iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Emma @ehanashi.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

The latest manga/light novel J-to-E loc industry survey is open now! This is an anonymous ten question survey, this time about health insurance and support. Responses will be posted publicly. forms.cloud.microsoft/r/Nnmxw4AiQR

Screenshot of survey intro for manga/light novel industry professionals

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kayti burt @kaytiburt.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

As a longtime fanfiction reader (and occasional fic writer), I am deeply concerned about the way AI is impacting fandom spaces. @fansplaining.bsky.social was the perfect place to explore this anxious curiosity in the context of the booming Heated Rivalry fandom.

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Dr. Wes Robertson @scriptingjapan.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

New publication out! Check out my article in Gender & Language on how the gender of the speaker effects the translation of their vulgarities into Japanese, analyzing vulgarity translation in between the subs & dubs of The Boys and Russian Doll. utppublishing.com/doi/10.3138/...

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Mary @sharpestrose.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I could write volumes about the Orientalism inherent in expecting translated Asian texts to be somehow intrinsically different in vocabulary and metre to native English. They're not foreign and exotic to local readers, why on earth would you want them to be different for you if you want authenticity

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Sascha Stronach🏳️‍⚧️, The Sunforge out now @understatesmen.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

This needs to be a bigger story. Google Docs is no longer safe for copyrighted material. Any writer on contract needs to stop using it *immediately*.

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Mikayla B. @mikaylakai.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Now that the wedding grind is done and the Japan honeymoon has been thoroughly enjoyed, I'm now back to my peaceful regular schedule of inhaling video games. Which means now I'm wondering why more people haven't played Metaphor Re:fantazio because the English localization and dubbing are incredible

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Liz Bushouse @lizbushouse.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

My #WomensHistoryMonth edition of Localization Lore is up! Check it out to learn more about some of the ladies who were active in the J>E video game localization industry during the early 90s, including the origins behind "You spoony bard!"

lizbushouse.com

Localization Lore: Women's History Month 2026 - Elizabeth Bushouse

Welcome to the Women's History Month edition of my Localization Lore series, where I highlight some of the women who have worked in the Japanese to English

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Shane Luis @rerez.net · 18/03/2026

Looks like Nvidia really messed up with this whole DLSS 5 garbage. You don't ever piss off the people who make the games. Source: insider-gaming.com/dlss-5-gamer...

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Jason Prime @blazingwaters.northsky.social · 16/03/2026

this knocked me out

I’ve gone a long time without talking about how I translate game text. I don’t mean within this writeup, I mean ever. I’ve published several videos on the technical side of fan-translation and a big fat zero on the actual art of localization. The reason for this is very simple: I don’t want to deal with social media localization piranhas. There has never been a time more hostile to localizers with the entire industry in chaos over being replaced with AI, uprisings against “wokealizers”, and every possible excuse to raise controversy where it doesn’t exist. How bad is it, you ask? In my recent romhacking video I used a thumbnail with the simplest, most direct translation I could find in the script, specifically so that nobody could complain. The line was:

友枝小学校の４年生

I’m a 4th-grader at Tomoeda Elementary.

<picture of Hilltop's thumbnail for the video in question, with the image caption below it being "The thumbnail in question">

I really want to emphasize that this is a completely direct translation. Any change to it at all would make it worse. But was it good enough for the piranhas? Fuck no! Believe it or not, someone showed up in the replies and tried to argue that the order of the words should be 100% preserved through translation and that it should be the perfectly SOVLfully accurate:

At Tomoeda Elementary I am a 4th grader.

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Christina 🌹 | Play Twisted Wonderland! @dramata.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

I have many thoughts about it, but I believe his statement was oversimplifying. EN and JP both have tools in their linguistic toolkits that the other language doesn't. East Asian languages' plethora of 1st and 2nd-person pronouns is just one example of this among many. But... 🧵

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Lucile Danilov @locdandloaded.net · 13/03/2026

Gameloc: Giving devs headaches since 1980

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Christina 🌹 | Play Twisted Wonderland! @dramata.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Remember the old 2000s fansub days, when groups would race to get subs out so that they'd be the first and get the most viewers even if it meant tons of preventable errors? Or how some groups would pick a neglected series/genre, produce a slapdash, low-effort TL, then go "It's better than nothing"?

