The Japflap Thread

[Eagle]

Hello everybody !

Please don't be shy, come in ! Take off your shoes and have a cup of green tea !
Thanks to Gold Knight, you have just entered in the Japflap room...

Let's introduce us :

For those who don't know us, Japflap is a Naruto Scanlation Group that try to bring HQ releases every week.
I'm Eagle, the Akatsuki Boss of the Team, and I'll probably be the only one of us to come here...for now.
Why ? Hehe... because most of us are French, and you know how French people like to speak English ¿^_^
So I'll speak for everyone here, feel free to ask whatever you want !

Before jumping on your keyboard to ask us questions (if there are any...), I give you some informations now

About Japflap :
Scanlation Projects : Naruto HQ (HQ for High Quality, that's what everyone say)
Language : French & English
Homepage : http://www.japflap.com French & English site, you can choose !
Active since : Chapter 261 in French // Chapter 281 in English
Active Members :
- Translator Japanese -> French : Eagle
- Translator Japanese -> English : Eagle We use Nihongaeri's one and change some things...
- Text Adaptation : Le Glouton
- Cleaners : Eagle, Hibou, Fremen, Obito, Lill0, Uropsyko (more are in the training room...)
- Typesetter : Eagle
- Final Check : Jollyjuly

About me, Eagle : (Who care !)
Real Name : Unknown
Occupation : Translator, Cleaner, Typesetter
Legal Status : French Citizen
Other aliases : Not revealed (I prefer not to tell ^^)
Identity : Secret
Place of Birth : Somewhere in France
Marital Status : Single
Group Affiliation : Japflap
Spoken Language : French, English, Japanese
Base of Operation : Lyon, France
First Appearance : August 2003 for all Naruto Fans
Age : 29 Years Old
Height : 193cm
Weight : Unknown
Eyes : 2
Hair : Some left
Known Superhuman Powers : Able to teleport to Japan at anytime (Stop dreaming...)

That's it ! Feel free to ask anything you want to know about us or me !

Let's have some fun !!

[Miso]

Ah nice!
I really enjoy your scanlations - you are definitely one of the best groups out there!
So here come my first questions:

Who of you came up with the idea of forming a scanlation group?
Was it difficult to find members?

[Gold Knight]

Why are you so mysterious, Eagle? Is it your ability? ;D

Why did you choose 'Eagle' as your name?

How did you get into Naruto?

[Eagle]

Ahh~~ so there are some curious people around !! YES !!
Ok, let's go for some answers.
Oh by the way, I may have a weird English too, remember : I'm french ^^

Who of you came up with the idea of forming a scanlation group?

It may look strange, but the idea isn't from me. Japflap was at first, only a French Naruto website with a small community. One day, on my forums, I started to put some of my french translations of RAW chapters. Some people liked the idea, and ask me to make a scanlation. I refuse, because I thought i would not have the time for that. But the rebellion had already started, and they did some cleans, to show me how motivated they were... I finalydecided to be the manager, and only did typeset in French on their cleans. I must admit it... their clean wasn't good enough, and I started to clean myself (that's 1 year ago). After a few releases, our cleans were still not as good as I wanted, and people started to leave the Team for no reasons... At that time, only Le Glouton, Jollyjuly, (recently joined) Hibou and I were still active... 2 cleaners to release (Sometimes 3 as Uropsyko was the only one not to leave, but said he has less time to clean) ! But Hibou and I worked very hard to do HQ clean (I don't like doing fast trads), and we kept doing our best. Recently, I realize that some very famous English teams (Shannaro and Inane) were late in their releases. Back then, I started to translate/scanlate in English too, so that all Naruto fans could wait until Shannaro's and Inane's releases.

Was it difficult to find members?

Yes, after everyone left the group I have to find more members. We were not very famous...so I've asked a friend of mine (Fremen, who work in the same office), and convinced him to help us clean, after teaching him how to use Photoshop. Some guys asked me to join Japflap, but as I'm very strict and wanted to do HQ releases, they didn't pass the test. Right now, I've started to look for new members again. For people to join us, I had to make our releases better and better... and then some very skilled cleaners showed up (Obito, Lill0). I'm still teaching some guys how to clean on my forum ^^

Why are you so mysterious, Eagle? Is it your ability? ;D

BOHAHAHAHA ^_^ In fact, mystery makes people imagin all kind off stuff about me, and I don't like to show myself. Let's call it an ability, ok

Why did you choose 'Eagle' as your name?

