UKA, pg.22-36

Now, finally, I present to you all the conclusion of volume 1 of the "Uchuu Kaizoku Akogingu" manga. Ta-da! First off, I would like to give my thanks to Sarahsuke and Seppukumaru for their invaluable help with translating what I couldn't (and there was quite a bit). Also, I want to apologize, as usual, for the lateness. I've been quite busy with school and everything else.

Speaking of school, I'm in the last week of classes currently. Just a few more days, and then exams, and then I'll be without a scanner until the end of August. So don't expect another batch of translations before then.

Another birthday!

Holy crap, I've done it again!

I decided that, since I already wrote a story for her sister's birthday, it would be only fair if I wrote one for the awesome and talented Seppukumaru as well. Not to mention she's been a huge help with translations, and I look forward to continuing to work with her in the future. So, happy birthday, I know it's not even close to my best, but I hope you enjoy it anyway and I'd be more than happy to rewrite it at a later date if you'd like. Enjoy, everybody (especially Seppukumaru), and let me know what you think/where I can improve.

UKA, pg.4-21

Click here.

Remember back in October, when I said that I would be translating a non-game Goemon thing? Well, I haven't made any progress since that very little bit back then. So I figured, since it seems like progress is unbearable slow, and I'm likely to forget some of the finer points I've learned since then, and I've got a lot more free time on my hands than I usually do (at least, I hope I do), I might as well show you guys what I've got so far, which is much less than I was hoping to show you guys with the first batch.

So, for those of you who weren't able to figure it out earlier, I've decided to translate the "Uchuu Kaizoku Akogingu" manga. Pages 4-20 have been scanned into the folder. Why did I rescan them? Er, I'm not really sure about that...After all, higher quality scans are available here.

But, the more important item in that folder is the txt file. It contains translations for character dialog (sorry, no sound effects). Every time you see a "---", that indicates the end of a panel. I hope I didn't make any mistakes with that...If you see more than one "---" in a row, that means that there's at least one panel with no translated dialog (again, I didn't do any sound effects).

Lastly, I wanted to give all of you good people an opportunity to help me out. If anybody wants to go ahead and edit the images (either the ones I provided or the one from the link above) so that the English text is in the word bubbles, it would be greatly appreciated. I think that would be an easier format to follow than a bunch of pictures and a txt file. Thanks guys!

Want to be informed about these things sooner? Then join the Goemon International forum. I'll always post new updates there first.

Another fanfic done

This is actually a week late (as are many of my posts), but I finally "finished" my second major Goemon fanfic, "A Promise Worth Keeping". Why the quotes? Well, if reader and author interest are high enough(and at this point, they're apparently not), I may write an epilogue to describe what happens after the end.

But anyway, some stats for you:

Title: A Promise Worth Keeping
Total Words: 43951 (including Author's Notes)
Chapters: 17
Average number of words/chapter: 2585
Pages: Approximately 97.5 using the program AppleWorks 6, 12 pt. Times New Roman font, and single space.

As for this one...well, some of it I liked and some of it I didn't, to be honest. Romance is tough for me.

First set of manga scans

So, some of you know about this already, but...

I managed to get a copy of a Goemon manga a while back: "Uchu Kaizoku Akogingu" ("The Space Pirate Akogingu"). You can find most of the pages here. However, you may notice that the last two sections are missing, and that's where I come in. I scanned in those last two sections, and put them in a zip file here.

I would've gotten them up sooner, but school and other things came up that I felt were much more important. Some of these scans are REALLY poor quality, and for that I apologize. However, you should be able to see the pictures clearly (and really, I think that's what most people are looking for). If, however, you want to know what's being said, ask me privately through a note, e-mail, or IM, making sure to reference the specific page number. The dialog towards the center are the main ones that are difficult to read. Please note that I will NOT be translating anything in these scans; such requests will be ignored. All I will do is provide you with what the characters are saying, in romaji. And keep in mind, once again, that I won't be able to rescan anything until the middle of January. You're stuck with these crappy scans until then.

All right, that's it, everybody. Happy holidays!

