Acting captain's log, USS UOGTSC, Entry 135.

Okay! Another problematically eclectic collection of unrelated topics and meanderings. But as they say in Bucharest, Fuck you that!
(Not true.)

Wow. It's amazing I'm not writing opening zingers for Conan O'Brien. Anyway.

So much talk of gaming lately. It must be rather alienating for any potential readers that aren't that interested in that topic. [shrug] What can you do? I'm going to delay my MoCCA stuff for when I get my SD card reader back (it's in Turkey; long story) so that I can photograph my haul, and give myself time to tweak and hem and haw about my complaining, which I'm uncomfortable about (nerds being infamous and intolerable whiners) but unwilling yet to forsake my right of complaint, blah blah. (See? That's why it still needs tweaking.) Also, there should be a new podcast next week, which very well might contain a casette purchased at MoCCA from Picturebox, probably my favorite vendor there, but that's for next time.

So what is this post about, then, anyway? (And could you take any longer in getting there?)


Well... manga, for starters.

Haven't done any scanlations in a while, so let's remedy that. As a refresher, a scanlation is simply a scan with translated text superimposed over the original language. Legally it's flat-out prohibited, of course. Logically, it's simply an inevitability as manga gains more and more steam amongst an international audience, some segment of which is bound to be dissatisfied with the majority of titles that are safe enough investments for companies working to localize, many of which fold and drop series mid-run regardless. Not that individuals and groups involved in scanlation don't drop their share of titles as well... but the odds are certainly better that another group of passionate fans will pick up a series where it was dropped than another company acquiring the rights and picking up a dropped localized series that has already proven itself a domestic market failure.

[Sigh] Yup... it's our old friend. The Copyfight.

And of course there's the dark side to scanlation, where groups make available free versions of titles which are commercially available, helping make a tough marketplace even tougher. I wish I could say that I've taken a firm stance in this regard, but the fact is that I'm actually, in my own relatively small way, part of the problem. And have been (gently) called out on it. (Of course it would be by a Canadian.) I've given it a lot of thought, and am still struggling to come to a decision. I considered writing to the author of the article and requesting that he remove the link to my site (which has gotten minimal traffic through the referral anyway), but really, that's not the solution. I could reference the modesty of the actual amount of page hits, and the comparative near non-existence of evidence of actual reading of the material based on number of page views in excess of, say, 15, but that is, of course, a cop out. (Aw hell. Even as I write this is it gets another hit.) The easiest thing would be to just take it down. Or there's the pirate/fan's standard moral balm; that if you love the material you should consider shelling out for it; in effect passing the buck.

Perhaps I'm simply blowing it out of proportion. It's possible that someone from Fantagraphics has seen it and elected not to ask for its removal (which would be granted without bitterness). Or that I can instead call myself an early English-language supporter of a talent in manga of great importance and historical significance, helping lay a groundwork of a potential readership for what seems a safe bet (as if such a thing existed) of an inevitable localization effort of the sort recently and commendably undertaken by those brave Drawn & Quarterly folks. (More Canadians.)

We're talking about a single story in a six year old magazine.

I'm open to reader's thoughts and opinions. (I'm tempted to ask Dirk Deppey directly, as he's essentially responsible for my interest in the entire world of scanlation, and thus alternative manga as a whole, but he would have a clear conflict of interest. Jon? You're smarter than I am with regard to this stuff. What do you think?)


Some recap!

Sorry, Ryan.S, you've almost certainly already seen these since I found them on scanlation sites that I never would have found if you hadn't linked to them. That being said, this extends our scanlation circle past just Kotonoha and Mangascreener. It could be considered the fringes of a fringe scene, or an opportunity to have something you've read that you're unlikely to ever have in common with anyone you meet for the rest of your life. If you're into that.

For clarity and credit where it's due, I didn't scanlate any of these strips. I just love them. See links for more information on any strip. The folks that make these available originally have incredible taste and talent in translation, and are basically heroes in my mind, somehow. Is that weird?

So as to present all three strips back to back we'll do titles and credits of those responsible for their creation and their availability to an English speaking audience. They are as follows:

Paradise Town Chapter 1 by Nikaido Masahiro, scanlated by Wanted: Cheap Manga. (Chapters 1-4, chapters 5-7.)
Zombie Oldie by Karasawa Nawoki, scanlated by Wanted: Cheap Manga.
The Deadly Dried Squid Technique by Yoshiharu Tsuge, scanlated by Kitten Patriot.

[To be read right to left.]

















Today's not one of those days when I feel much capable of insightful or interesting commentary. See you in the comments? Yeah.

So what else? Tetris! (Thanks, Offworld!)

Firstly, though I have always had limited Tetris exposure due to my lack of GameBoy, anyone who cares to take a second can see that it can't be called insignificant.

At least, the British don't seem to think so. (Now you don't have to go to your grave without knowing the hilarious drama that went into this weird Iron IP drama.)













I'm going to work my way through this again and try to pinpoint where exactly the string of licensee/liscensor distribution rights went completely fucking awry. (I've narrowed it down to Britain immediately following the Hungarian "computer centers.") Like a copyright skeet shoot.

Wait... is that where that skeet skeet thing that my friend wouldn't shut up about comes from? Am I so old and white that it takes me months to figure out a ridiculous hip-hop reference? Apparently so. Assuming I'm right. Joe, this seems like the type of thing you'd know.

What else? There's E3, but since I don't have a single positive thought on it I'm going to see if I can't boil it down into some kind of bullet point minimalist thing. Basically, Ueda's going to rip my heart out or I'm going to have to live without him. Which if I want to be melodramatic I could say they're the same thing. [sob]



Still, it's not as if I can feign dissatisfaction with my current options. I beat Gamma Bros on a full play-through, which was epic, and got the good ending no less! Also, I decided to stop nibbling at N's edges and dive in whole hog, and beat the first two and a half columns. Two new character colors, over 100 levels, and some absolutely ecstatic moments of victory and satisfaction. Below are two of my favorite episodes of five levels each.