June Translation Roundup

June was a wild month. I ran into a huge issue within the UtaPri fandom which caused me some distress, and for the next few days after that it was hard to work on translations without my feelings get in the way.

But the best thing about the past month is that I finished more than I expected I would. The special messages for the voice cast of ST☆RISH and QUARTET NIGHT are done, AND I finished all but Tokiya's Q&A (which was just completed as my first post of July).

I've gained quite a few followers and some new friends on Twitter and Facebook and it's been really fun chatting with people about one of my absolute favorite series. It was a pleasant reminder that fandoms contain a lot of very nice and supportive people.

With all of the Q&A's finished, I will have to change gears as I start working on other parts of the book. I am also closing in on one month before Otakon (my next convention) as well as my trip to Japan. I not only have costumes to be made and prepared, but I also need to start packing to be overseas for a month!

My visit will mostly be related to my future career goals. First and foremost, I will be applying for graduate school this fall and hope to be attending a school in Japan in a year. Next, I am also visiting to make sure that my Japanese language skills stay sharp. I'm already a little nervous about visiting my former employers and speaking to them because I haven't had a full spoken conversation in Japanese in almost a year. I also hope that I will be able to enjoy some UtaPri-related activities while I am there and share my experiences with everyone.

When I planned my trip, the exchange rate was favorable for me to travel to Japan. But over the past few months, and now with the Brexit crisis, I'm uncertain about how much more money it will cost for me. I'm trying my best to earn some extra money to cover costs.

The reason I mention all this is to announce two updates:

1. A few days ago I added a PayPal "Donate" button to the side of my blog. I don't require anyone to pay to read my translations, and this project will always be free! But if you would like to help and show some appreciation in the form of a donation, I have left the option there for you to give any amount that you want to contribute.


2. I am working on a Storenvy shop where I plan to sell UtaPri and Sailor Moon goods. It will mostly be small items like cellphone straps and can badges, but occasionally I may have some bigger items available. I plan to set prices at very reasonable amounts compared to eBay and what you may find in anime conventions, so if you're interested in buying goods keep an eye out for updates! For now, you can look at what I have listed for a limited time on eBay.

Both donations and item sales will help with my expenses for graduate school, starting from my Japan trip next month.

To conclude, I hope that I can continue to make more translation progress this month! Thank you for your continued support! これからもよろしくお願いします！