Here’s a brief respite from the slew of yokai I’ve been throwing at everyone. The next Ecchan manga is now online for all to see!

July’s Ecchan finally went up on the city’s homepage about a week ago, so I think it’s good timing for me to put it up here as well. The city also released a plan for ensuring Echizen remains a safe living ground for storks like Ecchan, to help revitalize their devastated population. (For those of you who can read Japanese: http://www.city.echizen.lg.jp/office/060/020/ime-jidezainbosyu.html; I’m also told that the Ecchan comics are up there too in Portuguese and Chinese, but good like finding them… the site is impossible to navigate.)

This month’s theme is about recycling.

Ecchan #4 (July 2011)

Translation:
1:「リサイクルされたびん類は、ぴかぴかに生まれ変わるよ！」
Recycled glass bottles are reborn sparkling!
2:「古新聞や古雑誌は、こんな製品になるよ！」
Old newspapers and magazines turn into these products!
3:「ペットボトルも大変身！」
PET bottles also undergo a great transformation!
4:「まぜればごみ！分ければ資源！」
When mixed together, it’s trash; when separated, it’s a resource!

Monkey

Before there was Ecchan, I went through a number of different characters trying to come up with a good theme. One of my favorite concept characters before we came up with Ecchan was this monkey.

Monkey is a character I have been drawing ever since I was a little kid. In fact, I think the first monkey cartoon I ever did dates back to when I was in 5th or 6th grade, and he had a few precursors before then. He has evolved a little bit over the years, but the general look has stayed the same.

We ultimately decided not to go with Monkey and I went on to develop Ecchan, but before we went that route I wrote up two Monkey comics, which never got printed. They would never have seen the light of day if not for this blog, so I’m glad I can post them here and Monkey can get just a little bit of viewership.

Monkey #1

Panel 2:「ゴミ袋に名前を書くなんて・・・！　日本はおかしいよ！」
“Why do I have to write my name on the trash bags? Japan is strange…”
Panel 3:「確かに嫌だよねえ。でも、ちゃんと理由があるんだよ。」
“It really is a pain… but there’s actually a good reason for it.”
Panel 4:「それって、きっと変な理由なんじゃないの？」
“Well, it must be a pretty strange reason, right?”

Monkey #2

Panel 2: 「こんなに細かいんだろう？」「このゴミ箱１つじゃ足りないわね」
“Why are the trash rules so complicated?” “This one little trash can isn’t big enough.”
Panel 3:「このゴミ箱すてきだと思わない？」
“Don’t you think this trash can is nice?”
Panel 4:「買っていい？」日本のゴミ箱メーカーは儲かってるんだろうな。。。」
“Shall we buy it?” “Japanese trash can makers must be really do really well for themselves…”

Summer Ecchan

Here is the 3rd “issue” of Ecchan no Eco-na Hanashi. This is the June issue, so I redid the little Ecchan face spot that I posted on the first comic. The face goes below the comic and helps introduce the bulkier text part where the month’s ecology theme is explained further. So this is “summer Ecchan” which will be used probably for this month and next month. In August I may do an “Obon Ecchan” wearing festival clothes.

Since this one is this month’s issue, you’re all caught up on Ecchan, and it probably will be a few weeks before I post the next issue in July. But I still have a couple of alternate comics that didn’t get published, so I’ll be publishing those soon as well.

This is the first issue to start using returning characters as well… I needed a couple of characters, and when I was sketching up ideas for what animal to use for the series, I went through a whole list of animals. The bear and the frog were both candidates, so I am glad to be able to give them a spot in subsequent comics.

Read on below for the translation of this month’s comic!

Ecchan #3: June 2011

Panel 1:「新しいのを買わないとだめかな…」
“Do I have to buy a new one…?”
Panel 2:「自転車屋さんで直してもらえば、まだ乗れるんじゃないかな！」
“I bet if you take it to the bike shop, they can fix it for you!”
Panel 3:「この制服、もう小さくなっちゃった。」
“This school uniform is already too small.”
Panel 4:「学校のバザーに出すと喜ばれるよ！」
“You can make someone happy by donating it to the school bazaar!”

Here is the second Ecchan comic I did. This one was the May version, printed last month. Translation below!

Ecchan #2

Panel 1:「よし、今日からＲＥＤＵＣＥ（ゴミ減量）生活だ！」
Alright! Starting today, let’s live based on “Reduce!”
Panel 2:「詰替え用の商品もReduceにつながっているね」
Refill packs are part of “Reduce” as well.
Panel 3:「食べきれる分だけ買おう！」
Let’s only buy as much as we need.
Panel 4:「マイバッグ、持ってますよ！」
I brought my own bag!

At this point I have to say it: translations from Japanese to English and English to Japanese always sound really weird, just because the languages are completely unrelated to each other, and the style of speaking is completely different too. It sounds weird and unnatural when translated, but it doesn’t sound so silly in Japanese.

Ecchan

Recently I was given the opportunity to design a character for Echizen City’s Department of Environmental Affairs. The theme was supposed to be environmental, and the character was going to be used in comics talking about local environmental issues, and through the Echizen City International Association it would be geared towards foreigners as well, and translated into Portuguese and Chinese (no English). I was also going to get to design the comics! 🙂

It wasn’t too hard to come up with a character idea. In the 1960’s, chemicals and overdevelopment completely wiped out the Oriental Stork in Japan. Through a long process of captive breeding and stricter environmental laws, the stork was reintroduced to Japan, and wild hatchlings were reported for the first time in 2007. A few years ago, one of the storks made its home in Echizen city, and it has become a favorite mascot in town. It seemed like the obvious choice for a character symbolic of environmental action, so I drew up Ecchan the stork.

These comics are being published one a month, and can be seen in Japanese, Chinese, and Portuguese on the Echizen City webpage, and International Association monthly newsletters. Hopefully they will be expanding viewership to a larger area. Since there’s no English version, I’ll translate it here. Anyway, here is the first comic.

Episode 1

Panel 1: 日本の人口は世界で１０番目に多い。
Japan’s population is the 10th largest in the world.
Panel 2: でも、日本の国土面積は世界で６１番目。
But Japan’s land area is only the 61st largest.
Panel 3: 日本のゴミの年間排出量　５２７３万トン･･･
Japan creates 52,730,000 tons of trash every year…
Panel 4: 「私たちにできること。それは３Ｒ！」 「３Ｒ？」
“There’s something we can do… 3R!” “3R?”

After the panels there is a paragraph with tips and information on the month’s theme, this one being Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. The strange tan blank spot at the top of the comic is for Ecchan’s profile. This comic was for April’s edition, so I’ll post May’s and June’s later on!