
Starting next week, I will begin to scanlate Bartender, a manga which talks about… well, bartenders and drinks. I know some people will be disappointed that I did not go with One Outs or Kurosagi, but I have my reasons.
One Outs is a great manga, I actually already read through the whole thing in Chinese, but compared to Liar Game, it really feels unpolished and honestly baseball isn’t my forte. Furthermore, I want to scanlate a manga that’s still on-going.
Kurosagi is also an interesting read, and it is also very psychological like Liar Game. However, it concentrates on laws and regulations which are extremely difficult to translate. I do not believe I have enough expertise in terms of language to do a good job.
Other considerations include Fist of the North Star (You’re already dead!) and GodHand Teru.
But in the end, I chose Bartender because it is a relaxing read. Though the story is sometimes dramatic, and the subject is quite serious, it doesn’t take too much brainpower to understand everything. I’ve heard comments that the author did not consult experts in the fields of bartending or alcohol, but most of the cocktails are real, and some are great to try (I tried Black Velvet and it taste pretty darn good). It is also an on-going manga, which is a plus for me.
And to those who worry that the original scanlator will be infuriated that I took their series, I’ve already did my homework. I went to DATS’s blog, and they are officially “dead, dead, dead”. So this is an abandoned project, which I will pick up.