iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 20/09/2026

Beat Trails of Cold Steel IV after 160 hours so I can hop on the Fortune’s Weave bandwagon. PERFECT BIRD TIME

A man in black armor with long wavy ash blond hair and a slender, pointed face stares into the camera with the faintest smile. The flowery label “PERFECT BIRD TIME” appears over him, indicating that “support points with Noa [my player name] increased greatly.”

Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 09/09/2026

Happy FFXIV patch day! As Dawntrail comes to an end at last, I want to thank Kate Cwynar and all my coworkers for continually being a source of inspiration in our great field of localization. Eorzea truly wouldn’t be what it is without each and every one of you. 💚

Dawntrail 7.56 credits on the Nintendo Switch 2, listing the English localization team.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 31/07/2026

Returning to Cold Steel IV after 5 years and uh... I forgot I left them dressed like this.

A magical girl, a bad Michael Jackson impersonator, a catgirl, and an angel walk into a forest.

Afroman and a Playboy bunny stare in confusion at a boy who has long corkscrew pigtails for no clear reason.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 20/07/2026

Reminded of this Translation Chat episode as I read through volume 1 in English and uhhhh yeah dude this wordplay is on another level.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 07/07/2026

Sixty hours of Scarlet Nexus. Squint, and you can almost pretend it's Tales of Xillia. But once I realized Kasane's route has the superior team by far, I decided I don't need to NG+. Shiden best boy.

Scarlet Nexus - full cast of playable characters, wearing various cosmetics.

Scarlet Nexus - Genma, Luka and Tsugumi wearing various cosmetics.

Scarlet Nexus - Kasane's team wearing various cosmetics.

Scarlet Nexus - Shiden, the tsundere glasses guy, in cat ears, for reasons. 🤏

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 26/06/2026

R-18 otome gamers! After ten years of development hell… The first route, Aslan, of Les Grandes Odalisques Réveil is finally releasing one week from now on July 3rd, 2026!!! (Source: x.com/grandeodalis...)

Les Grandes Odalisques Réveil: Aslan Route Coming July 3rd 2026

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 07/06/2026

As before, I made a vampire tier list using the chopped anime designs: More;Blood edition.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 06/06/2026

Silicon Valley startup CEO looking ass cat murderer. Pass.

A dark-haired teen wearing a suit jacket over a V-neck shirt.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 06/06/2026

Alas, poor Ayato, completely butchered in this game. Similar to Kanato, the route was terribly paced and waited until the last second to try and make me like him. Sorry bro, I have a new golden retriever bf now.

A blushing teen with red hair makes puppy eyes at the protagonist with the caption "You're leaving for FOOD? Unacceptable. Just... stay with me."

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 06/06/2026

I also really liked Reiji's route this game! Again, drama. And stabbing. And comas for some reason.

A bespectacled dark-haired teen pins a blonde girl against the tiled bathroom wall.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 06/06/2026

I don't know if it was that the constant complaining was toned down or simply my fondness for Yuuma that made Shuu a lot more bearable in this game.

Under the moonlight, a blonde teen grasps at his earbud while a blonde girl and brunette boy stare after him.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 06/06/2026

Yuuma ended up completely stealing Ayato's thunder for me as a bona fide meathead puppy boy. Easily my favorite new character of this game.

A teen boy with brown hair and bleached blond tips flaunts a toothy grin at his garden.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 06/06/2026

I was in a bad mood for much of Laito's route because Kou kept showing up in it. That being said it was one of the more competently written routes of this game. Or maybe I just live for drama and implied sex scenes.

A teen boy with wavy brown hair and green eyes gazes sensually at the blushing protagonist.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 06/06/2026

Unfortunately Subaru was immediately followed by a character I came to despise nearly as much as Kanato. The only thing that redeems his route is that Yui went batshit crazy in the bad ending. Also - why does his character profile say he treasures his FACE when it should really be his eyes?

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 06/06/2026

Subaru gave Reiji a run for his money this game with how much I ended up liking him and his route overall. At this point he probably outranks Ayato.

A white-haired teen blushes, gritting his fanged teeth, with the caption "The only guy you ought to be worrying about is me."

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 06/06/2026

After Kanato's route I was already biased in favor of Azusa, but his s l o w s p e e c h frequently made me put the game on Auto mode and start doomscrolling.

