Lovesick Jellyfish!

Kuragehime chapter 8 is done, corresponding to the middle of episode 5 of the anime, which will sadly end in less than two weeks. Who knows if a second season will be made, though that really all depends on the BD sales. There's tons of material left to adapt, so maybe we'll see a continuation in a couple of years. That said, this chapter of Kuragehime was very enjoyable to work on, and from what we see from the anime, more great chapters are soon to come.

The chapter title actually comes from a real autobiographical book called I Want To Become A Jellyfish (Watashi wa Kurage ni Naritai) by Chichi Matsumura released in 1993. Apparently, Matsumura is a great lover of jellyfish, and is basically a male version of Tsukimi (or Kuragehime's author Akiko Higashimura for that matter). The book tells of his love of jellyfish, such as why he began loving them, and how he's come to raise some of his own.

We would also like to take this opportunity to inform our readers that this will likely be the last release of 2010, and we'll probably be releasing our next release (Usotsuki Lily ch. 8) in the first week of January. So with that, Happy Holidays to all of our readers, and Happy New Year! See you all in the Year of the Jellyfish! Er...I mean Rabbit.

Kuragehime ch. 8: Mediafire, Megaupload

Give Me an E! Give Me an N!

What does that spell? Yes, one of our favorite cross-dressers, En! Usotsuki Lily chapter 7 is out with the start of volume 2. As previewed at the end of the last chapter, this one deals with the athletics festival, and what goes hand-in-hand with sports is of course cheerleading. Not much else to say, so without further ado,

Usotsuki Lily ch. 7: Mediafire, Megaupload

Jellyfish Virgins!

Finally the first release from volume 2 is out, Kuragehime chapter 7. This comes to the end of episode 4 in the anime, which I'm enjoying immensely, making working on the manga all the more fun, especially when I notice things Brain's Base added in the anime that wasn't in the manga while translating, such as the "Top 5 things you shouldn't ask the Amars", which I believe has come up at least three times in the anime, but only once in the manga. They also seem to use the cute version of Clara a lot more, like with the eyecatches. Speaking of which, I still have no idea why they say "Tequila" after the second eyecatch; I guess Brain's Base is just weird like that.

It's much easier this time to explain the chapter title. It comes from Tom Clancy's novel, which was later produced into a film. Don't know how that's really supposed to relate to this chapter or anything, though.

Kuragehime ch. 7: Mediafire, Megaupload

Edit: Per comments, and the previous issues with downloading, all files will now be available on both Mediafire and Megaupload.

Sazanami Cherry Goodness!

As mentioned in an earlier post, we have picked up the Waai series Sazanami Cherry, and have collaborated with WOW!scans to produce chapters 2 and 3 for our first-ever double release! Chapter 1 was done previously by The Energy Trade, so be sure to read that chapter first if you haven't already. This is a nice, sweet manga about Kazuhiro Migiwa, a high schooler who falls in love at first sight for Ren Takano, a middle school boy cross-dressing at the time when they first meet. It's one of my personal favorites from Waai, so please check it out, since it's only 3 chapters so far. The next Waai release will be volume 4 in late February, so it'll be a little while before any more material appears for this, or the previously released Past Future.

Sazanami Cherry ch. 1: The Energy Trade
Sazanami Cherry ch. 2: Mediafire, Megaupload
Sazanami Cherry ch. 3: Mediafire, Megaupload

Edit: Megaupload mirrors added per comment request.

Bonus Lily!

And now volume 1 of Usotsuki Lily is complete! This is basically two bonus manga at the end of volume 1, the first one being in a regular manga format, and the second one a bunch of 4-koma strips, followed by an afterword. We list it as chapter 6.5 since it comes between 6 and 7, but it doesn't actually have a number. We look forward to starting on volume 2 as soon as we can, as many other great chapters are still to come!

Usotsuki Lily ch. 6.5: Mediafire

Take Me To Your Jellyfish!

