Matching translators and creators to bring Japanese manga to the world, that's Translators Unite!
( 日本語 / 简体中文 / 繁體中文 )
DLsite* released a new service, Translators Unite, on November 9th of 2021.
This service allows registered translators to easily translate works online with permission from the original creators.
Translation requests are already being accepted, and within 30 days there have been over 3,300 works approved for translation! Profits from the translated versions are divided between the translators and the original creators.
*DLsite is Japan's foremost retailer of online otaku content.
With over 440,000 registered manga, anime, games, and more, it is the premier digital marketplace for the stuff that otaku adore.
(Numbers accurate as of October 2021)
Translators Unite is our way of spreading Japanese manga around the world!
More and more international users are flocking to DLsite...
DLsite's international section is surprisingly old, dating back to 2004! Its main focus then was spreading otaku content to the English-speaking world. In 2020, DLsite added Chinese and Korean language support, making it easier to use than ever before.
With these new languages, DLsite is gaining tens of thousands of new users from outside of Japan each month, and as of October 2021, has reached over 1.24 million registered users abroad (over 7 million users including Japan).
Though there are some foreign users who can read Japanese, many cannot, so we're constantly receiving translation requests from our international users.
To answer these requests, DLsite offers in-house translation services in several different languages. However, we're not able to keep up with the sheer demand for translated content on our own.
Our users deserve more! We've heard the demands for accessible content, but it's a bit difficult to handle it all ourselves. And without a place online for "above board" translations, many users who can read Japanese have taken to translating doujin works in their free time and uploading them to illegal scan sites.
This is a simple fact of our industry.
Illegal uploads and pirate sites are only increasing.
DLsite has been taking action to combat illegal uploads since 2014. Creators can request DLsite's assistance for free in having their work taken down, and we also have a 24/7 monitoring system that searches for illegal uploads.
Between 2014 and 2020, DLsite has sent about 4 million DMCA notifications and 2.5 million deletion requests to illegal sites that have violated creator copyrights.
But what about all the translations taken down as illegal uploads...?
There must be a way to create a society where users and creators, and all otaku around the world, can harmoniously enjoy their hobbies.
"DLsite couldn't simply stay silent without tackling this issue. We thought long and hard about how to best solve the problem.
Stopping illegal uploads and answering the needs of international otaku... what was the magic bullet that would solve both problems?
We spent two long years looking into this problem, and Translators Unite was the answer!"
Translators Unite overcame a number of hurdles along the way.
It's not easy to take on a challenge this huge.
- Will creators really apply for translation? It needs to be easy to apply and unapply. And the layout needs to be nice...
- Creators may not want to hand over their original files for translation.
- Will any translators apply?
- What's to stop people from applying just to read manga for free?
- Is there a tool to make translation and cleaning work easy?
- Will the translation quality be up to par...?
And those weren't the only concerns. We needed some help from an outside source to make this project a reality.
That's where Mantra comes in.
Mantra, Inc. is a company that has developed its own exclusive manga translation engine. The company's MANTRA ENGINE includes features like image recognition and natural language processing to make manga translation easier.
For example, the engine can recognize speech bubbles in an uploaded page, then automatically blank out the spaces where the translation needs to go! (Wow!)
And although the engine has a machine translation function, we feel the easy-to-use interface is its best asset.
Once we have the creator's permission, all we need to do is upload the image data into the MANTRA ENGINE and translation can begin!
There's no need for creators to send a PSD file or the original files. All that's necessary to get your work translated on DLsite is an "okay"!
But it's also important that translators have easy-to-use tools as well.
Luckily, this engine displays the original Japanese page next to the page ready for translation, and allows for easy changes to font and design -- all in a web browser!
Combine Mantra's service with DLsite's file organization and review process, and there you have it -- Translators Unite!
With an easy system, the next step was to draw in translators with a profit-sharing plan.
While creating the service, we thought very carefully about what to do with the earnings. It was always our plan to make sure translators get their share, but the trouble was how to do it fairly.
If we merely matched creators with translators for their work, that would be little more than a manga-focused crowdsourcing service. Which isn't bad on its own, but places a burden on the creators.
That's how we settled on a system where creators can easily give permission for translations, and translators can take a share of the profits.
Creators can choose from three different profit distribution plans. Payment is not given at the time of translation, but rather when the work sells and earns a profit. Creators are also able to give permission for translation very easily.
There are also fans out there who want to translate works without taking money from the creators. If translators wish to work for free, they will be considered volunteers and all profits will go to the original creator.
