anime manga guys: January 2012

Valentine's Day Banners Needed

Valentine's Day is coming up and it would be wonderful if you all could make some banners to celebrate the day. Banner must be 1200-pixel wide and no more than 350 pixel high. I prefer PSD, but JPG and PNG are fine as long as you send a version with lettering and an version without lettering. Please send your banners via the contact link in the right hand column of this blog. If you need a specific piece of artwork for your creation, let me know.

"Lily" Chp 3

Oh sweet brotherly love! I really enjoyed this chapter. Saiga and Arthur are an adorable big brother little brother pair and my heart is preparing to break when Arthur finds out that Saiga has already claimed Lily. Arthur is so cute and I want him to win Lily's heart, but I know it must be Saiga and both Lily and Saiga must navigate the situation so as not to hurt Arthur too badly.

A health issue is brought up in this chapter that flashes back to what happened to Lily's mother. I wonder how that is going to ultimately play out. I hope it doesn't end in tragedy. If that happened, I'd probably bawl my eyes out for days.

Anyhow, onto the links!

Please do not upload this to any of the manga aggregation websites. There is no need to since the files are readily available here, and in light of recent evens, it doesn't help anyone to support criminal websites.

Links to Lily Chp 3: (Zip) (PDF)

Next up is "Datara no Mousouryoku Opera", a new 62 page one-shot from Bisco Hatori. It should be released by the end of next week.

"Magnolia" Chp 18

First if of all, I must say Naked Ape does some of the loveliest cover and title page art out there. I'm always excited when they have color pages. I really wish they would release a Magnolia calendar. I really like the colors on this illustration. The composition really brings out the green of Ayato's eyes.
We continue with the tea party in this chapter. A warning to Hugo haters: you are going to want to put your fist through your monitor before the end of this chapter. Hugo is especially dog-like...well, more like a male slut. He's a terrible guy to fall for and I feel bad for Ayato. But...it's not like they're going out, so I guess Hugo can do as he pleases. But still...seriously? I guess this kind of behavior is what makes Hugo is a delicious character. It's amazing how he acts like he doesn't know why Ayato's upset. Ugh... it makes me want to start a rant on men.

Onto the links!

Please do not upload this to any of the manga aggregation websites. There is no need to since the files are readily available here, and in light of recent evens, it doesn't help anyone to support criminal websites.

Links to "Magnolia" Chp 18: (Zip) (PDF)

Next up is "Datara no Mousouryoku Opera", a new 62 page one-shot from Bisco Hatori. It should be released by the end of next week.

Buy Ojousama no Untenshu Volume One

If you liked the first chapter of "Ojousama no Untenshu", please purchase a copy of the series in Japanese and support the mangaka. Here are some purchase links:

Yes Asia
Amazon JP
HMV Japan

If you live in the US or Canada and want to piggy back on my monthly purchase, contact me via e-mail.

The second and final volume of this series will be released in Japan on March 5th.

Oh, a reminder! I have enough interested to make a large enough purchase for AnS Volume 7 and the compilation of Akidzuki Sorata's one-shot. If you would like you're own copy, they can be purchased for $8.50 each + postage (~$2.50/book US, $3.50/book Canada). These books will also release in Japan on March 5th. If you are interested in purchasing your own copies, please contact me via e-mail.

New Series: "Ojousama no Untenshu" ("The Young Lady's Chauffeur") Chapter 1

At long last, we get started on this series. Again, this is another casualty of "Kuro Lala" and "Shiro Lala". Hopefully, though, now that we are started, we can put out a chapter every month or two. This is another series with CRAZY redraws, so I can't guarantee monthly releases, but we'll do our best. We are doing this series in conjunction with Heart Crusade. Heart Crusade will be helping out with some of horrendous redraws.

And now onto the series: This first chapter was very compelling to me and I want to see more of this couple as soon as possible. I've already seen how this series end, which makes me want to get through it as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, I'm no time traveler and I can't split into multiple duplicates of myself, so I'll just have to be patient and let the team have the time to do what they do best.

This is the first series that I've felt the need to use "stiff language" while writing the English Adaptation. "Stiff language" is not my strength, so I admit there's lots of room for improvement. Still it's fun to stretch. Hopefully, as the series continues I will get better at more formal sounding language. Hahaha! I guess I should have read all that Jane Austen crap in high school (yep...skipped them and just wrote reports based on class notes. I was into Tom Clancy and the like at the time and those kind of books instantly put me to sleep.) That said, I want to thank Amrai and Blottyparchment for their excellent translation work.

