Kevin Frane, Translator and Author

I'm a Japanese translator, science fiction author, and massive Star Wars nerd.

[kevinfrane]

I don't expect you're particularly active here, but I wanted to send a message of appreciation for your novel 'Summerhill'. I was sleuthing around, and I see that 'Stargazer' was put on hiatus, and also you've more or less fallen out of furry circles, but I do hope you're well, and able to pursue your creative pursuits in this day and age, with everything going on, and whatnot.

I'm still alive! Life has been crazy lately, though, and so I've definitely not had the time to really foster my creative side in terms of personal writing.

That's something I'd love to change, however, and while I might not get to "Stargazer" right away just because of how the nature of inspiration works, it's not a story I've given up on entirely.

[okami]

this game really said ‘go to horny jail’

[moontidecanvas]

428 textposts (and more)

[kevinfrane]

Hi! You probably get this somewhat frequently, but I figured I'd ask anyway: what happened to Bento Books and Quantum Devil Saga vol.3?

Unfortunately I don’t and I wish that I did.

I assume that the people involved have had other priorities, especially in the wake of COVID, but I’m not positive. Even before all that went down, I can’t imagine Bento was running a hugely lucrative business, despite all of their efforts (not to mention my own and and those of all the QDS fans out there).

[pulsatingblue]

I remember I drawn this fanart when I was 16. @valkyriefastwing likes it and I decided to make it a draw this again challenge.

[kevinfrane]

Man, has it really been five years?

[skajador]

I hate Revolver Ocelot because he’s the embodiment  of that asshole who’s like “JOKE’S ON YOU, I WAS ONLY PRETENDING TO BE OWNED! IT WAS MY PLAN TO GET KICKED IN THE DICK ALL ALONG!!!!!!!!” 

but then you follow the paper trail and, son of a bitch, it turns out him getting kicked in the dick was somehow integral to taking down the illuminati. 

[the-very-gendered-queen]

He’s also in love with you, your dad, your twink friend who is weirdly hung, and wears a long coat but no shirt

[skajador]

Excuse me what

[the-very-gendered-queen]

Raiden canonically has a big dick, and Ocelot flirts with him.

[skajador]

Raiden canonically has a big dick

Care to explain?

[heavvymetalqueen-deactivated202]

don’t both oce and solidus comment on his endowements in mgs2 during the Nude Escape

[skajador]

God I hate metal gear so fucking much

[kevinfrane]

428: Shibuya Scramble Coming West in Summer 2018

In the wake of GDC 2018, I can finally announce my involvement with what’s undoubtedly the most remarkable project I’ve ever worked on: the somewhat legendary visual novel 428: Shibuya Scramble.

Kajiya Productions tapped me to be the translator on this title, and I have to say I was completely blown away--not just that I was being brought on to the project, but that the game was actually going to be released in the West at all, roughly a decade after the fact! It’s one of those games where, if you knew about it, you’d probably already figured any chance of it being released outside of Japan had come and gone years ago.

Suffice it to say, this was an enormous undertaking to translate! The total amount of text is equal to roughly three average-length novels, and with five different storylines all intertwining (with all the different branching paths therein based on player choice), there was a lot to keep track of and a lot of constant checking that the pieces were all fitting together properly. Thankfully (and I say this honestly, on my own behalf, not for any corporate plugging), the story and the characters were both so fun and engaging that it almost never felt like a chore to work my way through--though as you can probably imagine, a project of this size took a very long time to get through, and it’s not like every day was just sunshine and puppies.

It was an honor to get to work on this, which isn’t something I say lightly. As a translator, I’ve had to translate plenty of games and other pieces of media that I didn’t personally enjoy (and some of which I actively disliked), but this game hit the sweet spot of what I personally enjoy in a story, insofar as tone, humor, drama, and characterization go. By the time I was finished, I’d spent so much time with these characters and this world that I could hardly help but feel some sort of connection with them, and I’m thrilled that, in a few months’ time, a whole new English-speaking audience is going to be able to experience this story for the first time.

