Kirisuke and Johnny

Wasn't planning on doing this oneshot so soon, but it's been several months since I promised the anonymous who kindly scanned this for me and I felt guilty about just sitting on it for so long. In any case, the oneshot is called Kirisuke and Johnny, The Slaying of 499, by Enomoto Shunji. Perhaps you don't recognize the name, but I'm sure some of you will remember Enomoto's other oneshot, The Family Zoo. After all, who could ever forget that story? Seriously, if you haven't read it, go do so. It's another fine example of WHY JAPAN? But back to talking about Kirisukue and Johnny. This one's not really weird at all for an Enomoto manga. Just 112 pages full of dynamic action, speed lines, and minimal dialogue. A fun short read. I hope you enjoy it!

Download:
Kirisuke and Johnny, The Slaying of 499:   Mediafire

Gyanki-Hen Volume 1

Hurray, volume 1 of Gambling Emperor Zero (aka Gyanki-Hen) is out! Unfortunately, it only gives us one additional chapter to what I had previously translated from the magazine raws... But no need to fret because volume 2 comes out in Japan next week! Of course, we'll have to wait for some moonlander to scan it and I probably won't be able to work on it until January, but we'll have 9-10 new chapters soon enough. Until then, enjoy Zero trolling Kyousuke with physics!

Download:
Gyanki-Hen c007:   Mediafire
Gyanki-Hen v01:   Mediafire (c1-6 are just the regular magazine scans, while 7 is the only one that used the better quality volume scans)

Goodnight Takashi v09 + Minor Status Update

Enough with the walls of text already, Asano. You're driving me crazy.

Alright, managed to get the entire volume done by the end of the weekend. Mission accomplished. The batch volume file I've linked below fixed a couple minor errors I've made in earlier releases but let me know if you spot any other issues. Now that the volume's done, I guess it's back to 6-8 months of waiting while we all complain about how slow Punpun releases are! This time, it's going to be particularly tough after the way this volume ended.

In other news, my new mediafire is <www.mediafire.com/hoxbox> I'm still in the midst of uploading all the stuff I've translated over the years, however. If you're wondering what the hell happened to Franken Fran, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it. I've just been caught up doing other things as of late. But I'll try to get the 2 chapters of Fran that I'm behind on out as soon as possible, along with Zero and another Phase 20 oneshot that Kigitsu recently released. Otherwise, don't expect too much from me this December. If all goes well, I'll come out of my "break" from scanlation this January and resume work on Joe and Sangokushi. That's it for now, folks!

Download:

Goodnight Punpun c99:   Mediafire

Goodnight Punpun v09:   Mediafire

Punpun v9 (last updated Nov. 27)

And the wait is over! Well... I guess not quite since you still have to wait for it to get translated. I'm not sure how fast I can get the volume done, but I'll try to pump out at least 2 chapters per day until I'm through. And yes, I know that my mediafire has 404'd. Seems that my old account was deleted because it linked to the root folder or something. I don't know. But I'm in the midst of making a new one and uploading everything again. On a related note, does anybody know of any other good filesharing sites other than mediafire (preferably without any annoying load times) that allows for easy organization?

Nice self-insert there, Asano. Getting quite meta, aren't we?

What is with anime/manga's obsession with collective consciousness anyways?

First manga, and now commentary on the Tohoku Earthquake?

And you thought Punpun had problems.

95's done and I uploaded a fixed version of 94. Also, my new mediafire is www.mediafire.com/hoxbox

Mimura's such a bro.

How vulgar.

Guess who's back.

Download:
Goodnight Punpun c90:   Mediafire
Goodnight Punpun c91:   Mediafire
Goodnight Punpun c92:   Mediafire
Goodnight Punpun c93:   Mediafire
Goodnight Punpun c94:   Mediafire
Goodnight Punpun c95:   Mediafire
Goodnight Punpun c96:   Mediafire
Goodnight Punpun c97:   Mediafire
Goodnight Punpun c98:   Mediafire

Phocion the Good

After the several month-long break, Historie is finally back! Enjoy the chapter, I know I did. Also, the last page is an ad about Eumenes' board game being included with every volume of Historie v7 set to come out on Nov. 22. Too bad the pieces aren't carved figures, though that'd jack up the prices by quite a bit. As with the previous volumes, v7 will be scanlated so we can get the fixed-up art. The previous HQ rescanlations were done by Project Scanlations but its site has since then gone down so I'm not exactly sure who'll do it this time. Nevertheless, you have my word that it will get done.

