#i'm up to where the manga is translated to on mangadex but i'm a bit into watching the game as well

[showtimepast2500]

HEY, IT'S TRUE, YOU ONLY SMILE AT THE BEST STUFF, RIGHT?! 🎡

[onnoffwrites]

This was a short convo in server (but also included me asking my friend Es bc they've been in the fandom for longer and have access to official Thai translation). BUT, here's another tale of mistranslations of hakuba!

In the chapter where saguru used his family's lab, depending on when u joined the fandom and read the magic kaito manga, u might remember him as saying "my uncle's laboratory" OR "my grandfather's laboratory". Now, why would this be the case?

Let's clear things up properly first. The original wording of this line was "uncle's laboratory" specifically the kanji used is one used for "younger brother of father" (well according to my friend who has the Thai books but also the jp books bc she knows the mistranslation and she reads jp).

So where did the "grandfather" bit come from? As you may suspect from me mentioning it twice now, the official Thai translation.

Now some of you might go "hold up, but I read the eng fan translation, what does this have to do with Thai?" You see, my guys, my dudes, my girly pops, from the server convo I gained insights into the past of mk fandom, and learnt, that the OG eng fan translator of mk was non other than a Thai fan herself, Jane. This honestly explains so much. Bc before the great crash and burn and rebirth of mangadex, there was like 3? 2? Diff translations for mk. And one of them is like has Thai sfx texts all over instead of the usual jp sfx or even eng sfx. SO! Depending on when you get into mk, u might have been reading Janes translations, which was based off of the official Thai translation. WHICH, mistakenly translated "uncle" to "grandfather". Bc apparently those two kanji looks very similar. Whoops

That is all. I just found fandom history interesting, especially when it's the fandom I'm in and I wasn't around for any of this stuff. And now a lot of the things that confused me makes sense. (Shout out to icka for bringing this up that one time. I just realized I didn't post this finding, which would fit right along with that other mistranslation post I made lmao.)

[flimsyscript]

So about that prophecy

I've spent the past 2 weeks blasting through the Akatsuki no Yona manga, and I'm ready to drop a theory on the prophecy.

TL;DR — It's actually been about Yona and Hak the whole time.

Spoilers up to chapter 259 under the cut

First, let's break down that prophecy, yeah? (I'm using the translation that's been posted on MangaDex Chapter 255 since I've found lots of different versions online):

Darkness falls upon the great earth Through the blood of dragons A revival comes again Bound by the covenant of old When the four dragons assemble The sword and shield that protect the monarch shall awaken And the red dragon shall return at dawn

Clearly, Kija, Shin-Ah, Jae-Ha, and Zeno are the four dragons.

For the sword, shield, king, and red dragon, I think it's a bit more complex.

What we know at the start of the manga is this: That the soul of the red dragon king has been reborn and that person is Yona. Yona thus goes looking for the four dragons because of this prophecy, and she finds them! And it turns out, except for Zeno, they too have been reincarnated — over and over and over again. So, the assumption we make here is — this is a cycle. That the dragon's and red dragon king's souls will continue to be reincarnated forever, and each time the red dragon king is reincarnated there will be a "darkness" that has fallen over the land.

However, what if the prophecy wasn't about the red dragon king’s soul, but about Yona specifically?

In 255, King Hiryuu speculates about the prophecy with Zeno, passing it along because he knows Zeno will go on living. When he does so, King Hiryuu confesses that even he doesn't know what it means:

However, while pondering the prophecy, King Hiryuu comes to a realization after repeating the words "...the red dragon shall return...":

"...when the red dragon shall return..."

"Return" here suggests that someone has left at some point, and then has come back. So, instead of the prophecy just generally being about the soul of the red dragon which reincarnates, it's actually about Yona. This is further highlighted when Yona visits King Hiryuu in her dream:

They are not one person — the red dragon's soul — but two separate people. And so, the prophecy can only be about one of them.

And after King Hiryuu realizes the prophecy is about his reincarnation/Yona, what does he do?

