Lots of Christmas Cheer!

Made it out of finals. BOUGHT COMICS. How could it get better? Haha =]
After some much need SLEEP... here's what I've bought this December...

Manhwa Purchases:

• 13th BOY Volume 9
• 13th BOY Volume 8

Manga Purchases:

• Bakuman Volume 6
• Bakuman Volume 7
• Oresama Teacher Volume 5

Gift

• Otomen Volume 10 (from Nagihiko<3)

Japanese Manga Purchase:

• Game Over

Welll... had 30% off coupons from B&N, SOOO bought 13th BOY with those coupons :'D THEEN... when I got to San Diego, had to go to BookOff AS PER USUAL. They had their Holiday discounts, which I love with a passion. 10% off on $20 purchases, 20% on $50 purchases. I the 10% discount after finding some NEW volumes of Bakuman, Oresama Teacher and Game Over; just 5 bucks a pieces!! What a steal, oh my gosh, it's so great!! :'D

I'll update more when I buy some more stuff 8D Have a very merry Christmas.

BookOff'ed and Sanseido'ed in November

o______o...

In ENGLISH:

• High School Debut Volume 4
• Lovely Complex Volume 2-4; 8-9
• Zodiac P.I. Volume 2-3

In JAPANESE:

• Daytime Shooting Star (Hirunaka no Ryuusei) Volume 1

Sometimes I wonder if I chose to take Japanese in my first year of high school, where I'd be right now. I'd be utilizing it all the time, reading actual manga in Japanese, or at least trying to get the SFXs down when I'm typesetting. But no. I took Sign Language, like a boss 8D 'NUFF SAID.

October Purchases!

Sooo here's the listiosis:

• Otomen Volumes 6-8
• High School Debut Volumes 5 (accidentally ended up being in Japanese, go figure xD) and 7
• Very! Very! Sweet!! Volume 6

I've received everything, except for the last one, and I'm VERY excited about that one x]

Imagine my surprise when I see High School Debut... in Japanese!! I was like, wow, no wonder it was only 10 cents, how misleading >: Oh well, it's okay. It looks really cool and it's in very nice condition regardless, haha. Consider it my very first manga in Japanese, yes?

Otomen continues to be a very cute series that I can only buy if I can find it for less than $8 after shipping and handling. I'm so picky... The American releases are pretty much caught up with the Japanese releases, so I would love to take my time on that.

STILL HOPING FOR A GAKUEN ALICE RELICENSE!! And I'm really looking forward to some new licenses coming from Kodansha Comics USA. The discounts are FANTASTIC on Barnes and Nobles :'D From $11 dropped to less than $9, it's really great. Yen Press as well, looks like they're starting to pick and choose from TokyoPop's ashes, so... hopes are high!!

Strong Urges...

...to buy manga. These are dangerous urges...

So, I figured, I should should talk about all the manga I WOULD buy if I could (when I can).

When I can, I'd buy:

• High School Debut (13 volumes total)
• Love * Com (17 volumes total)
• La Corda d'oro (17 volumes total)
• Bakuman (continue...)
• Yotsuba&!

If I could, I would buy in a heartbeat:

• Magical JxR (if the last volume was published)
• Gakuen Alice (if it were relicensed)
• Seiyuu Ka-! (if it were ever licensed, which it damn right needs to be)
• Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (needs to be licensed...)
• Koi Dano Ai Dano (very good, would like it to be licensed later on or now is fine, haha)
• A Wolf Warning (WANTS)
• Dear My Girls (WANT WANT)
• Strobe Edge
• Aoharaido
• Akizuki Sorata's works

With the new Kodansha English Publication, many of these seem possible, let's hope for the best >___< I mean, ah... the money...

Scanlation as a Hobby

Word of advice. If you ever want to start helping as a scanlator, BE PREPARED TO SPEND TIME. I also suggest you leave it at that, HELPING. Sure, I suggest you should enjoy doing it, but... if it were ever to into your actual hobby (example, me) stay a lackey. If you continue to ignore my warning here and try to set up your own group or happened to be escalated to higher responsibilities for whatever reason... then GG.

