Balloon English Version

AND FINALLY I'M BACK!!

2009-05-11T23:55:00.009+02:00

In the end I did it! You waited for days, weeks, months, years.... but here I am! I always wanted to do it so I add: "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe!" Well, that was to introduce the topic of the post: BUT WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN ALL THIS TIME????
I'm pretty sure you don't care at all and I'm pretty sure you didn't miss me. I also believe that the blog link got lost into your sites/blogs/Myspaces/favourites in general. Anyway, since Balloon's blog is mine and i write what i want to write... i'll tell you what i've done till now! :P

Let's start at the very beginning: oh wait, just went to see what's the last thing i wrote, to have a slight idea about how long haven't i written on the blog.

Oh my... since august 2007! I mean something real, not about the manga editing... O_O

In the meantime....

1) I GOT MARRIED! Yep, you got it right! Now I'm an old lady, whit the yellow ring on my hand hehehe

2) I went in Japan for Honeymoon, great, faboulous, gorgeous, full of kind and polite pepole with a great cooking! You can have a taste with the pic here.

3) I did it! I finished all exams of Uni and.... it doesn't seem true! Now I'm working at my thesis on, figures, "MANGA"!!! \=^_^=/

4)I'm not pregnant. Just after you get married, people start asking you about babies with the classical question: "How are you? Any news?" And you spend the whole first year hiding your big fat tummy that you got with romantic lunches and dinners! And in fact... my tummy is pretty similar to the Totoro one but i'm started dieting and i'm currently working on it... what can i say? I like cooking and eating ù_ù

5)My activity as translator and editor didn't stop and I'm here to update the latest release of the manga Good Morning Call that's Vol. 08 Ch. 40.

6) Why am I still writing since it's soooo late? 'Cause I hate something i shouldn't have and i can't get to sleep so i thought: "hmmm i could write 2/3 lines in the blog.... =_="

7)Oh in the meantime i got laid off from work beacuse of the shitty economy. Bah... maybe one day I'll thank them... who knows...

8)I'm training new adepts: I'm draggig along with me into the whirl my little niece, 9 years old *muwahahahaha ebil grin* She and her brother slept over at my place once and i let her read a manga, obviously i choosed which one for her age. She really liked it and she's reading it. I won't tell about which manga, since i want to write more about it, but i'll spoil that's from the great WATARU that has in her curriculum innocent, graceful mangas ehehehe.

Well, i wanted to go for the 10, just to allow me to say i wrote a Decalogue XD, but better stay quiet... ok, i'm gonna get some sleep, at least i try ;)

See ya folk!

Kia ^_^

COMING BACK.....

2009-02-11T15:59:00.002+01:00

Coming back.... I mean... I'm trying to bring back to life the blog, writing oftenly and i'm trying to come back to normality, since i'm coming from a really stressfull and crazy period.
I've got so many things to tell youuuu >_<
For the moment i'm joining to an initiative of my friend Marcello (look at the sidebar).
His blog link is sideways... here on the right! :)
Hope to see you soon,
bye.

Good Morning Call Vol06 Ch28 e 29

2008-05-20T14:09:00.003+02:00

Hey all, well here you are 2 new chapters of GMC, sorry, i'm in a hurry...

bye Kia

Good Morning Call Vol06 Ch27

2008-04-20T21:33:00.003+02:00

So, here's the story: we've a new editor (Veevyn) and she's fast as light ehehe... that means... today we've another new chapter. From now on I'm just the translator :)

Welcome Veevyn!! ^_^

Good Morning Call Vol05 Ch26

2008-04-20T02:49:00.002+02:00

It seems something is moving on.... A new chapter of the manga is out. I won't promise anything anymore, just not to disappoint you. These are busy times that soon will pass by... please be patient, this blog will come back cute, nice and more active than ever. :)

Kisses

Good Morning Call Vol05 Ch25

2008-02-25T00:33:00.002+01:00

Sorry, you're right, every time i post there's a new excuse... but please note that carrying on studying, work and wedding plan it's not easy...