Mononoke Sugoroku

I've got something for all of you that I think you'll like. I managed to snag a copy of Ganbare Goemon: Mononoke Sugoroku for the N64, a Japanese-exclusive game. I got it a few weeks ago, but something came up in my personal life that kept me from scanning the manual for quite a while. Anyway, now that things have finally been taken care of, I was able to scan the manual and upload a zip file to Megaupload. You can find the file here. Please pardon the lopsided pages and excessive blank space that came about as a result. If you'd like me to rescan, let me know by December.

I can't wait to try this game in a month and a half...

Ganbare Goemon in English Not Game

Yes, the bad English is deliberate. It's following something the makers of Ace Attorney (or "Gyakuten Saiban", as it's known in Japan) did recently.

Anyway, I was planning to make this announcement tomorrow or the next day, but since I'm feeling better now then I thought I originally thought I would, I'll just go ahead and let the cat out of the bag a couple days early. I'm pretty sure I've decided what Japanese Goemon-related...thing I'm going to translate next, and as the title suggests, it's not a game. Those of you who know me well outside of DeviantART will probably be able to guess what it is, but I don't want to say exactly what I'm planning so as not to raise hopes unnecessarily. And don't worry, I promise you it's not a musical featuring our favorite mystical ninjas.

By the way, for those of you who are wondering what the heck I'm talking about when I make the references to "Gyakuten Saiban Not Game" or musicals, you can look at the first news item here and at this page (Japanese language support is recommended.)

They say it's your birthday!

When I write fanfiction, I usually have a rule that I only work on one at a time. This way, I can stay focused and make sure it gets done before moving on to something else, plus I don't have to think about a bunch of different fics on top of what my hectic real life. Well, they say rules are meant to be broken.

But I've got a good reason for that. I noticed a while ago that the birthday of a good friend in the Goemon fandom was fast approaching, so I halted production on the one I was working on at the time to write up something to celebrate the special occasion and show my gratitude. This is the result.

So, happy birthday, RandomS! It took me forever to come up with the story, and it ended up being the longest chapter of any fic I've ever written thus far, but I hope you like it anyway.

GG4 - Omitsu

Ganbare Goemon 4 (English) - Omitsu

And now, I present to you, the good people of the Interweb, the very strange Omitsu scene from Ganbare Goemon 4. Released on July 23, 2008, this video actually took several months to make. Finally, it's here for your viewing pleasure, as is the full script and a (hopefully) brief commentary. Here goes.

