Danmachi Volume 18 English Translation

[Kylee Evancho]

Allthree stories had a very different flavour. Maybe it was because the stories were short, but they also lacked the rambling, filler-y nature I get from some of the more popular light novels. They did, however, feel a bit too abbreviated, and as a result they ended anticlimactically.

Translation is a sorely underappreciated art. Too often, language purists emphasise what is lost in translation. But much is also gained. Translation aims to bridge languages and culture, and to bring forth new connections and understanding of the world. You doubtless already have some experience of this through watching translated anime.

One thing I disapprove of is the popular practice of making pdfs and epub versions of fan translated light novel volumes. We do it on Nano Desu, and other fan translations sites do it too. Pdfs can be easily shared around, even when the raw text is taken off the web. The last thing I want is for someone to collect pdfs in one place, making it easier to pirate series that already have an official release. For example, the No Game No Life translation was taken down almost as soon as Yen Press announced it was licensed, but the pdf could still be floating around on the web somewhere, even if Nano Desu is not distributing it any more. Sword Art Online translations are also still way too easy to find.

Great find on those ebook novellas, by the way. I will look into those and likely add them to my site. I still think the digital distribution remains to be fully taken advantage of when it comes to light novels in English, by the way. More and more niche fiction genres are gaining lots of ground thanks to how relatively easy it is to release ebooks, not to mention how cheap they can generally be sold for a profit. I even wonder if it could one day be possible for fan translators to get something worked out with Japanese publishers in that regard?

In my country is almost impossible to get light novels, the ones I have, I have bought overseas and in English (not my native language).

I trully believe in supporting the originals AND the official release in the areas.

No matter what you translate, I think having that depth of knowledge and experience is important, LNs included. Actually, translating Oregairu required me to do a lot of research on 2ch and Chiba geography and culture because the author was so thoroughly immersed in these topics. Lots of culturally specific in jokes and references.

Thanks for enjoying my work! I still have a lot to learn myself, so I enjoy writing on this blog and working things out as I go along. I do have some plans for write about localisation: when should you change parts of the original? When should you use footnotes/translation notes? How much is the translator obligated to explain cultural references?

My problem is the amount of time it takes for novels that have 6+ volumes to get traslated and publishers like yen press tend to license novels that have 8+ vooumes already translated by fans and if we want to see how the story continues we have to wait 5+ years to get to the same point we were so rudely interrupted. This is one of the reasons I am learning Japanese. If they want to get my money they better release their translations in bulk.

But when he was going to fight the monster that had escaped from the previous volume, ヘステェア updated his back blessings while he was being chased around to make him more powerful, right?

(I mean otherwise what was the point)

I would just write Eina, Hestia, Bell, and one of the ones I didnt know how to write but saw online was シル which is Syr. One weird thing when I write the names in Japanese is when I wrote the apostrophe + s after a Japanese name

On top of my edit, my main problem is that those English names generally do not sound like what I expected from the katakana. I would have no idea who Syr is if I saw that without (Japanese) translation

I just finished the reading, where ベル and エイナ are at the fourth floor of バベル塔 and arrive at the shop which ヘステェア works at. Im expecting エイナ to find out about the special weapon ヘステェア gave ベル soon, maybe even an appearance from ヘファイストス herself.

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