Soonish there will be a calmer period and at the moment i sadly notice that i just have time to update the manga release i edit... I feel like saying "Better than nothing" even if i know this is not a good excuse....

Please don't abandon me 'cause i dun update frequently. I'm doing my best!!! >_<

Kia :)

Exaaaammmss!!!! >_< Good Morning Call Vol05 Ch24

2008-01-27T09:50:00.000+01:00

Hey all! Sooo Sorry... but recently it seems i couldn't bring nothing new in this blog... well.. ihave my own reasons... EXAAAMMSS!!! >_<

So as usual i can't do anything but saying the new chapter of Good Morning Call is out, probably with next update of Shoujo-Love...

Moreover it seems that that day it should be the Shoujo-Love Anniversary...

So... Happy B.Day Shoujo-Love! ^_^

Kia

It's not manga stuff... but, oh, well....

2007-12-18T16:12:00.000+01:00

Best Wishes from Ballooooooon!!! ^____^

Peace, Joy, Love and Health for you all! <3

Good Morning Call Vol05 Ch 23

2007-12-04T00:17:00.000+01:00

Hey all!!!! I'm back finally!!!! And now I'm sure I'm addicted to internet.... Almost 3 weeks with no internet was definetly toooooo muuuccchhhh!!!!

And I'm back with a new chapter of GMC. I know, it's in italian and you're not interested, but, finally I'm back and I'm planning on something more interesting. So till that time go grab the new chapter in Shoujo Love or to my blog's chann in IRC (highway) at #Balloon.

See ya soon folk!

Real Spider Pig!

2007-10-05T00:02:00.001+02:00

I know... this is not animation... but how could I not post this!!! XDDD
Kia

Simpsons - The full Spider Pig Song

2007-10-05T00:01:00.001+02:00

On tuesday i went to the cinema... Afterall that's animation! ;)
And it's tooo funny ahaha

Good Morning Call Vol05 Ch 22

2007-10-03T13:01:00.001+02:00

Awww... I'm late this time ;P

Well, the new chapter has been out for a couple day... a little late and I'm sorry :(

My fault... I had exams, that i passed and everything was fine! ^_^

At least something positive... C'mon, don't waste your time here, hurry up, go read it. See ya soon.

Kia

GMC Vol05 Ch 21

2007-08-20T00:13:00.000+02:00

Hey all :)

Welcome back! Just wanna let you know that new chapter of Good Morning Call is out :)

I was abroad for work and couldn't post it.. sorry

So now run to read it... ehehe i know, it's in italian... well, good exercise ;)

Anyway, the manga is avaible in the Shoujo - Love site under Scanlation and Good Morning Call area. See ya soon! Kia

GMC Vol 04 Ch 20 and #Balloon on IRC

2007-07-17T12:43:00.000+02:00

Hello all! well i know i'm not following the post list of the official Balloon blog but this is a recent news and i have to write it now. Well the first one is that the new chapter of the manga i translate for the Shoujo-Love web site is out and that from this month on I'll give you a short notice when the new chapeter is out. But actually i dunno how this could interest you since i translate from english to italian LOL XD

So what's the point in advicing you that read my blog in english about a translation in italian??

Anyway I'll write it, at least there could be someone that studies italian and want to try read some italian manga to exercise... why not ;)

You can find the release at www.shoujo-love.net, the site has an english version too.

And here we come to the second news!

My blog channel has been on for some days at #Balloon@irc.irchighway.com

Ehehehe, noooo, I'm not talking about TV, but of curse you're wondering what's IRC and a channel :)

Well, a channel is a chat room where you can talk and exchange files :) Yep, you got it right, I opened the Blog's room to chat. The software to use is named MIRC; well, this is the most used but there are other softwares you can use to go into IRC... anyway... you can find a good tutorial in internet and after you read the guide you can start looking for rooms to chat ^_^

If you've time, you can inform about it and come to visit me, it'll be funny!! Moreover, Mirc is good to exchange files, so almost all groups that make scans serve them in mirc, so between a chat and another you could get manga too.... but i suggest this step only to more expert people.