Download:
Historie c71:   Download

Franken Fran c57

Alright, I got some good news and bad news so gather around. The good news is that new Franken Fran is out and Zero part 2 volume 1 will be out in Japan on Oct. 17. Of course, it'll still be some time until it's scanned and translated but we should definitely be able to see how the golfing match turned out in the near future. The bad news is that Amuro, my editor/cleaner/professional joke-maker for Franken Fran is resigning from the project. You can read more about that on his blog.

So in short, I need a volunteer to help me on this project. Requirements are cleaning/typesetting/editing experience and a sense of humour (I've rather grown fond of reading Amuro's jokes at the end of every chapter and I'd like to continue that if possible).

Download:
Franken Fran c57:   Mediafire

Parasyte Doujin

Since Iwaaki hasn't released any Historie in over 3 months, I thought I'd try to make things up to you guys by translating this Parasyte doujin. Yes, you heard me correctly. A goddamn doujinshi of Parasyte that was released in the most recent Comiket 80. The story is an alternate retelling of events from when Tamura Reiko is about to hand over her child to Shinichi in the park. Obviously, if you haven't read Parasyte, you'll be lost so please do read the manga before.

Seizon Senryaku!

This picture's not from the doujin but I thought I might as well post it since I found it amusing and it was also drawn by the same artist who drew this doujin. Also, speaking of doujins, does anybody happen to have that Ever17 one I translated years ago? Mediafire had this bug some time ago where it randomly deleted some of my files including the Ever 17 one and the backup I kept on my hard drive was lost when my last laptop died... I really hope someone out there still has it saved.

Download:
Tamurabon: Mediafire

Break Continues (sort of)

So yeah, as the title says, my semi-break will unfortunately continue. My previous claim that the break will end around September is now retracted and changed to this December. As a former manga-reading leecher, I know how much it sucks when people provide free service really slowly. It is quite ironic how this break came now of all times because when asked some time ago if I really plan to finish the 60-volume-behemoth that is Sangokushi, I jokingly responded I would cockblock everyone by disappearing at the climax of Red Cliffs. So feel free to complain to your heart's content. It's probably nothing compared to the guy who once complained about how I couldn't release new Vinland Saga chapters faster than Yukimura could draw them.

Once again, the semi-break means I'll only translate the monthlies, meaning no Sangokushi and Tomorrow's Joe (I've found a volunteer to help me with this so you don't need to worry/apply). In case you didn't read the small update on Zero, that's been switched to volume releases since weekly scans are no longer to be found on the internet as far as I'm sure. As for Math Girls, I'll try my best to finish the final volume since I initially picked it up ignoring my semi-break status.

P.S. Oh, almost forgot, the new Punpun volume is going to be out in Japan this October 28th. If my kind and generous raw provider buys and sends me scans like before, I probably will get to it quickly enough since we all know SHIT WILL PROBABLY GO DOWN in the newest volume.

Franken Fran, Now With 100% More Furry.

Franken Fran c56 is out, thanks to Amuro. As for Zero c7, haven't seen any raws this week which would probably mean that there was a break so c7 should come out next week.


Small Zero update: c7 actually was released last week, and c8 was also released this week. However, the guy who usually scans them and puts them up on the internet seems to be either gone or not scanning Zero anymore for some reason. So unless situations change, looks like doing volume releases may be my only option now.


Download:
Franken Fran c56:   Mediafire

Golfing Emperor Zero (last updated Aug. 24)

Since the old Zero post has now been bumped to page 2, this'll be the new post for the next few chapters. Now, I have a question to ask for Zero fans. Should I continue working from weekly magazine scans or wait for volume scans and work with those? As you probably all know, my editing is sub-par at best so waiting for volume scans which will inevitably pop up will lead to much better looking scans. Of course, I will use the weekly magazine scans until this golfing arc is over as to not interrupt this ball-bustingly intense golfing duel to the death. Keep in mind that v1 of Zero part 2 will probably be the golfing arc so if I do switch over, it won't be until v2 is out that you can expect to see more chapters. There is a 3rd option, which is to recruit a proper editor (typesetter/cleaner), though I'm a little hesitant about collaborating on a weekly project for personal reasons.

