Andrew Hodgson (born 15 January 1994), also known by the online alias Reading Steiner,
is a British professional Japanese-to-English
translator
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...
often working with
J-Novel Club
J-Novel Club is a publishing company specializing in the translation of Japanese light novels into English. It streams light novels and manga in regular installments before publishing finalized e-books. As of August 2021, J-Novel Club has licens ...
and PQube Games. His output encompasses numerous forms of Japanese media, including light novels, manga, video games, and art books. Some of his most notable works include ''
Steins;Gate
''Steins;Gate'' is a 2009 science fiction visual novel game developed by 5pb. and Nitroplus. It is the second game in the ''Science Adventure'' series, following ''Chaos;Head''. The story follows a group of students as they discover and develop ...
'', ''
In Another World With My Smartphone'', ''
Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris'', ''
Infinite Dendrogram
is a Japanese light novel series written by Sakon Kaidō and illustrated by Taiki. It began serialization online in 2015 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was acquired by Hobby Japan, who published t ...
'', and
''Rance X: Showdown''.
Career
Hodgson participated in various
fan translation
Fan translation (or user-generated translation) refers to the unofficial translation of various forms of written or multimedia products made by fans (fan labor), often into a language in which an official translated version is not yet availabl ...
projects for several years before, in 2011, joining a group that was working on localizing ''Steins;Gate''.
After the release of the fan translation patch, several members of the group, including Hodgson, were approached by
JAST USA
JAST USA is a publisher of English language, English-language versions of Video gaming in Japan, Japanese video games, specifically bishōjo games, dating sims, visual novels and History of Eastern role-playing video games, Japanese RPGs. It wa ...
about an official release.
''Steins;Gate'' would become Hodgson's first officially credited work.
In 2017, following his work on several additional video game projects, Hodgson approached J-Novel Club after learning that they had licensed the ''
Occultic;Nine
is a Japanese light novel series written by Chiyomaru Shikura, and is a part of the ''Science Adventure'' franchise. It was later adapted into a visual novel and published by Mages in November 2017. The light novel series is licensed in E ...
'' light novels, another entry in the
Science Adventure franchise of which ''Steins;Gate'' is a part.
Immediately after joining the company, he began work on ''In Another World With My Smartphone,'' and took over translation for ''Infinite Dendrogram'' shortly after.
Hodgson worked briefly with the now-defunct
Sol Press
Sol Press was an American publishing company that focused on localizing Japanese visual novels, light novels, and manga. Located in Orange County, California, it was formed in 2017. In October 2021, it was prohibited from doing business in the ...
, translating the first volume of ''Harem Royale: When The Game Ends'' in 2018. After the company's forfeit and closure, he characterized its leadership as inexperienced and uncommunicative. In 2021, Hodgson announced he was beginning work on ''Rance X: Showdown.''
In June 2022, Hodgson joined PQube full-time as their Localisation Coordinator, and became the Head of Localisation Operations in October.
Personal life
Hodgson has one younger brother and one younger sister.
Works
Light novels
Manga
Video games
Art books
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodgson, Andrew
Living people
Literary translators
21st-century British translators
Japanese–English translators
1994 births