Happenings Seven Seas entertainment in hot water over recent editorial "changes"

[NretsewThePerv]

Seven Seas entertainment recently is under fire for several what they are calling "editorial changes" made to several of the titles they have the licence to

these include

• Classroom of the Elite
• Mushoku Tensei
• I'm in Love with the Villainess

the following will be some links to news sites talking more in-depth about this

Spoiler: bounding into comics - Seven Seas Admits To “Heavy-Handed” Censorship of Classroom of the Elite and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation

https://archive.ph/mZXhY#selection-571.77-571.91

Spoiler: ANN-I'm in Love with the Villainess Author Responds to Alterations in English-Language Release

https://archive.ph/hMEev#selection-3249.1-3249.91

if anyone as any other new sites covering this please be sure to post them in the comments

the major update to this story is after being called out on this. seven seas as issues the statement they intend to restore the removed content and reprint any affected books you can find an archive to there tweet about this as well as a ANN person talking about one of there statements below

Spoiler: seven seas tweet + ANN person talkin about it

https://archive.ph/vm0QC

https://archive.ph/KgZ4G

as a supplemental, here is a link to the J-Novel fan club where some of there members are discussing the edits

Spoiler: J-novel fan club forum thread

https://archive.ph/1gjj8

update 1​

thanks to translation Gundam for providing this list form a discord user detailing and summarising some of the changes, also includes some other well-known companies as well

My opinion​

personally, I find the fact that the OG author of one of the works states that they had no idea such edits took place deeply worrying, and I think it begs to question how many other edits were made to other books without the author's consent. this is defiantly a dark mark on seven seas and I think people will be more diligent with keeping an eye on their releases, as well as going back to check if there overworks have also been tampered with, I think only time will tell at this point.

be sure to let me know if I missed anything or if there is any new info regarding this news story. as well as your thoughts and comments

 

[Theanticrumpet]

It feels like once a week now we get a new article about a different novel or series that's been overzealously "localized" by Seven Seas, really makes you wonder just how much of their catalog is like this. I legit hope they get enough backlash from this to really tell the entire industry that people don't want this. I don't *want* the company to fail, but if that's what it takes to send the message then that's what it takes.

 

[Hibiki]

Instead of posting just the archive links I would post a screnshoots or just copy the text, at least from the most important parts, and keep the archive link as a backup/proof

 

[Diemeow24]

Damn I really looked up to Seven Seas. It could be that their outsourcing their translations but damn

 

[Zurathetix]

Eh so reading the "official statements" of seven shits it looks like they want to "fix" everything else except mushoku tensei? it sounds like a whole lot of bullshit like “ “Localization is not a science; it is an art form. We will continue to refine our in-house editorial standards to ensure that our localizations remain faithful, yet artful." . Yeah no I just dont see a company who is responsible for censorship because "muh controversial topic" (mushoku tensei) somehow change their ways.

 

[NretsewThePerv]

Instead of posting just the archive links I would post a screnshoots or just copy the text, at least from the most important parts, and keep the archive link as a backup/proof

ill keep that in mind for next time, maybe just one spoiler at the end with all the archives? since I feel it is good to have them for reference. I wiped this one up rather quickly as its getting late. if I make more of these posts ill put more work into them for everyone

 

[translation gundam]

well, seven seas isn't a great company even for light novel companies, because the bar is so fucking low.
the shit I have heard from a few insiders is funny to say the at least basically TDR it's a wonder that can keep afloat.

but when it comes to the light novel translation industry I am going to be dropping a few bombshells
if anyone doesn't know a lot of translators and localizers who work for seven seas and other English translation/publishing company.
a lot of them are basically in what can be called a "cartel", and they gatekeep people they don't like from translation jobs, and that's why shit like this can pass through is because a lot of them are part of the click they have made over the years. another insidious thing these people do is anyone how shows an interest in translation who is young aka teenagers, they sink their claws into them and train them in there a way of translation, like translation theory aka "translating those guys to incels" and being proud of it.
even though anyone who specks basics levels of Japanese will find that choice of words interesting, to say the least, because A we are never given the context to see if it an accurate translation or not, and B incel wouldn't be a word the Japanese would use NEET or Herbivore men would be accurate depending on the context of the scene.
but we never get that info because of NDA and we have to take your word for it, and let's not mention the toxic environment these people create and wonder why people hate them, for being pretentious assholes, or them pushing their agendas into other people works, without the author knowledge or consent.

