Frequently Asked Questions
About my translations/summaries
Q: What's this LiveJournal for?
A: Main place for translations/summaries posting, also fandom squealing, ALSO real life junk. Real life stuff are mainly locked - the extremely personal ones.
Q: What's the tumblr site for, ultimately?
A: It is really only meant for translations. So feel free to stalk over there if you prefer so. I will no longer update the wordpress site. Tumblr is easier to control, somehow.
Q: What do you translate?
A: I translate BL manga only. If you hate it, I suggest you don't look any further! I don't cover BL novels, though.
Q: Will you translate for me/my group to turn into scanlations?
A: Nope, unfortunately not. Unless I'm interested in whatever you'll like me to help with then, perhaps! I'm generally interested in BL, of course, and usually I stick to comedic elements of BL in general. I'm not interested in long volumes of works (I'm a very very lazy person) with too much concepts to follow. I also don't really take to sci-fi related things, or mecha either. If you have something that isn't part of the category above, and would like me to have a look, sure, but MAKE SURE THAT WORK IS NOT LICENSED.
Q: May I use the translation scripts you've provided here and on tumblr for my scanlation/my group?
A: No, you may not, sadly. They are for Echochi Scans and for their releases ONLY. I may post other translations of things that have caught my attention that are not for a team. For that case, you may contact me to ask and maybe we'll work something out. :)
Q: Do you get paid for doing scanlations and such?
A: No, there is no way you should be getting paid (or paying) for such things. I acknowledge that scanlations are illegal, and that is why all the more none of us should get paid for this. We only hope to share things with the fandom, spread its beauty so more people can hear about it and purchase these products!
Q: ...Where can I find a list of what you did? Your posts are everywhere...
A: There you go. As for the tumblr one, I'll probably make it another day when I post all of them here.
Q: How fast do you release?
A: My scripts are irregular as of now, since I have school to balance, but I try to work things out quickly too. Echochi doesn't exactly have a fixed schedule, but we attempt to release something every month or two. We might chuck entire volume releases which explains why we don't have a "regular" release schedule.
Q: Can I use the translations you do that aren't meant for groups?
A: If you're talking about those that I do out of my own volition, and those that I did not state it's for groups, most of the times I'm okay with it, as long as you TELL ME and CREDIT ME. You may leave a comment behind, or PM me about it etc.
Q: Why did you have to discontinue all the detailed summary writing and some dialogue translations of the JR chapters?
A: Reason is here.
Q: So you replaced it with a "livefeed summary" on IRC? [ x ]
A: Yup, I did that so that people can still enjoy the details (in some ways) but those who are unable to make it, I'm sorry. Anyway, in order to access the IRC channel, you can go to mibbit.com. On the site, search for the "Launch App" button and click it. Choose a nickname, and beside it enter "#junjoulivefeed", and finally above, pick "IRCHighWay [webirc]". Official timings as to when depends on when another chapter is released. Otherwise, I'm almost always on there at night, GMT +0 during weekdays and whole days during weekends.
About the BL groups
Q: What is Echochi Scans?
A: We're a group of BL fangirls who conglomerate together just to scanlate some unlicensed works. We usually aim for the less mainstream (popular) mangaka and we try to make releases here and there every month. Note that I am NOT the leader of this group.
Q: What is Zodiac Translations?
A: I have since left the group, so please do not ask me anything regarding ZT, thank you! Direct your questions to zamarinth instead. :)
Q: May I join both/either groups to help with editing, translating etc?
A: Check with the respective websites for staff hiring inquiries and such. I do not deal with staff hiring for Echochi at all. They have a group email you can forward inquiries and such to. Contact zamarinth for details regarding Zodiac Translations.
Q: Can I translate the works of both/either of your groups into another language? From English?
A: This, you will need to contact the groups, once again. Be aware that from Japanese to English, the script itself has already gone through one transition, and once more will only cause higher inaccuracies.
If you mean to turn my stuffs done (not for the groups) into another language, you can do it but please credit me as the source where you translated it from. For example, my JR summaries, you can translate the summary into your own language if you wish to do so, but please credit me as the source which you referred to, thanks~
Others
Q: Can I friend you here?
