About The Contest

You voted, the judges have made their selections! Here are the winners of the 2015 Manga Translation Battle!
The world's only official Japanese manga translation contest presented by the Digital Comic Association. Managed by MANGAPOLO, with the full support of the Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs.

Awards Ceremony and Symposium

Date:
February 24th, 2015
Time:
First Part (Awards Ceremony) : 19:00 (Doors Open: 18:30) - 19:30
Second Part (The Symposium) : 19:30 - 21:00
Venue:
Auditorium, Roppongi Academy Hills 49F, Tokyo, Japan

Anyone and everyone is welcome!

Click here to participate

Final Result

Grand Prize

Kamakura Monogatari

Kamakura Monogatari

Alethea Nibley & Athena Nibley

from U.S.A.

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First Prize

Museum

Museum

Hayley Tournier

from U.S.A.

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nichijou

nichijou

Jennifer McKeon

from U.S.A.

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The Crown of Thorn

The Crown of Thorn

Casey Loe

from U.S.A.

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Audience Award

The Crown of Thorn

The Crown of Thorn

Hana Ihaya

from U.S.A.

Contest Outline

Flow

  • Application: Select one of the four featured manga to translate. Translate the manga from Japanese to English, and submit your entry via the web form below. All translators, including amateurs and professional are eligible to enter. There's no fee for entry. DEADLINE: November 7, 2014
  • Initial Screening: All entries will be reviewed by professional translators to select the finalists.
  • Final Review: The judging committee will review the finalists and choose the winning entries. The finalists' translations will also be posted on the Manga Translation Battle website, so readers can vote for their favorite entry too.
  • Announcement of Winners: In last-January 2015, the winners will be announced. Grand Prize winner will get a trip to Japan and a job offer to translate the manga.First Prize winners will get a job offer to translate the manga. Runner-ups will win tablet computers.

The Four Featured Manga!

Kamakura Monogatari 鎌倉ものがたり

Kamakura Monogatari 鎌倉ものがたり

A mystery author born in Kamakura, Isshiki Masakazu is an extremely skilled detective. Together with his wife Akiko, he interacts with apparitions, ghosts, gods, buddhas, and aliens both inside and outside Kamakura. He has a wide variety of acquaintances and friends, from police officials to strange animals. This mystery can be enjoyed by kids and adults as he solves difficult cases and unexpected events in Kamakura. A long-selling popular manga!

Museum ミュージアム

Museum ミュージアム

A terrifying and bizarre suspense horror manga with a huge helping of despair, as an evil “frog-man” carries out a series of brutal punishments. "THE SERIAL KILLER IS LAUGHING IN THE RAIN!”

nichijou 日常

nichijou 日常

Yukko is a spacey and wildly imaginative female high school student who is surrounded by robots, goats, and other oddities. Another ordinary, slightly surreal, day begins again today.

The Crown of Thorn いばらの冠

The Crown of Thorn いばらの冠

Nobara Fukami lives alone in an old Western-style house and flies under the radar in her class. Since childhood, Nobara has been able to see things others can’t, and three months prior, a mysterious man appeared in front of her...

Judging Committee

Deb Aoki

Deb Aoki

Deb Aoki has been writing about manga professionally since 2006, but is also a lifelong manga reader who has many happy memories reading Nakayoshi when she was in grade school. From 2006-2013, she was the Manga Editor for About.com. She is currently the editor of MangaComicsManga.com, a site devoted to manga and comics from around the world. She is also a contributing writer for Publishers Weekly. Deb lives in California, in the San Francisco Bay Area and regularly writes about comics events throughout North America, and occasionally Japan.

William Flanagan

William Flanagan

William (Bill) Flanagan started translating manga professionally in 1991 with Raika (Kaumi Fujiwara & Yu Terashima) and has been translating and editing manga ever since. He rose to be Director of Editorial of Viz Media in the early 2000s and from then on, has had his hand in top-selling manga. He also translates anime, games, TV, movies and novels. Representative manga translations include XxxHOLiC and Gate 7 (CLAMP), Fairy Tail (Hiro Mashima), and A Bride's Story (Kaoru Mori). He lives with his wife a son in the mountains of Gifu Prefecture, Japan.

Matt Alt

Matt Alt

A native of Washington, D.C., Matthew has been working as a professional translator since the early 1990s. Together with Hiroko Yoda he is the co-founder of AltJapan Co., Ltd., a dedicated entertainment localization company that has produced the English versions of many top video games, toys, and manga, including the Gundam series and the Doraemon series. He is the co-author of numerous books about Japan, including "Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide."

