“Why did you drop this manga!?”

Thus, I shall list the projects that we have dropped so far, with an explanation for each.

You may also read below for a lot of your most common questions with regards to licensed manga~

• Chaos Attack
  • Chaos attack was a joint operation with Artificial Demons.  It was one of our first webtoons, and we never had much experience such material until we decided to work on this project with them.  At some point, with no prior notice, Easy Going Scans decided to pick up and release Chaos Attack as well.  We eventually conceded defeat to their faster releases - it's pointless to waste precious time working on a project, releasing the same quality of material, as another group...
• Crayon Shin-chan
  • If I recall correctly, Crayon-Shin-chan was licensed by Crunchyroll.  Please see below for more details about why we immediately drop projects that we discover to be licensed.
• elDLIVE
  • elDLIVE, one of our most popular projects, has had an interesting history.  elDLIVE was picked up before I joined this group, and thus I can't give the full story from start to finish.  What I do know is that we dropped it the first time because we had nobody to translate it.  We picked it back up again when a devout fan of the series began to provide translations.  While the next chapter was being cleaned,  we discovered via the Anime News Network that the series has been licensed by Viz, thus forcing us to halt work on the series.
• Psycho-Pass
  • Psycho-Pass was a series that most people in our group liked and we didn't want to drop it.  However, the license holder took action on our downloads and forced the file host to remove them.  It's extremely rare for something like that to happen, but nevertheless, we took this as a serious warning to avoid aggravating the license holder any further.  See below for more details as to why we are so apprehensive about licensing.
• Saijou no Meiii
  • Saijou no Meiii was one of the casualties in a mass Japanese Translator exodus last May.  All of our Japanese translators left due to some unusual circumstances, and thus, many projects were dropped.  This project in particular has not been revived because it is very difficult for most Japanese translators to translate it.
• Shinsetsu no Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
  • This project was picked up and dropped before I joined the group.   I know very little about the series other than the fact that it's a pretty obscure manga.
• Shuffle!  - Days in the Bloom -
  • This is another project that I know very little about.  Since all of our current translators are busy with other projects and because I haven't received any comments or emails asking us  about it, it's not on my list of manga to revive.
• The Doraemons (Doraemon game comic)
  • This project was dropped because nobody wanted to translate it and/or work on it.  It's pretty obscure and there isn't much interest in it within the group.
    

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Now, for some more explanations for those who might ask this via email or comments:

1. Why are you guys so afraid about licenses?
   1. That's a very good question!  Here are the two most significant answers:
      1. It's without-a-doubt illegal.  Would you like a good example?  Record a show of something popular...like an entire season of "CSI: Miami" and burn it to a DVD, make a case for it, and give them away to your friends and coworkers and advertising your free copies via social media such as Facebook.  See how long you can get away with that - because that's exactly what we would be doing if we were to ignore English-language manga publishers.  And yes, even if it isn't "licensed" for publication in the US, some might still call it illegal.  The main difference is that the Japanese publishing industry would have to file lawsuits in the United States (which would be an expensive and complicated ordeal).
      2. We are a group that works for the sole purpose of providing manga that is "forgotten" - manga that is popular enough to be licensed cannot be considered forgotten - and for that very reason we would be abandoning the name that we gave our group.  (And then you ask... "What about your popular projects?"  To which we say... "We must have (somewhat) popular projects because a lot of the staff would lose motivation working on dead manga!")
   2. If it's such a bad thing, why isn't every group so fearful of copyrights?  There are groups out  there that don't care about the fact that it might be licensed.  
      1. You are correct that we might be a little bit more paranoid than the average group.  Here are some reasons why we are like that:
         1. We have a legitimate website, with a paid-for domain that can easily be taken away if we are blatantly breaking the law and don't show any sign of heeding the rule of law.
         2. By ignoring the law, we would set a terrible example for the *original* scanlation code:  drop a series when it gets published in America.  We also don't want people to become discouraged about joining scanlation if word gets around that it's so illegal.
         3. Most of our staff hate the idea of being accomplices to such crime.
         4. There are other groups that can pick up projects that we drop, and would be happy to do so.  There is plenty of manga in this world that needs scanlation - by dropping one project that's licensed we can pick up others that aren't.
         5. The fallout of scanlating licensed manga would get to to the point that our   download links would become consistently broken, the accounts might get suspended, and we might start to receive nasty letters from publishers.
   3. Do you realize the effect that you have on the readers by dropping <insert project name>?
      1. Yes, we do.  It's something that bothers me a lot.  I can see how dropping projects like elDLIVE and Psycho-Pass can really make you depressed and disheartened at seeing such a wonderful series become abandoned and forever condemned to the graveyard of your "could have been wonderful" manga list.   However, please do not feel that way - since the project has been licensed there is the possibility that you can purchase the English version online or in a bookstore!  If you want some tips on where to look, you can always leave a comment and we will get back with you ;).
   4. If I want to ask for another group to pick it up, where do I post such requests?
      1. Check out Manga Helpers, Batoto, and other popular manga-related websites and follow this procedure:
         1. Look for series that have been licensed and seek out groups that might not care about licensed manga, as well as groups that might take the "we won't stop until we get a DMCA e-mail" viewpoint.  AVOID:
            1. Groups that are formed for the express purpose of scanlating specific manga that do not fit into the category of the manga that you want scanlated.
            2. Groups that are already inactive.
            3. Groups that aren't friendly towards any outsiders looking to suggest a new project for them to pick up.
         2. If you think that you have found a group that might pick up your project...
            1. Either send them an email or communicate to them in chat your intentions in a very polite, responsive, and non-aggressive manner.  DO NOT immediately tell them that the series is licensed - or if you do, explain why we dropped it.  Note whether or not we said that we received a DMCA letter.  Inform them that they can ask us about the project if they want to.
            2. If your communication is by email, send them a very simple email first, with more information in a reply -if they do reply-.

If you have any further suggestions to add to this post, please let me know, and I'll try to add or edit where needed.

Best regards,
Radioactivekitty
Administrator
Forgotten Scans