Donki Kourin (Aug. 24)

So this is a rather random release I wasn't planning on at all. I was basically browsing through some of the raws on deadscanlations, when I stumbled on Furuya Usamaru's Donki Kourin. I actually bought this manga all the way back in the summer of 2009, shortly after I had started translating. I remember quite liking it, but I decided against doing it since half of the manga is basically a wall of text (short letters/essays from readers). When I looked through the raws again, I thought it was kind of a shame that nobody will probably ever translate this, since the comic parts basically feel like a sequel to Palepoli which I also worked on. So I just decided to bite the bullet and chip away at it throughout this year as I work on other projects. I'll release just 2 or 3 chapters at a time, which isn't a lot since each chapter is just 2 pages long. So don't expect the whole volume to be quickly finished.

P.S. The comics are slightly more amusing if you actually bother to read the short letter preceding it.

                                         

Not sure if this new typesetting that makes a continuous line interrupted by the middle box makes it look better or harder to read. Let me know if you want me to revert to the format I used in c1-3.

Download:

Donki Kourin c01-03:   Mega

Donki Kourin c04-06:   Mega

Not Dead Yet (Status Update)

Things are pretty crazy in the world right now, but I'm definitely not dead yet as either a person or a manga translator. I intended to return to translating back in June, but... better late than never? Much thanks to those were worried enough about me to email and ask if I was doing alright. I definitely didn't have corona or anything serious like that. I was just busy with work and moving (stayed in 3 separate countries in the past 2 months, including some self-quarantine time). In any case, I'm back in action and here are my immediate plans for the foreseeable future. I plan to translate 2-3 chapters per week, but that may not always correlate to 2-3 releases per week because some projects I merely do the translation scripts for, while for others, I do everything. I'll be rotating across the following projects:

Ad Astra (just released a chapter, check the post below)

Donki Kourin

Kamui-Den

Planet of Sutakola

Shiji (I just finished v4, check the post below this)

In addition, I managed to get another copy (because I didn't want to rip up my original ones) of Debonair Drive which I talked a little about many years ago, and once I scan the raws for that, I'm going to put that into rotation as well. Hopefully I can get some chapters of it done by December of this year.

If you have any other questions about any of my projects and plans, please feel free to ask in the comment section below.

Ad Astra v10 (complete)

Finally, a release after so long! Much thanks go out to my typesetter/editor Nixbrod for putting up with my hiatus.

Download:

Ad Astra v10:   Mega

Ad Astra v10 c58:   Mega

Ad Astra v10 c59:   Mega

Ad Astra v10 c60:   Mega

Ad Astra v10 c61:   Mega

Ad Astra v10 c62:   Mega

Ad Astra v10 c63:   Mega

Shiji v04 (complete)

Alright, it's summer and I have some more time to devote to translating again. Gonna quickly get Shiji v04 done and then move to doing both v02 of Planet Sutakola and continue Kamui-Den.

Well, a little over a year since I translated chapter 2 of this volume, I'm back with chapter 3 to actually wrap up this volume! An interesting note about Lord Mengchang, the subject of chapter 3, is that in Yokoyama's manga adaptation, he's clearly portrayed in a highly positive manner. However, the actual Shiji had a slightly more negative portrayal. For instance, after Lord Mengchang successfully escapes Qin, he crosses through Zhao to return to Qi. However, some Zhao commoners who came out to see what the great Lord Mengchang looked like as he passed through their town, they burst into laughter because his physical appearance was that of a small and unimposing man. Lord Mengchang was enraged by this, and his guests drew their swords and killed several hundreds of people to destroy an entire county. This incident somewhat goes along with the fact that there were more than a few ruffians among Lord Mengchang's many guests. 

In fact, Sima Qian even concludes his biographical chapter on Lord Mengchang by saying he personally visited Xue and found that its customs were rough and there were many violent youngsters, quite unlike the hometowns of Confucius and Mencius. Sima Qian asked a Xue resident why there were so many rough men, and the resident replied it was because Lord Mengchang had invited both stalwart and despicable people to the point that Xue had grown by 60,000 households during his rule. Thus Sima Qian remarks that Lord Mengchang being fond of receiving guests was at least one rumour about him that wasn't baseless. Overall, Sima Qian seems to view Lord Mengchang's generous reception of shi as mostly positive, but was more critical towards his lack of discretion and judgment towards those shi. Given Confucianism's central emphasis on cultivating morals in oneself and others, it's not too surprising that other writers echoed similar criticisms. The famous Song dynasty Confucian bureaucrats Wang Anshi and Sima Guang may have been bitter political rivals, but both negatively viewed Lord Mengchang, with Wang Anshi calling him a leader of ruffians, and the Sima Guang calling him a hero for villains.

Download:

Shiji v04: Mega
Shiji v04 c1: Mega
Shiji v04 c2: Mega

Shiji v04 c3: Mega