Matt Thorn

Matt Thorn

As Associate Professor in Kyoto Seika University’s Faculty of Manga, Matt Thorn teaches history and sociocultural aspects of manga and American comics. Thorn is an evangelist of shojo manga genre, and been professionally translating manga since 1990, including Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind by Hayao Miyazaki and Banana Fish by Akimi Yoshida for VIZ Media, and Wandering Son by Takako Shimura, Nijigahara Holograph by Inio Asano, and The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio for Fantagraphics Books.

For further information please contact :info@mangapolo.jp

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Deb Aoki

Deb Aoki

An easy-to-read, enjoyable translation. I appreciated that Aletha and Athena took the time and trouble to provide translation notes for the numerous uniquely Japanese phrases and concepts in this story to give the reader context for what's happening in this whimsical, slightly supernatural tale. For example, they explained what a "hato sable" is instead of just calling it a "dove cookie", what fishcakes and manju are for readers who may not be familiar with Japanese food, and what is "Tale of the Heike" too. Also helpful that they explained things like what the western equivalents are, for example, size 7 in Japan = size 2 in US, what tsubo is in feet, etc. Some of the sound effect choices were a little odd, but overall, a fun read that captured the spirit and intent of the original work without compromising conversational, readable text.

William Flanagan

William Flanagan

Consistent characterization and wise choices for the voices in this entry are what made it stand out. Although I normally dislike the use of Shakespearian language in a translation, it works extremely well here as the voice for the “trickster” spirits that fool the main character into handing over her treats. Athena and Alethea resisted the urge to “localize” the place names and creature names, which is correct for this manga as the Kamakura setting is a major point of the series. And Japanese place names and creature names are appropriate for the setting. This is a good demonstration of how a professional translates a manga.

Craig Mod

Matt Alt

This was a particularly difficult translation, both in terms of text density and the content, which required an understanding of Japanese folklore. The Nibleys turned in one of what I felt was the few “slam dunk” translations of the competition. They captured the nuances of Kamakura Monogatari perfectly, from the yokai names to the little out-of-the-dialog-balloon asides (so often ignored or mistranslated by many aspiring translators) to the whimsical tone of the manga. But what really sealed it for me was their use of characterization - employing different voices for different characters. It seems so obvious, but it’s one of the hardest aspects of manga translation to nail, and their use of faux-Shakesperean dialogue for the ghost warriors was a textbook case of what localizers should aim for in their work.

Matt Alt

Matt Thorn

Dealing with antiquated speech in translation is tricky, and requires even more compromise and creativity than does “standard” contemporary speech. The fact that the work itself more than 30 years old adds another layer of obstacles and opportunities. Finally, this work is one of the longest of the four, and conveys more culturally and historically specific information than any of the others. In short, it’s a challenge. The Nibley twins met the challenge better than any of the other translators. They strike the right balance, making the piece readable while preserving its (arguably corny) charm. It was hard to pick the best of these four best translations. Truth be told, each judge seemed to be leaning to a different entrant. Only after going over the minutia exhaustively were we able to settle on the winner. What it came down to was hard work―not our hard work, but that of the Nibley sisters. They put the work into researching the geographic and historical details, conveying them without distracting the reader, handling the archaic language in a manner that works well for the piece, and giving a new―English―life to these sweet Japanese characters.

Deb Aoki

Deb Aoki

An overall clean, relatively clear and easy to follow translation. The detective's dialogue is clear and has a good mix of police terminology, a bit of slang, and enough clarity so I can follow what's going on in the story, especially in the detailed explanations of the crime scene and the killer's actions. It was interesting to compare the three finalists for Museum because they all took very different approaches to this gritty, violent police drama. Hayley's entry squarely hit the middle ground between literal translation and taking conversational liberties / going for contemporary choices that sound more casual / lively. While it lacks some of the more pizazz that would come including more contemporary slang and cursing, but Hayley's translation works well in that it's probably closest in tone to the original without being too stiff and literal.

William Flanagan

William Flanagan

Although choosing among the finalists was tough for all of this year’s entries, Museum’s competition was extremely high-level and difficult to determine a winner. But I was impressed by Hayley’s use of police procedural dialog by the main character’s boss, and how that characterization contrasted with Sawamura’s (the main character’s) more laid-back, casual characterization. The mood that Hayley’s dialog presented was right for every scene, and I also felt that Hayley’s choice of wording on the murderer’s notes conveyed the intent of the notes best of all the entries. Congratulations to Hayley beating out a tough field!

