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irk — SLAYERS CHALLENGE: WE WON

Published: 2006-08-22 05:01:22 +0000 UTC; Views: 2212; Favourites: 29; Downloads: 10
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Description [art note: This is tradigital. There is no such category on dA! It is more traditional than digital, though, and most digital additions were made to blend with or embellish the traditional. I'll be making a tutorial post in a few days on all the changes I made and how they were done.]

Slayers Challenge wins. Slayers fans win. Anyone who likes to read books wins. Tokyopop wins. The Tokyopop staffers and affiliates who worked so hard for this win. Everybody. Wins.

In case you didn't catch the news, we're getting volumes 8 and 9 of the novels print-on-demand via web orders , as part of a very new thang Tokyopop is trying out. If we are good, and sales are good, and there's a big jump in Slayers fandom when Funimation releases the new DVDs, maybe Tokyopop will consider getting us all the way to volume 15. As it is, we have to thank Kara Stambach for pushing hard to get us to 8, which is where the current plot arc ends. She listened to us when we pointed out that leaving us at 6 leaves us on a cliffhanger. The usual purchasing process is buying 3 licenses at once, and so if they negotiated more they might have gone up to 9...which would have been more books, but it would have started a whole new arc that might never get released. D: Actually, this whole thing might change Tokyopop's buying process. They may research where arcs begin and end and buy in arcs instead of batches. So thank you Kara, and thank you everyone who raised your voice, everyone who sent a letter, everyone who spread the word. Thanks especially to those who stayed positive and believed that we could reach a company instead of fighting them. Even I had trouble believing that. It has been extremely hard to keep under control and WAIT. But everything paid off. Again, thank you so much to everyone for sticking through, showing your support, sending letters, fighting for these novels whether as a fan or an employee or both...you changed things, you BROUGHT these novels here, and you deserve an effing medal.

ALSO THANK YOU TO:

Eugene for lending support, spreading the word, and donating a drawing of all the helpers. I know we're all looking forward to it.
Sorako for spreading the word, coming to chats, lending support, and helping with the ongoing Slayers Central project. And heck, for me getting to meet you through this. XD
Mazokugirl for spreading the word, coming to chats, lending support, and helping with the ongoing Slayers Central project. Thanks also for all the chatting, which was very supportive and also just great fun.
Megs for opening up a topic at animeondvd.com's forums that helped us all get in touch with TP representatives for the first time. Best start to a campaign ever.
Peter Ahlstrom for his communications through said thread, for giving us the translation of the author's note at the end of volume 6, for starting relations off on a great foot and being a swell guy. Also, I hear he worked a bit on those novels, check your credits pages in your copies. Thank you for your editing work!
Jeremiah Bourque for translating these novels for Tokyopop, and for showing up as a complete surprise at the first SC chat and pretty much flooring us. Another absolutely swell guy. Thank you for telling us so much about the translating process, talking about Slayers, and basically just thrilling the socks off us fangirls. :3
Kelly Sue Deconnick for setting the standard for the Slayers adaptation in the early novels, and interacting with us over at the AOD forums as well. You are also swell and I love what you did with these novels.
Hanyaan for being there for chat, advice, spreading ze word, support, and cosplaying Slayers for great justice! And helping with Slayers Central. :3
BGEEZUS for spreading ze word, fan support, Slayers Central helping, being there, being awesome, almost making Min almost faint from the WHOA of meeting you and Sorako at the same time. XD;
Char for giving Slayers Challenge free webhosting, including for the chat that we did so much planning and meeting in. Thanks so much for your support.

And finally to Minerva , who started this damn thing, and had the energy, determination, and sheer fire to drive it. There's nothing I can say, really, that can do her justice. Please never, ever forget that Slayers Challenge is all thanks to her.

WE WIN THE INTERNET. THANK YOU.
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Comments: 28

Kimiski [2008-02-08 21:39:29 +0000 UTC]

WOOTTT!! We won double! The demand was so high for the books they are being offered in book stores this July!!! I pre-ordered mine and got them! I just finished 7 and started 8, SO WORTH IT!!! Now we must get the other part of the seriesw with Dynast translated!

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akane-no-Hime [2008-01-26 08:24:54 +0000 UTC]

I had no idea that this happened until I read a note someone posted on the Tokyopop forum about this. Congratulations! Slayers was the first series I ever seriously got into, and I've loved it ever since. Can you please share where we can send more letters and fanart to possibly help convince them to go all the way to novel 15? Please let me know!