A: Sure! However, if you are there to just friend me to get translations, then no, I won't add you back. If you want them, tumblr has it all (as you can follow/RSS), and as for LJ, you can also RSS too - choose whichever platform you are more comfortable with.
Q: Why do you do only BL manga?
A: ...Hah, nice one! I don't know myself. I think it's just because it's...um, fun to be looking at all the hawt smex going on and some pretty boys. I don't look deep into the manga itself too much because these are fiction, and I won't treat most works seriously. However, having nice plots and well-executed scenarios are great, too! ...There have been some BL which I have cried over, yes. ;w;
Q: How about the past work you did? Junjou Romantica?
A: Nope, IT'S LICENSED! I'm not doing them anymore (haven't been for some time) and most likely will never go back to that. Summaries are, however, continuing in the form of a livefeed via IRC instead of actual text. Find out about the entire issue over here, and how to access IRC.
Q: Anywhere else I can find you?
A: I dwell mainly at LiveJournal, but now I also happen to be around at twitter and also plurk. You can follow or add me and all that, I don't mind, as long as you tell me.
Q: Anything else you do besides translations?
A: Of course! I study at a university (Japanese is my degree) and so I do have other things to do. I also sing on and off but because I'm living at a student accommodation with very thin walls, it's very hard to sing anything at all, let alone speak because people just outside and next door can hear me. :( I do quite a bit of crappy recordings, though. The older ones here and the newer ones over here. I might compile a master post of all recordings one day...
Q: Can I get to...know you more?
A: Hi babe. *winks* Of course! xD Just click on the "!about me" tag and surf through a good number of posts that have my rubbish in it, so I hope you enjoy! You can find out a lot of things about this idiot who has horrible sleep hours and irregular sleeping patterns, including extreme laziness that could very much be hazardous to her life...
Q: Kinda new to scanlations so...what's with all these terms like "RAWs" or "tankoubon"?
A: "RAWs" - refers to materials in their original language. If it's Japanese RAWs, you are referring to manga, and they are in Japanese. If it's Korean RAWs, they are manhwa and they are in Korean. You do not say "Chinese raws" if you are referring to a Japanese manga translated into Chinese. They are still essentially different languages, even though Japanese has its roots from the Chinese language.
"Tankoubon" - it's just a volume release. Note: it's not "tankouban", and to say "volume release", it mainly refers to the manga industry.
Q: Since I'm new, can you also explain how scanlations usually work?
A: It's not that complicated, but there's quite a bit of steps. It doesn't necessarily apply to all groups, but most of them function as stated below:
Step 1: RAWs reach the translator. Translator reads raws about twice over for understanding, and moves to translate while grasping the appropriate tone for the characters. (Some may translate differently depending on how the translator perceives the character and his/her personality to be.)
Step 2: Translation script is done, and sent to a crosschecker. (Not always necessary, but some groups may have people for this.) A crosschecker checks for accuracy of translations, to make sure your words have been chosen wisely and with precision.
Step 3: Script is sent to proofreader who checks for English, and word usage. Meanwhile, cleaning of raws may also occur at the same time, or even before.
Step 4: Cleaning (making your pages into a nice black and white if there are no colored pages) may be done by now, or if not, the editor may clean the pages. After that, editing will commence. It involves some re-drawing, cloning using Photoshop/GIMP/Paint Shop Pro depending on the groups. Time spent on editing really depends on what kind of raws you use. Some groups take magazines, use the hair dryer to unbind the spine in order to bend the thick magazine better. Some of them rip the pages out, giving very clean, distinct pages with a lot less trouble cleaning/editing.
Step 5: Typesetters (who may also be editors, depending on groups) will come in. They slap text and SFX of the scripts onto the nice, clean black and white pages of the manga. Depending on groups, some may be asked to clone and redraw as well.
Step 6: All is done, and this is sent to a quality checker. They mainly check for any mistakes like typo, flow of dialogue, and sometimes irregularities in cloning/re-drawing.
Step 7: Woohooo~ Congratulations! There's a release for you~ Uhhh, that isn't too complicated. Don't be intimidated by this, especially if you want to apply to a group to help. It's fun if you really like it!
Q: I do have some more questions for you, though?
A: If so, you may leave a comment right here, or PM me if you have LiveJournal.
