Brandon Bovia
@brandonbovia.bsky.social
Localizing manga for 8 years with 200+ books published to my name. 2x Eisner nominated?!
Hobbyist graphic designer, animator, and Beyblade sicko
Hobbyist graphic designer, animator, and Beyblade sicko
Pinned
Brandon Bovia
@brandonbovia.bsky.social
· Jan 16
The English version of Beyblade X volume 1 came out this week! I've been a huge fan for basically my entire life, so it's an honor to get to do the lettering for the English version. I'd like to do a mini tour of some of my work, and explain what it is I even do.
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
It’s our new longest episode to date as @brandonbovia.bsky.social and I finally talk about the end of Whole Cake and the beginning of the Reverie! Oh my god there is so much good stuff in here to digest in terms of character. Love it! youtu.be/S_Sz1ocz8-A?...
One Piece at a Time Episode 195: Chapters 901-905 (Podcast)
YouTube video by Bitnerd Games
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 6:31 PM
It’s our new longest episode to date as @brandonbovia.bsky.social and I finally talk about the end of Whole Cake and the beginning of the Reverie! Oh my god there is so much good stuff in here to digest in terms of character. Love it! youtu.be/S_Sz1ocz8-A?...
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
Some of my anime friends don't follow politics as much, so let me explain it this way: Chuck Schumer is like the guy in every One Piece flashback who says we should trust the bad guy, and then in the next episode, the bad guy has hit foot on Chuck's back while Chuck says "BUT...BUT YOU PROMISED ME!"
November 10, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Some of my anime friends don't follow politics as much, so let me explain it this way: Chuck Schumer is like the guy in every One Piece flashback who says we should trust the bad guy, and then in the next episode, the bad guy has hit foot on Chuck's back while Chuck says "BUT...BUT YOU PROMISED ME!"
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
I sorta feel like as a black dude, if someone accused me of performative reading, I’d have to go punch their parents in the stomach and pray for an all-black jury
November 10, 2025 at 3:21 PM
I sorta feel like as a black dude, if someone accused me of performative reading, I’d have to go punch their parents in the stomach and pray for an all-black jury
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
Reminder that, unless a creative freelancer has a spouse with a day job that offers health insurance, they likely have an ACA plan. And with the hits to creative industries the past few years, I'm guessing many qualify for subsidies.
Related reminder that comic creators are freelancers.
Related reminder that comic creators are freelancers.
The average SNAP benefit per month is $177 a person.
The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.
People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.
And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.
The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.
People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.
And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.
November 10, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Reminder that, unless a creative freelancer has a spouse with a day job that offers health insurance, they likely have an ACA plan. And with the hits to creative industries the past few years, I'm guessing many qualify for subsidies.
Related reminder that comic creators are freelancers.
Related reminder that comic creators are freelancers.
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
November 9, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
The cheapest plan available to me (a Georgian) is over $1,000 a month. Healthcare is no longer an option for me. I will ration the medication I take for as long as I can and then I will wait to die.
So every freelancer you know is going to lose their insurance or be bankrupted by premiums because Schumer is an invertebrate
November 10, 2025 at 3:52 AM
The cheapest plan available to me (a Georgian) is over $1,000 a month. Healthcare is no longer an option for me. I will ration the medication I take for as long as I can and then I will wait to die.
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
In many ways I'm grateful to do these silly Top Games polls. People enjoy them and while it's a ton of work, it provides a small escape for people from whatever's happening in the world. Sincerely, thanks for watching, spreading the polls, or voting even once.
November 10, 2025 at 5:35 AM
In many ways I'm grateful to do these silly Top Games polls. People enjoy them and while it's a ton of work, it provides a small escape for people from whatever's happening in the world. Sincerely, thanks for watching, spreading the polls, or voting even once.
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
Delayed air travel is probably the only element of the government shutdown that actually inconvenienced dems in Congress, unsurprising that they folded basically immediately
November 10, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Delayed air travel is probably the only element of the government shutdown that actually inconvenienced dems in Congress, unsurprising that they folded basically immediately
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
maybe the Senate has outlived its usefulness
November 10, 2025 at 12:45 AM
maybe the Senate has outlived its usefulness
About to finish lettering my third volume of manga in 7 days and I'm not quite sure when I'm going to able to squeeze in a day off next lol. I'm tired of hustling!