15 years ago, when I was playing with my Amiga computer... With some friends, we decided to draw DBZ pics (320*240, 256 colors with deluxe Paint !!) and make a slide show. We created a team, and decided to choose Nicknames taken from birds name. I choose Eagle, as I really love those birds.

How did you get into Naruto?

June 2003, I went to Paris to see my best friend, Le Glouton, our actual Text Coherence Checker. We are both comics/mangas lovers, for my birthday he offered me the first volume of Naruto...and I started to love it ^^ 2 months later, I wanted to create a website with as much as informations as possible. So here I am ! ^^

[Zenith]

How do you have so much time on your hands each week?

Do you have a real job?

What motivates you to become better than Shannaro clean manga weekly?

Do you have plans to take on RAVE & Black Cat other manga titles in the future?

[Eagle]

How do you have so much time on your hands each week?
Do you have a real job?

Those 2 questions lead to the same answer. It's because of my job that I have so much time each week. Another reason : I'm a full multitask machine person ! As long as I have this very cool job, I'll have time for cleaning. But I have to train more new cleaners in the case I have to quit my Job ^^ else I'll join Shannaro
Yes, but what's this job ? Computer Network Administrator in a Bank. Yes, while phoning to someone, I do yetisports clean. After doing my job, I clean. While programing VBA and Excel... I clean... The most important thing is : Time Managing ^^

What motivates you to become better than Shannaro clean manga weekly?

My first motivation is to do what I like, and guess what ? I like cleaning/translating/typesetting
My second motivation is to share my work with everybody for my/your pleasure. I think that anyone who can do something useful for others should share it... if he takes pleasure to do it. I just don't want to be forced in what I'm doing right now.
I don't proclaim myself or Japflap being better than Shannaro (or anyone else). I respect the work of each team and let leechers fans appreciate or not our work. Still, I admit that I always wanted to do HQ release as good as Shannaro I'm happy and proud that we have reached the HQ releases community so fast...

Do you have plans to take on RAVE & Black Cat other manga titles in the future?

Not for now...I've got free time in my Job... but not that much. I've decided to do only one Scanlation project, but try to do it well. And Naruto is easier to clean than Bleach or One Piece
But... a not so long time ago, I've heard about an alliance/merging project. That kind of project would certainly lead me to think about other manga titles to scanlate in the future... so wait and see !

[Hamsun]

MARRY ME, NOW! *srry u.u it was.. just.. well.. i download only your scanlation from chap 281, and i feel in love with your stuff, not really for you, but still, Marry me.*

Well, i must edit cause like this the post seems to be Stupid..(btw, it is XD)

[Leen]

Ok,my turn.

First, thanks for all the HQ scanlations so far.

Questions

Why the name Japflap? Any specific meaning behind it?

Usually, to clean one page, what is the average time needed for it?

Besides from English and French, do you know other languages? If yes, what are them?

[Eagle]

First, thanks for all the HQ scanlations so far.

The pleasure is mine

Why the name Japflap? Any specific meaning behind it?

I was waiting for this one ^_^ I've been thinking of that name 5 years ago already, when i was making a Jpop community site (on Ayumi Hamasaki/Elt/Dir en grey/Glay/L'arc en ciel/Utada Hikaru). When I stopped this site and started with Naruto, I kept the name. Japflap... what's that ? ^__^
Jap is for Japan (I love Japan so much)
Flap is the onomatopoeia of an Eagle (in french comics) and also a tiny nickname some friends gave to me (What the... I've told it ?).
So Jap+Flap, and Japflap was born. Also, that name is quite unique, and easy for Google ^^

Usually, to clean one page, what is the average time needed for it?