 

[translation gundam]

ill keep that in mind for next time, maybe just one spoiler at the end with all the archives? since I feel it is good to have them for reference. I wiped this one up rather quickly as its getting late. if I make more of these posts ill put more work into them for everyone

same here for next time i make a post

 

[Zurathetix]

well, seven seas isn't a great company even for light novel companies, because the bar is so fucking low.
the shit I have heard from a few insiders is funny to say the at least basically TDR it's a wonder that can keep afloat.

but when it comes to the light novel translation industry I am going to be dropping a few bombshells
if anyone doesn't know a lot of translators and localizers who work for seven seas and other English translation/publishing company.
a lot of them are basically in what can be called a "cartel", and they gatekeep people they don't like from translation jobs, and that's why shit like this can pass through is because a lot of them are part of the click they have made over the years. another insidious thing these people do is anyone how shows an interest in translation who is young aka teenagers, they sink their claws into them and train them in there a way of translation, like translation theory aka "translating those guys to incels" and being proud of it.
even though anyone who specks basics levels of Japanese will find that choice of words interesting, to say the least, because A we are never given the context to see if it an accurate translation or not, and B incel wouldn't be a word the Japanese would use NEET or Herbivore men would be accurate depending on the context of the scene.
but we never get that info because of NDA and we have to take your word for it, and let's not mention the toxic environment these people create and wonder why people hate them, for being pretentious assholes, or them pushing their agendas into other people works, without the author knowledge or consent.

This is why I will always go with "dont pay westerners for your japanese manga/ln/anime" when you can pirate and buy originals if you want to support. "Anime" centered websites, podcasts, personalities, "critics" etc which complain about lolis and fanservice and push feminist agendas, localizers posting shit like that incel thing and vas openly calling people pedos are just some of the examples. Personally I think its more woketrash thing being the dominant ideology rather than the cartel thing.

 

[Hibiki]

well, seven seas isn't a great company even for light novel companies, because the bar is so fucking low.
the shit I have heard from a few insiders is funny to say the at least basically TDR it's a wonder that can keep afloat.

but when it comes to the light novel translation industry I am going to be dropping a few bombshells
if anyone doesn't know a lot of translators and localizers who work for seven seas and other English translation/publishing company.
a lot of them are basically in what can be called a "cartel", and they gatekeep people they don't like from translation jobs, and that's why shit like this can pass through is because a lot of them are part of the click they have made over the years. another insidious thing these people do is anyone how shows an interest in translation who is young aka teenagers, they sink their claws into them and train them in there a way of translation, like translation theory aka "translating those guys to incels" and being proud of it.
even though anyone who specks basics levels of Japanese will find that choice of words interesting, to say the least, because A we are never given the context to see if it an accurate translation or not, and B incel wouldn't be a word the Japanese would use NEET or Herbivore men would be accurate depending on the context of the scene.
but we never get that info because of NDA and we have to take your word for it, and let's not mention the toxic environment these people create and wonder why people hate them, for being pretentious assholes, or them pushing their agendas into other people works, without the author knowledge or consent.

You can add the attachment to the post by clicking insert or just by dragging and dropping the image, I just did it for you.

