Here are the links:

32: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WZXAHN0Y

33: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KZOWJIEH

34: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MLNK0RCT

35: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4NBL2O0G

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/kirai/v07/c031/

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TF5I0XBO

Enjoy!

I really need to update more often.

Forgot to mention, ch28 to 30 of Kirai released.

Ch28: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=E7A7ICIC

Ch29: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EAZHGJYG

Ch30: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HM6A833W

Have fun!

Releasing Chapter 28 tonight.

For the Japanese term, “suki”(好き), “daisuki”(大好き) and “aishiteru” (愛してる) (basically means, like, really like you and I love you), all of these are usually translated as “I love you” in the scanlation world. Ok, fine. In the official English translations as well. I DETEST this translation.

Yes, I know. In the English-speaking world, “like” is a more platonic feeling than “love”, but there is still a difference between these two meanings. Many a times a plot had been ruined due to translating all three terms the same because “suki” was translated as “love” so when the oh-so-coveted moment where the boyfriend finally says “Aishiteru”, the significance is diluted A LOT due to “suki” being translated as “love” in the first place.

Due to this, I refuse to ever translate “suki” as “love” and stick to as what it’s supposed to mean – “like”. “Daisuki” stumps me a bit though. “I REALLY like you” doesn’t sound all that natural. “I adore you” also sounds weird in certain context but I still think that’s the best to go. You never know when you can ruin a plot by translating things wrong.

(Best example: In Card Captor, Kero-chan was kept with the same pronunciation in English ie. Keroberos. What the translators DIDN’T do is read through the entire series before translating. If they had done that, they would had realised that Keroberos is the Japanese pronunciation for Cerberus – which is pretty damn siginificant, later on in the plot. And they had no excuse to not check since the series was only licensed AFTER it finished in Japan)

Check this site for the latest chapters.

Currently, released up to Volume 6, Chapter 26. Finished translating up till Chapter 30.

From chapter 21 and onwards, Lypi had been doing the editing for me. Cheers to her!

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/kirai/#listing

Ch. 16 and 17 released. 18′s on the way.

Ch. 16: http://www.mangafox.com/manga/kirai/v04/c016/

Ch. 17: http://www.mangafox.com/manga/kirai/v04/c017/

Anyways, just to say, Chapter 14 and 15 of KIRAI is now released.

Photobucket link:

Ch14: http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l17/MikiRei/Kirai Ch14

Ch15: http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l17/MikiRei/Kirai Ch15

Cheers and enjoy!

I stumbled upon this manga some two weeks ago and I couldn’t stop reading till the end after that. Unfortunately, I wasn’t patient enough to read the dialogues carefully enough, on top of the fact it was a VERY old manga so the names were …. “Chinasized”, if you know what I mean. ie. Changed to Chinese name style format – something done fairly often back in the ’80s. These days, Chinese version of Japanese manga keeps the original name. Nonetheless, I liked the series due to the fact it isn’t some soppy, girly, shoujo manga and the main focus of the plot is on the political side of things rather than on the romance. Character development is also central to the plot, adding to the fact that they’re all UNUSUAL characters, the series was a very intersting read. My only complaint is the “seishounen” in the story all fell in love with the female lead a little too quickly without very compelling reasons. Well..ok. Li Ren had A LOT of reasons and so does the suicidal French dude. The prince and Karl didn’t have much reasons though….

So what about the anime? The anime skipped the manga’s prologue which I guess is a good thing. It’ll keep the anime interesting for viewers who’d never read the manga. On the other hand, it is BECAUSE of the prologue that kept me reading to the end in the manga. Overall, the first episode wasn’t boring but doesn’t give a strong impression either. I also cringe everytime Kajika says “Dado” as oppose to “Dad”. One good thing though is that Li Ren’s voiced by one of my favourite voice actor, Morikawa Toshiyuki so no complaint there.

I think I’ll continue with the series simply because I enjoyed the manga.

“Pride” is about two aspiring opera singers and their journey to attain their dream, often with their pride at stake – hence the title. The two main protagonists are Asami Shio and Midorikawa Moe.

Shio’s from a rich family where her dad is a successful business man and her mother was a famous soprano opera singer before passing away when Shio was still a child. She attends one of the most prestigious music university in Tokyo and is expected by many within the music industry to be as good an opera singer as her mother once was. In contrast, Moe, whom Shio first met as one of her house cleaners, attends to what is considered a 3rd-tier music university who has a mother that leeches off other men and could care less for her well-being. As a result, she needs to work continuously in order to pay her university fees instead of spending time to perfect her singing.

The story starts with Moe entering Shio’s house as a cleaner from a house cleaning service and was awed by Shio’s wealth and beauty. While Moe was cleaning Shio’s room, Shio’s father called her and said that he will not be able to go to “La Traviata” that night with her. Disappointed, Shio decided to offer the spare ticket to Moe. During the interval, Shio was greeted by many famous people within the music industry, including the famous opera singer, Matsushima Haruko (made up of course), causing Moe envy and a sense of inferiority. Her envy towards Shio was further heightened when she was ignored by Haruko upon mentioning her university despite gathering her courage to introduce herself. Moe then proceeded to express her envy towards Shio, accusing her of being “sly” for being rich, beautiful, attending an expensive music university and having a famous opera singer as a mother. This outburst irritated Shio as she had heard the same thing enough times and personally does not take any of her fortunate background for granted.

Following the concert, Shio returns home where her father was waiting to tell her that his business is now bankrupt and that he will no longer be able to support Shio’s study in Italy. Shio takes in the news calmly and thanks her father for all the support he had given her and wish her father every luck in his new business endeavour. Disappointed at Shio’s inability to study in Italy, Shio’s teacher urged her to try out for a competition that provide a scholarship to study in Italy. The same competition was also attended by Moe and just before Shio’s turn to compete, Moe revealed to Shio that the reason her mother died was because she was protecting Shio who had run out into the road when the lights were still red. Shocked by this revelation, Shio was unable to perform at her usual standard and consequently lost the competition to Moe. At the end of the competition, Shio confronts Moe and asked her if she has any pride at all to pull a trick like that instead of competiting fair and sqaure. Moe answered that she had thrown away her pride as it is not needed if she needs to attain what she wants. Thus began the rivalry between Moe and Shio in becoming the best opera singer.

As mentioned in my previous entry, this series is targetted towards a mature audience so if you’re looking for those girly, sappy, shoujo manga where a normal girl falls in love with a hot guy who happens to be good at EVERYTHING and then they got together after 4 volumes before fending off another 6 volumes worth of rivals before getting married, this is NOT for you then. “Pride” has believable characters in realistic situations making difficult life decisions. It’s more like a Jap drama about life in manga format than anything and I recommend this to anyone who wants to read something that is realistic, interesting and gets you on edge. Character development is central to the plot and there is no definite antagonist – just people dealing with eachother and the consequences of their actions – ill-thought or no and for better or worse.

“Pride” also has an upcoming movie and after seeing the trailer, I’m having second thoughts whether it’ll be good or not – not to mention, how they’ll be able to end it seeing the manga series itself is nowhere near finished. Nonetheless, Ishall try and find it and give a review for that too when I get to it.