pinklotus89

[Scanlation] Nakamura Asumiko ~Oeufs D'ange~ (LQ)

2010-03-15T22:52:18Z

Title: Oeufs D'ange (french for Angel's Egg)
Mangaka: Nakamura Asumiko
Rating: G
Quality: LQ

It's a very short but sweet oneshot about an artist and her portrait model

If you have MQ or HQ scans, please contact me, I would love to HQ-nize this piece.

DOWNLOAD:

[Scanlation] Nakamura Asumiko ~Till Dawn~

2010-03-05T03:01:54Z

Title: Till Dawn
Mangaka: Nakamura Asumiko
Rating: G

All I can say is, grab your tissue box!

DOWNLOAD:

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[Scanlation] Status

2010-02-05T01:34:35Z

I thought I own everyone some progress on my scanlation. So where have I been? I took a break from Christmas till the end of January. One major thing happened and it has put a halt on my scanlation. I recently changed to a MAC, soI am still trying to get use to it. But nonetheless, I am still alive. So here are some status on the projects that I am doing:

[Nakamura Asumiko] The Diary About A Girl's Unrequited Love (oneshot)
~ in the process of typesetting

[Nakamura Asumiko] Oeufs D'ange (7 page, full color) * Seeking HQ scans!
~ Finished translating

[Nakamura Asumiko] Till Dawn (7 page, full color)
~ Finished translating just today!
(Very excited about this one!)

[ENO] The Story of Blue Bird pt. II
~ In the late state of QCing

[SCANLATION] Nakamura Asumiko ~ The Bedroom Girl, The Sculpture Room Girl ~

2009-12-15T22:13:55Z

Title: The Bedroom Girl, The Sculpture Room Girl
Managa: Nakamura Asumiko
Rating: G

A story about a girl in her death bed finding another chance in life in the body of a doll. But is the girl in the bedroom the same as the girl in the sculpture room? Can the doll master make her dreams come true?

Download:

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*sigh* I cannot express how much I love these short little oneshot from her. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I had fun editing it.

[SCANLATION] The Teddy Bear Murder Case (HQ)

2009-12-11T22:13:55Z

Many of you may not notice that the previous version's scans were actually digital photos (with many long hours of editing). I was never quite satisfied with the way it turn out, so when the chances of possible HQ scans came up today during one of my searches for new Nakamura stories, I instantly redid them. So I hope you will enjoy this new HQ version.

Download:

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NEWS!!!!!

Expect another short full color Nakamura oneshot probably before X-mas. *squeak* I am so excited about it!

[SCANLATION] Nakamura Asumiko ~ The Teddy Bear Murder Case ~ (FULL COLOR!)

2009-10-27T15:04:17Z

Title: The Teddy Bear Murder Case
Managa: Nakamura Asumiko
Rating: G

4 murders has taken place at an all girl school. Lying beside each of the victim was a teddy bear with one missing limb. Now It is up to Detective Hebizuka Amaru and his cute assistant Kohijiri-kun to solve the mystery.

Include a fun tutorial on how to make glove puppets!!!

This is a joint project with terribletrio. I want to give a big thanks for kepompong for providing the wonderful translation!

Download:

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[scanlation] ENO ~The Story of Blue Bird - (part 1, FULL COLOR!!!)~

2009-10-08T22:13:53Z

Title: The Story of Blue Bird
Managa: ENO.
Rating: G

The story can be confusing because it's so short and the characters look alike (it took me a while to get that it's two stories about this girl and guy told at the same time). But Eno's art is just so pretty that I had to share it. So please enjoy!

Download:

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NEWS

Concerning Before the End by Eno, the mangaka herself have dropped the series due to lack of interest. So for me, it's on a hold. When I have more free time, I might pick it up again. BUT, if there are people that are willing to translate it, then I'll be glad to give you the raws.

