January Progress Update & Project Discussion

It’s been a while since my last post so I wanted to update everyone on what I’ve been working on. As many of you may know, Slashdog has begun publication as a light novel series. While the first volume is merely an edited version of the web novel, volume 2 is scheduled for release in March and promises to include new content.

Presently, I have been making my way through the first volume and comparing it side by side with the web novel to discern any differences. I am updating the translation to match the LN version while also correcting many mistakes from when I first debuted the work. I should be finished before the next volume is released.

For my other active projects, Railgun PSP and Vandread Extra Stage, I will continue working on both, though Slashdog will be the main focus of my efforts. Both projects are nearing completion though and with any luck will be finished no later than June or July, and possibly before that.

Going forward, I intend to maintain only 3 active projects at a time, which I’m designating as A, B, and C. Slot A is reserved for all future Slashdog releases and will receive the largest share of devoted time and effort. B and C will be roughly equal in terms of time devoted.

While this may be a little premature, I do have some ideas for future projects to replace Railgun and Extra Stage which I wanted to share:

Toaru Majutsu to Kagaku no Ensemble: The third Raildex PSP game and a prequel to the Endymion movie. Based on what I’ve read about it, it contains 4 distinct stories. One of these is apparently identical to the Road to Endymion SS, but the other 3 are otherwise untranslated. I haven’t played the game yet so I’m mostly unsure of the format, but it appears to divided into events rather than chapters like the previous two games.

Vandread: I previously began work on the first volume of Vandread and would like to return to it at some point. The series has a total of seven volumes, including Extra Stage, so I doubt I’ll be able to finish the whole series myself. That said, should there be a lack of interest, I may choose to sideline the project due to the fact that it differs little from the anime.

Gundam Novels: As a Gundam fan, I think I would enjoy the challenge of translating a Gundam novel, and there are plenty of untranslated ones to choose from. While I did consider finishing the mostly translated Gundam UC, at the moment my inclination is towards the two volume Gundam F91 novel. The main reason for this is that F91 is one of the most neglected parts of  the Gundam franchise. Originally planned as an anime, the broadcast was scrapped partway through production, resulting in what essentially amounts to a single compilation movie to cover everything. I think that the series that launched Crossbone Gundam deserves better than some choppy movie. A two volume novel might just do the trick.

I have some other ideas as well, but I think these should be enough for the moment. Let me know what you think or if you have any other suggestions I might consider. Be aware though, I won’t be starting any new projects until after finishing the present ones.