Hi guys. I'm Stephen Paul, the translator of Blame for Tokyopop. Sorry for bumping an older topic but this was the latest general thread I could find about it.

Just thought I'd share a few thoughts about why I translated certain things the way I did, maybe answer a few questions if anyone is curious...? Don't feel shy, I'll answer anything that I can. Feel free to call me on my shit if there's anything you don't like, but be warned that I can hold my own in a reasoned argument.

Quick warning: I actually don't have the Tokyopop books on hand. I don't have copies of all the books I've translated for them, and if there's some way to obtain free copies from them I'm not aware of it. However, from what I remember flipping through Volume 1 in the bookstore the adapter didn't do much to the script (not that there's a lot to alter in the first place).

As far as what I see mentioned in this thread:

I put some thought into the use of the term land. From my script (finished book may differ): "About the time cold, silent land grew bright, a silhouette climbed the top of the hill." One thing that I as a translator and we all as readers have to constantly deal with in Blame and Nihei's work in general is acute ignorance of how the world in the story works. We can't make certain assumptions about the world of Blame until they are proven true, and even then, characters in Blame can be seen to be incorrect. Therefore nearly every source of information within the story can be considered faulty or unreliable, and there is no helpful narrator to explain to us 21st Century primates what is correct and what is not. What this means for me as the translator is that I have to be very careful not to translate in a way that gives the wrong impression of anything but the exact meaning of the dialogue. That way, if anything is misleading it is the characters themselves and not the translation.

I chose to use the word "land" instead of "earth" because of the multiple definitions of each word. They can each mean the same thing: dirt, soil, ground, the stuff we walk on. However, "earth" also refers to our planet. The Japanese word used is "daichi" means the first definition above: the ground we walk on. What would happen if I used "earth"? What if a reader assumes, "Oh, he doesn't know what Earth is. This is some alien planet, or maybe Mars or something." Or maybe they'll think "He hasn't heard of the name Earth, this must be thousands of years in the future where they don't even know that anymore." For all I know, either of these scenarios could be true, but the fact of the matter is that Killy and the woman are talking about "the surface."

As far "The Authority" goes, I personally was rather proud of this nomenclature. I've seen other terms like "The Governers," "The Controllers," "The Governing Body/Agency," etc. Here's why I like my version.

#1: It's sleek. A direct translation would be something like "The Ruling Agency," "The Governing Bureau," "Reigning Office." By comparison the Japanese term is shorter and quicker to say. The above examples sound like things that would end up being abbreviated in English because they're too long to say every time. Better to go with something succinct.

#2: It's vague. What exactly are they an authority of? It's not clear from the term. There's no direct verb in the word (unlike a "governer" who "governs"). Especially in the early part of the story when we don't really know if they're sympathetic or hostile it lends them a very ominous tone.

#3: It's singular. In addition to the fact that it most closely resembles a program (which would make the singularity accurate for outward purposes), it's also way more faceless and menacing than having a plural name like "The Governers." That just makes me think of some old guys in suits sitting around a table in a meeting room.

Any other questions?

As far as Tokyopop's translations go, they are mostly excellent, hats off. I would rather trust an officially translated work than something I found off the internet for authenticity; that's why I'm actually waiting to read the published version of BLAME! rather than the scanlated one. Sure, I'm very much behind and don't know what people are talking about sometimes (I've only read up to volume 4) but I'd rather have a nice, big tankoubon in my hand rather than a few images in a .rar. Just one question: why is it taking so long for BLAME! to come to the UK? There's something like a three-month gap in between volumes and anyway the series started in Japan years ago.

The publishing speed is simply the pace of the market. Fans want books faster (say, every month?) but the fact of the matter is that bookstores and consumers can't handle that many books. What would happen if everything was published once a month? There would be way too many books to retailers to stock. They'd quickly run out of room and end up selling back unsold books prematurely to make room. Readers miss out on earlier volumes and won't pick up the latest books. Sales plummet. In short, the 3-4 month cycle is the equilibrium for the market.

It sucks for fans of only 1-2 series because they have to wait longer and don't care about whatever else happens, but it's a boon for general fans of manga because it means the market isn't crashing and sending the publishers running.

Plus shortening the production time will only add errors.