“DB Super Kai” / Merno YT Fan Manga

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“DB Super Kai” / Merno YT Fan Manga

Post by jamiljamtheman » Thu Aug 27, 2020 3:36 pm

https://youtu.be/BDtJv-iO_IQ

I was very surprised to find the search term “merno” returns nothing on this site. He’s the antagonist of this still ongoing fan manga UnrealEntGaming appears to commission so that he can narrate it on YouTube. I’ve listened to a lot so far but am not done yet—it’s pretty long.

I like it so far. Merno is the angel of U13 and wants revenge against Zeno. Particularly original concept? No. But pretty entertaining to listen to? I think so.

Anyone else seen this? Does anyone like it? Does anyone hate it? Let’s discuss!

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Re: “DB Super Kai” / Merno YT Fan Manga

Post by Alruneia » Mon Aug 31, 2020 1:07 pm

I've read through Dragon Ball Super Kai (up until the part with Vodkah and the Zenos), sure, but not through that Youtube channel or anything, I read it in Japanese on pixiv. I don't think that channel's got anything to do with DBSK, to be perfectly honest, though I'm not sitting through a whole three-hour video to find out.
It's a decent enough story, I suppose. Nothing mindblowing, but I like this take on the "evil angel" idea, it could definitely have been executed a whole lot worse.
By the way, in the original (I'll call it that for now) Japanese version, the angel's name is Vodkah/"Vodkaer", basically Vodka with a drawn-out "a" sound at the end. (ウォッカー to be specific.) I have no clue where this translation managed to get "Merno" from, so I'm just going to keep calling him Vodkah.
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Re: “DB Super Kai” / Merno YT Fan Manga

Post by TheDragonBallGuy75 » Fri Sep 04, 2020 1:30 pm

Alruneia wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 1:07 pm I have no clue where this translation managed to get "Merno" from, so I'm just going to keep calling him Vodkah.
That's most likely because of me. Myself and Mondo Cool (another Dragon Ball youtuber) were discussing what to use as a substitute for Vodkah's name in English because as it was, it was a little too on the nose. We settled for 'Mirno' which was supposed to be a play on the well known alcohol brand "Smirnoff". Not sure why UnrealEntGaming changed it to "Merno", possibly to be different as Mondo Cool was still actively covering it at the time :?
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Re: “DB Super Kai” / Merno YT Fan Manga

Post by Trouser » Fri Sep 04, 2020 6:56 pm

Other version than youtube? I don't really like "reading" manga on youtube.
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Re: “DB Super Kai” / Merno YT Fan Manga

Post by jamiljamtheman » Mon Jan 04, 2021 2:48 am

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve logged in - I am pleasantly surprised to find replies to this thread!

Thank you, because as a result I had some fun digging! Here’s what I found:

- As Alruneia pointed out, this is originally a Japanese fan-manga on Pixiv. I had no idea at first (since the YT videos I watched didn’t post the original links), but here’s the authors profile: https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/9809547

- The original manga appears to have ended at the point that Alruneia points to, with the last frame being the angel facing the Zenos.

- UnrealEntGaming’s channel features narration of an English translation that I don’t think is anywhere else—it’s possible he commissioned the translation for his channel at least.

- That point is also supported by TheDragonBallGuy75’s reply to this thread, since he appears to have been separately working on understanding/translating it with Mondo Cool. I haven’t watched Mondo Cool’s coverage of this manga, but it appears to be different than UnrealEntGaming’s style of narration given that it covers the same story in much less time.

- Here’s what I think gets even more interesting: On UnrealEntGaming’s channel, Merno’s story continues(ish)! I say “ish” because in his videos he calls the continuations “side stories”—I have to do more digging here, since I’m not fully caught up with the Merno stories. Basically, Merno’s clones continue to wreak havoc, battling the likes of DBS Broly, Beerus, Jiren, and UnrealEntGaming’s apparently old OC, Rycon.

- I don’t think there’s a direct follow-up to the final scene with the Zenos yet, but again I haven’t caught up with all the recent Merno stuff, I have only really seen the original arc and at least a solid amount of the follow-up with Broly.

- Nevertheless, there’s an overarching plot of all the Merno clones working towards the goals of the “Original Merno”, the real angel, who I think is finally starting to make appearances.

I am entirely fascinated by this. What started as a translation of a Japanese fan-manga featuring an angel named Vodkah turned into the character, now re-named Merno, being adopted by UnrealEntGaming and having his stories continued for a long time now. It looks like different artist(s?) than the original DBSK author work on the follow ups, though it’s difficult to tell because the YT videos don’t post links to “originals” anywhere—possibly because the channel commissions them.

