Shojo manga?

Now that my Christmas break is over (SOB SOB, WAAAH), I'm starting to work on manga again, so Umishi should be out in a few days. I'm getting a craving for a short shojo series again, but you know what's stopping me? Strangely enough, it's fonts. It always takes me forever to think of what fonts to use for a new manga, and then shojo manga have like 3 or 4 fonts on every single page, it's hell switching back and forth. Working on "To Be" was fun though. So maybe...

Well, it's not like I've got a handle on the Umishi situation yet anyway, so I'll focus on that till my real-life situation eases up (God willing) in March.

Happy New Year!!

Umishi chapter 60

Yay, chapter 60! And the buildup continues! I think the authors must have asked the Coast Guard or some salvors, "What's the most F'ed up disaster you could ever imagine?" And then threw all the elements into this arc. It shows.

Umishi chapter 60
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How's rapidshare treating you guys, btw? I never did like RS, but hey, so long as it works.

Umishi chapter 59

I refuse to accept that the weekend is over! I refuse it! Tomorrow's Sunday and I'm not going to work! So there!

Umishi chapter 59
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I'm switching to 1200px from this volume onwards. Now that I have a better monitor 1100px is starting to look a bit small.

I dun geddit + notes

Are you guys enjoying the latest arc?
I've been losing motivation lately, but if people are really into it I guess I could buck up a bit. Maybe.

Research note: LPG is stored in spherical containers too: Wiki on LPG. LPG contains high proportions of either propane or butane or both and is highly flammable (duhhh). Theoretically enough of it could make a pretty fine mess of a pretty large area, which is why it is always stored with extreme care.

Or not so theoretically...29 June 2009, Viareggio, Italy.

Umishi chapter 58

Ah, that was a fun three-day weekend! Every Friday should be Eid from now on.

Umishi chapter 58
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Umishi chapter 57

Moving on, new chapter! You'll notice the Special Rescue Team "Tokkyuu" getting more than their fair share of attention in the next couple of chapters. That's because Tokkyuu!! is the name of another manga series by author Yoichi Komori. It ran in Weekly Shonen Magazine from 2004-2008 while Umishi ran in Big Comic Spirits from 2004 to 2007. So it's a bit of cross-promotion as well as a treat for the Japanese fans. Maybe one day someone will scanslate Tokkyuu and it will be a treat for us too, eh?

Umishi chapter 57
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New rule! New rule! (Updated13/11/09)

It's okay, you can upload to Mangafox if you want. It's not worth my getting worked up about.

Original Post
From the next chapter onwards (which should be out before the weekend), please don't upload my chapters to Mangafox any more. I've never had a problem with my chapters being there in the past and never imposed any restrictions, but their "new policy" (now modified) towards scanslators pisses me off.

Yes, we scanslators are pirates, and yes it's the original author who "owns" the work, but we still put a great amount of time and effort into scanning, translating and editing the manga Mangafox blithely puts up, and I don't need any stupid site that contributes nothing to my effort taking a holier-than-thou attitude on me! Sure I want fans to read the manga, which is why I had nothing against such sites in the past. But if they're going to upload the scanslations people worked so hard on while waving a giant middle finger to those very people if they object, then I have to take a stance.

Obviously I can't force you not to upload there, which is why I'm asking you very nicely not to do so. What I can do is control my response. For every release that shows up there, I'll delay the next chapter by a month. "But wait, that sounds like an excuse to cut way back on releases!" you say. No, I'll play nice if you play nice. I'll put this message in subsequent releases, and if you choose to ignore it and upload it anyway, well, so be it. It's your decision. [I'm not going to do this any more, don't worry]

Update
Thanks for the messages of support. The original policy was really quite insulting, including lines about scanslators wanting to be "gods" to the fans and stuff. To say I was pissed off is an understatement. However they have since revised the policy to be less hostile, and made it clear that they're only reacting to hostility from a few groups. To be honest this doesn't make me feel much better, but a mod from Mangafox messaged me and was very nice about the whole thing, so there's no point holding a grudge about it.

So I've had a change of heart. Mainly it's because manga scanslation is just a hobby and not worth getting so worked up about. I'm doing this because it's fun, not because I want to get involved in internet drama. Quite a number of people read Umishi at MF, and that's a good thing.

More importantly, withholding releases because of MF would be childish and unfair to the fans, "OMG I'm going to hold chapter 100 back for one month because someone uploaded chapter 60!" I think I'm a little too old for that kind of temper tantrum.

As for the terrible quality Mangafox compresses the scans into, I'm told most fans read it anyway and don't care. I'd feel bad if I was one of those people who spends hundreds of dollars importing and scanning manga at high quality, but luckily(?) I'm not. Long ago I used to read MS Paint scanslations and beg for more, so I know firsthand that bad scans can't keep a good manga down (but fix it anyway, MF!!!).

On to chapter 57, in a few hours! I hope...

Umishi chapter 56

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Taking a break

Until November, or until I buy a new mouse and stockpile some more translations, whichever one comes first.

Umishi chapter 55

Fiction Rule #25: If a character says XYZ could never happen, rest assured XYZ will happen almost immediately. It never fails.

3 chapters left of volume 6!

Umishi chapter 55
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