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Peow2 NYCC C20 @peow.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

🚨 Rare post from us: We are on the lookout for a couple of new editors to work with us, specifically for French and Japanese language comics. You can read the full listing over here peow.studio/blog/newedit...

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Anna Cairistiona 🌺 @annacairistiona.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

For this month's blog, I cover a subtle mistranslation found in the original Final Fantasy VII that made the kind and motherly character of Tifa out to be Cloud's childhood bully. annacairistiona.wordpress.com/2026/02/25/t...

annacairistiona.wordpress.com

Tifa Was Never a Bully

As fans of the Final Fantasy VII “Retrilogy” eagerly await its third and final installment, many are going back to the 1997 original, and experiencing the game that started it all for t…

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Edmond Tran @edmondtran.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

We cannot and should not let generative AI take away these tiny, insignificant, but probably fun as hell jobs from artists

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minami @sakaimii.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Posting the Japanese version of this comic here for now. Will post the English in a few days or so (want to get it done within the month) (1/5)

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SaraAAAGHH A GHOST!!! Ford 🐍🎨👻 @angeloslh.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Gi.biz have a survey up about genAI usage, you know what to do comrades survey.alchemer.com/s3/8679343/b...

Survey: tell us how you're using AI
GamesIndustry.biz is running an editorial survey (with no commercial involvement) to find out how the industry is using AI, how you think it should be used, and how it should be presented to players. It's quite short, simple, and anonymous, although there's the option to give your email address if you'd like to talk more. Please note this survey is only for those working in the industry, not the general public.

You can fill out the survey here.

The survey will run until Wednesday 25 February, and we'll be reporting the results as part of a run of coverage on GamesIndustry.biz, in an effort to look past the controversy and judge the impact AI is having on how games are made and marketed.

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Jocelyne Allen @brainvsbook.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

I can always count on my students to make me litter their assignments with "Why is this in quotes?" and "Why is this capitalized?" Please, J-E translators, I'm begging you. Do not import Japanese punctuation/style. It's almost always wrong in English. It's bad. I'm pulling my hair out over here.

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HDKirin @hdkirin.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

I got to review the second installment of Paranormasight & much of what I loved in Seven Mysteries of Honjo still applies to The Mermaid's Curse. The new ensemble is as amazing as the first game, perhaps even stronger in some ways. It's a bit less scary, but does make you think more! It's awesome.

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Mei Amaki☂️ @amaki.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

New chapter of Tsumiki Ogami! READ HERE: bit.ly/3O6McWg #尾守つみきと奇日常。の英語版が更新されました！よかったら今回の翻訳裏話も下にあります（英語のみで失礼します…） Also trying out a new type of mini-MINI translation thread below, heh heh... Check out my notes about the translation this week below

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Tom, Legally Certified Date Simmelier @iiotenki.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Anyway, G-Modes Archives and their efforts to re-release Japanese feature phone games of all sorts is quietly one of the coolest things going on in game preservation. Even if you don't read Japanese, many games are perfectly playable. Look some up and throw them a few bucks so they can keep going. 🙏

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Mikayla B. @mikaylakai.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

There are a lot of words that I'm careful about when editing, but one very common one is 確認 Though it IS often "confirm" as a dictionary would suggest, in the context of games it's often used as "view" or "check". "フレンドリストを確認できます" just means you can look at your friend list

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Good morning Tokyo I just saw this awesome chart about dinosaurs and suddenly felt inspired. Feel free to tell me what I missed. 😇

Chart with 4 quadrants
Japan + Seems like Japan:

