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Strike Witches Staffer's Dōjinshi Manga Now Fully Bilingual

Translator Dan Kanemitsu reported on his blog on Wednesday that the Strike Witches dōjinshi manga series co-created by Takaaki Suzuki (the historical advisor on the Strike Witches anime series) and artist Takeshi Nogami (Panzer fräulein ALTESEISEN, Sailor-fuku to Jūsensha) is now fully translated. A new, completely bilingual Witches of Africa manga compilation will ship in Japan on May 30 with both English and Japanese dialogue. The dōjinshi is not sexually explicit, and is considered partially official due to Suzuki's involvement. The story centers around the Witches of Africa campaign of the war storyline first described in Noboru Yamaguchi's original light novels.

The original Witches of Africa dojinshi was originally revealed a year ago, and has since been expanded to include three more chapters: Tiger in the Desert, Tiger in the Desert II, and The Stuka Witch. The new compilation includes the first three of these chapters; Nogami has redrawn some of the art, and the English translations and text have also been reworked. The compilation will also include a 24-page exclusive manga.

Suzuki has also written novels revolving around the same North Africa setting, which Kanemitsu says he will translate into English, but notes that translations of other Strike Witches-related works "is largely dependent on demand and enthusiasm from overseas." He notes that unauthorized fan translations have largely "soured" Japanese publishers on providing official English versions, but that Nogami himself personally pays Kanemitsu's fees for the English translations. Finally, Kanemitsu says that they are seriously considering releasing lower-priced digital versions of the works.

Kanemitsu translated the dōjinshi before Nogami's dōjin circle Firstspear debuted it at the Comic 1 convention in Tokyo last year. Nogami also made news last April when he responded to CNN's article regarding the controversy over the Japanese erotic game Rapelay.

Thanks to Stuart for the news tip.