Japanese AI Startup Aims to Revolutionize Manga Translation
A Japanese startup, Orange, announced its plans to utilize artificial intelligence for the translation of manga comics into English at a significantly faster rate and lower cost. Currently, only 2% of Japan’s vast manga output is released in English due to the challenging and time-consuming translation process.
Orange’s innovative technology aims to boost the translation capacity by producing 500 English-language manga per month, a five-fold increase from the current industry standard. The startup also plans to translate 50,000 volumes in five years, with the possibility of expanding to other languages in the future.
Translating manga poses unique challenges compared to traditional book translation, as the use of short sentences, conversational language, slang, and onomatopoeic words in Japanese make the process complex. Orange’s marketing vice president, Tatsuhiro Sato, highlighted these challenges, emphasizing the difficulty in accurately conveying the nuances of manga dialogues.
To support its ambitious goals, Orange secured ¥2.92 billion ($19 million) in funding from major publisher Shogakukan and several venture capital groups. The startup’s AI tool not only promises to streamline the translation process but also to combat piracy in the manga industry, which poses a significant threat with an estimated annual worth of $5.5 billion.
Conclusion
In light of Orange’s groundbreaking AI technology for manga translation, one must ask: Could this innovation revolutionize the global manga industry?
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