Manga Translation Pioneer Toren Smith Has Passed Away
Writer James Hudnall has revealed word that 51-year-old Canadian manga translation pioneer Toren V. Smith passed away on Tuesday, March 5. Smith founded the Studio Proteus manga translating company in 1986, eventually producing English translations of manga titles including Kamui Gaiden, Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, Ah! Megami-sama, and What’s Michael? Smith wrote the original American Dirty Pair comic book series, based on Haruka Takachiho’s original sci-fi novels. In 2004, already anticipating the inevitable American anime & manga market crash that would later begin in late 2007, Smith sold Studio Proteus to Dark Horse Comics and shifted his focus primarily to involvement in the manga industry in Japan.
The global manga & anime community has lost a visionary without whom anime & manga would not have ever become as popular & successful in America.
Related Posts
About The Author
john
Add a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I totally agree. A true pioneer. His company really did excellent translation work with both the manga Dark Horse published and with the more adult manga the studio translated and uncensored for another company called Eros Comics. He will be missed.
Toren Smith 1960-2013 by Jonathan Clements at the Manga UK Anime Blog, and Gilles Poitras’ appreciation at his blog, Koyagid? Kanwa??????.
Personally, I was a regular on the old Studio Proteus Web site’s monthly letter columns back when.