[scanlation] ENO ~Before the End - part 1~

2009-06-13T04:34:21Z

A story about basketball

Title: Before the End
Managa: ENO.
Rating: G

There are no real chapters for this story, so I decided to separate them into parts according to the number of pages released by the magazine.

Download:

Mediafire • RapidShare • Badongo • DepositFiles • Megaupload • zSHARE

[TUTORIAL] How to order from Amazon.cn (AMEX card users only)

2009-06-09T03:31:04Z

I made some simple picture to picture tutorial on how to order on amazon.cn internationally. The only restriction is that they ONLY accept American Express Credit Card.

1st, made sure your are you registered on Amazon.cn. If you don't know how, download the simple tutorial: HERE
2nd, after you know what you want to order, download and follow the tutorial: HERE
3rd, International shipping are categorized into two services, 1st: DHL and 2nd: UPS. You can find out about the rates HERE (you can use google translator to translate it to the language of your choice).

I have NEVER ordered from them, so I do no know the quality of their international service. But if you do have some experience from them, please leave a comment to help those that do wish to order from them.

Best regards!

p.s. if you're confused about something, please leave a comment or pm and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

[Scanlation] Rain ~Pieces of You~

2009-05-26T16:16:24Z

A short story filled with the dark truths about adulthood and society. How would you face the reality when you know you are trapped in its cycle and routine?

Title: Pieces of Me
Managa: Rain
Rating: G

Download

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Rain's Gallery

[Artbook] Midnight Inks

[Scanlation] Chiharu Nara ~Plastics~

2009-03-31T13:09:49Z

Because you're a teacher...
Because I'm a student...
Because we are both men...
After one year, or after two years,
Will we still be able
to stay the same way...?

Title: Plastics
Managa: Chiharu Nara
Rating: Mature

MANY <3 to Okaeshi! for the wonderful translation! I couldn't have done it without you.

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[Scanlation] Nakamura Asumiko ~I am a Piano~

2009-02-01T02:49:32Z

After reading this very short one shot, I was so blown away by the story. Nakamura sensei's personifacation of the piano as a cute little girl was true genius. The story follows the girl's journey from one possesor of the piano to another. I loved the ending (the guy was super HOT!) So I hope you guys will like it as well.

DOWNLOAD ME (updated with ver.2)

Thank you lee284 for pointing out a critical mistake! Please switch page 2 and page 6 for the correct sequence.

Many thanks to Ethan for helping me out with the English, I really needed that. ^^;

[Review] artbook - Han Lu ~Bewitchingly Pretty~

2009-01-19T16:57:54Z

Title: 夭色 (Bewitchingly Pretty)
ILLUSTRATOR: 韩露 (Han Lu)
RELEASE DATE: 06/2008 1st Edition
PRICE: 45RMB (6.5USD)
PAGES: 128pg
FORMATE: A4; Softcover
ISBN: 9787540537319

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

art: 3/5
content: 4/5
layout/packaging: 4/5

At first glance, Han Lu's work may look like a spin off of Kaori Yuki's style with the similar coloring style (especially noticeable in the way the clothes and cloth materials are done), thin lips, and even the whole countenance may remind you of sensei's work. I got to admit, her earlier works resembles Yuki-sensei's style so much that it's really hard to tell the difference (especially in her manga). But as I followed her work, I started to see a progression that slowly distinguishes her from sensei. For example, I find a big difference in the way the eyes are drawn, they have this "lazy" look to it. The eye lashes are much more definite. The frame of the face and body are more slim also.

This book contains all her color illustrations for the novel & manga series, Chang An Huan Ye as of the publishing date, so there is nothing new about the images just the fact that it's all collected in one place. At first glance, the whole book was packed with amazing settings, deco, gold and silver jewelery, detailed printed robs, gorgeous characters, the whole package. BUT, as you look closer and after flip through it the 2nd or 3rd time, you might start to notice and say to yourself, "hey! Didn't I just see the same flower or leaf print on the previous page?!" This is where I felt a bit cheated because a lot of patterns are repetitive maybe in different colors or angles. Even though it made the art look better, it felt short on creativity. When I look at it again, the images seem to lost their spark that once drew me to them.

