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 Why I Hate Feedburner (Bakacast difficulties)
by Stilts, 02/09/2010

So, I notice we got more subscribers to Bakacast recently! That's pretty cool, but you guys have terrible timing. I've been trying to figure out why iTunes can't download the podcasts but the RSS feed links work fine. An answer from a smart guy on the Apple support forums said Feedburner was changing the enclosure URL (in other words, the link you click to go to the content) from a permalink into a Feedproxy link. Unfortunately, every setting I tried deactivating didn't do anything to change the problem, so I eventually said, "Screw this! I'm trying to nuclear option!"

I told Feedburner to delete the feed, under the assumption that I could simply input the URL for the XML file again and create a new Feedburner feed. Unfortunately, Feedburner decided that it would delete the XML file, too.

So, until Larry sees my panicked e-mail and uploads the XML file to the server, subscribing to the podcast will just get you a 404 error. You'll have to use the direct links.

...

YAY TECHNOLOGY!!

;_;


  1 comments Latest by Mandril
"Bakacast worked fine with my iTunes (up until now, I guess)"...read more

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Beautiful Girls: The Art of Yoshinori Shizuma
by Origami Cupcake, 02/09/2010



These illustrations are the work of Yoshinori Shizuma, a mangaka whose work was recently featured in the book 100 Masters of Bishojo Painting (絵師100人). The book's available from Amazon and J-List, you can also check out his official site here.

Hit the link for more.


  2 comments Latest by Mr. Pizza
"Well I'd hit that. Anyway, even more than the girls, the settings are strange and cool. Gallery approved."...read more

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How did Ryo Saeba not make Man Day?
by Tokyogetter, 02/09/2010

I would be remiss if I didn't own up to the fact that while I most certainly enjoyed Man Day (art gallery openings! girls! thai food! not punctuating this contra-puntal embellishment!), I was a bit crest-fallen in that I didn't see anybody shout out my boy.

Come on! When it comes to manly shit, this sexual harassment machine is second to none!



Et tu, Japanator? Oh well, at least there may be some kind of live action show brewing in Korea!

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-12-23/live-action-city-hunter-reportedly-heading-to-america

http://tvrage.com/shows/id-24875


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Asian Kung-Fu Generation in America
by Ichisv, 02/08/2010

I was excited to learn a few days ago that the band Asian Kung-Fu Generation(Also called Ajikan by fans) is in New York City recording for their next album.


For me this is great news as Ajikan has a pretty good fanbase here in America mostly among anime fans due to the opening song(Haruka Kanata) of Naruto and the ending song(Rewrite) of FMA being done by them. Both popular anime in their own right despite the fact the creator of Naruto seemed to run out of ideas quickly...or good ones. If I remember correctly they also did one of the openings(After Dark) to Bleach.


But anyways I had the chance to talk to Masafumi Gotō(lead vocalist and plays Rhythm guitar) on twitter a while back while he was doing a live feed video from his iphone. When I asked him if he was possibly going on tour in America or even a world tour. He said that he wanted to go on a tour here if he could but he said he didn't know when. While talking to him I also learned that he is learning English and he is actually getting pretty good at speaking it.

But from here forward I'm gonna post little blogs about Ajikan and try and keep you updated on anything that happens with em or any news I hear from any other Japanese bands I find interesting.


In other news with Ajikan:
They will be releasing their new single [b]Solanin[b] at the end of March(31)and should be releasing their new album sometimes at the end of the year.
Don't forget to check out Nano Mugen Fes. either this Summer.

Ichisv out.


  3 comments Latest by Tokyogetter
"I'm rather surprised they haven't at least taken a stab at the east or west coasts yet. Melt Banana have been road dogging it here for years and years now, ditto Polysics and Mono."...read more

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I am now attempting to get Manday Mondays.
by HoodedMiracle, 02/08/2010

This post will contain the signatures of those who seek what I seek.

Manday, once a month, on the first Monday of each month.

As long as Weekend Waifu still happens normally.

Otherwise, NO.


  11 comments Latest by HoodedMiracle
"@Karen: Uh, start posting it, than?"...read more

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Pecanpals: Wooden Designer Toys
by Origami Cupcake, 02/08/2010



Peacanpals is a range of wooden designer toys by husband and wife duo Nick and Candy, who work collectively under the name Noferin. While the use of wood for designer toys is unusual, the material compliments the character's simple organic forms and gives the toys warmth and personality. Hand crafting and the use of sustainable rubber tree wood also gives these toys a lasting value unusual in the realm of popular culture.