With this, volume 1 of Kuragehime is complete! If you're watching the anime, volume 1 ends at about the middle of episode 4. It seems we're working at a pace of about one volume every two months, and that means after the anime ends in January, it'll probably not be until April or later that we'll surpass where the anime ends off, which we expect will be around the end of volume 3 judging by the pace they're moving.

So, we've only just begun this long, arduous journey. Volume 6 was recently released in Japan about a week ago, so suffice it to say, it'll be a while before we catch up to the latest volumes in Japan. For those of you that decide to stick with us for that long, we thank you for reading this wonderful manga and we always appreciate your comments.

Regarding the chapter title, it's kind of complicated. It's derived from an episode title (also called Take Me To The Aquarium) from the second season of the 2007 Japanese TV drama Cell Phone Detective Zenigata Sea (Keitai Keiji Zenigata-kai), which is itself a part of the Cell Phone Detective Zenigata series, which has been airing since 2002 and currently has 8 series. Furthermore, "Take Me To The Aquarium" seems to itself be a reference to a 1987 Japanese film titled Take Me Skiing (Watashi o Sukii ni Tsuretette). And while I'm at it, I might as well mention that the title for chapter 1 came from Sex and the City, if you didn't already realize.

Oh, and it seems Akiko Higashimura's wish came true (you'll understand after reading the chapter). It seems the limited edition version of the first BD/DVD volumes of the anime will come with a plushy of Clara (link to Japanese article). And not only that, but if you squeeze it, it says "I'm seriouswy in pain!" (it really says "Gachi de kuruchii detsu", which is a baby-talk version of "Gachi de kurushii desu", taken directly from chapter 1, page 27). Now if only they would release it to the general public!

Kuragehime ch. 6: Mediafire

A Cross-dressing Thanksgiving!

First allow me to wish all of our American readers a (somewhat belated) Happy Thanksgiving! We managed to get this out just before the end of Thanksgiving, so there's certainly much to be thankful for. As noted in the previous post, Usotsuki Lily chapter 6 is 52 pages long, and it is a great chapter, maybe even the best one yet! On a personal level, this is the only manga from Ayumi Komura I've read, though I've seen that some of our readers have also read and enjoyed her work Mixed Vegetables, so you may want to check out that manga too if you haven't already.

Usotsuki Lily ch. 6 v2: Mediafire

Edit: Thanks to Invalid name for spotting the missed translation on pg. 9. A version 2 for the chapter has been uploaded, but if you already downloaded the chapter, the fixed pg. 9 is below.

Chinese Hopping Jellyfish!

Kuragehime chapter 5 is finished, and much like Usotsuki Lily, there's one chapter left in volume 1, but we also already have volume 2 of Kuragehime ready to work on. If you look at the table of contents from the first chapter, there's a special chapter listed at the end, but since it's only 4 pages long, it'll be released along with ch. 6.

Regarding the chapter title this time, it's basically a reference to a series of action comedy horror films and TV dramas produced in Taiwan. The specific one referenced is the 1988 TV drama "Rai Rai! Kyonshiizu", with a basic English translation of "Next Next! Chinese Hopping Vampires", which makes sense once you read the chapter. Also, we decided to change the name of Tsukimi's jellyfish from the phonetic "Kurara" to "Clara", as this is how Clara is pronounced in Japanese.

Next, we feel we should bring up something about the next Usotsuki Lily chapter. It's 52 pages long, which is roughly twice as long as most of the other chapters (Kuragehime ch. 5 is 30 pages). Because of this, it'll probably take about twice as long to release it, so we doubt it'll be out anytime next week. But it's a really great chapter, so it's worth the wait, trust me!

Kuragehime ch. 5:  Mediafire

En wa Maid-sama!

We're glad that we were able to get Usotsuki Lily chapter 5 out sooner than we thought. That said, we are getting ever closer to the end of volume 1, with only one chapter left, and some bonus extras. But that's okay, because we have volume 2 ready to work on right after that, and volume 3 will be released on Christmas Eve. In regard to this chapter, this series keeps on getting cuter! This was a very enjoyable chapter to work on, especially because there wasn't a lot of editing to take care of. But also because this one was more En-centric than the previous chapters, so, enjoy!