November 9, 2025 at 10:26 PM
About to finish lettering my third volume of manga in 7 days and I'm not quite sure when I'm going to able to squeeze in a day off next lol. I'm tired of hustling!
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
No, but seriously? Over 30 people supposedly leaking information? All "coincidentally" from workers trying to unionize? With no widespread release of information in the rumor mills? The more you think about it the more it just cannot add up.
A very good point about the GTA VI fired workers stuff, that maybe doesn't even need to be said - if the workers were actually leaking information that wasn't just working conditions, it's GTA VI. We would've heard about a massive wave of information, the fact that there's nothing is telling.
November 7, 2025 at 7:17 AM
No, but seriously? Over 30 people supposedly leaking information? All "coincidentally" from workers trying to unionize? With no widespread release of information in the rumor mills? The more you think about it the more it just cannot add up.
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
people measurably don’t want to pay for AI-generated content. you can’t grow a business off of a product no one will pay for.
you don’t need to be an AI skeptic to understand that using AI like this will kill your business.
you don’t need to be an AI skeptic to understand that using AI like this will kill your business.
As machine translation tools under the banner of AI become increasingly accessible and easy to use, the light novel landscape is at a crossroads. Do light novel publishers compromise their product for more speed, and if so, by how much?
Does the Light Novel Translation Process Need AI?
www.animenewsnetwork.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:06 PM
people measurably don’t want to pay for AI-generated content. you can’t grow a business off of a product no one will pay for.
you don’t need to be an AI skeptic to understand that using AI like this will kill your business.
you don’t need to be an AI skeptic to understand that using AI like this will kill your business.
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
If you don't want gen AI in your manga, anime, game, and light novel translations, now is the time to make your voice heard. Write to your favorite publishers and developers and ask if they are incorporating LLMs into their process. And most importantly, tell them you will vote with your dollars.
As machine translation tools under the banner of AI become increasingly accessible and easy to use, the light novel landscape is at a crossroads. Do light novel publishers compromise their product for more speed, and if so, by how much?
Does the Light Novel Translation Process Need AI?
www.animenewsnetwork.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:46 PM
If you don't want gen AI in your manga, anime, game, and light novel translations, now is the time to make your voice heard. Write to your favorite publishers and developers and ask if they are incorporating LLMs into their process. And most importantly, tell them you will vote with your dollars.
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
Extremely proud and honored to have been part of the 8-4 team on Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment as an English Translation Producer and Editor! Huge huge thank you to Nintendo, @thehalpnetwork.bsky.social, and all our incredible voice actors for helping us bring this story to life!
November 6, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Extremely proud and honored to have been part of the 8-4 team on Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment as an English Translation Producer and Editor! Huge huge thank you to Nintendo, @thehalpnetwork.bsky.social, and all our incredible voice actors for helping us bring this story to life!
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
It was really cool to have a small part on this alongside such a talented team! Congrats all! 🎉
Extremely proud and honored to have been part of the 8-4 team on Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment as an English Translation Producer and Editor! Huge huge thank you to Nintendo, @thehalpnetwork.bsky.social, and all our incredible voice actors for helping us bring this story to life!
November 7, 2025 at 3:52 PM
It was really cool to have a small part on this alongside such a talented team! Congrats all! 🎉
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
Words cannot express how surreal it was to be asked to sign the wall at 84 HASHI and have my name displayed up next to so many legends 😭
Massive thank you to @84chokan.bsky.social & @sephazon.bsky.social for treating us to such an incredible evening!! ❤️
Massive thank you to @84chokan.bsky.social & @sephazon.bsky.social for treating us to such an incredible evening!! ❤️
November 7, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Words cannot express how surreal it was to be asked to sign the wall at 84 HASHI and have my name displayed up next to so many legends 😭
Massive thank you to @84chokan.bsky.social & @sephazon.bsky.social for treating us to such an incredible evening!! ❤️
Massive thank you to @84chokan.bsky.social & @sephazon.bsky.social for treating us to such an incredible evening!! ❤️
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
Happy to lend my expertise to this article.
Light Novels are already being pirated with machine translation. Publishers have been beaten to the punch — and will need human translation to earn their readers’ dollar.
Light Novels are already being pirated with machine translation. Publishers have been beaten to the punch — and will need human translation to earn their readers’ dollar.
