TOO MANY OF YOU ARE AWESOME. Thanks for all the help offered! I’ve got a friend visiting and was out and about all day yesterday (and will be today and tomorrow. I know, my timing sucks), so I haven’t had time to reply to all the emails/comments yet – can I just promise to get back to you on Sunday?
Anyway, crisis totally averted! I’ve definitely got all the help I need. Actually, I’ve got… more than the help I need… am I dreaming. I’M SO BLESSED.
Posted by Bikkuri on May 18, 2012
http://bikkuribikkuri.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/guysssss/
[EDIT: I don't need any more help! Thanks to everyone who offered, you're the best.]
Hi again.
This is rather out of character for me, but oh well.
I have come to ask for help.
See, actually. The thing is. Reason #1 for my being so late with releases is that for several… months now, the thought of editing has made me want to jump out my window (I live on the 5th floor I WOULD DIE), so I took a ‘break’ from it to save my life. The break felt really nice, like breathing again after holding your breath for a really long time. Yeah, I AM going to wax poetic about this. So I let it go on. And on. And then exams came, and… I think my last post aptly illustrates what exams do to me. (Thanks, btw, for all the nice messages of encouragement! ILU. My stress is much more manageable right now, I’m back in control of things, so ~yay~)
So a while back, just as I was contemplating quitting all of this and be on my way and never touch Photoshop again, I got an email from the lovely JV, asking if I wanted any help. I dunno, some of you who’ve been around a while might remember how I used to refuse all help. That was when I enjoyed the editing process (and for a while, simply out of the habit of saying ‘no, no, I’M FINE’. It’s kind of an eternity ago.
Anyway, I said YES PLEASE JV, HELP, and now we are a Bikkuri & JV team! Say hi!
BUT. So. The reason I have come to hate editing is the 14 chapters of absolutely hellish cleaning of raws. The cleaning process of magazine raws is absolutely hellish. Are you getting this? HELLISH. Let me also quote JV compeletely without permission (DON’T HATE ME): “holy crap cleaning this manga is a friggin’ chore. It’s one thing to clean one page but an entire chapter is just… pure torture.”
YES I ADDED THAT ONLY TO GLORIFY MY OWN 14 CHAPTER LONG EFFORT ~DEAL WITH IT~
… Excuse the long-winded backstory. As you might have guessed, I’m here to ask if anyone would like to be a cleaner on Team B. (JV understandably does not feel like doing it all alone.) As it is, I either make this a full-fledged scanlation GROUP, or I quit scanlating altogether. (If you think I should just quit, feel free to voice this opinion, I will gladly accept any argument.)
If you think you’re up to the task, please either comment or send me a mail (mail is preferred if you’re sure you want to help, comment is preferred if you just have a question or a… comment). I kind of think THE MORE THE MERRIER, so we could split a chapter between us. There’s something a lot less intimidating about having 10 pages to clean instead of 40+.
[That said, remember that it is hellish, and that even experienced editors like JV and myself think so. This is NOT the same as cleaning raws you find lying around the internet, as those raws are already smoothed and generally messed up quality-wise. 'Smooth' is when you can't see the texture of the tones and stuff. It looks lazy and bad (in my opinion) and I won't release scans like that, so don't join if your technique is all about 'reduce noise' or any such tool (you can smooth it a little, but not so it's conspicuous). 'Dust' is removed manually with the dodge tool (zoom in 200%, lean your screen back, and dodge away all the little dark spots that remain after levelling. A LOT of dark sports remain after levelling well, so... yeah). (That's where the hellish part comes in. That and cloning.) Blacks must also be filled in manually with the burn tool (lean your screen forward). Uneven patterns (like on Kou's shirt in the middle panel in the page below) are evened with dodge and burn at low settings. /End teaching session haha, but these points matter to me.]
There are usually tests and stuff, right? So if you want to apply, clean this, and then mail me the result.
<- That’s this image. I put it on mediafire in the link above, because I’m not 100% sure uploading it through wordpress keeps the quality.
A couple of tutorials I read, once upon a time:
http://main.storminheaven.org/guide/main.html
http://www.deathsvertigo.com/dp_scanlations/tutorials/cleaning.php
I’ve developed my own technique though, so there are some points in those I don’t agree with, but they’re generally pretty good. If you don’t know anything, but would still like to help at some point, look into those! And if you already know your way around Photoshop and want to help, THEN I NEED YOU NOW AND I WILL LOVE YOU SO MUCH.
*fingers crossed forever*
Posted by Bikkuri on May 15, 2012
http://bikkuribikkuri.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/recruitment/
Did someone say 3 chapters behind? Am I 3 chapters behind? Oh god this is the greatest tragedy of all time.
I AM REALLY SORRY. CLEARLY I JUST CANNOT MULTI-TASK OMG :(
Actually, hahahahiiii I’m just here to procrastinate. I’m writing a term paper at the moment but I’m stuck at 3 pages (it’s supposed to be 10). Then I thought, you know, I should apologize to the interweb. It is only polite.
