Happy International Translation Day! Every September 30th on the feast of St. Jerome, the patron saint of translators, we take some time to thank the worldwide translation community. Without our dedicated team of translators here at FUNimation, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the anime that we all have come to know and love.
So, let’s take some time to get to know a little more about the translators who work so hard on our titles!
*Please note that since many of our translators are contract workers, some of the titles they have listed below are ones they have worked on outside of FUNimation projects.
Name: Nora Stevens Heath
Professional translator since: 1999
A project that challenged me: Taking over No-Rin. Hey, who put all these technical agricultural concepts in my high-school comedy?
A show of mine you should watch: Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha. All that Kansai dialect is good for the soul.
Name: Duane Johnson
Professional translator since: 2001
A project that challenged me: Hellsing (the manga)
A show of mine you should watch: Genshiken, because there’s a good chance you’ll see yourself or someone you know amongst its characters.
Name: Nita Lieu
Professional translator since: 2008
A project that challenged me: Space Dandy–a lot of interesting issues to deal with that made it fun but challenging.
A show of mine you should watch: Tokyo Ravens–It might take a while to get into it, but the end is really good!
Name: Sarah Alys Lindholm
Professional translator since: 2003
A project that challenged me: Ghost in the Shell: Arise (and its insert booklets!)
A show of mine you should watch: Ping Pong: The Animation, because it’s completely different from other shows–in a good way.
Name: Clyde Mandelin
Professional translator since: 2002
A project that challenged me: Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt (and all those dirty puns and cultural references!)
A show of mine you should watch: Fairy Tail – it’s got some rockin’ music, too!
Name: Masako Ollivier
Professional translator since: 2003
A project that challenged me: Spice and Wolf
A show of mine you should watch: Psycho-Pass. I think it raises interesting questions about how technology could change our world, and whether or not it would be good.
Name: Nobuaki (Nobu) Taguchi
Professional translator since: 2013
A project that challenged me: Barakamon
A show of mine you should watch: Hal and Barakamon: Both strike hard as a reminder that anime can be a touching and inspirational medium of enjoyment that inspires and rejuvenates both the heart and mind.
Name: Jack Wiedrick
Professional translator since: 2002
A project that challenged me: Oh! Edo Rocket (Rapid!-Fire Dialogue. Obscure!Otaku References. On!-Screen Text. E! T C…)
A show of mine you should watch: Oh! Edo Rocket (I still love it)
A great big “THANK YOU” to everyone for all your hard work! We appreciate everything you do.