Usotsuki Lily ch. 5: Mediafire

Cross-dressing Wars!

Our second back-to-back release, which also marks our 10th scanlation! Past Future ch. 2 is out, which is our first collaboration with WOW!scans. WOW took care of providing the raws and doing the cleaning, while we handled the translation, typesetting and quality check. This chapter is really, really cute, so prepare yourself!

We believe this to be a wonderful partnership, since we can release these chapters faster. In addition to Past Future, we will also be collaborating with WOW with the Waai series Sazanami Cherry (the first chapter of which was released by The Energy Trade) and the Oto Nyan series Otomegokoro no Jiyuugata about a boy who gets roped into joining an all-girl idol group. Thankfully, these shorter series are generally light on dialogue  (compared to Usotsuki Lily or Kuragehime) so they're much easier to finish.

Past Future ch. 2: Mediafire

The Magic of Jellyfish!

Chapter 4 of Kuragehime is out! Like the previous chapter titles, this one comes from a film. Due to the pacing of the anime and how fast we can get out releases, we have inevitably fallen behind the anime, which we expect will be going to about the end of volume 3 of the manga. We wish we could have started scanlating this manga much earlier, so we could have at least gotten the first volume done before the anime aired, but c'est la vie. We really want to get these out as fast as we can, too. It may not seem like a lot right now, with only four chapters, but remember that's 126 pages! And many more to come!

And there's also a minor update on our Waai and Oto Nyan manga. We have decided to collaborate with WOW!scans on future releases of chapters from Waai and Oto Nyan. The chapters will be released both here and at their website, starting with the second chapter of Past Future. We will also be releasing at least one other Waai series and one series from Oto Nyan. If you want more from Oto Nyan, WOW!scans will be working on additional series in time.

Kuragehime ch. 4: Mediafire

Summer Festival in Usotsuki Lily

After a long wait, and with some delays, chapter 4 of Usotsuki Lily is out. As you may have noticed, things have slowed down a bit around here, due in part to that little thing called real life I mentioned in an earlier post. Despite that, we will at least try to release one chapter a week. But of course, that also depends on the individual chapters themselves. This chapter had a few pages which took many times longer than a typical page due to a lot of redrawing, lots of typesetting, or a lot of text, such as with the final page. Suffice it to say, this was a frustrating chapter, and we're glad it's done now.

In other news, vol. 3 of Waai and vol. 1 of Oto Nyan have arrived. If you're not already aware, WOW!scans has taken to translating some of the material from Oto Nyan, and there's two other groups doing Waai releases: Soba-Scans and The Energy Trade (which appear to be defunct as they haven't released anything new since July). So most of the ongoing series in Waai have scanlaters (except for one). It looks to be a good time to be a fan of trap manga.

Usotsuki Lily ch. 4: Mediafire

Mmm...Jellyfish Sukiyaki

No, they're not eating jellyfish, that would make Tsukimi cry! Chapter 3 of Kuragehime is out, a little slower than we would have liked, but it couldn't be helped. Regarding the chapter title, if you hadn't realized, it's from a movie, just as with the previous chapter title Pretty Woman. The author apparently enjoys making cross-cultural pop culture references, which is also seen in this chapter. This is great, though the humor kind of goes over your head if you're not Japanese, but I guess the same could be said about a lot of anime and manga.

In other news, vol. 3 of Waai and vol. 1 of Oto Nyan are on their way and should be here sometime next week. We don't know when the next release of Past Future will be out, or any of the series from Oto Nyan, but we'll keep you posted as we update for Usotsuki Lily and Kuragehime.

