Interview #12: Harmless Monsters

[woulez]

Welcome to the next group interview. This one is with @Naabii and other members of Harmless Monsters.

​

"Hello! Could you give the readers an introduction of your group and its members?"

Naabii: Hello hello! We are Harmless Monsters. We currently have six active members with the addition of WeaWeab (translator) and Faulheit (Proofreader).
They both work on “Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru” (shogi-senpai) and “Taimashi to Akuma-chan” (demon-chan).
Loud Nihonjin was the early translator of “The Terrifying Hitman and The Little Girl He Took in” and “Kunoichi Tsubaki no Mune no Uchi”.
notkazuya is the current translator for “The Terrifying Hitman and The Little Girl He Took in”.
Poke Eterey as the translator of “Akebi-chan no Sailor Fuku”.
There is also mai6, as the new Proofreader for Akebi. There are also currently inactive members that have helped us out in the past, they include Alisson, bike, bulbousOrange, Jonskb and Kion.
Then there is me, Naabii, I clean, typeset and QC all the series above, we're happy to meet you all!

"How was the name for the group picked? Is here any specific meaning behind it?"

Naabii: Funny enough, I didn’t come up with the name, It was Egg, the first translator for Taimashi to Akuma-chan. She is the one who suggested the name to me.

"You released your first chapter on the November 30th 2018, a bit over a year back. What were your thoughts in creating this group back then?"

Naabii: Honestly, the thought of making a group never crossed my mind, back then it was just me and Egg doing Demon-chan and after a while, she invited her friend Momiji to join the project, then Egg asked “why don’t we form a group?” and thus Harmless Monsters were born.

"What motivates you to scanlate today?"

Naabii: I remember back in the days when I was just your average reader, back then I didn’t even know the word “scanlation” existed, I just went to a random website, read my weekly fix, then went to go on with life as usual.
Then one day while visiting a friend, I noticed something while he was browsing the internet. I saw a manga page, but it was “paper-like” and I asked him “why does this manga page have a paper texture all over it?”, then he told me all about “scanlation”, how someone bought the actual magazine with their own money, scanned it, cleaned it, translated it and then publish it on the internet for free. That just blew my mind... all the time and effort for a chapter that I took for granted. At that moment, I feel like I owed those beautiful people for the joy I’ve had reading all those chapters. That short moment of bliss while reading a chapter, where you can escape to the fascinating world of your favorite series. That feeling... that is what motivated me to scanlate. I want everybody to have that moment.
(a small addition: the website that my friend was on was the homepage of “Bakkin Translation” (which is down atm.) and it was ch. 125 of YuruYuri, page 10. Shortly after, I joined them as the cleaner and the rest is history)

Faul: I started out because I wanted to know the ending of a manga that had been in scanning for almost 10 years and yet it was only half-way done, despite the manga itself being already finished. Me and a friend succeeded in completing the translation and since then I’ve this feeling of “If no one’s doing it, I’ll do it myself”. I don’t really like the feeling of sitting around waiting for someone to do it. My skills are not the most required but when I see groups asking for help in the credits page on series I enjoy I always try to reach out to them and see if I can help out. There’s also a sense of pride in having your name at the end of a series you care about, feels like you’ve contributed to it in a way.

Loud: SO I CAN READ MANGA BEFORE THE ONLINE RELEASE!
Nah, just kidding. In reality, I’m a Japanese citizen who moved to North America some years back. Recently I’ve been forgetting how to say or write certain things in my native tongue since I have to speak English 24/7 here. So I decided to volunteer for scalating so I don't disgrace my ancestors by forgetting Japanese.

Notkazuya: I think I help with scanlating because it feels like whenever someone reads a chapter of a manga I help translate, they experience a bunch of feelings and being a reader myself it makes me feel good that even I can do that.

Poke: It honestly was just a drive to improve my Japanese. When I was reading one of the chapters of Shogi-senpai, I saw an advertisement for a translator position. Since then, it’s been a real learning experience and that’s what motivated me to scanlate.

WeaWeab: I started as a means of both improving my Japanese reading and giving back to the community that gave me fansubs and scanlations in the first place. At some point, I became able to take on so many projects that I truly love, and I have a lot of fun with the challenge of adapting their original text to English, so that’s probably become my biggest motivation.

"If a series you work on does get an official English release, would you stop scanlating or would you simply try to find another title to scanlate?"

Naabii: If the majority vote from our staff is to continue, then I’ll continue.

Faul: I don’t have a strong opinion on this, so I’d let the person in charge of the group/series decide. If I’m in charge then it depends on how invested we are on it and how the other people working on it feel.

