Hey all! In a fun change of pace, I'm changing gears and speaking to a translator rather than someone who had their work translated! Beyond that, her work has been featured in places such as in flight movies and the Italian National Film Library?! She's even got an ANN credit page! We've got a celebrity on our hands! Of course, we became acquainted to her work by Mr. Shonen Sunday himself --Detective Conan.
A special thanks to Simona for taking the time out to answer our questions. We appreciate it!
Q1: First could you introduce yourself to our audience?
A: I'm Simona Stanzani, manga/anime/movie/games/etc. J-IT, J-E, E-IT-E translator since 1992.
Born and raised bilingual (Italian and English) in Bologna, Italy
Studied Japanese @ University of Bologna, MA in Communication Design @ Central Saint Martins College, London, UK
Lived 4 years in Venice, CA and 4 in London, UK — currently living in Tokyo.
My not-so-updated CV is online @ https://www.simona.com/cv.htm
Q2: To get right into things, how long have you been translating, and how did you get started doing so professionally?
A: Since 1992. When I finished my studies in Bologna, I got a call from an acquaintance (Andrea Baricordi from editorial team Kappa Boys) who was looking for a Japanese-Italian translator to work on manga for Edizioni Star Comics.
My first series was Ghost in the Shell. You can call it "baptism by fire"
Q3: We're huge Shogakukan fans, which means by extension we're into Detective Conan as well. Are you a fan of the series? And if so, who's your favorite character?
A: I'm not following the series closely, but I had the honor to translate two movies, so I got even more familiar with it. I love Heiji!!! Like, I wanna marry him!
Q5: Do you choose your projects? Or are they assigned to you? Which projects did you have the most familiarity with before going in?
A: It depends. I also do “manga scouting” work, writing reports about all the new titles (mainly Shueisha and Square Enix, another colleague is in charge of Shogakukan) and I also write reviews about titles by all publishers, so I do get to ask to translate a series when I recommend it.
Q6: We noticed you translate Japanese into English, French, and Italian. Which language is the easiest to work with in your opinion? The hardest?
A: I don't actually translate into French, unfortunately. I did translate into Japanese a fantastic docufilm called Borsalino City that was full of interviews in Italian, French, and English. So, I summoned all my knowledge of French while translating from the existing English subtitles to make sure that the translation was faithful to the original audio.
Q7: Walk us through a project with you. What do you to prep, research (if needed) and communicate with your client?
A: It depends. They generally send video and script, and since I work mostly with agencies, most send an Excel file complete with time codes and Japanese text. In some cases, the client provides a glossary or guidelines. Then I do my research online or where necessary. In certain cases, I may ask the client to provide English versions of the original manga if it exists, so that I can make sure I use the same terminology.
If I have questions or comments, I either email the agency's editor or write them in the comments' column in the Excel and the agency gets back to me ASAP. The communication is pretty swift and efficient.
Q8: Have you ever had the opportunity to talk to a Japanese mangaka or director? If so who? If not, who would you want to sit down with?
A: Yeah, I actually had the honor to translate the Italian subtitles for Inu-Oh and also go to Venice Film Festival with the Director to work as an interpreter during press interviews. I also have mangaka friends and acquaintances.
Q9: For the Detective Conan movies (Fist of Blue Sapphire and Crimson Love Letter) you translated, you mentioned your translations are used for in flight movies. Is this just for Conan, or all of your translations?
A: Just Conan, I think. I've also translated many Crayon Shin-chan movies (I love them! XD) but I'm not sure whether the subtitles are used for festivals or inflight entertainment (or both.)
Many of the subtitles I've translated in my career were for film festivals. The Italian subtitles for Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard and The Seven Samurai are actually in the official Italian version stored at the Italian National Film Library. So whenever they are shown somewhere, be it at a cinema theater, or a festival, or in TV or online, they've got my subtitles. It was (and is, I guess) the highlight of my career.
Q10: In a dream scenario, what's a franchise or work you'd like to translate?
A: I totally love Mitsuru Adachi, but I only got to translate Rough (manga.) I wish I could work on more of his titles. Another author I love is Shuzo Oshimi, I've translated most of his manga and can't get enough of his works! Then there's another gazillion — I can't possibly list them all!
Q11: What advice would you give to aspiring anime and manga translators?
A: As the situation is now, the average manga/anime translator doesn't really earn much - only a selected few can really make a decent living. And the advent of AI technology is going to drastically change our job - in fact, it has already started to do so. Unfortunately, I can't really see a very rosy future for our profession. I, for one, am planning to focus more on consulting from now on.
A: As the situation is now, the average manga/anime translator doesn't really earn much - only a selected few can really make a decent living. And the advent of AI technology is going to drastically change our job - in fact, it has already started to do so. Unfortunately, I can't really see a very rosy future for our profession. I, for one, am planning to focus more on consulting from now on.
I do love manga and anime and I love translating, so I'll try to go on as long as possible, but I think it's not an easy field to join from now on.
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