Hit the link for more.


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I am also avoiding real work
by Jon Snyder, 02/08/2010

So, I decided to try my hand at this 'art' stuff, and... well, I'll just let you see for yourself. Those of you with weak constitutions may want to avert your eyes.



Right, you can stop screaming in horror now. Anyway, this is supposed to be a genderswapped version of me, based on my personality. Naturally, I gave myself giant boobs and a skimpy outfit... even as a girl, I'm still a HUGE PERVERT.



Likewise, this is a genderswapped version of my roommate, Dustin. He's the sort of guy who, in an RPG, loves to play as the healer or white mage. Ergo, I gave him long, elegant hair, a cute lacy shirt, and tiny little misshapen feet. Okay, so I suck at drawing feet. Get of my case already! Anyhoo, I'm open to critique on these pieces. Be nice, however, since I'm still an amateur. You're also welcome to follow me on DeviantArt, although I can't guarantee the quality of my work will improve.


  10 comments Latest by Jon Snyder
"Yup, Karen, you really started something. ^_^ How does it feel to be a trendsetter?"...read more

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Don't believe the hype: people do catch healthy ass-whippings in Legend of The Galactic Heroes.
by Tokyogetter, 02/07/2010



I am happy to report that there has been a renessaince lately for Legend of Galactic Heroes. It seems that people have finally begun bothering to let people know that the show is NOT a testament to complete stoic pseudo-Prussian inaccessibility but rather a moving and strident work of drama. As much as I adore and respect convention mainstay Jan Frazier, her description of the show as "Boring Hapsburgs in space" definitely surmised many people's attitudes toward LOGH for years, and I feel that accusation is slightly erroneous in its dismissive tone.

(Then again, she worked on it, and at the time I was busy being 9 years old. Go figure.)

I am also happy to report that contrary to its image as a battleship-and-pod affair LOGH has blood flying all over the place. In fact it's at damned-near tentacle porn levels of body fluid re-distribution.

If you're seeking empirical evidence, please fast forward to 12:12 into this video. Note the machismo and swagger of the general, and the healthy portions of axe-swingery. I don't recommend that you watch the whole episode if you haven't seen any LOGH yet, but please watch from this point until the eye-catch.

Listen for the "squish."

[embed]13422:172[/embed]

Axes ahoy!


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A Hikkikomori Weekend - Vol. 13
by Kageryu, 02/07/2010

Some people can go out on the town Saturday night, some people can see a movie, some people can even cuddle up with their significant others and all that stuff, sure, some people can do that...but I'm not those people.

This, is a hikkikomori weekend.

----

Welcome to this week's special Superbowl Edition of A Hikkikomori Weekend. Of course, I'm not a big sports person myself, so there will be no discussion of football from me, at the very least.

So, this week marks the week I order all the new parts for my new computer, I can't wait. If anything has struck me like it has since my return, it's been the lack of my own personal computer. Which made me think, we hikkikomori live a life almost entirely dependant on computers, hell, even more so, we depend on the internet most of all.

Now, I'm aware that extreme cases such as myself are obviously more dependant that others, and that some of you can easily press that power button and go outside, but there are some of that can best define our lives by a five by five, possibly ten by ten depending on how much space your computer setup takes, space of our domicile that we spend a majority of time in.

I personally use about 15% of my room, the other 85% belonging to my roommate whom I'm about to install a boundary wall between, just because I've also found that as a hikkikomori, I am at my wits end to the lack of privacy that comes without having your own personal computer to whittle away your life at.

It's actually weird, I have a bunch of friends that all live under the same room, and just having a roommate has taught me I -cannot- live with other people.

That brings me to this week's question. How important is your private space? Are you comfortable with a group of people around you at all times? Or do you need your own four walls and empty space? Make your voice heard in the comments.

Yours,
-Kageryu


  4 comments Latest by BakaTanuki
"I live with my parents. And, for the most part, I like it! They are both very cool and fun to be with. My mom and I play Mario all the time and collect manga, while my dad is obsessed with buying..."...read more

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The Localization Gradient
by ittoujuu, 02/07/2010

Is it just me? It can't be just me, right?

A favorite series just got licensed - reason for excitement, right? You can finally own a nice-quality copy of a manga or anime you've liked for a while now. Soon after its release, you've got a copy in your hot little hands, ready to re-live those adventures, when suddenly...wait, who are these people? Somethings seems a bit...different about them. Who are these not-quite-right pod people infesting the familiar setting of my dear series?