…Yes?
Oh?
You don’t… remember me?
…
…
THAT’S OKAY. Actually, better if you forget me.
~forget~
Oh, since I don’t have anything better to show for the past uhm, 3 months? Here’s a drawing I drew ages and ages ago when I was procrastinating something I can’t remember. Probably editing. Hah.
I call it *~Futababy~*
IT’S FUTABA IF YOU CAN’T TELL.
EXCUSE ME FOR YELLING.
I HAVE EXAMS, I’M ALLOWED TO YELL.
oh god exam anxieties oh god
Good luck to everyone else who has exams around these dreadful times :( May we all survive. Man, it’s been too long since I could rewatch Sherlock without worrying about wasting time and fall asleep to Inception and reread Harry Potter and every other book I own and force my friends to read every book I own and just roll around on the floor like a two year old, I NEED SUMMER.
You should probably ignore me.
I’ll write my paper now.
EDIT: Thank you everyone for being SO NICE / tears forever
Being busy sucks I AM GROWING UP oh no someone send help
Posted by Bikkuri on May 10, 2012
http://bikkuribikkuri.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/its-raining-and-i-lost-my-umbrella-oh-yeah-and-lol-no-update/
FINALLY.
There, it’s been said. Please refrain from repeating it too many times. XD
Ch13 on Batoto.
Ch14 on Batoto.
I had to do chapter 13 twice because I lost all my files at one point kind of a long time ago haha (never-ending computer problems). You have no idea… YOU HAVE NO IDEAAAA HOW MUCH THAT HUUURT.
But I’m okay now.
Most of you passed the patience test with an A++++, congratulations! Love you!
(Random sidenote, it’s a year since I started scanlating “officially”, heh! Time flies desudesu.)
Posted by Bikkuri on March 9, 2012
http://bikkuribikkuri.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/aoharaido-ch1314-at-last/
Time flows differently in Japan. Two months is nothing here. It’s like two days in the rest of the world. So I actually did all this in two days. I’m not slow. I’m like the wind. It’s unfortunate that it should be two months for the rest of you, but timey-wimey stuff cannot be controlled.
Deep words of wisdom aside,
I’d force all my opinions about these two chapters on you now, except I kinda get my need to express my thoughts taken care of when I write the summaries every month. So instead, I’ll prove to you that sometimes I can write very short and concise posts.
What do you mean I already failed.
AH EVERYTHING IS PINK. Get used to it! 2012 is the year of pink! That reminds me, happy new year EVRY1 MY LOVELY NAGGERS AND PATIENT LURKERS AND AWESOME RAMBLY COMMENTERS <3
And also! Aoharaido got made into a light novel (writer is called Abe Akiko), and although it’s basically just the manga in writing, there are some cute extra details. I tried translating a bit, and it’s actually really fun, very different from translating manga. No promises, but I might do a few pages now and again. Maybe.
Excerpt!
Chapter 1, part 1
It was a clumsy and uncertain love.
A first love that, like a flower bud torn off by a gust of wind before it had the chance to bloom, ended without ever beginning.
His name was Tanaka Kou.
In general, the creatures called boys were savage and crude, all vulgar comments and noisy laughter; they simply had no delicacy and she’d never liked them. Still, only after entering middle school, when their voices grew deeper and their bodies taller with alarming speed, had she really come to hate them.
But Kou was different.
Kou was small, his voice wasn’t deep, his skin was white. His body was frail and slender like a girl’s. The corners of his eyes were sharp, the irises tawny and deep, and they left such an impression that you’d never forget them once you’d looked into them once – but that didn’t mean they were scary or intense. They resembled the eyes of a baby lion. That’s what she thought the first time she saw him.
She would always tense up when she walked past a boy, but when passing by Kou there was none of that. Only Kou, pure and fluid like mineral water, was okay.
How long had her eyes been following him around? It was already a habit by the time she noticed.
She did remember the first time they spoke, though. The summer of her first year in middle school, the summer she couldn’t forget.
Posted by Bikkuri on December 31, 2011
http://bikkuribikkuri.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/aoharaido-ch1112-ln-excerpt/
Download chapter 10!
Read online on Batoto.
We meet again!
My computer had a breakdown (because it hates me), and I spent a lot of the weekend tinkering with it, but like, I’m not a technician dammit :| So the best I’ve been able to do is getting it to work for a couple of hours at a time, but at least it’s better than it was right after the first crash lol sadface.
Luckily I had a lot of chapter 10 done before the first crash, so I managed to finish reasonably fast anyway. Happyface.
About three weeks until the next chapter is released, so I guess that means vacation for me! Which is good, ’cause I really need to study.
Chapter 10′s a lot of fun, so read read!
By the way (spoilery) Kou actually uses a less crude word than ‘rape’, but everything else sounded unnatural (or too beat-around-the-bush-y), so I ended up using it anyway. Rape sounds really… I dunno, bad, though, omglol, but I got sick of trying to come up with something better. Translating is hard sometimes, ahah.
