Update, future plans, New Project announcement

Hello!

I'm waiting for ep 2 of Totsuzen, and then I'll start that immediately.

I'm taking the time to edit/qc Hana kimi before posting ep 5 - there are 3 reasons for this. One, there are typos. Two, I have grown as a translator in the last 5 years, and my philosophy on a few things have changed. While I still want to end up with the most authentic, accurate translation I can, "awkward" English for the sake of a "better" translation is something I have completely abandoned. If it's awkward in English, it is NOT a good translation. Also, I have adopted a few formatting standards, such as the hyphens to indicate different speakers - like this:

- Who are you?
- I'm Ashiya

So I'm going back and adding those in, as well as editing lines for length and awkward English. Finally, the 3rd reason. When I translate, I try to make each character's "voice" consistent throughout the drama - how certain words/phrases are translated, etc. Nakatsu is an extreme version of this. he speaks in a very fast, jumbled, slang-y kind of way and it is HARD to translate (though fun). Then there's  Oscar Hajima, who talks in this long, flowery way - I tended to translate him with English majors and Shakespearean actors in mind. Actually, Hana kimi is FULL of characters with very extreme, specific "voices" in the way they speak. I think Sano one of the only characters that speaks in a semi-normal manner. In order to make sure there is consistency throughout all the episodes, I'm paying close attention to the translation choices I made 5 years ago for each character,

For the future....I know this is a lot of translations at once, but....IT'S NOT MY FAULT. See, the powers that be decided to release dramas of two of my top ten manga of all time - in the same month! So...I'm going to be subbing the new Kimi wa Petto as well. This is a 99% certainty - the only reason why I *wouldn't* sub it is if the first episode was so majorly sucky I didn't even want to watch the drama. I don't think that will happen, though - the trailer has me excited.


Over the years, I never completely stopped subbing. I have 2  or 3 movies in process, and a few episodes done of a classic drama I love (hint - it was translated years ago but by a beginner without Japanese subs so there are lines missing/possibly mistranslated - don't get me wrong, I am SO grateful to that new subber all those years ago - I just love the drama and there was justification for new subs). It's based on a manga and has an idol star - can you guess what it is?). These were things I could work on to keep my skills sharp, but not worry about releasing or finishing on a time schedule. Once I wrap up Hana Kimi at least, I might announce what other side projects I'm working on. Or not. I might just post them one day ;P.

Finally, I will eventually go back and re-edit Kimi ni Todoke. I translated it back in my 3rd year of college on Spring Break. I'm still pretty proud of it - I did a pretty good job, and there's not much I'd change even after all these years. There are a few timing issues, some typos, and one or two lines I'd like to edit, though....so I'll be working on that at some point and then re-post it.