It had been a year since I interviewed Manga translator Amanda Haley, when she was translating Coppelion and trying to understand how the manga industry works in Japan and in America.
She hasn’t changed much on this stance. (Ok, she has.)
This year’s a bit different. She’s now doing her best to balance her time working, and spending more time with her husband. This has allowed her to translate manga more freely, and read more manga as well. This also allowed me to find the perfect time to speak with her. Read on and find out how much she respects Hiromu Arakawa, how far she goes in making sure GTO: Paradise Lost is well translated, and why Satoshi Kon…is an asshole.
Yep, you MIGHT want to find out why she said that!
Organization ASG: How’s it been Amanda? What have you been translating aside from Onizuka’s latest perils?
Amanda Haley: The stars have kind of been aligned for me lately. Right now I have two series to talk about. The first is Baka & Test: Summon the Beasts. I translated the series for Book Walker’s newest English site. I don’t know how many people actually know about this site–
OASG: Book Walker? I think I’ve heard about it before, but didn’t they have some sort of issue with their comics or whatever?
Amanda: Book Walker is one of the big eBook stores for Japan, and they’ve had an English version of their site for probably at least a year now. But they have a bunch of exclusive series, like the manga for Tokyo Ravens and a couple of others. They got like a hundred volumes on there that aren’t sold anywhere else, and they also host some of the Dark Horse and Viz eBooks too.
OASG: Really?
Amanda: Yeah.
OASG: That’s news to me.
Amanda: Yeah, I don’t think they have a marketing person yet because I haven’t seen any advertisements for it.
OASG: It makes you wonder about Book Walker doesn’t it?
Amanda: Well, they’re primarily in the Japanese market, but hopefully we’ll start to see more from them. It’s basically a bunch of Kadokawa titles right now.
OASG: How did you get the opportunity to translate Baka & Test? Were you contacted by Book Walker or you found out they were looking for people?
Amanda: It wasn’t Book Walker directly, but it just the agency that I had been working for, like the Kodansha titles that I do, like GTO and Coppelion.
OASG: How is Baka & Test?
Amanda: So Baka & Test is an adaptation of one of the bigger light novel series in Japan, and this is probably one of the best manga adaptations of a light novel that I’ve read so far. The art is gorgeous and very neat, it’s a rom-com set in a competitive high school, it’s basically about a scrappy class of dumb kids overcoming the odds to prove themselves against the smart kids. So it’s all about street smarts vs book smarts, and the comedic timing is great. I’ve read this series probably 6 or 7 times while translating it and proofreading it and everything, and there’s still moments that make me laugh out loud *laughs*
OASG: Did you happen to watch the anime before translating it or…?
Amanda: Yeah, I watched the anime back when it aired, so this was really weird, getting an email asking me if I wanted to translate a manga when I was already a fan of the anime.
OASG: Were there any translation things you had to overcome with this title?
Amanda: Well it’s basically the same as with any other comedy where there’s gonna be wordplay in the Japanese, and you may or may not be able to replicate that in English. But I didn’t run into anything that was too difficult in Baka & Test. It’s already a wacky series, so you just gotta get into a wacky frame of mind when you’re working on it.
OASG: Any other titles you’re translating this year?
Amanda: I also started working on The Heroic Legend of Arslan as of a few chapters ago. It started with another translator, but they switched. To me, um…*laughs* So that has an anime going now, so probably everybody knows what it is, but it’s a Hiromu Arakawa manga, and she’s adapting a novel series by Yoshiki Tanaka. It’s an epic, high fantasy series, it’s actually pretty old, the novels. I think they started in 1986 or something and there’s 14 of them, so who knows how long this manga could be!
OASG: Yeah it’s not finished or anything yet right?
Amanda: Yeah, it’s still ongoing. The manga right now I think is somewhere in volume 2…of the novels. And it’s already at like 3…like volume 3 of the manga just came out in English from Kodansha. So I do that every month because it’s running on Crunchyroll. And Kodansha releases print versions once the compiled volume is done.
To be honest I still can’t believe that I am professionally attached to something by Hiromu Arakawa—
OASG: Whoa!
Amanda: *laughs*
OASG: That’s some pretty strong language right there! I mean, you did do the Otaku Mode Translation Battle a couple years ago, that was a big thing!
Amanda: Well no, but this is the lady who did Full Metal Alchemist! I was still in high school when FMA became popular! I couldn’t even have dreamed about doing something from such a high profile, she’s super high profile to me.
