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An Interview with Ran-zu - Doujin's Editor
By Kasaix • 5 years ago

 

Hello, fine people of Doujins! I have a very important person hanging out with me, a high ranking staff member of Doujins itself! I'm going to let him introduce himself and explain a bit about his job.

That all said, thanks for hanging out. What's your name and job title?



Ran-zu: Yeah thanks for having me.  I'm Lance also known as Ran-zu as my artist name. I am an editor here at Doujins.



Kasaix: An important job to say the least. What do you do as an editor?



Ran-zu: Yes I started to do editing way back 2014 and it was my first time editing doujins/manga stuff when I applied for a position as editor for Raikoh. And my experience as an illustrator/graphic designs, I also wanted to broaden my knowledge and experience on working on some doujins/manga.


I work on raw Japanese files/scans and fix the color to preserve it at it's best. Also sometimes raws can be soiled and dirty so i try to fix that too. together by putting in english text formats that's been translated.



Kasaix: Interesting. Getting a look behind the curtain, to see how doujins and hentai manga go from raws in their original Japanese to the works people of other languages can enjoy is definitely fascinating. We owe people like you a lot of gratitude. Without you, many a private session may not have happened.

How do you first tackle a project? What steps do you take after being given a raw doujin or hentai manga to edit?



Ran-zu: I do believe that most people have the convenience of being online now and have access to pretty much content on what they want to see. delivering the good stuff has always been my top priority.

I don't really choose what i work on but i try to balance it when it comes to projects. It's usually random but every content is different from the other.

Usually when I'm working on greyscale doujins are the scans sometimes the files are pretty good and sometimes horrible like misaligned panels and dirty pages so i try to fix those first before proceeding on cleaning and typesetting. As much as i can to make it look like the original but translated.



For the CG manga it’s a bit tough especially when it’s also scanned roughly so as much as possible trying to balance the levels of colors and removing dirts and aligning the panels is important before i proceed to clean them all and start typesetting.

It takes a bit of effort and graphic experience and maybe a plus if you’re drawing/illustrating stuff it really comes in handy. It has always been challenging and exciting working on these stuff that thousands of people read online.



Kasaix: What sort of programs do you use when you work?



Ran-zu: I mainly use Adobe photoshop cs6 and for my secondary I use Paint tool sai when I do redrawing and rendering some colors. And as for my hardware's I can share my cozy little workspace.



 

Kasaix: That looks like the setup one expects from a professional editor.

What would you consider your favorite project to edit? Some project you tackled and just enjoyed working on.



Ran-zu: For me one of the most important thing when you're working on something is the space to be comfortable with. I have my intuos 3 drawing tablet and nostromo for my shortcut keys for photoshop and sai paint tool. Oh and some Lofi music on the background too. Music makes me more relaxed when working.



I think I've almost reached my 800th+ milestone doujins i have worked on for 4 years now here in doujins. As for my favorites Sugar berry Syrup (kuroe) doujins, I love the art just by looking at the illustrations. there are a lot of doujins with good artworks and body anatomy

that i'm just fascinated looking at them.



Kasaix: Over 800 doujins. Wow. I bow to you, good sir.

What sort of advice would you give to people who want to get into the field of editing materials like these?



Ran-zu: Yes i think probably more but yes the current files i have finished now on my main folder is 800+ doujins.

Just learn the basic stuff first and always be mindful about the quality control of your work.
We all start slow at first and the more projects you work on the better you get. Work in a comfortable environment that wouldn't make you feel toxic.



Kasaix: What sort of classes or fields of study up and coming editors should take?



Ran-zu: Hmm to be honest i didn't go to any school to learn graphics on photoshop I dropped out of college because my course was so boring. I just watched youtube back in 2008 i spent my entire time watching videos while im on the learning process. Advertising

Your portfolio is important so try to make as much as you can.


If you ever get a chance to study for art school then go for it. But remember the most important thing is experience and hands on. Never be afraid to fail because I have failed so much in the past and it helped me to be better.



Kasaix: YouTube tutorials are so very useful, and come in many fields. We live in a good age of learning.

Let's wrap this up, shall we? Do you have any final words to the people who enjoy the site?



Ran-zu: Yeah sure thing and thank you.
So yeah stay tuned for more stuff coming your way and lots of surprises soon. Thanks everyone for your support to this site. Chill and have a nice day everyone.



Kasaix: I'm glad I could help put a name to all the great works we have up at Doujins. Remember friends, when you're enjoying one of our works, it's Ran-zu who helped make it happen.