| Call them the "fortunate fanboys" - a group of people in love with anime and manga who hit the jackpot. They're part of the anime and manga industry through a combination of their fandom and their talent. They live with the entertainment that mesmerizes millions of people - and they're lucky enough to be paid to provide that entertainment. |  |
| Robert DeJesus (left) enjoyed drawing in high school, but his life changed when he discovered manga in 1984. The Dr. Slump and Akira series showed him the range of manga's appeal. Dejesus went on to become one of the top artists for the manga-flavored Antarctic Press. "I don't consider myself a pro," DeJesus told an Anime Central panel. "I'm a fan who keeps jumping up in the professional world. "I don't want it to become work, but it's nice to get paid." Scott Frazier (right), assistant director for Studio I.G. in Japan, was attracted to anime when he first saw Macross and Space Adventure Cobra with friends in the early 1980's. "We looked at these and thought "These are amazing,' I got hooked into this," Frazier said. When in Japan in 1987, he sought out work in the anime industry and has made that art his life's work ever since. |  |
| The turning point for Neil Nadleman (left) was seeing Royal Space Force (better known in English as Wings of Honneamise). After studying Japanese for two years in college - and bugging his Japanese friends to learn the language after that - Nadleman made a fan subtitled- version of Space Force. Making a living in the anime industry seemed like a better job than clerking at a 7-11, so Nadleman used an early Anime Expo to search for a job. That led Nadleman to Central Park Media, translation work on Project A-Ko, and a freelance anime translating career. Around the same time, Toshifumi Yoshida (right) was working on the first version of the now-defunct glossy fanzine Animag. The magazine connections helped get Yoshida translating work on the first 3x3 Eyes manga. Then, after Animag folded, Yoshida was approached by Viz Communications to help develop Animerica Magazine and to produce Viz Video product. |  |
| For hopeful artists, DeJesus suggests that they pick a company and "Take a look at what they're doing. They're not interested in what you can do - they're interested in what you can do with their characters." Send the company a model sheet of their characters on 8.5"x11" copies of your originals, DeJesus said, along with a three-page example of an original story. |  |
| Frazier is one of the few americans who has survived and thrived in the high-pressure grind of anime production. He warned that the fantasy of an American anime fan's working in Japan might not live up to the reality of being a stranger in a strange land. "Imagine if a person from Europe who spoke only Spanish or French wanted to become an actor in the U.S.; same deal," said Frazier. "It's possible, but there are obstacles - cultural and language." |  |
| Translators face some of the greatest pressure in the English-language business. Fans don't say much about artwork because most can't draw - but everyone can talk, and many like to criticize anime translations. It's typical for fans, most who have know practical knowledge of Japanese, to say English translations "aren't literal." Nadleman notes that anime companies "aren't looking for the perfect translator, they're looking for someone who's reliable." He notes that there is a different dramatic sense between Japanese and English, and it's hard to make a literal translation from one language to another. The panel noted that among other thing, puns don't move smoothly from one language to another. |  |
| Yoshida said that a word-for-word translation doesn't always make dramatic sense, so the translator must rewrite the lines with the English language in mind - and for English-speaking audiences who don't always think as Japanese audiences think. "It's a nuance thing. It's different from person to person," said Yoshida. "There are always going to be nitpickers - I hate some of my old work." |  |
| The panelists got a kick out of sharing some of the strange translations of titles and names that either happened or nearly happened. It's fairly well known that the Japanese name for "Ghost in the Shell" is Move Machine Attack Unit, but what about the attempt to rename the Utena series to "Ursula's Kiss." And did you know that Kei and Yuri of the Dirty Pair nearly were turned into Kate and Julie of the Galaxy Angels for English release? |  |
Anime Central Day One |
Anime Central Day Two |
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