Kuragehime ch. 3: Mediafire

Usotsuki Lily Swimsuit Edition

And now chapter 3 of Usotsuki Lily has been released. We're coming up on halfway through the first volume, and then there's the couple of bonus manga at the end, then on to volume 2. Not a whole lot of tedious editing this time, but one thing of I've noticed is Ayumi Komura tends to use a lot of small text, unlike Higashimura in Kuragehime who almost never uses it. Look at ch. 3 of Usotsuki Lily, and you'll see small text on almost every page.

Usotsuki Lily ch. 3:  Mediafire

Pretty Woman, Walking Down The Street

Kuragehime ch. 2 is out! Luckily we were able to get this out just when the weekend was ending. I watched the first episode of the anime over the weekend and I really enjoy the adaptation. The animation style, music and voice acting really brings this series to life. In the mean time, we'll be cranking out chapters, though don't always expect a stable release schedule. Real life tends to get in the way of what is essentially a very time consuming hobby. But it's a labor of love. If you're not loving what you're doing, then there's no reason in doing it.

Kuragehime ch. 2: Mediafire

More En x Hinata!

I'm proud to release the second chapter of Usotsuki Lily, and less than two days after our last release too! If you're wondering why this one only took less than two days to release, it wasn't because it was rushed. Compared to Kuragehime, Usotsuki Lily generally has less text, which is a major factor in the scanlation process. Also, this chapter is 26 pages, as opposed to the first chapter of Kuragehime which was more than 40. If we can, we hope to release two chapters a week, but that's not always going to be the case. Enjoy!

Usotsuki Lily ch. 2: Mediafire

Jellyfish Time!

The first chapter of Kuragehime is out! If you like jellyfish, fujoshi, and cross-dressing, then this is the manga for you! If nothing else, it's got a lot of fun characters and the author makes jellyfish seem much cuter than the deadly animals some of them are.

Now to get to starting on Usotsuki Lily ch. 2!

Kuragehime ch. 1:  Mediafire

Edit: Per a request in the comments, we translated the author's comment on the jacket of vol. 1. The links for chapter 1 are updated, but if you already downloaded the chapter and just want the updated jacket, here it is:

Usotsuki Lily ch. 1!

Finally the first chapter of Usotsuki Lily is out; link in the projects page. It feels like forever since I read the first chapter for free online, which can be viewed at Shueisha's website for Usotsuki Lily. I recommend this to anyone interested in gender bender manga, which is the general focus of this scanlation group. I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but it'll probably be more than a week from now. Why, do you ask? Well, we'll be starting up on our second main project: Kuragehime! See the projects page for details.

Kuragehime will see its first release probably by next Thursday or Friday, which will coincide with the airing of the anime. Sadly, we probably won't be able to keep up with the anime, since we're going to try to juggle releases of Usotsuki Lily and Kuragehime, but the upside is we'll still be releasing chapters after the anime ends.

Past Future pre-release

Hachimitsu Scans has their first release, and it's a pre-release! As a side-project, we've picked up the series Past Future, serialized in Ichijinsha's Waai trap magazine. See the project page for details and download link for the first chapter. There's only one chapter right now, since this one appeared in Waai vol. 2, released last July. The next chapter will be released with vol. 3 at the end of this month.

Also at the end of October, the publisher Million is releasing the first issue of their own trap manga magazine called Oto Nyan, which we plan to pick up. We'll probably be releasing a few series and one-shots from this magazine too, but both Waai and Oto Nyan are considered side-projects. The main focus will be on our main releases, which brings me to Usotsuki Lily.

We  received the raws for Usotsuki Lily and our other two manga today, so the first chapter of Usotsuki Lily should be released in the next day or two, which is when we'll be announcing our second main project.

Getting Started

Hachimitsu Scans is a new manga scanlation group and we will release our first release, Usotsuki Lily, in October. See the projects page for details.

We are also planning on doing two other manga, one of which has an anime airing in October, so we'd like to release the first chapter right around when the first episode airs. Can you guess which one? The other manga will probably see its first release in November or maybe December.

And with that, we hope you'll enjoy our releases.