As machine translation tools under the banner of AI become increasingly accessible and easy to use, the light novel landscape is at a crossroads. Do light novel publishers compromise their product for more speed, and if so, by how much?
Does the Light Novel Translation Process Need AI?
www.animenewsnetwork.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Happy to lend my expertise to this article.
Light Novels are already being pirated with machine translation. Publishers have been beaten to the punch — and will need human translation to earn their readers’ dollar.
Light Novels are already being pirated with machine translation. Publishers have been beaten to the punch — and will need human translation to earn their readers’ dollar.
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
this has been one of my hardest sells when i've been pulled on to a project for a mock review, consulting, and loc editor. because consumes don't care and continue to spend $$$ on titles w/ really messy loc, it's hard to convince the devs to invest in better loc overall. but i always fight for it.
i am so, so tired of the concept of a "perfectely serviceable" localization. we, as a society, should stop settling for "well, it's understandable so it's good enough" when the bar could be so, so much higher.
it's hard, HARD work and i would never discredit that, because i know how tough it is
it's hard, HARD work and i would never discredit that, because i know how tough it is
November 7, 2025 at 12:43 AM
this has been one of my hardest sells when i've been pulled on to a project for a mock review, consulting, and loc editor. because consumes don't care and continue to spend $$$ on titles w/ really messy loc, it's hard to convince the devs to invest in better loc overall. but i always fight for it.
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
My rewatch of Gundam X is definitely an interesting shift in my thoughts on the show from when I last saw it, but I've also found the meta commentary on Gundam as a whole to become far more obvious near the end. The SRA and UNE basically are Gundam otas and Bandai bickering over what defines the IP.
November 6, 2025 at 10:37 PM
My rewatch of Gundam X is definitely an interesting shift in my thoughts on the show from when I last saw it, but I've also found the meta commentary on Gundam as a whole to become far more obvious near the end. The SRA and UNE basically are Gundam otas and Bandai bickering over what defines the IP.
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
You don't need me to tell you this is yet more good money being burned after bad. But as someone who's worked with that QA team, I'll say they're unsung heroes who truly play a huge role in maintaining SE's reputation for high quality locs and to attempt to replace them with AI is deeply insulting.
Square Enix wants 70% of its QA work to be handled by generative AI by the end of 2027, in partnership with the University of Tokyo's Matsuo-Iwasawa Laboratory. https://bit.ly/4qKdyQR
November 6, 2025 at 5:46 PM
You don't need me to tell you this is yet more good money being burned after bad. But as someone who's worked with that QA team, I'll say they're unsung heroes who truly play a huge role in maintaining SE's reputation for high quality locs and to attempt to replace them with AI is deeply insulting.
This month is beating my ass already
November 5, 2025 at 10:43 PM
This month is beating my ass already
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
it's wild that anime is a worldwide, constantly growing, billion dollar industry and yet many of its junior staffers can't afford rent without assistance
Friends, #weebwednesday is upon us once again! You know the drill - quote-post with your weebiest hot takes, nothing racist, nothing intentionally inflammatory, have fun with it ♥
November 5, 2025 at 9:21 PM
it's wild that anime is a worldwide, constantly growing, billion dollar industry and yet many of its junior staffers can't afford rent without assistance
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
Young Magazine is holding a contest for which titles they'll localize next, and one is a sequel to Boys Run the Riot--a fashion manga by and about a trans guy.
You can vote once a day until November 10th--please give him your support!
young-magazine-usa.com
You can vote once a day until November 10th--please give him your support!
young-magazine-usa.com
Young Magazine US Official Website
Welcome to the official Young Magazine US site — read manga and vote for your favorite!
young-magazine-usa.com
November 1, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Young Magazine is holding a contest for which titles they'll localize next, and one is a sequel to Boys Run the Riot--a fashion manga by and about a trans guy.
You can vote once a day until November 10th--please give him your support!
young-magazine-usa.com
You can vote once a day until November 10th--please give him your support!
young-magazine-usa.com
Reposted by Brandon Bovia
They wont
But studios & workplaces should be paying for your licenses
But studios & workplaces should be paying for your licenses
November 5, 2025 at 2:13 PM
They wont
But studios & workplaces should be paying for your licenses
But studios & workplaces should be paying for your licenses