Short story...
Episode 4: Project Hokuto the [ASS] days
I had no idea the journey I would undertake when on that one fateful day sometime in early 2003, I said to myself, "I think I want to do Hokuto no Ken". I started with the Region 0 dvd's cause that is all there was to work with. When I saw the complete HnK box set on ebay I thought I struck gold. There were no Region 1 nor Region 2 dvd's available at that time. I wasn't new to the world of bootlegs, so I knew I had to fix the subs. I quickly learned how to extract the sub file. I already had prior experience ripping and encoding dvd's so it was easy. I did the first 20 episodes and hit a road block.
I needed someone to help translate at least some lines. So I began looking outside for help. Help arrived in the form of someone I knew from the arcade I use to frequent playing Street Fighter 2, KOF, Xmen vs SF, etc... But there was one game in particular... Virtua Fighter, that I met abyssgate. Turned out he read all the manga when he was growing up in Japan. I knew instantly he was going to be my go-to guy. But the celebration was short, for he had a nagging girlfriend, a job, and a nagging girlfriend. He did what he could when he could. After finishing 31, the Region 1 dvd's caught up to us and I decided it would be easier to just rip eps 32-36 and that is what I did. At 37, God decided to bless me with Saabisu. She was my first full time translator. Also, notice some eye-candy like karaoke.
Which reminds me of something I need to address. As you can tell by the quality of the older episodes that it was a learning experience for me right from the start. It was trial and error, learn by your mistakes, fly by the seat of your pants. I wasn't born with the knowledge of how to fansub by today's standards. Hence the LQ of earlier episodes. It is what it is. The hardest thing is finding someone willing to teach you yet alone websites that had step-by-step instructions back in those days. It was a time where fansubbing was almost secret and only passed on to someone that was well-trusted. Luckily, I knew some ppl on irc and I sponged off any information I could or asked for their help.
With that said, I believe around episode 42-43 I contimplated venturing out on my own to concentrate on Hokuto. After the release of ep 43 I parted ways with AnimeSkyScraper and then ASS-Hentai.
Episode 5: Project Hokuto [HoM] a new beginning... at episode 44
On Feb 14, 2005 Heart of Madness was born and on the 19th of that same month, ep 44 was released. Around episode 45 I started using Region 2 dvd's. I enlisted the help from other ex-members of AnimeSkyScraper to aid me with the website, timing, and other stuff like the title screen and eye-catch. In the episodes that followed, more people joined and helped with translating, timing, editing, qc'ing & the website. On November 19, 2006 episode 109 was released. I thought about stopping there but I was convinced to move into Hokuto no Ken 2.
Episode 6: Project Hokuto the second series
Learning After Effects proved to be a problem. So I did the next best thing. I hired someone that already knew After Effects. I also got someone that is an established karaoke txtsub master to do the Op & Ed kara effects. More people joined and helped with translating, timing, editing, qc'ing, and even taking over for me as project leader.
"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That is why it is called the present"
It has been a long, winding, & bumpy road at times. Through the years many, many good souls out there in internet land and in real life helped me to get here, and without some of you carrying me on, I would've gave up a long time ago. Instead of typing out 2 pages worth of thanks, I'd like to say 2 things, Waga shougai ni, ippen no kui nashi! I thank you all from the bottom of my heart... of madness! And now, the reason why you are all here today...
NEW HNK2 RELEASE
The final episode of Hokuto no Ken the tv series! Episode 152 is now available in the Complete Batch Torrent 1-152. If you are on the older torrents or older batch torrents please move to the 1-152 batch. They will get deleted sometime this week.
