The Interview

<Aaerul> How did you get started working in the fan translation scene as an editor?
<Aaerul> you do mostly editing right?
<Spin569874123> only editing
<Spin569874123> I started working as an editor since I wanted to help the scene in any way I could
<Spin569874123> but since I can’t tl, hack, or edit pics, editing was my only choice

<Aaerul> what VNs did you play that made you commit to editing?
<Aaerul> i mean, commit to the scene
<Aaerul> what drew you into VNs ‘to the point’ that you want to help out
<Spin569874123> well, I discovered VNs cause of anime
<Spin569874123> I was a late bloomer for that, having only discovered it 4 years ago
<Spin569874123> I was rushing into it trying to catch up, when I saw Kanon
<Spin569874123> and Air
<Spin569874123> those lead me to discover the projects, which led me to One
<Spin569874123> (Kanon) …was great too
<Spin569874123> I teared a little during the Makoto scene
<Spin569874123> if it ended there, I would have been happy
<Spin569874123> the Makoto Scene, refering to the one where she 1,1 disappears

<Aaerul> how come you juggle so many different projects at the same time?
<Spin569874123> heh
<Spin569874123> “how come” or “how can you?”
<Aaerul> both
<Spin569874123> for the first then,
<Spin569874123> I was asked to join each and every one of those projects listed on my tlwiki page except for the Amaterasu Translations ones
<Spin569874123> including Shirotesume
<Spin569874123> personally asked*
<Spin569874123> me being me, I can’t say “no”
<Spin569874123> so that’s why I’m listed in so many
<Spin569874123> regarding “how can I,” well…
<Spin569874123> I am actually a busy person irl, so I can’t really handle them all at once
<Spin569874123> luckily, a good portion aren’t as active as YU-NO or MuvLuv
<Spin569874123> actually, I guess that’s unluckily, in the perspective of the VN reader
<Aaerul> its probably a good idea to shed a few of the projects off
<Aaerul> if you focus your work to one or two, you can get heaps done
<Aaerul> and the other members can count on you more
<Spin569874123> I would, but it’s unneeded at this point because like I said, half are kinda stalled/dead
<Spin569874123> although, for a few, I can singlehandedly stall them if I choose(Yosuga no Sora to name one)
<Spin569874123> Yes, I’m talking to you /jp/
[15:45] <Spin569874123> lol, just wanted to get that in

01[15:46] <Aaerul> you can stall them?
[15:46] <Spin569874123> well, I’ll answer that real quick
[15:46] <Spin569874123> yea, I can stall a few, like Yosuga, Princess Lover, 11eyes
[15:46] <Spin569874123> Rewrite trial
[15:46] <Spin569874123> all unlisted on my tlwiki page
[15:47] <Spin569874123> well, lemme say it like this
[15:48] <Spin569874123> with editing for those projects, the team/translator doesn’t feel like it’s good enough to be made public
[15:48] <Spin569874123> without editing*
[15:48] <Spin569874123> and since I’m the sole editor for those
[15:48] <Spin569874123> basically, if I do nothing, I’m stalling it

01[15:49] <Aaerul> it’s strange how there are so few editors
01[15:49] <Aaerul> there could easily be so much more of them
[15:49] <Spin569874123> yea, it really is ironic
[15:49] <Spin569874123> there used ot be so few translators, and so many editors only last year
[15:56] <Spin569874123> I personally believe that editing isn’t about TLCing and w/e, but just making the text flow right in English

01[15:56] <Aaerul> And have you ever been reprimanded for your editing work?
[15:57] <Spin569874123> the only critique of my editing style is that I don’t change enough
[15:58] <Spin569874123> I tend to trust the translators, like Ixrec and Phar, so I don’t feel that I should change every sentence or something
[15:59] <Spin569874123> people complaing about over adaptation or not being “true” to the source all the time
[15:59] <Spin569874123> so I feel like they should be happy
[15:59] <Spin569874123> that I don’t overly edit or adapt that is
[16:00] <Spin569874123> people are always complaining*
01[16:00] <Aaerul> as in, theyre complaining its not literal enough?
01[16:01] <Aaerul> they want the full on, raw thing
01[16:01] <Aaerul> the original japanese meaning as much as possible