Preview

A smallgallery

[Review] Artbook ~Feng Yu Jiu Tian - Feng Hua Yun Collection~

2009-01-05T20:14:02Z

Title: 《凤于九天设定集——风华云集》 (Feng Yu Jiu Tian - Feng Hua Yun Collection)
ILLUSTRATOR: 王一 (Wang Yi)、碧連天 (Bi Lian Tian)、柳瑋 (Liu Wei)
RELEASE DATE: 2008/06/12 1st Edition
PRICE: 350NT (10USD) - currently out of print from publisher.
PAGES: 96 (64pg in color & 32 pg in b&w)
FORMAT: B5; Softcover
ISBN: 978-986-206-147-3
Shop: Auction site. Even though it's out of print, there are A LOT left over at auctions sites.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

art: 4.5/5
content: 3.5/5
layout/packaging: 2/5

So, what made me want to buy this?

1) Liu Wei
2) A small black and white preview of the character sketches from the ad.

I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I ordered this. All I know is that this is an illustration type of artbook featuring art work done by 3 artist for a novel.

Usually, 96 pages are your avg thickness. However, when I opened the packaged, I was disgusted with the thinness of the book. The paper quality was similar to your avg magazine paper.As I flip through the first section which was done by Liu Wei, I was VERY disappointed at how familiar the images looked because probably over half of them were featured on her first artbook. The rest of the color illust. is done by Bi Lian Tian, whose style is very similar to Liu Wai, but with more bold colors and less details. All this didn't impress me and I started to wonder if I should just rip this book apart and scan it. The middle 10 pages consist of boring interviews and short 4 panel comics. When I was starting to lose hope, something started to shine at the end of the tunnel. The black and white character sketches were different, fresh, and just simply GORGEOUS! The cover and these sketches are drawn by Wang Yi. The custom designs were filled with big over flowing, beautiful print robs, detailed carved armors trimmed with fur or other little accessories. But I just love the way Wang Yi drew the hair and expression, it really brings out their personality.

Preview

Wallpapers are from the publisher's site. The rest are taken by my camera.

[Review] Artbook - THORES Shibamoto Trinity blood Illustrations: Fabrica Theologiae (TW version)

2008-12-24T21:34:45Z

Title: THORES柴本 Trinity blood Illustrations: Fabrica Theologiae
Artist: THORES Shibamoto
Published: 08/16/2008
Publisher: Taiwan Kadokawa Edition
Content: 256 pages in total; 128 pages of color illustrations; 110 pages of blank page; 18 pages intro/title/ending/interview; Hardcover
Price: NT1200 (about 36USD)
ISBN: 9789861747682
SHOP: YesAsia (I can't believe they're charing 100 for the book just because it's based on the market demand price. What a rip off) I got mine from Kingstone Bookstore from Taiwan. They have amazing service and FAST shipping, I got it in less than 4 days!

After years of dreaming about this book and actually holding it in my hand for 3 minutes before I left it at Kinokuniya because the price was like 120, I finally got it yesterday! OMG! I don't think I have ever been so excited and in love with a book. All I have to say is that this is literally the mother, the jewel, the crown of all artbooks!

I am not doing a review about the artbook because you can find it HERE. This is simple a fact sheet on the Taiwanese edition of the artbook compared to the original ver.

There are 3 major differences.

1) There is no cardboard box. (Which I don't mind at all.)

2) The velvet book cover is replaced with a thick hard cover. (Which I don't mind at all, though the texture of velvet is very tempting.)

3) THE PRICE! THE BEST PART OF ALL THIS! It's literally, half the price of the original! If the cardboard and velvet is the additional 40 buckets, then i rather choose the hardcover.

Similarities:

1) The book comes with the same slip case.

