. - Thanks to the guy who requested me to do this manga for informing me about this. I wouldn't have known myself until I would have went online to the official site this coming Monday. Thanks, bud.

Note & Update - PLEASE READ FIRST

Actually, it turns out that those Thai guys got me scans of chapters 3-15 and wow did I not expect that. Now I don't have to remove watermarks and I can get the kanji. Yes! God bless Thailand.

Anyway, a lot of the info in the main post of this blog post I wrote before knowing that I got scans of chapters 3-15 from those Thai guys. Though at least this post will let you know that I ordered the first volume, that the official site removed the reading of chapters, and that China sucks cock.

Review: Mazinger Z (Manga)

Hmm. I might as well get off my ass and write a review of Mazinger Z seeing how I read that, too, about a month or more ago. Probably multiple months back now that I think of it. Anyway, overall the story of Mazinger Z isn't hard to follow. The monster of the week formula and all that. However, that's exactly where things go wrong because having that formula doesn't allow for a more focused story which I think is exactly what Mazinger Z was missing. It just jumps from one bad guy to another without leaving much of an impression or allowing for character development making Mazinger Z overall rather mediocre and unejoyable. That's not to say it's bad or anything, just not very good or entertaining and more on the mediocre side of things. 

However, setting all that aside, the main thing to take away from it is the impact and influence it had on essentially every single mech manga and anime that came after. It set the tropes, the formulas, everything, and that's why we should appreciate it. All said and done, there isn't really much to say about Mazinger Z other than it's not very good, but it was influential, and that some of the violence which came out of nowhere was uncalled for. I mean, it's pretty much happy go lucky for the most part all the way through: beat the bad guy, save the day. But then people get violently blown apart, shot, killed and smushed to pieces out of nowhere. Though that is very Nagai. He does that a lot. Still, very unnecessary, I'd say.

Anyway, just to point out a few things about it's influences from something I've actually saw myself, Evangelion. Now, yes, I know it essentially rips off every single thing that came before it, but! I just want to mention a few things that I noticed in it that came from Mazinger Z. First off, Eva-01 goes berserk in the same fashion as Mazinger Z. Crashing around, uncontrollable by the pilot and all that jazz. Second, the way Eva-01 and the other Eva's are positioned and shown through camera angles and such are very similar to Mazinger Z sitting in the original lab in the first volume. Third, there's already a pilot before Shinji like Mazinger Z, and both become or are injured, and used as the backup pilot. Fourth, they all attend the same high school, and people in the class publically know they are the pilots of the mecha. The bully boss man guy and others being jealous of 'em similar to Kensuke and such. However, Mazinger Z one ups Evangelion by actually having that guy get his own mech. Fifth, both Eva and Mazinger Z are known to be "alive", however the latter is more "implied" than stated. Still, just for the record, Mazinger Z is alive. Sixth, they are both "thought" or considered to be "demons".

Now, you could say that these are all just coincidences ("maybe" some), but the thing is that Mazinger Z is the original manga which near enough all of what we know and all of what we see today is pulled from. And again, that's what I'd say about Mazinger Z which I like and appreciate it for, not its story or character, but the influence it has had on the industry. Anyway, I don't really have anything else to add so I think I'll end things here. Thank you all for reading, and I'll see you next time.

P.S. - I was super lazy this time so I didn't bother to add any images. How sad.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel Special Edition Progress Update - 15th October 2015

Gack! Time has flown by and man o man has it been over two weeks already since I last worked on GOSSE. Phew. Well, I did have the first chapter of Kyochuu Rettou to do and then 140 of Terra Formars came up so there have been more important things which needed by attention. Anyhow, when I did stop around two weeks ago I had about half of the game completely translated so a great deal of progress has been done. However, I'm gonna put GOSSE off for a while and work on it on the side after I get the first chapter of Terra Formars Rain Hard out since, you know, that's more important to me and to you. That said, back when I was working on GOSSE I was testing out a few things like higher resolutions and such so I have another video uploaded if any of you are interested. I'll link it below. See ya! 

P.S. - On the translating side, I noticed that the previous TL among other things had gotten Misato's rank wrong. It's Major, not Captain. How did that happen? Sheesh.

Kyochuu Rettou (The Island of Giant Insects) Chapter 2 English Translation v1.5

Glad to finally get this out. Took quite a while to typeset due to the different amount of fonts that I had to use, and the shit ton of SFX that I had to translate and lookup. Damn. I do like doing the SFX since it makes reading manga more immersive, but at the same time it gets real annoying when there is A LOT of 'em to do. Either or, the effort IS worth it so I'm not too annoyed everytime I have to do something like this. That said, I know that I do all the SFX for this and that I more or less never did any for Terra Formars, but that was weakly and I had to commit to a release every so often so just not doing 'em took a load off my back. Then again, most SFX in Terra Formars or at least half of 'em are self-explanatory. Anyway, back to Island of the Giant Fuck Maggots. 

