Whew! Well we did it, we made it to volume 8. When I first read this series I think it was around here where I knew I had to work on it. The drama in this volume is so good. Volume 8 in its entirety is one long arc where the plotline happening in the background about the Oizumi faction and the Tomapechi faction comes to a head. Though it doesn’t quite end here, it finishes in volume 9. But this is most of it. And it’s great. Just a lot of stuff happening here with a lot of interesting plotting and a lot of emotions all around. I’ve made a thousand of these posts and I’m still not good at summarizing these things. But seriously come check this out, you’ll love it. And soon we’ll reach the big conclusion to this arc next volume.

We’re nearly half way through Section Chief now with 8 of the 17 volumes done. I love working on it but I dunno what pace it’ll come out as since I’m always in a desperate struggle to manage my time properly between this and the rest of my life. This one got done a bit faster since there was no Ikoku Nikki this month, and there’s none next month either it looks like. The next 3-Gatsu comes out August 26th Japan time. And they just announced that #DRCL volume 2 is coming out October 19th. So lots of stuff coming up.

Check out my summary here of what this series is about if you haven’t seen it yet.

Also, we have a new Discord! Come hang out and talk about manga. https://discord.gg/Nw45rfJYZF

Section Chief Shima Kо̄saku Volume 8 (Ch65-75)
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Okay! Here we are at volume 7. Man, this series is a lot of work. It’s been about a month since the last one now and man did that take a lot of effort to finish a volume in a month. I probably can’t keep getting them all done this fast. Thanks so much to all the staff that helped work on it.

This volume takes a bit of a break for the most part from the company political intrigue parts of the story to focus more on the interpersonal aspects of the story. It finishes off the introduction to Ōmachi Kumiko, introduces the long-running character Manager Konno, and a bunch of other stuff happens. It’s really got a lot. That sorta always happens when you’re releasing a whole volume at once. Really we get a lot of insight and a lot of emotion in the lives of all the major characters more or less. A lot of examining of different forms of love and weird types of humans and their lives. I hope you enjoy it!

Next volume, whenever we end up getting that done, has lots of company political intrigue for the whole volume, so look forward to that if that’s a thing you’re into. See ya later everybody!

Check out my summary here of what this series is about if you haven’t seen it yet.

Also, we have a new Discord! Come hang out and talk about manga. https://discord.gg/Nw45rfJYZF

Section Chief Shima Kо̄saku Volume 7 (Ch56-64)
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Whew! We made it to volume 6! Finally, after working on this for about 9 months now, we’ve made it to this volume where a bunch of the main characters are introduced. I won’t go too much into it but this volume is one of my favorites and it starts up a bunch of the best plotlines of the story which will continue for the next few volumes. Plus it’s also got a ton of good shorter episodic stories in it.

Check out my summary here of what this series is about if you haven’t seen it yet.

Anyhow, I’m doing this series whenever I have time so I dunno how frequently new volumes will end up coming out. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it! I’m glad folks are enjoying this series so far.

Also, we have a new Discord! Come hang out and talk about manga. https://discord.gg/Nw45rfJYZF

Section Chief Shima Kо̄saku Volume 6 (Ch47-55)
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All right, here we are with Shima Kōsaku volume 5! The last one was about 7 weeks ago. But we’re still going at a pretty good pace I’d say. DRCL took up all my time for a while plus the Ikoku Nikki stuff. But now finally I’m all that and now I can relax a bit. Which I probably won’t do anyhow I’ll probably just work on translating something else. Probably the next Shima volume.

Check out my summary here of what this series is about if you haven’t seen it yet.

Ok so uh this volume is made up of the rest of the Kyoto arc. As in most of this series, it’s made up of a lot of episodic events with a few changes in some larger plotlines. A lot of the Shima Kо̄saku series is about examining different types of people and different parts of life. Seeing personal struggles in the world from different perspectives. That’s part of what I really like about it. But as a result there is a LOT of text to translate and a LOT of subject matter that you need to understand well enough to word properly in English. So each of these is a lot of work. I’m sure if you read a lot of manga you can tell a lot of the word bubbles have a lot more text than most other series. The vast majority of the effort with these goes into translating as opposed to something like DRCL which was easy-ish to translate but then took forever to clean and redraw. Anyhow if you’d like to volunteer to help at one of the jobs (cleaning or typesetting or proofreading mainly with this series) out you can feel free to email me kewl0210@gmail.com.

Next volume is one of my favorites because it’s where two of the main characters of the series finally show up. So look forward to that.

Also, we have a new Discord! Come hang out and talk about manga. https://discord.gg/Nw45rfJYZF

Section Chief Shima Kо̄saku Volume 5 (Ch37-46)
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Ooooookay, and here is Shima volume 4! I think it’s been around a month since the last volume. So it’s all going at a pretty good pace I’d say!

Check out my summary here of what this series is about if you haven’t seen it yet.

