A: Arigatomina. Me, myself, and I. There is no one else contributing to this website.
Q: Why is the site so crappy looking?
A: Because I don't know anything about web design or writing scripts. I make the site using Yahoo (formerly geocities) PageBuilder - a drag and drop program. There's not a lot you can do with the program. Nothing fancy that I know of. But I know how to use it, so it's good enough for my needs. I'm not interested in having someone fancy up my site because then I wouldn't know how to update it myself.
Q: Can I link to your site?
A: Sure. But please don't direct link images uploaded on my site, especially if you're doing it on livejournal. I can't afford the extra bandwidth consumption.
Q: Why don't you have banners for the site?
A: Because my banner-making sucks. Believe me. If you want to make one for me, I'll gladly use it. Otherwise, there'll be no banners for this site.
Q: Why are there so many broken links?
A: Because no one's told me about them. Some sections, like the art/screencap galleries have been removed. You can find the same pics on actual gallery websites. Other links will be fixed if you email me and let me know which ones are broken.
DOUJINSHI-SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
Q: Can I post your scans/scanlations on livejournal?
A: On your personal livejournal account, yes. I consider that advertising and thank you kindly.
Do not post them on livejournal communities that have friends locked dj posts without asking me first. I don't trust groups I'm not a member of where I can't read what may be said about me and my djs.
I do not want my raw Naruto doujinshi shared on the Narutodoujinshi lj group. I'm a member of that group and I only want my scanlations listed there.
I do not want my Kyou Kara Maou doujinshi shared on any KKM lj group. I want nothing to do with any of the KKM livejournal communities. If you want to share them on a general yaoi doujinshi group, such as "yaoi_daily", feel free.
Feel free to post any of my Yu Yu Hakusho djs on the YYH lj groups; the series is getting old and we YYH fans should stick together.
Feel free to post any of my Naruto doujinshi on NaruSasu and/or KakaIru specific groups. I collect for both of those pairings and I've too many djs to share them on the lj groups myself.
Q: Can I use your scans/scanlations on my site?
A: Sure. I put them online to share them. All I ask is that you keep the "credit page" intact if you're using one of the scanlations. I'd like people to be able to find their way back here for more of the same.
Q: Can I scanlate/translate one of your raw books?
A: Yes, if I can host a copy of your scanlation on my site. Contact me and I'll send you a high quality copy of the book. If you don't want anyone else linking to or distributing your scanlations, email me and I'll tell you where you can buy your own copy of the raw book.
Q: Can I re-do one of your scanlations?
A: Yes, if I can replace my version with your version. I will not supply raws for a dj I've already scanlated unless I can replace my scanlation with the new (and better) one.
Q: Can I translate your scanlations into a different language?
A: Sure. If I can link to your site. I've had a few djs get picked up to be translated into Spanish and Chinese. All I ask is that you tell me where you'll be hosting the scanlations so I know where to send visitors who can't read English scanlations.
Q: Why are your scans/scanlations so crappy compared to scanlation groups?
A: Because I'm not a scanlation group. I don't speak Japanese, so my translations are close but by no means perfect. I'm teaching myself to read Japanese - it's very slow and difficult. The only foreign language I took in school was Spanish. As for the scans themselves, I've no experience cleaning up scans, and the only "photoshop" program I have is PhotoImpression4 - which is for editing photos, not scans. If the quality of my scans isn't good enough for you, please go to a different site. I recommend the forum at Aarinfantasy - they link just about every new yaoi dj that gets scanned on the net. All you have to do is avoid downloading the ones that credit "Arigatomina" as the source.
Q: Why don't you have any SasuNaru djs?
A: Because I hate the SasukexNaruto pairing. The only way I'd buy a book for that pairing is by accident, if the seller labeled it falsely as "NaruSasu". I'm very picky about semexuke when it comes to Naruto. I don't like Naruto-uke, and I don't like Sasuke-seme. I do, however, love the two of them together. So the only Naruto/Sasuke djs I buy are NaruSasu - that's NarutoxSasuke, not the other way around. Since most of the djs on the net are SasuNaru, I'm determined to carry the opposite for fans like me who've been searching in vain for downloadable NaruSasu djs since the series first came out.
Q: Why are almost all of the NaruSasu djs shounen ai?
