This Week in Anime

Manga, Translation, and the Rise of Machines

Coop
Lucas, we are no strangers to the occasional stories of AI and machine translation popping up in anime and manga localization. Most of the time, we'll see talk of it in copy covered from head to toe with language about "the power of AI" and the supposed creativity that is "unleashed" through its use. And you, dear reader, have probably seen this same language creeping into every aspect of your lives. However, we need to take a closer look at how AI is impacting the livelihoods of those who make it possible for you to understand your favorite series in your native language. Just recently, AI localization house Orange Inc. (not the Studio Orange who made Trigun Stampede and BEASTARS), announced they'd launched an app version of their emaqi bookstore, with titles from publishers such a Viz Media and Kodansha USA available on their service. With Orange Inc.'s history and the corporate disposition to abuse this technology, there are many understandable concerns to examine here.

True, "AI" has become a catch-all for tools that can seemingly streamline or assist in a certain process. A perfect example from the video games world is Speedtree—a piece of modeling software that, to my knowledge (and from listening to Jeff Gerstmann talk about it), can reduce the burden of generating vegetation for a game world. From there, human artists can come in and fine-tune the final results to their needs. On paper, the idea is similar when it comes to translation: plop your raw text into a dedicated machine translation software or ChatGPT, and it'll spit out a translation. Then you'll have an editor and translator to check it over. This is the concept on which Orange Inc.'s Factory tool is built around. However, the art of translation is far more delicate than just shoving some information into a box and expecting all the nuance to come out. That's why you need a human hand to go through it from the beginning to ensure the original nuance and meaning are kept while making it understandable for a new audience.

Speaking to the process used by Orange Inc. specifically, veteran translator Jocelyne Allen (The works of Kabi Nagata, Junji Ito's Shiver) has highlighted the issues presented by machine translation. When news of Orange Inc. job postings got out on social media, Allen very pointedly spoke on how the lack of nuance, wordplay, and personality in a machine translation can often lead to results that require a retranslation from scratch, so the final product is presentable. However, the headache of that process doesn't come with the proper compensation for a translator's troubles either.

I'm on the same wavelength, Lucas. When I'm not writing this column or working on a bit of Blu-ray box copy, I've been editing light novels and performing quality assurance for J-Novel Club (another fine Kadokawa company). From my experience, the art of great localization is a translator and editor working together in sync to ensure the spirit of the original text is faithfully conveyed to readers. But along the way, you have wonderful QA folks coming in to make sure there isn't anything you missed or double-check a line that might sound off. Adding a machine translation to that mix only gums up the works, because there's no person to have a back-and-forth with to make the product better.

I believe that even if we're not always working with Shakespeare, every work deserves the proper level of care. Even if I'm not crazy about a certain work, it could be someone's absolute favorite thing ever. Also, that "gumming up of the works" is only the best-case scenario. If a company can save a buck to get a product out cheap and fast, regardless of the care required, it's a decision that can frustratingly make sense in the spreadsheets. Particularly to the solely numbers-minded.

I agree with you, Lucas. Why put your money down on a product when you discover that it's not up to the standard you expect as a consumer? I apologize for sounding like John Business here, readers, but that's just the reality of this conversation.

We also have to address the slippery slope of "Is it machine translation or just a bad product?" Once "AI" is shot in the conversation, the space for nuance becomes extremely narrow. Titan Comics' late 2022 release of the Kamen Rider Kuuga manga left a bad taste in the mouths of many. While original promotional images for the series' first volume looked promising, and generally what one would expect from a professionally published manga... The final product was a far cry from the preview images, with clunky translations and seemingly shoddy quality assurance at play. Enough backlash was generated to prompt Titan to make a statement.

According to our fellow columnist, Chris Farris, Titan seemingly hadn't given the series another pass when he cross-referenced his digital review copies with the final product on shelves.

However, as Chris posits in his reviews, that "machine translation or bad product" question comes into play again. Even if the awkward translation is just that, when the seed of "Was this AI?" is planted into a potential customer's brain, it's hard to root it out. Looking at Titan specifically, that tree has already started sprouting in my mind. For instance, I'm excited to check out Ryoichiro Kezuka's Record Journey when it hits bookshelves next year. But seeing Titan's name attached makes me weary due to the Kuuga situation.

That bot is a next-level perv if they're getting hot and bothered by the presence of a modest tank top and jeans. I'd say "good for you" if it were an actual person, but it's not great when this then goes flying right into the exhausting censorship conversation again.

I understand that frustration, but in the world of print (and most media, really), consistency is the name of the game. Fingers crossed that one day a future edition of One Piece will correct that, but I don't think that'll come until the series is finished, and if VIZ or Shueisha wants to pay to have that updated.

To the eyes of most, the VIZ and Kodansha titles being brought to emaqi are already finished products simply being licensed for a new sales platform. But again, given Orange Inc.'s history, that raises questions regarding their new partners' thoughts on the use of the company's technology.

The aforementioned advertorial features a trio of Kodansha titles with the human touch this work requires. I can't say the same for the rest.

As you said, Lucas, it goes without saying that a bit of promotion raises questions about surrounding editorial integrity. Especially considering that we're pushing back against what ANN promoted. To quote a public statement from our Executive Editor, "The editorial and news department are not involved in, nor do we have any say in advertising decisions. None of us knew this was happening until it was published." I trust her on this, but as a reader, you can see my bias as a regular columnist. However, I also understand if that ad makes you start asking reasonable questions. And those are on the basis that most people see ANN as just ANN, not for the separate departments that operate independently from each other. I can speak for myself, in that if something seems like a conflict of interest on my end, I'll let you know. To echo our editor once more, the best way to show your concern is to RESPECTFULLY voice your thoughts in the comments.

True, it's hard to navigate certain aspects of this conversation without going directly to black-and-white thinking. As someone who has written a handful of advertorial articles in the past, I have a small inkling of how that specific area of writing works. However, going back to the larger convo, I'd prefer it if the AI bubble doesn't grow big enough to take a ton of industries (including our own) down along with it.

Through that lens, I see what you mean. But I also think of the generation of potential writers and creatives that have been driven to illiteracy due to the use of these models in the classroom and higher education. The effects will most likely leave a long-lasting scar. It's not specific to our industry in those regards, but one day, it could be. It's a related conversation for another time, but also demonstrates how quickly the AI conversation can spiral to more worrying places.

The work of any dedicated, passionate, and well-compensated professional will outlive any fad—from digital monopoly money to ugly MS Paint art of a monkey with a backwards cap.