[16:01] <Spin569874123> yea, I see /jp/ complaining about that all the time
[16:01] <Spin569874123> “This isn’t what the author wanted. This is just an adaptation of the story.”
<Aaerul> now that you mention it
<Aaerul> TLWiki is a LOT about making noble and worthy translations of japanese works
<Aaerul> it does seem a bit nonsensical for us to be assuming the ‘will of the author’ when we are not even acknowledged legally
01[16:03] <Aaerul> like how Moogy given up on Subarashiki Hibi because
01[16:03] <Aaerul> he thought he won’t be able to do a good enough job to respect the maker
[16:03] <Spin569874123> that’s bs
[16:03] <Spin569874123> lol
[16:04] <Spin569874123> he just didn’t have the balls
[16:04] <Spin569874123> for lack of a better phrase

01[16:05] <Aaerul> Can you say a word to the fans that want to help but don’t know where to help?
[16:05] <Spin569874123> oh, that’s a perfect question for me
[16:05] <Spin569874123> well, first, to all you fans out there
[16:05] <Spin569874123> do NOT believe that you’re going to just join a project thinking that it’s easy and won’t take much time
[16:06] <Spin569874123> it is rigorous and will tire you out very quickly
[16:07] <Spin569874123> it may not be time consuming, but, it requires tenacity
[16:07] <Spin569874123> you may be on a project for months
[16:07] <Spin569874123> also, just a protip
[16:08] <Spin569874123> it’s not quite as fun as you think, if you’re an editor anyway, because you won’t be reading the pristine text that comes out at the end
[16:08] <Spin569874123> you’ll be getting the raw translation that may or may not be Engrishy
[16:08] <Spin569874123> however, if you would still like to join the community after knowing this, I welcome you with open arms
[16:09] <Spin569874123> to start, first, know what position you can do, as in editor, translator, image editor, or hacker
01[16:09] <Aaerul> and I want to add, there is a lot of demand for a good editor with very good english right now. because a lot of us translators are not perfectly fluent.
01[16:09] <Aaerul> so don’t think you will be useless. you will be a massive boon to those teams
[16:09] <Spin569874123> yea, that’s very true

[16:10] <Spin569874123> being an editor this year onward is definitely harder than it was one or two years ago
01[16:10] <Aaerul> why so?
[16:10] <Spin569874123> because now, we’re getting people interested in translating, even though they’re not native English speakers
[16:10] <Spin569874123> like you said
01[16:11] <Aaerul> so you mean being an editor is easier than it was one/two years ago
[16:11] <Spin569874123> also, because the community has grown so much, people are expecting quality releases instead of just *a* release
[16:11] <Spin569874123> no, it’s harder because you either have great English, or you just won’t cut it
01[16:12] <Aaerul> but to me, I still feel like we’re getting a trickle of a release every now and then.
01[16:12] <Aaerul> rather than a flood of them
01[16:12] <Aaerul> yes great english is a must
[16:12] <Spin569874123> well, if you look on vndb
[16:12] <Spin569874123> half of the English tled VNs on there, were released in the last two years
[16:12] <Spin569874123> more than that even, I think
[16:12] <Spin569874123> that’s more in the last two years than the last 4+ years combined
01[16:14] <Aaerul> so it is actually ramping up.
01[16:14] <Aaerul> that’s pretty interesting
[16:14] <Spin569874123> yea, the community is finally growing

01[16:18] <Aaerul> is there anything else you want to say to the fans?
[16:19] <Spin569874123> hmm
[16:19] <Spin569874123> well, I didn’t get to finish the “how to join the community” thing I was saying
[16:19] <Spin569874123> lol, I’ll just finish that now, and you can add that into the middle of that section
01[16:19] <Aaerul> ok
[16:20] <Spin569874123> once you know what position you can, and want to do, go to tlwiki’s site
[16:21] <Spin569874123> that’s a great spot to put your foot in the door because most “real” translation groups, already have their members, unless you get lucky like me and fine one that’s first forming
[16:22] <Spin569874123> just start working on a project on tlwiki if you’re an editor, starting one if you’re a translator, or asking if they need help, if you’re a hacker/image editor
[16:23] <Spin569874123> believe me, if you’re bad, you’ll be told so, and there’s nothing you can do but just improve by asking what’s wrong and why
[16:23] <Spin569874123> if you’re good though, that’s great, so long as you have the drive and finish one project, you should be accepted into one of the “real” translation groups I mentioned above
[16:24] <Spin569874123> not that I’m implying that tlwiki doesn’t have real translators and workers or anything
[16:24] <Spin569874123> it’s just a different experience
[16:25] <Spin569874123> but anyway, once you’re set on helping the community, just join the project you want, and most likely, you’ll be accepted
[16:25] <Spin569874123> (end)

Thanks for doing the interview Spin. Lots of rare info.