He points his sword at the dragon who will not die — who will be there when the red dragon returns. At this point, I assume King Hiryuu has realized that Zeno will have a role to play in the threat that faces the red dragon, likely as he knows about the power of the chalice and thus the deeper meaning in the words "...the blood of dragons...when the four dragons assemble..."

Another thing that supports the theory that the prophecy is about Yona and not the red dragon's soul (meaning Hiryuu, Yona, and subsequent reincarnations) is that King Hiryuu could have ended the four dragons lives at any time, but doesn’t because of Yona’s request. We learn this when Yona has her vision of the past where she speaks with him:

"Should I instead put an end to everything here...?"

To which Yona replies:

"Don't bring an end to them now." = Acknowledgement that King Hiryuu has the power to do that.

"I want to be reunited with everyone again." = Yona specifically wants to be reunited with the four dragons.

So, if King Hiryuu has the power to end the dragons, why wouldn't he have the power to have them reincarnate? And, reincarnate until they can meet Yona? King Hiryuu doesn't know how far in the future Yona lives, either, and so what if the three dragons keep reincarnating until that time? And Zeno keeps living until that time, as well? Having the possibility of reincarnation introduced to us in this world makes us think it's just something that happens naturally, but this would make it a very specific act with an end date — when they meet Yona.

But, okay, so let's say the “red dragon” in the prophecy is about Yona. Where does Hak come in?

Well, he's the king.

Walk with me a moment. We've already experienced one misleading part of the prophecy — who's to say there isn't another? We assume the "king" and the "red dragon" are the same person because King Hiryuu is both. But we've just established that the "red dragon" is actually Yona, so the "king" could very well be someone else.

Let's go back to the sword and shield now.

When King Hiryuu is talking with Zeno, he is confident the "sword" in the prophecy is the sword he was given by the dragon gods. And while he's unsure of what the shield is meant to be, he thinks it might be a protective charm, even going to suggest the crest he gave Zeno is the “shield”:

But what if the crest is also a red herring? What if the "shield" is another protective charm?

What if it's Hak's pendant?

Something to support this: the pendant is heavily featured in many panels in chapter 259. We see it constantly throughout the chapter:

Which suggests it’s something Kusanagi wanted us to see as present in this final showdown. So, why not?

If this is the case, this is what we're left with:

Four dragons: Kija, Shin-Ah, Jae-Ha, Zeno Sword: King Hiryuu's sword Shield: Hak's pendant King: Hak Red Dragon: Yona

Personally, I’d love to see Hak as the “king” in the prophecy. Throughout the manga, Hak has felt as if he just exists to support Yona and Soo-Won, or that they are people that are above him in some manner. For him to also be of importance I think would be a moment where he recognizes that he’s always been walking alongside Yona and Soo-Won, and not behind.

Plus, Kashi did have her premonition about Hak. We assume she saw him protecting Yona as her bodyguard. But what if she saw that Hak becomes the king?

And so, that's why I think the prophecy — and the reincarnation of the dragons and the red dragon — has actually been about Yona and Hak this whole time. The implication of this is that when the prophecy comes true/comes to fruition, I think it'll also mean the end of this reincarnation (and Zeno's long lifespan). Meaning, the dragons and red dragon’s soul won’t be reborn anymore.

One last item to throw in here: I think Soo-Won will protect Hak with the sword. I'm less certain of this, but Soo-Won is of King Hiryuu's blood, and that hasn't come much into play yet other than being a complicating factor for who should be on the throne. But what if Soo-Won weilding King Hiryuu's sword awakens it in some way? I don't know!

That's all I got so far, but would love to hear what y'all think!

[tomodachimeter]

HELLO.

It's been a very long time (I have no excuses and I'm sure no one is interested) and I've been far more active on Twitter, and I'm late to the game either way, but I just had to announce Wazawa-sensei's newest manga, Adashino Kishokan! Someone's already started translating it, so I'm hoping to direct fellow Mononokean fans over if they're interested!