Bowing
Outward politeness
Xenophobia
Cherry blossoms
Amazing public transportation*
Relative public safety**
Patriarchy
My amazing toilet is a meme
If you want a gun you have to build it yourself
Best and most photogenic stratovolcano ever
*excluding 12/29-1-5 and 4/28-5/5
**for men

Not Japan + seems like Japan:

Homogenous society
Dressing with your boobs out
Memoirs of a Geisha
Layers of mystery
Normal stuff but deeper
Impossible-to-learn language
Kintsugi: a thing everyone does
workplace zen
Everything is cheap
“Just like bladerunner”
Blind obedience
Used panty vending machines

Japan + doesn’t seem like Japan:

Grassroots feminism
Gay people existing
Lawless bicyclists
Your neighbor who isn’t racist
Japanese speakers of other nationalities
Hole-in-the-ground public toilets
Crappy salaries
Karoshi
People protesting stuff*
*though largely older generations

Not Japan + doesn’t seem like Japan:

China

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🦇 Tam🦇 | She/her #TranslatorsInTheCredits @tamslator.eurosky.social · 06/02/2026

OH, Look! Another game translated by magic! This right here is quite dangerous in these times. Why? By erasing us translators from our jobs it makes it easier to replace us with GenAI. We've always been invisible. That gave them a leverage in introducing MTPE and lowering our rates.

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Tom, Legally Certified Date Simmelier @iiotenki.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Just gonna say since we're already talking about unionizing game writers: hey, maybe let us localizers in on those talks, too, because it's pretty fucking rough out there, even in AAA. I'd probably have three times as many credits if we were unionized and I'm one of the lucky ones with any at all.

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Liz Bushouse @lizbushouse.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Announcing Localization Lore, a new series dedicated to learning more about the history of video game localization! 🎉Featuring new interviews personally conducted by me, this first entry is on Ys 1 and the people behind its first three English translations. lizbushouse.com/localization...

Title image from the Sega Master System version of Ys 1

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Mikayla B. @mikaylakai.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

I really love that this bit about editing was brought up--I ended up doing a lot of editing for my job despite coming in wanting to do translation, and it's not only gotten me much more familiar with CMoS, but also opened me up to so many different ways writing can both dazzle and fail

If you could share one piece of advice for aspiring media translators/editors, what would it be?

Acknowledge your ego. Easier said than done in a career that’s so fueled by creativity, and something I fumble with still, but see everything as an opportunity to learn and contribute to a better project.

Being assigned as a proofreader can suck when your heart dreams of translation, but it’s a chance to see how others tackle phrases or for you to elevate text (if you’re on the project as an editor, especially).

There are very few people I’ve worked with who I feel wouldn’t benefit from proofreading/editing the work of others from time to time. As I mentioned earlier, the localisation industry isn’t really structured to foster better localisers and writers, so I find proofreading is a poorly (striked out) paid means of self-learning.

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Jenn Odd @jentranslations.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Interviews with Localizers is back (again)!!! This time with an interview with Japanese to English video game translator and project manager @japantaloons.bsky.social! #InterviewswithLoc j-entranslations.com/carrick-loma...

j-entranslations.com

Carrick Lomas - Video Game Translator

Carrick Lomas - video game translator is a talented and passionate localizer from the UK who juggles freelance work and game publishing.

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Ian Sacks @iansacks.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Highly, highly important, inflexible Japanese->English translation rule dealing with any game-themed text: ステータス: Stat(s) 状態: Status The top is numerical attributes; the bottom is whether a party-member is poisoned or asleep The top is literally "status" in katakana, but that's a trap

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Stevoisiak @stevoisiak.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

I made a filterlist for uBlock Origin to remove Generative AI features on websites. Includes blocks for * Google AI Summaries * YouTube Ask button & chat summaries * GitHub Copilot * Facebook AI chat * X's Grok buttons * Deviantart DreamUp * Booru AI images * And more github.com/Stevoisiak/S...

