Over the last year or so I've been getting a lot of questions that have increased in frequency of late as to when/if I will continue the Triage X (and HOTD to an increasingly lesser extent) scanlations. I think my answers have been a little vague, but the truth is I wasn't really sure what I was going to do until recently. It's time to bring you some clarity.
First off, I've been saying this more or less for a while, but I guess I can make it official: I will no longer be involved in scanlating HOTD or providing related raw scans--that is, aside from illustrations and stuff that appear in Dragon Age. Now that Yen Press will be releasing chapters right away and even selling their versions of other material like the art book, there is no reason for me to continue. I'll continue to give you links to new chapters and of course updates on any news out of Japan, but I will not allow any link to free pirated versions of Yen Press' published material on this site.
That was an easy decision; Triage X, on the other hand, gave me a lot more trouble. As some of you know, I've been struggling to find a translator for the series for some time now with no luck. All the while Yen Press has been slowly catching up on their releases. Since YP releases a volume every 3 months or so and a new Japanese volume comes out every 5 months roughly, I think it's safe to assume the official translations will catch up to the Japanese at some point and simultaneous monthly chapters are a logical step after that. Because of this, my inability to find interested translators, and my general desire to move away from licensed series I have decided to officially drop Triage X. I will still give you monthly raws (for a while at least), but scanlation will not continue as far as I'm concerned.
So to make it clear: I will no longer be involved in scanlating HOTD or Triage X. I have officially dropped both series. I will continue to bring you news and announcements about both series, though.
I'm not closing shop just yet. I still have Necro;Chronicle and Maken-Ki! Kai!! and I have a few things that I may get to in the future (even one for HOTD fans). And of course, monthly Dragon Age updates will continue as long as I can afford it or enough donations come in. Really not much has changed except that I took a few links down and I can now give a definite answer to the questions I'm getting.
For good measure I've decided to start helping English-speaking fans find official material and support the series, so I'll be providing links to the products. Here are the latest releases for each series on Amazon:
Triage X Volume 3 (latest release)
Triage X Volume 5 (pre-order)
HOTD Act.30
HOTD Color Omnibus 2 (pre-order)
I know some of you will be disappointed, but please try to keep comments civil. I am a human being living in the real world, and I'm doing my best to balance this hobby from my college days with real life.
to me aslong as the raw chapters every month of triage x and maken ki fine with wat i get we just have to wait till it get translated in some point
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for hosting this site and providing us HOTD updates over the last few years.
ReplyDeleteGood Job!
-Nemesis
Thank you for the job up to now,
ReplyDeletetoo bad there're no translators interested
Hm... Instead of Hotd and Triangle maybe you can scan the Dolls Fall. What doyou think? :)
ReplyDeleteJapanzai is already doing Dolls Fall. They've done the first chapter at least. Not sure if or when they will continue.
DeleteSo, you'd still post any possible news regarding HoTD's status right?
ReplyDeleteRegardless, I'm still grateful to you, you've been posting raws for us, we couldn't ask for more.
I absolutely will continue to provide news and updates. The only big change is that I won't be translating licensed material.
DeleteOh thank goodness then! :D
DeleteOh thank goodness then! :D
ReplyDeleteActually Triage X was being released every 4 months with volume 4 coming out this October by Yen Press so that would put volume 7 being released by February 2015 that's a long ways away. I even asked Yen Press about this at a booth at a recent con and they got all pissed off when I asked if they could or planned to speed up their releases from every 4 months. So I don't see a need for online chapter releases just yet.
ReplyDeleteActually, Volume 5 is set to be released in January, which leads me to believe they are pushing it up to 3 months. The last two Japanese volumes have taken 6 months, which means they could catch up on Volume 10 (if there is one) at the current pace in February 2015.
DeleteSo yeah online releases rely on the series lasting eleven volumes and even then they wouldn't start for a while. It's possible, though. Also don't rule out YP rushing out the rest of the volumes because they want to do simultaneous releases if there's enough of a profit there.