Loud: If someone just posts the English release online then no point in scanlating it anymore right? Depends on the situation though.

Poke: Honestly, if it did get an English release then I’d be really ecstatic. But that's honestly going to go to Naabii whether we continue or not.

WeaWeab: I’m usually pretty happy when an official release comes out, as it lets me compare my work to the professionals and get references for future releases. But in terms of whether I’d continue a series, I’d be glad to as long as the project lead agrees and the official release isn’t simulpubbed. For me, as long as the series is only receiving volume releases, there’s still something I can offer the reader, and it should be up to the paid professionals to step up to the plate and take my job.

"What would you say you've learned when it comes to scanlation during the last year, comparing to when you guys started off?"

Naabii: I've learned that it's not realistic to keep cleaning all those SFX's when you've got 6 series and 1 life to take care of.

Faul: Being a proofreader, to not be so picky about transmitting the meaning of the original 1:1 and instead striking the balance between conveying what’s being said accurately and making it flow in English. Also to work on series I actually care about and say no if a project doesn’t interest me.

Loud: I’ve only been here for less than a year so I can’t say much. Personally though, I learned that there really isn’t that many onomatopoeia's that describe sounds verbally in English compared to Japanese. SO THAT SUCKS!

Poke: First years are always the hardest right? Yeah I’d say that I’m a newbie but that doesn’t stop me from doing my work and learning! I stick to my guns and build up on what I know.

WeaWeab: I’d have to say that I’m paying for my over-eagerness in picking up as many projects as I could in my first year. Nowadays, I’ve started to become more selective in what I pick up and it's helped me enjoy the workload a lot more.

"You made your debut with Taimashi to Akuma-chan, a title you still work on, was there any particular reason you chose to start off with this specific series?"

Naabii: Actually, my debut was on YuruYuri, as the cleaner. Still, yeah, Demon-chan is the first series that I decided to pick up by myself. I picked it up because I found the translation for the pixiv version by xolefray, and like many others, I shouted out "I NEED MORE!" at the end of chapter 3. Then I did some detective-work and found out it was serialized on Dengeki Daioh and would be receiving its first volume soon. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to start learning on how to typeset (at this point, I had kinda learned how to clean and want to learn more). All I needed was to find someone to help translate it and… that's that.

"It looks like most of the series you work on is slice of life. Is there a specific reason you choose to almost exclusively work on that genre, or is it a coincidence?"

Naabii: SLICE OF LIFE IS MY LIFE! ...sorry I couldn’t help myself.

Faul: Most of the manga I read are romance/slice of life, so I guess it’s only natural that all the series I work on are in that genre. Also Naabii has the final say on which series get done and I have the slight suspicion he prefers those types of manga.

Loud: I don’t choose which manga to scanlate so that's up to Ol’ Naabii to answer. But who doesn't secretly enjoy reading a heartwarming story in the Japanese art-form every once in a while right? Even the edgiest of bastards is sure to have a soft spot.

Poke: I never thought of it like that… guess I never noticed.

WeaWeab: I have a wide range of manga interests, so I work with a few groups for different genres and I’m pretty happy with Harmless Monsters being my slice of life group.

"When picking up a new series to work on, is there anything in particular you look for and/or try to avoid?"

Naabii: The artwork has to be cute and while reading the raws, if I have that "fuwa fuwa" feeling on my heart, I know I have to pick it up.

"How much time would you say it takes for you to finish a chapter on average?"

Naabii: Uhh... umm... Oh look, a bird!

Faul: Depends on the script length and the translator. Shogi-senpai’s about 8 pages per chapter and WeaWeab’s scripts are really good (to the point that I don’t need to make many changes), so about 10 minutes for that, and 20 minutes for demon-chan since it’s double the amount of pages. If the translators English isn’t that great then anywhere from 30 minutes and up to an hour. Also, I worked on a 50 page per chapter title and that took well over an hour.

Loud: Depends on how lazy I am or how busy I am, given the certain time-frame I have available. It’s a team effort so it really depends on who’s busy and who’s not.

Poke: I’d say that it takes at least a week or two. Akebi is a little bit longer and has a very unique style when it comes to how it’s written and how the panels are drawn. Our cleaner and typesetter for Akebi, Naabii, puts his heart and soul into capturing the original essence that the manga conveys.

