I leave the Waiting Place
I am SO glad that I keep an eye on the One Piece wiki, because I found out that Volume 60 will not be released in the US next March, like I thought.
It’s coming out a whole two months earlier, in January instead.
I can’t help but grin like a loon. I’ve been waiting for Volume 60 to come out in English ever since it was released in Japan in tankobon format. That was LAST NOVEMBER. I assumed that Viz Media would follow their release schedule, which would be one volume every three months. But I guess they wanted to get to the timeskip faster (and maybe make more money), so they’re releasing Volume 60 a month after Volume 59, which is coming out December 2011.
Generally, I prefer the translated scans to Viz Media’s translations, mainly because Viz’s refusal to use ANY type of strong language sometimes lessens the suspense in the story, occasionally sounding outright silly. But to me, there’s a difference between reading something that belongs to other people (the scans would belong to the scanlators, I guess) and reading a book that I own. It just feels better if I read something that’s mine. That’s part of the reason I went and bought the whole Harry Potter set even though I’ve read the books more times than I could count.
And why Volume 60? Part of my reasoning is that it’s more or less the end of the pre-timeskip storyline (Volume 61 contains the first few post-timeskip chapters), not to mention it contains most of Luffy’s backstory, which never failed to make my heart drop. It also features my favorite panels in the whole entire manga: when Luffy ̶ bandaged, bruised, and still very much despairing-held up his hands, counted off his fingers, and realized that he didn’t lose everything: his nakama were still waiting for him. That moment was complete D’awwwww + heartbreak for me. As a bonus, most, if not all, the Straw Hats get to make at least one appearance in present time. It also has that awesome cover page with Mihawk and Jinbe eating takoyaki together. To me, Volume 60 contains everything I could wish for in one volume of One Piece.
On a related note, I discovered that my local library has volumes of OP in CHINESE. Being able to read my favorite manga in my native language amuses me to no end. I find some of the translations a bit awkward (Chinese translators aren’t very creative with their insults) and I still like the English translations better, but that’s only because I’m so used to reading them in English. The Straw Hats still sound badass, even in Chinese, so I can’t complain. At any rate, I get to practice my Chinese and enjoy OP all at once. Two birds with one stone, no?
It’s coming out a whole two months earlier, in January instead.
I can’t help but grin like a loon. I’ve been waiting for Volume 60 to come out in English ever since it was released in Japan in tankobon format. That was LAST NOVEMBER. I assumed that Viz Media would follow their release schedule, which would be one volume every three months. But I guess they wanted to get to the timeskip faster (and maybe make more money), so they’re releasing Volume 60 a month after Volume 59, which is coming out December 2011.
Generally, I prefer the translated scans to Viz Media’s translations, mainly because Viz’s refusal to use ANY type of strong language sometimes lessens the suspense in the story, occasionally sounding outright silly. But to me, there’s a difference between reading something that belongs to other people (the scans would belong to the scanlators, I guess) and reading a book that I own. It just feels better if I read something that’s mine. That’s part of the reason I went and bought the whole Harry Potter set even though I’ve read the books more times than I could count.
And why Volume 60? Part of my reasoning is that it’s more or less the end of the pre-timeskip storyline (Volume 61 contains the first few post-timeskip chapters), not to mention it contains most of Luffy’s backstory, which never failed to make my heart drop. It also features my favorite panels in the whole entire manga: when Luffy ̶ bandaged, bruised, and still very much despairing-held up his hands, counted off his fingers, and realized that he didn’t lose everything: his nakama were still waiting for him. That moment was complete D’awwwww + heartbreak for me. As a bonus, most, if not all, the Straw Hats get to make at least one appearance in present time. It also has that awesome cover page with Mihawk and Jinbe eating takoyaki together. To me, Volume 60 contains everything I could wish for in one volume of One Piece.
On a related note, I discovered that my local library has volumes of OP in CHINESE. Being able to read my favorite manga in my native language amuses me to no end. I find some of the translations a bit awkward (Chinese translators aren’t very creative with their insults) and I still like the English translations better, but that’s only because I’m so used to reading them in English. The Straw Hats still sound badass, even in Chinese, so I can’t complain. At any rate, I get to practice my Chinese and enjoy OP all at once. Two birds with one stone, no?