You'll be spending so much time on scanlation. It's very dangerous because a lot of responsibility comes from it. Much expectation and perhaps even a slight bit lack of reward and appreciation. But as a hobby, you like to do it regardless and, sigh... I suppose it's the finished product that really makes it :)

Uhh... so TREK CAREFULLY. Especially when you're trying to balance your education or work with it. Do as well balance your health, or you'll end up regretting it. Preventive measures make all the difference!

...where was I going with this? Oh yeah, if scanlation ever becomes your hobby, it's not too late to turn back now. Otherwise, you're stuck at the point of no return. Good luck fellow scanlators, you guys pull off amazing stunts.

Haha, and here's a good example of my point --> Scanlation to do list:

• SDS - QC Lunatic Honey Ch.6
• SDS - Recruitment&all that Admin stuff among surprises
• OS - Nice and relaxing proofreads when convenient <3
• OS - [Dangerous] Volunteered typesetting of MASSIVE Oneshot
• EF - Editing Crush on You once a week til its done
• EF - Once COY is done, proceed to edit He Was Cool
• EF - If no one does it, I'm probably expected to typeset Kiss and Never Cry as well (probably won't think about this though... I hope)

Oh, and it's not like I have a bunch of tests this week and this month happens to have no holiday breaks... (wait, that IS the case.) Okay, priorities are a little crooked, but it unfortunately seems doable. Dear God, master of time management, I pray you help me and my unorthodox-ness...

More Borders Purchases!!

Wow... bought some more stuff 70% off, it only gets better, really XD Haha, yeah, so now I'm trying to make some sort of investment off TokyoPop books (so I can use the money to buy other manga @__@ or whatnot.)

It should be interesting if I actually sell anything. A link to my Amazon Seller's account dacatmango. There's not much in the inventory, but there it is.

Some things I bought for myself were Bakuman V.3, High School Debut V.2-3 and Love.com V.15-16. It was really cheap... there was no point in buying it .___. Now I kinda want buy whole series (USED PRICES THOUGH!!) Such a mangaholic :\

Mangaholic Shopping Again

Ehhhh.... buying so much manga as of late. First, Barnes&Noble with their tempting coupons and already discounted prices online (plus I have a membership to utilize). Then, Amazon, since I have that Prime trial... and that buy 3, get the 4th free thing... And finally, Borders going out of business (this is the sixth week, I believe) and it's fantastic discounts on manga @____@

I am OVERWHELMED with my new surge in manga. I'm trying VEERY hard not to read them all at once and forget my school assignments. Here's the stash thus far...

Barnes&Noble

• 13th Boy V.7 - $8.79 w/tax (Original - $11.99)

Amazon

• Otomen V.1 - FREE (Original - $8.99)
• Otomen V.2 - $8.99 (Original Price)
• Otomen V.3 - $6.49 w/S&H (Original - $8.99)
• Otomen V.4 - $9.99 (Original Price)
• Otomen V.5 - $9.99 (Original Price)

Borders

• Otomen V.9 - $4.99 w/out tax added (Original - $9.99) Only volume they had, might as well get it while it's cheap :)
  
• Yotsuba&! V.7 - $1.20 w/out tax added (Original - $10.99) What a steal!!!

You gotta love a book store that's going out of business!! Some great steals there!! I'm waiting even longer hoping for more discounts.

The Tale of the Crazy Kid(s) Pamphlet 5

Finished mid-August 2011. I am so proud of myself for taking over a year to finish this... I don't know what this is about either. You'd have to be crazy to put up with my comics.

The Tale of the Crazy Kid(s) Pamphlet 5

In Need of a GAME PLAN!

All right, I've got a lot of things set up for me to handle AT THE MOMENT. So let's get organized and prioritized. (I sound like I'm on a mission.)

I wonder, how did I get so involved in Scanlation? Is it because I don't play MMORPGs anymore? I think that's it, that's the reason. Gee willykers...

SCHOOL BUSINESS:

• Obtain books for AP Classes [got the books for English]
  
• Attempt to make some effort to read them [effort made...]
  
• If time, attempt to execute summer homework in less than a week [oh, heaven's no...]
  