If that little scenario conjured up some memory or familiar feeling within you, you've probably experienced that odd, often uncomfortable shift that occurs when a company licenses an anime or manga you enjoyed as a fansub or scanslation, then proceeds to translate it in such a way that the characters' personalities or relationships feel a bit off, due to how the dialogue was rendered. The way we first experience characters is indelibly imprinted on us, I think, in much the way that watching a sub or dub first has a strong influence for what we prefer to view that show in. When applied to the fansub/scanslation scene, it often results in some people saying that the fans did a better job than the licensors. While this may be true in some cases, I'd largely give the companies the benefit of the doubt there.

I think the core of this issue some fans take with professional translation efforts lies not in the overall quality of their translation - the big issues - but in how they handle the small issues: things like honorifics, swearing, handling of given names/surnames, and when it's the right decision to leave a term untranslated, among other things. As commercial products, manga and anime releases have to be accessible and, hopefully, appealing to the audience they're being sold to. On the other hand, at some level, an anime is a "foreign film," and if a foreign film came over with subs on the level of some of the more fast and loose anime handlings, they'd be hard to take seriously. But on the other hand, playing fast and loose might be appropriate for your Shaolin Soccers. It's all contextual.

It almost bothers me that I'm irritated by this sort of thing as often as I am - it's the very definition of nitpicky. It borders on pettiness. And yet, it can and does alter my experience as a reader or viewer, and I can't get around that. By way of explanation, let me offer up a triad of tribulations in this fantastically fickle world of translation nit-pick.

Rurouni Kenshin (Anime)

Rurouni Kenshin is a favorite series of mine that, back in the days of old, I watched on fansub VHS tapes. If you want to talk about an inconsistent translation quality that shouldn't hold a candle to a legit release, there it is. But Rurouni Kenshin is a very "Japanese" series - and when I say that, what I mean is that its a series whose identity is more closely linked with its Japanese-ness than others. A series with a more global bent, like perhaps a Gundam show, could get away with naturalizing the dialogue for an English-speaking audience, since less rides on whether or not someone is a "-chan" or a "-kun." Period dramas and shows with a strong school element are types that rank high on the "Japanese identity" chart, and with series that fall under those classifications, I think translators should be more generous with elements like appending common suffixes and being willing to keep some terminology in Japanese.

Rurouni Kenshin could hardly catch a break all-around. The series is one of the most major candidates I can think of for keeping certain terms in Japanese - group names like the Shinsengumi or the Ishinshishi, technique or style names like Ryu Tsui Sen or Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, or nicknames like Kenshin's Hitokiri Battousai. Wanna know the where, why, and how behind those? That's what liner notes or glossaries are for. I know, I know, "They called the Ishinshishi the 'Ishin Group', sound the klaxons!" - typical overreaction, right? If the situation was reversed and Japan imported some series that referenced American politics and Republicans got translated as "Republic Support Group," it would sound dumb. I know you can translate a lot of these names in RK, but it feels like when one does, the feel of the series as a period epic is cheapened. Seeing Kenshin called the "Battousai the Manslayer" makes him sound like he's set to appear in court.

Eventually, I decided I would not be purchasing the DVDs, and instead held out for Viz's publication of the manga which, while not in perfect alignment with my exacting specifications, was handled with much more care given to preserving those cultural / period elements via language, as I described above. And you know what they also had? A handy glossary with key terms and their explanations in the back of every volume. Imagine that.

Honey & Clover (Anime)

Pound-for-pound, Honey and Clover may very well be my favorite anime to have been released in the last decade. Its soft, watercolor-feeling animation, insightful scripting, and penetrating character studies hit me right at ground zero, blazing like a torch of collegiate truth, reaching out its hand to say "Life is really confusing sometimes; it can feel directionless and desperate. But that's okay. Honey and Clover also had, if I may say so, a damn fine fansubbing effort that translated everything just as I'd like. Some four-odd years after the fact, I still have those fansubs sitting on my hard drive. And because I do, and because I felt the show was phenomenal, I wanted to purchase it. Very recently, I did so, picking up the first two volumes and preordering the third.