I made a short Twitter thread but I'll just reiterate my points here (probably faster to read at the link above though):

Adashino Kishokan (Paranormal Inspector Adashino)

Content warning: horror, animal harm

Setting:

Stars a red-haired protagonist named Adashino Abi (last, first name), a 15-year-old paranormal inspector working for the Paranormal Bureau and goes around solving paranormal incidents.

Set in Japan a bit in the past (Late Meiji to Taisho era if I had to guess) where paranormal incidents regularly occur

Being serialized in Monthly Shonen Gangan magazine, releasing a chapter every month!

You can buy the digital version of the magazine for about 680JPY on any supporting platform. This one's Am*zon's: https://amazon.co.jp/%E6%9C%88%E5%88%8A%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E3%82%AC%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AC%E3%83%B3-2024%E5%B9%B48%E6%9C%88%E5%8F%B7-%E9%9B%91%E8%AA%8C-%E3%82%B9%E3%82%AF%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A7%E3%82%A2%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A8%E3%83%8B%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9-ebook/dp/B0D49KNVP9…

Trivia:

Abi's name (both first and last anyway) also start with "A", just like "Ashiya" and "Abeno."

Japanese title and hashtag for manga is: #/あだしの奇象官

Official Twitter account is: @go_mononokean (rebranded to official author account from Mononokean)

Personal thoughts so far:

I'm so happy to see a new work from Wazawa-sensei!!!

Abi is very cute

Art is beautiful like Mononokean's, looks like a more shonen story with horror (hinted from Mononokean) and I still love their style of Japanese paranormal stuff!

Other stuff regarding Mononokean and this blog if you're interested under the cut:

I'm behind (understatement) on a lot of Mononokean content I promised to translate, put up, etc and Wazawa-sensei out with a new manga has given me some motivation. I don't promise anything fast but I'm hoping to be a little active here again. Thanks to anyone who's stuck around!

[systematicallycapricious]

I'm a bit late to the party, but I recently got the first volume of the English P4U2 manga!

I am absolutely geeking out over comparing the Jap, Eng, and fan-Eng versions, so if anyone has any pages or panels they want to see side-by-side across the three, let me know and I'll make a post for you! I can't do the entirety of the book of course, but I can do a few pages at least.

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(Below the cut is my initial opinion on the quality of the translation work, some comparisons between various details of the Jap volume and the Eng volume, and some more manga page side-by-sides.)

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As for my impression of the translation work so far... To me, it feels like the translator was trying to preserve more of the original Japanese language/culture than Eng-P4AU chose to? Not in every instance though, as there's definitely cases where vernacular translations are utilized instead of literal. But where more literal translations are favored, the wording can feel a little awkward or OOC in English.

Even still, it's a pretty cohesive reading experience, in my opinion.

Also, they translated "Plume of Dusk" correctly, which is a relief. I was worried that some of the technical lore terms might get bungled by literal translations, lol. Conversely, while I'm glad that they didn't preserve Jap-Teddie's "-kuma" habit, and happy that they included a few bear puns in accordance to Eng-Teddie's speech habits, I do lament the low quantity and diversity of bear puns in Teddie's speech overall. Maybe there just wasn't a lot of good places for those in this volume though, so I'll have to see going forth.

Oh- and I noticed that some of the background signs and text got translations as well, which I think is really neat. (I don't read enough manga to know if that's just a standard feature of manga translations though, lol.)

Granted, this is just my first-read first impression, and I don't know enough Japanese to know if some lines may be translated less accurately or not. Plus, I tend to be on the lenient side when judging the quality of creative works. So please refer to other opinions as well if you're trying to decide the quality of the translation for yourself!

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Fun fact: the Eng version was printed bigger than the Jap version (at least for the Jap volumes I have; no clue if they printed those at multiple sizes).

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Also something cool about the Eng version is that it comes with the same color illustrations as the Jap version had, just sized-up. The exclusive edition also comes with a bonus fold-out poster of the original volume cover!

The end-of-volume artist/editor comic was included as well! I'm personally very glad to finally know what this comic says. My respect for Rokuro-san and Sakamaguro-san (the fish) as creatives has grown even further.