2) Same images with the same blank pages on HQ paper (god, the paper...it's really thick)

3) Interview at the end, but it is translated in chinese. (I love this because now I can actually understand what it says!)

4) Limited edition

5) Quality (other than the difference in packaging.)

And that's just about it. If you can get your hands on it, I'll definitely recommend this book to your collection because words can not do this book justice!

My only nip pick about this book is the fact that the size of the book could be bigger. I know A4 is already really big, but when you have Thores Shibamoto's art, A4 is still NOT ENOUGH to show the beautiful of his work. Other than that, these images will fulfill your indulgence and satisfaction!

[Review] Manga - Xia Da ~You Yuan Jing Meng~

2008-12-22T05:31:37Z

TITLE: "You Yuan Jing Meng" - 游园惊梦 (Wandering in the Garden, Waking from a Dream)
artist: Xia Da (夏达 aka April)
SIZE: A4
FORMAT: softcover, full color
Publication date: 07/01/2008
PAGE: 85
PRICE: 24RMB
ISBN: 9787535838858
SHOP: Amazon Cn - currently unavailable.
Web: April's Chinese Blog

OVERALL RATING: 5

art: 5
content: 5
layout: 5

I accidental stumble upon her artwrok on LJ that led me to a link of a short oneshot. After that, I was in awe as I flip through the FULL COLOR pages. Even though I know a good amount of Chinese and understood every word on the pages, none of it made any sense to me. But the drawings was worth a million words. That is one of the reasons why her work attracted me so much because it is able to convey the messages without actually having to read the text. This whole book is inspired from traditional Chinese poems and theater. It contains 5 stories. The way Xia Da arranges each panel of the story with little details like a close up of the character's face (especially the eyes) or hand as it reaches for something breaths life into the story; it's no longer pictures on paper, but in motion. Also, I like the way she colors each background to manifest the tones of each story. There is an elegance in the way each character moves and position themselves.

I listed the titles of each story in the following:

《游园惊梦》 You Yuan Jing Meng

《凤求凰》 Feng Qiu Huang

《蒹葭》 Jian Jia

《阿菁》 A Jing

《茕兔》 Qiong Tu (Alone Rabbit)

In a away, this book is like a collection of art and history. Each remake is a reflection of the artist's view on beauty, war, death, and love.

PREVIEW

Someone had scanned the whole book HERE
Better scan of Feng Qiu Huang HERE

[Review] Artbook - ENO ~Marquee Moon~

2008-12-06T05:58:29Z

TITLE: Marquee Moon
artist: ENO.
SIZE: Close to the size of an avg. magazine
FORMAT: softcover
Publication date: 04.2007
PAGE: 95, full color
PRICE: $28.8 RMB (about 4 USD)
ISBN: 9787531818083
SHOP Amazon.cn
Web: Her Chinese blog w/ a lot of her current work pictures

Overall Rating: 4/5

art: 5/5
content: 4/5
layout: 4/5

This artbook contain a selection of Eno's novel illustrations. The book opens up with a short full color manga, where the calligrapher's work and his dream collides together. Is it reality or is it fantasy? Who's the girl in the lotus pond? Then, Eno takes you into the world of a 19th C. pianist. A dark and sad world. Foulness surrounds the air, little creatures creeps in the dead woods. But time moves on, and so does the pianist and his music as he waits. Then, instantly, the art takes you to a more happier times; a sunny afternoon or a day in the fields. But a nostalgic feeling of loneliness lingered in the character's eyes. After that, Eno changes to a time "As the World Falls Down." A medieval fantasy battle between light and darkness; skulls, man in armors, dark horses, butterflies filled every page with their brilliant colors. Finally, the book enters into a more traditional Chinese world where men drape themselves with many layers of fine silk. Fans, manuscripts, and swords decorated the setting along with the elegance and grace of lotus flowers.