PERSONAL BUSINESS:

• Clean/Organize room for maximum awesomeness
• Make a new Zebra signature/banner [signature done, banner abandoned]
  
• Do a YouTube update for dacatmango

SCANLATION BUSINESS:

• Silent Dreams Scanlation
  
  1. Relevel Sukitte Iwaseru Houhou Ch.5 [in progress...]
     
  2. Typeset Sukitte Iwaseru Houhou Ch.5
     
  3. Nag staff about their projects
• Omari's Sister
  
  1. Proofread Zoo Ch.6 [done!]
• Evil Flowers
  
  1. Typeset SM Hunter Ch.11 [too many... missing translations]
     
  2. Typeset Crush on You Ch.10 [in progress...]
  3. Typeset SM Hunter Ch.12
  4. Typeset SM Hunter Ch.13

LET'S DO THIS!! All in less than one week... hooo~

A Couple Endings

Well... I woke up this morning to find that my main and beloved YouTube account, holanio, has finally struck out three times and has been suspended as a result. There's a lot of copyrighted material on that account, so I don't think I'm going to fight it... It's a little sad, but what's done has been done. It'll be very inconvenient, seeing as I'm always logged into my email account though :\ I'm starting a new YouTube account, dacatmango, mainly for favoriting purposes. And occasionally short little MMV's that I may be motivated to make.

For some more HAPPIER news, I've deftly obtained the final volume of Pig Bride from Borders, which is going out of business. All the manga and manhwa there were 25% off. I was hoping for some bigger sales, but who can argue with a closing business, am I right? If I happen upon Borders again, the discounts increase and Bakuman is still there, I think I'll start purchasing the series. Otherwise, I'll wait until Bakuman catches up to where I left off in the Japanese serialization.

Manhwa Dig at BookOff

I came back from an incredibly tipsy turvy, rocky and bumpy experience at my Youth Camp. I kind of liked it--pretty nice comparatively to me during the other camps.

We came back from Julian to San Diego and had a going away meal with all you can eat Korean BBQ (up to 2 hours). After stuffing ourselves like no tomorrow, my loving mom was willing to listen to a silly daughter's request to go to BookOff one last time before moving up north!

Imagine my joy when I saw that they were having a sale on already cheap manga!! Instead of a Manga Haul (since the series I wanted were newer, and I didn't see anything else that caught my eye), I had more of a Manhwa Haul. I picked up the entire series of Priceless (3 volumes), Pig Bride (volumes 1-4; missing 5) and Good Luck (Volumes 1-3&5, missing 4). I hope I enjoy them ^__^

Priceless is by Lee Young-You, author of Moon Boy, so I'm excited to read this since it's one of her earlier works. I hope it's better than Kill Me, Kiss Me, though o=
License: This was licensed by Tokyopop, which is now out of business. You'll probably only find it in secondhand bookstores or sellers.

Pig Bride is a joint between Kook-Hwa Huh and Su-Jin Kim. I read the first volume years ago, and was amused by it because I wasn't into manhwa so much then. Even though I skimmed through the ending, and didn't find it too hot--I hope to come to like this series and appreciate the ending a little more... when I buy it ^^
License: This is currently licensed by Yen Press, so it should be in print for a while.

Good Luck is by E-Jin Kang. I... well I didn't think much when I bought this. I actually saw the ad for it in Priceless, when I was checking for the end of the series. I thought it looked good and to my relief, I found most of the volumes :] I really don't know what to expect for this series, so I hope it's refreshing in some way or another!
License: This was licensed by Tokyopop, which is now out of business. You'll probably only find it in secondhand bookstores or sellers.

The Tale of the Crazy Kid(s) Pamphlet 4

I do believe this was also 2010. I was pretty Koreinfluenced at the time. I think I still am... I've grown up though.

The Tale of the Crazy Kid(s) Pamphlet 4

The Tale of the Crazy Kid(s) Pamphlet 3

I think this little bugger was finished in 2010... I COULD BE WRONG. But it seems plausible =_=

The Tale of the Crazy Kid(s) Pamphlet 3

The Tale of the Crazy Kid(s) Pamphlet 2

Yeah, I don't quite remember when I drew this either... but it was right after the first one, 2009. How exciting.

The Tale of the Crazy Kid(s) Pamphlet 2

Offering New Service~!