So just to summarize again, what do you guys want?
1. Continue weekly with magazine scans
2. Work from the monthly volume scans that pop up every 2-3 months.
3. Work weekly but get a proper editor (contact me by email if you are interested)

While on the subject of talking about recruiting editors, is there anybody interested in working with me on Tomorrow's Joe? Joe has a ton of dialogue bubbles and I'm seriously starting to get pissed off at how tedious it is. Not even sure how the hell Chiba Tetsuya and Kajiwara Ikki (aka Takamori Asao) managed to jam so many lines in this manga without making it sound wordy and unnecessary, a talent I only wish Fukumoto had. Some experience is preferable, though just about anybody can easily learn to pick it up, I suppose. The workload would be releasing a ~30 page chapter per week so please refrain from offering if you're already busy helping other scanlation groups unless you're some hardworking NEET (an oxymoron or no?).

Download:
Gambling Emperor Zero Part 2 c006:   Mediafire

NASA

Happy Scans and I are proud to present to you NASA, a 1 volume collection of oneshots by Urasawa Naoki. Despite the volume title, this manga is not really about space at all and each oneshot has quite a different story to tell. But of course, all of them are classic-Urasawa. And by classic, I mean relatively lighthearted stories with goofy humour that characterized his pre-Monster-era works. So if you want to get a better idea of Urasawa's development as a mangaka, I highly suggest you go read NASA, Happy!, and Yawara (especially Yawara since that was THE manga he was known for in the first half of his career). Although the latter two are unfortunately incompletely scanlated, Happy Scans is making steady progress so don't lose hope, people.

Oh, I almost forgot. One of the oneshots included in NASA is Beta!!, which was previously translated by Mangascreener so a thank you to those guys as well.

Download:

NASA:   Mediafire

Mathematical Girls Volume 1

And volume 1 of Mathematical Girls is complete! Touching on sequences, series, factorization, rotation matrix, imaginary numbers, trigonomeyry, complex planes, de Moivre's Theorem, it's certainly proved to be quite an interesting read (hopefully for you as well). But the thing I'm most enjoying about this manga isn't the math but how its terms are used it to convey the romance. Nerdy? Yes, but highly entertaining.

For once, I actually translated the afterword since the author Yuuki Hiroshi talks about how this whole Mathematical Girls story started. I actually wasn't even aware that this manga was an adaptation, much less an adaptation of stories originally posted on a website. Speaking of his website, I looked through the Mathematical Girls section and found confirmation that the name "Miruka" is officially to be spelled as "Milka" so I've fixed the name for the batch volume (though not in EdMx's chapters 1 and 2). Other than the name Milka, I've fixed minor typos here and there, me mistakenly using the term "series" when I actually meant "sequence," and one typo that the mangaka made on p139 (thanks to the anon who pointed this out).

Also, as Yuuki has pointed out in the afterword, I actually did find the fan-made songs on niconico he was talking about (a Miku song, of course. What else could it possibly have been?). Since not everyone has a niconico account, here's one I found on youtube instead.

P.S. Don't expect v2 to be done as quickly as I did v1.

Download:
Mathematical Girls v01:   Mediafire
Mathematical Girls c07:   Mediafire

Living the Dream

So as promised last week, here's the new chapter, only, we weren't able to finish c55 but don't fret, since we'll have that released tomorrow. Enjoy the first half of the 2-parter though, it really is quite something.

Update: And c55 is now out!

Download:
Franken Fran c54:   Mediafire
Franken Fran c55:   Mediafire

Prime Factorization (last updated Aug. 8)

So here I was, trying to enjoy my semi-break by fixing up all the dead blank pages on this site which I haven't done ever since the move to blogspot (the pages are all fixed now, I even added manga art style quiz #14), when all of a sudden I learn there's a graphic novel called Logicomix which loosely adapts the life of Bertrand motherfucking Russell, the famous mathematician/logician/philosopher. Considering I've always liked math, the graphic novel certainly didn't disappoint, so much so that I was inspired to pick up a new project, despite the fact that I should be working on Sangokushi, Tomorrow's Joe, or just trying to relax. But it's only 2-volumes long so I felt that I could take on this manga which has been on my to-translate list for quite a while now.

