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Some of my clients need text frames aligned to the edges of balloons/boxes while lettering in InDesign. I've been working on a script for the past few months to possibly automate this process. Sharing a small demo.

omg.. how powerful 😱 are you finding the boxes/bubbles from flat art?

you've unlocked a book from 2025! 💜💅

I haven't done any lettering showcases in a while, and never did Beyblade X volume 4 or 5, so I figure I'll just do both in one thread!

Iai White Purity Style rough draft.

The artist for BR is incredibly dense & detailed, so it was very hard to find the space to subtitle SFX without negatively affecting the reading experience. I tried to visualize the composition/focus and place accordingly... But a different letterer might have chosen a different spot!

manga panel with the subtitled SFX: BOOM

manga panel with the subtitled SFX: BAM

manga panel with the subtitled SFX: FLAP

manga panel with the subtitled SFX: KLANG

Battle Royale Deluxe Vol. 1 is out in the wild now!! I'm very happy to have gotten the chance to letter the new edition of this crazy series. Though after 600 pages of this I need something cute and fluffy to heal my soul...

manga/comics artists deserve to live full, comfortable lives into old age, and as a fan I’m not entitled to a particular release schedule or price point

that's how I'll be calling oomfs who do lettering

Immortality and Punishment! The first volume of this bleak zombie apocalypse manga dropped yesterday and I was tasked with some challenging, complicated bits of localization. So let's talk about it!

Is this the best translation of キラキラネーム ever?!

The 2025 roundup!

image with a bunch of covers of games and books, titled "2025 in review (with a smiley face)" GAMES category: guardians of azuma and story of seasons grand bazaar LIGHT NOVELS: bofuri 15, whoever steals this book, almark 1, and alya 8 GRAPHIC NOVELS: unholy blood 6, secretly hot husband 2, and villainess is a marionette 2

bit late, but here's everything I had a hand in that released in 2025! this was my first full year in the book side of loc, but I've been having a blast and am so excited to keep crossing paths with new people as I continue on in this industry! and there's more stuff on the way!!

A Man Who Defies the World of BL Vol. 1-4, Doll-Kara Vol. 10, Duchess in the Attic Vol. 6, Holoearth Chronicles Side:E Yamato Phantasia Vol. 1-2, I'm a Noble on the Brink of Ruin, So I Might as Well Try Mastering Magic Vol. 4-6, Make It Stop! I'm Not Strong... It's Just My Sword! Vol. 1-2, Mercedes and the Waning Moon Vol. 2-4, Monster Tribe Vol. 1-2, No Game No Life Chapter 2: Eastern Union Vol. 3, Otherside Picnic Vol. 13-14, Phantom Invasion Vol. 1-2, Tearmoon Empire Vol. 9, The Tiger Won't Eat the Dragon Yet Vol. 4, With You, Our Love Will Make It Through Vol. 3-4, Elden Ring: The Road to the Erdtree Ch. 56-76, I Was a Sacrifice but Now I'm a Consort to a God?! ~All the Princesses are Fluffy~ Ch. 59-70, Black or White, Vol. 10, Therapy Game Restart Vol. 5

Here's all the manga I lettered in 2025 (or lettered in 2024 but only announced this year)
I adjusted my layout from last year to include the publishers, because why not
A few of these series ended last year or will end soon, so I have room in my schedule for more work. RTs appreciated!

happy new year!
here's my '25 lettering summary
i'm so thankful to Matt for giving me an opportunity and kickstarting my professional lettering journey. i learned so much from him. i wish he could see how far i've gotten in just a few months...
i hope to letter more in 2026!

Kinokuniya-exclusive editions of Mushishi Collector's Edition and Witch Hat Atelier (They come with shikishi boards! Pending for Witch Hat)

Mushishi Collector's Edition Vol 1, Witch Hat Atelier Vol 1, Sheeta's Little Big World Vol 1-2, Sakamoto Days Vol 9-11, Tower Dungeon Vol 2-3

First book haul of 2026!!

The cover of Mushishi Collector's Edition volume 1.

A subtitled sound effect from the new English edition of Mushishi. Rough open block letters are surrounded by a screen tone that is scraped away in places, and sometimes crosses into the interior of the letters to mimic the original sound effect.

A subtitled sound effect from the new English edition of Mushishi. The original sound effect is cut in half by the arc of a slash. The english subtitle is nestled within a gap and is similarly bisected.