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Here's a few other page comparisons too because I found them interesting. xP

(If you wanna see the fan-Eng in higher quality than the screengrabs I used, you can find it on Mangadex [here].)

[unclegarou]

re: eyeshield21

The genre is very different than OPM but I want to assure ppl that caring about sports is really optional-- I truly dislike sports but still love this series. Of all the sports, american football is the most foreign to me, but it is of no consequence (except everyone wears tight pants all the time lol).

The anime is available on crunchyroll (not sure where to watch for free, sorry!!). The QUALITY of the anime is pretty terrible, but story/characters are fairly close to the manga and it can be fun if you can look past the quality-- BUT the anime ends before the important game that everyone is obsessed with the whole series. This is why I ended up reading the manga, to find out who wins the legendary Christmas Bowl-- and then discovered Murata's art!

In the manga you really get to see Murata's artistic growth, as the first few chapters are a bit rough, but in later volumes everyone is absolute eyecandy.

For the manga, it seems like there is no official digital version of the english translation (maybe I'm wrong?). There are fan translations in english on mangasee123 and mangadex, and spanish at intomanga (you might need an account to view & I recommend an ad blocker!).

Just note that some of the English translations are a little off in some places (e.g. wrongly has character say she will have the team disqualified when in the original she says she would NOT want them disqualified) and some chapters the scan quality is not great.

Lastly, for some reason my local library has a copy of the entire series, so it might be worth checking to see if the official version is available in your area. You never know!

Hope these suggestions can help ppl to discover the series!

you had me at eye candy 😏

lol i’m the same way when it comes to sports. i could care less about it irl but somehow it’s so entertaining in anime/manga 😭 maybe because they show things in slow motion. i get a better understanding that way lol.

the manga section at my local library SUCKS. i’ll take my chances searching for it online 😭 thanks for giving me the heads up ❤️

[klonoadreams]

Been on a Villainess* kick, have some of my favorites (*not all are villainess but most are)(mostly manga not webtoons, sorry if that's a deal breaker)(wow, there was more than I was expecting, feel free to ignore!)

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!- if you're a fan of the genre you've probably already read/watched it but! I'll rec it anyway just in case

The Result Of Being Reincarnated Is Having A Master-Servant Relationship With The Yandere Love Interest- or that one where almost everybody is reincarnated and trying to stop the bad ends

The Villainess, Cecilia Silvie, Doesn't Want To Die, So She Decided To Cross-Dress!- er, exactly what it says on the tin

Fiancée’s Observation Log Of The Self-Proclaimed Villainess- good mostly outsider pov

Endo And Kobayashi’s Live Commentary On The Villainess- if you could change the story of a game (as the player), would you?

I Am Troubled That My Fiance Is A Villain- accidentally getting involved

The Reincarnated Villainess' Dark History- reincarnated in your middle school fanfic

The Villainess Is Adored By The Crown Prince Of The Neighboring Kingdom- very shoujo

Tearmoon Empire Story- no isekai, just trying not to die

Fiancee Be Chosen By The Ring- no isekai or reincarnation, just dorks in a panicked arranged engagement

I'm The Prince’s Consort Candidate However, I Believe I Can Certainly Surpass It!- magic arranged engagement

Middle-Aged Man's Noble Daughter Reincarnation- yes, if nothing else, read this comedy

OHH, I’ve read most of them actually!!! Y’all underestimate how much me and the guys in my server just INHALE these things.

We go at them carefully, cuz some of them tend to be a bit...YEAH.

There’s one where our MC ended up with black hair and dark skin (which isn’t really dark, she’s got a light olive tone at best in the cover art) because she can control darkness that made a LOT of people wary of her, when really, she’s just a nice kid... BUT UHHH, the implications about THAT.

And not helping, is that in the comments, there were some spoilers from the novel, that later on, she loses her dark skin, like...wtf?????? EVEN WORSE, THE WAY SHE’S TREATED IS CHANGED IMMEDIATELY BECAUSE OF IT (they treat her BETTER).