I’ve had novels of my own published, but I still think that, of all the projects I’ve been able to put my name on, 428 is the one I’m the most proud of.

[kevinfrane]

I just finished reading QDS vol 2, and I just wanted to say WOW! Thank you so much for your hard work! I was reeling from some of the stuff that happened. Tears were shed, I won't lie. I know you don't have a release date for vol 3, but in the afterword section of vol 2, it's hinted that vol 3 will be a prequel of the events prior to the first two books. There's a few ways to interpret that timeline-wise, is there anything you can say on the matter that isn't too spoiler-y?

Okay, this is actually a pretty good question, and one that’s easy enough to answer without spoilers for those folks who don’t know what’s coming.

By the end of volume 2, let’s just say that it’s very clear that, ah, something in the past went pretty terribly wrong, resulting in things for the denizens of the Junkyard being the way they are. There’s also the matter of Sera, who knows she came from someplace else, and who knows things that she shouldn’t, but doesn’t know why.

Volume 3 goes back and explains the background of both Sera and the Junkyard, prior to the events of volumes 1 and 2, and also sets the stage for what winds up happening in volumes 4 and 5. People who have played the games probably know in general terms what this entails, but I will say this: forget what you know from before, because the details and the characters and the hows and the whys are all pretty different!

All in all, volume 3 might be my favorite book of the series, and I’m looking forward to it hopefully coming you guys’ way soon!

[vivaola]

Digital Devil Saga 3

[kevinfrane]

In the grand tradition of the Cathedral of Shadows podcast interviews I gave back before and after the release of the first installment of Quantum Devil Saga, the folks at Heretic Mansion had me on to talk about the second book, as well as other aspects about my job and the Megaten franchise in general.

It’s kind of long, but give it a listen if you're so inclined!

[kevinfrane]

Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner, Vol. 2 - It’s Real, It’s Here, and Here’s the Deal!

Hey folks!

So for those of you who were patiently waiting the, uh, three and a half years it’s been between book releases, yes, Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner, Vol. 2 is out now! It’s a real book! Finally! You can buy it here on Amazon in both hardcover and paperback now; I believe it’s also made it onto most of the international Amazon sites, and an ebook version is in the works, but I don’t know when it’s due for release just yet.

Yeah, the launch for the second volume had some hiccups; there were issues with sites carrying the book, then not carrying it, and a lot of folks were unable to get it. But to my knowledge, all of those issues have been resolved and the book is flying into people’s hands now! A lot of you have already read it, too, which brings me to my next point...

I’m sorry for being so quiet on the release here this time around compared to volume one. Not only was I slammed with another huge translation project right when this book was launching, the aforementioned issues immediately after launch made it difficult to really drum up hype for the release since people weren’t able to buy it! Gah! Very frustrating, but now things have cleared up on my end as well as the distribution end, and all is well.

So yeah! Get talking! Ask me questions if you have them! Tell your other friends who may have forgotten in the (long, long) interim that the book finally came out. Especially tell your friends who assumed it was never going to come out and so stopped checking entirely. I promise it’s real now!

(I also promise I’ll let people know once I know anything about volume three--for now, alas, I don’t have any information.)

[roaldseth]

How I will be reading QDS vol.2:

[asktoothless]

((Could you tell me more about the Anime you like? because it looks like it's set in a modern Edo period (by that character's hairstyle) and I really like Edo period Anime. In return I can recommend to you a past Edo, slow paced Drama called House of Five leaves. It's plot is so detailed, but there's not much action and slow but great character development.))