Onto the links!

Please do not upload this to any of the manga aggregation websites. There is no need to since the files are readily available here, and in light of recent evens, it doesn't help anyone to support criminal websites.

Links to "Ojousama no Untenshu": (Zip) (PDF)

Next up will be the double release of "Magnolia" Chp 18 and "Lily" Chp 3. After that, we will begin releasing the new one-shots from our favorite mangaka! The first one will be from Bisco Hatori!

Make a Banner for "Ojou-sama no Untenshu's" Debut!

Make a banner for the series debut of "Ojousama no Untenshu" on Omari's Sister. To help you out, here are some images from the tankoubon. Right click on the images to download the full size images.

The chapter 1 will most likely release on Thursday the 26th. E-mail your banner creations to me, Kuroneko003, using the contact link on the right hand column on this blog. I prefer PSD, but if you create a jpeg or png, then please send a version with lettering and a version without lettering.

Banner Dimensions: Width 1200-px, Height: less than 300-px

I look forward to seeing some lovely results :).

One-Shot: "Komugi and the Cuisine of the World Boys"

At last, we finally get this one-shot out! We wanted to release this as our special Thanksgiving one-shot, but it got lost in the excitement of Kuro Lala and Shiro Lala. Please forgive me Cuisine Boys! This was a joint project with The Zero Alliance, so head over to their website if you prefer RAR files.

As you can guess, this one-shot is about food and magical boys who cook food. How could I resist? It turned out to be a much sweeter story that I anticipated (as most stories thing do -- haha). Regardless, it was a pleasant surprise.

Oh, before we get onto the release, I'd like to thank Noir Schist for taking on the challenge of typesetting this beast. Great job, Noir! I'd also like to thank Ichigo Stars and Kumiko for beating down the beastly redraws in this one-shot. As usual, you two are miracle workers :).

And now onto the links!

Links to "Komugi and the Cuisine of the World Boys": (Zip) (PDF)

Next up is "Ojou-sama no Untenshuu" Chapter 1. This will take us 4 or 5 days to finish, so don't expect much activity on this blog for a few days as I will be eyeballs deep in massaging the scrip and typesetting. A few days after that we do a double release of "Magnolia" Chp 18 and "Lily" Chp 3. I'm sorry for the delay on Magnolia. We're still working on the translation and the redraws for Lily.

Update: Valentine's Special One-Shots

This year's theme will be "Delinquent Love Story"! Considering the bunch of highly anticipated one-shots by our favorite mangaka that are going to be released in February, I've decided that we will only do one special Valentine's Day one-shot. And so our Valentine's Day one-shot will be "Heart Assassin" by Kakeru Sora. The other two one-shots are begun, but we will not be able to finish them by Valentines Day because of:

"Ojou-sama no Untenshu" Chapter 1
"Magnolia" Chp 18 and Lily Chp 3
The 60 page Bisco Hatori one-shot
"Akagami no Shirayukihime" Chp 31
The Akane Ogura One-shot

Surprise One-Shot: "Wait until it's Dark" by Sakura Tsukuba

Since we've been burn before on Sakura Tsukuba one-shots, we decided to be quiet about this one and wait a little while to see if another group was going to do it first. After waiting a couple of weeks, we decided to go ahead and take the chance to translate it. I really don't like keeping things a secret, but I think in this case it may have been worth it.

Anyhow, this is a very easygoing and pleasant one-shot. It's perfect for a mid-winter read. As expected, the artwork is also very nice.

Without further ado, here are the links:

Links to "Wait until it's Dark": (Zip) (PDF)

Next up will be the one-shot "Komugi and the Cuisine of the World Boys". It was supposed to be our Thanksgiving one-shot, but tough redraws and challenging typesetting set us back :(. Oh well, better now than never.

"Ore to Atashi no Kareshi-sama" Chapter 1

We finally get this series started. Phew! There were a lot of complicated redraws. Thanks to Ichi and Kumiko for the great redraw work and thanks to Suzume for cleaning.

This series turns out to be a lot sweeter than I anticipated. I'm happy about that because I always like stories with some underlying heart. In this chapter we get some good incite into the twins' mind. Chouko is a typical shallow female high school student and Hayate is her wiser over-protective brother. Peeking at the two chapters that are currently out, this is really a story about friendship, perhaps something the twins have never really had outside of themselves, and dealing with going out with the most popular guy in school. There's also some interesting story development from Tsukiyono's (the love interest) side as he tries to figure out why Chouko changes so drastically. Tsukiyono in chapter 2 looks adorable as he doki-dokis over Chouko.
Oh! Here's a wallpaper I made to celebrate the official start of the series (right-click to download):

And now onto the links!