Most rewarding and interesting single page I've translated so far in my scanlation career

The manga is called Mathematical Girls (Suugaku Girls) and, as the above page shows, it's about math! Not just about prime factorization, but other areas of math which you'll see in future chapters. Hurray! And unlike certain stories or shows which merely use math as a backdrop for the actual story, every chapter of this manga has enough math in it to make it feel like that's the main focus (though it is used to advance the story as well). Hurray again! Although the first two chapters of this had been previously scanlated by EdMX translations, the group has since been listed as inactive on mangaupdates.com so I've decided to pick it up. I hope he won't mind but if he does, I won't care since I like to translate whatever I like. Plus, he seems to be busy translating the OreImo PSP game. In any case, I'm picking up where he left off so here's chapter 3. I'll try to finish this project as quickly as my free time will allow me. If there are any math majors or people just knowledgeable about math, please do correct me if I use wrong terminology or other such errors. I wouldn't want to piss off people by doing something like interchangeably using axioms with postulates for all cases.

Brief Translation note: Unlike EdMX, I've decided to translate Tetora's name as Tetra, since that fits the math-tone much better. As for Miruka, I was trying to google to see if that might be a reference to anything math-related but came up with only Milka, a brand of milk chocolate. So I'll leave her name as Miruka. Also, I'm leaving in terms senpai and kouhai untranslated because I always felt those terms were too awkward when translated in English.

Chapter 4 is now out. Never thought of using rotation matrices to derive the double-angle identities before.

I'm ashamed to admit I didn't know the difference between an equation and an identity before translating this chapter.

All these mathematical concepts and terms being used as double-entendres for relationship ideas are both nerdy and great.

Download:
Mathematical Girls c01-02 (by EdMX):   Mediafire
Mathematical Girls c03:   Mediafire
Mathematical Girls c04:   Mediafire
Mathematical Girls c05:   Mediafire
Mathematical Girls c06:   Mediafire

Some Thoughts About Good Manga 1

Even though this site is technically a blog, it’s been awhile since I last did a blogpost about my opinions (I guess the older ones are now lost since fluffypress is dead) but I had the sudden urge to do one since I recently realized randomscans had scanned all 3 volumes of Genkaku Picasso that was done by Viz. Hope I don’t come off as too pretentious like many bloggers often do, so feel free to tell me if I do. Oh, and very minor spoilers ahead.

When I first heard that Furuya Usamaru started a manga serialized by Jump SQ, the magazine in which Claymore and D. Grayman run under, I went “What the fuck?” considering that this was the guy whose debut work in Garo had scat, bdsm, S&M, incest, gore, and… did it have necrophilia? Well the point is that it was unusual but I guess not too much so since he tread similar territory in Chronicles of the Clueless Age along with Otsuichi. And speaking of Chronicles of the Clueless Age, I always wondered just how much Furuya actually contributed to the storymaking process (since Otsuichi is more known for being the writer) but after reading all 3 volumes of Genkaku Picasso (quite hefty volumes, all 250~300 pages in length), it seems the answer is obvious as this series felt like a nice spiritual successor to Chronicles. I don’t mean that just because the theme and contents are similar (common teenhood concerns such as first love, social pressures, worries about personal future) but also because usage of creative surrealism is present in both works.

To clarify, manga like Genkaku Picasso and Chronicles of the Cluess Age is direct proof that execution triumphs over content. It’s how you tell the story that’s important and not the content of the story itself. Why tell mundane teen-drama Degrassi-style (do Americans even know about Degrassi?) full of awkward dialogues and the like when you can do it with the style of a Dali painting? Of course, that’s not to say that the surrealist approach is good in all cases, since there’s a time and place for everything (to quote Professor Oak), but I’m merely trying to make the point that otherwise mundane drama can be made interesting through the style of execution.

For example, in Chronicles, a chapter about falling out with a friend is shown through the protagonist wandering a maze-like school controlled by a creepy mother mainframe. In Genkaku Picasso, a chapter about self-hate is conveyed with a great Eva-parody with the protagonist fighting off ange- I mean, girls (now if only this scene had a Mitsuo Iso-animated adaptation…). 