Freelance Scanlation Help

If you're a translator and/or scanner of a manga, but you're missing a:

• Proofreader - above average
  
• Cleaner - above average
  
• Typesetter - pretty darn good
  
• QCer - all right
  
• More than one

Then feel free to ask me to help you out as a freelancer. Which means, for the sake of that one release, I won't join your group, but help with your missing jobs so you can release SOMETHING and get the word out that you need help :P

Example of scenario where you might ask me:
You've got everything done, EXCEPT for the typesetting because you don't have anyone who can do it in your staff. So you email me asking for help typesetting this one chapter of manga. I say okay or nokay and we'll get working from there.

What do I get out of it?
Well, first of all, my name in the credits, haha :'D And... I don't know. Happy fans? I would like to help the Manga community with the little talent I have. And I should be able to also post a "release" on my blog (but the links will just redirect to either your forum, website or IRC)

Contact My Email --> irrevocablerise@hotmail.com
Username Used For Credits --> holanio

Just tell me what you want me to do and for what series. I'll check it out and see if I can salvage the situation or not.

RAGE!

I want a new series to buy, and there are many I'm interested in, but there's always something stopping me T___T

Magical JxR - Udon Entertainment stopped publishing RIGHT before the last volume. RAGEQUIT OTL I'm crying, so hard... in the inside right now. It looks really good... really good...

Pokemon Adventures - VIZ has a crappy version. It just doesn't float my boat editing out parts from the original manga like. LAME-O's D: And there's no way of getting it from Chuang-Yi at a reasonable price, I assure you that much...

On a side note. Finally bought the rest of the volumes for Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning P:

What I've Done & What I've Realized

I managed to accomplish a lot in terms of scanlation in less than a week.

• [EF] Typesetted Kiss and Never Cry Ch.18
• [EF] Edited Crush on You 8a
• [SDS] Finish Typesetting and QCed Chotto Edo Made Ch.1
• [SDS] QCed Sakura Zensen Ch.7 (on Gimp, nonetheless)

And I have plans for more...

• [EF] Edit Crush on You 8b & 9a
• [SDS] Typeset Brave 10 Ch.10 (or find a willing typesetter)
  
• [SDS] Finish Typesetting and QCing Angel Hunt Ch.5
• Other misc. scanlation chores

But, it's only today, that I realized... the internet, my laptop, is the only think I'm really looking at this summer. A double edge sword that recoils every time I use it. (Yeah, I know right? Sporadic bits of fun, it's not all the time) I wish there was somewhere I could go, but in this unknown community, I just feel out of place. Not to mention it's hot beyond all reason and there's no source of shade anywhere.

It really sucks because I want to control how much time I actually spend on my laptop. It's not a good thing for your internet to work all the time! A lot of people freak out when they don't have internet for a month, but I would find that a blessing within a cursing. A break, a definite wall to block me, so I don't need to think about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful to have the internet and my laptop for the most part. But it makes me sad every time I come back to it all the time.

It's my only connection with my precious friends... it's a form of communication with my father... it's just a way to spend my day away... and my heart yearns for the one on one interaction again. The heartfelt effort it takes to communicate with them. I just want to be able to stand up, walk out of the door and take a nice walk to see people again.

I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this, but I terribly miss the things I used to be able to do and the people I did it with. And I will terribly miss the new things I've just established in this new place. When it's time to pack up and go again, will I be this fortunate? When will I hit rock bottom? It's only humorous to me, but any OCs that I come up with from The Tale of the Crazy Kid(s) clearly represent a part of me. One character, Utsumi Andou, is a boy who hates the feeling of falling. "I really can't stand falling... It's painful because you never know when you'll hit rock bottom. You're so high up for so long, you forget... There's always something to bring you back to earth. Just like... falling in love." Falling in love with the things you find precious. I really want to learn how to let go of these things.

The only way I'll get there is through spiritual strength in God. There's no influence on my life right now. I think way too much, come up with way too many excuses, and try to understand more than I need to. Even when I try to restrain myself, I still end up thinking too much and I don't know where it stops and begins because it all comes full circle! I'm so at a loss, such a height of hypocrisy and irony, that when I'm falling down, I try to pull myself up needlessly. And when I'm rising to the top, I restrain myself to bottom. Where am I? Am I still at the same place I was before? Have I even stepped away from where I began? I try so hard to understand, but I don't understand anything! So I'm stuck... somewhere. And at this rate, I'll end up in the same place, just... somewhere. Not here, or there, but somewhere.

