Record Journey volume 1 is out in English now. The Japanese volumes have super cool book design, so I wanted to see how they compare. The biggest visual difference is the gloss finish. Colors appear much brighter, and there's less texture in the image compared to the Japanese matte dust jacket.

Japanese posters for The Terminator and Blade Runner. Both logos were designed by Kiroku Higaki in the 80s. I love that they both widen at the base, giving them a subtle sense of moving forward. I could stare at this stuff all day. Higaki is an absolute master.

Ah, yep. Looking at the other chapter titles, that seems like the case. I see resizing artifacts on the edges of the letters, so it might be two images layered within indesign causing an interpolation issue.

Restoring some of the rough pencil marks left behind by the artist. Most people will probably never notice details like this, but I think they add a lot of character to the page. Sometimes it's the imperfect bits that make the art feel alive. #manga #lettering

Some lettering for Dai Dark 9. Lettering translated work is always a strange balance. You’re changing the page while trying to preserve the feeling of the original. As letterers, we just do our best to preserve what made it special in the first place.

Pure insanity. Let's not forget, on top of lettering and erasing the Japanese, letterers typically lay out the book, add page numbers, chapter titles, do contents pages, TL notes, under jacket and preview pages—possibly within a 7-day window. The work that goes into manga localisation is no joke.

nominations are OPEN for the least prestigious manga localization awards 👏 only a few weeks left!! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Call for submissions: The 2026 American Manga Awards entry deadline is on May 15! If your company publishes manga in English for the N. American market (US/Canada), here's how to be considered for this year's awards at @japansociety.org NY @animenyc.bsky.social animenyc.com/american-man...

May 2026 Manga, Manhwa, Light Novel, & Book Releases Here are the May 2026 releases from 14+ publishers, such as @yenpress.com, @sevenseasentertainment.com, @viz.com, @kodansha.us, @square-enix-books.com, and @omoi.com! yattatachi.com/may-2026-man... #manga #manhwa #lightNovel

See y'all next Saturday ✨ nif.cartoonist.coop/event/automa...

At this point, I am literally BEGGING you to do an editing pass on your comic book scripts before passing them along to your letterer.

Every week.

Welcome…to doorknobs. #CatLifeBalance

#Mushishi Collector's Edition 2 is now available in print & digital! Collecting volumes 3 & 4 in a hardcover omnibus edition featuring a completely original translation and new cover designs, this is the definitive way to experience the beloved series! https://ow.ly/KE1z50YLsaH

Looking forward to chatting alongside several of my colleagues at this teen library event! If you’ve ever wanted to know what jobs exist in manga publishing, be sure to check this out!

“GlobalComix’s AI translation copilot delivers 85–90% cost savings compared to industry-standard manual translation.” These AI tools will always rely on underpaid freelancers doing three jobs for a fraction of the wage of one. They’re merely a justification for not paying people.

Very cool! An interview with “Search & Destroy” mangaka Atsushi Kaneko on Direct Edition, with interpreting by @akiyanagi.bsky.social - so exciting to see this @mangasplaining.bsky.social / @fantagraphics.bsky.social manga reach new readers! youtu.be/IriVJRZAXxE?...

A beautiful mini-documentary with Ray Kinman. Very inspirational and a lot of people will relate to his journey, whether you're in a creative line of work or not. If you have 12 minutes spare, I highly recommend it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEo-...

I think he means spacing 👀

Introducing my newest comic book font, Trinketry! It's mixed-case, hand-drawn, and comes with a wide range of glyphs. It's a cutie with high charisma, and would be perfect in any comic. You can find it over here: ko-fi.com/s/b7e9497fed

If there's one thing I've learned from working for a corporation it's don't kill yourself for them. Do an amazing job, but don't do unpaid labour, don't work weekends, don't do overtime late into the night, don't work sick. I will not hurt myself for a company I know doesn't care about me.

Gorgeous!

these companies want translators to translate AND letter for half the pay. this isn’t a new concept. they’re wringing more money out of the lowest-paid workers in the industry. slop shops already exist in localization, and they didn’t waste millions of dollars on AI engineers

A free Wavy Dash library I made for InDesign for anybody who wants it. Comes in handy for lettering manga 🔥 drive.google.com/file/d/1NTVV... #indesign

Masking is a neat part of lettering. Even when dealing with just black and white, it's important to consider the order that elements were layered on to of each other. The original text was drawn in a white void, and then the black "background" drawn around it. Much more detail in alt text!

This is what I've been hard at work on this month. (150 work hrs so far.) These are in-progress, hence the incomplete SFX & touch-up, but it's a good little sneak peek! It's been HEAVY to work on, especially w/ the war currently going on, but it's such an important book & I'm proud to work on it.

1hr and 34 minutes condensed into 60 seconds.

I started lettering freelance a little over 20 years ago. Rates have stayed pretty much the same. I only make more money now because I went from lettering 3-4 series at a time to more than 8. My rent has almost doubled, and I need roommates to afford it.

Some lettering fun for today.

Baki has these transparent block sound effects with white inner strokes. The white stroke was originally done over the screen tones and inking, and there's a a great texture to how it interacts with them. Love seeing it replicated in the English sfx.

Some people say this doesn't work, but the "shoelace" effect PS has with their brushes always gets fixed once I turn off smoothing. Might be worth a try if you haven't already.

How I duplicate text in Photoshop without increasing layers. Convert to Shape, then opt + drag using the Path Selection Tool. There might be a better way, but this is way smoother than if you were to use live text imo.

Automate your lettering, save your wrists! I’ll be running a panel for @cartoonist.coop’s Nib & Ink Festival about how to make your computer do more work and prevent injury while lettering! Time: May 9 @ 2PM EDT Place: Zoom / remote More info here: nif.cartoonist.coop/event/automa...

We've talked about it a few times in the past, but to reiterate: Omoi uses 100% human translators, letterers, proofreaders, and editors for our exclusive series. We're proud to publish high-quality releases from skilled localization workers

Over on the other site, @kodamatales.bsky.social's co-founder announced they will be adding anti-ai used labels to their books. www.handmadelabel.com/en ( h/t @okazu.yuricon.com )

Whenever talk of AI slop gets me down I revisit this James Cuda interview he did a few months ago. What he's done with Procreate is such a good reminder us all that awesome people still exist. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfwL...

Hope Media Do keep their promise and Seven Seas stays the same.

The adventure continues over sea and land! Set sail with Sinbad by Atsuji Yamamoto — buff.ly/5rHYfdV #Sinbad

I love my job, but I'd never recommend it lol.

Bums me out to see creatives who don't enjoy the creative process.

I haven't done any lettering showcases in a while, and never did Beyblade X volume 4 or 5, so I figure I'll just do both in one thread!

I'm getting "This page shouldn't take too long" engraved on my tombstone.

Iai White Purity Style rough draft.

Hi! I hope you fine folks don't mind one more self-promotion post about the album I just finished, but I am on the cusp of being devoured by work deadlines again, so I wanted to make a thread about the art & typography of "Psychic Battle" before I get too busy. This was a big project for me! 🧵 1/18

Finally, this is out! I did the lettering for Kinato's Magic! I'll share some cool SFXs here! I liked the art and found the first chapter interesting tho! First, I designed a simple logo! Lettered by Me, translation by Andria McKnight (short thread)

🔥🔥🔥

Congratulations are in order: Atsushi Kaneko received the ALA Outstanding Comics Award – Adult in the Category of Series Honor Books for Search and Destroy Vol. 1, 2, and 3 and Briana Loewinsohn won the Outstanding Comics Award – Young Adult in the Category of Nonfiction for Raised By Ghosts!