Thanks for all the work you've done for all the HOTD fans! Good luck to you!
ReplyDeletethe official english version of HOTD will not be available on my country, so it doesn't really matters for me if they are published simultaneously, even if it was available i don't feel like buying it since it will only benefit yen-press because authors don't get any royalties from the sales of their works overseas, and i hate yen-press anyways since every time they licensed something i like they take the stupid decision of publishing it on a ridiculous schedule that will take it years to reach the actual chapter (if they don't decide to drop it midway) the only reason they catched up with HOTD is because it is on hiatus for several years already
ReplyDeleteso well thank you for your hard work, but i am pretty sure someone else will rise up to the job
Do you know without a doubt that the artist doesn't get anything for overseas sales? Even if he doesn't, the overseas exposure makes it more likely people will buy things that definitely give him royalties.
DeleteI used to dislike Yen Press too, but they're getting better. Their move with HOTD gave me a lot of hope for the future.
Pretty sure that authors do get royalties from sales. Such is the case with Viz and Kodansha for sure.
DeleteShame... I really look forward to your monthly raws of Triage X very month, oh well as long as I have some news to pass along to fellow fans I'll be fine with it.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, hope you find some other series to keep you occupied.
Just so you know, I said I will continue the monthly raws for a while. I just won't take part in any scanlating of the series.
DeleteWelp fail on my part, I didn't read closely then xD Oh well either way, when you do drop that I will be sad.
Delete> I will no longer be involved in scanlating HOTD or providing related raw scans--that is, aside from illustrations and stuff that appear in Dragon Age.
ReplyDeleteI'm still confused about this part: so will you share HoTD magazine-published chapters or not? You're saying you will not "provide related raw scans", but of course mag chapters are part of Dragon Age magazine, so which is it?
Also, what about Maken-Ki raws? (not Kai)
I guess I could have been a bit more clear. I won't scan raw chapters because they will be available in English before I even get the magazine most of the time. I meant things like the cover, color illustrations, bonus items, and anything else that probably won't be included in the Yen Press chapters.
DeleteThe plan was to stop posting MK raws when Kiss Scans caught up, but it looks like they dropped it now, so I guess I'll just keep going with it.
Maken-ki c54 was released. Seems like a new group picked it up. Don't know if they are going to keep going with it though. Will you still post the raws?
DeleteLooks like some of the people involved also worked on the Imperial Scans releases. Hopefully they will continue it. I will definitely post raws for the next chapter. Whether or not I continue after that will depend on how many chapters Akashi Scans has released a month from now.
Deletehello im quite new to triage X series and just caught up to reading chapter 20 and have had no luck finding new chapters... is there another place that i can find the english versions
ReplyDeleteRead the post above. There are no more translated chapters. You'll have to wait for the official version of Volume 5 in January.
Deletewhen you say official version of volume 5 is it the translated edition or the japanese one
DeleteThe official English translation by Yen Press.
DeleteGood news looks like volumes 4 and 5 are shipping now if you ordered from Rightstuf. I just talked to them and they said volume 4 they are waiting for a re-stock and volume 5 is shipping next week. Even my copy of Highschool of the Dead Omnibus Full Color 2 and Drifters of the Dead is shipping next week. Everything he said came in way early.
ReplyDeleteMan I'm so happy wish more Triage X would come out sooner so because reading the raws takes me a lot longer than in english.
You must be mistaken. If they are selling books before the official release, there will be serious legal repercussions. I don't think any legitimate business would risk that.
DeleteI'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and not call this spam, but if you begin using my site for false advertising you will find your comments disappearing quite promptly.
I'm going by what I was told on my order. I posted anonymous because I was too lazy to log in my account I've posted many times before. From talking to a few publishers at a recent Anime Con like Viz and Funimation they have given Rightstuf permission to ship items as soon as they are available even if it's before the official shipping date. Yen Press was their but didn't ask them if they to allow it.