Now, it was nice to see that people out there enjoyed the first chapter, but at the same time it was very odd to see people expecting boner material and giant bugs with nonexistent 4 meter cocks raping high school girls... oh yeah. I mean, pigmen, goblins, ogres and stone golems are fine with me, but bugs? That's just wrong, dude. Jokes aside, I seriously hope people out there aren't expecting to see giant bugs with 30 inch whoppers because I will be extremely weirded out if so. Ahem. Anyway, on to the actual chapter at hand. I'm liking where the story is going so far and while it isn't the most entertaining story ever told, it is enough to keep your attention and I think that's what counts. And the odd page of fanservice doesn't hurt, either. A bonus.

That said, I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter as it did take me quite a while to do. Typesetting alone was over an abysmal 6 hours with SFX placement, getting everything sized and positioned right, correct font usage, and practically everything involved. It's an exhausting process, really. Furthermore, I'm not the best at redraw or airbrushing so hopefully the text placements cover that sort of thing up nicely and nobody will notice. Not that anybody would mention if it did. Just sayin'. And lastly, translating is another big one, but there's no real need for me to rant on that since I'm sure nobody's interested so I think I'll end things here. Enjoy the chapter, and I hope you will eagerly anticipate the next chapter of Kyochuu Rettou. See ya!

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P.S. - Terra Formars Rain Hard coming next! Can't wait myself. I wonder what it details. Also, just FYI, it is a web manga so the art may not be up to standard. You'll see what I mean when I get it out. Anyhow, I'm excited because there are at least three different language groups translating Kyochuu Rettou from my TL now. Got in contact with 'em and are sharing my PSD's. Exciting, isn't it? FYI, it's Thai, Spanish and Brazilian.

Update 17th July 2016
Updated to volume scans. Links updated. Enjoy.

Terra Formars: Dropped

I was thinking about continuing the series and I did that quite frequently lately, but I don't' think there's a point in doing that anymore. However, I had to at least finish the volume so 140 will be my last Terra Formars chapter 'side from my magazine releases compiled into volumes which I'll be doing in the coming weeks. That said, I'm not too upset about the fact that Imperial has picked up the series. For one, they'll actually be catching up to the raws which is something to look forward to. And second, it was pressing for me to work on a Terra Formars chapter every week since there was a deadline of sorts that I had to commit to, and the fact that I was doing it all on my own for the most part. So, stopping work on the series will in turn take a lot of that pressure off my back, and give me time and effort that I can spend elsewhere. I.E. Kyochuu Rettou.

Anyway, for the record, I don't hold any ill feelings toward Imperial about this. Yeah, I don't like what happened, but that doesn't mean I hate them. That aside, I do not like the way they're handling the series. They got a few things wrong in 140, and lord knows if they made mistakes like that in 141, and future chapters that they will translate. Though, I guess you could say that they might fix them in the future or it's because they're doing them so fast, but I'm still a tad bit pessimistic about it all. Meh.

Now that I got that out of the way, I'm unsure but I might start translating Rain Hard. Again, unsure, but it is a possibility. What do you guys think? All said and done, I just want to thank all of you guys who have been following me thus far. I really appreciate the comments that I've been getting, so it meant a lot to me. Thank you all, and I'll be seeing you again elsewhere in another series. Bye!

Update - 8th October
Actually, I forgot to cover the other language groups. Okay, the main Spanish group Ouroboros, or their leader just said, "okay". Yeah, an appropriate response for us working together for many months on end this entire year, right? Meh. The second Spanish group (Fansub YamiDrk) who directly translates mine into Spanish was very sad since he thinks mine to be a better quality and more reliable translation than Imperial's. And lastly, the Brazilian group (O Nekomata) said that they understand, and that they thank me for all the help that I gave them, and that they are very grateful. Anyway, I recommended to the second Spanish group and to the Brazilian group that if they're interested in continuing to contact Imperial and see if they'll allow them to work together. If they did or not, and if Imperial has or will let them, well, that's not really any of my business.

Terra Formars Manga Chapter 140 English Translation

Sorry for the delay. I just wanted to get the first Kyochuu Rettou out first. Seems that people liked it. Anyhow, since Imperial has already got started with Terra Formars and even pumped out 141, that means I just can sit back and point out all their mistakes in the meantime. Hee hee. A bastard, ain't I? That said, overall their translation is good and passable, but there are glaring mistakes here and there (not that I don't make some myself). Let's get started, shall we? Though I won't be pointing out every single issue as that would take all day, FYI.