Oneshot: 3 Hearts Analysis

"3 Hearts" by Ichinose Kaoru (scanlated by Omari's Sister)

From the outside, the story seems to be just eye candy (which, no doubt it is) but there is a little more complexity to it than what I saw before. After maybe a little more analysis (and desperate thinking to give this One-shot a bit more cred) Here's what I came up with...

Initially, the "3 Hearts" referred to the 3 precious jewels, yeah? Well, it could also be connected to our 3 stars on the beautiful colored cover page.

Note how it talks about how "the world's most beautiful jewel", love or Rathgozer (as she IS beautiful), "leads hearts astray." The hearts, referring to Jin and Mr. Knight of Kothera, being led astray because she is a rogue. Obviously, Jin was extremely influenced by her beauty (consequently falling in love.) If you notice in the last panel of he manga, Jin calls out Mr. Knight of Kothera on getting tricked as well. Inferring from Mr. KoK's reaction to this, it seems he too was led astray for a long enough time (possibly in an affectionate way) to allow Rathgozer to escape. In fact, he admits to it in the middle of the manga while he's cutting down trees nonsensically in pursuit of her.

Haha, and it seems even to the end of the one-shot, she CONTINUES to lead them off course in many other ways with her beauty and amazing-sauce trickery skills. Rathgozer leads Jin astray from fate's control and Mr. KoK's position defending the jewel--being neglectful (as he was set-up in such a way where Jin believed that he was the bad guy--once again, making enough time for our lovely rogue to escape.) All of that just to explain where the title page was going with the story.

Now, more into the meat (actual storyline) of the manga. In the very beginnings, as I've mentioned before, she's leading the Knights of Kothera away from the castle (their home, comfort zone, place they should be protecting besides the jewel). Then, the flying aircraft (no, it's not random)--brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "fight or flight" which there is plenty of in this manga. More on this later.

Ichinose brings up "The Fool" card, immediately characterizing the three main characters, but also contrasting them. Jin mentions that "the Fool" card can either be a "free spirit" or "an idiot". Seems like Rathgozer is the first, and the guys are the latter. Eventually, Jin learns how to re-characterize himself into a free spirit after being criticized by Rathgozer. Some may be wondering what purpose the random twin companions Jin has on board play as, and I think that purpose to be the rationalized mind. Generally, when thinking of love, recklessness and a boggled state of mind is involved. So the twins are the little bits of consciousness in the back of Jin's head, that a trying to bring him back to reality (failing in the process, but hey, what can you do with a guy in love? Those eagles sure had nothing on that female hot shot.) With that bit of characterization down, let's move onto The Kothera Heart itself.

What's so important about it, that it'd be the sole jewel star of a One-shot that mentions and titles itself after all three? Well, damn, doesn't it just sound cool saying "The Kothera Heart"? Okay, haha, onto more serious analysis. First of all, it's DIAMOND, pure carbon--an element needed for all spans of life (kind of like... love *hint hint*). It's also one of the strongest and precious substances on earth; something sought for all over the world. The comparison is very literal, but it's simple and fits. Despite this, there is also a bit of backbone to how Jin describes the Kothera Heart. He speaks of its brilliance (you can tell, that he's immediately absorbed by it just like his encounter with Rathgozer). He talks about how big it is (like Rathgozer's grand entrance and plea) thus being clearly noticeable. It also refers to her large appeal to Jin as well, because her appearance, like the diamond, also multiplied in magnitude. And the light, she's certainly drawing everyone in, isn't she?

"Let's have a welcome reception, princess" Jin says. Haha, well, once he lets her enter HIS heart, it's GG. He's been caught hook, line and sinker. Now the poor sap is in love with the girl, though he doesn't show too much of it until later. Of course, the consciousness is wary of the situation and is warning Jin about what's going to happen, but... he doesn't listen. Go figure. I'd also like to think, when Rathgozer talks about "countries" she's really talking about "guy's hearts". She runs away from one country, Mr. KoK's heart, to go a different country, Jin's heart. It's a followup to the the welcome reception. After he let her into his heart, she thanks him "for accompanying [her] to the neighboring country as promised." It's got a double meaning, future and present tense. Not to mention she tells him "I'm glad I met you" right after, haha.