WeaWeab: Ever since someone pointed out to me that Kanji Tomo exist my life became so much easier! That being said, Shogi Senpai and Taimashi to Akuma-chan both use fairly simple language, so it’s usually pretty easy on my end. Probably about 30 to 60 minutes per chapter? Sorry for the delays... ;_;

@Electromaster: "What tips would you give to someone looking to get into scanlation? "

Naabii: https://youtu.be/ZXsQAXx_ao0

Faul: Just do it lmao, this is not rocket science. Decide which position fits your skills best, pick a series that you like and go for it. Being in a group is also a plus, because you can ask more experienced people for advice.

Loud: WORSHIP THE JAPANESE AS YOUR GODS AND OWN AT LEAST TWO KATANAS! Well first off, you gotta like manga as a storytelling medium, secondly, just have some knowledge of the Japanese language. The rest is up you really, just give it yer best shot.

Notkazuya: Explore. Search for information. When I started out I had no idea what I was doing, but thankfully I didn’t end up in a bad place. If things aren’t going right, my advice would be to stick it out and try your best. Don’t be afraid to try out other things.

Poke: Don’t be afraid to take criticism and ask people for advice. I’m FAR from the best person when it comes to translating but I try to listen to criticisms and try to mend my mistakes from that. I also often get a second opinion from another translator when I’m having troubles with certain parts… you know, to see if it makes sense.

WeaWeab: Try and get series that you truly love to work on. It can be difficult at first because you’ve got no samples to show groups you’re applying for, but just take on projects for those groups where you can and one day the projects will come. I translate around 10 series at the moment, and I love every one of them. Oh, and look into Kanji Tomo, for reals. That program alone halved my translation times.

@Lymus: "Why is Akebi-chan no Sailor Fuku so cute?"

Naabii: Because it’s special and It has very beautiful artwork that will catch anybody off-guard. The story is so wholesome and relaxed and of course because the best girl, Erika-chan, is in it.

Faul: idk, literally the first time i heard of that one rofl.

Loud: Never heard of it. Then I look it up and see it’s got an Ecchi tag. I see enough of “that” sorta stuff in cities when I have to visit my family in Japan anyways. But you do you man. “Cute” is a scientifically subjective term after all.

Poke: I KNOW RIGHT!?!? You and I both ask the same questions Lymus!

@Lymus: "Why does Yamamoto Souichirou always draw fiveheads? Do you like 'em?"

Naabii: Pfff! Tbh, I didn’t notice the forehead thing until people point it out, I genuinely just love his artwork.

Faul: I thought that might be an attempt to make the characters look cuter, but then I compared the first Takagi chapter (with way less cute character design) with the redraw of it that he did and the foreheads are pretty much the same size in both. So I reckon he just likes his characters having a landing track on their heads.

Loud: I’m always a bit weirded out when I see foreheads that ThIcC, but it’s not a huge concern for me. He probably does it so his characters look even more like children and cementing that whole“innocent” kind of vibe.

Poke: XD Like foreheads??? I don’t see anything wrong with them. Definitely gives the art a unique look.

WeaWeab: Look, all I’m gonna say is that Iori was my favourite idol from the original iDOLM@

STER cast.

If you could only pick one series that you've scanlated to recommend to the readers, which one would it be and why?

Naabii: Obviously Akebi-chan no Sailor Fuku, people need to read this gem. But Demon-chan will always be #1 in my heart~.

Faul: Probably Shogi-senpai, it’s short, sweet, and to the point. If you like anything by Yamamoto you’re bound to have a good time. Also check out the fan coloured version, it’s really impressive what the guy behind the project was able to do, he even added fucking animations to some of the pages, how sick is that!

Loud: I haven’t worked on much but “The Terrifying Hitman and The Little Girl He Took in” is a heartwarmer. Short, sweet, and not too far out there. Alt title that I made up for it is “Agent 47 and the illegal loli”.

Notkazuya: For me it has to be Kumicho musume no sewagakari, partly because I work on it but more because it’s so damn wholesome.

Poke: Akebi! ZERO bias! Pretty series, cute characters, beautiful panels and needs to be more popular.

WeaWeab: Despite our delays with the series, I’d have to say Taimashi to Akuma-chan. Although it’s a little slow to start, it’s really start to grow into a more meaningful work imho.

@Electromaster: "Do you know a series you've wanted to scanlate but have not been able to for some reason?"

Naabii: A LOT, I was considering Shark Girl back when it made its magazine debut, but It’s taken now so all good. Mitsuboshi Colors too, I’m happy someone picked it up. Maybe Kami no Ko Nonoko, because no-one has picked it up IIRC.

Faul: Probably Horimiya since that’s my favorite manga, but that’s being taken care of by another group. Another one that comes to mind is the Gurrenn Lagann manga, but i don't have the skills to be a one man army and not many people care about it.