Links to "Ore to Atashi no Kareshi-sama": (Zip) (PDF)

Please be good people and don't upload these files to any manga aggregation websites. The files are here, so there's no reason to re-upload (also please take into consideration the recent Internet activity and quit supporting criminal websites).

Next up with be a surprise one-shot followed by a dual release of Magnolia and Lily.

Mega Uploads Shut Down

I imagine some of you are raging about the Mega Uploads Shutdown. I imagine many scanlation groups lost all of their content links as a result of the Mega Uploads Shutdown. I think, though, before you go off raging, you should understand the full extent of Mega Upload's activities. This is more about criminal conspiracy and racketeering than anything. Please read the statement from the US Justice Department on the matter of Mega Upload's shutdown.

Link

My opinion:

Mega Uploads was sketchy. Once I got wise a few years back, I quit downloading anything from that website for fear of viruses and opening my computer up to being hacked.
This is proof that SOPA and PIPA aren't needed to combat online piracy.

Basic SOPA and PIPA Legislation Information

I didn't want to take down this blog on strike day because I'm not sure I could properly restore it. But, I felt that you all, as folks who depend on the Internet, should know some basic information about SOPA and PIPA, pending legislation in the US that is intended protect US intellectual property from online piracy.

I think the best jumping off point for more information is Wikipedia:

If I'm not mistaken, SOPA has been pulled, but a vote on PIPA is expected soon.

My opinion: We already have laws and processes to address the kind of online piracy these bills are meant to cover. I also don't support any laws like this that do not allow for due process. There is a process for rights holders to exercise their copyrights and companies should use that process.

I also believe that copyright laws written at the turn of the 20th century are not applicable to now. Much has changed and companies have to accept the reality of the Internet. I would rather see companies come up with new business models and innovate rather than litigate and lobby politicians.

December 2011 Manga Purchases

I meant to do this post earlier, but I hadn't made the time until now. I'm taking a little break from translating before my brain completely melts. "Ore to Atashi no Kareshi-sama" is turning out sweeter than I thought it would be. I'm glad we are picking it up :).

Here's a list of manga I bought last December.

English Paperback:

"Kamisama Kiss" Volume 6 -- cute and wonderful as usual
"Natsume's Book of Friends" Volume 9 & 10 -- little a mini-vacation
"Dawn of Arcana" Volume1 -- A new favorite

Japanese Paperback:

"Soredemo Sekai was Utsukushii" Volume 1 (by Shiina Dai) -- prepping to translate after we finish "Fushigi no Maria-kun"
"Yukarism" Volume 2
"Rex Fabula" Volume 1
"Magnolia" Volume 3 + Drama CD
"The Devil's Puzzle" -- Me likey! Hopefully, we can translate this the second half of 2012

Ipad

"Ai Ore" Volume 3 -- couldn't finish. I'm done with this series.

"Fushigi no Maria-kun" Chapter 4

First of all, and this has nothing to do with "Fushigi no Maria-kun", there's a great Taiwanese live action version of "Skip Beat" in the middle of its run. It's up to episode 4. If you aren't watching it, go watch it! It can be found in "the usual places" (don't ask, because I'm not telling).

And now onto "Fushigi no Maria-kun"!

It's been a while since we've had a chapter! As I've written before, this series is a challenge in every way. I'll like to thank Noir and Ichi for doing a wonderful cleaning and redrawing this chapter. They really pulled off some magic :). We'll try to get the next chapter out next month, but there's no guarantee. Every pages has some crazy redraw, so it takes a while T_T.

In this chapter we get an early start on Valentine's Day and I think we can all guess where this chapter is going. Hahaha! Yes, it stays well within the shoujo mold, so just sit back and enjoy all of your favorite shoujo Valentine's Day troupes done up "Fushigi no Maria-kun" style. Needless to say, Maria is adorable! Page 22 melted my heart :3. We also see Toku lose it for the first time, which is pretty frightening. Actually, I didn't expect her to be that dark. Hahaha! I like that bit of surprise, though.

And now to the link!

Link to "Fushigi no Maria-kun" Chp 4: (PDF) best viewed at 65% zoom.

