So, just in case you didn’t hear the news, I’m now scanlating the Ruin Explorers manga!
Plenty of details over at my project page, but I’ll do a real quick overview here.
This project is a labor of love from someone who knows VERY little Japanese. I’m using three sources for my scans: The Japanese first volume, the Spanish translation of the first volume, and the raw scans of the Special Plus collection (which was for some reason uploaded on e-hentai). I planned on using the Spanish version for scans, but it was a pain in the ass trying to work with the sound effects, so I went and scanned the Japanese version anyway. My copy of the Japanese volume is the only copy I have, so I’m just pressing it down on my scanner. The Spanish version is cut up even though I won’t be scanning much of it.
When it came to cutting up the Spanish volume, my learning curve spiked pretty rapidly. I started out by cutting page by page with an Xacto knife. I quickly learned how to find the binding strings and found that severing the bindings made for much cleaner cuts. Food for thought for if I ever manage to get my hands on a second Japanese volume.
For the most part, I stick to the volume versions. The best thing to do is use the Japanese version, but sometimes I just don’t have the skill to clean up the fold area in a way I like, so I have to resort to using the Spanish version, either for the entire page, or to do what I call “patchwork.” It’s not a perfect process since the print quality of the Spanish version is lower; in MANY cases, it’s missing shading. It’s honestly baffling that it happens at all. It’s as if they used scanners themselves rather than master artwork. Using the Special Plus version is just plain not an option; it’s more condensed, and I just don’t like the artwork in it as much as I do the volume versions. Here’s a comparison of the three versions using one of my favorite panels in the first chapter:
Another problem with the Spanish version is just how often I disagree with the translation, but after spending a lot of time directly translating the Japanese version, I’ve grown to realize it’s okay for the most part. I just call it into question at certain moments (and always on the spells and important terms).
Cleaning the pages is both a lot more work than I thought and a lot easier than I thought. Most of the work is easy. It’s the redrawing that’s a pain in the ass. And typesetting is an art that I have a bit more respect for. Using the right fonts and fitting them just right takes some experience and a lot of intuition.
Well, I think I said everything I wanted to say. I’ll try my best to post a new chapter every week here and on Batoto. I’m releasing under the name “Bardass Scanlations,” because… well, no reason in particular. It was the first suggestion I got and it sounded fitting enough.