On a slightly different note, is anybody a little bothered by the change in Furuya’s art since Lychee Hikari Club? He seems to have picked up the full red lips a la Maruo Suehiro’s art (not actually sure if Maruo was the first one to do that but I’m sure he was the one who definitely influenced Furuya). I don’t mind the full red lips on females but when it’s used for males and present in stories that aren’t characterized by eroticism, it gives an out-of-place homoerotic vibe. Not that I mind homoeroticism. Mind you that I’m an avid fan of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures. It just feels a little… odd. I do think it’s an apt fit in his most recent manga, Teiichi no Kuni, however.

All in all, Genkaku Picasso is fucking great and Viz did a great job with it, including extra stuff with Furuya Usamaru and everything, though they did omit a few colour pages. Nonetheless, it’s good enough that I’m ashamed to have read it through not-so-legal scans. But I will be definitely buying it so I hope you guys do the same if you either like Furuya Usamaru or just happened to like this manga. 


Oh, and I haven't seen the raws for Zero yet so please do be patient if possible. It's hard for me to wait too. Never mind, it's out and scanlated now.

Franken Fran Double Release

Special double release of Fran, chapters 52 and 53 for you all today! Since this covers all the chapters contained in v7, the v7 extra is also included in c53. However, the usual omake chapter isn't included this time, since its slot was replaced by the phase 20 oneshot (previously scanlated). Usual thanks goes out to Amuro and Vexed. The most recent issue of Fran in Japan was actually a double release as well (c54-55) so Amuro and I'll try to have that done by next week. So stay tuned for more Fran.

Download:
Franken Fran c52:   Mediafire
Franken Fran c53+v7 Extra:   Mediafire

I LOVE YOU FUKUMOTO (last updated Aug 16)

 

As if you couldn't already tell from the picture above, Gambling Emperor Zero is back from hiatus! I won't give out any spoilers but next week's chapter cannot come out any faster. Since Zero actually has fast pacing unlike 99% of all Fukumoto manga (I would assume the editors of Kodansha Weekly Shonen are responsible for that because it needs to appeal to a younger demographic), I think waiting for the regular volume scans to be out will be a little slow. So, even though I'm technically on a summer break, I'll try my best to keep up with this manga on a weekly basis. That's all for now, folks.

Slight Notice: I won't have access to a computer until 21~22nd so I'll do the next Zero chapter then.

And chapter 2 is finally out. For those who're wondering, new scanlated chapters should normally be out on Tuesday evenings (pacific coast time).

New chapter's finally out. I can't believe I didn't see this coming.

c4 is out.

c5 is out (there was no chapter released last week so I'm still fully caught up)

Download:
Gambling Emperor Zero Part 2 c001:   Mediafire
Gambling Emperor Zero Part 2 c002:   Mediafire
Gambling Emperor Zero Part 2 c003:   Mediafire
Gambling Emperor Zero Part 2 c004:   Mediafire
Gambling Emperor Zero Part 2 c005:   Mediafire

Waters v1-2 (Complete)

Alright, here it is. Roughly a year and half since the first chapter was serialized in Afternoon magazine, Waters is fully scanlated in English! Much thanks goes out to Illuminati-Manga and Scantily Clad for their collaboration on this project. I'd imagine most of you would've forgotten about this series by Urushibara of Mushishi fame since it's been awhile since the last release so here's a brief synopsis:

In the midst of a blazing hot summer beset by water shortages, middle-school girl Chinami faints from heat exhaustion. Upon waking up, she finds herself in a mysterious town by a beautifully pristine river whose waters hide many secrets...

The writing is unmistakably Urushibara-esque, by which I mean slow but deliberate pacing with an enchanting atmosphere/setting and mature themes. Even though I myself realize that terms like shounen and shoujo are merely demographic markers, this is the type of manga that comes to my mind when hearing the term, "seinen manga." I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Download:
Waters v1:   Mediafire
Waters v2:   Mediafire

Summer Break (sort of)

Time for some good news and bad news. The good news is that Franken Fran c51 is out. The bad news is that I'll be going on a translation-break of sorts for the summer (up until September, I suppose) due to real life reasons. Now this doesn't mean that there won't be no new releases as I'll still be doing the monthlies but I won't be working at my usual pace.