 

[translation gundam]

This is why I will always go with "dont pay westerners for your japanese manga/ln/anime" when you can pirate and buy originals if you want to support. "Anime" centered websites, podcasts, personalities, "critics" etc which complain about lolis and fanservice and push feminist agendas, localizers posting shit like that incel thing and vas openly calling people pedos are just some of the examples. Personally I think its more woketrash thing being the dominant ideology rather than the cartel thing.

your right about the woke trash shit, that the "cartel" kinda just happened, due to a lot of them knowing one another and being part of the same left-wing click, the whole thing is very incestuous. but yah what pisses me off even more than them pushing this woke bullshit. is there fucking attitude that they think they're untouchable and they can change and do whatever the fuck they want just because they know a little Japanese and work for a company.
this seven seas shit is only one of the Skeleton that they have in there closest, and I am quite happy that people are calling them out on it, but it's not going to fix the issue when you got a system in place to make more of these people, and it doesn't help that a lot of fan translators are being crushed by these people. even though a lot of them where fan translators themselves.

You can add the attachment to the post by clicking insert or just by dragging and dropping the image, I just did it for you.

thank you, its been a while since I have used a form like this.

 

[Zurathetix]

your right about the woke trash shit, that the "cartel" kinda just happened, due to a lot of them knowing one another and being part of the same left-wing click, the whole thing is very incestuous. but yah what pisses me off even more than them pushing this woke bullshit. is there fucking attitude that they think they're untouchable and they can change and do whatever the fuck they want just because they know a little Japanese and work for a company.
this seven seas shit is only one of the Skeleton that they have in there closest, and I am quite happy that people are calling them out on it, but it's not going to fix the issue when you got a system in place to make more of these people, and it doesn't help that a lot of fan translators are being crushed by these people. even though a lot of them where fan translators themselves.

thank you, its been a while since I have used a form like this.

Yeah it definitely does not fix the issue at all especially when you have the majority of the same type of "fans" supporting this kind of shit. I definitely dont know how one would actually solve the core problem.

 

[translation gundam]

Yeah it definitely does not fix the issue at all especially when you have the majority of the same type of "fans" supporting this kind of shit. I definitely dont know how one would actually solve the core problem.

a lot of those "fans" are tourists or casuals, there not going to stick around long enough to see the effects of what they done or dive deep enough to understand what exactly they are supporting. most of it I don't view their support of these people as malicious intent, but rather a choice made out of ignorance.
because let's be honest most of us were at that stage somewhere in life.
but the core issue is that the people who are in the know don't have enough reach to tell these "fan" what is going on and that assuming these people would listen when the "cartel" has spread so much bullshit, and people would rather listen to that. but these seven seas does give me a little hope that some of these "fans" will wake up and see what is actually happening. all you need is monuments like this to have these people question shit. but only time will tell if this has any lasting effects.

 

[Fennec_fox]

Nretsew is here. I thought you wouldn't go to forums and comment here. Anyway, one of the things that always make me wonder are people apologizing for showing that they don't like the changes because that could upset lgbt community (related to that I'm in Love with the Villainess series). And you start thinking why companies change things and think that it's ok or even necessary.
Also, props for Gundam for translating and giving us some info. That's a godsend

 

[immahnoob]

That list basically covers all LN translators.
Again, there's no ray of sunshine anywhere around us, back to learning Japanese.

 

[translation gundam]

That list basically covers all LN translators.
Again, there's no ray of sunshine anywhere around us, back to learning Japanese.

if you or anyone wants to start learning Japanese I got some links that can help as far as resources go, but you got to keep up with practice practice practice.
and one of the things I do for practice is transcribing hentai manga because this teaches me A pattern recognition, but also B gives you a pretty good vocabulary to work with and learn.
an example below for what I am working on at the monument. also the sause on what I am working on. "Caster Natsume Reiko no Yuuwaku Vol. 2" or
19303 for those people of culture.
helpful link 1 helpful link 2 helpful link 3

 

[immahnoob]

if you or anyone wants to start learning Japanese I got some links that can help as far as resources go, but you got to keep up with practice practice practice.
and one of the things I do for practice is transcribing hentai manga because this teaches me A pattern recognition, but also B gives you a pretty good vocabulary to work with and learn.
an example below for what I am working on at the monument. also the sause on what I am working on. "Caster Natsume Reiko no Yuuwaku Vol. 2" or
19303 for those people of culture.
helpful link 1 helpful link 2 helpful link 3

View attachment 1342

Thanks bruv, I've already saved some of your links if not mistaken.

