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Squirtle

Good morning ☀️

Fun Fact: One of the reasons Square was pushed to improve its localization practices in the 2000s is because Alexander O. Smith showed them reviews proving that people *cared* about translation quality. (Link to the full interview: web.archive.org/web/20091113...)

Spyro Jan 2025 vs. Jan 2026 🐶✨

Happy New Year!! 🎍✨ (We tried making Strawberry Bourbon Smash for the first time//)

I see lots of people want to study Japanese for their new years's resolution, but it helps to build habits so you can do it consistently for the whole year. Here are some tips on how to build those habits. jtalkonline.com/how-to-make-...

Completed my 1 book a month reading goal just in time for the new year! 🎍✨ Now to read The Two Towers in January!

We celebrate small wins this year: - Published 6 blog posts (23.5k words) ✍️ - Recorded 2 covers (one for family) 🎤 - Interviewed 2x for 2 major game companies (so close!) 👩‍💼 - Finally got my own car 🚗 - Went home to Scotland for the first time since 2019 - Finally tidied the wires under my desk 🖥️

メリクリ🎄✨

Happy holidays! In December's post, I was inspired to debunk some supposed mistranslations from Final Fantasy XIII. I've only ever played in English, so this was an amazing opportunity to see the wonderful translation work behind this beautiful game. annacairistiona.wordpress.com/2025/12/22/d...

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my blog this year! I never dreamed my ramblings could reach this many people, not to mention some of the people that inspired me to write in the first place. I plan to continue writing in 2026, so I hope you'll stay tuned!

Next FFT comparison post is still not quite ready yet, so I've posted another article from the backlog today. I could've maybe rushed to get it done, but didn't want to give myself unnecessary anxiety over the holidays.

Happy holidays! In December's post, I was inspired to debunk some supposed mistranslations from Final Fantasy XIII. I've only ever played in English, so this was an amazing opportunity to see the wonderful translation work behind this beautiful game. annacairistiona.wordpress.com/2025/12/22/d...

I beat the video game ✨️

Xmas care package from my mum arrived//// 🎄✨️

Can you spot the corgi?

Phrase of the day for me today is 申し訳程度 - "the barest amount of/excuse for". チャーシュー麺を注文したんだけど、申し訳程度のチャーシューがついていた I ordered chashu ramen but it only included the barest amount of chashu. Something like that.

This year was half puzzle games, half games played with friends.

Looking for some reading material over the holidays? Introducing LocRewind 2025, a recap of all the news, YouTube essays, Reddit threads, banger tweets and assorted localization drama that made headlines this year!

Happy 30th anniversary to Suikoden 1 as well! If you missed it, I did a whole series examining the JP script alongside both the PS1 and Remaster English translations. lizbushouse.com/localization...

しっかりしろ Lock in, bro!

頑張らないと I can’t give up now. #AmTranslating

Updated my linktree! ✨ Latest cover + blog post are listed at the top/

I keep seeing posts asking if there are any alternatives to Duolingo for Japanese that don't use AI, and yes there are!!! Also Mango languages might be free through libraries, but they use AI in course creation. jtalkonline.com/japanese-stu...

this was such a fun read. Reminded me a lot of Clyde Mandelin's Legends of Localization pieces

Really great piece and I appreciate its big picture analyses, which amateur analyses almost always lack. In my experience, on games like that with characters who have non-Japanese backgrounds like Leon, dev teams are often self-aware that their own native scripts can only be so culturally authentic.

I first played RE4 in 2023 and instantly fell in love with Leon's character. But apparently, when the OG came out, some fans blamed the EN translation for changing his character. In this month's blog, I set out to uncover if this was truly the case. annacairistiona.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/d...

So thankful for the shout-out to the localization teams by the E33 Director at the game awards. Localization teams bring your art to a bigger audience—and for many studios, bring in the lion’s share of profit for your game. Invest in quality human loc, and give them credit.

IT'S LEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON

We are set for game awards tonight

行き変えた！！ The Japanese Talk website is back online!!! jtalkonline.com

We're back online!!! j-entranslations.com BIG big big thank you to @hand-designed.com for taking over hosting and getting me set back up again.

Just getting comfy

......I'm back? Just a quick one summarizing the anime enshiffitifaction we've been experiencing the past 6 months (AI-subs, shitty typesetting, AI-cc, and AI dubs.) I'll be back to my deep-dives on animanga localization next year, TBD.

🎮 Games I Beat in 2025: *Still working on Kingdom Hearts II (English) and Fire Emblem: Fates (Japanese)

🎤 NEW COVER It's been a while. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End ED 『Anytime Anywhere』【Tomoyo】 youtu.be/NJdluXVW5J8?...

My favourite time of year///

🎤 NEW COVER It's been a while. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End ED 『Anytime Anywhere』【Tomoyo】 youtu.be/NJdluXVW5J8?...

Thanks to @annacairistiona.bsky.social as well for the localization coverage examples shown. Highly recommend checking out her blog posts as they're solid insight into the Japanese script (goes for more games than just FFT as well)

2008 - started self studying Japanese ✍️ 2010 - started uploading Japanese covers online 🎤 2014 - majored in Japanese at uni 📖 2016 - year abroad in Okayama, translation comms on the side 🌸 2018 - passed N2, graduated, moved to US and started working as a freelance translator 💻 2024 - passed N1 🎉

My first time making lentil soup 🍲✨ 懐かしい～

I’m either listening to relaxing OSTs while I work or playing that one song I’m really into over and over again. There is no in between. This year that song was Aporia by Yorushika.

コロケーションが身につく日本語表現練習帳 is a vocabulary and grammar book for advanced learners that focuses on similar words and how they're used. I picked this up because I needed to practice particles at an advanced level and this book was perfect.

The 教師と学習者のための日本語文型辞典 is a grammar dictionary for teachers and linguists that every intermediate and advanced learner of Japanese should get. The explanations and examples are written for native Japanese speakers, which (I think) makes some complex grammar patterns easier to understand.

Today I am thankful for this boy.

My Suikoden Localization Let's Play has finally come to a complete end! This overview covers the main points of the series, like "don't take words or punctuation at face value" and "consider the larger context," then dives into reviews of both the PS1 and HD Remaster English translations.