Sketchley's Translations: About

Sketchley's Translations is a collection of translations made by a fan for fans who cannot read Japanese. It has been designed for people who have the published material to reference while reading the translations. Sketchley's Translations strongly encourages readers to purchase a legitimate copy to best enjoy Sketchley's Translations.

Sketchley's Translations is not a translation service and is run on a non-profit basis.

Origin

Sketchley's Translations started when I learned that when imported into English, anime was not only losing story content in translation, but also losing it in the process of kiddifying the material. That started me down the road to learning Japanese so I'd get the whole story, as the authors originally intended.

Of course, one doesn't learn a language overnight. Luckily, my Canadian High School offered a Japanese Language course, which provided the foundation for continued studies in a Canadian University as a minor and a Japanese university as a major. Even then, it wasn't a continuous improvement, as real life, starting a career and a new life in a different city—and later, in a different country—has a tendency to alter one's perceptions, focus, and interests.

It wasn't until 2007, about 3 and a half years after having come to live in Japan, that I realized that there was a void in the English translations of Macross material that was becoming available, and that my Japanese language skills had improved to the point that I could attempt to fill part of that void. The first translations weren't very good, but as more content is translated, my accuracy and speed is improved. It hasn't been an easy or steady process, but growth rarely is.

Special thanks to online Macross RPGing, as without it, my interest in Macross would surely have waned—as has happened with my interest in anime over the intervening years. In addition, the desire to provide accurate RPG stats continues to be one of the main motivations for continuing to translations Macross material and provide it online.