Word of advice to…well....basically everyone.
Buy the original tanks.
"But I already have-"
Buy the original tanks.
I bought the DB tanks long before I could comprehend them.
I probably sound like an old fart but back the there also wasn't a choice. There were no English tanks and the only thing around were a few shady places online.
Ah, fond memories of many phone calls to Rising Sun Creations.
And I'm so glad I have them. Buying a Japanese tank is basically putting money directly in Oda's wallet. I won't pretend to comprehend how the licensing fees work for international products, but stephen, Aohige and ocean can tell you that the tanks are where authors make their 'money'.
But besides that, what are some of the reasons tanks come in handy?
Oda's fonts play a huge part for one as far as canon material goes. Looking at the script he uses for important lines, even if you don't know what they mean, can sometimes impact how much emotion or comedy a scene holds.
If you take a measley week of your life and learn Hiragana and Katakana, you can actually READ the comic yourself instead of asking for, "what the original says". Combine that with Japanese typing freeware and you can instantly search craaaaaaaaaaaaazy shit online. Again, I'm NOT even talking about understanding it. Just being able to read it. It gives you a lot of power.
Furthermore, if you actually own them and DO continue learning Japanese, you can (DERP) read them in Japanese which is, without doubt, THE only way to read it.
"JAPANOPHILE! VIZ WORKS HARD!!!!"
Bugger off.
I realize translators work incredibly hard. I'm NOT discrediting their INCREDIBLE work.
But probably EVERY single one of them will tell you, the only way to read the work is in the native language just because of the tiny things that get left out no matter how awesome the translation is.
Take my Oda's Deep Thoughts.
Believe it or not, the easiest ones to translate are the random streams of thought because they're supposed to be silly. But I promise some of them give you a slightly different impression than what was originally intended.
That's just surface-learning a language too. Once you get into understanding customs and colloquialisms, it adds an ENTIRELY new layer of enjoyment.
ie. "That wig in the corner is from Shimura Ken's routine."
That statement means nothing to most of you.
But if you know what it's from it's incredible he was able to get permission for that.
I am NOT sitting on a high horse saying that I'm better than any other reader or I 'get' stuff that you don't.
What I'm saying is, buying the J-tanks is a GREAT way to start appreciating the series in an entirely new way and they help Oda out. Not to mention they're cheap as shit and INCREDIBLY easy to flip through compared to the higher stock paper the US tanks are printed on.
And oh yeah.
http://www.thegrandline.com/images/021cover.jpg
'nuff said.
"I can't find them from overseas."
Get real.
I tracked down all 42 volumes of DB when I was in friggin' middle school when the 'internet' was still a thing for nerds.