ReplyDeleteUnless their is a clause and repercussions in the contract I don't think they care if it's shipped early. I know when it comes to video games from friends that worked at Gamestops yes they do have a contract with the publishers and if they sale the newest COD or whatever hot midnight release they will stop selling all titles to that specific store in their library so they make sure no one even opens the box or they are fired before it's time to sale them.
We are not talking about the latest Apple product etc, it's Anime and Manga. No one will cry foul if one or two retailers get a slight head start it's a niche market.
Volume 4 would be believable to have shipped out early, but I'm still skeptical about the others. I do remember getting one of the HOTD volumes about a week or more before the official release.
DeleteI would be surprised if final versions of Volume 5 and the omnibus have even left the Yen Press printers yet. I won't believe that they are already being sold to customers until I see photo evidence.
I just called Right Stuf, they confirmed that they do not have HOTD Color Omnibus 2 (5-7). They have not received any early and don't expect them until Dec.
ReplyDelete~Nemesis
That makes more sense. I would expect thewm to say the same about TX Volume 5.
DeleteLike others have said I'll wait and see if all four items I mentioned are shipped early I'm not holding my breath. If they do come in early I'll email some pictures to show everyone. I do know the Drifters of the Dead OVA has shipped early since I already have seen a youtube video of a guy who bought both the DVD and the Blu-Ray about a week or two ago.
ReplyDeleteAre you absolutely sure it was the English dub and not the original? I could understand if it shipped a month early, but three months seems like a bit of a stretch.
DeleteHere is the video:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxuVc9mW98M
It looks like he put all 3 discs in one case and put the extra covers on the inside. If you look at the close up of his DVD version it's clearly in English and says Sentia on it.
It's hard to believe, but I guess it's true. I still don't think what they're doing is completely legitimate (it has to be at the very least frowned upon). Even if they are in a niche market, I have to wonder if shipping products three months early will eventually come back to bite them. If Amazon feels threatened...well, they have power and influence.
DeleteThis could just be a case, though, of Yen Press letting limited copies make their way to smaller markets and into the hands of consumers early on purpose. They can hope for positive reviews without having to rely on actual critics. Plus, people will be rushing to pre-order in the hopes they get it early also.
Why am I not able to find either the Bluray or DVD release of HOTD that included the OVA in region 1? I'm not so sure that the OVA is even available in the US as part of Season 1. Its actually sold separately.
DeleteThe OVA was already released English dubbed in the UK by Sentai filmworks so he could have used that disk.
The video is too blurry to see the region code on that OVA DVD, but if it say 2 instead of 1 then this guy simply put the UK version into a 3 disk case.
~Nemesis
The UPC number 814131018335 on the back of his DVD OVA is for the OVA only. The one for $6.98. That doesn't include season 1. More evidence this isn't real.
DeleteIf you look at the artwork of Saeko on the cover in the bikini at the beach for the US and Japanese release, both use it for the cover. While the UK release if you google it uses a different cover art of Rei and a white background unless it was the UK MCM comic con stand alone DVD it had the Saeko artwork for those who owned the series already. Also their release is DVD only for the OVA.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can tell he put all 3 discs in one case to save time and space, when you look at the inner covers he has both slipcases one on the outside and the other on the inside for 1 case of each.
Another thing that indicates it's the official US release it says Sentai on the slipcase, while the UK version was released by Manga Entertainment you can clearly see Sentai and no Manga Ent. logo.
It's hard to see but oval of the world above NTSC it looks like a "1" in the same font as my other Sentai region 1 discs.
I don't think he would go through all that trouble to fake it.
And one small correction the UK version has no English Dub but subs only for the OVA that was a misprint on the packaging, even the reviews online confirm this.
Sounds like the OVA is in the wild now, apparently Sentai was giving out some at Otakon 2013 in Aug. Only 100 miles from where this person is according to the package tracking number.
