Will the novels EVER be published in English?

Shewolf of Ga · Post by **Shewolf of Ga** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 12:37 pm

While I am eternally grateful to the guys at boku-tachi, I would dearly love the novels for myself! All of them! Would someone who speaks Japanese please send Mr. Gatoh an email begging him to let his novels be translated? I think they well go over well her in the US.

Tomino's Mobile Suit Gundam novels are being re-released in English due to fan demand.

PookaKitten · Post by **PookaKitten** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 3:24 pm

Shewolf of Ga wrote:While I am eternally grateful to the guys at boku-tachi, I would dearly love the novels for myself! All of them! Would someone who speaks Japanese please send Mr. Gatoh an email begging him to let his novels be translated? I think they well go over well her in the US.

Tomino's Mobile Suit Gundam novels are being re-released in English due to fan demand.

They might go over well in the States but here's the thing... there's already tons of books written in English that don't have the cost of translation added onto the cost of paying the author, paying the people at the publisher like the editor, the printing the book. I've seen lots of English language books published in other languages (mostly SF but that's what I read), but rarely the other way, the exception being classics of one type or another.

Another thing is the Gundam franchise is much more well known in the States than FMP! Consider that Gundam Wing was shown on Cartoon Network, probably along with other properties from the franchise. (I think they're going to show Gundam SEED in the near future.) FMP! anime is not as well known so the audience would be much smaller. Novels are /expensive/ to translate. The word count of a novel is orders of magnitude larger than in a volume of manga. A regular mass market paperback SF novel in the States costs $6-$8. To make back the cost of translation, they'd have to increase the cost, possibly to the point of doubling it. I wouldn't pay that much for a regular paperback--that's how much a trade paperback costs.

Samantha

Shewolf of Ga · Post by **Shewolf of Ga** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 5:49 pm

That's what I was afraid of. What are our chances of begging boku-tachi into translasting the rest of the novles? Currently they have no plans to do so. It is killing me! And I'm too old to learn Japanese.

Post by **Taurec** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 7:43 pm

And I'm too old to learn Japanese

sj4iy · Post by **sj4iy** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 8:14 pm

You're never too old to learn another language ^^ We (at boku-tachi) want to translate the long novels that people haven't read first (which, after DVMC, will be the new one Tsuzuku On My Own). The problem is not that we don't want to do the previous novels, it's that the amount of time that it takes to translate them doesn't make it look feasible (to do the 2-parter Day by Day took almost 10 months).

Shewolf of Ga · Post by **Shewolf of Ga** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 8:49 pm

I really do want to thank you guys for all your hard work. I was kidding about being too old - I'm only 28. I'm buying some language CD's for myself and my son, but I'm afraid kanji will be beyond my comprehension. So I'm working on a fanfic until DVMC part two is up.

Avlor · Post by **Avlor** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 9:16 pm

/Av slaps Shewolf of Ga with a herring.

I'm almost 4 years older than you - and I'm learning Japanese - kanji and all.
Now I'm OLD AND SLOW, but... you have no excuse my dear...

Kanji is like learning anything else big. You start small. (You eat an elephant 1 bite at a time...). I have "flashcards" on my palm pilot and made up ways to remember the kanji. like the kanji for "big" looks like a guy holding his arms out telling a BIG fishtale. I have about 60 of the meanings memorized for the first grade kanji (first 80 that the kids learn). I use my flashcards while my son is at karate lessons.

Anyway - hope that gives you encouragement to try the "difficult" stuff too.

(Yes - learning Japanese is the main reason I'm not here as often.... sorry!)

sj4iy · Post by **sj4iy** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 9:42 pm

Yeah, kanji really isn't that hard...at the very least, you can always look it up- it's just about having the patience to do it (I constantly have to look it up ^^). But like anything, the more you practice it, the better you get. I think the hardest part of Japanese is the grammar, but again, that's something you get the hang of with enough practice. I guess the key is to not give up ^^

Circle · Post by **Circle** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 11:38 pm

Ya, I think the hardest part of Japanese is grammar too. I guess kanji would be hard too if I don't already know some Chinese. To me, the easiest thing about Japanese is the pronounciation. I'm wondering if I should finish the first year series of Japanese courses here at my college (only took 1 quarter out of 3)... though I'm already behind schedule in graduating (since I changed my major in my 3rd year, 4th year now) and I'll probably go over the limit on number of total units... dunno what happens then, extra fees maybe.

Welcome to the forums sj4iy, I'm a fan of boku-tachi.

Eidolon · Post by **Eidolon** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 1:28 am

Been meaning to make a thread in OT regarding our levels of knowledge in Japanese but kep putting it off, I'll start one so this thread can get back to the novels.

On topic, I finally read Owaru Day By Day earlier this week - absolutely awesome! Need to get Dancing Very Merry Xmas now.

Teletha Testarosa · Post by **Teletha Testarosa** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 4:22 am

google japanesse translations ??

FullMetal*Panic!

Will the novels EVER be published in English?

Will the novels EVER be published in English?

Re: Will the novels EVER be published in English?