Goemon: Omitsu!
Omitsu: Goemon, it’s been a long time, hasn’t it?
Goemon: Omitsu, what are you doing here?
Omitsu: I missed you, Goemon. Say, do you like me?
Goemon: I like you!
Omitsu: It’s true! Say, do you like tanukis?
Goemon: I like tanuki udon.
Omitsu: My soft cheeks are much more delicious than any udon. Mm-hm!
Goemon: Omi-Omi-- Oh my...Dehehehe...
Goemon: Unn...huh? Where am I?
---
Goemon: Omitsu, what are you doing here?
Omitsu: I missed you, Goemon. Say, do you like me?
Goemon: I like you!
Omitsu: It’s true! Say, do you like tanukis?
Goemon: I like the goal tanuki.
Omitsu: Good! I’m glad! W-Wait, no, I’m not glad...So, why do you like it so much?
Goemon: I want the money from him.
Omitsu: Well, for the right price, my soft cheeks are very, very good.
Goemon: Dehe, dehe, dehehehe...
---
Goemon: Omitsu, what are you doing here?
Omitsu: I missed you, Goemon. Say, do you like me?
Goemon: I like you!
Omitsu: It’s true! Say, do you like tanukis?
Goemon: I like the goal tanuki.
Omitsu: Good! I’m glad! W-Wait, no, I’m not glad...So, why do you like it so much?
Goemon: Because I want to proceed.
Omitsu: Being away from you and all your encouragement would be bad. So, after this, we will be together forever.
Goemon: Ah, Omitsu, don’t go! Don’t go, don’t go...Ah!
---
Goemon: Omitsu, what are you doing here?
Omitsu: I missed you, Goemon. Say, do you like me?
Goemon: I hate you!
Omitsu: You’re so awful! You like Yae more than me!
Goemon: That kind of talk can’t possibly be true!
Omitsu: Yeah, you’re right...Say, do you like tanukis?
Goemon: I like tanuki udon.
Omitsu: My soft cheeks are much more delicious than any udon. Mm-hmm!
Goemon: Omi-Omi-- Oh my...Dehehehe...
---
Goemon: Omitsu, what are you doing here?
Omitsu: I missed you, Goemon. Say, do you like me?
Goemon: I hate you!
Omitsu: You’re so awful! You like Yae more than me!
Goemon: What the hell are you talking about?! Can’t you see that’s ridiculous?!
Omitsu: Well, do you suppose anybody is as charming as li’l old me?
Goemon: Ah! A smelly tanuki!
Omitsu: I’m shocked! (Gasp!) Oof...
Goemon: Eh? You’re kidding, right, Omitsu? You can’t die! Quit messing around and open your eyes! OMITSUUUU!
---
Omitsu: You’re so awful! You like Yae more than me!
Goemon: What the hell are you talking about?! Can’t you see that’s ridiculous?!
Omitsu: Say, do you suppose anybody is as charming as li’l old me?
Goemon: Eh? “Li’l old me?”
Omitsu: Ah, ha ha! No, no...I said “olé.” You know, like in soccer.
Goemon: You know, I’m pretty good at soccer.
Omitsu: It’s true! Say, do you like tanukis?
---
Omitsu: Ah, ha ha! No, no...I said “olé.” You know, like in soccer.
Goemon: That’s strange...
Omitsu: I’m telling you, I’m not a tanuki! Please believe me!
Goemon: Prove it!
Tanukichi: But my tail and my ass may be a bit too much proof for you! *Lick*
Goemon: N-Nose...bleed...oof! Pfft...
---
Omitsu: Ah, ha ha! No, no...I said “olé.” You know, like in soccer.
Goemon: That’s strange...
Omitsu: I’m telling you, I’m not a tanuki! Please believe me!
Goemon: You are a tanuki!
Tanukichi: Pon-poko-pon! You’re absolutely correct! One more thing before the end, though...The happiness of a dream world, or the cruelty of the real world...If you had the choice, which would you prefer?
Goemon: Dream world.
Tanukichi: Of course you would! Everything will be just like a good dream. Pon-poko pon-poko...
Goemon: Unn...
---
Omitsu: I’m telling you, I’m not a tanuki! Please believe me!
Goemon: You are a tanuki!
Tanukichi: Pon-poko-pon! You’re absolutely correct! One more thing before the end, though...The happiness of a dream world, or the cruelty of the real world...If you had the choice, which would you prefer?
Goemon: Real world.
Tanukichi: Excellent! Well said! You are a splendid fellow in this day and age, aren’t you? You were pleased with the way your life was. I will undo this town’s jutsu for you.
Goemon: Hoo hoo hoo! It’s obvious! You should always be scared when dealing with the Great Goemon!

Yes, it's long, but let me just say a few things about the format. The video itself is divided into "takes", with each take being a separate attempt by Goemon to get past Omitsu. Each of the "---"s in the script denotes the end of a take. Also, there were lots of repeats in the actual video footage. In order to save time and my computer's RAM, I decided to cut out some of these repeats. If I remember correctly, only one of them has the end of the dialog cut out, while most of them have the early dialog and the part where Goemon wakes up in the middle of the desert cut out. Hopefully, this isn't too confusing. Please note that the script as it is seen here is as it is in the actual video, all cuts included. Now, onto the "good stuff."

First of all, it's probably worth mentioning that this is the first scene that was translated without the help of a native speaker. This was translated almost entirely by Sarahsuke and me. With that being said, the likelihood of translation errors is pretty high. I don't know if I'll eventually have my grandmother check this for accuracy or not.

Now then, anybody who wants to read up on tanukis can go here. Now that that's out of the way, let's look at the actual scene.

