[BenkyouKami 2.2] Fake Trial

After publishing the last chapter of Benkyou, I found out that a site that has been grabbing translator’s hard works is also taking in Benkyou. So, like the title said, despite of having exact title and filing method, this post is supposed to be a trial to shake it off. If they caught it, then nice for me; if not, then…well, there are many paths to go to Rome.

In fact, the title for chapter 2.2 is not “Fake Trial”, which you will surely know if you check Benkyou’s table of contents. Another trivia so you don’t meaninglessly wander here: Benkyou will end in chapter 11.9, then go on to a sequel.

Well, then.

If you come in from NU, WLNU, or other novel feeds, please forgive me this once. Don’t worry though, because I will only make this one trial.

If it doesn’t work, I’ll do another option instead for the next chapter, which may inconvenient you, but…well, I feel it important to keep Benkyou here.

“Why? Do you need money that much?”

No. If you are a frequent of that thieving website, then do note that I didn’t and will never put ads in this blog. Any ads you see are WordPress, because I use the free services.

And I have pledged in our About page that we do not and will not accept monetary donation. Matter of fact, in the same amount of time I used to translate Benkyou this week, I can either get >$30 from translating English – Indonesian, or >$50 from content marketing, or >$100 from the market. Not to mention all the efforts that my sister Zakii has to go when she had to look for internet signals, just to TLC my translations, since she lives in a part of the country that couldn’t easily catch connection.

For all that effort, we don’t need to be paid with money. However, we do need appreciation. Thanks and likes make us happy, although it is not compulsory. But “appreciation” that we want is: if you want to read Benkyou, come to our site. Just seeing the traffic goes up is already plenty happiness for us (which we won’t feel if you read Benkyou at that thieving site). Do know that if we think no one appreciate us, we may very well quit, as do any translator whose works are stolen.

“But, didn’t you take it without permission from the author anyway?”

Regrettably, yes. I will ask my sister to investigate on how to contact the author at her next leisure period.

Still, the fact that we are translating Benkyou without permission doesn’t mean that anybody can copy the translation without our permission. If you steal the wallet of a corrupt politician, is that mean you will not be charged? Of course not.

“But, they already put a link to your site below the chapter?”

Yes, a NO-FOLLOW LINK without displaying this blog’s domain name. In SEO lingo, it means that it is worth NOTHING. ZERO. NADA. Matter of fact, if you google “The God of Study is Shy of Strangers”, you will find that thieving site at four or three positions higher than Bijinsans which is buried far below. I don’t mind if the sites that are positioned higher than Bijinsans are NU or WLNU as they contribute to 98% of traffic here, but there’s no way in hell I will be in peace with daylight robbery.

Not to mention that if there are changes in circumstances, then they will present a complication. For example if after we connect with the author, then he/she express dissatisfaction and want us to take the translation down. I can do it easily here, but I don’t have any control over the chapters that robber took over. Or if there are any word-by-word edit, or illustration, or…many other things.

They don’t even copy any links we put in as additional explanation for cultural references like what is Seared Bonito, Ponzu Sauce, etc, so it’s clear that they don’t appreciate our effort at all. The link that they put below the chapters they took wholly was just lip service. A crook by any other name is still a crook.

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Takoyaki

furuba_vol8 tohru

Speaking about popular Japanese foods, there are a huge number of them. Onigiri, Sushi, Sashimi, Ramen, etc. However, the most popular one in Indonesia probably is Takoyaki. These tasty balls can be found in shopping centres (malls) in all main cities; at least I can tell you that it can be easily found in Jakarta, Surabaya, and Semarang. Because they are quite affordable, they can also be found in every Japanese culture festivals I’ve attended in Semarang and Surabaya that was held by local college student organizations over the years.

However, don’t you dare to compare Indonesian Takoyaki with the original ones; often, they’re just salty and oily balls of flour accompanied with a lot of mayonnaise and tomato sauce. Just like it’s probably hard for foreigners to make satay and rendang with the right taste, Takoyaki-making business is no joke. There are Indonesian cakes that needs to be made using similar tools with Takoyaki, so there is no problem on that side. Still, cooking is more than tools; it is also about ingredients and tastes. In the later two, sadly, most Indonesian (Takoyaki seller, that is) just don’t have the same ones with their Japanese counterparts.

Well, at least, when I someday meet someone with whom I’ll want to eat Takoyaki with, I can simply invite him to local vendor instead of traveling so far to Japan.

Electric Car

Selo

This is the photograph of an Indonesian-built electric car, taken from Ricky Elson facebook page. The car has became a hot topic recently because a government official claimed the car has failed emission test and is not roadworthy.

In case you don’t know, an “electric car” is usually not tested for emission (for quite obvious reason). Well, unless the car enters Indonesian soil, that is. It is the country where if you are a freelancer then your neighbors might think you are nurturing djinn (because you don’t seem to go out to work but becomes wealthy anyway). It is also the country where if you are working for a famous game development company then the local police might visit your office because they suspect you as the organizer of online betting (after all, where are you getting your income from, if you are just sitting in front of the computer?). It is also the country where its Trade Minister wanted to ban second-hand shops because “there are many bacterias” in a second-hand clothing (I’m quite sure a couture-made clothing will still contain many bacterias, but if the honorable minister says so then…let’s just consider it as the right one). Considering previous offenses against our cyber sensibilities, Indonesian netizen should not have surprised at this latest nonsense, but we did anyway…