A girl with curly blonde hair watches in horror as a dark-haired teen boy slices his own hand with a knife.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 06/06/2026

I think they made Kanato start wearing glasses to try and appease me specifically. Unfortunately his route was really poorly paced. I needed the humanizing moments to happen way sooner than the literal last minute.

A teenage boy with purple hair and glasses, tilting his head and smiling.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 06/06/2026

It's taken me over an entire year but I finally finished Diabolik Lovers More;Blood. Jesus Christ, ten is too many love interests.

The female lead, Komori Yui, surrounded by the new half-vampire characters introduced in the Diabolik Lovers sequel, More;Blood.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 21/04/2026

Omg ok but I need this guy to have like 50% more crazy in his eyes and I’m sold

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 15/04/2026

Late to the party, but since it’s #PortfolioDay — I’m Molly Lee, and for ten years I’ve enjoyed turning well-written Japanese into equally well-written English. My dream is to one day quit freelancing in favor of an in-house position! verdelish.jp/portfolio

“I’m not planning to get revenge. But if my fist ends up in the immediate vicinity of their faces, well, shit happens.”

“Ah, so this is what it feels like to want to crawl into a hole and die.”

Two pages from I Want You to Make Me Beautiful! (manga)

Sample from Adachi and Shimamura (novel series)

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 18/03/2026

This is the root of anti-localization piranhas. They desperately want to “know Japanese” without having to actually study it, so therefore all translated media must be MTL (a tool they can use with two clicks; any harder would be scary) or dry, literal, spiritually comatose translations with notes.

Tweet by @jonnoxrevanche
“What chatgpt has revealed is that a surprising large number of people want to be "seen" as intelligent, profound or insightful. Many more people than you'd assume. But they profoundly resent intellectual work or reading or study or, say, literally anything you do to get smarter.”

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 17/03/2026

I enjoyed my #ffxiv cosplay glams this tier.

A green-haired Roegadyn woman posed in a similar bat-themed outfit to Vamp Fatale behind her.

A teal-haired Roegadyn woman posed in a similar fire-themed outfit to Red Hot behind her.

A brown-haired Roegadyn woman posed in a similar ox-like outfit to the Tyrant behind her.

A Roegadyn woman posed in a metallic red “Everything Birds” outfit with the Lindwurm behind her.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 23/02/2026

Sipping caipirinhas in Orlando before my vacation ends.

An endless blue sky full of big, puffy clouds over the sprawling sea, as captured from the open road.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 19/02/2026

Au revoir Montréal. Je reviendrai.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 11/02/2026

Considered buying a magnet but I feel like it doesn’t “count” if it’s just a layover. This airport is fucking huge though. And I have 4 hours to kill.

A storefront titled “Minnesota: State of Nice” with shades of blue and green framed by sculpted evergreen trees.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 11/02/2026

boutta watch this on my flight to Minneapolis

A Delta airline screen displaying Dead of Winter, a thriller which is (among other things) set in Minnesota.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 19/09/2025

After an eternity I have finished Haunted Dark Bridal so here, have a tier list using the chopped anime designs.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 19/09/2025

The power’s out (again…) so might as well finish this thread. I love that Subaru’s route rewards the player for picking the bratty options!

A red-eyed teen grins devilishly, his white hair falling over one eye. The caption reads “I’m not letting go… Not until I’ve had my fun.”

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 29/08/2025

The best part of Shuu’s route was how yandere it made Reiji. Other than that… 💤

A blond teen in a blue hoodie lies on a red carpet, eyes closed, earbuds in, seemingly unperturbed by the brown loafer treading on him.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 01/08/2025

Oh, Reiji, you are more than I dared dream. Perfection and control—the ideal megane. I would go to war for this one.

A dark-haired teen with red eyes behind square-framed glasses sits at a chessboard, grinning at the camera, his chin in his hand.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 26/07/2025

I’m picturing this like-

Tomoko from Watamote: “This CD of yandere guys being verbally abused is even better than I’d imagined!”

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 26/07/2025

Okay I got too busy for sadist vampires for a while but I’m back!! Laito sure is A Lot huh!!

A green-eyed boy in a fedora simps for the camera. Not going to translate the caption, so use your imagination.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 15/07/2025

No shade to the survey but I had to stare at some of these for a long time.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 11/07/2025

I’m outta here, but before I go—one more magnet for the collection. ✈️

A sparkly magnet that reads LOS ANGELES over a cityscape dotted with fireworks.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 06/07/2025

Fleeing back to my hotel room to say thanks for an amazing Anime Expo. It’s been great to visit again, connect with friends, and meet new people after six years!