Craig Mod

Matt Alt

This was an often stomach-churning manga and hats off to those intrepid translators who decided to attempt it. Hayley did an excellent job with the different voices, particularly in the early pages where dialog flows without visual context. All of the entries were well done but what made me pick Hayley was her willingness to go beyond the standard translation from time to time, such as rendering the cop’s disgusted ひでぇ, which means literally gross/terrible, as “Jesus.” Yes, it adds content that isn’t in the original, but it also is very much in keeping with what a westerner would say in that kind of situation, which is what localization is all about. Little cultural tweaks like that are what separate the great localizations from good ones.

Matt Alt

Matt Thorn

The winner of this title was hard to decide. There were several solid translations, but Hayley won out with the smoothest, most natural of the batch. If you didn’t notice when you read her translation, that’s good, because the best translation is the invisible one that makes you forget you’re reading a translation. Only wonks like me should notice.

Deb Aoki

Deb Aoki

A pretty solid effort -- Jennifer made fewer errors than her competitors, and made more good choices of conversational phrases here than missteps, although there were a few that took me out of the flow of the story. For example, out of the three finalists for Nichijou, Jennifer probably made the most appropriate/natural choice of phrase for the mother's retort, "If you fail your exams, I'll kill you." She also managed to retain the light, humorous tone of the story, which made for a fun, entertaining read.

William Flanagan

William Flanagan

Comedy is tough, but Jennifer handled it well. What put Jennifer’s entry over the top for me was how deftly she crafted the dialog to explain points of otaku culture and Japanese culture in order to clue the western audience in on the joke. I was also impressed with how the vocabulary-word poem was handed, and I especially liked the “raining in my heart” final dialog. The winner for Nichijo was a tough decision with very strong competition, so I congratulate Jennifer on a very strong, winning performance.

Craig Mod

Matt Alt

This was by far the most popular manga for entrants, but ironically it’s one of the more difficult to score, as it’s shorter and less dense than some of the other ones. There was some hot competition: some entrants handled things like sound effects (always a tricky task for translators) better, others handled the dialog better. And a great number of applicants tripped up on the 寝ながらしたよ! (“nenagara shita yo!) line in the early pages, which isn’t studying “while sleeping” but rather studying “while laying down.” That said, Jennifer really nailed the key “buddha scene” at the end. This is a tricky thing to translate: the visuals lock the translator in to using Buddhist terms and imagery. But Jennifer handled it with aplomb, making it funny even for those who might not be familiar with the religious specifics.

Matt Alt

Matt Thorn

Comedy is the hardest thing to translate well. A joke makes you laugh because of the instantaneous realization of what is odd. The writer relies on the knowledge of the reader to keep the joke from becoming ponderously explanatory. You can see how linguistic and cultural barriers can easily kill a joke. Jennifer goes the extra mile here, for example turning the stories absurd poems into actual rhyming poems that “work.”

Deb Aoki

Deb Aoki

I liked that Casey took the time to carefully choose the words that the Devil spoke, to convey that he's very calm, smug and a bit regal. Compared to how Nobara, the not-so-ordinary Japanese teenage girl speaks, the Devil speaks more formally, which is an appropriate contrast between the two characters. He also talks in more 'demon' appropriate terms like ""corporeal form""
One thing I wasn't totally comfortable with was how much Nobara cursed -- for example, ""What if I told you to screw off?"" and ""Grandpa was the only one who gave a crap about me."" It was ok, but felt a little unnecessary.

William Flanagan

William Flanagan

The two characters as Casey characterized them, the girl as feisty and slightly comical, the demon as aloof and somewhat evil, was perfect for the series. The two personalities played well off of each other making for a fun read. I especially liked the over-the-top, “I cast thee out,” line. I also liked how the information about the bible being left behind was added in an aside rather than being a part of the main dialog. But the chemistry between the main characters makes or breaks the book, and Casey’s translation gave the two some great chemistry.

Craig Mod

Matt Alt

One of the most interesting things about this manga is how open to interpretation many of the concepts are. Is 悪魔 demon, or devil, or something else? Is のみ込む to be swallowed, consumed, or engulfed? Each translator chose their own path, and each has its own pluses and minuses. On the whole I felt Casey characterized the world-weary demon well, and I felt hers was a solid all-around translation in general.

Matt Alt

Matt Thorn

The biggest challenge in this piece is voice. The protagonist speaks pretty much like any high school girl, while the demon’s speech is somewhat more refined, and includes words and phrases not used in ordinary conversation. Most of the contestants failed to create consistent and convincing voices for these two characters, but Casey really nails it. (Advice to the others: Read your translations out loud, as if you’re an actor, and ask yourself if they sound natural.)