Translators Update

Update (02/6/25): A quick update regarding Tanaka. We've made the decision to part ways, but not before the completion of Vampire Princess’ Rose-Colored Dream. While reviewing the upcoming batches, I noticed that the main story will be fully translated by June (excluding a few extra side stories). Given that, we've decided to let Tanaka see the project through to its conclusion.

Starting July, Mab will take over translation duties for the remaining side stories. Once those are completed, the full translation budget will be redirected to our upcoming series, Tale of the Wolf Princess.

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Hello again!

In this post, I’ll be sharing some updates regarding three of our translators.

As mentioned in my previous post, Keissen will be leaving Re:Library shortly due to a major shift in their schedule. Thanks to the generosity of our community, it was unanimously agreed that Demon Sword Maiden and Reborn as a Transcendent will go on a short hiatus while I focus on catching up with the backlog before personally resuming the translations.

I'm not sure how long it will take to comb through hundreds of chapters, but I’m aiming to finish proofreading around five chapters per weekday, with the goal of clearing the backlog within the next month.

Next, a report regarding Jiro, the translator for Small Fry Character and God’s Gofer.

Recently, several readers have pointed out that Jiro’s translations feel "machine-like," so I reached out to get to the bottom of it. Jiro admitted to occasionally using ChatGPT and other machine translation tools for assistance but insisted that they review and rewrite the outputs afterward.

Jiro further stated that they deliberately avoid altering the author’s writing style too much, even if the original writing is rough, and have no intention of changing that approach. They added that anyone who has an issue with it is welcome to try translating the “hot mess” of writing some of these novels have themselves.

Personally, I found Jiro’s tone in defending their position disappointing. As a reader and a translator myself, I understand both perspectives. As a reader, I appreciate works written in proper English, which is why I believe it’s a translator’s responsibility to present readable and polished work. I had hoped Jiro would approach their translations with a similar mindset.

If this attitude does not change in the future, I may have to reconsider our terms of employment. For now, however, I’ll leave things as they are. After all, losing Jiro right now would be a major blow to Re:Library’s output, and at present, I don’t have a significant issue with the overall quality of their translations.

Speaking of problematic translations, we also have Tanaka, the translator of Vampire Princess' Rose-Colored Dream.

It’s been a while, but unfortunately, I have not seen much improvement in their writing. In fact, whenever I attempt to proofread Tanaka’s submissions, I usually give up midway and end up using ChatGPT to fully rewrite the entire chapter.

To be honest, if ChatGPT didn’t exist, I likely would have let Tanaka go a long time ago. It’s been a long time coming, but I feel now might be the right time to act, especially since Mab—the translator for Hero King and Ragweed Princess—recently reached out looking for more translation work. I'm currently considering having Mab take over Vampire Princess moving forward.

Before making a final decision, however, I’d like to hear from the active subscribers of Vampire Princess. Since you’ve been reading Tanaka’s unedited translations all this time, I want your honest opinions:

• Do you think I should let Tanaka go?

• Have you encountered issues reading their translations?

Please let me know your honest feedback. Your input will help guide the decision!