Uh, so a lot goes on in this volume. It’s kind of hard to think of much to say in these posts because it’s like an entire couple of story arcs. Seriously a lot happens, I keep translating these chapters and thinking “How is all this just one chapter?” The series has multiple plot threads going at any given time and it jumps between them. This volume has a lot of conclusions to some of the ones started in the first 3, but it also starts a bunch more. And in the grand scheme of the Section Chief arc there’s still a ton that hasn’t even gotten started. But I hope you all like this one! I dunno what pace we’re gonna end up getting these out yet. But if folks want to join and help out with it you can always email me at kewl0210@gmail.com.

Anyhow, besides this I’m working on DRCL volume 1. I’ve been going back and forth with this and that. And basically just trying to balance these projects with the rest of my other life obligations. We don’t really have any particular set schedule for coming out with volumes of Shima but we’ll play it by ear and see how it goes. Speaking of which Hirokane-sensei announced that the new part of Shima Kōsaku that’s starting will be called “Outside Director Shima Kōsaku”. So that’s pretty cool. Even though we’re working on the part of this series from the 80’s and early 90’s it’s still going and is still a major influential series a lot of people talk about. I really hope getting it out in English like this can gain it some more interest.

Also, we have a new Discord! Come hang out and talk about manga. https://discord.gg/Nw45rfJYZF

Section Chief Shima Kо̄saku Volume 4 (Ch28-36)
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Whew! Here it is, y’all! Volume 3 of Section Chief Shima Kо̄saku! If you didn’t see the volume 1 post I did a whole rundown of the history of this series and what it’s about and all sorts of stuff like that. Check it out here if you haven’t yet.

This took a while because I was doing Takeshi every day which took ALL of my time, and after that I was kinda burnt out and needed to focus on some non-manga stuff for a while. I’d like to try to get these out faster but this series has quite a lot of text and requires a lot of thought to make sure it flows like normal English. That and I probably over-did it with Takeshi and I need to take more time away from fan translating. The “Section Chief Arc”, if you wanna call it that, is 17 volumes long. So it may take some time but we’ll get through all of it eventually.

Anyhow currently I’m working on more Shima, the new versions of volumes 1-2 of JoJolion are almost done they’re just having the typesetting checked/revised by one of our typesetters when they have time but everything else is done. Also volume 1 of DRCL Midnight Children has FINALLY come out after the series has been going for like a year and a half. So we’re working on that, but that’s another big project I gotta find time for among everything else I got goin’ on. So yeah, there’s lots to look forward to.

Also, we have a new Discord! Come hang out and talk about manga. https://discord.gg/fxrmZufp

Section Chief Shima Kо̄saku Volume 3 (Ch18-27)
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Ok well, everyone, here it is, the long awaited volume 2 of Section Chief Shima Kо̄saku! If you didn’t see the volume 1 post I did a whole rundown of the history of this series and what it’s about and all sorts of stuff like that. Check it out here if you haven’t yet.

This is the conclusion (and majority of) the New York arc! The arc that had about one chapter in volume 1. Shima does all sorts of things. Uh, I dunno how to explain any of it without spoiling things because this series has just started. But it’s really good! The story starts developing more from where it started as a couple of one-offs that weren’t intending to be part of a series into something with more substantial. The Shima Kо̄saku series is the sort of series that is mostly episodic but does have some things that become major plot lines and those characters/events come up again and again over the course of the series. I think that’s part of what makes it interesting. But every event helps build the overall worldview the author is trying to convey about the sorts of lives these folks lead.

It’s been a few months since we got volume 1 done and while I’d like to get them out faster, I’m trying to focus on finishing Takeshi right now. We’ve got about 60 chapters left to just clean and typeset so we’re getting there. And I’d like it to be fully finished before I focus too much on something else. Also I’ve been working on that series pretty much every day so I’m gonna need a break once it’s done and I’ve been kind of over-doing it with Takeshi so I kinda need to slow down a bit once that’s done.

Anyhow, this volume’s great! Check out this series if you haven’t yet!

Also, we have a new Discord! Come hang out and talk about manga. https://t.co/DgwRJE06j9?amp=1

Section Chief Shima Kо̄saku Volume 2 (Ch9-17)
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Ok, so, everyone, presenting this! Volume 1! Of a new series! Section Chief Shima Kо̄saku!

I’m just gonna do a little introduction here to explain to those that don’t know anything about this series. Which is most people reading this, probably. The Shima Kо̄saku series is a series by Hirokane Kenshi that has been running in Kodansha’s Weekly Morning magazine since 1983 and it is still going to this day (Though it doesn’t run in every issue. Like this volume 1 here is made up of chapters that came out from 1983, 1984, and 1985. In Part 2, 0-2 chapters a year were released from 1992 to 1998, then it started running weekly again in 1999.) Also it’s got 46 million copies in circulation, apparently. It’s a manga known for its realistic depiction of life as a salaryman (which is sort of a slang term for a male office worker) working at a major Japanese company and its office culture and that sort of thing. It’s a slice of life drama about making one’s way in the corporate world and the emotions he experiences involved with that. It also has themes of management strategy, the main character’s relationships with women, mysteries, and office politics. Also all kinds of crazy weird shit happens.