OASG: Ok, since you want to be all negative and all that stuff–*laughs*
Amanda: Well it’s not – well I guess it is kind of me being like that. But it’s a dream come true, I didn’t know that this was possible, like I never dreamed of it even.
OASG: But don’t you think of it as business, where eventually if you’re translating long enough, you know the right people, you’re eventually going to get to that title where you’re like, “I get to translate the work of THIS artist?”
Amanda: Yeah. I think in this case, and probably in all of the series on Crunchyroll that are simultaneous publication – it probably has to do with the translator’s availability because you really only have 24 hours to do each chapter, get it out lettered and edited, and up on the site in time.
I guess I’m not a bad translator either *laughs*
OASG: Have you been able to translate any print titles yet?
Amanda: No, so Arslan would be my first that will eventually be out in print. So that’s another reason why I’m very excited about that!
OASG: Well congratulations!
Amanda: …I might take a picture of the copyright page *laughs* “Look, my name is on the same page as Hiromu Arakawa!” and I’m totally geeking out, I’m sorry! *laughs*
OASG: But ok, how’s it like though: you said you’re taking over for a translator that might have moved on to another project. How is it like to jump right in and translate a work like that? Is there any difference?
Amanda: I mean, the series was 3 volumes long at that point, which doesn’t sound like much but there’s a lot of text in this series, there’s a lot of characters, a lot of place names, and all the political intrigue going down. So yeah, it’s kind of well, because you have to learn all the dynamics between the characters, and everything that’s happened up to that point—
OASG: Well first you have to remember all the characters.
Amanda: *laughs* Yeah so first you have to remember it, names, spelling, and stuff. They gave me a term list that has all the spellings, thank god for that!
OASG: In the anime, every time you see a character that shows up they have the name embossed or whatever that pops up just so you remember who this person is.
Amanda: Oh thank god. Do they need that for Game of Thrones too? *laughs* I haven’t watched that show, but I would imagine with all those characters!
The other difficult thing in Arslan is trying to keep to the other translator’s style and remaining consistent with how you’re translating it. Just so there’s not this big jump in the reader’s eyes where everybody’s talking one way but suddenly they’re talking another way.
OASG: Like, as far as I can tell with translation there can be so many meanings for so certain words, and some translators have certain styles, correct?
Amanda: Yeah. There was someone on twitter who said that 95% of a translated work is the translator.
OASG: So it didn’t take you too long to get used to the other translator’s style.
Amanda: I mean…I think I’m keeping to it. I hope I’m keeping to it. Thankfully I had about a month to prepare because they asked me to take over it on Chapter 21 I think, but I didn’t reply fast enough because I wasn’t at my email so they got somebody else to do that chapter. I got to do next month and so on, so thankfully I had that whole month to read through it and try and read some of the novel and get myself up to par.
OASG: Email is so important isn’t it.
Amanda: Yeah…*laughs* Thank god for the internet!
OASG: So ok, you’re translating Arslan, you’re translating Baka & Test…you still have some other work you’re translating…like GTO! How’s it been like translating this version of GTO?
Amanda: So the latest version of GTO is GTO: Paradise Lost. You know that, you like GTO. *laughs* But in Paradise Lost, Onizuka’s teaching a bunch of showbiz hopefuls. Well I’ve never been one to follow celebrities, either in English or Japanese, so the hardest part was working out proper showbiz terms and slang and all that. And part of the issue is, I only have 24 hours per chapter, so if I can’t figure out a proper word for this, well…I hope the editor does! *laughs*
OASG: You have backup. Let’s hope the backup works!
Amanda: Yeah. And the author, Fujisawa, he makes references to older characters and events a lot, so, again, I only have 24 hours, so I have to turn to Wikipedia or fan sites to make sure that I’m up to speed sometimes. He’s done a lot of spin-off manga for GTO, and none of those have really been published in English other than Early Years and Shonan 14 Days. But there’s spinoff series for the other characters in his little gang—
OASG: I think there’s one with Ryuji if I’m not mistaken.
Amanda: Yeah, Ryuji has a series.
OASG: But yeah, you would think, like I remember GTO finishing up and thinking “Oh, this is so sad!” then all of a sudden, “Oh look, more GTO! Yay!”
Amanda: There’s always more GTO! *laughs* And then there’s more, I dunno, in the same GTO universe…like in the most recent chapter there’s a reference to a two part crossover between two of his GTO spin-off series, and I was like, “Wow!” I don’t have to dig up where this is from to translate the reference but I kind of felt like I had to do my due diligence.
