La Vie Sans Frontières

The Son of Man by René Magritte, 1964

Well, we have been releasing Monster Musume since October 2013, so it has been out for sometime now. I’m sorry to hear that you have not enjoyed our release, and we have always urged our readers to voice their critique in a productive manner (be it sending issues with the product here, or emailing us through our contact page on the website). We’re open to hearing from fans, and we do take your queries very seriously. 

That said, the original contains many word-based puns, so our translation is not far off from the source. We’ve discussed this series and the approach we take with it very carefully, and work to ensure it upholds the integrity of the original Japanese release. The fan translation, while you may enjoy it, is still an unauthorized (illegal) translation. We respect the zeal and passion of fans, but understand what your actions lead to: a scanlation is still a scanlation, no matter how you look at it. 

It also represents a translation that has not seen approval from official parties, and may not always represent an entirely accurate reflection of the original. Such nuances as “character voice,” and ease of readability are not often things considered in fan translations, which official translators, who are working on a product meant for a much larger audience, have to consider. There’s a large difference between what is expected of an unsanctioned translation, done in someone’s own spare time, and that of an official translation, which has to meet certain criteria and must be approved by multiple parties. 

It is ultimately your decision to not read and/or support the official English release, but we do hope you’ll give our version another chance. If you still don’t want to, then we hope you at least support the series by purchasing the Japanese editions.