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Re: “DB Super Kai” / Merno YT Fan Manga

Post by jamiljamtheman » Mon Jan 04, 2021 2:52 am

Trouser wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 6:56 pm Other version than youtube? I don't really like "reading" manga on youtube.
The original author (who I just found out about today—see above) appears to have started a very rough (possibly computer) English translation on their Pixiv: https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/78745377

It looks like they’re about 12 chapters into that translation. And given that it’s on the original arc’s author’s page, I assume it is only going to cover their original story for Vodkah (his name remains in this translation). I feel you, hours of YouTube narration is not my preferred way of consuming manga.

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Re: “DB Super Kai” / Merno YT Fan Manga

Post by sangofe » Mon Jan 04, 2021 7:58 am

jamiljamtheman wrote: Mon Jan 04, 2021 2:52 am
Trouser wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 6:56 pm Other version than youtube? I don't really like "reading" manga on youtube.
The original author (who I just found out about today—see above) appears to have started a very rough (possibly computer) English translation on their Pixiv: https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/78745377

It looks like they’re about 12 chapters into that translation. And given that it’s on the original arc’s author’s page, I assume it is only going to cover their original story for Vodkah (his name remains in this translation). I feel you, hours of YouTube narration is not my preferred way of consuming manga.
Yeah. Putting manga on YouTube is pointless.

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Re: “DB Super Kai” / Merno YT Fan Manga

Post by jamiljamtheman » Sat Jan 09, 2021 6:52 pm

Well, I’ve caught up more in the ongoing Merno/Vodkah (henceforth I will call him Merno) fan manga story. For anyone interested, here’s a summary of what’s been going down since the end of the Japanese Dragon Ball Super Kai:
One thing I find very noticeable about UnrealEntGaming’s ongoing continuation of the initial Dragon Ball Super Kai is that the “arcs” are simply long battles that take place in a particular location. They’re full of monologues, but otherwise are just really long fights. Even though I’m enjoying them (I listen while driving, like it’s a radio drama!), I find this aspect disappointing. Dragon Ball Super Kai had more variety as a story with a faster pace that felt like it was constantly moving forward.

Also, at the end of the 3-hour video of the entire Dragon Ball Super Kai translation, I gained a better understanding of production-wise. It’s definitely made apparent that UnrealEntGaming is not at all behind the initial DBSK, since he gives closing thoughts as a light review of it and indicates that he is presenting someone else’s fan manga. He then goes on to say that he believes the author is working on the follow up (unfortunately, based on his Pixiv, I don’t see any indication of this). Finally, he announces the Broly follow up as a spin off, which he (UnrealEntGaming) is specifically making for his channel.

In summary, UnrealEntGaming (who I gather has artist(s) that draw and make manga chapters exclusively for his channel) continued the Merno story himself in what was initially called a spin-off with the Broly arc. Given that the overarching Merno stories are still ongoing, and looking towards a definite conclusion in the near-ish future, it’s safe to assume he isn’t waiting anymore for the original DBSK author to continue where that manga left off. Merno’s story, from my perspective, has been officially adopted by this channel and is being continued and concluded through it.

Unfortunately, YouTube appears to be the only way to consume UnrealEntGaming’s manga. I do personally find that the 3-hour completed-arc uploads make for decent car audio if you’re interested in the stories, especially given how monologue heavy they seem to be.

I’ll be continuing this thread as the Merno plot keeps moving forward! :D

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Re: “DB Super Kai” / Merno YT Fan Manga

Post by jamiljamtheman » Sun Aug 15, 2021 3:04 pm

I’ve been keeping our with the Merno stories, and they’re still going and I expect this whole saga to take a significant while longer to finish.

Basically, we’ve been in “filler arc mode” for a while. The aforementioned assaults on Universe 11 and Rycon by merno clones are followed by another merno clone visiting Universe 6 and, currently, the final of these “filler” stories in which a merno clone is timeline hopping. He destroyed future trunks’s timeline and GT’s timeline. Like Zeno level erasure, almost. Merno is ridiculously strong. Right now he’s fighting everyone involved in the final Hearts battle of that arc of super dragon ball heroes.

Apparently all these side stories that feel like filler will contribute in some way to the upcoming final arc—where the “Original Merno” finally re-merges with all his clones and wreaks havoc. I wonder how that will go, considering these “weaker” clones are absurdly overpowered. I look forward to it though, I still think Merno is quite cool and I’m personally amazed at the scope and length of UnrealEntGaming’s saga that continues after the original DB Super Kai.

Side note—I was comparing different translations of Dragon Ball Super Kai, and it seemed like UnrealEntGaming’s translation is also something of an adaptation, adding dialogue and changing ideas here and there from the original Japanese. Has anyone more familiar with the original super Kai noticed this? (If you’ve seen any of unreal’s versions of the chapters)

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