Just a few days after the fact, it came to my attention that, in Viz's subtitles for the series, characters all refer to each other on a first-name basis. Arrrrrrrrrrgh! At the risk of sounding like I maintain a double standard, I don't actually mind this so much when it's done in dubs. It mirrors spoken English convention better and, most importantly, you aren't reading one thing and hearing another. Seriously, even if someone doesn't know a lick of Japanese, if they're listening to the actual words at all, they will be able to tell that they're hearing "Takemoto-kun" and not "Yuuta." In fact, in Honey and Clover, some characters are almost never referred to by their first names (Takemoto and Mayama chief among them). In a reversal, main cast character Hagumi is simply referred to as Hagu (or Hagu-chan). Regarding these characters' identities, their last names are actually more important than their first, in most cases. I don't doubt that the rest of Viz's translation is up to par - I usually enjoy the work they do - but...would it have killed them to keep the characters referring to themselves by their family names, at least in the subtitle script? All I can think now is, "Every time I see 'Yuuta' or 'Takumi', I'm going to hear and think 'Takemoto' or 'Mayama'. And that's going to yank me out of my immersion."

Yotsuba& (Manga)

If my scanslations of the Yotsuba manga were physical volumes, I'd like to think they would be warmly well-worn, from the many times I've paged through them with a smile on my face. I'm not sure how many different scanslations there are out there, but the translations in the version I have are what I'd consider "rough around the edges, but true-to-character." There are things that are sometimes phrased as though their syntax was partially carried over from the Japanese, but all the dialogue is more or less what I'd consider true-to-character. There's a certain aspect of how Yotsuba talks that's less a result of any single instance than a general trend observed over time - she talks simply, but with an incisiveness beyond her years. I wouldn't quite call her a prodigious child; perhaps precocious is the best word.

Having enjoyed the series so much, I naturally wanted to pick up the volumes, especially after hearing the respectable Yen Press had not only saved the series from the swirling limbo into which it had been cast after the demise of ADV's manga branch, but also done new translation for every volume. As I browsed over the manga's reviews on Amazon.com, glad that the series seemed to be getting the good marks it deserves, I found several reviewers reporting that Yotsuba now refers to herself in the third-person. Once again.....arrrrrrrrgh. Why you gotta hurt me like that, Yen Press?

Oddly enough, this is the exact opposite of the problem with Honey and Clover's localization. Honey and Clover departed from the literal script in a place that made the experience weaker for it; Yotsuba& sticks with the literal phrasing of the script in a way that makes the experience weaker for it. Almost every time I've seen a character refer to themselves in the third-person, it's some moeblob or loli character in a cloying attempt to be "cute." Yotsuba is cute, no doubt, but this is the wrong way to show it. It makes her sound infantile, not capricious and curious. I haven't actually nabbed any of the Japanese Yotsuba& volumes, but the thing is, I'm almost certain the way Yen Press translated it is the way it's actually written in there. Yotsuba probably does refer to herself in the third-person. That may not cause a Japanese reader to bat an eye; in fact, it may sound completely normal to them. To a North American reader, it mostly likely comes out sounding like baby-talk, and it's unfortunate that when I go to read those licensed volumes of Yotsuba&, I'll be reading a translation that doesn't quite jive with my understanding of the character. It's only by a little bit, of course. But it is palpable, and it is persistent.

In Summary

My goal here isn't to emit my Nerd Rage like a powerful AT-Field in all directions, or to stir up argument. You may have seen some or all of the series I've listed, and have a completely opposite opinion about how their translation and localization was handled. I have an editorial eye, and these sort of things cause me to twitch that might not really register with a majority of manga or anime fans. Nonetheless, I'd at least hope to stand separately, in anyone's mind, from the type of fan often associated with these debates, the sort who flames far and wide over forums, "OMG, they didn't translate kisama as "you motherfuckerrrrrrr!" in the official release! It's not true to the original Japanese! Teh fansub is better 100x I watched it on youtube!!!111"

What I'd like you to take away from this, if you've indeed made it to the bottom like a Donkey Kong barrel, is to think about whether there are any series that you've had thoughts like this about. Are there series where you picked up the official release of an old or new favorite and thought "Wow...they are so totally not like this."? In what situations do you prefer your translations to stick closer to the Japanese? Where do you like to see the localization effort get a little zany? Or where is it okay if it does? Translating literature is an imprecise discipline at best, but I think all we fans of Japanese things have, deep down in our minds, strong opinions about the "right way" to do it. I know I do. But I also know that, in most cases, it stems from a love of the source material and a desire to see what's great in it come through without any snags. After all, it's always a shame to lose things in translation.


  2 comments Latest by Rank57
"That's why I loved the localization done on the Wii game Muramasa. It's a game based on japanese history and mithology, and they kept most, if not all, of the terms and names in japanese, besides..."...read more

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