ReplyDeleteHerro Turambar (I can never spell your name right)
ReplyDeleteI have a HOTD link that you might get a kick out of, though it has nothing to do with any news. It's just funny, in my opinion, what these guys are trying to do.
http://hsofthedead.com/we-want-highschool-of-the-dead-season-2-contest/
I see that site is up is still up to its typical antics. As usual, they are uninformed and think they are more important than they actually are. It is pretty funny. They never fail to surprise me with their ineptitude, though I suppose something must be said for their dedication.
DeleteBe careful not to inadvertently click a link, because the guy who runs it doesn't deserve any money.
While discussing the importance of any one fan, group of fans, and what they do to show support of HOTD. What is your opinion (importance) of the link between the HOTD cosplay fans that met with Shouji Sato at AnimagiC in Germany last year?
DeleteThere are pictures of some of them in Vol 6, Full Color Edition of the manga, near the end of the Japanese version. Photos that may have actually been taken by Shouji himself, but thats pure speculation.
And Daisuke Sato has brought up Shouji's visit to Germany, how the international fan support had an impact on Daisuke deciding to start writing again. The interview appeared in the bonus color version of Act 29 that came with the March 2013 Dragon Age.
I have no idea who runs the hsofthedead.com web site, and as much as I hate some of the dis-information found there, it does provide another location for fans to discuss the anime, where this site focuses on the manga.
It does appear he/she and the others are really trying to help the cause along by showing their support. Maybe hsofthedead.com is really only into it for the ad revenue his site brings, but then again maybe that part of it is only to keep the site afloat.
Who runs the http://highschool-of-the-dead.wikia.com/ site?
~Nemesis
I'm not trying to say anything negative about fans in general; I am simply saying that the site in question has done more harm to fans of the series than good. Yes, fans can influence creators, but that site gets by on a healthy dose of hype and misinformation. I don't stand for that.
DeleteIn the past that site has presented rumors (that were thoroughly debunked) as fact and misled (knowingly, I think) many innocent fans. This latest endeavor is based on the illusion that they somehow have a connection to the anime creators. By not denying it, they are once again duping fans into thinking that if they link to the site in their YT video it will magically find its way to the eyes of the anime staff or something. Furthermore, they illustrate their total ignorance by insinuating Daisuke Sato has control over the anime, which is not the case.
The ad-revenue thing is more of an afterthought, but I do think ads don't belong on fansites. If you have server fees (which I doubt they do) you can ask for donations. Their hefty use of ads only proves their insincerity.
There are plenty of Facebook pages and other forums to discuss the anime, all of them better than the site in question.
The HOTD Wiki is technically run by a community. I used to be admin there, but I handed that duty off to Hammiam a while ago. When I left it was a pretty good place for discussion, albeit infrequently visited.
Moving on .... :-)
DeleteI realize you have no direct contact with the Sato's, Fujimishobo or Madhouse, but what do you think is the best way for fans to actually have an impact?
What I was trying to show was a direct example of how a small group of fans actually had a huge impact in bring HOTD back to life. At least that is my opinion, based on the evidence at hand. Its not even out of the realm of possibilities, they having direct contact with Shouji may be the only reason it came back.
Another example is Shouji's recent post on his own web site, acknowledging the fan emails he has been getting.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that the fans need to get in front of them somehow. By paying attention to if/when either of them make a public appearance. Then actually buy new content, no matter how small a percentage may actually reach Daisuke and Shouji.
You are correct, its extremely unlikely any of the Japanese players involved in HOTD even visit a non-Japanese language site. Implying thats the case is deception, and wrong.
As far as having control over the Anime, if you look at it from a different point of view, and correct me if you have other information. Daisuke Sato OWNS the story. So if he doesn't write more, there is no more Anime, wouldn't that make him the largest player and give him a huge part in wether more Anime (or Manga) even happens? As I understand Japanese law, he has to authorize its use in other mediums. So I suspect he (and Shouji from the art side) may have only authorized an Anime based on the manga (I don't know if Madhouse had to get permission to create the OVA).
