Really Nice Wall Calendar in Asuka 1/2011 -- Buy it Now!

Do you want this sweet wall calendar? Well then buy yourself a copy of Asuka Magazine 1/2011.

Buy Asuka 1/2011 on Amazon Japan (Link)
Buy Asuka 1/2010 from Akadot (Coming Soon)

You can also get the magazine from Sanseido Books.  Call them up and they'll deliver it to you if you are in the US.

I can't scan this calendar because it's actually too big to fit on my scanner when opened.  Anyhow, it features:

• "Psychic Detective Yakumo"
• "Barajou no Kiss"
• "Betrayal Knows my Name"
• "Kyou Kara Maoh", etc...

This issue also comes with mini post cards and a "Psychi Detective Yakumo" DVD!

@oloore -- Here's a picture of the cheesy Lala Calendar in comparison.

It's about the size of a small postcard.  Don't buy Lala 1 for this.  Buy Lala 1 for the manga instead...I hope they come out with another calendar mid-year.

Aria 1

I have Aria 1/2011.  Here is a list of the what we will translate from this issue:

• Junketsu + Kareshi Chp 5
• Magnolia Chp 5
• Pika Ichi Chp 5
• Zoo Chp 2

We will be skipping the one-shot "Heart Stealer" because it looks lame.

Support Aria magazine to support your favorite series and mangakas!

Link to purchase Aria 1 from Amazon Japan
Link to purchase Aria 1 for Akadot

"In Jack Out" Preview -- Nanpei Yamada's New Project

Click on the image to see a larger version.

Here's the preview for Nanpei Yamada's new project "In Jack Out".  If I understood this correctly, this is a prequel to an actual series.  Hmm...Cyber-Idol...My initial reaction is *ugh*, but "Orange Chocolate" is good, so we'll give this one-shot a chance.

"Folklore Reindeer" Postponed

We will not be doing "Folklore Reindeer" at this time.  It's very challenging to clean and it will swamp us, keeping us from being able to work on other projects. I think what's best is to release "Folklore Reindeer" with its companion one-shot "Allegoria Lion" sometime later in 2011.  It will be something we'll work on in the background for now.

Recruitment: Cleaners Needed

We need a couple of cleaners to help out at Omari's Sister.  I would prefer folks who have cleaned before, but if you have Photoshop and know how to use it, I'm willing to train you.  If you are an experienced cleaner who can also help with some of the redrawing, you get double hugs!  If you are interested, contact me, Kuroneko003, using the Contact Link in the top menu of this blog.

Orange Chocolate is on Hiatus until February 2011

"Orange Chocolate" is going on hiatus until the end of February so Yamada-sensei can work on a new project.  Fortunately, we are 4 chapters behind, so none of the readers of this blog will feel lapse between chapters.  I will update this entry later with more news about Yamada-sensei's new project.

One-Shot: "Furou Kyoudai" The Long Version

Phew! We managed to get this done before Thanksgiving madness goes full-swing!  Anyhow, here is the long version of Furou Kyoudai!  The story is the same as short version, however, there's more detail and character development.  I really enjoy this sibling pair and I hope Hakusensha allows Shiwasu-sensei to turn this into a series.

Links to the long version of "Furou Kyoudai": (Zip) (PDF)

There is a 40-page follow on "Furou Kyoudai" one-shot.  We will try to release it early in the new year.

Next up is J+K and Magnolia.   December will be nuts because of the holidays and vacation plans, so please don't expect to see J+K and Magnolia within a week after I receive Aria.  Please check the release schedule for the latest release dates.  We'll do our best, but at the same time, it's a special time of year to spend with our families and friends.  So enjoy the holiday season and we'll be back in full-swing January :).

Happy Thanksgiving to folks in the US!  And for heaven's sake, don't bring your manga to the dinner table...put it down and eat...

One-shot Sequels!!!