First off, they seem have got missed or ignored a bunch of sentence particles like "ka" and "ne" among other things. The former indicating a question and the latter indicating sentence emphasis like, "right" and "don't you". Second, Marcos doesn't say "you guys" but "Ladies", which shows that either Imperial choose to adapt that line or just didn't understand what it meant. Third, they even got Anastasia's nickname wrong. What Sergei says can be translated to either Nastja or Nastya, not Nascha. Even more so, it doesn't even appear as a Russian name when Googled, but you know what, both Nastja and Nastya do. What happened there? Fourth, Sergei calls both Marcos and Keiji by their rank number, not their name. How did they go wrong there? Sheesh. Fifth, Michelle's and Akari's dialogue on page 13 is out of whack, and done wrong for the most part.

And the same goes for parts elsewhere in this chapter but detailing every single one would take too long and I'm not that big of an asshole to do so. Compare both versions of this chapter and notice the differences yourself. Well, I'll mention one more thing. On pages 16-17, Imperial had, "this reliability is amazing" even though there is no character for amazing in that line. They just added that. Because as a matter of fact, it simply says "this hopefulness (or reliability and the few other things it can translate to) is..." and that's that because it continues onto the next page with "when we unite in such a form". See what I mean?

Anyway, all said and done, we are both translating from the same text so you're bound to see some similar or same lines here and there. Though I did try a play on words for some of them. And just for the record, I hold no ill intent toward Imperial or anything like that. Hope you enjoy the chapter, and I'll see you next time. Bye!

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P.S. - Ran out of credits pages. How sad. Back to the usual, I guess. Also, this was the end of volume 14, so I'll be compiling my chapters as well as my previous one's (vols 12 & 13) for a volume archive release. Lastly, while pages 16-17 were not a double page (check RAW), they do look better joined so I went ahead and did the same, FYI.

Update
Actually, I've been really thinking and I've decided to drop the series. I'll make a post about it tomorrow, and what the future will hold. Sorry, guys.

Update 2 - 8th October
I was actually wrong about that now crossed out part. It was ateji related which is something I have trouble understanding so in turn I actually made a mistake. Anyway, it said #9 below and in small print above, their name. It's an odd thing, really. If they want to say his name, then why don't they just put it there instead of this mumbo jumbo? Also, I added a little more info to the main post about Imperial's mistakes.

Note
Links updated to the chapter version of the volume release.

Kyochuu Rettou (The Island of Giant Insects) Chapter 1 English Translation v1.5

Now, this is what I've been working on the side over the past few weeks. It even took a while to just transcribe all 54 pages on their own, but that and the 6+ hours of typesetting that I had to do and many other misc hours like SFX lookup, watermark removal on every page and such were all worth it. I'm liking the end result. Anyhow, the only reason why I did this was due to a request via email a few weeks back. He expressed his interest and that he contacted a few others but nobody wanted to translate it. However, I'm not one to be sour and not to clap for your two time tag team champions nor to not feel the power, so I said that I would do it since it actually interested me. As for why he asked me, he said that it was because I was translating Terra Formars since it also had bug stuff in it and that I might be interested. Just wanted to share that info, FYI.

Anyway, the plot of The Island of Giant Insects, or Kyochuu Rettou, or if you go by its kanji Giant Bug Archipelago, isn't very hard to follow. A plane crashes on a giant bug infested island, and everyone has to survive while getting horribly killed. Nothing spectacular or original, but the concept (people against giant bugs) is interesting enough to keep you entertained even if it has been done several times in the past. Empire of the Ants is one of them, and there was that MTV movie that I vaguely recall, or at least I think it was a MTV movie. Umm. Moving on. I'll be keeping this on the side so it won't be a weekly release like Terra Formars. However, seeing that only the first chapter was 54 pages, other chapters shouldn't take as long to translate. Now, all said and done, you can find the relevant links below like usual, so check it out, hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think. See ya!

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P.S. - I'm not dropping Terra Formars. I just wanted to get this out first so I'll be starting work on TF 140 right after this. Expect it sometime next week. Also, my PSD's for the first chapter alone is like 455mb. Yikes! Didn't expect that. Lastly, it's kinda funny because even though the author (Fujimi Yasutaka) has done bug manga before, he actually spelt Papilio maackii as Pooilio maackii. A stupid mistake if you ask me. 

Update
Oops. Made a little mistake on page 14. Corrected it and updated the download and PDF read online. Nothing major, though. Also, just FYI, this sentence, "You know, you really don't have to be so formal" on page 19 was adapted since it originally said, "You keep calling me Matsuoka-san, but I was wondering if you could stop that?". And since I removed honorifics, it had to be adapted. Just wanted to let you guys know that.

Update - 17th July 2016
Updated to volume scans. Fixed a few things, too. Links updated.