Unbeknownst to Jin, he's not REALLY in control of his feelings for her. He only made time for her to explore his heart. Consciousness intervenes again... I think the whole fate and reversal issue explains itself, so I'll skip over that. Until we meet Mr. KoK again, the story takes on a self-explanatory route. Nothing drastically analytic there.

Finally, we get to see the two countries at war (ahh!! I'm continuing my metaphor, scaary). Okay, there's a lot of "fight or flight" action here, like I mentioned before.

Fight, being:

• Jin going headstrong with Rathgozer in love.
• Jin going against fate
  
• Mr. KoK versus Jin for Rathgozer and Kother Heart
• Female pheromones versus male instinct
  

Flight, being:

• Rathgozer escaping the fight via FLIGHT
• The flying aircraft
  

And what else can I say about it. Witty Rathy here, covered the final points of analysis with her grandiose escape. It just goes to show sometimes, being pretty is an extremely powerful tool.

So that's what I thought up of. Not sure if it'll make sense to anyone else or if the author actually intended for any of this. But my hopes are that it'll add some light to the situation and maybe rethink the credibility on this one-shot story-wise...

It's been a while since I ranted on any manga about anything :\ I wish I could analyze this much with my English research paper as well. That's just a whole 'nother problem.

Diligency is on the Line

For anyone who's wondering. The atomic bomb has passed, and turned out to be a disappointing dud. For the entire week, I waited for it to blow up and... well, let's just say it didn't deliver.

However, onto to more important matters. I've got a molecule project to finish over the weekend. An assigned book to finish reading and eventually and outline to write. Only a few weeks of school is left. That means studying galore! I'll be consequently doing less Scanlating binges in general until school is over. Then again... I always manage to break my promises :]

On my Scanlation list this month:

• Silent Dreams Scanlations
  - Clean 1/2 of Sakura Zensen Chapter 7 [done!] I might do more later on though.
  - Typeset Sukitte Iwaseru Houhou Chapter 4 (waiting for cleaned pages)
  - Typeset Chotto Edo Made Chapter 1 (in progress...)
  - QCing whatever manages to come my way
  
• Evil Flowers
  - Typeset Kiss and Never Cry Chapter 17 [done!]
  - Clean Crush on You Chapter 8a (in slow slow progress)
  
• Omari's Sister
  - Proofreading any convenient OS projects

On my Reading list this month:

• Lord of the Flies by William Golding (for school)
• Gakuen Alice Volumes 15&16
• The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan
  

Game Plan for Today

There's an atomic bomb waiting for me on Tuesday (bits and pieces on that later) So for today, I'll just RELAX and hit the books during the hot part of the day. Come back, maybe do some editing for Evil Flowers (Crush on You Chapter 8a, anyone?) And then hope desperately that the typesetting for Lunatic Honey Chapter 4 is finished and sent to me for QCing so I can release it for a staff member's birthday on the SDS side. Perhaps I'll be a little diligent on a Friday and practice the lines for my scene on Monday. (None of this is making sense in this incoherent order...)

Anywho, my game plan today in a nice, orderly list is...

• Read Vespers Rising until I finish/it gets cooler upstairs/dinnertime
• Eat dinner and watch Running Man Episode 29 with Mom
• Go back upstairs and either:
  a.) Finish reading Vespers Rising
  b.) Edit Crush on You Chapter 8b
  c.) Take a sneak peak at The Throne of Fire
  d.) Deviate from all plans and read Gakuen Alice Volumes 15 and 16
  e.) Whatever I feel like doing...
• Probably take a shower before doing any of those things
• Go to sleep early because I can!

For anyone wondering where Kiss and Never Cry chapter 15 and 16 and Crush on You Chapter 7b is... Evil Flowers need more QCers (and proofreaders for that matter) So go offer your excellence and help 'em out!! I know it's testing month, but you can spare a little breather for the manga and manhwa you love :'D

By the way, Gakuen Alice Volume 15 and the Kane Chronicles: The Throne of Fire arrived at my doorstep not too long ago. SOOO I am toootally gonna read some text-age<3

Sweet Anticipation & Work Load

Omari's Sister Update:
I just finished proofreading Nanairo no Mukou for OM. Read it when Kuroneko003 releases it on the OM Blog. It's such a sweet read. Lengthy oneshot as well, 70+ pages. However it's not filled to the brim with dialogue and leaves enough room to take in the wonderful artwork.

