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- May 29, 2012
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Hi everyone! As Zeph is busy this week, I'm conducting the interview.
This week, I decided to interview Rhino36, leader of #dropout.
Without further ado, enjoy the interview!
If you have any questions for @Rhino36, please ask below!
This week, I decided to interview Rhino36, leader of #dropout.
Without further ado, enjoy the interview!
Ok, to start: Please tell us a little bit about yourself and why you decided to become a scanlator.
I'm Rhino, I am "de facto group leader" (mostly the clerical stuff) for #dropout (the hashmark is silent.) I mainly clean, typeset and bug the other members from my group (or even other groups) to get back to work.
I initially joined the IRC channel close to the beginning (when staff related stuff was still on the IRC channel) just to ask if Gabriel Dropout was going to be uploaded on Batoto. Then I became the person that uploaded the chapters on batoto (a publisher, so to speak?) A few weeks (months?) after I joined, the translator, Osakanon, asked if someone on the channel wanted to do Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro. I had already read the first few chapters and was wondering when new chapters would be uploaded. I took the opportunity and tried my hand at it. With hindsight, the work I did on it is completely terrible, even for a first timer, but I had not really read any guides or had any help from other cleaners/typesetters/redrawers, so this is all instinctual. I think I'll redo the typesetting and have it redrawn by dakka later down the line.
What do you like about scanlation the most and the least?
What I hate the most is redrawing. I'm not good at it and I think it's just frustrating to do. Thankfully, the main redrawer on our group (Dakka) loves it, and he's very good, so I (and the whole group) feel very blessed by his presence. I think the moment I like the most in scanlating is actually dumping the finished chapter online (on our site, on /a/ and on mangadex), so everyone can finally read what we've worked hard on.
If you could be a character in a manga, who would you be and why?
A few people that have seen my actual picture have noted that I look like a male version of Chio-chan, so probably her. Other than her, maybe Takeda Harumi from "Senpai ga Urusai Kouhai no Hanashi" because I'd like to have a cute younger coworker and not coworkers that keep humming and whistling 'till I want to rip the brain out of my skull.
What are your opinions of readers in general? (e.g. are they generally supportive, or not, etc)
I believe they're generally grateful and like the work we do in terms of scanlating. What the authors do with their work, NOW that's another story. People like most of our series, but I think some people have trouble with Hatsukoi Zombie and Tomo-chan in the way the plot develops. With Tomo, I think the most recent chapters fixed most of the complaints, but the interminable hiatuses don't help Fumita's case.
Do you think there are differences between MD readers, reddit readers and /a/ readers?
I don't go on reddit, but they certainly know what I think of the site and the audience, so lets keep it at that. Now, for /a/ and MDex readers. I think the audience overlaps quite a lot, but the main differences is in the comments. People on MDex have a name attached to their account, so I feel like they're more courteous, but on the other hand, anons on /a/ are way more honest and will tell you if they think something is wrong with your release (mistranslation, shoddy page work, etc.) Of course, if you're thin skinned, you might just keep to the MDex comment section, but you might never improve. Without /a/ complaining about my early work, I probably would've never improved from the work I did almost 2 years ago.
Which other scanlation group do you like the most and why?
I think I connect with Helvetica the most because they too know the struggle of daily 4-koma manga like Kyuu-chan and MosouTele. Cure helped me a bunch with Tomo-chan. Also, _anq is my idol (and I think I can speak for a bunch of people) because he releases daily. I wish I had a translator this prolific (*wink wink*)
Which other scanlation group do you like the least and why?
Any group that overuse watermarks (I'm reading Mahou Shoujo of the End right now and I wanna rip the face of whoever thought it was a good idea to put this shitty watermark everywhere.) and I've not picked up stuff based on these watermark, like Fujimoto Tatsuki's Chainsaw Man. Also, groups that beg for money directly on the pages. I can give a pass to a mention in the credit page, but keep it off the manga. It's disrespectful to both the mangaka/author and the readers.
I notice that you have a shop selling merchandise. What is your opinion on making money as a scanlation group?
Ah yes, our merch shop. The merch shop came about because I was trying to find way to get funds to rip manga ourselves instead of relying on often subpar and sometimes hard to find public raws. I think asking straight up for money donations is terrible, especially since we're operating in a legal grey area, not to say illegal. Scanlating is a hobby. If you're in it for the money, just go pro. Begging for money in the manga pages, like I mentionned earlier, is disrespectful. The reason for the merch shop is that while you still donate to us, you get something in return other than manga. Sure, we might get way less donations that way, but the people that donate to us get an actual tangible thing in return. And other than a sticky on our site (and this mention here), I think we only mentionned the shop in one or two releases, so we're not jumping into people's asshole for their money. We'll probably have more designs in the next months, so keep an eye open. Also, if you're a lady and have our shirt, pm me dem pics.
If you could change one thing about the scanlation community in general, what would it be?
I wish some people had more pride in their work. I sometime see releases that are really bad and taking the effort to at least center the bubbles wouldn't even take that long. It's one thing for a first time typesetter or cleaner (IE look at Chio-chan ch5, my first release), but some people have been around for a while and simply don't give a shit and that doesn't make me want to read what they work on.
Also, I wish some people would grow a thicker skin. If people tell you your release suck, maybe there's actually something wrong with it. Go work on that rather than throwing a fit and threatening to stop a series or scanlation at all.
Is there anything else you want the readers to know about you and/or your group?
We are still looking for more staff, especially translators so we can catch up on our backlog. Just message us on Mangadex or on IRC (#dropout on rizon network)
Lastly, if you had to choose one manga to recommend to everyone reading this interview, what would it be and why?
It might sound a bit uncharacteristic on account of the series we work on, but I like horror manga a lot, so if you like horror manga like me, go look up "Shibito no Koe wo Kiku ga Yoi". It's about a guy that sees ghosts and evil spirits and his childhood lady friend's ghost suddenly starts following him. It's got a bit of humour and a lot of creepy stuff, so if you like this stuff, check it out.
Additional questions from the MD staff!
What would your ideal girlfriend be like? (Plyk)
Mix of Aizawa Tomo and Tainaka Ritsu.
How did it feel getting sniped so often? (Lymus)
I'm still pissed off about Kaguya. I've not read it since JB sniped us. Though, it wasn't a fruitless journey since that was the period when Dakka joined us.
OK, so I have mixed feelings about sniping. I wouldn't say there's a clean cutoff point to where sniping is acceptable, but if a group that releases timely, quality scans gets sniped just in spite or cause the other group sees dollar signs, it sucks really hard. From my experience, when a group gets sniped, internal tensions can rise really high. Some people lose motivation and that doesn't sit well with people that have a knife between their teeth and want to beat the other group. On the other hand, if you're not a newcomer and do a sloppy job and someone makes it their mission to do a better release, it sucks for you, but the community benefits from it. If you don't release a thing for a while (I'd say 6 months), it's just free for all. You don't own the rights and "honor among thieves" doesn't apply.
If you could destroy one manga from recorded history, what would it be and why? (Zeph)
Jojo, because it sucks. I don't understand anyone that says they enjoy it.
You're a shounen protagonist. What is your catch phrase, your goal, and the name of your signature attack? (Zeph)
I'm not really fond of battle shounen, and I'm not a particularly creative guy, so I don't think about this stuff much.
If you have any questions for @Rhino36, please ask below!