It was "love at first sight" when it comes to this artist. Not only is her style very unique, it's the type of art that connects to me. Her work is beyond beautiful, most of the time, there is something the exact opposite of beauty that takes place side by side her graceful drawings; there is sadness in the eyes and loneliness in the face of people who look like they have waited since forever in a empty world. The additional little details of endless vines and flower (especially lotus) truly brings you into a world where you wonder if this is a reality or a dream. There is a lot of angst in her characters, you probably won't find a smiling face in this book. Yet, it makes the character even more mysterious. I always wanted to know who they're staring at, what are they thinking, who are they waiting for, who are they desiring?

Eno's work is by far the best I have seen among Chinese artists. She brings so much diversity into her art that you simply cannot ever get bored of it. You never know what you might have missed when you look at her work the 2nd or 3rd time.

A Note from Eno.

To me, drawing is a lonely journey in which it makes a person become independent from the rest of the world.

I always try to overcome this type of loneliness.

However, when there is no inspiration, loneliness becomes a beast. It makes the heart even more empty. During times like this, going out to play or see other's work, regardless of writing or photography, it all part of art.

Therefore, let outside excitements transform into a kind of ability. :)

Preview

[Review] Artbook - MOMOCO蛋生 ~Fraust x Egg Age~

2008-11-14T16:11:00Z

TTITLE: Fraust x Egg Age
ARTIST: MOMOCO蛋生 /许佳 (Xu Jia)
FORMATE: A4
PAGES: 96
PRICE: $68.00 RMB (around 10USD)
EXTRA: manga booklet
SHOP: Mail-in order (but if you know a friend or family member in china that have Alipay & can mail it to you, then PM me.)
WEB: Momoco's Chinese Blog

RATING: 4 / 5

A special mail in order artbook. Printed on HQ glossy paper.

The book is filled with beautiful, dark, gothic, CG work. Black leather buckles, detailed Victorian laces, white ruffle dress shirts, long finger nails, luscious hair, rouge full lips, dark eye shadows and everything else dramatic. Colors ranging from sapphire blue to ash gray or from ruby red to sinful black. Her drawings ranges from different mood, emotion, theme, setting, etc. There's a lot of European elements in her work. She like to draw a lot of men with long wavy hair. Her B&W pics are as beautiful as her colored ones, the details are just amazing.

The only flaw about this is the art itself. Some pictures are more refined than others. She could definitely improve on some of her work. such as proportion, perspective, etc. Other than that the quality, layout, and price is very fitting. I can't ask for anything more. It's all there.

Preview: 1st 7 is taking by my camera. The rest is from Momoco's Album.

[Review] Artbook - Feimo ~Wuze~

2008-11-07T21:32:34Z

TITLE: Wuze
artist: Feimo
SIZE: 8" x 11"
FORMAT: softcover
Publication date: 08.2008
PAGE: 60, fullcolor
PRICE: $40(What the artist charge on her DA page)
EXTRA: Include artist's signature
Web: Feimo@DA, Official site

RATING: 3.5/5

This is Feimo's 1st artbook. It includes most of her illustrations. The title "Wuze" means "no choice" (though it doesn't relate to the content of the book at all). The paper quality is average. The package felt rushed because it would have been better if they added extra blank pages in the front or back to signal a beginning and a end. At the same time, it would have been better if they added a dust jacket because that would have made the book more structural (it's very easy to damage the book through shipping without it). But since this is her first artbook, I hope the next one would be better.

The content is neatly organized into two categories. In "Twenty-two Sad Parting Songs", Feimo takes you back in time to a place where beautiful layers of embroidery silk robs, fur and precious stones such as rubies, jade, and even pearls were wrapped around gold or silver to use as decoration. The theme is more traditional Asian style, so most of her character have gorgeous long hair. Like the title, "Demon Seal Letter" this chapter have more rough elements such as chains and swords. The sleek suits, leather belts and jeans, silvery chains, and custom made uniforms all adds a wonderful mix of fantasy and modern flavor to the book.

