Announcement: "Pochamani" Volume 2 Tankoubon Coming out After March

Much to my disappointment, "Pochamani" Volume 2 isn't coming out in March, which moves the soonest it could come out to April. We have enough tankoubon chapters to last until March with monthly releases.  I do have the magazine versions, but Hana to Yume print quality ranges from pure crap to medium.  I don't want to compromise the quality we've got from the tankoubon, but at the same time, I know there are some of you who really don't give a crap about the translation or image quality and just want anything now, first, (because you're DYING).  Now that I’ve written this,  I realize I don't care about the "fans" who don't give crap, because "fans who don't give a crap" is an oxymoron. Hopefully, the tankoubon will be released in April and this won't be a problem, but if it comes later, unless the raw is medium quality, we will resume "Pochamani" when we get the volume 2 tankoubon. Yes, and "Pochamani" will be presented in high quality loveliness as it should :3 (Though I would feel bad if some people chose to look at crap scanlations because they couldn't wait... but those are those people's eyeballs and those people are sad children with no impulse control.)

Recruiting Cleaners and Redraw Artist for "Ore to Atashi no Kareshisama" and "Rex Fabula"

We need cleaners and redraw artist for the speed up of  "Ore to Atashi no Kareshisama" and "Rex Fabula." No scanlation experience is need for cleaners. I can provide you with training (start here: Cleaning Tutorial Link).  Photoshop CS2 is available for free from Adobe (LINK) so that is no longer a hurdle. As for redraw artists, you don't need scanlation experience, but you do have to possess the Photoshop skills to properly clone stamp and draw in Photoshop.  Redraw applicants will be tested to assess their skill level. If you are interested in volunteering for these projects, please e-mail me, Kuroneko003, at omarissister@gmail.com. The more help we get, the faster we can get these series done and move onto to exciting new series!

Dear Fans, Before you Criticize a Scanlation Group...

I need to get this off my chest because I cannot believe the level of entitlement some fans exhibit. So if you are a "fan" and you are angry that your favorite series isn't being released at your beckon call, keep these three points in mind.

• You are getting translated manga for free.  For Omari's Sister, the average single chapter of a series or oneshot requires 40 man-hours of work. 40 HOURS! This is not something that gets done in an afternoon. And the people who do this work are highly skilled artists and translators that could be using these skills to get paid rather than spreading manga love.
• If you ARE NOT a volunteer in the scanlation group and actually helping to get the releases done, YOU ARE A LEECH.  You are getting something for nothing. There is no reason for any of us who actually do the work to listen to you. You aren't a paying customer, you aren't an investor, you aren't a patron, and you aren't a "shareholder." You have no stake in the work a scanlation group does. You have no right to say a thing to a scanlation group about what they aren't getting done. (If you have time and want releases to get out sooner, you no longer have the excuse that you don't have Photoshop. Photoshop CS2 is now free from Adobe. There are plenty of tutorials out there and I offer training. So if you really want releases sooner, go download Photoshop CS2 and start helping to complete your favorite series.)
• Your whining doesn't help. In fact it's discouraging and causes the translator to hate the series. And when the translator hates the series, it doesn't get translated.

That said, I want to say a few things about the shortcomings of the scanlation community in general.

• Fans and shoujo/josei scanlation groups need to stop getting angry about duplication. None of us are doing authorized translations, so the idea of "exclusivity" makes no sense.  As a fan, you can let duplications happen and choose your favorite group to read from. As for scanlation groups, do what you like. Your fans are your fans and they will read your work. Also, you should be working for yourself in the first place. Do a job you're proud of and don't worry about what other groups are doing. Of course, it would suck if multiple groups jumped on the same projects, but I think groups need to decide for themselves whether their duplicate effort is adding something new to the project. That is what Omari's Sister does. We try to avoid duplication, but if we feel we have something very different to offer in terms of translation and image editing, we will release our own version. I personally don't care if you don't read what we've because you've already read it from another group. Good on you. Go read something else. We've got plenty of other series and oneshots to offer.
• If a project has not been updated for six months to a year and it's not due to the series being on hiatus on the mangaka side or due to the tankoubon release schedule, by default that group has abandoned the project. To this end, if a group recognizes that they can't keep up with a series, they should try their best to broker a transfer. If there isn't a group to transfer the project to, then they should officially drop the project so it's clear to everyone that you no longer take responsibility for updating the series. Of course if you find time or more resources, you can pick the series back up.
• I know new shiny manga and oneshots are tempting.  I face new temptations everyday. But scanlation group leaders, should be good project managers and scope the work to the number of active volunteers they have available. Being behind schedule and having a bunch of unfinished series is very discouraging. It becomes a horrible burden that eventually sucks all the air out of the group as the work builds up and the angry comments and emails from fans come in.  This is something we at Omari's Sister are addressing now. It's tough, but groups owe it to themselves to finish what they've started and save themselves the stress of fan outrage.