W00t!  Well, color me happy!  Look what came with Hana to Yume Issue 24/2010!  A wonderful book with sequels to "The Scarecrow of Oz" and "Furou Kyoudai." *Hana to Akuma Spoilers Ahead*  Also in Hana to Yume issue 24 is the final chapter of "Hana to Akuma" which features (highlight white space to read) Hana and Vivi's wedding and off into the distant future -- half demon half human babies!!!  Unfortunately, Hana got old and died...but Vivi's happy happy with his kids.  Don't know what's going on with fandom, but I'm tempted to finish up the last three chapters... Update! It looks like translation of "Hana to Akuma" has resumed!  Hooray for Kokoro no Oasis!

Oh, and if you are wondering what the other two one-shots are, I don't know yet, but I'll find out and see if they are worth translating.

Anyhow, a bunch of unanticipated manga and vacations got thrown at me, so I have to re-prioritize and re-jigger the schedule for the next few months.  There's too much good stuff and not enough staff.  But, as a "manager" I cannot take on anymore staff...so I have re-jigger things.

Pika Ichi Chapter 4 -- Love, Hate, and General Frustration...

Here is "Pika Ichi" chapter 4.  I continue to like the main characters, Tarou and Hanako, and the side characters; Manaka, Dr. Murase, and Ibuki (introduced in this chapter), but the general story suffers from poor execution.  I was ready to throw up my hands and quit the series after about 10-pages into translating this chapter, until after banging my head on my desk a few times and then breaking into hysterical laughter, it all became clear.  I'm taking the bullying aspect of this story way too seriously and I'm probably ultra-sensitive because at the time I started the translation, the bullying induced suicides were all over the news in the US.  So I adjusted my point of view and began to think of the bullying as a "McGuffin" and the student mob as a mob of brainless zombies.  As a story about a handful of students and a brave doctor facing the zombie apocalypse, things made sense to me and I could focus on the aspects of the story I like, which would be the character development and the lovely artwork.  The second hurdle was doing something about some of the flat or just plain bad dialog.  So I will inform you now, for the most part I translated the chapter faithfully, but I did punch up some of the dialog to bring it up to high school level and to speed up and maintain the pacing.

I will continue onto chapter 5 because I want to know more about the characters.  How did they get this way?  What's motivating them? And how will they change?  But...it will be a chapter by chapter commitment and, so, I'll face the question of whether to continue after looking at chapter 5.  I really wish, though, that the chapters weren't so freaking long!!!  UGH!!!  I'd much rather have fat "Magnolia" chapters!  Magnolia!!!!  UGH, the pain of waiting is almost too much!!!

Here are the links!

Links to "Pika Ichi" chapter 4:  (Zip) (PDF)

Anyhow, give the chapter a read and let me know what you think about it.  If a lot of you want to try something new, I will gladly oblige.  There are 4 replacement series on my mind that I would love to give a try and one is already in preparation :).  And, oh, by the way, take the survey in the upper right corner of this blog!

Ouran Bookmarks from Lala Special

It you want this set of bookmarks, order yourself a copy of the December 2010 issue of the Lala Special. Links:

Lala Special from Amazon Japan: Link
Lala Special from Akadot: (I'll post the link when it's in stock)

The short special Ouran chapter will be released tomorrow along with the preview for the 60-page one-shot sequel coming in Lala 3 in late January 2011.

