Going South
Yes, we are still here and we are still working on scanlations, sort of. Although I, for one, would much rather be lying somewhere on a Mediterranean beach sipping a cool drink while laughing about those like myself who sit in front of their computers typing up stuff nobody reads… Oh well, I guess that has to wait. ^^;
The releases:
- Hallucination from the Womb ch1-4
Mohiro Kitoh’s second collection of short stories features the works the author published in Manga Erotics F between 2003 and 2005. As to be expected from the man behind Narutaru and Bokura no, there are some fairly disturbing scenes in this book that might render it inappropriate for the overly squeamish. However, if you can handle the material, I definitely recommend it. - Forget (1-shot)
As an extra, we have a nice little one-shot from Afternoon. It was brought to you by Chris, our guest translator, ickypop and exeuntsl. Kudos to them for their excellent work and patience.
And now I may go back to being busy.
Kotonoha comes back swinging. HftW is my favorite project from you guys in a long while. The first two chapters were simply brilliant; exactly what Sci-fi should be. And even if the second two weren’t as strong they’re solid stories in their own right. Great one-shot too. Love the art, reminicent of Hiroaki Samura as well as another artist I can’t recall at the moment. I’ve always loved stories that use surreal or post-modern plots to explore adolescence (FLCL, that Iou Kuroda short called “My Teacher and I”), and while Forget isn’t one of those per say, it relies on reader interpritation, which is far, FAR more effective than angst most of the time. Any thoughts?
Huff August 6, 2006 @ 12:22 am
Funny you should mention that whole Mediterranean beach thing — that was me last month in Greece. Seriously though, good to see Kotonoha still alive and kicking.
Anyhow, I really ought to get back to finishing up Freesia v7… haven’t noticed any complaints on the Omanga forums yet, though I’m sure the fans are pretty impatient by this point. >_
zzled August 6, 2006 @ 5:24 am
Impatient, nah, aching to read it, definitely.
And is it just me or is Manga Erotics F despite its name one heck of a magazine? I still haven’t gotten over how amazing Sweet Blue Flowers is and now we’re being blessed with more of Mohiro Kitoh’s short stories.
Wada August 6, 2006 @ 7:06 am
Wada, I agree. Sweet Blue Flowers has been one of the best titles I’ve read in a while. Hear, hear for Manga Erotics F!
(I wonder when the next tankoubon will be released?)
Daniel Beckham August 8, 2006 @ 7:51 pm
I thought these news might interest Kotonoha:
“Yunagi No Machi Sakura No Kuni Movie: Fumiyo Kouno’s manga Yunagi No Machi Sakura No Kuni (Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms) has been announced to be adapted to live action starring Tanaka Rena in the lead role. The story which won critical praise in the press and a Tezuka Cultural manga prize for best new story in 2005, draws on the tragedy of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima as told from a new perspective. Director Kiyoshi Sasabe (Katenkaru, Yokkakan no kiseki, Hanochi, Chirusoku no natsu, Hi wa mata noboru) says it should be ready for release in Japan by summer 2007. Translated versions of the original comic have already been published in South Korea, and rights are are currently being negotiated for the United States, Germany, and France.” (From the Anime News Service)
Any chance that you might actually finish this title before the live-action makes its debut in 2007? (Just kidding, keep up the good work and the touch to choose such great titles as always).
On another note, thanks for translating Hallucination from the Womb, all of Mohiro Kitoh’s works are anything short of amazing.
Teru August 9, 2006 @ 12:43 pm
@5: Thanks for the heads-up. We knew that a live-action movie adaptation was in the work, just not the details. There’s supposed to be an anime movie coming up too.
Concerning the scanlation, we’ll try to finish this project as soon as we can. The last chapter is quite long and more difficult to translate than the first two’s, so it’ll take some time, but that’s pretty much all what we need. Anyway, Kotonoha’s readers should have gotten used to long delay by now, shouldn’t they?
Nomad Soul August 9, 2006 @ 8:16 pm
Really looking forward to the film. I’m thinking a Yasuhiro Ozu-like style, though I’ll be happy as long as it’s well done.
