[anthony886]

Hey I just finished watching elfen lied, and after finishing (in one straight shot ) I went to Barns and Noble to try and pick up the first manga volume. As you may know I soon discovered it was never published in English. Me and a friend of mine are both pretty ticked about this because of the plot differences, and I know we can find it translated online but we wanted to buy it to support such a good series. I don't really know if this would even be legal or not (what with copyright laws ) but does anyone know if there is a company, or person who would charge people to replace the Japanese word bubbles with English ones? And if so how much they charge?

I thought about doing it myself, basically I would cut pieces of paper to fit in bubbles, then paste blank bubbles over Japanese ones, then while reading an online translation for reference, simply write everything in. But that would take a LONG time, and a hand written translation like that wouldn't be all to pretty to look at. Especially with my terrible hand writing.

[JujuFox]

After watching the series on DVD I too wanted to read the manga. I ended up reading Elfen Lied online. Here is one, but no matter where you go it is a fan translation since no English publisher has translated it yet.

I was pretty disappointed with it though. The story goes on far too long and has improbable twists(characters that "die" and come back and lots of plot holes). The art style is also pretty bad in my opinion. I believe the anime was way better in this case, which is odd because it is usually the other way around. From what I remember reading the anime was started halfway through when the manga was being written. When the anime caught up they had to create their own ending, and that is why the anime and manga diverge at some point.

This post has been edited by Alkaren Hyralt: 23 February 2012 - 05:42 AM

[anthony886]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Spoiler alert for those who haven't watched Elfen lied~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ya i know all about that stuff, lol actually the main reason i wanted to read it so bad is kinda selfish,

Spoiler

lol i just hate how they pretty much did what i consider to be "the sopranos thing" mid thought then BAM the screen goes to credits and my rage builds up, lol i wasnt too happy with the ending of the anime

[JujuFox]

It has been quite a while since I watched the anime, but I liked it overall. I do know what you mean, but compared to the how the manga went I prefer the anime.

Spoiler

The ending in the manga suuuuuuuucks! XP

[anthony886]

ya i can see your point, but the anime ending mad me made, while the manga ending was really sad. LOL honestly they could of brought a "cowboys vs aliens" kinda match up into it and i still would of read it (although probably not enjoyed it as much). that's my problem though every time i read or watch something short i find myself wanting it to be a giant 9bazillion episode series such as bleach or Naruto

[anthony886]

lol i take the lack of posts as a no

[GITS SAC Motoko]

anthony886, on 26 February 2012 - 12:04 PM, said:

lol i take the lack of posts as a no

Elfen Lied is a GREAT series.
It's all about the publishing and if they pick it up. all i can say is just googling it and finding it online. With copy right laws a lot of reading sites are being forced to shut down cuz of it but you just gotta find it. you could try contacting the admins of manga reading sites and talk to them on how you can get a hold of their translators and all. But honestly, I would just count on sites to post it for us. :/

And regarding the ending the anime was finished before the manga ever ended so I mean there was only so much they could do, so I guess you could say the director took the story and ran with it. The manga ending made me cry. And I don't cry. So did the anime. Anime never makes me cry.

Spoiler

But when Lucy admits everything to Kouta and cries.....

I cry with her. T^T

This post has been edited by GITS SAC Motoko: 26 February 2012 - 07:40 PM

[JujuFox]

anthony886, on 26 February 2012 - 12:04 PM, said:

lol i take the lack of posts as a no

Like I said before, there is a fan translation(pretty well done too, no Engrish). If you want you can use that to edit your own mangas. I had linked to it in my first reply, but I'm sure you know how to use Google too.

If a publisher ever picked it up I would have bought it, but since I can't read Japanese(yet) this is the next best thing.

[Alkaren Hyralt]

This thread walks a very thin line.