LEMME TELL YOU A THING ABOUT

ITS GOT ALOT OF NAME I CALL IT ARS NOVA BUT THERES AOKI HAGANE NO ARPEGGIO AND BLUE STEEL THERES ALOT JUST SEARCH 

Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova 

AND YOULL FIND IT

SEE THIS HERE THIS THING IS AMAZING! LOOK:

THIS ADORABLE LITTLE SHIT IS SUBMARINE I-401! OR “IONA” SHES LIKE THE MAIN CHARACTER WELL HER AND THIS GUY:

OK SO SOME SHIT HAPPENED AND HUMANITY HAS BEEN FORCED OUT OF THE OCEAN’S AND LOST LIKE 30 PERCENT OF THE LAND THEY USED TO OWN BECAUSE GLOBAL WARMING THEN THESE BITCHES SHOW UP: 

THESE GUYS ARE CALLED THE FOG AND HAWT DAMN THEY ARE POWERFULL THEY’RE LIKE SHIPS WITH HUMAN BODIES KINDA ITS COMPLICATED ANYHOW I-401 IS SPECIAL BECAUSE SHE HAS A HUMAN CAPTIAN UNLIKE ANY OF THE OTHER SHIPS IN THE FOG SO SHE BECOMES GOOD IN ORDER TO ACTUALLY HELP GUNZO (HER CAPTIAN) WHO WANTS TO CHANGE THE WORLD FOR THE BETTER ALONG WITH HIS SHITTY CREW:

NOW THESE 6 GUYS AND GALS GO OFF TO DELIVER A WEAPON FROM JAPAN TO AMERICA IN THEIR SUB I-401 OR “IONA” BECAUSE THE ONLY WAY FOR HUMANITY TO ACTUALLY BE ON EQUAL FOOTING WITH THE FOG IS TO BUILD WEAPONS THAT MATCH THEIR POWER SEE THE FOG HAVE ADVANCED TECH LIKE A “KLIEN FIELD“ AND ”CORROSION TORPEDOS”:

THERES A HELLA LOT OF INTERESTING CHARACTERS TO NOTE TOO LIKE ALL THE BAD GUYS ARE FREAKING AWESOME:

AND HELLA LOT MORE HEY DID I MENTION HOW FREAKING ACTION PACKED AND STRATEGIG THIS ANIME IS CAUSE THIS IS FUCKING GOLD

OH AND FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS ONE OF THE CHARACTERS GETS TURNED INTO A TEDDYBEAR!!!!!!!!!!!! WHO IS LIKE THE MOST EPIC CHARACTER EVER:

IN CONCLUSION YOU SHOULD ALL WATCH THIS ANIME AND BUG ME ABOUT IOT CAUSE I COULD TALK FOR DAYS ON THIS

[kevinfrane]

This is a wonderfully accurate depiction of Arpeggio of Blue Steel, y'all.

[kevinfrane]

Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner vol. 2 Releasing Very Soon!

Hey there, folks!

Yes, I finally have a release timeline for the second volume of Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner—and it’s quite soon! Seemingly it should see release by the end of this month.

I know that there were long stretches there with no updates, but rest easy—it’s coming!

[kevinfrane]

Okay, so some additional info to cover the questions people are asking:

- yes, there will be both hardcover and paperback versions available, as with the first book - e-book version is coming as well, hopefully very soon after the physical release - no preorders this time around; focus is on getting the book ready for publication ASAP (but it should be on sale in just a few weeks anyhow

...and lastly...

- no, I don't have any official word for volume 3 (or later) but as soon as there is any, I'll let folks know!

[kevinfrane]

Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner vol. 2 Releasing Very Soon!

Hey there, folks! Yes, I finally have a release timeline for the second volume of Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner—and it's quite soon! Seemingly it should see release by the end of this month. I know that there were long stretches there with no updates, but rest easy—it's coming!

[mayuponzzz-deactivated20210320]

*original image (2172 x 927 pixels) http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=62380218

[totaljuicebag]

You’ve heard of SuperWhoLock, now get ready for

[rionsanura]

So I have a lot of fairly snobby “friends” who would probably want to start a fandom war in favor of

But not me. I am no snob. I am a member of

[berix2010]

[metalbatteryzone]

[bluehawk54]

[radraedx]

[mrkenyon]

STOP

[kevinfrane]

DO NOT STOP