Posted by Bikkuri on October 24, 2011
http://bikkuribikkuri.wordpress.com/2011/10/24/aoharaido-ch10/
HELLO.
Download chapter 9.
Or read on Batotootototooo.
So much awesome going on in manga-land lately. Like chapter 10 of Aoharaido (omg all over). Chapter 21 of Tora to Ookami (I think I died). Volume 8 of Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (YAMAKENNN. Why are you the second lead, why!). Volume 10 of Dengeki Daisy (’cause I mean… Kurosaki).
Since I’m in fangirl mode (can you tell), fangirling everywhere, fangirling everything, I’m buying too much stuff (…manga) lately. Getting it all back from Japan when it’s time to leave will be a challenge.
If anyone feels like lending me their private jet, let me know.
I know you all have one.
I’m the only one who doesn’t have one.
It’s always like that.
Posted by Bikkuri on October 15, 2011
http://bikkuribikkuri.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/aoharaido-ch09/
A completely random out-of-context picture collage!
…So yeah! I finally got my hands on the September issue of Betsuma Sister, which had this short story on how Murao came to like Tanaka-sensei in it! Yaaaay. It’s only 16 pages, but super adorable!
Sadly I have no scanner here, so I can’t really scanlate it yet. Therefore I took some very bad pictures (sorry) with my camera, zipped them up so you can download them and look, and then translated it, so you can… read along with the pictures? XD Best I can do atm.
Why Kou never wants to eat dinner with Tanaka-sensei is beyond me, ’cause he’s like… awesome.
___________________________________________________
IN OTHER NEWS…
dun dun dun…
I’m going to be summarizing a couple of series at http://bxsmanga.weebly.com/ so… just so… you know. In case anyone’s interested but don’t know. Tora to Ookami and Sukitte Ii Na Yo (v07). It seems Tora to Ookami has few readers, so I’m going to advertise now.
It’s… fun.
…and… you should read it. Then you should read my summaries. I haven’t actually written any yet. But when I do. Yeah. TtO is funny. It’s a bit stupid, but cute and sincere, and I dunno. Makes me laugh. In a good way. By the author of Hana Yori Dango, by the by. Might not be everyone’s cup of tea, of course, but if you haven’t yet, you should give it a chance. :) Okay, done. Time to sleep.
PS: Hope you don’t hate the layout change! I was just sick of the old one.
Posted by Bikkuri on October 7, 2011
http://bikkuribikkuri.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/aoharaido-v03-extra-transraw/
Download chapter 8!
Or read on Batoto.
Or both.
…Or neither?
First chapter of volume 3! Kou is just too much fun in this one. Somehow. Look at all his faces. XD And ahh, cute things happening at the train station is so Strobe Edge. I love it.
I bought a used DSi really cheap a couple of days ago, and it’s so pretty and pretty and white and I’m just gonna marry it. And ah, the wannabe gamer in me is crawling forth… Right now I just use it as an electronic dictionary, though. I bougth a Mario game, but effffff, I suck, it’s so depressing, and everytime I die I swear a piece of my heart crumbles off. It’s really nostalgic though. I need to buy a Pokemon game too or something, that would be full of ultimate nostalgia ;A; I spent large parts of my childhood completely obsessed with Pokemon, especially the games, which I played knowing next to zero English, so I wonder how I managed to figure things out, really… I can’t remember. Was I a genius child after all?! I was, wasn’t I?! Why am I not in Harvard!
…Anyway, anyone know any fun games for the DS? XD Or I’ll just go pick up some random used ones and try them out. I LOVE JAPAN RIGHT NOW.
(Why can I never stay on topic.)
Posted by Bikkuri on October 2, 2011
http://bikkuribikkuri.wordpress.com/2011/10/02/aoharaido-ch08/
I took a break from roaming around the Japanese countryside and studying and all that and sat down next to the A/C with my computer for the whole day, and ahhh… remember when I always was this fast? XD Maybe not. So long ago now. Sighsigh. Sigh.
Anyway! I just wanted to get this chapter over with, ’cause I don’t really like it all that much, haha. Personal opinion. Ignore me. Chapter 8 is great though, look forward to it! …Don’t know when I’ll have time to really work on it, but you know. Someday.
Oh, and I never knew about it before, but Batoto (http://www.batoto.com/comic/_/comics/ao-haru-ride-r491) seems to be a nice online mangareader, and I see my versions of Ao are all up there, so if you don’t like downloading, you can read them over there! I personally hate downloading every manga I read, so yeah. The quality is nice too, better than Mangafox. The site’s just a lot more obscure. And it seems to host fewer series. But yeah. Aoharaido is there, so.
And I finally did the character profiles, so they’re included in the chapter. Or I’ll just give them here as well…
Well. Imma go roll around on the floor now.
No I’m not.
Posted by Bikkuri on September 18, 2011
http://bikkuribikkuri.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/aoharaido-ch07/
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