The Dragon Knights Project

A blog to follow the process of translating the series Dragon Knights/ドラゴン騎士団 and other series by author Mineko Ohkami/押上美猫.

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saigitatsu said:                                                                                                                            Which chapter? I’ll see what I can do about the kanji script.                            

This is chapter 33, the one that is currently available to read on Shinshokan’s site.  Some of the more complex kanji characters with more strokes are really hard to get a good look at.

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Cesia: Aside from Seren, there is something else you wish to accomplish, isn’t there?

Rath: ... Yeah.

Cesia: Do not forget that you are the “Dragon Lord.” And about the Dragon Clan.

Rath: I understand.

*flashback ends*

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Cesia: Also, While you are with Seren, try not to meet with or be seen by other Dragon Tribe members.

Cesia: Just try to avoid any mistake that may let Seren discover your true identity. Seren herself is a renowned fortune teller, the Heaven’s Star Princess. *

Rath: G...Got it.

Small Text: As I thought, it’s like that... That protection spell from that time, what was it called? That’s right, from when we met the princess at Emphaza. We met (???) much before that.** Cesia: I don’t know how long you’ll be wandering around in that form, but After you have finished protecting Seren, it’ll be up to you to decide whether you want to contact the Dragon Tribe.

*There was more said here, but I can’t for the life of me get a clear enough look at the kanji to translate them gaahhhh. **Someone help me with the chicken scratch font??!!?!

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Cesia: I’m telling you this now, but since this uses the Wind Dragon’s power, the spell is very tightly woven.

Cesia: No matter what you do, even if you want to turn back, or if there’s some kind of trouble, if you lose consciousness, if you lose your memories...

Cesia: Even if you died, your form would remain like that!  That’s why you definitely cannot die!  And don’t lose your memory!

Cesia: Since I’m the only one who knows, even realizing, finding you, and confirming your identity would take a lot of time! Small text: And Viseraut too.

Rath: U...understood.

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That’s it for tonight. X_X  I have the sleep schedule of a grandma, I need to get to bed soon.

[tofukitten]

Thanks for your work!

Going by your current notes, i think i have the gist of what happened that made Rath disguise himself as Grinfish. Seren is may be the Star Princess’s real name. According to Cesia, Seren refused a bodyguard from the castle, but Rath is so worried (because first Natasu left, now Seren? Lmao. Cesia says that now that both kids are gone, she knew Rath isn’t just going to stay in the castle all worried.) so Rath is pretending to be his own trusted mercenary (or non-Dragon Tribe knight, anyway). Viseraut says Rath is just being a stupid parent, though lmao.

I….dont know if Ohkami-sensei had this planned all along or if it’s a major retcon xD Considering a few points (because i immediately opened volume 12 to read Kaistern’s death…lmfao):

A lot of us thought the Star Princess looked a fucking lot like Cesia.

Star Princess said the Wind Staff was created by her mother, though the one she gave Cesia is an imperfect copy that should suffice to revive Rath (though the holy dragon eye completed it, if I recall). What if her mother was Cesia herself?

I think Star Princess told Cesia or Kaistern she is not of their time? I’ll need to look back lmao.

Like, im still leaning on BIG FUCJING RETCON but….it’s a very convenient one. Lmao.

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Yes, I agree that Seren is likely to be the Heaven’s Star Princess (How many years later and we finally have a name for this lady!?!?), especially since it mentions her going to Arinas, but just in case, I want to try and double check this info first.  I know there has already been some Grinfish flashback with her, so I’ll browse a bit and see if I can find more info.

STILL THO.  I’m just thinking back to that one scene where the Heaven’s Star Princess cries for Rath and Grinfish is thinking “I cannot tell her what is to come, it’ll break her heart” or whatever.  And at the time I assumed it was because they were from the future so that’s why he knew what happened.  But then again, isn’t it weird that Grinfish would already know, but the Heaven’s Star Princess wouldn’t??  But if Grinfish was actually Rath, watching his own past play out, it makes a lot more sense.  The Dragon Tribe is so mysterious to the outside world, I’m sure Rath’s pre-Dragon Lord adventures and demon origins weren’t exactly made public knowledge.

The part about one child having already left is puzzling to me though.  I don’t think it means Natasu, since he’s Raseleane and Lykouleon’s son.  But in the very very beginning, it did say that the current Dragon royalty had three kids, so... Kaarail, Seren, and ????

I gotta get back on this, all these unsolved mysteries possibly becoming solved are killing me.

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That’s it for tonight. X_X  I have the sleep schedule of a grandma, I need to get to bed soon.

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Rath: I see... In that case...

Cesia: This is... Kaistern’s sword... *T/N: CONFIRMED!!  RATH HAS A MULLET

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Cesia: Even though one son has already left home, Now that it’s two, I didn’t really think you would just stay here and worry.

Cesia: The Transforming Herb is a strong plant and adds Divine Protection, I had hoped to never cast it again.*

Cesia: Do you have an item you can use to return to normal?  Like a book or something.  It’s good to have something like a guiding principle for how you want to look.

