Interviews

Luchs August 2009

Luchs was the founder and leader of Mangasync, a scanlation group formed in 2001 that was most well-known for its scanlation of Glass no Kamen (Glass Mask). Despite its success, the Mangasync received C&D letters from Kodansha and Hakusensha in mid-2005. As a result, Mangasync disbanded in September of 2005.

Please introduce yourself!

Luchs: Hello, I'm Luchs, founder of Mangasync. I got into scanlation because I love manga. I wanted to spread manga goodness to everyone who's never heard of it.

Tell us a bit about Mangasync, what kind of group was it? When and how was it formed?

Luchs: Mangasync was formed by me and Sandi in 2001. I scanned & translated, then Sandi edited using Photoshop, then back to me for quality control, and the chapter ping-ponged between me and Sandi until we're both exhausted (but happy! ;p), then I released them on IRC using good old SysReset fserve script. Then a friend of ours, drslum, bought us a domain name & web hosting. Another friend, kate/urit, designed our website. Last but not least, tama-neko designed our "onigiri" forum.

Where did the name Mangasync come from?

Luchs: Sandi and I were friends with the guys from Animesync, who subtitled some old anime series.

Tell us a bit about the scene back when you first got into scanlation, what was it like?

Luchs: It started with just 2 people, then it grew to about 20 people. We started working on small projects such as Chizumi & Fujiomi (3 volumes), Miriam (6 volumes + 1 special volume), and some one shot stories. The idea of scanlating Glass Mask came from Sandi. I was against it at first, because it would be a HUGE project, 42 books at the time, and still going. Then somehow she got me to agree o.O;; (I don't remember how it happened >_>)

How was Mangasync received by the community?

Luchs: The community loved us. I have never gotten a single complaint or trash talk email. All the emails I got came with love and praise enough to elevate us to cloud 7. Even the slightly annoying emails "when is so and so gonna come out" I'd take as a compliment =p

How was Mangasync organized?

Luchs: I was the main scanner of the group. The only other scanner was Toshiya, who was responsible for scanning and translating Break Shot. I pretty much managed the whole group. I distributed work to translators and editors, and cracked the whip when they started slacking ;p Then for quality control, I made sure that every phrase in each text bubble makes sense and the flow of the story is flawless. I wanted everyone to read a chapter and understand it. Once satisfied, I released them on IRC and the website. I was also responsible for testing/hiring translators, and Sandi was responsible for the editors.

So what was it like working at Mangasync?

Luchs: Hmm... there's about 200+ pages per volume, and how many volumes did Mangasync do? >:P I wouldn't say I "love" scanning lol.. Anyway, I wouldn't call it "work," it was more like a hobby for all of us :)

Mangasync didn't just scanlate from Japanese, but also worked from other languages, right?

Luchs: Mainly from Indonesian, but there were some from Japanese and Chinese.

What do you feel is Mangasync's most popular or influential project?

Luchs: Our most popular project was Glass Mask.

It's well-known that Mangasync received C&D letters from Hakusensha and Kodansha... Tell us a bit about that. What was it like at the time? How did the group and its staff react?

Luchs: Yes, we actually received the email from Kodansha first, dated 5/30/05. They told us to C&D on Break Shot and a few other titles. The email from Hakusensha came 10 days later on 6/10/05.

We were shocked at first, then I made the decision to finish Glass Mask up to Vol 18 and disband the group. Can't really remember how the staff reacted, but after we did, I know some of them went to other manga scanlation groups, to keep doing what they love to do :)

What are you up to these days? Do you still follow scanlation?

Luchs: I still read manga almost every day. I think I will still read manga even when I'm all gray and wrinkled lol... I have a huge collection and have a custom-built library in my house :P

Sometimes I go to #lurk on IRCHighway to download manga or read online at mangafox.com and onemanga.com.

What are some of your favorite scanlation groups or projects you have followed over the years? Were there anyone or any group you looked up to in particular?

Luchs: I don't think we looked up to any group. There weren't many back in the days. We decided the standards such as styles and fonts for text, sfx, etc. ourselves.

Thank you for your time! Any last words?

Luchs: Mangasync was very dear to me. I have pride in every single chapter released. I also believe that I've accomplished what I wanted to do with Mangasync.

I'd like to use this opportunity to once again thank our fans, for all the love and support you gave us, and most of all, thank you for being addicted to Glass Mask, Break Shot, Chizumi & Fujiomi, Miriam, and the rest of our releases :P

Thank you for the interview and thanks for making me dig old emails (had to refresh my memory) :p

Take care everyone,

Luchs <3
R.I.P. Mangasync (2001-2005)