It's time for another release and this time it's a new Kyomu Senki chapter from Takeru Kyori and released in part with
HappyScans! This chapter is from a short story called New
Rashoumon originally published in 1994. It also features a couple of new pages for the Kyomu Senki compilation and a couple other pages borrowed from another series in this collection (which I will avoid naming for now due to potential spoilers).
Kyomu Senki Volume 1 Chapter 2
Oh, and by the way - I discovered a method of successfully removing the
gunk from the Kyomu Senki pages! It means that I'll have to rescan and
re-edit chapter 1 but it's well worth it. I've also got a message for you all from this series' translator and typesetter, Takeru Kyori, to clarify some of the terms used in the story and a couple of other points:
"Onmyou
& Onmyouji - the term "onmyou" that was used in both this chapter
and the last is the Japanese word for the Buddhist "yin yang" concept,
and onmyouji were practitioners of the art. Although generally thought
of like sorcerers, they were a real profession in feudal Japanese
society. Generally their duties involved divining and fortune telling,
but they were indeed responsible for protecting the capital from
vengeful spirits, or "onryou" as they're known in Japanese. In addition,
the Crown Prince Sawara who's mentioned in this chapter was
historically one of these "onryou" haunting the capital city of
Heian-kyo (which becomes modern-day Kyoto).
Mikado - an archaic term for the Japanese emperor.
Mandalas
& Shumisen - "Shumisen" is the Japanese word for Sumeru, a sacred
mountain in Buddhist mythology that is home to various celestial beings.
Mandalas are Buddhist symbols that represent the universe, generally
consisting of a circle contained by 4 points arranged in a square. They
often take the form of painting scrolls, depicting various aspects and
deities of Buddhism, and are used in various rituals.
So,
if you hadn't noticed yet, this series has a lot of Buddhist
influences, throughout. I'm going to do my best to point these things
out as we go, but I'm certainly not claiming to be any sort of expert.
Buddhism is a complex subject, and even within Japanese Buddhism alone,
there are numerous different sects, all with their own traditions and
focuses. I'm doing my best to learn about it as I go, and I'll share
some of the basic info I pick up, but I'd encourage anyone interested to
research these things further. There's plenty of material about it to
read online. And if anyone who actually knows what they're talking about
ever catches me saying something blatantly wrong, please let me know
about it! Like I said, I'm learning as I go, so a more educated
perspective would be great to hear!"
Now relating to Shin Mazinger Zero, I'd like to apologize because I had previously said that Vol 4 Ch 2 would be released this week. Well that was a mistake on my part because I hadn't realize that it hadn't been translated yet! Sorry about that, I'll try to get the workflow back up to speed in order to avoid any downtime between releases and I'd say to expect Shin Mazinger Zero vol 4 Ch 2 next week.
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