OASG: So all right Amanda, we haven’t talked since last year. What do you think has changed since I last spoke with you?
Amanda: Well, Arslan is the first fantasy series I’ve worked on so the characters speak a little bit differently than in the modern series. So I’ve been getting used to that. It feels like the move to more digital manga is still going on, with Yen Press doing the Square Enix titles.
OASG: It’s an interesting move, with Square Enix titles being on Crunchyroll.
Amanda: Yeah! I haven’t read any of them yet but I’m looking forward to reading them.
OASG: Just go read Donyatsu.
Amanda: *laughs*
So that’s exciting. I know a lot of people are still like, “Oh, I’m only gonna buy if it’s in print, sorry.” But to me, I guess I read so much manga that I don’t have enough room for it. If I ever have to move…again…I’m not gonna wanna pack all that up and move it because books are so heavy! *laughs* It’s also kind of cheaper to go digital too. So for me, I’d rather get digital copies for series that I know I’m not going to read again and again and again but that I’m interested in…I’d rather go digital. So I’m glad to see it and there’s more of an opportunity for series that probably wouldn’t have a wider audience. So hopefully we’ll see some more niche things.
OASG: Speaking of manga, you said you’re reading a lot of manga, what’s on your reading list? Or even light novels if you have any.
Amanda: LN? I haven’t even had time to read the ones Yen Press put out. I brought a couple of them but I’ve been too busy translating to read them. Anybody who knows me knows that I like No Game No Life, despite all the ecchiness. I like reading the games and the twist and turns, and all the strategic thinking. So I’m excited about that. I read it in Japanese and the manga that Seven Seas put out, but I want to read the LN in English also. So, I’m very happy that that’s out.
So I read it but I haven’t read it!
OASG: Makes sense. *laughs*
Amanda: Sort of! *laughs* As far as manga, Kaiji just came out on Book Walker Global. It’s a high stakes gambling manga. There’s an anime for it, it’s on Crunchyroll. It’s really different, and suspenseful. I really like that series, but I want to read the manga too. Recently I read Opus, which is great, and anything Zack Davisson translates should be on your radar, like Seraphim, and Showa, he’s amazing.
OASG: Did you know that Opus was unfinished before you read it?
Amanda: Yeah I knew it was unfinished before I read it. I think if I hadn’t known and I read through the whole thing, it probably would’ve been, “Oh, that’s the ending.” Because it sort of ends perfectly, even though it’s unfinished, that could’ve been the real ending.
OASG: HMMMMMMMMMMM…
Amanda: Wellllllll, not perfectly but…you know—
OASG: You’re talking to somebody that did read it, had no idea it was unfinished, and I wondered how it’s gonna end, and then I turn the page and they said “That’s it!”
Amanda: Well god is an asshole. Like they say in the book, god is an asshole! So Satoshi Kon is an asshole!
…No, no that’s a terrible thing to say *laughs*
OASG: Well it was still a great book, I was just like this ending…which wasn’t really an ending—
Amanda: Yeah it’s always sad when you don’t get to read the real ending but…yeah.
OASG: I guess my final question is what do you think of the translation field so far? Have you seen any growth, any advancement, more people coming in, etc?
Amanda: Well, as a freelancer, I don’t really know that kind of thing. But I don’t know if me getting more work is because I’ve put myself out there so far, I’ve been doing this for a couple of years now, or because there’s more work to get, but I’m gonna guess that it’s probably growing, with the growth in the digital field, like all the digital manga…it seems to me like it will grow. And it’s not really something machine translation can kill either. People get worried about machine translation taking all the jobs.
OASG: *laughs* you mean like robots are gonna start translating now?
Amanda: You know, like Google translate and all that stuff—
OASG: Like I said, you expecting robots to start translating manga?
Amanda: I’m not! Nobody else is. It’s funny – Ken Akamatsu, the guy who did Love Hina and Negima, has a website for out of print manga. One of the features of that website is that the readers can type in the dialog that’s on the pages so people can search it and stuff. But there’s also a machine translation function, and a while ago I was playing around with it and…I don’t remember what I was reading, but it wasn’t that bad for a couple of things, just for shorter things, it was kind of ok, but it was probably just completely a fluke. I’m sure it was because sometimes when I look up the English translation for words in Japanese if I just want a reminder, sometimes it comes up with crazy things.
