It’s been a year since after a discussion about what would worth subbing in the winter season, iMon suggested that i help out with Tokimeki‘s Gosick release. Back then i didn’t even know that there was a thing called CrunchyRoll and what simulcasts are, so i joined and translated six episodes for the group, of which 5 were released (and also two of the Megane Kanojo something ova, which never got released).

Even though the slowsub business was obviously not for me (i’d been translating Xros Wars for half a year then, trying to compete with the speed and quality of RyRo), it got me on track, and i applied to gg, one of the few groups that i knew by name, and got in. Then applied to and got in Commie and got recruited to WhyNot, and that’s pretty much how it stayed for a year now.I had to re-evaluate my skills, especially my english, for which i got so much criticism that i was more than enthusiastic to get better. Of course after a year of translating at least 3 shows a week is great practice, though except for a few exceptions i hardly got any feedback about the quality of my translations, which made it harder.

That’s why i think that fellow gg translator EighthSin’s blog of translation reviews is a great thing. It helps a lot if someone points out mistakes in my work, it’s a lot easier to pay attention and fix my typical mistakes if i know what they are. I know i’m not the best translator out there, and i’m fine with that. I can produce a translation (i think) quickly enough without (i think) too many mistakes. Of course even one mistake is too many, and the aim is always perfection. It’s a good thing to aim for it, but i hope i’ll never reach it, and i don’t want to be called the best.

I remember a chapter of Bleach from ages ago in which a character says something along the lines of “perfection is boring – there’s nowhere to advance further if you reach it”. I totally agree. I hope there will always be someone out there for me to surpass.