Silent Dreams Scanlations Update:
Last night as well, I finished 'QCing' Varnish Chapter 3. I quote that because... well, you see, HOLY CREDIBOWLA...! Situation time: Ever read an awkward translation, much? I still need to work on my Proofreaders with their inability to proofread harshly. Sometimes I'm unable to tell what exactly they proofread in the first place. It's not entirely their fault, we haven't developed enough of a bond to read each others' minds yet.

Good news...! SDS's 1st anniversary is coming up in a few days, and we've already had 2 releases this month. I hope to get out another release or two by the end of April haha. And thank goodness, an Indonesian to English Translator popped out from nowhere. PERHAPS I CAN FINALLY RELEASE THOSE THREE CHAPTERS OF SAKURA ZENSEN!!! Muahahaha. However, like a dutiful roller coaster ride, I'm not sure where we're at with our precious scanner for Sakura Zensen. I'm hoping very badly that she checks her email soon.

Evil Flowers Update:
Seems like Kiss and Never Cry Chapter 15 is going to be released soon. I finished typesetting it like last week! However, I'm taking my time on Kiss and Never Cray Chapter 16, actually I've been half done for like... ever. So I can focus on... nah, who am I kidding. I started going nuts when I saw a bunch of SFXs and tiny bubbles not erased by the cleaner. Plus, you don't realize it until you typeset, but there's TONs of dialogue @____@

Anywho, on a side note, for you Crush on You fans, I'm waiting for Chapter 7b's translation to be proofed before I start anything. From a forgotten resource, I think it hits around 50 pages? GG! I hope to get around to it when Spring Break starts after tomorrow!!!

To continue my suicidal choices... I volunteered to take up a short 2 volume project, Triangle by Shin Ji-sang and Geo. I LOVE THAT MANHWAGA DUO!!! OTL So I couldn't resist. It'll be a pain to edit considering the medium-low quality RAWs, but I might be able to manage with a lot of cropping and half-baked redrawing skills. It's not a high priority project, so don't expect much from me, mhmkay?

Misc. Update:
It's almost Christmas in Persona 3 Portable for me and I only got my Star Social Link to level 8 -cries-. It's okay... I tried... I'll... sigh.

But I'm happy, I found two new wonderful songs to listen to. First of all, the highlight of my day yesterday, Kana Nishino's new PV, Esperanza! The song is CATCHY!!! And the second song being an ending theme song to Blue Exorcist (anime). To my dismay it was by my biasedly disliked boy group, 2PM, but I'll live. The song's called Take Off.

13th Boy Volume 4 arrived last Friday, and I read the next two volumes. AWESOMENESS!! I do want more ^^ However, I've gotta save up for Anime Expo this summer... And I'm spending a bunch of money on buying clothes and shoes from TaoBao. Crikeys shipping and handling, why do you torment me sooo...!? Anywho, time to watch some Running Man with my mom before studying for my Chemistry Test. Toodle-loo.

April 2011 Purchases

So recently I bought...

• Gakuen Alice Volume 16
• 13th Boy Volume 4
• 13th Boy Volume 5
• Very! Very! Sweet!! Volume 5
• Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna Volume 9
• Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna Volume 10
• Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna Volume 11
• Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna Volume 12
  

I've only read Very! Very! Sweet!! Volume 5 so far because 13th Boy Volume 4 hasn't arrived yet :\ And Gakuen Alice Volume 15... well, I was being a stupid head and ordered it alongside a book that isn't released until the beginning of MAY. Haha, smart...

On a side note, I am lovin' Persona 3 Portable... :'D<3

[Update 4.29]
My best friend's friend was selling her manga for $5 each and when she mentioned Spiral was on the list, I tackled volumes 9-12. I've received volumes 10-12 so far, and she's still looking for volume 9. I'm glad a waited, this was such a great deal :'D Too bad I didn't like the other series she had (or I already owned)

The List... x:

I've gotta finish these up soon...

Silent Dreams Scanlations
- QCing Varnish Chapter 3
- April E-mail, etc.

Omari's Sister
- Nothing in particular until I get an auspicious email in the middle of the night.