If Daisuke really has no control over the anime, and Madhouse could have ventured out with their own story with those characters (Or another animation studio), then I am really confused as to why there is no Season 2, 3 or 4 out now.
~Nemesis
I really don't think cos-players at that convention had that much of an impact on getting Act.30 printed. It probably had more to do with the fresh round of hype among Japanese fans after the release of the Shouji Sato art book, not to mention the amount of money Shouji pulled in autographing HOTD items at a few additional appearances that year.
DeleteEmails and videos are nice, but I still think the only way a fan can show their devotion enough to influence if/when a series returns is spending money. If everyone involved is making money, they will want to put new stuff out there to make more money. Attending appearances is good, but if you don't pay them for an autograph, they aren't going to be as motivated no matter what you dress as.
Yes, the anime studio has to buy rights to use Daisuke's story, but none of us really know how that went. They probably have rights to at least the characters and world, which is why we got the OVA. I doubt they only obtained the rights to the story up to the mall. More likely (in my opinion) the anime simply didn't do well enough to carry on. The studio could have made another season based on existing materials, but they saw that their money would be better spent in other avenues.
In other words, HOTD was a big budget anime that didn't do quite well enough to justify making a second season when there was no guarantee there would be the safety of additional seasons based on the manga. If you find this hard to believe, just look at Bleach, which suffered the same fate.
The point is, when Daisuke and Shouji sold rights to the anime, they most likely gave up any decision-making power as far as other media goes.
Am I the only one who finds it funny that the http://hsofthedead.com/ website made it to where you have to like the site on FB or Google +1 in order to really view the site? (Or at the very least attempted to do so)
DeleteThese guys just seem like a group of retards, and people wonder why I just laugh when they link me this site saying "Season Two is coming out in _____ because this site said so". The fact that people believe it's an official site as well only makes me laugh harder.
Though I guess whoever said "There only two things that are infinite. The Universe and Human stupidity." Was right about one of those things. You'd think that people could differentiate real news from blatant lies by now.
Anyways back to what you guys were talking about, I don't believe I've ever heard that theory on why their's no new content being made. Though I guess you are right, most average anime fans I talk to say they dislike HOTD. Also the fact that many people pirate the series instead of actually supporting it by buying the manga or anime doesn't help in the slightest.
I don't want to insult anyone, but there are a lot of naive people in the world. I don't blame them, I blame that particular site for continuing to fool them to increase its own site traffic and ad revenue.
DeleteThe http://hsofthedead.com/ website is frustrating. It does not appear to have motives of someone wanting to educate people. Or even lead them to the facts. And after contacting the webmaster through the contact link, begging and pleading that he/she correct the misleading links and headlines, only to see minor changes to the wording of the blog posts, I've given up.
DeleteI'll have to admin I've spent quite a bit of time trying to educate the new fans that land there looking for news. There are some good people that participate in the chat and realize the blog headings are deceptive.
Since I always have ads and trackers blocked, effectively blocking that requirement. I didn't originally notice the Facebook 'like' requirement. But yea, that was really dumb. The person running the site has tried a few different things that didn't work so well and then wised up and reverted back.
People running these sites really should have a simple fact sheet about the manga and anime right on the main page. In simple to translate language, so people landing on the page see that first off. Placing a realtime chat option on the home page is also nice, that was the best part of the hsofthedead.com site.
Regarding the gullibility of people, we have to look at the age and thus life experience of those visiting the site and how much they really want a season 2. That blind hope causes them to believe the first place that gives them the answer they want. And that is the reason those deceptive headlines works.
As far as the reasons for no season 2 yet. I used to subscribe to the 'it didn't do well in Japan'. As it certainly wasn't the hit they expected it to be. But it didn't do horribly either. The Otaku in Japan used to fund late night ecchi anime like this through high priced physical disk sales of single episodes. That market has pretty much collapsed in Japan. The collapse of the world economy back when HOTD was released certainly didn't help either. Nor did the earthquake killing more than 20,000 people in Japan.