Rath: What would be a good item to act as a guiding principle--?

Cesia: It can be anything.  Just pick something that would be good to cast the spell on.

*I’m a little bit at a loss on this translation.  It looks like the literal translation would be “Add a strong flower and divine protection to the transforming plant so that you never have to cast it.”  Uhhh... in any case, it’s something to do with using the transforming herb!

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Cesia: We probably can’t assign someone from the Dragon Tribe to watch Seren? That’s what I was thinking. But Seren already refused that idea, now that I think about it.

Rath: What if we searched for someone we could trust on the outside and requested them to.... Didn’t you say that?  That’s why I was thinking...

Cesia: That’s why.... you?

Cesia: ...I thought so.---Alright, I get it.  That’s certainly the safest way we can be sure of her.  But don’t let Seren find out.

Rath: As expected.  You understand quickly, I don’t even have to explain.

Cesia: It’s fine.  Helping you with what you want to do can also be fun. As your Dragon Queen. You just leave Kaarail and the Dragon Castle to me and go on.

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These translations are being posted literally as I go, so there may be some mistakes.  I am lacking a lot of context. orz

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Viseraut: That form-changing magic cast by the dragon queen hasn’t unraveled at all huh? And what’s even more impressive is that fortune teller, the Heaven’s Star Princess, never found out.

Grinfish/Rath’s *remembering*: ..........

Cesia: You’re thinking “I want to do something myself” aren’t you?

Cesia: Don’t make that “How did she know?” face! You’re so easy to read, how could I not know? I mean, Seren* has finished what she had to do and is saying she’ll go to Arinas, so I can understand why you’re worried.

*Is this their daughter?? I’m so out of it! *cries*

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Viseraut: Though I say that, (referring to what he said at the end of chapter 32, sorry it’s no longer up and I have no memory of what was said, sorry!!!!) The only people who know where the Dragon Lord is and what he’s doing are the Dragon Queen and myself, right?

Viseraut: Though what he’s doing is no more than acting like a stupid parent. Just knowing that is plenty though.

Grinfish?: What are you saying.

Viseraut: The Dragon Clan, the Dragon Castle, those are also the Dragon Lord’s.  You took them and so they are yours to protect. There’s no problem with what you’re trying to do now, so carry on.

Grinfish: Is that so?

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Ch. 33

So, chapter 33 is now available on Shinshokan’s site and EVERYONE’S FAVORITE ANGST MUFFIN HAS FINALLY APPEARED!!

Even though I’ve been super lazy thus far, I’m now CURIOUS AF so I’m gonna try to translate this chapter.  Bear with me folks.

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WHAT

Possibly some major DK2 spoilers ahead.

Okay, so admittedly I haven’t really kept up with what’s going on in DK2, I just check out the shinshokan site every now and then to skim the latest chapter, but............

Okay, so this chapter (32) ends with a conversation between Viseraut and Grinfish.  I feel like I should really go through the manga and translate everything to get the right context? (Cuz I honestly have lost the plot and have no clue what’s really going on anymore, sorry.)    So, to be honest, I could have totally read this wrong, if anyone else is reading and was able to understand the convo, please correct me if I’m wrong.

But Viseraut basically... just called Grinfish “Dragon Lord Rath Illuser”???????

Grinfish is Rath?????????????????????

WHAT???????????????????????????????????????????

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This blog turned 5 today. :O

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1993 Wings Extra Number Mineko Ohkami Interview: Sensei, Please Tell Us!

Q3: Ohkami-sensei, all of the characters you draw are very fashionable, do you think up all of the clothes and accessories? Can you tell us, how do you come up with them?

A3: I’ve enjoyed dressing like a princess since I was little, so I was able to think up dresses, etc. myself from old shoujo manga I read, and from designs that left a strong impression. Lately I’ve been looking through formal dress catalogues. For accessories as well, I draw whatever has left an impression in my head from books and designs I saw in shops that I liked. Though at the same time they all end up being the same kind of accessories. (Lately, I’ve taken a liking to crucifixes.) Clothing too, there are things I’ve seen and liked while shopping. Simply put, I use whatever I happen to remember. In particular, with unique or eccentric clothing, when I was a high school student, I often drew fashion from L-GAIM*, and that left a strong impact on me. Those kinds of influences.

Note 1: * Heavy Metal L-GAIM is a 1984 mecha anime series.

[revscans]

5/11 Release

New release is up! We’re going be trying to release a batch of chapters about once a month from now on.

In this batch:

Dragon Knights II - Ch3

Jintori Game - Ch7

Densetsu no Kokuou wo Sagase!! - Ch1

You can download everything on the website or read it online on the reader.

Also! Since Tokyopop no longer actually has the license to the original Dragon Knights series, we’re considering adding that to our project list in the future. We would be trying to get rid of all the terrible stuff TP did to it, fix the names, all of that good stuff. But since the series is 26 volumes, it would be a pretty massive undertaking on our part, so we’d like to know: Is this something people would be interested in seeing? Would anyone else be willing to help out if we did do this? Please let us know!