A wide shot of con swag: lanyards, keychains, charms, and stickers laid atop a tote bag, most of it themed around FINAL FANTASY XIV.

A close-up of con swag: a small Dancing Green charm, a tropical Urianger keychain, a NICE COCK meme sticker, and a Warrior of Light sticker.

A close-up of con swag: a wooden Haurchefant phone charm, a Dancing Green keychain, and a pink lanyard that reads DANCER in Eorzean script.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 03/07/2025

Thanks for having me, PDX! Next on the agenda: Los Angeles. Time to meet some Warriors of Light.

A fat white woman with graying brown hair and green glasses askew looks up at the camera with a sheepish smile, one hand shielding her eyes from the sun.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 18/06/2025

Pregaming Anime Expo with a little Portland as a treat.

A mostly empty airport gate and my black A-line skirt/nylons/boots combo

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 09/05/2025

Being voiced by Midorikawa Hikaru is basically cheating, but I also really like Ayato as a character. Little ore-sama puppy.

A blushing red-haired teenager flashes his pearly whites, his vampire fang poking out.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 03/05/2025

I knew from the outset that tantrum boy was not gonna be the one for me, but I liked his CGs.

A sickly looking purple-haired teen boy stares lethargically into the camera, cradling a teddy bear in one arm and holding out a rose bloom with the other. Beneath the flower, his palm is bleeding.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 26/04/2025

Next up after Zettai Kaikyuu Gakuen: yeah, I’m 12 years late to the party, but it’s finally time for problematic vampires.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 24/04/2025

To the surprise of no one, I really enjoyed Lost Records: Bloom & Rage.

A Black girl with a purple shirt and green/blue/purple hair closes her eyes in front of the camera, saying “you’re like impossible, you know that?” Over her shoulder a chubby redheaded white girl can be seen hugging her from behind.

A Black girl with green/blue/purple hair shares a small kiss with a chubby redheaded white girl.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 28/03/2025

After more than two years, KoiChoco is officially released—my final VN translation for the foreseeable future now that Square Enix has me on retainer. As always, I recommend buying it from a visual novel storefront! Just be warned that the story’s not all sweetness… 🍫

Five girls in school uniforms framed against a cloudy blue sky.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 17/03/2025

damn bitch you live like this?????? i hate to say it but he's winning me over

A blond guy wearing a three piece suit stands in an absolute nightmare mess of a bedroom. Captioned “You may enter.”

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 16/03/2025

oh you lost your pouch? well i could buy you a new pouch. i could buy you a hundred new pouches actually. i could buy you a pouch from every single company in the world

A blond guy wearing a three piece suit stands in a courtyard filled with rose bushes. Captioned “Well? Do you acknowledge my superiority?”

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 15/03/2025

“Dancing green”? Challenge accepted.

A green-skinned woman with green hair, dressed in green dancer’s attire, standing in a flower field against a blue sky.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 12/03/2025

the fact that multiple characters are complaining of headaches—i feel a growing dread that this game may secretly be danganronpa and this dude is nagito

A white-haired anime boy standing silently against a moonlit window, collar unbuttoned, an icy expression on his face.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 11/03/2025

Ah, the “one shared brain cell” route. I ship it extremely.

A redheaded guy gleefully lifts a startled short-haired girl into the air with the caption, “Oh yeah? Then how about THIS?!”

A short-haired girl joyously glomps a startled redheaded guy with the caption, “Oh my god, I can’t believe it! I really did it!”

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 07/03/2025

Obsessed with this sadistic baddie who thirsts for the boys, flirts with the protagonist, bullies losers and will straight up tell you to kys if you get the bad ending. Sannomiya Mayako the woman that you are.

A girl with long, curled black hair wearing a plaid school uniform, surrounded by rose bushes. Captioned “She licked her lips, making them glisten.”

A girl with long, curled black hair, standing in a ballroom wearing a navy blue evening gown and pearls. Captioned “Good day, Fujieda-san.”

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 10/02/2025

Started playing Zettai Kaikyuu Gakuen. I’m glad the protagonist gets a kick out of this dude’s corny pickup lines.

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Molly Lee @verdelish.jp · 06/02/2025

ok who wrote Lulu and why is she literally me

"I don't know! Like, just be a little bit of a hater? Sometimes I just wanna be a hater, but no one ever seems to want to do that with me!"

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