I just dropped it after that, I’m not even gonna bother with stuff like that. Idk what’s going on there, but I literally cannot deal with that shit cuz of the implications. (it’s called  I'm Not a Villainess!! Just Because I Can Control Darkness Doesn't Mean I'm a Bad Person!)

(literally the premise is so damaging, and like, I’m nowhere near pale, but I’m still on the lighter end of brown, so seeing that is just...it’s gross)

ANYWAYS, the Old man reincarnated as the villainess is AMAZING. Literally all started when the Zoids Mangaka was posting stuff on twitter about what HE wanted to see from an isekai like that.

I followed it pre serialization, and am currently following it now that it’s been serialized. Literally, old man KEEPS FUCKING RAISING FLAGS. BECAUSE HE’S BAD AT BEING MEAN. He’s just...A DAD. But also, really nice.

The Fiance’s Observation Log is also good!! Was following it when the LN was getting translated, and then immediately jumped to the manga adaptation when I saw it existed.

Same goes with our girl, Katarina in Destruction Flag Otome. And a lot of these, really. Eheheh, when I came across Destruction Flag Otome, I went on a BINGE on novel updates under the villainess tag.

Read the Yandere one, and I have another one to suggest, It Seems Like I Got Reincarnated Into the World of a Yandere Otome Game. Lycoris is our girl, and she’s doing her best to avoid getting killed, but like...ehehhee, the yanderes are still THERE, despite her meddling. It’s just that it turned into a softer yan, where everyone is just protective of her. It has some elements of horror and psychological stuff here, which is what makes it so interesting.

There’s May I Please Ask You Just One Last Thing? if you want some catharsis since our MC will beat the shit out of those who piss her off. The downside is that the guy interested in her is...really pissing me off, since he only likes her because everyone else bores him like. No. Just no. That’s not romantic.

If you want to use a premise like that, Fiance’s Observation Log does it better because it started off with him being a CHILD, and doing things cuz it was interesting...AND THEN HE GOT ATTACHED because of it.

The Daughter of the Albert House Wishes for Ruin is AMAZING, our MC wants to be a villainess because she has REASONS, but the problem is THAT SHE KEEPS COMING OFF AS A TSUNDERE. And the Heroine just accepts that, like “WOW!!!!”

Milady Just Wants To Relax is a good one if you want fluffy beast-kin getting treated nicely by our MC, who opens up a cafe after reaching her destruction flag. She’s having a nice time and the beast-kin have taken to protecting her. They try to stay in their human form, to keep her from feeling intimidated, when in reality, she likes their beast form. It’s just fluffy times here.

I have so many others to recommend, but I just suggest looking up the Villainess tag on mangadex.

THAT SAID, do keep an eye out for any red flags that pop up. Because you never know when you’ll come across another Abandoned Empress. Anyways, thanks for the recs!! Gonna read Tearmoon Empire Story!!

[phoslos]

Hello!! I see a lot of posts about this blue gem that looks sorta androgenous (not sure how else to describe sorry) uhm I'm just wondering if you know who it is and where they are from and how they fit into the story!! Thanks!!!

oh, geez, there’s a lot of blue gems!! most of them 

Could be Benito 

Whom is a personal fav of mine that I love, but doesn’t show up a lot and doesn’t impact the story a ton rn!! so i’m doubting you mean them. 

I’m thinking you probably mean this one

which is actually are dearly beloved Phosphophyllite (what a mouthful). As for why their hair is suddenly blue? Well, that is something you’ll have to read the manga for! Or wait, desperately, like me, for season two. Buy the official translated manga if you can! But if you can’t, mangadex/post apocalyptic subs has a fan translation done up to the most recent chapter! The anime ends chap 30, but I suggest reading the whole thing because, well, it’s great! but also the chapters before 30, since the anime did some different stuff/out of order because it’s an anime, and it wanted to tie up the season nicely.  

If you don’t mean any of these, feel free to shoot another message with a bit more description!