Bokurano - Mohiro Kitoh-san's latest manga series

[tsurumaru]

Originally Posted by Quarkboy

Aha, I think maybe Kitoh's pulling another... Hoshimaru on us. He who seems to be controlling is not ACTUALLY controlling. No? That might explain the chair, anyway.

Yeah I forget the name of the character but after saying she doesn't feel like she is controlling it we get a cut scene to a specific guy, which also seemed odd. However unless Zearth can suddenly change the pilot how would Maki have thought she was the next pilot, I thought the pilots were supposed to "hear a voice in their heads" or something.

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by tsurumaru

Yeah I forget the name of the character but after saying she doesn't feel like she is controlling it we get a cut scene to a specific guy, which also seemed odd. However unless Zearth can suddenly change the pilot how would Maki have thought she was the next pilot, I thought the pilots were supposed to "hear a voice in their heads" or something.

The voice in their heads might be nothing more than Dung Beetle or the mysterious leader... it might be seperate from the actual control system.

Perhaps it has something to do with Maki being adopted too... Adoption = Real parents out there somewhere = plot twists. But now I'm stretching it.

[TronDD]

Originally Posted by Quarkboy

Aha, I think maybe Kitoh's pulling another...

Spoiler:

Hoshimaru on us. He who seems to be controlling is not ACTUALLY controlling. No?

NNNNNOOOOO!!!! Did you just spoil something for me?

I hope I've forgoten about it by the time Darkhorse gets around to finish that series.

[tsurumaru]

Originally Posted by TronDD

NNNNNOOOOO!!!! Did you just spoil something for me?

I hope I've forgoten about it by the time Darkhorse gets around to finish that series.

I really think Darkhorse are going to struggle to release Volumes 10-12 in an unbutchered form..... in fact theres probably on e bit in Volume 8 that will get the chop. No such problems with the Russia arc in Volume 9 though so enjoy Shiinas Dad's adventures.

[Diedrupo]

didn't Darkhorse basically drop Narutaru? Yeah vol 6 came out, but it was like 1 volume in 1 year, I think it's no more.

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by Diedrupo

didn't Darkhorse basically drop Narutaru? Yeah vol 6 came out, but it was like 1 volume in 1 year, I think it's no more.

Volume 7 seems to be available on amazon.com, published this january.

As I posted in the Narutaru thread, super manga blast just ended, and from what I could glean off of dark horse's forums, its future is uncertain (with a leaning towards disappearing).

[stpehen]

Unsurprisingly, Chapter 28 has some massive developments.

Spoiler:

The "enemy" is finally revealed: each robot they have fought is full of humans from an Earth on an alternate worldline/parallel universe. This is apparently to help "weed out" future Earth possibilities. This actually prompts many more questions than it answers at this point. Who/what is actually in charge of this system, capable of totally eradicating parallel universes (though this question has been present since the beginning)? If the story holds the multiverse theory to be true, why would it be necessary for alternate universes to compete, when all possible realities exist already? Why this particular style of combat? Why only 15 pilots at a time? There are surely more than 16 universes duking it out here, etc.

This time our crew was apparently the "visiting" team, hence the unfamiliar jet they were under attack by. Maki wins, of course, Kirie is the new pilot. His first words are "I don't think I can do this..." End of chapter.

[tsurumaru]

Originally Posted by stpehen

Unsurprisingly, Chapter 28 has some massive developments.

Spoiler:

The "enemy" is finally revealed: each robot they have fought is full of humans from an Earth on an alternate worldline/parallel universe. This is apparently to help "weed out" future Earth possibilities. This actually prompts many more questions than it answers at this point. Who/what is actually in charge of this system, capable of totally eradicating parallel universes (though this question has been present since the beginning)? If the story holds the multiverse theory to be true, why would it be necessary for alternate universes to compete, when all possible realities exist already? Why this particular style of combat? Why only 15 pilots at a time? There are surely more than 16 universes duking it out here, etc.

This time our crew was apparently the "visiting" team, hence the unfamiliar jet they were under attack by. Maki wins, of course, Kirie is the new pilot. His first words are "I don't think I can do this..." End of chapter.

OK this generates some huge questions one of them being;

Spoiler:

Have any of the previous battles been away matches that we don't yet know about? Its possible if the universe was only slightly different from our own

[Rion]

Spoiler:

Uh, I'm sorry for not having much time to contribute to the discussion yet, but I have to say that I am very pleased about this development. It makes me whole thing a lot more interesting than it was already.

I also find Kirie very interesting (since he was the best friend of... ah, who was it already?) I was waiting to know more about him.

[animernq]

As this series is not licensed (as far as I know) all 28 chapters can be downloaded here

http://souhaku.ufpag.com/index.php?m...age&PAGE_id=34

[Rion]

Originally Posted by animernq

http://souhaku.ufpag.com/index.php?m...age&PAGE_id=34

Ah, thank you for reminding me about this site... It helps a lot when I recommend the manga to people *g*

I can't wait to read 28...

[Quasi Mortuus]

hi, I was just wandering if anyone here has beyond the 6th volym of Narutaro? Because if they do, I would be very happy to know where it was found... I really want to read more! :P

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by Quasi Mortuus

hi, I was just wandering if anyone here has beyond the 6th volym of Narutaro? Because if they do, I would be very happy to know where it was found... I really want to read more! :P

I presume you are refering to the english version? If so, volume 7 (which is equivalent to volume 6 of the japanese volumes) is out from dark horse: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159...Fencoding=UTF8

anything beyond that has not been published in english in book form (and frankly, probably won't be... dark horse has all but dropped it). All there exist are back issues of Super manga blast, which ended in the middle of chapter 42, "Mother Russia", at page 72 in the japanese volume 9.

