I spent Saturday (what little time I was actually at the computer) re-"inking" all of the Shuna pages, because I finally got with the times: all of the Shuna pages are now back in original Japanese format, not mirrored for Western readers. Which means you now read them from right to left, top to bottom.
    The pages were mirror-imaged originally because back when I started this project in 2000, it was standard for manga books published in the west to be mirrored so they could be read in Western fashion (left to right). I was trying to make a very good fan translation in the style of the American standard, so I scanned the pages and flopped them digitally. But now if you walk into any bookstore to buy manga, you'll find far, far more books published exactly the way they would be in Japan--"backwards."
    I'm happier with this--I feel it's truer to the manga; it does it more justice. But, of course, I'm a purist.
    I hope all of you are happier with it as well. :)

   Saturday, April 16, 2005

    So it's been another couple years. :) I was inspired to start working on this project again, and so as I write this I've completed several more pages and I'm working on 42-43. (Right now the page is on 28-29.)
    In some ways I feel as though this effort of mine has all the best intentions, but it's terribly dated. This is because in the years since I began to scan, edit, mirror-image, and re-text, it has become something of an industry norm to publish manga in Japanese format--where it had been the industry norm, back in 2000, to flop the images for Western readers. I'm toying with going back and un-flopping the pages I've got so far, since everybody knows how to read manga now, and this effort of mine is dated. I haven't quite decided (it would be a decent amount of work, but nothing compared to the actual editing).. I wish I had ' some way of getting feedback for this. My gut says that Ghibli fans would be purists.
    In any case, I'm also thinking of putting together some form of walkthrough or at least documentation showing how I retouch the images. I work very, very hard to convert scanned images of each half of a page into a seamless, beautiful images, as close to Miyazaki's original watercolor as possible. I'm very proud of my work, and some of the retouches are just "too good" .. I think most visitors to this site don't realize how very much work goes into each page.
    Here's a little sample from pages 38-39 (at this time not yet posted)...

    The image of Shuna's yakkur happened to be situated right over the seam where the two pages met. This is always a challenge, because it means I have to sort of "invent" what goes in the middle.

    And here's what it looks like post-editing. If I did my job right, you wouldn't be able to tell there even WAS a seam, without having looked at the original scans.
    I truly enjoy retouching these images. To me, it's like reaching into the data and simply peeling off the breaks and imperfections that mar the picture.
    There are bound to be more updates in this space in the future. Stay tuned.

   Friday, April 15, 2005

    Completed a couple more pages--I'm fudging with the dates a lot since I don't want to disrupt my file naming system. But who cares as long as the pages are there!
    I am toying with making some kind of walkthrough of how I retouch the pages. I wonder if anyone would be interested?
    well, anyway. Enjoy pages 24-27. :3

   Thursday, April 14, 2005

    Hello, Miyazaki fans--it's been a couple years, huh?
    I've added pages 14-23 to the site. These have been completed for almost two years but for some reason I never uploaded them. What a horrible tease I am!
    I can't guarantee I'll keep going with this project, although joining the Studio Ghibli Yahoo! Group inspired me to take a look at this page again. Perhaps if I have more positive feedback, I'll do what I can. :)
    Thanks for passing through.

   Friday, May 9, 2003

    Well, it's been a long, long time since I've touched Shuna. According to my files, the last time I finished a page was September 9, 2000. There's been a lot going on, but this can mostly be attributed to the fact that my interests seem to rest on particular things for a long time--for example, in the past couple years I've had periods where I built realms on a MUD, roleplayed, and spent hours working on oekaki. But now it's summer again and I'm home from college and the job market is pretty crummy, so I've had lots of free time. I've been slowly re-immersing myself in Miyazaki--re-watching films over the past couple weeks--and the other day I began re-reading Nausicaä.
    With my Miyazaki flame rekindled--and thanks to a few emails from those select few individuals who have actually stumbled across this site--I've decided to start my work on Shuna no Tabi (Shuna's Journey or, as I call it, for a slightly more mystical, legendary feel, The Journey of Shuna) again, but from scratch, with all new scans and retouching. This is a lot of work! Retouching alone can take more than an hour, depending on the image. I hope to have two pages (one image) up every weekday, and I hope I can find a readerbase to keep me honest. ;)
    I've taken down the old pages--sorry! I'll put them back in sequential order as I complete the pages. At any rate, click here to see the old pages 4 & 5 for comparison--much better, isn't it!
    In total, my Shuna work will cover 73 images (146 pages, two per scan). So at (at least) one per weekday, the project should finish up in mid-August.
    Last but not least, for all new readers: This is my own personal fan effort. I've taken two years of university Japanese but my speaking--and even moreso my reading--skills are truly pitiful. The text in this work is based off of the two text translations you will find linked in the Original Translations section; since I wanted to use neither text verbatim, I read each of them and used words common between the two. So please, be aware that what you're reading may not be terribly accurate.

Email me - esa11@sbcglobal.net