Evil Flowers
- At least typeset Kiss and Never Cry Chapter 15 before the week ends D:


I'm so screwed because I have drama project and who knows what due this week. Here's the kicker, my brother lent me his PSP for the ENTIRE week. MAAAAADNESS!! Whatever shall I do?

Scanlation Update April 2011

Currently, I'm in 3 scanlation groups (suicide, yes, I know, but they're all pretty chill).
And uh... I thought you'd like to know what projects I work on for each group ^___^

Silent Dreams Scanlations
Sakura Zensen (Typesetter)
Sukitte Iwaseru Houhou (Typesetter)
Angel Hunt (Editor)
Chotto Edo Made (Typesetter)
P.S. I'm the "boss" there, so I pretty much QC all things non-Shounen. Purely because my right hand man despises Shoujo with all his fiber and being.
-Huzzah! We finally made releases recently @_@

Omari's Sister
General Proofreader
-It's pretty cool, because Kuroneko003 basically emails all the proofers the typesetted chapter, and whoever can proofread, proofreads ^__^b
-However, I prefer not proofreading Pika Ichi or Akagami no Shirayukihime, since I'd rather enjoy reading them without having to look for mistakes. Haha.

Evil Flowers
Crush on You (Editor)
Reimei no Arcana (Typesetter)
Kiss and Never Cry (Typesetter)
-I don't know what I was thinking when I applied for EF, but... it happened, and surprisingly I was accepted. From then on, I always had something to work on. The RAWs are fantastic too, so it's a breeze most of the time @___@

As we speak, I'm typesetting the rest of Volume 3 for Kiss and Never Cry O: So... look forward to it? ^___^v

Anime O Manga Store

Today, after church, some friends and I went to go buy my brother some shoes. And we we had quite a bit of time, so afterwards we checked out this Anime and Manga store that I've been eyeing for while.

Manga and manhwa wise, it did not disappoint :'D I was veeeery happy. And they had ALL EIGHT VOLUMES OF Very! Very! Sweet, but only one of them was half off (since it was used) I was SOO tempted to just buy all of them at the same time, but I had to... with all my power, restrain myself -sigh-

I read the first volume and I'm Very! Very! Pleased with it ^__^b I'm extremely eager to buy the other seven volumes.

Here's the summary they give on the back cover:
A spoiled brat from a wealthy Japanese family, Tsuyoshi is unceremoniously shipped off to Korea by his strict grandfather who tells him the family secret — they’re Korean! Sparks fly when the resentful high schooler arrives at the airport and shares an impromptu cab ride with Kang Be-Ri, a plucky girl who happens to be his new neighbor. Will the two ever get past their differences? And will Tsuyoshi learn to accept his new destiny?

Hmm... I think there's a typo in the summary because both characters are middle school students. MINOR DETAILS.

I quite like the characters though. Shin Ji-sang and Geo's works are something I always look forward to reading.

I'd go into more detail, but nobody reads this :P

Ah, and my Legend manhwa is being shipped as we type.

Utilizing Gifts

Not too long ago (in fact, like 10 minutes ago) I purchased volumes 4 through 10 of Legend by Kara and Woo SooJung for a whopping total of $61.93! That's really not too bad for 7 volumes of manhwa that originally was worth $11.99 a pop. ;D If you broke out the calculator, that would have been at least $83.93, not to mention shipping and handling, plus outrageous California taxes. I'd round it up to $100 at original price.

I get all my deals at Barnes&Nobles, for me, it's just a trustworthy thing.

Here are all the prices I got my manhwa for this time around ^___^

These volumes were from other retailers. I made sure the ending price with S&H was still cheaper than Barnes&Noble before buying them.
Volume 4 - $3.66 + $3.99 (S&H) + No tax
Volume 5 - $3.99 + $3.99 (S&H) + No tax
Volume 6 - $3.99 + $3.99 (S&H) + No tax

I bought these straight from B&N for great discounted prices~ As well as free S&H for purchases over $25 (if you're not a member.) I get free EXPRESS S&H regardless because I'm a member :'D
Volume 7 - $8.64
Volume 8 - $9.75
Volume 9 - $8.94
Volume 10 - $7.91

So go buy some good manhwa!

This will bring my total up to what? 114 Manga and 27 Manhwa ;]