 

[translation gundam]

Thanks bruv, I've already saved some of your links if not mistaken.

happy to help, because the only way to combat these people is to take away the "power" and "authority" they think they have.
because while what they do is important, because a lot of people in the community don't know Japanese.
the fact is that they act like they're so special and untouchable, and they act like they will suffer no consequences for there shitty behaviour, just because they know Japanese & corporate backing TM. what people should do is just translate shit for themselves and try and build up fan translations groups again, because this will send a message to these people saying "you are not so important after all". that is all that's needs to be said to these people, nothing more nothing less.

 

[Fennec_fox]

happy to help, because the only way to combat these people is to take away the "power" and "authority" they think they have.
because while what they do is important, because a lot of people in the community don't know Japanese.
the fact is that they act like they're so special and untouchable, and they act like they will suffer no consequences for there shitty behaviour, just because they know Japanese & corporate backing TM. what people should do is just translate shit for themselves and try and build up fan translations groups again, because this will send a message to these people saying "you are not so important after all". that is all that's needs to be said to these people, nothing more nothing less.

Man, after the last three months everything goes down the shitter and the companies that are supposed to provide us easy access to the entertainment (case here light novels). All I wanted is to read the original source (LN) of Mushoku Tensei and I still can't find an english fan translation after that controversy. I just... I just wanted to read damn it

 

[Macadate]

ANN had this article last year:

Why Seven Seas Altered Its Light Novels

The recent discoveries of omitted paragraphs and rewrites in Seven Seas' light novel releases reignites censorship fears in the fandom community. What led to the changes and why was the negative reaction so strong?

www.animenewsnetwork.com

Archive

---

update on Classroom of the Elite: the revised edition still has issues, and a non-insignificant number of those mistakes err in the same way as the unofficial translation

a reader reviews volume 1 chapters 1-3:

Wakher (u/Wakher) - Reddit

u/Wakher:

www.reddit.com

---

update on Roll Over and Die: dialogue removed

Official translation:

Japanese release:

unofficial translation:

Source: J-novel Club forum | Archive

As far as I'm aware, Seven Seas has not addressed this series.

---

adding Bloom Into You: mistranslations, nuance changes, various inconsistencies, loss of visual details
and Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka: mistranslations, nuance changes, various inconsistencies, lines removed
and Bloom Into You Anthology: mistranslations, nuance changes, various inconsistencies

Details are in this thread:

Localisation - An Investigation on Nuances Lost or Changed in Bloom Into You

...and inconsistencies such as poor characterization, terminology, screentones, lettering, retouch, spelling, grammar, names, dates basically, these are fanmade errata webpages since everyone has different values, distinguishing which differences matter is left as an exercise for the reader (but...

varishangout.com

Seven Seas' statement about the light novels:

Source: ANN forum | Archive

Source: Light Novels subreddit | Archive

As far as I'm aware, Seven Seas has not addressed the issues in the manga and anthology volumes.