Loud: I always wanted to translate the classic works of Tezuka Osamu. More specifically “Black Jack” and “Hi no Tori”. I read them both as a kid and they always stuck with me. The approach Osamu-san takes to delve into complex themes of philosophical ideologies is truly unique and gripping. What the value of a human soul is worth, the idea of reincarnation and immortality, what DEFINES a human, these are all wonderfully depicted in these timeless exemplars of manga. This is a VERY biased view of mine though.

Poke: Kekkai Sensen, I have all ten of the volumes in Japanese, there barely is any work on it on Mangadex, but… there’s an English version… and as much of a slice of life it is, it’s DEFINITELY also an action manga.

WeaWeab: Oh yeah, I had a fair few of those back when I was starting. ReLIFE, Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru, and Pashiri na Boku to Koisuru Banchou just to name a few off the top of my head. Thankfully, they’ve all been in very capable hands thus far and I’m really enjoying all of those as a reader anyway.

Looking back at your release history, you seem to work closely related to some groups in particular, how would you describe working with other groups when it comes to scanlation?

Naabii: It’s helpful~

@Electromaster: "What is your favorite series that another group is working on?"

Naabii: Right now I’m digging Yofukashi no Uta, and still on the waiting line for more Asoko de Hataraku Musubu-san.

Faul: Anything by TSP, particularly Horimiya and takagi-san, I love both of those series and their scan work is top tier. Them and most of the works by our god and savior _anq.

Loud: I’ve got several favorites really. “The Scum of good and Evil” for a dark read, “Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi” cause I'm a sucker for casual Isekei that isn’t a FUCKING HAREM and “Survival Story Of A Sword King In A Fantasy World” since I’ve got no problems with manhwas.

Notkazuya: Tonikaku Cawaii. I mean come on that series is the definition of fluff.

Poke: One that I absolutely love is Getsuyoubi no Tomodachi by SuMeBe scans. This is one of those series where I recommend you go in blind. The scan group puts in a LOT of time and effort into each chapter that they do of the series and works almost everyday to make it as good as possible and it really shows.

WeaWeab: I’ve been loving Yofukashi no Uta lately as well, along with the recent releases of Kusuriya no Hitorigoto and Risou no Himo Seikatsu.

@Holo: "How long have you been using MangaDex, was it when you started scanlating or did you use it before that?"

Naabii: A while before I start working on demon-chan.

Faul: I made mine on august 19th 2018 according to my profile. I remember I just decided to pick up my first scan work when the guy I was working on said we should make a mangadex group. I had no idea what it was so I did some digging. This was around the time batoto shut down. Even though I never used it, that seemed like the most “official” place where most groups would upload their work. Then I realize that most of the websites I used for manga ripped the scans from other groups and used them for ads money. I stopped using those sites and made a md account because it seemed like a spiritual successor to batoto in terms of integrity, like no ads and properly crediting groups. From then on, it only made sense to make it my main source for scans.

Loud: 'Imma lay it a hundo with you chief, I sorta use Manga*elo cause I'm a casual. Don’t tell the others.

WeaWeab: Upon conducting some research, it seems that I joined quite a while after starting scanlation. I don’t exactly remember the trigger, but I’ve definitely been enjoying my stay!

@Holo: "Compared to other platforms like Reddit, what are your opinions of MangaDex's readers/commenters?"

Naabii: I feel like mangadex readers are somewhat aware of the existence of scanlators and actually care while in Reddit, I feel like they don't care. This is unrelated, but a while backs someone snipe-posted a chapter of shogi-senpai on Reddit. I contacted the sniper poster saying, "please be patient, I'm working on it Bla Bla Bla." Then the sniper poster posts another chapter saying, "this will be my last because the original scanlator told me to stop" and guess what people say in the comment section? Yeah, there I'm being made out to be the villain, the usual "honor among thieves"-speech, yada yada yada, the point is, nobody cares who's doing the series, they just want it asap despite the quality. But It way past me now, I've made peace with the poster, so it's all good now.

Faul: I only use the comments for one liners that I found funny, not necessarily for actual discussion, and don’t use reddit or the like to talk about manga, so I wouldn’t know. I’ve seen some really good comments and some really dumb shit, depends on the series

Loud: I don’t use 'em much so not much to say here. Maybe less frequent comments filled with rule 34 content i suppose.

WeaWeab: I’ve actually had the opposite experience to Naabii. For some of my other series that are unrelated to HM, I’ve found MD comment sections to be fairly toxic and spoiler-heavy compared to Reddit. Now, that’s not to say that I don’t mind a bit of toxicity from time to time, but it’s something I’ve noticed. That being said, I really enjoy reading the MD comments for our releases at HM, since the fluff content usually means that everyone’s just having fun in those sections.