[anthony886]

GITS SAC Motoko, on 26 February 2012 - 07:33 PM, said:

Elfen Lied is a GREAT series.
It's all about the publishing and if they pick it up. all i can say is just googling it and finding it online. With copy right laws a lot of reading sites are being forced to shut down cuz of it but you just gotta find it. you could try contacting the admins of manga reading sites and talk to them on how you can get a hold of their translators and all. But honestly, I would just count on sites to post it for us. :/

And regarding the ending the anime was finished before the manga ever ended so I mean there was only so much they could do, so I guess you could say the director took the story and ran with it. The manga ending made me cry. And I don't cry. So did the anime. Anime never makes me cry.

Spoiler

But when Lucy admits everything to Kouta and cries.....

I cry with her. T^T

lol not gonna lie i almost cried at the end of the manga...honestly the only reason i didn't was because i looked over and saw my sister staring at me as if she knew or something. lol so then i was like "omg quick happy thoughts, happy thought," and got it under control.

Spoiler

lol i was reading it and when kouta waited for lucy/nyu for ten years and finally found that note it was just like that futurama episode where fry almost clones his dog but decided not to and you find out the dog spent his time waiting for fry to return only to die alone. that futurama episode and elfen lied are the only things like that so far to make me wanna cry.

This post has been edited by anthony886: 27 February 2012 - 09:00 AM

[JujuFox]

anthony886, on 27 February 2012 - 08:59 AM, said:

lol not gonna lie i almost cried at the end of the manga...honestly the only reason i didn't was because i looked over and saw my sister staring at me as if she knew or something. lol so then i was like "omg quick happy thoughts, happy thought," and got it under control.

Spoiler

lol i was reading it and when kouta waited for lucy/nyu for ten years and finally found that note it was just like that futurama episode where fry almost clones his dog but decided not to and you find out the dog spent his time waiting for fry to return only to die alone. that futurama episode and elfen lied are the only things like that so far to make me wanna cry.

I don't remember if I cried at the end of the series(pretty sure I teared up), and I know I didn't at the end of the manga...

Spoiler

BUT I just rewatched that episode of Futurama a few weeks ago and man oh man I definitely cried, and my husband almost did too! XP

[GITS SAC Motoko]

I'm going to have to look into that episode. I love Futurama.

Whenever I see Lucy's childhood, I always get this empty feeling in my heart. I just love Elfen Lied on how it really makes you feel YOU are Lucy. Even though I haven't gone through what she has I still feel I have from all the emotion in all those episodes!!!!!

[anthony886]

GITS SAC Motoko, on 27 February 2012 - 08:50 PM, said:

I'm going to have to look into that episode. I love Futurama.

Whenever I see Lucy's childhood, I always get this empty feeling in my heart. I just love Elfen Lied on how it really makes you feel YOU are Lucy. Even though I haven't gone through what she has I still feel I have from all the emotion in all those episodes!!!!!

i looked it up for you, its season 5 episode 2 "jurassic bark"...and trust me its sad, especially if uve ever had a dog, and even more so if your dog passed away.

[anthony886]

also i know what you mean about elfen lied really imersing you into that world. ive actually got 2 of my friends into anime/manga in the past month useing elfen lied, lol one of them made a deal with me where i had to watch office space in exchange for him watching 3 episodes of elfen lied on our day off. he came into work the next day extreamly tired and talkative because he watched the whole series straight through and 3 episodes of angel beats in the same night. needless to say i opened up a whole new world for him, and at the moment anime/manga has consumed his world ...hopefully another Acen fanatic like me come april

[GITS SAC Motoko]

anthony886, on 27 February 2012 - 11:58 PM, said:

i looked it up for you, its season 5 episode 2 "jurassic bark"...and trust me its sad, especially if uve ever had a dog, and even more so if your dog passed away.

