The Interview

<Aaerul> ok. Amaterasu is probably the single most well-known translation group on the internet.
<Aaerul> how did the group make its start? Whose idea was it to form the group
<Ixrec> after I finished working on MOON. (for the most part that was just me) I decided I wanted to work on Cross Channel
<Ixrec> and posted that I’d like people (editors, hackers) to help me with it
<Ixrec> most of the people that joined were all very good at their job, and have stuck around since then
<Ixrec> we decided to call it an actual group right around when CC started

<Aaerul> 2nd question: what is your view on quality vs efficiency. One the one extreme end, there is Moogy who advocates one translator + one QC.
<Aaerul> On the other end, there are groups that believe it is worth it to sacrifice some quality to get a faster product out
<Ixrec> it’s not really a linear scale
<Ixrec> yes I would say absolutely nothing should be translated by more than one translator
<Ixrec> exceptions are permissible only because truly dedicated translators are so rare there’s not much of a choice
<Aaerul> so you were the sole translator for all of the other previous projects?
<Ixrec> all four games I’ve translated were entirely done by me, yes
<Aaerul> wow… does anyone ever tell you you are a machine?
<Ixrec> often
<Ixrec> I take it as a compliment
<Ixrec> the closest I’ve ever come to having a 2nd tler is makoto translation checking my work on MuvLuv Unlimited (and soon Alternative)

<Aaerul> 3rd question: What was your first VN? What are some of your favourites you’ve played since then that you regard as ‘classics’?
<Ixrec> my first VN was Shuffle!
<Ixrec> second was Chaos;Head
<Ixrec> third was Fate/Stay Night
<Ixrec> kinda have to mention those two to avoid any weird ideas the first one introduces
<Ixrec> as for classics
<Ixrec> I’d say anything I rated 9 or higher on my blog http://amaterasu.is.moelicious.be/blog/?page_id=293
<Ixrec> so CC, YUNO, Forest, MLA, Sharin, Swan Song, GSM, E17, Inganock, C;H and FSN
<Aaerul> 4th question: For a person who has never played a visual novel before in their lives. How would you convince them to try it out (or not try it out?)
<Ixrec> I don’t have a good answer for this one, lol
<Ixrec> if they didn’t sound interested by visual novels just from hearing what they are, I probably wouldn’t try
<Ixrec> (many people are at least intrigued by this so that’s not pessimistic or anything)
<Ixrec> if they asked to try one I’d probably link Narcissu since it’s uber short and doesn’t require any torrents/locale to get running
<Aaerul> I’m a bit concerned that right now there isn’t really any entry-drugs for new VN players.
<Ixrec> I think we have about as many of those as we’re going to get
<Ixrec> a lot of people are turned off by sheer volume of text and other things compared to most mediums

<Aaerul> sorry this is not an official question but, do you think Mangagamer is still worth supporting?
<Ixrec> personally, I don’t support any official companies since they usually don’t work on good games, and when they do the product is of questionable quality
<Ixrec> that, and as seen by recent events, official deals seem to go a lot less smoothly than fan translations
<Aaerul> so you played shuffle in japanese?
<Ixrec> I have never read a visual novel in English, unless you count the stuff I’ve translated
<Aaerul> Last question: If you had to leave the reigns of TL of Amatarasu to somebody else, who would that somebody be? Name 3 potential candidates. Also, would you go pro if you were ever given the chance?
<Aaerul> TL specifically. not editor or QC,  the TL
<Ixrec> I know of no such candidates
<Ixrec> the translators I know of who are as good or better than me have such vastly different methodologies (or have already left) that they don’t really count
<Aaerul> what about people outside of your group.
<Ixrec> without me, there is no Ammy
<Ixrec> lol I’m talking too formal
<Ixrec> yes there is no one
<Ixrec> as for going pro
<Ixrec> it would depend heavily on the conditions
<Ixrec> but if it basically amounted to me getting paid for what I already do (fan translation of games I like) then I’d go for it in a heartbeat

…

(Regarding the quote “without me, there is no Ammy”, he explains)
<Ixrec> as an example of why, the quote was something more or less stated verbatim by my staff members at one point in the past
<Ixrec> ?
<Ixrec> oh I mean they said “without Ixrec”

(Post-interview chat)
<Aaerul> have you thought about translating steins;gate
<Ixrec> oh
<Ixrec> it has crossed my mind
<Ixrec> I definitely am going to read it at some point
<Aaerul> a game like that just cries out to be translated. it will slide well with the western audience
<Ixrec> if by then NO ONE has expressed interest in tling it, I’ll probably try to do it myself
<Ixrec> we’re talking at least a year’s time, so seriously someone should by then
<Ixrec> yeah, that is weird

…
<Ixrec> though I think that’s more because standards rose recently so we started to scrutinize editors when we knew the tler was fine
<Spin569874123> hmm, I’ve never noticed the editing in all the old VNs I’ve read, but yea, I wouldn’t doubt that
<Ixrec> to repeat myself
<Ixrec> no one cared about clannad’s editing at the time
<Ixrec> just that a complete patch existed
<Aaerul> but you can’t blame them for that.
<Aaerul> for most people, for the casuals,
<Aaerul> that is all they need
<Aaerul> readable English
<Ixrec> no I cannot
<Ixrec> most tls are better than nothing
<Ixrec> but a dedicated tler can produce something of much better quality in far less time

…
(In response to proper-permissions.org)
<Ixrec> wait was this the proper permission guy?
<Ixrec> well I’m tutoring people myself
<Ixrec> well yeah
<Ixrec> you can’t recruit/train motivated people
<Ixrec> can’t blame him for that one, (but) the idea is pretty unrealistic at best

Thanks you Ixrec for the interview. Please look forward to the next release in the Muv-Luv series, Muv-Luv Alternative.