Translator Tea Times Two

Show Notes 1:09: Jenny McKeon and Stephen Paul introduce themselves. 3:21: Jenny and Stephen explain how they got their start in the industry; how the Manga Translation Battle has proven to be important. 9:07: Each explain how long it took to make a living doing translation. 13:10: Suggestions on ways to avoid burnout (ex. following a schedule, knowing when editors might want the work submitted). 19:13: Stephen's first professional work and the story around that, and how he got to work on One Piece. 25:09: Handling simulpubs, the pros and cons of weekly manga (ex. dealing with foreshadowing, gender ambiguity, checking the graphic novel version). 28:56: How to approach the "surprise gender reveal" that can occur in manga and light novels. 38:03: Dealing with singular vs. plural nouns, settings in manga and light novels. 45:23: Both explain how they handle criticism from fans, peers, or people they're working for. 51:00: How light novel translation is completely different from manga translation. 54:27: Jenny and Stephen share their revision/rewriting process for manga/light novels. 1:06:00: Both give some advice on how to break into the industry (ex. reading English prose, being a good writer). Jenny McKeon is a full-time freelance translator and artist from Massachusetts. She primarily translates manga, such as Nichijou, Blank Canvas, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, Bloom into You, and New Game!, as well as light novel series like So I'm a Spider, So What?. In her spare time, she also draws comics of her own, or watches anime with her husband and two cats. Stephen Paul has been a Japanese-to-English translator for over 15 years, with his credits ranging from BECK to the simulpub of Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru. His other translations include the Sword Art Online manga and light novels, Vinland Saga, Yotsuba!&, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Battle Angel Alita, Durarara!!, and One Piece. He is a contributor to the One Piece Podcast, a fan run podcast that talks about the Weekly Shonen Jump manga and the anime by Toei Animation.

Show Notes 1:08: Emily and Jake introduce themselves. 4:31: Jake explains what manga adaptation is. 8:00: Both explain their interests outside of manga/light novels, which involves Emily sharing that he has a pizza toast blog. 11:44: Emily and Jake explain what led to them making translation their career choice. 17:42: Jake explains his first professional translation (Flying Witch). 19:25: Emily discusses how Alpaca Evolution became his first credited translation work, and the work assigned by Yen Press that definitely was not a one-off work. 25:42: How their approaches have changed from their first translation to their current one -- meanwhile Jake ends up revealing the other types of translations he does that's uncredited...for 18+ reasons. 33:03: Both talk about getting feedback on their work, or lack of feedback on their work. 35:28: What has changed the most for them as translators since joining the industry? And their thoughts on simulcasts and the challenges they both present. 41:19: The craziest thing that has happened to them since becoming a translator -- for these two, it involves getting invited to big event. 46:28: Their approaches to handling criticism from fans, peers, and publishers. 56:30: Additional tips to improve your translation, advice for joining the industry (ex. translation theory, time management).   Born 1985 in Wisconsin, Emily Balistrieri currently lives in Tokyo. Published translations include Tomihiko Morimi's The Night is Short, Walk on Girl, Ko Hiratori's JK Haru is a Sex Worker in Another World, and Takuji Ichikawa's The Refugees' Daughter. He also translates two ongoing light novel series, Carlo Zen's The Saga of Tanya the Evil and Kugane Maruyama's Overlord. His translation of Eiko Kadono's Kiki's Delivery Service will be out in July 2020. Jake Jung is a freelance Japanese-to-English translator specializing in anime, manga, and video games. Anime titles he has translated for Sentai Filmworks include Made in Abyss, Release the Spyce, Assassins Pride, and Why the Hell Are You Here, Teacher?! among others. He also handles the English manga adaptation of Made in Abyss for Seven Seas, and is the translator of a to-be-announced title for them releasing in 2020. He has been a full-time translator since 2010 and has focused on media translations specifically since 2013. He was born and raised in Michigan, USA and, as of 2019, resides in Kagawa, Japan with his wife and two children.

Show Notes 1:09: Cassiel and Jennifer introduce themselves. 5:22: The two discuss getting feedback from a client. 12:11: Cassiel discusses her first translation work...which was translating a blog post (and the company didn't properly set her up!). 16:32: Cassiel then discusses her first freelance translation work...which involved fixing two older men's mess on an otome game. 20:00: Jennifer discusses her first translation job, which involved working for an automotive company that wanted someone to work in their Tokyo office...except they didn't have a Tokyo office. 25:35: How Cassiel and Jennifer discuss how they first met. 29:00: One misconception they had about translators once they got into translating, and the importance of connecting with people. 38:00: Both discuss how to handle burnout...or at least try to. 41:12: How both handle criticism from peers, fans, and clients. 47:45: Cassiel and Jennifer on how important it is to try and take care of yourself mentally. 54:05: Both discuss imposter syndrome in localization. 56:53: Both share what they're most proud of since becoming a translator. 1:01:38: Cassiel and Jennifer give advice on getting into translation and joining the industry. Cassiel Merricat is a Japanese-to-English translator and localizer for games and manga. After working for a hobby company she moved into game translation, and has translated a number of different titles -- particularly in the romance/otome space -- for over 11 years while dealing with numerous disabilities (is chronically ill). Loves creating writing, language, games, and bacon. She currently lives in Australia with her platonic life partner, two Cane Corsos and a kitty. Jennifer O'Donnell is a Fukuoka-based Localization Assistant. After she graduated from SOAS (London) in 2015 with an MA in Theory and Practice of Translation she focused her efforts on the translation of Japanese media (manga, anime, and video games), as well as websites, tourism, and advertising. Since then she has studied interpreting at Bellevue College (Washington, USA) and volunteered as an interpreter at a number of Japanese media conventions in the US. Now she works in-house as a localization assistant.

