"BURN THE WITCH" (Japanese: BURN THE WITCH／バーン?ザ?ウィッチ) is a new juvenile comic created by the Japanese cartoonist Kubo. It was translated into "The Dragon and the Witch" in mainland China and Taiwan. The single article published in Shueisha's magazine "Weekly Shōnen Jump" on July 14, 2018, two years after Kubo's "BLEACH" serialization was completed, is also one of the special projects for the 50th anniversary of the founding of "Weekly Shōnen Jump". In March 2020, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of "BLEACH", it was announced that the short-term serialization of Season 1 ***4 will begin in "Weekly Shonen Jump" from August to September 2020. The first volume of this single volume contains short stories from 18 years ago, currently containing 5 chapters. A trailer for the second season of the manga has been announced.
Based on the current plot settings, it seems to be in the same world view as Death, that is, the story of the Western Soul Society. The first season of this work was adapted into a three-episode mini-animation in October last year, and you can watch the original version at Station B.
The plot is not the focus of this book and newspaper, so I don’t want to spend a lot of time discussing it here. Since I particularly like the works of Mr. Kubo Taito, I specially purchased the three versions of Japanese, Hong Kong and Taiwan comics for my collection. The mainland version will also be published by Ammon Kadokawa this year, and I will also purchase it when the time comes. But before that, I want to compare the three existing versions for your reference. The Japanese version is published by Shueisha, the Hong Kong version is represented by Cultural Communications, and the Taiwan version is represented by Dongli Publishing House.
The following order is from left to right or top to bottom for Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and no additional explanation will be given in the text.
Let’s start below:
The design of this Japanese version of the single volume, the waist, outer cover, and inner cover are all unique, and the waist is a highlight. Without this waistband, the entire red cover would look very plain, but the complete color pages of Mr. Kubo on the waistband suddenly break the monotony. It is a pity that Hong Kong and Taiwan have not restored the book waist design well. Although the Hong Kong version made efforts to restore it, the red warning in the second half is really disappointing (why can the waist of the book of "Chaoyang Theater" not include warnings?). However, the Taiwanese version directly changed the design and created a disgusting book waist that is unsightly. This is really the ugliest Taiwanese book waist I have ever seen in the past few years (I simply took it off and threw away the drawer).
Remove the waist, the matte film cover feels good, and the white fonts have been UV treated. Comparing the three versions, except for the Chinese translation of the Taiwan version, the layout of the three versions is basically the same, but there is an obvious color difference. From the Japanese version to the Taiwan version, the saturation and brightness gradually decrease. In terms of reproduction, the Hong Kong version is closer to the Japanese version.
Regarding the authorized area, there is actually a bit of confusion here: the Taiwan version says Chinese copyright instead of Taiwan Chinese copyright, and the copyright page also says copyright in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan; but the Hong Kong version has its own copyright, which can be found on FB I asked Dongli online but got no reply, so I was even more confused.
The back cover design is basically the same, except for the location and size of the barcode. Personally, I don’t have a clear preference for the back cover.
Comparing the spines of the three versions, the Japanese version has a white waist design, which contrasts sharply with the red spine stroke, which is very beautiful. The Japanese version also restores this contrasting color design (although it is changed to light yellow But it’s also very nice); as a result, the Taiwanese version completely omitted this detail, and instead changed the layout of the spine, adding Chinese and superfluous line drawing illustrations = =, and the tiger head was even more ruined.
Since the Hong Kong version does not have a logo on the top of the spine, it restores the design of the Japanese version and is more refreshing than the Japanese version, so my personal ranking is: Hong Kong version > Japanese version > Taiwan version.
Format: The three versions seem to have similar formats, but in fact they are not the same. The Hong Kong version is the largest, the Japanese version is second, and the Taiwan version is the smallest: the Hong Kong version is the same height as the Japanese version but wider, and the Taiwan version is the same as the Japanese version. The Japanese version is the same width but shorter.
Paper: The Japanese version is the softest, the Hong Kong version is moderate, and the Taiwan version is the hardest. In terms of paper quality, the Hong Kong version should be the best, and the Hong Kong version’s transparent pages are the least obvious on the inner pages.
Glue: It’s 2021, so the glue problem shouldn’t be a big deal. But the Japanese version seems to have the thinnest glue, the Hong Kong version is less uniform, and the Taiwan version is the strongest.
There is a detail in the Japanese version, that is, the cover is shorter than the main text. At first, I thought it was a quality control issue, but the Death Note short story collection I got later also had the same problem. Is it possible that the Japanese version is now a single volume? Are they all designed like this? Is there any Japanese version expert who can answer this question?
The inner cover is the complete version of the color picture on the waist of the book. All three versions have restored this design. Judging from the cutting, the Hong Kong version contains the most complete pictures. In terms of color reproduction, just like the outer cover, one version is grayer than the other. From the skin color of the Taiwanese version, it can be clearly seen that several shades are grayer.
The inner cover is lined with the texture of the cape of the Piper Team in the story. This design greatly improves the texture of the entire book. The Hong Kong version also restored this design, but the Taiwan version directly castrated it! The white piece is simply a bad review!
The following is a comparison of the inner pages:
Color pages: This book contains one color pull-out page and two color illustrations on the front and back. Hong Kong and Taiwan have also restored this design.
The color pages are all printed well. Although there is color difference, the difference is not big.
The long-lost poems by Mr. Kubo are so fashionable. The translations in Hong Kong and Taiwan are different. Which translation is better is a matter of opinion. It can be seen that the Hong Kong version's transparent pages are the least obvious, which is well received.
The lighting problem may be difficult to see clearly. The Hong Kong version is the best in the color to black part, retaining more grayscale details; the Japanese version has a higher contrast but also retains details; the Taiwan version The ANBU just blended together.
Both the black and white pages are printed very well. It can be said that the three versions are completely indistinguishable. However, due to format size issues, the Japanese and Hong Kong versions retain more of the upper cropping, while the Taiwanese version retains more of the horizontal cropping.
In fact, I have never paid much attention to the translation problem. Even if there is a reaction like "Senior Brother Bagao", there is nothing to complain about. After all, they are not mainland publications, so it is normal to retain their respective local idioms.
Kubo-sensei is already drawing a sequel! Kubo-sensei finally achieved the freedom to take a break from publication (Yoshihiro Togashi-level treatment). Although there is a preview, I don’t know if the second season will be published this year. By the way, these two pages are also castrated in the Taiwanese version... I am really speechless...
In general, this time the Hong Kong version of the biography surprised me, and every detail is not inferior to the Japanese version. The paper used is better than the Japanese version, and it feels a bit like returning to the peak of the past; but many details in the production of the Taiwanese version are really not enough, including the castration design and magic modification of the spine. Although the printing is excellent, Dongli really needs to work harder on the details recently. .
If Tenwen Kadokawa releases the mainland version and buys another one for a final comparison of the four editions of Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China, should you also consider the US version with letter cover? Let me think more~