Now, you may say: "Eh, she get us curious and we have to get informed ourselves!" Well, the IRC topic is not easy to explain and it would be difficult; moreover i'd go out of topic, since we're talking of manga and not about software.

All i can do is giving you links to read more about it... for example, the site www.shoujo-magic.net has a good tutorial to learn how to go in irc and get mangas. And if you want to know more you should just google "tutorial mirc" to have tons of interesting files.

My advice is to start from the Mirc guide that is easy to understand.

Well that's all for today too ehehe :)

See ya ^_^b

www.shoujo-love.net : the site I translate and edit for, where you can get italian manga

www.shoujo-magic.net : by cliccking on IRC Magic on the right you'll reach the guide

#Balloon@irc.irchighway.com : where you can find the blog's channel ^_^

Marmalade boy... for those who are near tears like me!

2007-04-11T18:14:00.000+02:00

K people! We talked and talked and talked, talked, talked.... (woo someone stops me!), but we never reviewed Manga!! It’s really time to go for it!
Let’s start with... hmmm.... yeah! A girly manga... well, it’s polite giving priority to girls... and.... ok, ok, i’ll tell the truth: actually I really like this manga, and my bf calls me Suffragette too >_<

Well, I started reading mangas because of her. Once I saw the Marmalade Boy’s anime on tv: a really really cute cartoon.... a crappy cartoon after I read the manga. When I lighted on the manga by chance, I couldn’t resist and I bought all the series. I know, now you’re thinking: but she’s not a baby and she still watches cartoons...? And Marmalade Boy!! WHEN I WATHCED MARMALADE BOY I WAS 14!!! IT HAS TO BE CLEAR!!

Anyway, the manga’s story (the anime was a little different) is a quite common shoujo (that’s the name of japanese love stories’ genre, also called romance). One of Yoshizumi’s distinctives is her troublesome love stories, in fact, when my boyfriend read the manga asked: does she had some family problems when she was a child? XD

No, well I dunno, but I think it’s a sorta of trademark. When you’ll become manga addicted like me, you’ll be able to recognise various authors by their drawning mark and by the structure of the story.

So, that’s the story: Miki and Yu’s parents say suddenly that they’re going to divorce because their love became friendship and because they felt in love with other partners. To understand better the two family partners exchanged each other (yu’s mother + miki’s father and miki’s mother + yu’s father). These new families decided to go living all together in a 2 floor house. That’s how Miki meets Yu and even if from the beginning she hates him, that’s the beginning of our protagonists’ story.

Miki was in love with another guy, Ginta, then Arimi comes: Yu’s ex girlfriend. And as “side story” there’s Miki’s best friend, Meiko, who’s in love with her teacher Nachan. Then Love explodes between Yu and Miki, without problems, but then Yu finds out by chance.... psssttt.... and pssstttt *whispers*.... till .... psssttt...... Now do you feel like reading it? If you don’t trust my post I can lend you the manga... :] Anyway of the same author you can find: Random Walk, Kimishika Iranai, Minto na Bokura, Ultra Maniac, Datte Suki-Nandamon.

I hope you’ll enjoy this Manga... now I go read one of Wataru’s Manga ;)

See ya. Kia :)

MIYAZAKI DREAMT AGAIN AND PRESENT US A NEW MARVEL

2006-07-09T17:08:00.000+02:00

We have been starting talking about comic for short time and it wouldn't be opportune talking about animation movies at this point of the run... but I feel bound to do it. today I'll talk to you about the Japanese Anime myth: HAYAO MIYAZAKI.
But let's be methodical: What's an ANIME? The Anime is a close relative of manga, that is japanese comic; the Anime is a feature film made by cartoons (in japanese style), also called animation movie.
It's not uncommon that a well done anime takes a manga as a starting point and it's not uncommon that a well done anime is followed by a "film book", that is a book with manga size with the frames of the film.
But let's get back to the subject: MIYAZAKI!
There's nothing to be said, he's a King Midas of the animation. He's the famous Heidi and Lupin III's daddy... and the daddy of the Sherlock Holmes dog drew, too. This last will be remembered by the oldest guys.
Miyazaki is 64 and has an economy university degree, but his fantasy remained that of a child and we all pray that it last like this. He has been doing animation since 1963, but only in 1985 he founded the Studio Ghibli, which has produced nine feature films of Miyazaki: Nausicaä of the Wind Valley, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Lupin III and Cagliostro's Castle.
Recently Miyazaki has received the Golden Lion to the career and in the same period his last masterpiece has came out: The Howl Moving Castle.
When I finally saw it, I hadn't enough words to describe it, but I'll quote a friend who said: "It's beautiful up to make you move". Let's think to the sheerest, the most beautiful and significant poetry you've never read and you imagine to see it in two hours of film. To call it beautiful is reductive: it's poetry at the highest existing level, pure love poetry.