@Holo: "As a group, what other services do you think MangaDex should or could offer groups in the future?"

Naabii: The ability to delete my own comments would be nice.

Faul: Wait you can’t delete your own comments lmao why? Also, maybe make them a tad more compact since it’s hard to locate specific discussions in large threads.

Loud: Naabi take it away I got nothin' to say here.

@woulez: "What's the recipe for green lemonade?"

Naabii: It’s a secret.

Is there anything related to your group not mentioned in this interview that you think might be interesting for the readers to know about?

Naabii: Yes, yes, If you are a long time HM’s reader you know this is coming….
HAVE YOU JOINED THE DISCORD YET??!! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!
JOIN NOW!! IT’S FREE!!!

Faul: Everyone, and in particular our main man Naabii, is extremely hardworking and dedicated to the craft, so know that we always put our best on each chapter. Also join the discord will ya? (please, for the love of god help me out, I'm being held at gunpoint here!)

Loud: Maybe some suggestions on what we could look into scanlating. AlSo YeS D0 Come anD JoIn ThE DisCorD why DoN’t Y0u?

Poke: For all you Akebi fans out there, talk about it more! Akebi is more of a passion project and it would help all of us out if you gave us feedback.

WeaWeab: I am contractually required to agree with Naabii here. (It is a good idea though)

To conclude the interview, do you have any parting words to share with us?

Naabii: Stay safe during this unique time of our life. I hope we'll make it together.
Give your mom a call or a hug if she is around if she is not around anymore; just know that she loves you and is proud of you.
It's been over a year that we've been doing this "scanlation" thing. It's an enjoyable journey, meeting new people, learning new things. We are still new by most measures, please do be patient and join us on this journey. Support your favorite series by buying the ebook, or go a step further by importing the book! thanks for all your support, and most importantly, thanks for being an awesome reader. ^^

Faul: This group is a joy to work with. Over the time I’ve been doing this I’ve been through my fair share of wack situations with other groups, so it’s great to see the clockwork on this one working as good as it is. It’s been a bit over a year since I joined and I’ve never had a problem. Everyone in here is super chill, we all trust each other’s skills and decisions.

Loud: Thanks for readin' our shit and supportin' us. But you’re all weebs to me since I AM OF TRUE JAPANESE BLOOD.

Poke: For someone young like me to be able to work with all these great people is a real treat. I hope that I’ll continue to work with them for a long while and I improve a little more myself. Thank you for this interview, I hope to continue to work with you guys (Harmless Monsters) for a while.

WeaWeab: I’d like to thank all the readers that have fun in the comments sections and make this hobby worthwhile. Seeing people read the work that we’ve all done and discussing it with a similar amount of passion is a true joy to see. I wholeheartedly agree with Naabii in telling you guys to support the authors of your favourite works if you can afford to!
Working with HM has been a true pleasure, as they’re an easygoing group that trusts me to do my own thing, and I fully trust in their own abilities to get the highest quality releases to all of you.

 

[ninjakai03]

nice to see one of my personal favorite scanlation groups end up here

 

[PRAR]

 

[Rappaceum]

For some reason I find this really nice and warm

 

[Faulheit]

yo thats me

also @PRAR u legend

 

[Imno_there]

Go Naabii and friends!

 

[XNovalX]

gunga ginga

 

[alzanolife]

We Cheer on u Naabiii and friends

 

[Cheekpouches]

This is.. actually really cute. Smh

 

[Sad_asian]

Yall I just joined the discord and got pranked by nabbii almost immediately. 10/10 would recommend joining

 

[CloudBox]

This is wholesome

 

[Naabiis_Tea_Maid]

join discord for free licks and slaps

 

[aquariumtourmaline]

i missed the interviews so much! 😄

 

[UDZK]

Good to see the HM crew is so well liked. I always recommended Demon Chan to anyone I know that reads manga

 

[MonsieurFudge]

This interview is blessed, thanks for the translations as always~

 

[DarkFlame]

very nice interview! one of my fave scanlation groups 😊

 

[Edward]

A heartwarming interview, indeed. I have never read any of the series but now I will pick up something. Thank for for scanlating. 😀

 

[esperanza]

Amazing team ^^

 

[donal_56]

good job guys, i like your work

 

[Raknasuu]

Lol. Thanks for posting the damn link to the discord. It's a pain to write it off an image!


Also, Loud. Brah, I appreciate your existence in this interview. So funny lol.