I found out about Feimo the same time as when I discovered Heise. In my opinion, Feimo's art are most realistic and diverse. For example, her characters have more natural complexions and facial features. At the same time, I think this is where they both can use some work on expression. Going back to Feimo, even though the background look simple, at least she did them herself (other than using stock images). But she makes up for it on other details and texture. I think another fact I like Feimo so much is because she doesn't stick to one framework. You see more variety of character and style in her artwork.

Overall, it's a good artbook. I enjoyed her creations and I hope she will bring more prettiness in the future.

Previews Other than posting pics taken by my camera, I decided to take close shots of the images and make them into walls so it look more presentable. I hope you guys will like it. ^^

[Review] Artbook - Shel's Naruto Fanbook ~Serment and Flame~

2008-11-07T19:32:53Z

TITLE: Serment and Flame
artist: SHEL
SIZE: 8" x 11.5"
FORMAT: A4, Hardcover
Publication date: 2006-07
PAGE: 72
PRICE: $39 (increases each year)
weight: about 2 pound
Web: Shel@DA[, Official site

RATING: 4/5

I was a bit skeptical about getting this artbook because I thought this book was going to be very plain with the high price I am paying. But boy, was I wrong. I never expected to be hardcover, not to mention the HIGH quality paper. First of all, the beautiful cover had certain areas laminated, so it creates a very cool effect for the beholder. When you flip through the book, you instantly notice the thickness of the paper. This is definitely the most HQ paper I have ever seen, it's even more HQ than Japanese artbooks (maybe twice or triple the thickness). Now, let's move on to the heart of this book.

The content was where I felt a bit disappointed, hence, the 4/5 rating. The chapters were categorized by character, pairs, groups, etc. There were a good amount of two spread page. Since the artbook was bind like a book, you can clearly see the 2 page images. But content wise, I was expecting something more from Shel. However most of the images in the book can be found around the web. Actually, most of you probably have seen them all, just smaller in size. At the same time, some of the images can also be found in her other two artbooks (Wind & Clover and Far Beyond the Sky). The images were nice and that's all there is.

On the side note, the publisher rated the content NC-17, which is totally off the mark because there were hardly any nudity or kiss (the lips never touched).

Overall, if you like Shel's work or Naruto, then this artbook/fanbook makes a great collectible item. But if you're new to both of them, this book still takes your breath away when you open the package.

Previews (sorry about the quality. Last two were found online)

[Review] Artbook - Ling Xi's Illustration Collection ~The Flying Feather~

2008-01-15T15:12:25Z

TITLE: The Flying Feather
artist: Ling Xi
ISBN: 9787531818625
FORMAT: A4, Softcover
PUBLISHER: Comicfans
Publication date: 2007-07
PAGE: 95
PRICE: 28.8 RMB (about $4)
WEB: Ling Xi's Chinese Blog

Overall rating: 3.5
Ling Xi's Illustration Collection ~The Flying Feather~

Her style reminded me of a little bit of Oki MamiyaxClamp+a touch of chinese culture because in her characters, they wear a lot of traditional clothings from different cultures. In addition, some of her work contain a lot of textures and fine details on hair pieces and clothing. I didn't like it at first, but once I saw the amout of little details (lacy, fur, gold accessories, even hair strans), I started to appreciate her works. There were some pictures that even reminded me of Amano Yoshitaka's style.

Testing, Testing.

2006-05-23T21:30:40Z

Just signed up today here. LJ seem pretty cool. Trying to figure out layouts right now. *sigh* I am never good with these graphics. It's driving me crazy. Using pics from Trinity for it. It's ironic how I don't know her name. But she is just so pretty. A must check out manga and the art book is so amazing! I wish i have it. It's around $150 USD. But it's limited edition, leather cover, HQ paper, etc. *sigh* But I got the scans from other forums, so I am ok now. But I would love to get the artbook when I get some cash. So moving on to testing the layouts.