It almost sounds too good to be true, but true it is: we’re only six weeks out from the Western release of ANONYMOUS;CODE, the latest and greatest entry in the Science Adventure Series. Needless to say, it’s never been a better time to be a fan of SciADV, or of sci-fi visual novels in general—we tend to say this a lot, but Spike Chunsoft, Inc. keeps raising the bar!
Kiri Kiri Basara staff recently had the exciting opportunity to chat with ANONYMOUS;CODE translator and longtime Science Adventure fan Andrew “Steiner” Hodgson about the upcoming milestone release. Herein, you will find a wealth of knowledge about the game, its localization process, and much, much more. We hope you enjoy the read!
Kiri Kiri Basara: Many SciADV fans will know you as one of the guys who localized the STEINS;GATE visual novel back in the day, but it’s actually been a bit since you last worked on a mainline localization in the series, hasn’t it? How’s it feel to be back in the driver’s seat with ANONYMOUS;CODE?
Andrew Hodgson: Hey! It sure has been a while since I’ve been involved with the series in an official capacity. It’s a little crazy thinking about how long it’s been. STEINS;GATE more or less kicked off my career as a translator, with me joining that project over a decade ago now, it was one of my first official localization projects. Of course, that project was a joint effort alongside fellow translator Anthony Israel (@blockwonkel), and the lion’s share of the work on it was his. After STEINS;GATE, I’d always been regularly active in the fan community and a strong advocate for getting the rest of the series brought over in English. That’s why it felt so great to finally receive an opportunity from Spike Chunsoft to take the reins with ANONYMOUS;CODE as a solo endeavor, feels almost like a full circle moment for my career so far.
KKB: Tell us about your process. What does a typical day of working on ANONYMOUS;CODE’s localization look like?
AH: Well, it’s not anything too flashy. I fire up my PC, access the document I translate from, and I set to work. I go line after line, and my speed varies depending on whether I’m in a more casual conversation or one of the more serious science-focused exchanges. I consult with my editor if he’s flagged anything he thinks I might need to know about, but otherwise I just go at it as best I can, tab by tab. One thing I’m proud of with this one is how meticulous I’ve been in getting the terminology lined up. ANONYMOUS;CODE represents a new opportunity to standardize concepts in the series, so I took that to heart and set to work ensuring all the scientific concepts and how they relate to other titles in the series make sense.
KKB: ANONYMOUS;CODE takes place in 2037—lots of futuristic technology, unique lifestyles, and fresh locales abound. How did the setting influence how you tackled the title’s English text?
AH: So, I had to be mindful of the kinds of technology and themes that were incorporated into the setting. It covers things like cryptocurrency, body-machine interfaces and even more out-there stuff like true AI and Earth simulators powered by quantum computers. I needed to make sure I brushed up on my knowledge of all kinds of technologies that were both unrealistic and potentially plausible in the near future. There’s a chapter that deals with blockchain forks, there are multiple lectures on scientific concepts from a mathematician character, and it’s clear that the original writer took the effort to make these both accurate and understandable. I had to do the same thing, which necessitated reading up and ensuring every word I put down was authentic but still readable. It’s always exciting and educational to work on a title that has a whole lot of technobabble, especially in the SciADV series, because there’s this interesting blend of plausible and implausible. It’s a line you must straddle in the translation too.
KKB: ANONYMOUS;CODE’s English release will mark the first time a SciADV visual novel has received an official English dub. What were some new considerations you found yourself making in light of the fact that your script would be read by English voice actors?
AH: When I first learned the game would be getting a dub, I was really surprised! It wasn’t something I’d expected, and it absolutely created some new considerations when it came to writing the English version of the script. For starters, as mentioned in the question, one needs to take into account that the script will be read out loud in English. The vast majority of my work up until now has only had to take the text itself into account, it was written to be read by the consumer, not vocalized by professional VAs. This meant that while translating ANONYMOUS;CODE, I was more cognizant of the flow of the sentences, I wanted to ensure that the dialogue I wrote would sound authentic coming out of spoken voices, and there were even lines where I got the opportunity to specify where I felt certain words should be stressed harder or have different intonation.
Obviously, none of this came at the cost of the author’s intent, my fundamental translation process remained unchanged, and I needed to create a faithful translation that would also work alongside the Japanese voice track. It was more that I found myself thinking frequently about how some things would sound when actually vocalized. There was also the actual process of getting to listen to the English VA auditions and even having a small say in who would play certain roles. It was a totally new experience for me, and all the people who auditioned were so talented it was incredibly difficult to settle on the ones I liked the most. I think it was an interesting learning experience and overall exercise in looking at my work from a slightly different angle, and I’m extremely excited to hear how some of the lines I came up with are going to sound in the English dub.
KKB: On another note, you’ve also recently been involved with the STEINS;GATE, STEINS;GATE 0, and ROBOTICS;NOTES manga localizations—the former of which are on store shelves now, and the latter expected to release this year. How does translating a visual novel differ from translating manga? Did you notice any overlap when working on ANONYMOUS;CODE’s Manga Triggers?
