A lot of you’ve been waiting for this one!
The end of the world, as told by Junji Ito. Set in a not too distant future, but one that nevertheless includes flying cars and jetpacks. Although Ito has told apocalyptic stories before, this is probably the closest thing to a straight-ahead disaster flick he’s ever done. There isn’t bodily horror galore, but there are damsels in endless distress, cults, people losing their shit all over the place, and jaw dropping scenes of creative destruction you probably haven’t seen in the movies recently.
This first chapter, THE DREAD PLANET, sets the scene. Many of you have probably read it before, but I encourage reading it again, not just to refresh your memory but for the different translating and editing style. We’re going right to the end of the book with this style, so you might as well get used to it. For anyone planning to put any of our Remina releases on other sites, we suggest you start with this one for consistency’s sake. Please don’t just start tacking it onto another group’s release where they left off, it’s jarring for readers and irritating for both groups.
Finally, a note on sound effects. As you read on, I hope you’ll come to understand why we left them unedited – so that you can actually read the thing sometime within your lifetime, and to preserve naereid’s own sanity.
(Note: The story that contains this chapter has been completely translated. If you can handle the larger file, you can read it all in this post).
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We’re looking at six chapters in all, and a rather grizzly bonus story called ARMY OF ONE. The chapters run at about forty pages a pop, so bear with us if weekly updates become impossible.
Enjoy, and come back and leave your impressions (and chime in on the poll question) if you can.
This week’s poll question – sound effects in translated comics …
A. … must be edited.
B. … should be footnoted if left unedited. (e.g. “sfx: boooom”)
C. … should not be footnoted if left unedited.
D. … don’t particularly bother me however they’re done.
Your answers are for reference and won’t change the approach we’re taking on our current project!
(And you don’t have to explain yourself, just tack on a letter at the end of your post if you like.)
Heyyy can you publish the bonus story right away? so that i can read another short story for a while. i just bothers me if i don’t my hands in things that i’m interested
I’m the kind of guy that reads shorter stories first before the long ones..
imho B
great job, i´m happy, if i only could read Remina
btw: i think he refers to a greater god of the Cthulhu – myth by H.P. Lovecraft
i´m looking for the name of the god, it´s not Azatoth, thats for sure (could take a while)
Finally, I love all of Junji Ito’s work and Hellstar seemed so promising to where it was translated, good work with all the translations though, personally I prefer answer D
D
Fantastic job mate, looking forward to the next chapterm its been a year maybe more since i read chapter 1! x
thanks a lot for scanlating yet another Junji Ito manga
as for the poll,i guess i would choose D
Yay, Remina’s finally coming!
I’m actually going to say D. Sure I busted my ass off for New Voices, but that’s just because I really wanted to. Not that I didn’t want to do Remina too, but unfortunately it would require a bit too much blood and sweat than I’m willing to give.
The poll question: D, definitely
Most sound effects are obvious and only there because, well, it’d be weird if they weren’t. I rarely pay attention to them, even in American comics (Marvel, DC, you know). Add the fact that most sound effects are simple hiragana or katakana that any reader can translate himself, even without knowledge of Japanese, and they really don’t seem important. It’s great if the scanlators go the extra mile, because it can make the pages look amazing, but if time is a factor, I don’t mind at all if they’re ignored.
As for the chapter, good to see the project going ahead. Can’t wait to see it all finished.
I’d go with D, but C if the sound effect is something weird or unusual that would be hard to understand from the accompanying picture alone.
Most interesting. I would love to see how Junji spins this tale.
I prefer having the the SFX being translated and edited myself BUT I chose ‘B’
I suggest you edit all those tiny sound effects lie *cough* or *blink*, it gives it a nice appeal. But big ones take way to long and just leave them and have a little SFX: KAAAABBBBOOOOOOMMMMM!! or something …
More importantly – if it is any sort of indicator for a sound effect – edit it. For instance if a person’s heart beat goes “Ba-dump” and he thinks “Is that me?”, it is necessary for you to understand what he is saying by having that sound effect. And Because it has been edited into English – It gives the same experience as Japanese. Or another example, if there is a sound effect like “smack” and the character turns and goes “Who did that?” – If you left in unedited (or untranslated) readers might think “Boom” or something for the sound effect when it could be something different.
Well that is my take on it. Oh and thanks for starting this up! Great work!
(Also you might want to update your “translations” page. You know, move Hellstar up and possibly replace with another preview picture.)
Option B.
Can’t wait for the next release, much appreciation for junji ito week.
I’d go for C. And by the way do you have any plans to translate Souichi’s Diary of Delights and Souichi’s Diary of Curses at some point?
Ohhh yes~ Remina~ <3 LOL anyways…
With the poll, I go for D.
But really, the katakana styled SFX are art itself! Maybe it's just me but I do not want it to see it in english.. besides I'm sure Junji Ito fans here know how to read simple katakana. Right? hehe
This makes me happy. So very happy. I read this chapter a loooong time ago, and my heart broke when the end was left hanging. Certain Internet sources even claimed the chapter to be complete on its own – that felt really dubious. So yes…so very happy. SsssSsoos Vervry haPAhaapypyyppy…
D
Yay, Remina! I think I have this chapter from another translater, but I can’t wait for more!
Poll Answer: B (though it looks like we’re going to lose, lol. I prefer footnoted because it helps me learn what they refer to, since a non-american might not get the sound effect >KAZAM!< or something of the sort without reference, plus manga-ka use it sometimes for fore-shadowing…)
I’d go for B.
Remina :rock:, I’ll keep saying it: You Rock!
I think that you got that a lot, but, I’ll keep saying that.
I’m waiting for future translations with impatience.
I can’t read a bit of Japanese, but love Junji Ito’s stories and art, so some form of translation is greatly appreciated. Mark me down for “B”.
Option B, for sure. Sound effects aren’t a big deal but it can be nice to have, especially if it’s important to understand (like the heartbeat).
If the sfx is important (vital to the scene for example) then:
B. … should be footnoted if left unedited.
Thank you for starting on the first chapter. It can become quite irritating (not so much though) when chapters are done by different groups as each group usually has its own style.
Thank you so much for your hard work and generosity!! I was thrilled to find Junji Ito scanlations on this site. You rock! Thanks again.