---

adding Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi: mistranslations, nuance changes, various inconsistencies, lines removed

readers listing errors:

saïd's review of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

1/5: Seven Seas is a shitty company; don’t support them by buying this book. This review is only of the translation. For some thoughts on the actual novel, check out my review of the previous translation. // I’d like to think I can be objective when discussing a bad translation of a work I...

www.goodreads.com

Ling's review of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

1/5: ** 23/11/22: Added yet another elementary school level mistranslation ** I'm a CN/ENG native bilingual speaker and I've personally read the chinese version 3 times. This is a stand alone review of the official English translation. Unfortunately, this is such a badly written book...

www.goodreads.com

Archive
thread 1 | Archive | MDZS subreddit's comments
thread 2 | Archive
thread 3 | Archive

the translator's statement:
thread | Archive
Seven Seas' statement:
thread | Archive

Seven Seas says the errata is available:
tweet | Archive
which at the time listed only two errors:
tweet | Archive

a reader notices errata for volume 2 is available:
tweet | Archive
readers point out an error not listed in the errata at the time:
tweet | Archive
tweet | Archive

a translator for the manhua (which has yet to be released) complains about misediting:
thread | Archive
and how they might not be credited for their pen name:
thread | Archive

a reader shares their write-up dunking on Seven Seas' translation:
tweet | google doc

more volume 2 critiques:

saïd's review of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

1/5: Basically none of the issues with the first volume have been fixed, so why would I give this any more credit than I gave its predecessor? I truly cannot believe that Seven Seas hired an inexperienced translator who made absolutely novice-level mistakes that even primary school children...

www.goodreads.com

readers point out inconsistencies:
post | Archive

volume 3 critiques:

saïd's review of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

1/5: Once again, I would advise against supporting Seven Seas, for many, many, many, many reasons. Besides the company being just generally kind of shitty, the ‘translator’ hired for this project, Suika, is not very good. The first volume of this MDZS translation contained numerous novice-level...

www.goodreads.com

more continuity issues:
thread | Archive

---

adding I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend Into a Girl: mistranslations, nuance changes (notably, pronoun usage)
already discussed here:

Localisation - Shitty Localizers general

Aussie wokealizer Xythar is having a normal one recently. Tweet || Archive It's not the fruit time he had meltdown tho. Seven years ago he flipped out when Play Asia was giving the SJW mob a middle finger. Know Your Meme || Archive Aww he has a little nickname for us "taliban" that is so...

varishangout.com

Localisation - Shitty Localizers general

varishangout.com

a reader reviews volume 1:

Review: I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend Into a Girl – Volume 1

It features Mido Kenshiro, a boy who loves cosmetics, and Hiura Mihate, his (male) childhood friend, and what happens after Mido tries putting makeup on Hiura for the first time.

ethylene.mangadex.com

Archive

Katrina Leonoudakis, localizer:
thread | Archive
airco, translator (some of their tweets in this thread were liked by the series' translator):
thread | Archive
Gad Onyeneho, translator (they read through the English and JPN version of volume 1):
thread | Archive
Emily Balistrieri, translator (they talked to a Japanese friend):
thread | Archive

Ichijinsha's statement:
tweet | Archive
the mangaka's statement:
tweet | Archive

Seven Seas' statement:
tweet | Archive

volume 2 quietly delayed:

Localisation - Shitty Localizers general

can someone make sure we have this person's tweet archived? if the story is not about trans people why the fuck do they need to consult trans people to make sure it's accurate dumb fuck logic

varishangout.com

Seven Seas' statement, update:
tweet | Archive

the same reader reviews volume 1, revised edition:

[Revised Edition] Review: I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend Into a Girl – Volume 1

It features Mido Kenshiro, a boy who loves cosmetics, and Hiura Mihate, his (male) childhood friend, and what happens after Mido tries putting makeup on Hiura for the first time.

ethylene.mangadex.com

---

adding Fire in His Fingertips: A Flirty Fireman Ravishes Me with His Smoldering Gaze: artwork censored

a reader says volume 4 is censored:
tweet | Archive

The original panels are needed for verification, but if the previous three volumes weren't censored then it would be strange to start censoring now.

---

adding Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou: loss of visual details

various examples:
thread | archive
tweet 1 | archive
tweet 2 | archive
tweet 3 | archive

While the physical edition seems to be due to a printing error, the digital edition is still darker than the original Japanese print.