anime manga guys: March 2011

More Morale Boosting Artwork

Naked Ape -- Wow! This one is so cute! "Magnolia" is all about the huggles ;p!
Aya Shouto -- Very nice also :)
Mochi -- Lion and Eagle, Hee! ("Donation Box")

One-Shot: "Vahlia's Bridegroom"

The wait is finally over! Here is Akisuki Sorata's AnS companion one-shot "Vahlia's Bridegroom". This was a joint project between Omari's Sister and The Zero Alliance. Here's a short summary of the story from our partner on this project:

Jiru and Vahlia were engaged. But Jiru suddenly went missing! Four years later, Vahlia was betrothed to another man. During the night of the celebration of her second engagement, Vahlia decides to go on a journey…. in search of Jiru!

(Sapphire Pyro)

Links to Vahlia's Bridegroom: (Zip) (PDF)

Next up are "Magnolia" chapter 9 followed by "Yukarism" chapter 4.

April 2011 at Omari's Sister

Take a good look at the cover of this month's Aria magazine. It's so pretty!

I'm gonna call March over two days ahead because the next two days I will not be doing much manga-wise. It's ;p and :/ at the same time. Hahaha! Darned that real life of mine!

First an announcement for "Junketsu + Kareshi" fans, of which I know there are many of you and I know initially this is going to upset you...but I'm doing what's best for the sake of the story's continuity and everyone's sanity (including my own). Shouoto-sensei is taking a month off, so J+K chapter 10 will not release until late May in Aria 7. After taking a look at chapter 9, I've decided that where it left off in chapter 8 is less agonizing than doing chapter 9 now and leaving you all and myself hanging off the edge of a nasty cliffhanger for 2 months. So instead we will do a J+K chapter 9 and 10 double release late May/early June instead. Trust me, you will thank me later for doing it this way.

Now that that bit of business is done, here's what we've got planned for April!

"Magnolia" Chp 9
"Yukarism" Chp 4
"The Ghost Apartment Manager" Chp 3
"Akagami no Shirayukihime" Chp 24
"Kemono Kingdom: Zoo" Chp 4
The "Scarecrow of Oz" Chp 1
The second "Furou Kyoudai" one-shot
The Big Spring One-Shot: "Nanairo no Mukou"

There may be some changes to this plan depending on whether we decide to translate "3 Hearts".

Happy Spring Everyone!

One-Shot: "World End Garden"

Just in time for the end of winter and the beginning of spring is our final winter one-shot, "World End Garden". Please forgive me, but I couldn't help myself on the credits page. This was another big undertaking by the group and they all worked very hard to get this out on time. A big thanks goes out to Suzume and Silver Lunar for getting this one-shot sparkly clean and to Kumiko and Ichigo Stars for doing some miraculous redraws. I'd also like to thank the mangaka Shiina Dai for such a beautiful and emotionally wide-ranging story and for her lovely drawings. I will admit that this was one of the most challenging works I've translated in a while, but it's a lovely story in Japanese and I hope I managed to capture that beauty in English.

Links to "World End Garden": (Zip) (PDF)

Speaking of Shiina Dai, this summer we will be translating her short series "Fushigina Maria-Kun" ("Wonderous Maria-kun"). Hahaha, I can't believe I'm putting yet another vampire manga series out into this world, but trust me, you'll like it. It will be lots of summer fun and it's only 9 chapters long!

Next up are the Aria series! Please look forward to them!

Reader Created Banners

Here's a sample of some of the banners I received!

Very nice! Keep 'em coming!

Here are some blanks I made:

You can download them and have some fun!

"World End Garden" Preview

Parody from Suzume!

Thank you Suzume for the giggle :)!

Please Save my Banner from an Angry Bird!!! (This Blog Needs a New Banner)

Update: Banner Dimension 1050 px by 200 px, leave ~400 px by 50 px space and the bottom left for the navigation links. Examples:

Update: Woot! I've got 5 or 6 lovely banners now! How about some "smuggy" ones? Or huggles?

Update: Oooh! I've received my first banner and it's very nice! Keep 'em coming!

Hello all! It's time to refresh this blog's banner for spring! I really liked getting reader created banners last time I updated, so I'm looking to the community again. Please leave comments either with ideas or links to banners you've made yourself. If you want a piece of artwork from any of our series to work with, send me some e-mail, and I'll see what I can do to help. If I get a good selection of banners, perhaps I will rotate through them.

"The Ghost Apartment Manager" Chapter 2

Here is "The Ghost Apartment Manager" chapter 2. This is another introductory chapter. In chapter 3, things really get started with the introduction of a lot of characters and the general story mechanic. I think many of you will be surprised by the route the story will take because it seems so low key now. For now though, Sekka and his interactions with the two ghosts are lots of fun.

Links to "The Ghost Apartment Manager" chapter 2: (Zip) (PDF)

Spoiler Alert! Spoilers Ahead!

