About This Translation

Synopsis (modified from Wikipedia): 5 years ago, the 300-year-long war between the alliance of six nations and the Gaz Empire came to an end when Emperor Arthur Gaz, the Immortal Emperor of the Gaz Empire, was finally killed by eight warriors known as the Eight Heroes. After the war, the Empire’s lands were divided amongst the alliance, who later formed the Council of Six Nations to bring peace and order to the land.

Fast forward to the present, where Tohru Acura is a former Saboteur who lives with his sister Akari. He is unable to settle down in this peaceful era where there is no demand for his Saboteur skills, and he sees no meaning in his life. While out foraging in the forest, Tohru encounters Chaika Trabant, a white-haired girl with a white headband carrying a huge coffin who claims to be a Wizard. Taking note of their skills as Saboteurs, Chaika hires Toru and Akari for an important task; she is trying to gather the scattered remains of Arthur Gaz, and together they set off on an adventure of grand proportions that will leave the entire fate of the world hanging in the balance.

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Translator’s Introduction

Hey everyone, shiroi here. I used to be known as ramenpoodle when I edited for Amaburi on this site. I’ve only been studying Japanese for a little while, but I will do everything within my power to offer accurate translations that are fun to read!

This is my first project, Hitsugi no Chaika. It’s a light novel series written by Ichiro Sakaki, the creator of Outbreak Company, Macademi Wasshoi!, and Scrapped Princess, among others. In other words, he’s a prolific author that stays more on the fantasy side of things. You may have seen the anime for some of these.

You might have also seen the anime for Chaika. It got 2 seasons, and while the first season was decently received, I think we can all agree they made a botch out of the second one. I felt convinced that the series didn’t get the adaptation it deserved.

This is partly why I started this translation. I watch a LOT of anime so I’m not sure what specifically grabbed me about Chaika, but there was something that compelled me to want to read the original. And I thought, if no one had bothered to translate it, why not just do it myself?

If you’ve seen the Chaika anime and you think you’ve seen it all, think again. The light novel is chock full of extra scenes, bonus content, and even whole arcs that were cut out. To give you an idea, almost all of volume 1 was covered in the first episode. It goes without saying, then, that this 12-volume journey that you and I are about to go on is the definitive Chaika experience. And I have every intention of eventually translating all of it.

Chaika is, at its core, a story about an unmotivated yet talented freeloader, a psychotic, yet well-meaning (?) sister, and a naive girl wizard barely able to communicate. It is the story of them being forced to live in peace in a world previously ravaged with war, thrown into what has to be one of the world’s most dangerous and involved fetch quests, and accompanied by many different colorful (literally) characters along the way. There are, naturally, plenty of twists, turns, and political intrigue. The story begins where most JRPGs end…and in doing so it manages to subvert expectations, turning standard JRPG tropes on their head whenever it can. Tohru, Akari, Chaika and Frederica are all one big happy dysfunctional JRPG family, and I sincerely hope you all enjoy reading their adventures as much as I have fun translating them.

-shiroi

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The Hitsugi no Chaika Translation Team

Head Translator, Editor and Project Leader – shiroi

As blank, mysterious and white as his name describes, shiroi lives an elusive yet fulfilling otaku life, consuming as many light novels, anime, manga and video games as his schedule will allow. Hitsugi no Chaika marks his first series as head translator. Shocking Truth!

 

 

Former Editors and Helpers

-jarrguy

-highwind

-LockmanCapulet

-NanoDesu (for supervision and TL help)

Thanks for your indispensable contributions! 😀