Well, it's been a long run. For me probably only about 4 years, although ShoujoMagic had existed for quite a while before that. Finally it's time to close shop.

Sadly, I am no longer able to devote the time needed to run this group and with no one to take my place I will be closing the doors behind me, as it were. I hope you’ve all enjoyed this crazy ride as much as I have. As frustrating as it's been at times it's taught me quite a bit about leadership, friendship and responsibility.

I’d like to thank all the staff past and present who have given their time and effort to this group. It still astounds me that there are people willing to work so hard to put out great scanlations for no money and very little credit.

As for specifics of closing, we actually have some partially completed chapters I’d like to finish up before completely shutting down. There are some series I will be finishing and some I will be dropping. So there will still be a few releases yet. I don’t anticipate the group to completely close for a few months, although we won’t be taking on anything new or starting any new chapters.

The site will remain up and the channel will remain open until the last release. I haven’t decided exactly what to do with them after that. As for the myspace and facebook groups, I will leave the decision of what to do with them up to SmartChick, who has been running them and without whom they wouldn’t exist.

Lastly, I’d like to thank all of you for supporting ShoujoMagic throughout the years. This group has always been about bringing manga to the fans, and sharing the stories that we all love with the rest of the world.

-argentum_telesto (sandaime and last remaining nutjob at the helm)

Another chapter of Machi de Uwasa no Tengu no Ko from ShoujoMagic and Antebellum Scanlations. I'm super busy, so no time for more shameless recruitment right now. I'll add it in later.

5 - August - 09 Machi de Uwasa no Tengu no Ko Volume 01 Chapter 02 [Available on IRC, HTTP & Myspace]

Shoujomagic is looking for more scanners! Unfortunately, both of our scanners have stuff in real life they need to attend to right now. So if you have manga and enjoy slicing it open with a box cutter, we could really use you. ^__^

Details about the job:

*You have to provide the manga yourself. We are not able to send you any.
*You have to debind the manga. If you like your manga all in one piece, this is not the job for you.
*You need to be able to scan in high quality. (The quality to be determined by one of the senior scanners)
*You need to be able to scan at least 1 chapter a week. Most likely I won't ask for that much, but you never know.

Series that need scanners:

Desire Climax
Global Garden
Mizu ni Sumu Hana
Yoru Made Matenai

So if you have one of those series and think you can scan to our standards send me an email at sleepingforest13@gmail.com

We're also still looking for more translators and editors~

Today's release is brought to you by ShoujoMagic and Antebellum Scanlations. It's a new project called Machi de Uwasa no Tengu no Ko by Iwamoto Nao! It's about a girl named Akihime who is a the daughter of a Tengu. Her childhood friend, Shun, is training to be a Tengu and pushes her to do the same, but her heart is full of her classmate Takeru. It's a cute shoujo, so check it out ~__^

1 - July - 09 Machi de Uwasa no Tengu no Ko Volume 01 Chapter 01 [Available on IRC, HTTP & Myspace]

A few things to note about this chapter. Firstly, the files are PNGs instead of the regular JPEGs. You should still be able to view them with your regular viewer (Window Picture Viewer, ACDSee, etc). All future ShoujoMagic releases will be PNGs.

Secondly, you might have noticed (although most likely you did not) that the pages are actually larger. This is in deference to the other group's standards. This series will continue to be released at this size, but all other ShoujoMagic series will be released at our standard size.

Lastly, the project page is pretty bad... Currently the site and I am fighting with whether or not I'm allowed to add new authors or projects... or pictures... I'm losing. However, I plan on calling out the big guns (our webmaster) and hopefully it will be updated soon.

::SHAMELESS RECRUITMENT PLUG::
If you want faster releases volunteer to help! We need japanese translators and editors! If you're interested in helping, email me at sleepingforest13@gmail.com or come find me in our irc channel at #shoujomagic @ irc.irchighway.net. I'm not on all the time, so leave me a PM on irc with your email if you want me to get back to you.

That's right. I have no shame.

Well... just as I was trying to get back into releasing my mouse died, followed two weeks later by the monitor. I have replaced both, but the new monitor is widescreen and sadly my old old old graphics card doesn't like that. So while I'm either buying a new graphics card (when I figure out which one will work in my old old old computer... if one even exists) or flashing the BIOS and possibly (probably) destroying it all, there probably aren't going to be many releases... if any.

No complaining unless you're donating me a new computer :P

UPDATE: Well, more a small note than an update. If you buy an HP don't expect helpful tech support. That was one of the most interesting and least helpful tech support calls I've ever made...