Next up is "Ore to Atashi no Kareshi-sama" chapter 1. I've been eagerly awaiting to finally translate this. Sorry it's taking so long. This series is also a pain-in-the-butt to edit. I think we will be able to do this series every other month because of its difficulty. It should be out before next weekend, if all goes as planned. There are also some one-shots that are being typeset that could appear any day!

And with this, I bid you goodnight. I will be settling in with Skip Beat. The Taiwanese drama has inspired me to re-read the entire series. My bookshelf is so heavy with all 26 volumes that are now available now from Viz.

Reminder: We Do have an Upload Policy

We do have an upload policy and it is as stated:

DO NOT UPLOAD OMARI'S SISTER'S PROJECTS OR RELEASES TO ANY MANGA AGGREGATION WEBSITES. NO EXCEPTIONS.

YOU MAY, HOWEVER, LINK BACK TO THE ENTRIES ON THIS BLOG.

Any further comments asking me to upload something to a manga aggregation website will be deleted and the commenter banned from making further comments on this blog.

Animal News - Rare white penguin spotted in Antarctica Photos

Animal News : Rare white penguin spotted in Antarctica Photos

This rare leucistic Chinstrap penguin spotted in Antarctica on Monday lacks the standard black-and-white coloring of most penguins.Animals 'make friends' just like us, scientist finds : News by bbc.co.uk

A scientist in Scotland has discovered that animals operate in groups of friends, just like humans.Dr David Lusseau from the University of Aberdeen has spent ten years studying the behaviour of animals.He says that just as humans use online networks like Facebook and Twitter, animals get together in groups to share information.And who knows, perhaps just like us, they sometimes gossip about each other too!

Animals News at Animal Zoo Park - 14 Photos

Animal Zoo Park Animals News : We are submitted 14 Cute Animals Photos from Zoos around the world.

Hanover zoo in Germany on Jan. 5.

at Chester Zoo in England on Jan 5

Zoo at Frankfurt zoo on Jan. 10. 2012

zoo in Tbilisi, Georgia on Jan. 8

Berlin zoo on December 3.2011

Germany zoo on Jan. 8. 2012

zoo in Germany on Jan. 9.2012

German zoo on January 2. 2012

at the Tierpark zoo in Berlin

Berlin zoo on January 3.2012

A visitor feeds dried fish food at Dusit Zoo in Bangkok on Jan 10.2012

German zoo on January 2.2012

London Zoo on Jan. 4

at the London Zoo on Jan. 4.Photos Courtesy by msnbc.com

"Akagami no Shirayukihime" Chapter 30

First of all, please do not upload this to any of the manga aggregation websites. There is no need to since it's readily available here and I think you all know I don't like manga aggregation websites.

Secondly, for those who hate the water-color look, I'm sorry. I didn't have much of a choice but to edit the images this way because the the data was incomplete in the raw. This is a way to "hide" the poor quality of the raw. The last page is particular bad. The data just wasn't there for me to pull the trick off properly, so it looks splotchy :(. Anyhow, some detail was sacrificed, but you could say it was never there in the first place. I'm probably over thinking this :/.

Next, an announcement from the cover page: There will be a dual release of "Akagami no Shirayukihime" Volume 7 and a compilation of Akidzuki Sorata's one-shots released on March 5th. If you wish to purchase any of these books for yourself and need help with the purchase, send me an e-mail. If I get enough requests, I should be able to get the books for ~$11 each, including postage for buyers in the US and Canada.

Okay, finally on to the chapter! We continue from where the story ended in chapter 29. We get more of an understanding of what Zen meant by his last words in chapter 29. This was particularly hard for the translator to understand, because depending on the context, there are several variations of a possible translation. Both of us were not able to grasp the correct translation until we read chapter 30. I'm glad we waited because it could have been translated to "From now on, I want to make it known", which would have led everyone to think that Zen wanted to make their relationship public. Ugh...it would have been awful to have to change that. Anyhow, the chapter ends putting us in position for the next arc. I hope it keeps to Zen and Shirayuki's relationship and doesn't go into "adventure land". They're wet and they're going to an inn. Please let that go where it should...please! Pretty please!!!

And now, the link to the chapter!

Link to "Akagami no Shirayukihime" Chapter 30: (PDF) Best viewed at 65% zoom.

With this, we are caught up on the series. There will not be another release for at least a month. This is a monthly series, which means one chapter per month unless there is a special chapter in another magazine other than Lala.

Next up is "Fushigi no Maria-kun" Chapter 4