Hello, and welcome to Translator Tea Times Two, a podcast series featuring conversations between translators in the anime, manga, light novel and gaming industry.

A new episode of the two manga translators talking to each other over the internet involves translating using audio vs translating using a script, Giongo and Gitaigo, how fanfiction can help with English, and Jenny inexplicably gushing about Sonic Adventure's soundtrack at the end of this podcast. 0:00: Jenny and Amanda are back once again. This time they start the podcast by talking about Himouto Umaru-Chan, which was licensed by Seven Seas and will be coming out next year (one of them is translating it!). They also talk about Season 2 of the anime. 6:00: Jenny and Amanda answer a question on figuring out the meanings of ambiguous Giongo and Gitaigo. 13:50: They then answer a question that involves knowing English. This leads to some reveals about what they did in high school (it involves fanfiction and roleplaying), and how that has helped them when it comes to doing translation. Jenny also recommends picking up Steering the Craft for writers and translators. 25:55: The two then answer how do you translate characters speaking colloquial Japanese when they're doing a Shakespeare play, and Amanda has the answer to this particular question. 32:22: Amanda and Jenny then discuss scheduling when to work on their manga/LN translations. 38:35: Finally, Jenny and Amanda devote the rest of the podcast calling out the podcast editor, discussing Black Friday, and Jenny in stunned shock when she sees Sonic Adventure and Vinyl in the same sentence.

This month's episode of Translator Tea Time is here! Manga Translators Amanda Haley and Jenny McKeon gather around over the internet to talk about what they've been up to and the very first manga they've ever read. The first manga they chose may reflect the era in which they were born...or bad company practices! 0:50: Jenny and Amanda get into what they've been up to. Amanda reveals she's translating Hiromu Arakawa's Silver Spoon, which is all about a dude who fails his high school exam and to avoid his father, goes far away...to a farming school. That should end well. You can find out how that goes by watching the anime on Crunchyroll, or waiting for the manga to arrive in February. 5:20: Amanda also reveals something scandalous about Naruto because she happens to be working on a series for Viz. 8:50: Jenny decided to take Justin's suggestion and start off a discussion on the first manga they ever read. For Jenny it involves a series with long spiky hair (very vague). It also is a Shonen Jump title (maybe not so vague). 15:19: While talking, Jenny and Amanda talk about how do you translate tsukkomi for a manga. 18:25: Around this moment the two manga translators explain why the phrase "It can't be helped" can be fine, but it's not preferred and is kinda boring to say. 21:05: Jenny shares the answer to a question she received at an event about translating the same creator for a long time. 23:55: Amanda begins explaining why it's been intimidating to be translating Silver Spoon and The Heroic Legend of Arslan. This leads to Jenny chatting about an almost similar situation with a new series by a familiar author. 28:29: Jenny finally realized after all the rambling that Amanda never revealed the first manga she ever read. After hearing her explanation, you'll have to let us know if she should've kept it to herself.

Jenny explains why it's her fault there wasn't a Translator Tea Time with Amanda last month -- it essentially involves real life! It also affected her working on a title as well. Jenny and Amanda address some of the comments in Episode 9 of the Translator Tea Time Podcast, and explain why they mentioned it on their list. They both get into more ways to learn Japanese, which is somewhat advanced this time. They also elaborate on taking courses in school if you want, and a bit on the JLPT and how helpful can it be to help you learn Japanese. They also talk about how it can help to be knowledgeable about a bunch of things outside of Japanese translation. They also get a bit into what they expect with reviews, or how they sometimes feel about it.

Amanda and Jenny report to deliver two podcasts in one month! This particular episode however delves into how you can learn Japanese. And food manga somehow.

In this month's Translator Tea Time... Amanda and Jenny are back!...And bring all their technical difficulties and apologies too! Amanda and Jenny answer Samson Bourne's question on anime translation and subtitles before translating the manga, and what they consider when translating a manga that has an anime adaptation. And also what happens when some things are incorrect due to when a manga or anime is translated! Jenny talks about her translating Yen Press's So I'm a Spider, So What, and tries to convince everyone that it's worth reading. Note the word try. Amanda talks about Yokai Rental Shop (Seven Seas) and Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School (Yen Press). Both required her to learn a lot about yokai. Jenny gets Amanda to talk about Girls Last Tour, which she is currently translating. It's first volume is already out. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to them on Twitter: Jenny McKeon (@JLMKart), Amanda Haley (@Sprequiem) so they can have questions for next month's podcast.  

Amanda and Jenny's Translator Tea Time podcast returns with a big time subject: how they feel when a work they're translating gets turned into an anime!   Show Notes Amanda and Jenny return, and immediately lament on having to wait to translate some manga. For example, Amanda really wants to work on more Kiniro Mosaic. Amanda asks how many yuri titles Jenny's translating (Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, Secret of The Princess, Hana and Hina, Bloom Into You). This leads into the main subject: anime adaptations of manga they've worked on. How do they feel about it, do they watch the subtitles of an anime (Jenny makes a stunning admission about anime subtitles, though will admit it depends on the site -- Editor's note), do they watch it for work, etc. They also talk about how some perspectives of characters change thanks to how they're adapted. Amanda reveals the manga she translated that got an anime series, and...didn't like. (Jenny has yet to have that misfortune) Both talk about what titles they hope get turned into an anime. This eventually leads to them hoping for more yuri anime. Amanda apparently recommends an anime from the Winter 2017 season.