A: Because that's all I can find. Believe me, if I spot a yaoi NaruSasu dj with explicit content, I'll buy it. As long as shounen ai is the only thing people are selling, that's the only thing I'm able to buy. If you spot a NaruSasu dj for sale somewhere that I don't already have, please let me know. I'll buy it asap.
Q: Will you scanlate Sensitive Pornograph?
A: No. That manga has been licensed in the US - that means it's already available in english. If you want to read it in English, buy it in English. The copy I own is in Japanese - there's no point in my doing a poor scanlation of it when you can buy the English release instead. The same goes for Earthian - I bought the books years before they were licensed, now there's no point in scanlating them.
Q: Which djs are you (not) planning to scanlate?
A: It depends on the pairing. I own books for pairings I dislike. They were purchased blindly, by mistake, or because the price was ridiculously cheap. I host them so fans of those pairings can enjoy them. I won't scanlate them because I get nothing out of that - no enjoyment, no reward. You can find a list of my preferred pairings and the djs I'd like to scanlate here.
Q: Will you scanlate this dj of mine?
A: Maybe. If you scanned it yourself and the scans are large enough for me to read the kanji. If you downloaded it somewhere and the text is so small the kanji looks like rectangular blobs, definitely not. It also depends on the pairing. You can find a list of my preferred pairings and the djs I'd like to scanlate here. If you have djs for a series/pairing not on that list, please email me.
GENERAL NOTES
Since people aren't reading the update page, some things you should know:
*I've been burned by Scanlation Groups.
When I first started collecting djs I couldn't read them. I was desperate to find anyone who would translate them for me. I contacted dozens of well-known groups offering to supply raws. None of them responded. Now that I can read the books myself, I don't need them. I buy djs specifically to host them on my website. I scanlate them specifically to share with visitors to my site who can't read Japanese. Interestingly enough, now those scanlation groups are contacting me asking for raws. The same groups who ignored me before. My response is to ask "What do I get out of it?" I only ask one thing - permission to host the scanlation on my site in place of the raws. They say, "No, we don't allow anyone to host or distribute our scanlations. We'll give you credit for supplying the raws, but you can't touch our scanlation of those raws." My response? "Here's where I bought the book. Buy your own copy of it if you want raws."
*I buy my djs.
They cost money. Some of them cost a lot of money. NarutoxSasuke is particularly expensive since many of the books are new and/or rare. When I get a new dj, it goes up as soon as I get it scanned. If you want me to host more djs for a specific series or pairing, link me to a place where I can buy them and I'll get back to you. I purchase new books based on price, availability, and convenience. Unless it's NaruSasu in which case price doesn't matter. If I spot one, I buy it. If you spot one, drop me a link - I'll buy it and scan it so you can read it, too.
*I'm not a thief.
This should be obvious since I just said I buy my djs, but apparently it's not. I don't use other people's scans without permission. If I want to scanlate a book, I have to buy a copy of that book or find someone who owns a copy and is willing to let me use their scans. Usually I buy instead of asking since people say no and I'd rather have the book on my bookshelf, anyway. I will never - NEVER - host raw scans done by someone else without permission. There are only six raw doujinshi on my site that I did not buy and scan myself, all are properly credited to the original scanner who bought the book. I am currently hosting (books I bought, scanned, and uploaded) 276+ raw doujinshi on my website. I'm not greedy enough to steal raws from other people when I have so many of my own to scanlate. If you still think I don't own a specific book, email me and I'll prove it. I have receipts for every book I've bought in the last two years. The original yaoi-con djs I bought three and four years back I can rescan for you upon request so you know they're right here on one of my bookshelves. I've never sold a doujinshi. If it's on my site, it's on my shelf.
*I'm one person.
I can't stress that enough. It takes time to earn money to buy new djs. It takes time to scan and upload and host them. It takes time to translate and scanlate them. I'm one person - my time is limited. Please take that into consideration when making complaints.
*I'm not needy.
If you don't like my site, the things I host, my manner, go somewhere else. I won't miss you. You'll be happier, and I'll save bandwidth.
*Contact info & links:
Name: Arigatomina
Email: arigatoumina@hotmail.com
Fanfiction: http://www.fanfiction.net/~arigatomina
Fanart: http://arigatoumina.deviantart.com/gallery/
Anime Music Videos: http://www.a-m-v.org/user/arigatomina
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