BILLY BAT

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What happened? Why did this pop up on the latest uploads list? Did an extra get added or something?!?
I know hahanaho already responded but I just wanted to affirm that response, yes, I'm working on a new translation. It will take some time still, as I'm doing everything solo (save some private rounds of proofreading), but I just wanted to provide an updated English version for fans with more consistency in the quality and format. 😊 Vols 1-4 have been uploaded, and I'm making steady progress with volume 5.
 
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I know hahanaho already responded but I just wanted to affirm that response, yes, I'm working on a new translation. It will take some time still, as I'm doing everything solo (save some private rounds of proofreading), but I just wanted to provide an updated English version for fans with more consistency in the quality and format. 😊 Vols 1-4 have been uploaded, and I'm making steady progress with volume 5.
Godspeed, and don't fuck it up. :salute:
 
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Where did the rest of the chapters go ??!!!! I was reading it yesterday and everything seemed ok but now it only shows until Ch45
 
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Where did the rest of the chapters go ??!!!! I was reading it yesterday and everything seemed ok but now it only shows until Ch45
That's... Really weird. It must be an issue with Mangadex all of a sudden? Even chapters 2-9 of my scanlation are gone all of a sudden. I'm not super familiar with this site so idk if there's someone we can contact about this...
 
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Checked reddit, looks like there was a DMCA takedown?? Lmao. Idk why (most) of my chapters stayed up though. 🤔

EDIT to avoid triple-posting: My chapters likely stayed up because I've been resizing my pages to be printed on an A5 size format. This is a decision I made after I initially uploaded Chs. 2-9 (Why ch. 1 didn't get initially uploaded, idk). Since the aspect ratio for A5 is slightly wider than the original pages, it's possible the new aspect ratio avoided whatever algorithm struck down the other chapters. I'll get Chs. 2-9 re-uploaded today. Sorry I don't have more done yet! 😭
 
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Checked reddit, looks like there was a DMCA takedown?? Lmao. Idk why (most) of my chapters stayed up though. 🤔

EDIT to avoid triple-posting: My chapters likely stayed up because I've been resizing my pages to be printed on an A5 size format. This is a decision I made after I initially uploaded Chs. 2-9 (Why ch. 1 didn't get initially uploaded, idk). Since the aspect ratio for A5 is slightly wider than the original pages, it's possible the new aspect ratio avoided whatever algorithm struck down the other chapters. I'll get Chs. 2-9 re-uploaded today. Sorry I don't have more done yet! 😭

Thats a good hypothesis on the print size not being detected but probably MD knows the story in detail based on w/e letter they received. Sucks but what can you do.

Glad that BB didn't get taken down, yet it sucks even more b/c while other Naoki works are licensed by viz they only have the print one as he didn't like digital at the time and now has embraced it for a few years in japan (said it in an interview/in one of his yt vids not sure which one)... viz get the digital license already and definitely billy bat too while you're at it, I want it in print next to my other Naoki books
 
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Thats a good hypothesis on the print size not being detected but probably MD knows the story in detail based on w/e letter they received. Sucks but what can you do.

Glad that BB didn't get taken down, yet it sucks even more b/c while other Naoki works are licensed by viz they only have the print one as he didn't like digital at the time and now has embraced it for a few years in japan (said it in an interview/in one of his yt vids not sure which one)... viz get the digital license already and definitely billy bat too while you're at it, I want it in print next to my other Naoki books
MD knows the story in detail...
What do you mean?

Glad BB didn't get taken down...
Well I mean, it did, only my chapters survived bc of the technicality I'm pretty sure.

I really doubt BB will ever be licensed for release in the States because of certain aspects of the story. I feel like they'd end up censoring it which would be even worse than never releasing it. I'd love for them to prove me wrong, though! Until then, I'm happy to continue translating it myself and making it more accessible to an English speaking audience. :)
 
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The manga got nuked, but I managed to read it somewhere, peak manga.
 
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I have all files related to this project backed up on my hard drive and cloud storage, so if it comes to that, that'll always be an option.
Hello there! You are doing god’s work with your translations, would it be possible to send a torrent my way? On the website it only goes up to chapter 53? Unless I’ve got that wrong. Thank you anyway!
 
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Hello there! You are doing god’s work with your translations, would it be possible to send a torrent my way? On the website it only goes up to chapter 53? Unless I’ve got that wrong. Thank you anyway!
Hey! Thank you so much. It is true that I only have the first 6 volumes translated. I took a bit of a hiatus bc of life stuff but I'm hoping to resume later this month, or sometime in August for sure.

If you want I can drop the invite to the discord server I recently made. It's read-only but I'll be posting updates and such!
 
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Hey! Thank you so much. It is true that I only have the first 6 volumes translated. I took a bit of a hiatus bc of life stuff but I'm hoping to resume later this month, or sometime in August for sure.

If you want I can drop the invite to the discord server I recently made. It's read-only but I'll be posting updates and such!
Totally understand that! Yes an invite would be great! Thank you very much!
 
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Totally understand that! Yes an invite would be great! Thank you very much!
Hell yeah! Here's the invite. It shouldn't expire, anyone's free to join. The Google Drive link can also be found in the server, which I'm keeping updated along with MangaDex in case my translation also gets taken down here.
 
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Everyone,

I just received news that Urasawa and Nagasaki will be releasing Billy Bat in English, starting next year. Source: https://www.comicsbeat.com/exclusive-kana-release-naoki-urasawa-takashi-nagasaki-billy-bat-english/

As such I will be suspending this project indefinitely. It was very time consuming, but part of the motivation was the lack of an official or otherwise quality version of the manga in English. I will resume this project, however, if the official translation comes out and it appears to be censored or otherwise unsatisfactorily localized in my own opinion. However, I don't anticipate this. Please support the official release of this localization next year when it's available.

There is a slim chance I will continue translating anyways until the official version's release catches up with me, because I do quite enjoy doing this. But as my life gets busier, the news of this official release definitely knocks the priority of this down several pegs. I hope you understand.
 
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Upon further investigation and consideration, this Kana release will only get to volume 7 (the volume I'm currently working on) in 2028. So maybe this news doesn't change my priorities. Either way, y'all will know when I continue working on this, because volume 7 will be uploaded. :p
 
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The official release will be AI slop + heavy censorship. I hope I will be wrong.
 
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The official release will be AI slop + heavy censorship. I hope I will be wrong.
I hope so too. Does Kana have a history with using AI in their translation jobs? I'm assuming that's what you mean. I'm gonna be getting volume 1 for sure and reading it to see how I feel about the localization. Maybe I'll even break down my thoughts here if I have anything substantial to say.
 
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I see now the translator is listed on the Abrams website (maybe it was before and I just didn't see it) - it's Kristi Iwashiro. This is great to see! I'm unfamiliar with her work but it does bring some peace of mind knowing that there's a real human's name attached to the localization.

I also went ahead and pre ordered the first volume on Abrams's website. You should too!
 

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