With Bushiroad Works’ recent announcement regarding their implementation of AI technology in producing English-language manga simulpubs, the concerning trend of Western localizers overwriting Japanese artists’ original work in favor of pushing their own sociopolitical rhetoric and tired memes has been brought to the attention of mainstream audiences.
Moreover, this latest round of discourse has revealed that, when forced to choose between ideologically motivated humans or job-replacing machines to handle their manga, anime, and video game localizations, they will reluctantly accept the latter so long as the former continues to provide sub-par work.
However, despite their important role in the entire affair, one voice which hasn’t been represented in recent discussions is that of Japanese creators themselves.
To this end, Bounding Into Comics asked manga artist Daromeon, who together with writer Yabako Sandrovich is known for producing the Kangan Ashura and Kengan Omega series, for his thoughts on the topic.
Thankfully, he graciously agreed to speak with us.
For context, Daromeon and I – Nerdigans Inc, the author of this article – have previously spoken regarding the use of AI technology in the production of manga, especially in regards to the visual side of the medium and publisher’s Shueisha ongoing use of the ComicCopilot automated art tool.
However, for this specific interview, Daromeon and I focused specifically on his insights into the topics of AI translation, its future in Japanese media, and the unique selection process used to find localizers for his Kengan series.
[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for clarity]
Nerdigans Inc.: “What are your thoughts on publishers like Bushiroad Works’ utilizing [Mantra Co.’s AI translation engine] for The Ancient Magus’ Bride English simulpubs? Do you think more Japanese publishers will follow suit?”
Daromeon: “It seems what [Mantra] uses is not LLM (Large Language Model) related, so its use might not be a fully AI-related situation. However, otherwise I’d say it’ll take time, since larger publishers are always conservative about these things.”
Nerdigans Inc.: “Can you see smaller/indie publishers utilize mantra’s technology to save money before bigger publishers?”
Daromeon: “Some other tech innovation might be faster.”
Nerdigans Inc: “You mean in terms of AI or something else?”
Daromeon: “I’m not sure about the specifics, but like what if Amazon suddenly adds a translate button on your Kindle manga app? I’d like to see people go ‘How dare Amazon to use AI! I’m gonna go read from piracy instead.'”
Nerdigans Inc: “Given the growing localization discourse in the West, can you see Japanese publishers, such as Shueisha or Shogakukan intervening to curb the problem through the enlistment of fan translation groups or leaving authors to specifically pick their translators?”
[Author’s Note: These two options make reference to the Kengan franchise’s rare localization situation, wherein Daromeon and Sandrovitch have personally enlisted a fan-scanlation group to work on the series’ official releases.]
Daromeon: “Not likely. My case is super rare.”
Nerdigans Inc: “Speaking of I never heard how you and Yabako-sensei went about setting up Kengan‘s localization situation. Who did you approach first, the fan translation team, your publisher, or the manga-streaming service comikey [the manga streaming platform on which his series is currently hosted]?
Daromeon: “I just recommended the fan team to my publisher, since what they first showed me was awful. I don’t know how the rest went on.”
Nerdigans Inc.: “Wait, what? What was wrong with what the publisher showed you?!”
Daromeon: “The first translation I saw was good enough as a translation, like if it was made as part of an English exam for school, but it was unnatural to read. I had to print out both what they showed me and the piracy version and show it to my editor side-by-side in order to explain just how much smoother the fan translation was than the ‘official’ copy.
[Author’s Note: Comikey later confirmed with Bounding into Comics that “the initial translations for Kengan that are being spoken of here were not done by Comikey’s localization team, but were an AI translation done by Mantra.”
Sandrovitch and Daromeon’ fighting tournament series Kengan Ashura and its currently-ongoing sequel Kengan Omega are exclusively available on Comikey, with new simulpubs of the latter scheduled to release every Wednesday at 7AM PST/10 AM EST.