Q: What's this LiveJournal for?
A: Main place for translations/summaries posting, also fandom squealing, ALSO real life junk. Real life stuff are mainly locked - the extremely personal ones.
Q: What's the tumblr site for, ultimately?
A: It is really only meant for translations. So feel free to stalk over there if you prefer so. I will no longer update the wordpress site. Tumblr is easier to control, somehow.
Q: What do you translate?
A: I translate BL manga only. If you hate it, I suggest you don't look any further! I don't cover BL novels, though.
Q: Will you translate for me/my group to turn into scanlations?
A: Nope, unfortunately not. Unless I'm interested in whatever you'll like me to help with then, perhaps! I'm generally interested in BL, of course, and usually I stick to comedic elements of BL in general. I'm not interested in long volumes of works (I'm a very very lazy person) with too much concepts to follow. I also don't really take to sci-fi related things, or mecha either. If you have something that isn't part of the category above, and would like me to have a look, sure, but MAKE SURE THAT WORK IS NOT LICENSED.
Q: May I use the translation scripts you've provided here and on tumblr for my scanlation/my group?
A: No, you may not, sadly. They are for Echochi Scans and for their releases ONLY. I may post other translations of things that have caught my attention that are not for a team. For that case, you may contact me to ask and maybe we'll work something out. :)
Q: Do you get paid for doing scanlations and such?
A: No, there is no way you should be getting paid (or paying) for such things. I acknowledge that scanlations are illegal, and that is why all the more none of us should get paid for this. We only hope to share things with the fandom, spread its beauty so more people can hear about it and purchase these products!
Q: ...Where can I find a list of what you did? Your posts are everywhere...
A: There you go. As for the tumblr one, I'll probably make it another day when I post all of them here.
Q: How fast do you release?
A: My scripts are irregular as of now, since I have school to balance, but I try to work things out quickly too. Echochi doesn't exactly have a fixed schedule, but we attempt to release something every month or two. We might chuck entire volume releases which explains why we don't have a "regular" release schedule.
Q: Can I use the translations you do that aren't meant for groups?
A: If you're talking about those that I do out of my own volition, and those that I did not state it's for groups, most of the times I'm okay with it, as long as you TELL ME and CREDIT ME. You may leave a comment behind, or PM me about it etc.
Q: Why did you have to discontinue all the detailed summary writing and some dialogue translations of the JR chapters?
A: Reason is here.
Q: So you replaced it with a "livefeed summary" on IRC? [ x ]
A: Yup, I did that so that people can still enjoy the details (in some ways) but those who are unable to make it, I'm sorry. Anyway, in order to access the IRC channel, you can go to mibbit.com. On the site, search for the "Launch App" button and click it. Choose a nickname, and beside it enter "#junjoulivefeed", and finally above, pick "IRCHighWay [webirc]". Official timings as to when depends on when another chapter is released. Otherwise, I'm almost always on there at night, GMT +0 during weekdays and whole days during weekends.
About the BL groups
Q: What is Echochi Scans?
A: We're a group of BL fangirls who conglomerate together just to scanlate some unlicensed works. We usually aim for the less mainstream (popular) mangaka and we try to make releases here and there every month. Note that I am NOT the leader of this group.
Q: What is Zodiac Translations?
A: I have since left the group, so please do not ask me anything regarding ZT, thank you! Direct your questions to zamarinth instead. :)
Q: May I join both/either groups to help with editing, translating etc?
A: Check with the respective websites for staff hiring inquiries and such. I do not deal with staff hiring for Echochi at all. They have a group email you can forward inquiries and such to. Contact zamarinth for details regarding Zodiac Translations.
Q: Can I translate the works of both/either of your groups into another language? From English?
A: This, you will need to contact the groups, once again. Be aware that from Japanese to English, the script itself has already gone through one transition, and once more will only cause higher inaccuracies.
If you mean to turn my stuffs done (not for the groups) into another language, you can do it but please credit me as the source where you translated it from. For example, my JR summaries, you can translate the summary into your own language if you wish to do so, but please credit me as the source which you referred to, thanks~
Others
Q: Can I friend you here?