This series is kind of the archetypical seinen manga. And it’s one of the series a lot of Japanese readers will think of immediately when thinking about manga for adults. The main character, Shima Kо̄saku, starts out at age 34. It’s a series well known for its realistic depiction of office life and about the things actually going on in Japan at the time. Since it’s so long running it has a fairly dedicated following. Also there was a movie, a TV drama, a bunch of parodies, a Super Famicom game, and a bunch of other adaptations (There’s no full adaptation of the whole series as a drama or anime or anything, rather a bunch of short ones or parodies.) I know his face was on a bus once… There’s just a lot of things.

The series breaks down into parts. They go something like this:
(Part 1) Section Chief (Kachō) Shima Kōsaku 1983–1992: 17 volumes
(Part 2) Division Chief (Buchō) Shima Kōsaku 1992–2002: 13 volumes
(Part 3) Managing Director (Torishimariyaku) Shima Kōsaku 2002–2005: 8 volumes
(Part 4) Executive Managing Director (Jōmu) Shima Kōsaku 2005–2006: 6 volumes
(Part 5) Senior Managing Director (Senmu) Shima Kōsaku 2006–2008: 5 volumes
(Part 6) President (Shachō) Shima Kōsaku 2008–2013: 16 volumes
(Part 7) Chairman (Kaichō) Shima Kōsaku 2013–2019: 13 volumes
(Part 8) Senior Advisor (Sōdan’yaku) Shima Kōsaku 2019–present: 4 volumes (Ongoing)

So that makes 82 volumes in total so far. There’s also a number of short prequel series that ran in monthly Evening magazine (Which eventually finished and “caught up” to where the series started) which total 21 volumes, so if you count those the series has a total of 103 volumes right now. They’re all written by the author and as far as I know those are also considered canon, but they’re not what came out first and are kind of “extra” (A group called Manga:Code scanlated 2 volumes of the first prequel a long time ago). Also there’s some spinoff series which are written by other authors (Including “The Time I Got Reincarnated as Shima Kōsaku”). (Also the author has done and continues to do another series called “Tasogare Ryuuseigun” or “Like Shooting Stars in the Twilight” which is 64 volumes long, because this guy is insane. Someone should translate that, too.)

My current plan is to just do the first part, which is probably the most famous one, which is Section Chief Shima Kо̄saku. I’m not sure how long it’ll take because this series is QUITE hard to translate. And at the moment I’m focusing on finishing the end of Seikimatsu Leader Den Takeshi. But I wanted to get volume 1 out just to get started. Though if I do finish it and I’m not dead or sick of it, I’ll consider moving on to the second part. I’m probably not going to “catch up” to the ones coming out in Morning barring me eliminating the entire rest of my life to work only on this series. So if other groups want to work on later parts of the series, go right ahead. Despite it being quite a famous series, nobody’s scanlated it and there’s no official English volumes out (They did a few “bilingual editions” of Part 2 and part 6 for some reason which I’m fairly sure are out of print and only did a couple volumes of each. But they write in oddly-lettered English with Japanese in the margins and the panels spread out so it’s not really the ideal way of reading the manga. They’re mainly a language-learning tool.) I’m gonna use macrons for the long vowels because I think it sorta fits this manga somehow. And I’m gonna release it in volumes for now, I might change my mind at some point, who knows. Also the corporate titles don’t really have consistent or official ways to be translated into English, mainly the middle ones with “director” in the name, so I’m choosing ones that are clear that I think work best there. (They don’t really have one-to-one equivalents in the English-speaking world.) So I hope folks are okay with what I went with. Also I’m not gonna try to track down the color pages for this series as they don’t seem to be archived anywhere and there’d be a LOT Of old manga magazines to buy if I wanted to go that route (Which are much harder to find than Jump). I’m including some color pages that were included in the bunkobans though.

Uhh, and also I should mention that this series is probably an 18+ series and give a content warning that it contains depictions of nudity, sex, prostitution, infidelity, blackmail, suicide, racism, and probably a lot of other stuff in that vein (I haven’t read all of it). Also keep in mind that at least this part was made in the 80’s and so has things in it that may not be considered proper today. It’s also a story about complicated figures that don’t always do the right thing. Just figured I’d mention that up front.

Anyhow, I wrote a whole lot here. I hope you all check this out and enjoy it!
(P.S. I still can’t upload this to Mangadex because they still don’t allow new series to be added and this one wasn’t on there before it went down.)

Section Chief Shima Kо̄saku Volume 1 (Ch1-8)
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