In Miyazaki's movies the recurring themes are the flight, the nature menaced by the man unreasonableness, magic, love, pity as possibility of meeting among creatures, the transformation process that all his characters faces to gain an interior growth. Particular is the attention paid to the relationship between man and nature, to the contrast between new and traditional and to the attempt of making up for values that occidental world and his Japan putted apart. These themes are explored trough female characters that Miyazaki uses as protagonists. His characters and heroines are his eyes on the capitalistic society that's not so perfect and trough which he launch an act of accuse.

His heroines, creatures between childhood and adult age, masculine and feminine at the same time give life to the marvel countries devised by Miyazaki; such as Chiro in Spirited Away, where she tries to save her parents transformed in pigs because of their greed. At the end of her adventures she'll be more mature and more trustful in herself. Or such as San , The Princess Mononoke, hardened and brave warrior, who fights in order that man doesn't destroy the forest, but learns, like her, to live with its inhabitants. And finally Sophie, the least character of Miyazaki's world. She's an orphan girl who had to grow quickly and that is responsible since she was a child, to the point of feeling older than she really is. She faces up to be old without dramas, but searching positives things. Anyway she'll have her weackness moments too...

Almost always Miyazaki's female characters are excluded or live on the fringe of society and must redeem theirselves to this comunity eyes: so it's for Kiki, Mononoke, Chiro and Sophie. Probably this makes them more enterprising and more pratical. The surprising thing is that there aren't stereotyped good or bad characters but every single one has his faceting and crosses a growth course. During the film characters evolves and that's great considering that they aren't real actors!

Miyazaki's world is fantastic to discover and to do it I'll present you two juicy things: the link of an interview by the english Guardian to Miyazaki and the translation of the ending theme of "The Howl Moving Castle" written by Miyazaki himself. At least I hope to have made you curious...! See you soon!

Kia ^_^

http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,6737,1569689,00.html

The Promise of the World

(ending theme)

The smile is trembling at the end of tears

From the very beginning of the time

The promise of the world

Even if now I'm alone

I remember our yesterday

The today rises sparkling

Such as the day when we first met

You're not in the

The house of memories

You skim over my cheeks

Such as a lightly breeze

Even after we divided

At the hour when the sun disappears among trees

The promise of the world

will never ends

Even if now I'm alone

Tomorrows are never-ending

You teached me

The kindness hided in the night

You're not into

The house of memories

But you'll live for eternity

In the roaring whispers's sing

In this sky's colour

In the flowers' parfume

http://www.studioghibli.org/

www.luckyred.it/minisiti/castello/

Koizumi the Sol Levant Richard Gere...

2006-06-01T13:10:00.000+02:00

I read and article titled "Tokyo discovers elections-show". You know, in these days the Japanese premier Junichiro Koizumi was riconfirmed by the elections. Politically talking, he's the long-lived, considered that he's been in power since 2001. With this electoral campaign he presented himself as the new Japan icon and he has been really particular. Koizumi, there's nothing to be said, is a really singular type: he's 60; has long hair and he's got an eventful sentimental life (was divorced and now single); he made a record with his favourtite Elvis's songs and went to the office with a shirt and casual clothes to let air-conditioners down and to cut consumption of electricity down. During this electoral campaign Koizumi tryed to make to pass the post privatization, but at least 37 members of his party backed off and failed the purposal: since that they're called "killers".

