Japan Startup To Use AI To Translate 50,000 Manga Comics Quickly & For Cheap
Japanese startup Orange Inc. estimated that it will be able to cut costs by 90% and speed up the translation process by five times through AI.
By Sukhbir Cheema — 10 May 2024, 03:46 PM
Artificial intelligence (AI) has plenty of uses, with one of them being translation. Japanese startup Orange Inc. now wants to take advantage of AI's translation capabilities.
The Tokyo-based startup announced plans on 7 May to translate manga into English using AI.
With Japan's manga market estimated to be worth USD42.2 billion (RM200 billion) by 2030, thanks to popular titles such as Dragon Ball and One Piece, AI innovation could be a game-changer.
Orange Inc. estimates that it will be able to cut costs by 90% and speed up the translation process by five times when it uses AI to translate manga
Currently, only a meagre 2% of Japan's staggering annual output of 700,000 manga volumes are translated into English.
Orange's marketing vice president Tatsuhiro Sato said to AFP that translating manga from Japanese to English is a painstakingly time-consuming process
"Compared to translation of a book, translating Japanese used in manga, which uses very short sentences of conversational language often full of slang, is extremely difficult," Sato explained to AFP, adding that there's a shortage of translators too.
"It is also difficult to figure out if the particular quote was actually said at a scene, or the line was a murmur inside one’s heart describing a mental landscape," he added.
With AI, Orange Inc. aims to produce a whopping 500 English-language manga titles per month, with a goal of 50,000 volumes within five years
The company plans to expand its translation services to other languages in the future.
Orange Inc. has raised a substantial 2.92 billion yen (RM107.84 billion) in funding from prominent publisher Shogakukan and nine venture capital groups
According to financial news site FinSMEs, the venture capital groups include Japanese government-backed JIC Venture Growth Investments, Globis Capital Partners, ANRI, SBI Investment, Miyako Capital, Chiba Dojo Fund, Mizuho Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, and GFR Fund.
The startup also aims to combat piracy in the manga industry, estimated at a staggering USD5.5 billion (RM26 billion) annually, through its innovative translation tool.