I hate to bug you guys when things are so slow, but any idea of a realistic timeframe for The Music of Marie? It’s good enough that I don’t care how long it takes if I get to read it, and so far you’ve done a fantastic job that makes it worth the wait, but that doesn’t stop my heart from sinking everytime you guys update and it’s nowhere to be found. Not put any kind of pressure though.
Hate to bring up new projects at a time like this (this is the last question, I swear), but once Marie is done, are there any chances of releasing Furuya’s other fantasy project? I know Nomad Soul praised it back on the forums, and one reviewer called it nothing less than one of the greatest comics he’d ever read, so interested doesn’t begin to describe how I feel.
Huff August 10, 2006 @ 9:39 pm
We’ll see. We’ll see. ^^
Nomad Soul August 11, 2006 @ 8:34 pm
I m writing only to greet you. The quality of your choices is great. I m a fan of this site.
I will cheer you for Osen! The story is much different of the other titles. Almost all of your titles are serious. Osen is a fresh air!Thx a lot!
kyuzaemon August 14, 2006 @ 1:29 pm
Very cool stuff that Hallucination from the Womb manga. I always visit your site to see what nifty things you guys come up with. Thanks!
Marina August 18, 2006 @ 7:12 am
Not related to the topic but I thought to ask if NS is aware of the series called Kiichi? I found out about it in Andrew Cunningham’s website, easternstandard.pbwiki.com/Kiichi , he’s the translator doing Boogiepop novels and mangas for Seven Seas.
Seems rather interesting and there is apparently french edition of it too. So my motivation here is to find second opinion of the series before I start to harass my french friends to buy and scan it for me. ^^’
Jinchi August 21, 2006 @ 6:52 am
@Jinchi: You’ll be surprised to know which new series we have on our fall/winter list.
Nomad Soul August 22, 2006 @ 6:25 am
Ahhhh… great!
Jinchi August 22, 2006 @ 10:36 am
Haha, no way! I bought the first couple of vols of Kiichi recently after reading a few reviews… ’sadistically brilliant’ is the only description that comes to mind. But at the same time, way over my poor little head. ^^;
zzled August 23, 2006 @ 6:44 pm
“Ki-ichi” is one of the most scathing social satires I’ve ever come across. Despite featuring decidedly less gore and graphic violence than Arai’s earlier work “The World Is Mine,” the impression left on the reader is much stronger IMHO.
The way Arai portrays the modern Japanese society is devastating and moving at the same time. I guess it takes a child’s unfiltered and unbiased view to unmask the inhumanity in our world.
In any case, I consider this project the biggest translation challenge Kotonoha has to face thus far. It will either propel us to a new level or crush us entirely. What can I say? I love to gamble big. ^^;;
Nomad Soul August 23, 2006 @ 8:10 pm
I am SO looking forward to Kiichi now. Oh man.
some lamer August 24, 2006 @ 1:10 am
Agreed. Kiichi is denser and would be harder to translate than anything I’ve read so far. I thought about it for a bit… and promptly chickened out.
zzled August 24, 2006 @ 4:57 am
Awesome to hear you taking on such an important project. I mean I enjoy stuff like Girlfriend or your other “light” projects as much as anyone (diversity is key IMO) but it’s stuff like this that makes me fall in love with the medium all over again. Great to hear it.
Huff August 27, 2006 @ 12:37 pm
Sorry to double post, but can anyone explain how Shogakukan’s “Big Comic” system works? From what I’ve hear each one targets a diffrent age of men, but other than that I can’t get down the overall diffrences between each mag, especially since they moved all the “progressive” stuff from Spirits to Ikki, though Original does seem to be more about traditional titles from what I’ve seen. Can I expect to find more stuff like Kiichi in Superior?
Huff August 28, 2006 @ 4:12 am
Thank you for Osen 2!!
I hope you guys had a great summer!
badtzmaru September 12, 2006 @ 10:07 pm
i really think we should have the forum back lol
robin September 14, 2006 @ 4:49 am
The forum will be back, in time.
Nomad Soul September 15, 2006 @ 8:23 am