My Thoughts on the Chapter:

I really felt for Leo in this chapter. It's hard to come to terms with the death of a child and it's kinda neat to see it from the child's side. As a ghost, it's tough for the child to deal with missing childhood and the best parts of growing up in high school. Leo probably would have been a popular guy and enjoyed school. It's sad that he won't get to fully experience it. I'm happy that he has Sekka to live vicariously through, though, it's a pity that Sekka is a shut-in. Hopefully Leo will push him toward a more fulfilling high school experience. Leo's methods, though, are a little devilish. There is a little strangeness about Leo. He seems a little possessive of Sekka, but I wonder whether it's an attention thing or whether it's over-protection. Leo seems to really regret his own death and perhaps he wants to make sure Sekka doesn't die too.

Souichi -- He's nice comic relief, though, I would have never guessed that he was a player ;p. Hahaha! I had to pause and laugh for a few minutes after translating the page where Souichi tells the story of his death. He's so proud of it.

Up next is our winter-to-spring transition one-shot "World End Garden" follow by a SURPRISE if I have time to get it out before Aria 5 arrives ^^ -- Heheh! *Grinz*

Japan Earthquake Messages from our Favorite Manga Artists!

Here are some links to the earthquake messages and morale boosting artwork from our favorite manga artists!

03/24/2011: Update! More messages have been added! Go check them out!
Hakusensha Artists (Lala, LalaDX, Betsuhana, and others): Link to all the images

Aria Artists -- Link to all the images (Hopefully, there will be more!)

zoo animals in cages Pictures & Photos

20 zoo animals in cages Pictures and Photos at Animals zoo park

zoo animals in cages Pictures and Photos

"Yukarism" Chapter 3

This series gets better with each chapter. It's funny, sweet, and fun all at the same time! And on top of that, the artwork is wonderful! I hope Shiomi-sensei can keep up the momentum with this series.

Links to "Yukarism" chapter 3: (Zip) (PDF)

Spoiler Alert! Spoilers Ahead!

My Thoughts on the Chapter:

Hitoha! She's so cute. I hope this isn't the last we see of her present self, Emi.

Mahoro is a constant source of laughter for me in this chapter. She so oblivious to her own hypocrisy. She's hysterically jealous and just plain funny. I wonder if what she's expressing now is what was going on internally in her past life as Kazuma. I wonder the same about the hug. Yukari looks very sincere while doing it. I wonder is this something he wanted to do to Kazuma as Yuumurasaki in the past, but couldn't because of social barriers.

I'm looking for to chapter 4 and the introduction of a potential antagonist who rivals the smugness of "Smuggy Wolf".

Next up is "The Ghost Apartment Manager" chapter 2 followed by our winter-to-spring transition one-shot, "World's End Garden".

7 Beautiful Birds Wallpapers for Beautiful Desktop

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"Zettai Heiwa Daisakusen" Volume 4 Extra Story

Finally some cheer! Here is the extra story and Ogura-sensei's thank you message from the fourth and final volume of "Zettai Heiwa Daisakusen". Little Matias is so cute and Yuda is an insane mommy. Poor little Matias!

Links to the "Zettai Heiwa Daisakusen" Volume 4 Extra story: (Zip) (PDF)

Please support Ogura-sensei by purchasing volume 4! Here are some links to follow if I want to purchase volume 4:

Amazon Japan
Yes Asia ($3.99 shipping!)

Next up is "Yukarism" chapter 3 followed by "The Ghost Apartment Manager" chapter 2!

"Pika Ichi" Chapter 7

Here is "Pika Ichi" chapter 7. Things are settling into the mode of examining Dougen's personality and life situation and starts the anticipated Dougen x Hanako relationship. This chapter is a little bit shorter than usual (chapter 8 is also a little shorter) which was nice for us in terms of work load.

Links to "Pika Ichi" chapter 7: (Zip) (PDF)

Spoiler Alert! Spoilers Ahead!

My Thoughts on the Chapter:

Hanako is too saintly. It seems to be a key feature of her personality though. I'm actually kinda disappointed in this development. It really disturbs me that Hanako so easily ran to the side of her abuser. I hope this doesn't turn into Hanako thinking that she can reform Dougen or heal his mental wounds. I also can't stand that Hanako is not attracted to Tarou. She seems 100% in friend mode with him :(. I imagine she'll be easily swayed by Dougen and Tarou will plead with her to see the truth that Dougen is just toying with her. Meh!

Dougen -- meh...wounded boy rebelling against oppressive parents...meh...

Misono -- it's time for him to go into jealous mode ^^

"Pika Ichi" chapter 8 is currently scheduled for late April release. We may have to move it to May because the cleaners are currently occupied with "World's End Garden" and "Nanairo no Mukou".

Next up are the extras from volume 4 of "Zettai Heiwa Daisakusen" and then "Yukarism" chapter 3.