Okay cool! And yeah my doggie passed away last August...oh man TT^TT but I love emotional stuff like that. It keeps me watching.

anthony886, on 28 February 2012 - 12:06 AM, said:

also i know what you mean about elfen lied really imersing you into that world. ive actually got 2 of my friends into anime/manga in the past month useing elfen lied, lol one of them made a deal with me where i had to watch office space in exchange for him watching 3 episodes of elfen lied on our day off. he came into work the next day extreamly tired and talkative because he watched the whole series straight through and 3 episodes of angel beats in the same night. needless to say i opened up a whole new world for him, and at the moment anime/manga has consumed his world ...hopefully another Acen fanatic like me come april

NICE! I did the same with my roommate. I was driving with her in the car and Lilium came on on the CD and she's like "wow, I like this song, who is this?" And i'm like "it's from an anime called Elfen Lied that is my 2nd favorite" and she wanted to see it and I told her it's probably one of the most violent animes and she just got this huge smile. XD! And we watched the first episode and she loved it soooo soon we're gonna see more. I'm excited. And she wants to go to cons with me (she wants to go to Anime Midwest with me which is awesome ) so hopefully I'll be making another ACEN fanatic too! :3

[anthony886]

GITS SAC Motoko, on 28 February 2012 - 05:27 PM, said:

Okay cool! And yeah my doggie passed away last August...oh man TT^TT but I love emotional stuff like that. It keeps me watching.


NICE! I did the same with my roommate. I was driving with her in the car and Lilium came on on the CD and she's like "wow, I like this song, who is this?" And i'm like "it's from an anime called Elfen Lied that is my 2nd favorite" and she wanted to see it and I told her it's probably one of the most violent animes and she just got this huge smile. XD! And we watched the first episode and she loved it soooo soon we're gonna see more. I'm excited. And she wants to go to cons with me (she wants to go to Anime Midwest with me which is awesome ) so hopefully I'll be making another ACEN fanatic too! :3

2 things about that are awsome, first is having music from anime on CD in the car, i have openers/closers i like plus i love nears theme/thinking song from deathnote.second is getting more people at Acen, cuz going with a big group of friends is the best way to go

lol only problem for my friend is he would have to call off work to come with, so he might come down with "the 3 day flu" come april but he's thinking about it

[dorkatlarge]

It's not easy to convince companies to translate series. These days, there's very little confidence in trade paperbacks. The publishers that have survived are leaning more and more towards e-readers and convincing fans to pay to read online. In fact, there's a lot of uncertainty about nearly everything in anime/manga/game fandom. If there's a series you want, these days you're lucky if just one version gets published in English.

Even back in the mid-2000s when there was a ton of trade paperbacks, it seemed that companies would translate comics only if they fit into a few categories. It took years before Dark Horse (which works with eastern and western comics with adult themes) decided to publish the rather grim, violent series Gantz. A few other publishers such as Vertical will publish groundbreaking, not-quite-commercial series.

[anthony886]

dorkatlarge, on 29 February 2012 - 10:39 PM, said:

It's not easy to convince companies to translate series. These days, there's very little confidence in trade paperbacks. The publishers that have survived are leaning more and more towards e-readers and convincing fans to pay to read online. In fact, there's a lot of uncertainty about nearly everything in anime/manga/game fandom. If there's a series you want, these days you're lucky if just one version gets published in English.

Even back in the mid-2000s when there was a ton of trade paperbacks, it seemed that companies would translate comics only if they fit into a few categories. It took years before Dark Horse (which works with eastern and western comics with adult themes) decided to publish the rather grim, violent series Gantz. A few other publishers such as Vertical will publish groundbreaking, not-quite-commercial series.

ya plus our current economy problems dont exactly help the odds. thats why i was curious as to weather there was a service were one could send in japanese versions and maybe have the word bubbles replaced for ones own copies.(like pasteing translated text over the original) but as far as i can tell the only way to do that would be to do it yourself. either way i am thinking of buying the series in japanese and useing an online translated version to either print the text bubbles out onto newsprint and paste them in, or paste blank newsprint over the bubbles and handwriteing in the text from the online translation. (newsprint is so it looks the same as the original paper)