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MEDdMI [2007-05-27 02:19:06 +0000 UTC]

Hi... I just wanted to say thank you for the information on the Slayers novels 7 and 8, I was just casually browsing Slayers fanart when I read about that... awesome! I need to do some Slayers fanart and send it to Tokyopop and beg them to translate the rest... XD

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irk In reply to MEDdMI [2007-05-27 05:45:37 +0000 UTC]

Yes! Do so!

Glad you found the post helpful!

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mindstrel [2007-03-13 17:24:17 +0000 UTC]

I cannot, cannot wait until these novels become available. ^_^

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Mythee [2006-12-15 03:35:27 +0000 UTC]

LE WEENZORZ! O-O;; Awesome!
I totally actually thought that it wouldn't work, but omg, I suck and you all ROXXORZ. Thank you everyone who wasn't a pessimist like me and sent the mails and everything. >.<;; *luffles upon*

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Mad-Ethel-Rackam [2006-11-25 15:42:29 +0000 UTC]

*cries* Finally!

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AmberPalette [2006-09-15 05:45:15 +0000 UTC]

Oh this is AWESOME! Ok so I'm not insane, there'sa new Slayers series beyond the first, Next, and Try, and the movies? Isn't it called "Wonderful" or something?

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irk In reply to AmberPalette [2006-09-15 12:25:58 +0000 UTC]

It's called noooovels. Slayers was based on em. The first and Next series were based (somewhat) directly, while Try wasn't. There was no way to base Try on novels because, by the time the animators finished Next, Hajime Kanzaka was still WRITING the next novel in the series after that, so there was no material to base off of. So they had Hajime's help in making the original Try series. After that, there was Lost Universe, based on his novels which are set in Dark Star's world.

I believe Wonderful is an OAV. I know several of the OAVs were based on novels from the Slayers Special novel series, which are prequels to the regular [and TV] series and detail Lina's adventures with Naga. There's also a Slayers Delicious novel series, I really have no idea what goes on with them YET. Still researching.

Also, there is a manga set after the novels that were published after Try in which Dolphin and her general show up. They're called Knight of Aqua Lord. That series finished running in Japan and nobody in America's started picking them up yet. [I believe there is a Spanish translation.]

...I think that's all the geekery I can fit into one post. nn; TokyoPop's translated Slayers novels 1-6, look for them in your bookstore or online. 7 and 8 will be sold only over the internet.

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AmberPalette In reply to irk [2006-09-15 21:48:33 +0000 UTC]

Yeah I was aware of the fact that the original and Next were loosely based on the first several novels, which I have actually already perused at Borders It was the non-USA stuff I was interested in asking about, and you seem to have done so lol, thanks. Actually though, while it seems to be alternate-universe (OAV I assume is a generally similar term to AU? Forgive the lack of acronym-savviness ) Wonderful actually DOES at one point feature the original cast, because I saw a clip on YouTube featuring Xelloss, Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadiss. If you've never seen it I can probably dig it up in my favorites folder. ^.^

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irk In reply to AmberPalette [2006-09-15 21:58:57 +0000 UTC]

Oh wait, Wonderful. THAT might be a Playstation game. There's several Playstation [and previously, Saturn] games that feature both Naga AND the original cast. I've seen a few of those clips on YouTube. The games have animations in them at certain points to show scenes. I'm not sure if they are in the series/OAV continuity or in the novel continuity or if it's their own. I know Hajime helped write them/had a big hand in them. I've seen quotes from him talking excitedly about working with Slayers videogames. He enjoys the work.

OAV or OVA is short for Original Animation Video. They became popular in Japan in the early 90s. Basically direct-to-video/laserdisc anime. The appeal was that since they were short and didn't have to buy airtime, they could put a LOT of money and effort into animation. The series of OAVs that are called Book of Spells in America are an example. Basically, anything ADV lisenced is a movie or OAV. OAVs sort of died out a bit in the late 90s, market was bottoming out afaik. They usually do OAVs for really popular serieses still because they know they'll sell.

Anything that's a series, oav or movie for Slayers has be lisenced or even RElisenced by now. The games haven't been picked up by anybody, there's a few stray manga, and a lot of novels. That and a few drama/radio play CDs, which really probably wouldn't sell well here. That's pretty much all that's left, though it's a lot of material, and good material at that.

