Revolutionizing the Manga Industry: Orange Inc. Uses AI to Speed Up Translation and Combat Piracy

On Tuesday, a Japanese startup announced its plans to utilize artificial intelligence to speed up the translation of manga comics into English while significantly reducing costs. Mangas like “One Piece” and “Dragon Ball” are highly popular in Japan, with the market expected to be worth $42.2 billion by 2030, as reported by Orange Inc.

Despite the success of mangas, only two percent of Japan’s annual output of 700,000 manga volumes are released in English due to the challenging and time-consuming translation process and a scarcity of translators. Orange’s technology aims to increase the production of English-language mangas to 500 per month, which is five times higher than the current industry capacity, with a target of 50,000 volumes in five years before expanding to other languages.

Translating manga poses unique difficulties, as stated by Orange’s marketing vice-president Tatsuhiro Sato, who highlighted the complexity of translating Japanese conversational language that often contains slang and short sentences. Moreover, determining whether spoken lines were actually said in a scene or represent internal thoughts can be a challenge. Additionally, the original text being written vertically and conveying Japanese sound effects into English add to the complexity.

To combat this challenge and reduce costs significantly, Orange secured 2.92 billion yen ($19 million) in funding from major publisher Shogakukan and nine venture capital groups, including the government-backed JIC Venture Growth Investments. The startup’s AI tool not only promises to increase translation efficiency but also aims to combat piracy in the manga industry, which is estimated to be worth $5.5 billion annually according to Content Overseas Distribution Association.

In summary, Orange Inc.’s AI technology aims to revolutionize the manga industry by increasing translation efficiency and combatting piracy while significantly reducing costs. With its unique approach and funding from major publishers and venture capital groups alike, Orange Inc.’s technology has enormous potential for growth in both Japan and beyond its borders.