So in short, series that'll be affected are:
Tomorrow's Joe (yes, yes, I feel bad about all the delays too, especially since Rikiishi vs Joe is up next)
Sangokushi (sorry, wait until fall for the climax of the Red Cliffs battle)

Series that won't be affected:
Historie (though Iwaaki is also taking a break of his own for 2 months)
Vinland Saga
Franken Fran

Also, as I've mentioned before, I've already finished translating Waters and hopefully the group I'm collaborating with  for cleaning/typesetting will be also done sometime in the coming weeks. And as for NASA, Happy Scans and I should have it done sometime during this summer as well (we're half-done right now). Oh one more thing, I will fix a few more errors in Punpun in a few days which I'll add under the other post. That's it for now, enjoy your summer people.

Download:
Franken Fran c51:   Mediafire

Historie c70 (no Vinland Saga this month)

Another month, another chapter of Historie. If only this was always the case but sadly it's not, meaning no new chapters for the next 2 whole months. Goddamn it, Iwaaki. Why now of all times... Maybe it has to do with the new Black Jack remake manga that he's going to be collaborating on with Masaaki Nakayama, but that's not starting until this September... Oh well, enjoy the chapter.

*Update: No Vinland Saga this month as Yukimura suddenly decided to take a break for the month due to personal circumstances. (source: Yukimura's twitter)

Download:
Historie c70:   Mediafire

Mistakes

Another fix on a stupid mistake I made, this time in Goodnight Punpun. Turns out, I forgot to include the last page of v3 and in v2, I forgot to do 2 other pages because I thought it was just a preview of volume 3, but it turned out it was just a little something extra. Thank you to the anonymous who noticed this and told me about it. I've uploaded the fixed volumes, but you can just get the pages separately in the links below as well.

My apologies again for sloppy mistakes.

Download:
Goodnight Punpun v2:   Mediafire
Goodnight Punpun v3:   Mediafire
Goodnight Punpun v2 missing pages only:   Mediafire
Goodnight Punpun v3 missing pages only:   Mediafire

Prelude to the Battle of Cliffs

As promised yesterday, c143 is complete, meaning that v25 is also complete! If this is your first introduction to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it's not hard to see why the Battle of Red Cliffs and the events leading up to it are one of the best remembered parts of this long epic. Deceit upon deceit upon deceit (though still to a very reasonable and believable extent). Poor Cao Cao, it's hard to have much of a chance when you've got Zhou Yu, Zhuge Liang, and Pang Tong all working against you. The only thing that Yokoyama (or maybe it's Eiji Yoshikawa) deliberately chose to omit in this volume is Cao Cao killing Liu Fu, imperial protector of Yangzhou, out of a drunken rage. Like a few other scenes in previous volumes, it was most likely removed to portray Cao Cao in a better light.

Also, I caught a mistake on p104 of the previous volume 24. I accidentally typed 500,000 and 300,000 instead of 50,000 and 30,000. My bad, the link for the fixed v24 is posted below.

Download:
Sangokushi c143:   Mediafire
Sangokushi v24:   Mediafire
Sangokushi v25:   Mediafire (p131 typo fixed)

Sangokushi v25 (will finish by June 17 no matter what)

Alright, you've all waited long enough and it's time for this Sangokushi v25. Going to be try my hardest to get the entire volume done by sometime tomorrow but I'll upload chapter by chapter as soon as I finish them. Here's the first one for now.

Ahh, the arrow stratagem. Perhaps one of the most, if not the most, memorable scenes in Romance of the Three Kingdoms though sadly fictitious.

Poor Lu Su... I'm sure the real you in history was a much more impressive man.

So close, Cao Cao. If I ever learned anything from multiple choice tests, it's to always go with your first instincts.

At last, enter the phoenix.

Remember Xu Shu, guys? Sadly enough, I think this is the last time we ever hear about him in the book and this manga.

Download:
Sangokushi c137:   Mediafire
Sangokushi c138:   Mediafire
Sangokushi c139:   Mediafire
Sangokushi c140:   Mediafire
Sangokushi c141:   Mediafire
Sangokushi c142:   Mediafire