I know there was talk from Funimation that they were working with someone to make an original American-released video game, but I haven't heard anything further on it. It'd be fan-fucking-tastic though!

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AmberPalette In reply to irk [2006-09-15 23:39:54 +0000 UTC]

ahaaaaaaaaaaa okay yes, thank you! much excellent clarification

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Itachikiritsu [2006-08-29 21:12:39 +0000 UTC]

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD

I almost cried in the middle of the library guys.

In the good way.

I win at life.

Even when I'm losing at it.

This is about the only thing that could brighten up my no-phone-no-internet-no-money-hike-two-miles-for-an-hour-of-library-time-life--...

I'm going to stop typing while I'm still happy.

...

I wonder if we could rally enough support to make them get the others licensed; I mean, we order enough online and get the word out enough that they continue the series. But that's a fight for when I'm still here, or for when Irk's willing to do it mostly alone. Whichever.

Let's not push it though. We have this arc.

...Push when we've gotten it. >> << >>

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Itachikiritsu In reply to Itachikiritsu [2006-08-29 21:22:30 +0000 UTC]

oh, PS: can you like, print the thread of us winning and send me a printed version of this? .-. I don't even necessarily mean a print, I just mean... print... from your computer. I'd like a keepsake and it charges here to print and I don't have the cash. Ja!

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skullclutter [2006-08-23 04:22:37 +0000 UTC]

Yay! Congratulations, guys!

I'm definitely going to be picking up copies. Here's hoping they finish the whole series.

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hokuto [2006-08-22 21:15:23 +0000 UTC]

*CHEERS AND CELEBRATIONS AND PUPPIES!*

... yes puppies! DO NOT QUESTION MY CELEBRATORY EXCLAMATIONS.

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mazokugirl [2006-08-22 17:28:58 +0000 UTC]

*FLAILS in semi-coherence*

Just in general, this is such a triumphant cap on the Slayers Challenge initiative. I think Lina there reflects what a lot of us Slayers fans are feeling about that fact *grin*

And of course, you can't forget yourself! For being a driving force beyond organizing all of us and getting us all together, for keeping so amazingly on top of recent developments, and just generally being a cheerleader for the whole thing and really making it all happen.

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Jateshi [2006-08-22 14:42:40 +0000 UTC]

That's wonderful news! Oh man, I'm so glad - I *love* the novels.

GO WINNING!

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Le-Altoid [2006-08-22 13:44:35 +0000 UTC]

EIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK. ;______________; I'm so happy I'm tearing up. That doesn't happen a lot. ILU Irk. ILU Eugene. And ILU all the other people who helped.
I'm so helping more in the future should they decide to cancle again.
And if they go to 15 I'll just die.
I'm just making this up as I go. So it probably doesn't make sense.
lskdgnlshf lkg elnkl jldfa. <333333322143521

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Eintheinuko [2006-08-22 12:55:24 +0000 UTC]

BEAUTIFUL!!!!

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La-Fille-Monstre [2006-08-22 08:28:51 +0000 UTC]

Yay! I can buy all the novels now!

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chibi-lina [2006-08-22 06:24:46 +0000 UTC]

omg I'm more then excited for this! *sqee* justo one thing... what about issue 7?

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irk In reply to chibi-lina [2006-08-22 07:10:03 +0000 UTC]

They're publishing up to 8 now, which means both 7 and 8 are yet to be released. They just bought the lisences for them.

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chibi-lina In reply to irk [2006-08-22 15:36:25 +0000 UTC]

oh okay! but in any case... joy ^_^

It's a shame I found out about the slayers challenge just that day, I would have loved to help ;_;

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irk In reply to chibi-lina [2006-08-22 17:45:41 +0000 UTC]

You can help still! Spread the word about the novels so there's lots of purchases. The fight's still on for 9-15!

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chibi-lina In reply to irk [2006-08-22 17:52:22 +0000 UTC]

I will! it's a good thing most of my friends want the novels

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sora-ko [2006-08-22 06:20:36 +0000 UTC]

Yay~ I'm so happy that we get the chance to read on! *dances around like mad* And I'm glad that it looks like fans can make a difference after all.

Great pic, by the way! I love Gaav's stoic expression with the little paper flute. And that hat looks way too good on Xellos.

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irk In reply to sora-ko [2006-08-22 06:21:50 +0000 UTC]

Gaav is wondering when this will turn into a booze party.

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