To put creators at ease, DLsite will handle the release of the translated version of their work, and profits will be divided between creators and translators.
But translators are at the heart of the service, so how can we assure high quality?
With the basic layout decided, there was just one more problem to grapple with...
The issue of translation quality.
Translating Japanese manga requires knowledge of Japanese culture and the peculiarities of manga itself, so we can't just take any translator who wants to help.
Translators will need to be fans of that creator's work. In other words, people who have already bought from them before.
But we know that's not enough to ensure quality, so DLsite's staff of in-house native speakers will also be checking the translations and images. Our staff will make sure the work was not machine translated, and ensure the images and formatting measure up to our exacting standards outlined in our guide for translators.
Presently, however, it will be difficult to ensure 1:1 accuracy for every translation. That's why we've devised a way to have our translators compete to be the best! (Though if you want your translation to be the best it can possibly be from the start, DLsite's official translation services are also available!)
If 30 people want to translate the same work, there would be far too many products to list for sale. That's why the users who purchased the work will get to vote for the translation they think is the best. This system should work to ensure high quality in all Translators Unite translations.
Our quiet announcement generated quite a stir!
If there's nothing to translate, then translators won't want to participate.
That's why since October, we've been quietly accepting submissions from creators who would like their work translated.
All we did was add a line on the control panel page for our creators...
Then we continued working, wondering the whole time whether or not we'd get enough applications to make translators actually... unite.
We were totally unsure if anything would happen. But wow, were we wrong to worry!
A certain creator made a tweet about the service, and it really blew up!
DLsite……！！
— 虎走かける＠黎明期アニメ化決定！ (@kobashirikakeru) October 5, 2021
君ってやつは・・・！！
なんて天才なんだ・・・・！！！
翻訳許可出すだけで……！ 翻訳してもらえて、訳者はお金もらえて……！
システムとしてうまく回るかは未知数だけど「こういう気楽さだよ欲しかったのは……！」ってなっちゃったhttps://t.co/mxb88Rdc3q pic.twitter.com/IvqwJLjQmL
DLsite...! You're a genius...!! All we have to do is give permission to get our works translated, and translators get paid too...! It's too early to tell whether this system will work, but it made me think, "I wanted something easy to use like this...!"
The news started making the rounds in all sorts of places, even before the official release! And we're very thankful!
This was just the reaction we needed to prove we weren't making a big mistake! People wanted to get their work translated! Translators wanted to get... translating! Our staff was moved by the outpouring of support.
We didn't even need to mention illegal uploads, and many fans understood the positives of putting our new service into action.
But Translators Unite is still in its infancy...
We may not be able to meet the demands of our creators and users to 100% satisfaction at the moment. But we plan to take everyone's feedback to heart and keep on improving the service.
Our aim is to use Translators Unite to make creators, translators, and users all over the world happy!
There are several features we'd like to add in the future. They may not come immediately, but we're already thinking of ways to make Translators Unite even better.
Our goal is to have everything set up so that we can start selling translated products in December. We may be launching a little earlier than we should here, but please bear with us and you'll definitely see what all the buzz is about!
We're going to do our best to meet everyone's expectations!
Where do we go from here...?
Expanding the scope!
Translators Unite is currently limited to doujin manga, but DLsite also features a section for commercially-released manga, DLsite comipo, as well. We hope we'll be able to reach an agreement with some big publishers and make some BIG translations a reality!
Making even better-looking translations!
We hope that through access to the original manuscripts, we'll be able to offer translations that are even more exciting to read.
More languages!
To offer more than just English, Chinese, and Korean translations, DLsite will need some more multilingual staff! Click here if you'd like to work with us. We may even be thinking about translating international works into Japanese in the future...
Our main goal with this project is to create a world where more and more people can read all sorts of stories in their own languages!
So, how does Translators Unite sound so far?
It's so easy to use that the day after applying, the translation may already be done! That's the beauty of the service.
But we know that speed isn't everything, and are also focusing hard on the quality as well.
Are you a creator who wants the whole world to see your work? Or maybe a translator who wants to work on something cool like manga? Give Translators Unite a try!
The rules and conditions for translators and creators are outlined below, so please check it out!
● For Translators:
★Products will need to be purchased before they can be translated, but for a limited time, you'll receive 500 yen worth of points per purchased product!
●For Manga Creators (Circles)
Translators Unite (For Creators)
●For users who are ready for some translated content
Translators Unite content will go on sale in December. For now, check out our already wide array of translations!
▼English Works ▼Chinese Works ▼Korean Works
(All ages LINK) (All ages LINK) (All ages LINK)
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