Whether any more will be released in any form is pure speculation.

And, because I know you'll ask, no, there are not any scanlations available.

[tsurumaru]

Originally Posted by Quarkboy

I presume you are refering to the english version? If so, volume 7 (which is equivalent to volume 6 of the japanese volumes) is out from dark horse: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159...Fencoding=UTF8

anything beyond that has not been published in english in book form (and frankly, probably won't be... dark horse has all but dropped it). All there exist are back issues of Super manga blast, which ended in the middle of chapter 42, "Mother Russia", at page 72 in the japanese volume 9.

Whether any more will be released in any form is pure speculation.

And, because I know you'll ask, no, there are not any scanlations available.

Quarkboy, do you still have those raw scans of Narutaru Volumes 1-12? I definitely have them somewhere as well as my hard copies. I'm getting the feeling that if Dark Horse drop the series we might have to do something to redress the issue. I wonder if Mangascreener would be up for it?

On a thread related note looking forward to their release of Bokurano 28!

[Quasi Mortuus]

So, no scanlations are to be found? That sucks... I hope that someone picks up again if Dark Horse give up on it...

[Nomad Soul]

Come on, just because DH cancels the series doesn't mean that you are _entitled_ to have scanlations for it.

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by Nomad Soul

Come on, just because DH cancels the series doesn't mean that you are _entitled_ to have scanlations for it. I for my part would never pick up a series that has been abandoned by a US publisher (even though I'm a big Narutaru fan). If you want to know what happens next that bad, I suggest you start learning Japanese (or German) so you can read the whole series on your own instead of having to rely on *cough* pirated copies *cough* I'm all for instant gratification, but sometimes I wish people could perceive that they can't get anything they want. ^^;

Um, both me and Tsurumaru DO know japanese, and HAVE bought and read all the japanese tokubans. But I realize most people wouldn't go that far, or frankly aren't able to. I believe that any american company that drops a series in the middle is doing a cruel disservice to its customers. Maybe if we make scanlations, it'll help repopularize the series enough for dark horse to change its mind... But simply doing nothing guarrentees that it'll never be published in english period. And that doesn't help anyone.

As a response, yes, I do still have scans of the tokubans too, and I'd be willing to provide them to someone who needs them.

[Nomad Soul]

Originally Posted by Quarkboy

Um, both me and Tsurumaru DO know japanese, and HAVE bought and read all the japanese tokubans.

Actually, my message wasn't adressed at you or Tsurumaru, but rather those who automatically ask for scanlations the moment they realize they can't get the series the easy way.

Maybe if we make scanlations, it'll help repopularize the series enough for dark horse to change its mind...

See, that's where I disagree. Narutaru is and was never a series with wide appeal. Even with the anime series being distributed in the USA, the manga still sells poorly. What makes you think scanlations could change that? How about you start an online petition to gauge how many readers are willing to pay to see the series being continued first?

On the other hand, if you just want to help people find out what happens next, text summaries or text scripts will work just fine, don't you think?

But simply doing nothing guarrentees that it'll never be published in english period. And that doesn't help anyone.

Last I checked, nobody asked for help (well, nobody besides those who want to read the rest of the series for free). Let's face it, NT had its chance in America and it sucked. I highly doubt DH or any other publisher would risk picking it up again (unless some editor-in-chief takes it under his wing).

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by Nomad Soul

Last I checked, nobody asked for help (well, nobody besides those who want to read the rest of the series for free). Let's face it, NT had its chance in America and it sucked. I highly doubt DH or any other publisher would risk picking it up again (unless some editor-in-chief takes it under his wing).

Well, okay, I'll take your point... let's assume Narutaru will never be published in english. So then what are we hard core dedicated fans to do? Our purpose is to get MORE people to agree with our point of view, right? Because we enjoy Kitoh's work and want him to be successful/prolific, plus maybe get other similar manga artists to be more popular. But if I have a friend that asks me about which manga I think is great, and I say "Narutaru", what if they want to read it? Should I respond: "You can't, it's not in english, so sorry. Go learn japanese and then you'll understand." That won't produce another Kitoh fan, that'll produce nothing. But if there are scanlations out there, I could point that person to them, and maybe they'll enjoy it.

Maybe your point is more this: "Since Dark Horses version didn't succeed, Kitoh's works aren't good enough to be published in english, and you shouldn't promote them."

I am very confident that 90% of the reason narutaru didn't succeed is because Dark Horse screwed it up, in a couple different ways.
1. The time between volumes was more than a year in some cases. <- Instant death. Even fruits basket would have failed miserably if published this way.
2. It was serialized in a magazine which was only carried in comic book stores.
3. It was a studio Proteus project that was transferred to another division after Toren smith split off from Dark Horse... basically killing any interest Dark horse had in the project.
4. They completely missed opportunities to cross promote the manga with the anime series.

Essentially, Narutaru failed to sell well because it was marketed poorly if at all, had censoring issues, and was being released at a pace slower than the original japanese publication. These issues have little to do with the work itself. I know some people are turned off by Kitoh's art style, but that is not what killed Narutaru. Dark Horse thought they were licensing an action filled kids manga with a mysterious twist many years ago, and when it turned out that it was a dark mind-bending socio-psycological treatese, they had no clue what to do with it.

[TronDD]

I'm in the rare camp of: I have the Japanese Tokubons but my Japanese is so poor (not non existent) that translating it myself would take so long it would take the fun out of the story.

I'd be content with a text translation if no one wants to scanlate a series with a US license.

I waited patiently, without resorting to the summaries, so I could get the full story (minus edits and censoring) and they let me down.