AH: Translating manga and translating a game are two very different experiences. A game is an audiovisual experience, and you can rely more on dynamic presentation or voice acting, you typically have more space to work with in terms of line length as well. On a manga, you’re typically constrained by the exacts of the scene depicted on the page, as well as the physical dimensions of the speech bubbles. Thankfully I’ve got a wealth of experience in translating manga, and that came in especially handy with ANONYMOUS;CODE’s energetic Manga Trigger scenes. For these sequences, I was able to apply my manga-translation knowledge to its fullest, making the most of the space I was given. It was also at my suggestion that the SFX were translated into English, as I’m of the opinion that the presentation of these effects understandable to the audience makes the art pop harder, as well as making it feel more immersive. The Manga Triggers are a fascinating overlap of game and manga, as it combines the stylistic presentation of manga with the audiovisual elements of video games, I really hope people enjoy the English versions of these stand-out scenes.
KKB: What’s been your favorite part of working on ANONYMOUS;CODE?
AH: That’s a tough one! It’s been a great experience in general. My editor has been wonderful to work alongside and everyone at Spike Chunsoft has been extremely responsive. I guess I’m just happy to be working on the Science Adventure Series again after all this time, it’s an opportunity I’ve been extremely lucky to receive. But back to the game itself, one of my favorite things has to be the cast and their interpersonal dynamics with each other. The characters in this game are genuinely fun and interesting to translate and write lines for, some of them have a lot of really solid back-and-forth banter, so I hope that the fun I had with this script can be felt by the players when they get around to playing it.
KKB: What can newcomers and longtime series fans look forward to with this entry? How excited should we be?
AH: I think there’s a lot to get excited for with ANONYMOUS;CODE! This title has the Science Adventure Series’ trademark science jargon in droves, there’s so much interesting technology explored and the fact that it has a not-too-distant future setting means there’s more that the story can get a little kooky and out-there with. I think the game is also pretty special in that it incorporates a lot from previous games in the series, if you’ve gotten deep into Science Adventure then there’s stuff you’ll notice that might even have mind-blowing implications for other titles in the series.
But if you’re a newcomer to the series? It’s surprisingly accessible. All that deep cut SciADV stuff isn’t fundamentally necessary to enjoy the plot from start to finish, it’s more what I’d consider a cherry on top, a handful of “oh, so this means that…” moments/connections that you could even enjoy piecing together in reverse playing order. I think fans new and old are going to find the story as gripping as it is interesting. Pollon is a fascinating and fun protagonist, and the fact that he banters with the player via the Hacking Trigger function is something really unique. The meta aspects to ANONYMOUS;CODE are quite unlike any other game I’ve played in recent memory.
KKB: Your favorite ANONYMOUS;CODE character?
AH: That’s another tough one! Like I mentioned above, Pollon is an interesting character and the meta parts of the game result in the player building a kind of strange rapport with him as the story progresses. He wears his heart on his sleeve (often to a fault), has great banter with his friends like Cross and Wind, and his big aspirations make him a curious character to Observe. But protagonist aside, one of the characters I had the most fun writing for was Davide, some of his lines are ridiculously over-the-top. Momo is also a very charming character, and deciphering the mystery behind her alongside her is one of the game’s big draws. It’d also be remiss of me not to mention Asuma, who has a lot going for him in the character department, it’s not every day you get to interpret the voice of a haughty, arrogant child who has the brains to back up his self-importance, and translating his lines often became a fun game of “how big of a head-up-his-own-ass twerp can I get this kid to sound?”
I’m looking forward to seeing what characters players end up latching on to as they get to experience the game.
KKB: What are your hopes for the SciADV series’ future?
AH: I’d just be happy to see them create more stories like this one! I don’t know what direction the series plans on taking going forwards, but if ANONYMOUS;CODE is anything to go by it’s moving in the right one. I want to see more interesting and outlandish uses of scientific concepts, I want to see more protagonists who can make you laugh and pull at your heartstrings, and as a SciADV fan I’d like to see more titles that build on the previous ones with more intricate connections. Chiyomaru Shikura has always had a lot of very wild ideas, and his talented team of writers including individuals like Naotaka Hayashi have done a fine job in bringing those ideas to narrative fruition. Without their work, my work would be meaningless, I can only feel so confident in my translations because I felt so confident about their original writing.
On that note, I’d like to see these titles continue to get well-received English releases, and indeed if I can be a little selfish for a moment; I’d very much like to work on any that come out in the future as well. This is a series that has been with me for a long time now, so I’d love to see it continue to thrive as a source of entertainment for many people all over the world.
KKB: Anything else you’d like to share?
AH: I’d just like to thank the broader Science Adventure and Visual Novel fan community for their overwhelmingly positive reaction to the release announcement so far. I know for a fact that both I and Spike Chunsoft have put in a lot of time and effort into trying to make the audience happy, it’s my hope that as many people as possible will enjoy this release. Please let me know how you find it once you’re playing, or once you’ve finished, seeing people enjoy the stories I play a part in bringing over is one of my favorite things to do after release.
We would like to extend our thanks to Spike Chunsoft, Inc. and Andrew Hodgson for their gracious support in the production of this interview.
ANONYMOUS;CODE’s English localization will launch on September 8, 2023 for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. To learn more about this upcoming release, check out our dedicated ANONYMOUS;CODE news page, or visit the official website.
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