Well, it seems that finals tend to get me really edgy; not even 黒崎君 or 和樹会長、宮地君、錫也君 can calm the storm that I feel inside.
Even Matt is clueless to how to deal with me; his hugs and cuddles would usually quell and soothe the rages that I sometimes have.
Find out about her secret boyfriend and who got on her bad side this time
[Warning: She's about to have a long rant. Unless you really want to know, she suggests that you press the red 'X' button on your tab or just click on another link]
Matt is my 1.5ft tall toy puppy.
And no, I don't need to see a psychiatrist or do I need a boyfriend.
I'm pretty happy the way I am right now; as if I want to be tied down to another thing.
Being free to do anything I want keeps that leash from me.
Unless the guy can actually stand my often and sudden disappearances without any means of contact, my being an otaku, my conversations that will somehow relate unrelated things, random info that I tend to say out, being a grammar Nazi and my utter lack of femininity and good looks- I don't think that I'll change my mind.
Did I mention that he has to be an eye-candy, too?
Hah, the probability is now near to nil more than ever!
Anyways, I have a bone to pick with the English manga publishing houses, Tokyopop and Viz Media in particular.
So what do I have against these mega publishing houses?
Everything!
First and foremost is the naming system.
Oh GAWD how I really wish that I could search them out and pummel them to the ground!
Yes, I understand that Westerners have their name first, family name last.
And I think that I've said something similar to that some time a year or two ago.
Please respect that Easterners/ Orientals tend to place their families before themselves and have our names BEHIND family names.
I often find myself in awe with the huge difference between the picture perfect impression that I have for the western countries and the Real World.
For instances, I was kinda shocked to read that a certain Miss South Carolina couldn't answer the question that was given to her during the Miss USA pageant.
The question was why 20% of the Americans couldn't locate the US on the world map and the answer she gave was totally irrelevant and illogical.
What does Iraq, South Africa and 'other Asian countries' have anything to do with the Americans?
What about her answer that most Americans don't have a world map in their homes?
Hey sister, I knew about the six continents of the world when I was only six. and I'm AN ASIAN!
I could also name at least 10 of the countries found on the European continent by the age of eight.
I didn't have a world map hung up anywhere in my home, and I still don't.
The next bone to crack would be the elimination of honorifics.
I know for a fact that the Chinese do not have any honorifics but the Japanese and the Koreans do have them.
We have a title system for all family members; uncles and aunts who are older than our parents (in terms of birth hierarchy) are greeted by different terms, so goes for those who are younger.
The birth hierarchy binds us all and it's dictated by tradition which no one would dare go against.
Going against it would be frowned upon and parents would be seen as immoral.
Cousins are termed by their own birth hierarchy, which in this case would be their age.
And if our cousins get married and have children of their own, their children would be calling us by a different title, too.
For example: I call my eldest uncle 伯伯 (pinyin: bobo), the uncles I have younger than my dad 叔叔 (pinyin: shushu). My cousin, who is my elder uncle's son, has gotten married and now has a child of his own. His child would have to call me 阿姨 (pinyin: ayi), my brother 叔叔 (pinyin: shushu), and my dad 叔公 (pinyin: shugong).
To what I understand of the Western terms, all they call is: aunt, uncle, cousin and then the messy business of first-removed, second-removed.
The point is, we are conservative and the honorifics exist for the purpose of being polite.
Changing 君、ーさん、ーちゃん、ー爺さん into [blank], Miss, Mdm. and Mr. does not make it any original!
If your readers aren't interested in learning the real culture of Japan, might as well not read 漫画 at all.
The settings are in Japan and it is Japan's culture, for heaven's sake.
Localizing it would cause the mis-impression of the real thing.
Respect that and you would have a whole lot less embarrassment you'd make when you visit the country.
Third would be something new, editing.
I've seen some meaningless things being edited or censored out of the English versions when I compared it to the Japanese raws.
Yes, I know you want to curb bad manners but it's something the kids will just have to learn to avoid.; censoring the middle finger in the comic won't help if the kid is surrounded by morons who stick their middle finger at you just for bumping into them.
It's the kid's choice whether he/ she wants to follow the crowd and do the same or would he/ she choose to be a polite person and ignore the visual profanity.
Again, it stems down to being original.
Last but not least, dropping of titles.
Hey, open your eyes and look here:
IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO COMPLETE THE SERIES IN THE FIRST PLACE, THEN DON'T GO ON ISSUING NOTIFICATIONS OF CEASE AND DESIST!
It does nothing but drive me away from buying the English translated version instead.
The whole reason I read scanslations is because of the four points above.
If a title has a good enough audience, there's bound to be a group (be it newly-formed or some veteran groups) that will pick it up.
It's as close to the original meaning as possible because they (we) have actual passion for the story and would like others who don't have the language know-how to enjoy it, too.
How much do you want to bet that if you drag a translator or proofreader of the publishing companies and have them tell you about the series that they're working on, they wouldn't be able to tell you?
Besides, the scanslators also have to juggle real life and their scanslating hobbies while those working for the publishing companies couldn't even produce it faster than we do.
I've pretty much given up on buying English translated manga.
And since I've been playing 乙女 games, I've been able to pick up hiragana and katakana on my own.
Even now, I'm sometimes watching raw anime and can still know what they're talking about.
With time, I'll be able to buy the actual Japanese 漫画 and will NEVER have to rely on the publishing houses.
Besides, the Japanese version is much cheaper compared to the English version.
The English version is more like a rip-off to me.