It usually take me 45min to 1h30 to clean a simple page. If the page is very dirty (depend on the raw) it can take more time. My longuest record is actually 5 hours... on a very hard page...
For other Japflap members, I think the time to clean a page is between 2hours and 4hours... I should ask them once ^^

Besides from English and French, do you know other languages? If yes, what are them?

I've already told in my introduction ^^
Spoken Language : French, English, Japanese (more reading/understanding than speaking/writing )
I've also been studying German.

MARRY ME, NOW!

Hu hu ^^

[Leen]

Ahah, so that's how Japflap comes to life. So how difficult is studying German? How many months do you need before you can master Japanese? What is the hardest and easiest thing in learning Japanese?

Random question,

Do you like eggs?

I heard of foie gras a lot but I have never seen one or taste one. Can you tell me exactly what it is and how does it taste like?

[Eagle]

Ahah, so that's how Japflap comes to life. So how difficult is studying German?

At school, I always hated to learn German...all this grammar and irregualr verbs... but now, I find German quite easy, even if I stopped learning it a long time ago.
Come to think of it, German has many similar points with Japanese ^^

How many months do you need before you can master Japanese? What is the hardest and easiest thing in learning Japanese?

By living in France, I think i'll never master Japanese. You need to speak to japanese people everyday to master it. All I do is reading manga and karaoke on famous song...ah ! Naruto translations too ^^
The easiest part of Japanese : Kanas. (Hiragana & Katakana)? I mastered them in one week.
The hardest part of Japanese : Kanjis. It's the only thing you can do by yourself... reading...writing...spelling...reading...writing...spelling...again and again...

Do you like eggs?

Yes I do. I like them in all cooking ways !

I heard of foie gras a lot but I have never seen one or taste one. Can you tell me exactly what it is and how does it taste like?

Foie Gras is made from duck's liver. It's a kind of pâté, but with a better taste. For exemple, comparing Foie Gras and pâté is the same as comparing red wine and grapes juice. Foie Gras taste far better, and is far more expensive. You usually eat it for christmas or for great events. You usually serve it in a round slice (~5cm diameter) and must eat it slowly, with a little piece of good bread, and sweet white wine that gives a better taste. You should definetely try it !

[Gold Knight]

Do you have any advice as far as time management? I feel like I've needed some lately. ^^

Also, I enjoyed reading your answers! How do you guys usually go around deciding who does what pages? Is there some sort of coin toss to decide it? ;D

[Dragonzair]

Random question:

Do you like strawberry lolippops!?!?!!?!?!?!?!? <3


And I seriously love the name JapFlap. ^^

[Eagle]

Do you have any advice as far as time management?  I feel like I've needed some lately.  ^^

Well, the first thing I do before anything is...my job ^__^ Or else my boss will kill me ! Then, I take the time do things in priority order, and gives others stuffs to do to people who can help me. As I don't know how you manage your time right now, I can't really give you more advices

Also, I enjoyed reading your answers!

Thanks !! Does it mean that my English is not "THAT" Jutsu bad ?! ^^

How do you guys usually go around deciding who does what pages?  Is there some sort of coin toss to decide it?  ;D

The first rule is : I clean the first and the last page in each chapter. Why ? because I do know what I want in cleaning, and want people to start reading our release with a nice page, and to finish it with another nice one... So that the pleasure is from start to the end.
For the other pages, cleaners choose themselves the pages they want to clean, depending of the raw quality and their cleaning techniques. Some prefers simple page and let difficult pages to others skilled cleaners, and some (like me) prefer to take a hard page.
As I always say : Clean only one page, but clean it very well instead of taking 3 pages and do 3 awful pages

Random question:
Do you like strawberry lolippops!?!?!!?!?!?!?!? <3

Of course yes !! Everybody should like Strawberry Lolipops !!! I'm a candy lover....

[Gold Knight]

Thanks !! Does it mean that my English is not "THAT" Jutsu bad ?! ^^

Nope not bad English at all, you learned it well!

And my time management question was a little bit of a joke ( I'm so busy forum-hopping between NarutoForums and Mangahelpers that I end up forgetting to do OTHER things, namely life related things! ) Your advice seems good though, I'll remember to think of my life first! After all this Naruto 295 RAW uploading business is done... >_>