New Manga Purchases: Oct 23 - Nov 9, 2010

• Chobits Omnibus 1 (Clamp) -- 720-pages! Contains color pages! It's very nice!
• Chobits Omnibus 2 (Clamp) -- 688-pages! Contains color pages! It's very nice!
• Clover Omnibus (Clamp) -- 512-pages! Contains color pages! It's very nice!
• Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus 1 (Clamp) -- 576-pages! Currently on sale for $13.49 on Amazon -- This omnibus contains Volumes 1 - 3, along with a lot of beautiful color pages.  It's big and high quality.  Most of the sound effects and dialog that is not in bubbles are left in Japanese with the English translation close by.  In a few cases no translation is provided which is a little frustrating.  Anyhow, if you've never read Cardcaptor Sakura, please do.  It really is delightful.  It reminds me of the many daydreams I had of being a magical girl when I was about 8 or 9-years old.  Oh, and the color pages are gorgeous! Some of them look like the artwork used for the introductory pages from its magazine serialization.  I highly recommend buying this if you are a Clamp fan or a fan of the series.  5/5
• Yours and My Secret Volumes 3 and 4 (Ai Morinaga)
• V. B. Rose Volume 10 (Banri Hidaka) -- Ageha goes shopping with Arisaka mom, Ran, and learns about Arisaka's sad childhood.  I wanted to slap Ran.  Anyhow, it's a good read.  3.5/5
• Apothecarius Argentum Volume 7 (Tomomi Yamashita) -- out of print, but you can still buy copies from used book sellers through Amazon.

If you are considering purchasing any of these books, please consider purchasing from Omari's Sister's Amazon store.

A note about the omnibus additions:  The Clamp omnibus editions from Darkhorse are wonderful!  They are high quality and contain color pages with lots of original artwork.  These are truly great printed manga experiences!  I hope to see more Omnibus editions of manga series in the future.

Teaser: Orange Chocolate Chapters 18 and 19

Here's a little teaser to get you ready for the double release of "Orange Chocolate" chapters 18 and 19.  I decided to do a double release because these two chapters go together well and it would be cruel to keep you all waiting in between chapters.  Also, I didn't want to break the emotional momentum that builds in chapter 18.

We're aiming for the release of both chapters on the 10th and it looks like we are going to be able to deliver :).

November 2010 at Omari's Sister

Yikes!  This post is late!  It kept slipping my mind because I was so excited about "Junketsu + Kareshi" and "Magnolia."

October was quite a productive month!  Officially we got out 10 releases, but we did manage to get J+K out about an hour before the end of the month for a total of 11 releases!  I don't think we be able to be that productive again, especially as we head into the holiday season.  With the passing of October, we say goodbye to one of our cleaners Tedhi.  I'm sorry to see her go, but when real life calls, you gotta respond.  I thank her for her excellent work and I wish her luck in the future.

Onto November!  Things towards the end of the month will get slow with Thanksgiving and then I will be on a semi-vacation for the 3-weeks following Thanksgiving.  My hope is to be on actual vacation for one of those weeks.  Anyhow...We've already released "J+K" and Magnolia, so here's a list of what we have planned for the rest of the month.

• Orange Chocolate Chapters 18 and 19 Double Release
• Pika Ichi Chapter 4
• One-shot:  Akuma Yashiki no Kyouikugakari ("The Devil Mansion's Instructor") -- Joint with Hyper Parfait!
• Ouran extras for Lala Special

If we finish ahead of schedule, then there will be a special Fall one-shot.

I Love my Cleaners!

Parody courtesy of Silver Lunar

Silver Lunar, Kumiko, and Suzume.Soshi, thank you so much for the great work you do!

Winter One-shots!

Here's a list on the Winter-themed one-shots planned for December and January

December:

• "Folklore no Tonakai" -- "Folklore Reindeer" by Mizuno Tohko ("Kimi ni XOXO") -- A young lady has to choose a husband by Christmas, but due to a momentary lapse in sanity the men around her have frightening animal heads!?
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• "Marii to Santa" -- "Marie and Santa" by Nigushi Keiko -- Santa crashes into a tree and spends an evening with a practical but sweet little girl.  It's short and super cute!

January:

• "World End Garden" -- "The Garden at the End of the World" by Shiina Dai -- Girl gets lost in the snow and is captured by a yeti-like creature who plans to eat her.  But that's only the beginning ;p.  It goes from "WTH" to "Dawwww" in 40-pages.
• "Kare to Kanojo no Futoumin" -- "His and Her Sleepless Winter" (un-hibernation) by Nari Kusakawa -- Unrequited love and serious winter loveliness!  I'm so excited!

Look forward to them!

Ouran High School Host Club is Retired

I have retired "Ouran High School Host Club."  We will translate any follow-on work or series.