A: Sure! However, if you are there to just friend me to get translations, then no, I won't add you back. If you want them, tumblr has it all (as you can follow/RSS), and as for LJ, you can also RSS too - choose whichever platform you are more comfortable with.
Q: Why do you do only BL manga?
A: ...Hah, nice one! I don't know myself. I think it's just because it's...um, fun to be looking at all the hawt smex going on and some pretty boys. I don't look deep into the manga itself too much because these are fiction, and I won't treat most works seriously. However, having nice plots and well-executed scenarios are great, too! ...There have been some BL which I have cried over, yes. ;w;
Q: How about the past work you did? Junjou Romantica?
A: Nope, IT'S LICENSED! I'm not doing them anymore (haven't been for some time) and most likely will never go back to that. Summaries are, however, continuing in the form of a livefeed via IRC instead of actual text. Find out about the entire issue over here, and how to access IRC.
Q: Anywhere else I can find you?
A: I dwell mainly at LiveJournal, but now I also happen to be around at twitter and also plurk. You can follow or add me and all that, I don't mind, as long as you tell me.
Q: Anything else you do besides translations?
A: Of course! I study at a university (Japanese is my degree) and so I do have other things to do. I also sing on and off but because I'm living at a student accommodation with very thin walls, it's very hard to sing anything at all, let alone speak because people just outside and next door can hear me. :( I do quite a bit of crappy recordings, though. The older ones here and the newer ones over here. I might compile a master post of all recordings one day...
Q: Can I get to...know you more?
A: Hi babe. *winks* Of course! xD Just click on the "!about me" tag and surf through a good number of posts that have my rubbish in it, so I hope you enjoy! You can find out a lot of things about this idiot who has horrible sleep hours and irregular sleeping patterns, including extreme laziness that could very much be hazardous to her life...
Q: Kinda new to scanlations so...what's with all these terms like "RAWs" or "tankoubon"?
A: "RAWs" - refers to materials in their original language. If it's Japanese RAWs, you are referring to manga, and they are in Japanese. If it's Korean RAWs, they are manhwa and they are in Korean. You do not say "Chinese raws" if you are referring to a Japanese manga translated into Chinese. They are still essentially different languages, even though Japanese has its roots from the Chinese language.
"Tankoubon" - it's just a volume release. Note: it's not "tankouban", and to say "volume release", it mainly refers to the manga industry.
Q: Since I'm new, can you also explain how scanlations usually work?
A: It's not that complicated, but there's quite a bit of steps. It doesn't necessarily apply to all groups, but most of them function as stated below:
Step 1: RAWs reach the translator. Translator reads raws about twice over for understanding, and moves to translate while grasping the appropriate tone for the characters. (Some may translate differently depending on how the translator perceives the character and his/her personality to be.)
Step 2: Translation script is done, and sent to a crosschecker. (Not always necessary, but some groups may have people for this.) A crosschecker checks for accuracy of translations, to make sure your words have been chosen wisely and with precision.
Step 3: Script is sent to proofreader who checks for English, and word usage. Meanwhile, cleaning of raws may also occur at the same time, or even before.
Step 4: Cleaning (making your pages into a nice black and white if there are no colored pages) may be done by now, or if not, the editor may clean the pages. After that, editing will commence. It involves some re-drawing, cloning using Photoshop/GIMP/Paint Shop Pro depending on the groups. Time spent on editing really depends on what kind of raws you use. Some groups take magazines, use the hair dryer to unbind the spine in order to bend the thick magazine better. Some of them rip the pages out, giving very clean, distinct pages with a lot less trouble cleaning/editing.
Step 5: Typesetters (who may also be editors, depending on groups) will come in. They slap text and SFX of the scripts onto the nice, clean black and white pages of the manga. Depending on groups, some may be asked to clone and redraw as well.
Step 6: All is done, and this is sent to a quality checker. They mainly check for any mistakes like typo, flow of dialogue, and sometimes irregularities in cloning/re-drawing.
Step 7: Woohooo~ Congratulations! There's a release for you~ Uhhh, that isn't too complicated. Don't be intimidated by this, especially if you want to apply to a group to help. It's fun if you really like it!
Q: I do have some more questions for you, though?
A: If so, you may leave a comment right here, or PM me if you have LiveJournal.