The premier only answer was to relieve them of their posts and for this NEW JAPAN he counted onsimple people and female force, always a bit in the shadow in the country: he proposed 26 women as candidates, including the ex-Miss Tokyo, a famous anchorwoman, a famous cook, who publicly admitted to not understand anything about politic and the founder of a famous web site, who's only 32.

I know i'm famous to start very far in my conversations but... this was to make the image live in you, to make myself clear... This Koizumi seems a manga character... he almost doesn't seem real in the today's Japan and... Hey! Whit regards to manga... What a best mean to reach citizens????? What why???!!! Well, in London on the underground it reads tabloid; in Japan it reads manga. There are for all tastes, but... maybe you don't know, unless you haven't followed the Japanese vicissitude on papers, that Koizumi used manga in the electoral campaign, yeah, exactly manga, in particular the famous Inu-Yasha.

I'd like showing you a poster of the Koizumi's electoral campaign, ini which he used manga but, unfortunately, I cannot find it, so , be satisfied with a poster of the manga and a Koizumi's caicature.

See you soon. Bye!

Kia

At first it was Balloon...

2006-05-10T14:24:00.000+02:00

Ok, first of all HI EVERYONE! Then, I’m on the safe side saying it’s the first time I do these kind of things, so I’ll do my best but please, be patient if sometimes I’m not going to be able to satisfy your expectation or to simulate your curiosity suitably.
The blog name is balloon and it regards comic in general and in particular manga, where I’m a little bit more competent. I choose Balloon as blog name because it’s one of the crammed full elements of the comic speech structure and so it’s an identify characteristic together with illustrations, captions, etc. But you could just imagine how disgusting to calla blog “illustration” or “caption”, so here is the choice more sensible as well as almost unavoidable!
My aim in this blog is to give imput, to stimulate your critical part. I’m going to talk of comics from the technical-communication point of view (I won’t risk talking of aspects I don’t know, like the painting style for example), or simply I’ll review a manga that I read recently to comment upon it together.
So, let’s start! And… Oh, my God, from where do I start? OK, here I am!
Among the clocks-up I’ve studied at University well, yes, it seems that there were comics, too and it’s very useful a note given to me by an amazing professor.
Who read at least once in his life a comic will find banal what I’m writing, but there are so many little particulars that it couldn’t notice or that didn’t know because closely technical.
For example: Did you know that comic sentences are called Normative Language? This because it follows the daily current language used, which follows a code with linguistic rules. Expressions we are used to with Mickey Mouse such as sigh, sob, argh, are called Emotional Language, because of their ability of condensing in a single onomatopoeia the whole emotional range, such as resignation, sadness, anger, etc.
Comics have an inner logic. Captions must be read before the balloon or at the same time. They tell the situation to the reader, it takes a book inner story teller place… and such as in a book, the comic works if it identify itself with characters.
Have you ever happened to start reading a comic and to forget at all that you’re reading? It seems to be in the story, like an external observer, such as… in a live movie. Perhaps not at these levels, but if a comic involve you, the story works and be sure that you’re reading a really good comic.
That’s enough, I don’t want to be boring. It’s only the first post and we’ll have time and way to talk of anything regarding comics.
I end with a quotation, because there’s nothing better than a quotation to raise comments.
Scott Mc Loud in a comics essay, “made” by illustrations, says that comics take up our sense of identity, favour extension and reduction processes of perceived and mentally elaborated reality.
Scott Mc Loud is one of the biggest comic-strip artists and experts of comics into circulation and he also wrote many books about it. In his web site there’s a blog (but obviously all in English) and there are also on line comics with a really curious layout. Here’s the link: http://www.scottmcloud.com/
Bye and see you next time!
Kia

WORK IN PROGRESS!!

2006-05-04T17:37:00.000+02:00

Hiiiiii!!!! This is the first post of this new blog. I hope you pardon me for my poor english and I hope to have the steadiness to continue for a long time, too.
I only translate the italian posts of the other blog, balloon, but in this way I hope someone could read it better. Let's see... ^_^
That's all for now.
Kia

PS: This imagine it's from the web site of Ogawa's mangaka.