The tanuki's tactics are simple. Seduce Goemon to cloud his mind and make sure he doesn't get past, so the town could remain under its spell. Omitsu seemed like the best person for the job. Why not Yae? Well, the most obvious reason is that she's currently on a different moon, and it's not really conceivable that she would halt her mission to see Goemon about this (please, let's not discuss how inconceivable it would be for Omitsu to fly to another planet). Another reason is that Yae has never once expressed any romantic interest in Goemon. But has Omitsu? Well, chances are, yes, even in the games. Keep in mind how many times Goemon has saved her. Also, she's clearly on his mind a lot. The whole reason for him going on the quest in Goemon Gaiden 2 is so that he could get enough money to take her on a lavish date. Also note that "Omitsu" accused him of liking Yae more than her, and he denies it either way.

One of the most challenging issues I've come across so far was in this scene, and was largely responsible for the delay in translation. The problem was first person personal pronouns. Though English has only one that I know of that could work in this situation ("me"), Japanese has a bunch ("watakushi", "watashi", "boku", "atai", and "ore", to list a few), with varying degrees of politeness and even ones that are used more by one gender than another. Whereas Omitsu usually uses the second one, she ends up using the fifth one (pronounced "o-ray") in this case. If you look back at the script, I'm looking specifically at where she says "Well, do you suppose anybody is as charming as li’l old me?". "Li'l old me" was a contribution from Sarahsuke, and I'm glad she suggested it because it works better than anything I've been able to come up with since. So, rather than making her speech rougher than usual, she speaks more politely (making her a Southern belle, of sorts). This also works out nicely when she starts to lose it and claims she actually said "olé" (which does sound quite a bit like the Japanese word "ore"). That part of the translation didn't have to change.

The "Pon-poko" stuff is a sound that's typically associated with tanukis. Specifically, it refers to a drumming sound (probably drumming on their large stomachs), and those two "words" are repeated as much as needed. With that being said, in retrospect, it might not have been such a good idea to have him say "Pon-poko-pon"...

Remember, if you will, that the screwy town where Goemon finds this tanuki includes a chapel where he's apparently getting married to Omitsu, and another house where they're holding a funeral for Ebisumaru (I'm not sure if I mentioned this...EBISUMARU, NOOOOOO!!!). If this is the "dream world" that the tanuki mentions, the one that promises "happiness," does that mean that Goemon's dream world is one where Ebisumaru is dead? Holy crap, I hope not!

Well, that's about it, I guess. Hope you guys enjoyed learning about Ganbare Goemon 4. It's a great game.

So, is there anything else coming? Well...I'm not quite sure. The tentative answer is yes, but it'll probably be a while before you see anything of that. I just started the fall semester, and I still have no idea how difficult it's gonna be. On top of that, I might have to look for a new emulator (since I'm moving to a game on a different system, and the one I have now can't record video). As I often say, we'll see.

Announcing...Goemon fanfic #2

This news is a bit late, but almost a year after starting my last fic, I've finally overcome my writer's block (with a little help from Sarahsuke, of course) and started working on my next one. It's called "A Promise Worth Keeping" (another strange title, I know), and the first chapter was published on July 22, 2008. As of this writing, 3 chapters have been uploaded, and the 4th one is a little less than halfway done.

The main focus of this story is on the relationship of Goemon and Omitsu, childhood friends from the first day she moved to Oedo Town and they made a fateful promise to each other (yes, the one that's alluded to in the title). Although Omitsu is far from my favorite character, I still feel like she's unfairly criticized and horribly underrated; thus, I feel it's my duty as a just "artist" of sorts to shine some much-needed positive light on her.

Anyway, it also involves Bismaru the cross-dresser, and if you're patient, Jurokubei himself may make an appearance. I'm not planning on having any major OCs in this story, nor is it going to be as long or epic as AVD. However, I will be attempting to portray characters that are more "real" and easy to relate to, hopefully redeeming myself for any OOC-type behavior that was in AVD.

Enjoy the story! Feedback of any kind (as long as it's comprehensible and at least somewhat helpful...tell me specifically what you liked or didn't like!) is greatly appreciated, as always.