But even with all that agains't it. I do still feel Daiske Sato is the primary reason it all stopped. I also feel his creative ego and realization that he does actually have a popular world wide story on his hands will be the primary reason it (has) and will start back up. And that there will be a season 2. And yea, I do also give a lot of credit to the fans who spent time to cosplay HOTD at AnimagiC, met Shouji personally, posed for pictures with him and got his signature. As I understand it, he likely doesn't speak or read any other language so it likely really was an eye opener for him, and indirectly Daisuke.
~Nemesis
Well said. I have nothing to add.
DeleteHere are my personal 5 cents. The author for HotD has a pretty big ego. Apparently hes really well known in the novel world in japan? Can't quote me on that everyone who I know that either from japan or currently live there don't bother to read Japanese novels. He ended up getting butthurt when fans cared about the art than the story he wrote. On a fundamental level for such a well known author his story does feel weak. I'm pretty sure Inazuma could continue it or even a shadow writer for that matter. Hes my second point. The japanese publishers don't like it when its very popular aboard. I'll use Mx0 as a example. Two factors came into play one was it wasn't popular with japanese audiences and secondly it was very popular aboard. If its popular aboard it means "piracy" even though those japanese publishers don't even bother to sell it aboard in the first place. On a personal level i dislike yenpress. If anything I avoid all their crap. If you honest to god want to support the author you'd want to buy the Japanese copy and the physical one at that. The authors don't get paid when yen sells something. The publishers also don't count international sales. Yen might pay them a royalty(which i honestly doubt), but more likely they just pay a licensing fee. I want HotD to continue, but I'm very skeptical it will. HotD is one of those things that are popular aboard than it ever will be in japan. It might be pricy, but if you want to support the author you'll want to buy the physical copy because they get a cut of the overall sales. Not the licensed ones the ones from japan. Xamayon was awesome. They did high quality scans. The irony in all of this is, I'm more willing to donate money to a scanlation group (HQ) than to buy something from yen. Its simple Yen treats this as a business, they'll do everything in their power if your scanlation group to make your life miserable and they don't pay the author of the original work. Scanlation groups? They actually buy stuff which in turn support author. Would I buy HotD stuff currently? Its not likely. Not when this series looks like its going to be in eternal limbo. Fun fact: Hentai artist get paid sporadically because what they do is consider "illegal." Those obscenity laws are pretty much a grey area. So at anytime the police can come and arrest you. (Pretty much what happened to megastore) Also the reason why a lot of hentai artist are going mainstream now. They actually get paid and they won't get arrest because the company didn't pay a higher bribe to the cops. Anime is a very touchy subject that I won't get into. But for anyone hoping for the anime to get a second season you better hope the series stays out of limbo. Its the japanese audience the publishers are after not the foreign ones because the japanese audience is willing to fork over thousands of yen on merchandise, dvd sets, bd sets, figs, etc.
DeleteHey any chance you can scan this from the current Dragon Age magazine?
ReplyDeletehttp://yu-sibu.com/goods/images/dragonage1310sL.jpg
Let me see what it is first. I get my magazine in a day or two.
DeleteThanks. From the photo it looks like a fold out pinup.
Deletehttp://blog-imgs-61.fc2.com/y/a/r/yaraon/ii_2013090900411583d.jpg
My Blu-Ray copy of Drifters of the Dead came in today was shipped last week but the free shipping took almost a week, sadly no Triage X 4,5, or Full Color 2. If I get a shipping conformation I'll know they are on the way, but not holding my breath day by day.
ReplyDeleteIf the other 3 come in early I'll send some pictures to Turambar to post up for you guys to see.
Act 30 looks pretty good on the Mac with the release of iBooks which comes with the free Mac OS 10.9 Mavericks. Actually scales really really well to full screen on a 27" iMac screen. A lot more detailed than I would have expected given it was made for a tablet.
ReplyDeleteJust need to get past some of the licensing issues and there is no reason world wide delivery can not be accomplished.
Sure going to make it really easy to just do a high res screen grab.