We at Omari's Sister are not perfect. We acknowledge that we have series that we've effectively abandoned. We're trying to do something about it and I truly appreciate all the support the readers have given us so far as we clean up my mess. I ask that you similarly support other groups and I encourage other groups to clean up their messes before starting new projects.  To be honest, we were going to start a new project soon because there's a series I really want Omari's Sister to do. But after writing a diatribe like this, I should stick to my words and continue to lead my group to clean up the mess I created.  Yes, this is my mess since I'm the one who keeps adding new projects and making the schedule.

Detarame Mousouryoku Opera Chapters 1 - 3 (end)

Phew! I am so glad to have this series behind me now! Yeah, I bitched and moaned at every step, but it's a very good short series and I'm glad I went through the aggravation. Like "Seigi no Mikata," this feels like it was only the beginning of a longer story. I would like to see that longer story, but not if I have to translate it.  (It's my hope that Viz will continue to publish English versions of Bisco Hatori's works. Honestly, Hatori-sensei's works need to be professionally translated because her writing is a difficult read.) And with this, another series is complete!

Well, there's not much to say, so I'll just get on with the releases. I'm including ZIPs of the first two chapters also so you all can make fan art. Please do not upload these files to any of the manga aggregators.

Poll: Short Series Release Preference

Thanks to those of you who voted in the poll about short series release preference. I think for one volume series it's very reasonable to release the chapters back to back. As for longer series I think two chapters a month would be more appropriate.

"Pochamani" Chapter 1 - 3 (with Zip option)

Update 8/24/2013:  Magnificent Rangers changed to Gluttony Rangers in Chapter 2.

First of all, I am providing zips for your convenience so you can make fanart and what not. Please DO NOT upload the zips to manga aggregators. We don't approve of manga aggregators, and therefore do not want our work posted to them.

Second: we need winter banners! (Link to specs)

Okay, onto the release. I'm going to post the links first and then comment on chapter 2. I suggest you read my thoughts on chapter 2 after reading the chapter.

We need Winter Banners!

Send in your winter banners!  You can email to me at:  omarissister@gmail.com.

Specs-
Width: 1250px
Height: 200 - 350px
File Format: PSD with separate image and text preferred, but JPEG and PNG are acceptable.

Looking Forward to 2013 at Omari's Sister

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a safe and fun holiday season. I've been taking a short break from OS since finishing "Ojousama no Untenshu." I played and beat Torchlight II and watched some movies with hubby. I recommend "Cabin in the Woods." It was a very clever play on horror movie tropes. "Ted"...well...my husband liked it a lot more than I did. I felt that it was too much of a "man movie" for me. If you can marathon "Family Guy," then you'll love "Ted." Me...I'm sorta a "Family Guy" in the background kind of person. I also cut up a great deal of cardboard for recycling. We had way too much fun with Amazon lightening sales and I gifted myself a crap-ton of manga from Amazon JP, so naturally a bunch of cardboard built up.

Looking forward to 2013, personally, I'll be starting the job hunt again. hopefully this time I will find a job I like at the appropriate skill level. Haha! Being over-qualified is a horrible position to be in. I think I would rather be challenged than bored. When I do get a job, expect the pace of release to slow. I think we will be able to manage ~120-pages/month (Currently we average ~240-page/month).

Okay, now onto 2013 plans for Omari's Sister. The priorities for the first half the year are to finish all series than are done in Japan. We will not be starting any new series until we have completed unfinished series. We also will be doing very few oneshots until we finish these series. We will be working on these series according to the following schedule:

January: "Deterame Mousouryoku Opera"
February: "Fushigi no Maria-kun"
March: "Furou Kyoudai"
April - June: "Ore to Atashi no Kareshi-sama" & "Rex Fabula"
July - Sept: "Kemono Kingdom: Zoo"

On a ongoing basis we will release "Magnolia/Lily" and "Pochamani" monthly. After we finish our 7 unfinished series, we will resume regular releases of "The Ghost Apartment Manager."

We will have some themed oneshot parties:

February: Vampire Weddings
June: OS Anniversary oneshot blowout -- Nao Tsukiji, Mai Nishikata, Kaoru Ichinose, Hana Kimi Tributes, and more!
October: Spooky -- Aka Lala & Shiro Lala 2012
Other months will be TBD

I'm still evaluating new series to start in 2013. I'll announce the new series in June. If we finish up the unfinished series early, we will start new series then. For hints about what I'm looking at, please take a look at the Omari's Sister Tumblr page. I am looking strictly at short series.

As usual, thank to our readers for your continued support and thanks to all the Omari's Sister volunteers for your hardwork. Let's make 2013 another great year!