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Mei Amaki☂️ @amaki.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

Some translation thoughts on recent Tsumiki chapters. JP: こんなにキラキラしてるもの (LIT: After all, they are sparkling this much.) キラキラ (kirakira / sparkling) has a really wide use case in Japanese, so translating it is always a challenge.

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Mikayla B. @mikaylakai.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

I hate having days when the words just won't flow. like what am I even doing here. why can I only think of the word "vigorous" when it doesn't even make any sense in the context I'm looking at right now. what's the name of this basic piece of furniture

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Anna Cairistiona 🌺 @annacairistiona.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Starting the year off with the second part in my series comparing the original and WotL translations of Final Fantasy Tactics! In this section, I cover the beginning of chapter 1 through to the post-battle cutscene at Dorter Slums. Hope you enjoy! annacairistiona.wordpress.com/2026/01/28/f...

annacairistiona.wordpress.com

Final Fantasy Tactics Translation Comparison (OG vs WotL) – Chapter 1: Gariland to Dorter Slums

The following is the second part in my series comparing the original and WotL translations of Final Fantasy Tactics. In this section, I cover the beginning of chapter 1 through to the post-battle c…

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Brandon Bovia @brandonbovia.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Immortality and Punishment! The first volume of this bleak zombie apocalypse manga dropped yesterday and I was tasked with some challenging, complicated bits of localization. So let's talk about it!

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CEATL @ceatl.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Hi everyone, If you are a literary translator, please fill our survey ! It only takes a few minutes and we need your feedback to get a clearer picture 😊 www.ceatl.eu/ceatls-ai-su...

ceatl.eu

CEATL's AI survey

CEATL is reaching out to invite you to participate in a survey regarding literary translation and artificial intelligence.

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Mikayla B. @mikaylakai.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

"I bet he's thinking about other women" meme except he is wondering why "traveled" and "canceled" have only one L while "controlled" has 2 (me today)

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Atelier Alyssa ⭐💫 @alyossan.art · 22/01/2026

TL note: oshi means blorbo

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Paweł Ausir Dembowski @ausir.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

lmao listen to Trump's Polish interpreter at Davos (Magda Fitas-Czuchnowska apparently) mimicking his voice

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Japanese Talk @japanesetalk.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

So sick and tired of the "tsundoku means the art of buying books you don't read" rubbish. It's a "to-read pile." Japanese people use that word the same way English people do. It's not some mystical ancient Japanese "art" of anything.

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RyougaSaotome @ryougasaotome.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

We need to talk about one of the greatest line reads in the history of video games. DIE THE DEATH SENTENCE TO DEATH GREAT EQUALIZER IS THE DEATH

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Mikayla B. @mikaylakai.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Netflix: we're going to ramp up AI usage to generate terrible subtitle translations and weird goopy surreal ads! [ Everyone disliked that. ]

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Xythar @xythar.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

I assume this is mostly going to be used for languages that they don't think matter but uhh i would not want to give netflix my money if they were machine translating into my language

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Calico @manedcalico.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Re: last repost, our localization team was all laid off over the last two years except for one person. Call out garbage subs and dubs whenever and wherever you can, because they’re coming.

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RyougaSaotome @ryougasaotome.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

this morning i am reminded that if you have *any* hopes of doing localization from JP to any language you absolutely need to have watched Gundam because all works will inevitably throw in a Gundam reference or two without even gesturing at it

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Mikayla B. @mikaylakai.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

man, I would totally be into Arknights more if the text size wasn't made for ants

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Mikayla B. @mikaylakai.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Work's been a little dry this month, so if anyone is in the need of an experienced J>E translator/reviewer with 6.5 years in game localization, send a message my way! ✨ (boosts greatly appreciated! 🙏)

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🔔♪♬SASHA♬♪ 🔔 @sashalalabelle.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

I am once again open for work! Please contact me if you’re in need of a JPN to ENG translator. I have tons of video game and light novel experience and would be thrilled to bring my unique voice to your projects!

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