2:18 a.m. - Thursday, Jul. 24, 2014
Viz Media shuts down DCTP's Translations for English fans
Disappointing news in the anime community...:( I'm not happy. My drug...
ViZ Media sent a notice to DCTP, The Detective Conan Translation Project, an online message board for Detective Conan fans, telling them to stop scans and translations because apparently Viz owns the �rights� to Detective Conan. DCTP was known as a website that translated the Detective Conan manga, and at one time anime, for English-speakers, since most English-speakers had no manga complement as decent as the Japanese version. DCTP drew in fans from around the world. The team was very dedicated to their job of translating, even though many had other things to do. They were greatly appreciated. The same outrageous thing happened when SOPA and PIPA cracked down on pirating movies and shows on the internet, and so DCTP had to cease their translations of the Detective Conan animes. I was alright with that as longs as I was able to read the manga. And there wasn�t an English anime airing on my t.v. And I certainly don�t want that trash, Case Closed, ever airing on Cartoon Network again. There was never a good English anime complement to the Japanese version. DCTP�s manga scans helped that. But then Viz just had to drop the bomb.
Here�s my thing. Viz Media, if you own the rights, why haven�t you been doing your job of translating the manga at the same pace as the Japanese version? I am sure DCTP wouldn�t have translated the manga had there actually BEEN some mangas for them to read in ENGLISH! DCTP did a better job of releasing the English scans in a timely fashion, nearly matching the timing of the Japanese manga, and they weren�t even getting paid! Viz Media is SLOW and PATHETIC.
I don�t speak Japanese, and I don�t READ Japanese. I appreciated a website that provided a decent, well-translated manga. Viz Media is GARBAGE. They do not know how to make good dubbed material. They translate the mangas they want to translate, and if it doesn�t give them the satisfactory number of sales they want, they will cease translation altogether. That was a perk I will sorely miss from DCTP. They were loyal, hard-working fans that would never stop translating because they enjoyed reading Detective Conan themselves and made a hobby of sharing it with other international fans.
Viz Media never cared about manga and anime fans. All they care about is making money from anime geeks. They hope to make a profit from this. But sadly, they won�t. You know why? Because their translations are 10 years behind JAPAN�S! Over half of the English audience is 10 years ahead of Viz Media in the story. By the time Viz Media chokes up the most up-to-date file, English-speaking fans will more than likely just give up on the series altogether. And by that time, Japan�s version will probably be OVER! DCTP was up-to-date. ViZ Media fails as a company altogether. I understand Viz is a company and has to eat, but they don�t put the same effort behind Detective Conan that DCTP did, and that�s the truth.
Another crappy addition to Viz Media�s version is the SCREWED title, Case Closed. Why couldn�t you have used the ORIGINAL title, Detective Conan, Viz Media? Let�s also add the fact that Ran�s name is RACHEL and Shinichi�s name is JIMMY! Oh, why! Why is my worst nightmare coming true! Most of the cast�s names have been changed to sound more �American�, and it�s horrifying. The Detective Boys are the �Junior Detective League�, Mouri Kogorou is RICHARD MOORE, Ai Haibara is VI GRAYTHORN (WTF?) and Heiji is Harley Hartwell! Oh, just shoot me! Shoot me now!
I might not be buying or reading another Detective Conan manga until File 84 comes out in English. And when will that be? Another FOUR YEARS? This is the most disappointing news I�ve received! And when I do get it, I won�t be reading about Shinichi Kudo. Oh no. I will be reading about Jimmy Kudo! ARGH! The agony! I can�t even cringe my way through that!
I�m also reflecting on all of the Japanese cultural moments that were so eloquently translated by DCTP. Viz Media just loves to take Japanese tradition and culture, and STOMP America all over it! They butcher over half of their mangas to make it more �understandable� for international audiences, and it just usually ends up a pile of train-wreck! They never translate the volume EXACTLY like DCTP did. Viz translates, omits, and re-writes everything! They are likely to change a popular Japanese board game into checkers! WHY! Please tell me this isn�t so! I knew this was coming one day, but I guess I wasn�t as prepared as I thought for this day. I count it as a lost in my manga world.
For people around the world who don�t have to deal with Viz, you are fortunate.
I think this is probably the worst news I�ve heard this month�
No, wait. f(x)�s schedule for this week and next week have been wiped clean. Today is not my day�
