Hi all, this is the first in a series of interviews with people working on the English Tenra Bansho project. Today we’ll be asking questions of one of the core people who helped translate parts of the game (of which is currently now being put together, localized, edited and the like), Ewen Cluney. Without further ado, let’s find out more about the life of a Japanese translator:
GM: Where do you live, and what do you do for a living?
Ewen: I live in San Jose, CA, a place where nothing ever happens. I translate Japanese video games (freelance) and work part-time as a security guard when lack of freelance work forces me to. Hopefully I’ll be doing something more impressive after I finish grad school.
GM: Which video games have you had a part in translating?
Ewen: I’ve translated a total of seven different Dragon Ball Z games (not counting ports), plus Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy and One Piece Unlimited Adventure.
GM: In translating, do you have any areas of specialty or focus?
Ewen: Between my background in creative writing and translating so many video games with lengthy Story Modes, my main thing is dialogue. The thing I’ve been most interested in is literature (and I’ve become a fan of Ryunosuke Akutagawa), though I’ve also found the various linguistics courses I’ve been forced to take absolutely fascinating, especially sociolinguistics and language acquisition.
GM: How long have you been learning Japanese, and what level of skill do you have?
Ewen: I’ve studied Japanese for a total of about 7 years, over the past decade. I’ve passed the JLPT 2 and I’m nearly done with an M.A. in Japanese, so I like to think I’m decently skilled. (note: The JLPT stands for “Japanese Language Proficiency Test, the basic test for determining relative skill at reading and comprehending written Japanese. Level 1 is approximately “Native Level”, and Level 2 is the next step right behind that, requiring you to know hundreds of kanji and thousands of words)
GM: What Japanese stuff do you normally like to read/watch/play/do?
Ewen: I’ll give most any kind of anime and manga a chance, but I especially like quirky slice of life stuff and over-the-top sci-fi/fantasy (e.g., Azumanga Daioh, Evangelion, Lucky Star, Bleach, etc.). I read some light novels (Haruhi Suzumiya is my favorite so far) too, and I like some tokusatsu, especially Godzilla and Dekaranger. And of course I buy Japanese RPGs when I can, though that requires both having lots of money to throw around and actually being able to get them.
GM: Godzilla FINAL WARS: Simply awesome, or Really Really Awesome?
Ewen: Let me put it this way: The first time I watched it, I was watching by myself. I still wound up literally standing up and cheering multiple times during the movie.
GM: You play RPGs: What are some of your favorite RPGs, and why?
Ewen: Mekton Z, OVA, Toon, Maid RPG, Truth & Justice. I like games with light rules and either epic action or over the top comedy.
GM: You translated some sections of Tenra. Did anything from those sections catch you as cool or interesting? What, and why?
Ewen: I translated the Kijin and Kongohki sections, and both were fascinating. They take cliche concepts (Kijin are “cyborgs” and Kongohki are “robots”) and mix them with Sengoku era stuff and esoteric Buddhism, and the result is something that’s uniquely Tenra. With soldiers put into a meat grinder of war and forcibly turned into cyborgs when they’re injured, and damned souls being turned into the power and control units of combat robots, this setting has some scary and evocative technology that raises all kinds of issues.
Thanks for your time with us, Ewen. Good luck on your Master’s Degree!
Any additional questions for Ewen? Feel free to ask in the comments field!
We’ll have interviews with the other four translators eventually as well. Stay tuned!