A subtitled sound effect from the new English edition of Mushishi. The original sound effect is over art with rough line art and dense screen tone. The line art was drawn approximately up to the edges of the katakana, and sometimes the screen tone is scraped away. The english sound effect is in an area with more dense line art, so it has an uneven outline made of the screen tone to keep the letters legible. Those outlines keep the tone contiguous with the art. White scraping is also visible.

There's a new English release of Mushishi, lettered by Phil Christie (@kernedout.bsky.social). I adore how Urushibara-sensei utilizes texture in her art, and how the sound effects inherit that texture. Phil does an amazing job replicating that with subtitled SFX. Notes in alt text!

It's a wrap for 2025, and here's my translation work that came out for the year (one image per series)! Sad to see the adorable glasses couple go, but also can't wait for some seriously cool projects coming out in 2026.

YAKG's dog wishes you a very happy New Year~

Happy New Year ('s Eve for North America) 🥳

What were your favourite games from 2025? Was "Yet Another Killing Game" one of them? 👀👉👈

Collage of series TJ edited in 2025, part 1: The Ayakashi Hunter’s Tainted Bride Vol. 1, A Vampire in the Bathhouse, The Blue Wolves of Mibu Vol. 4-7, I Cross-Dressed for the IRL Meetup Vol. 3, Issak Omnibus Vol. 1-6, Light of My Life, Love on the Horizon Vol. 1-2, Omega Megaera Vol. 1-2.

Collage of series TJ edited in 2025, part 2: Omega Megaera Vol. 3, Blue Lock Omnibus Vol. 1-2, The Seven Deadly Sins Manga Box Set 6, Sketchy Vol. 5-6, The Spellbook Library Vol. 3-4, Wandance Vol. 12-13, Whisper Me a Love Song Vol. 9-10, Witch Hat Atelier Manga Box Set 1, You’re All Mine Tonight.

A quick snapshot of all the manga I had the honor and pleasure of working on in 2025—the majority of which are all out now, with a few coming soon in early 2026. Excited to continue making manga in 2026!

Happy New Year from Japan!

As we enter the new year, we would like to express our gratitude to all of our readers who supported us in 2025.
Although Manga Planet's online platform will be closing, we hope for your support in 2026 as we continue working to keep delivering print manga to the world!

Some titles I lettered in 2025~ (ꈍᴗꈍ)♡

the cover of volume 1 of The Bugle Call: Song of War, by Mozuku Sora and Higoro Toumori A horned boy clad in green holds a bugle. Behind him are a row of spears, a towering spire, and rays of light.

the cover of volume 1 of Adabana, by NON a monochrome girl stands in a snowy field. behind her are gray trees and a blood-red sky

the cover of Elden Ring: Official Art Book: Volume III Messmer the Impaler, abandoned son of Marika, sits atop a throne, holding his spear and a dark-red fireball. A winged serpent coils around him. The backdrop is the Scadutree and the Land of Shadow.

my updated life-to-date mosaic of translation work, with the three new book covers added to the grid (which is now a clean 7 x 13)

2025 TL roundup-
three new titles for the life-to-date mosaic

straight-to-GN manga: 34 📚
add'l GNs via simuls: 10 📑
simul chapters: 55 💻
simul chapters done on the Osaka->Yokohama Nozomi shinkansen, in a harrowing battle with spotty wifi: 2.5 🎡🚄🐙
still-NDA titles: 3
QA'd GNs: 70🔎❌
lectures: 1 🗣️📈

Here's my roundup of all the manga I worked on in 2025. 76 in total, up six from last year, with a dozen new ongoing titles on the list.

insane 😭♥️

Here's all of the books I lettered in 2025.

83 in total (88 if you count omnibuses) & almost 200 simulpub chapters.

It's been a busy year (20,000+ pages)—not much sleep, but thanks to everyone I work with, the localisation community and all the readers!

Happy New Year! See you all in 2026!

Collection of covers for light novels and manga that Carly Smith worked on (or published) in 2025. Light novel editing: The Legendary Witch Is Reborn as an Oppressed Princess (volumes 3–5), The Tiny Witch from the Deep Woods (volumes 1–3), My Magical Career at Court: Living the Dream After My Nightmare Boss Fired Me from the Mages' Guild! (volume 6), Buying You on the Day You Were to Die, and 1 gray box stand-in with the text "Coming Soon." Manga editing: After School Etude (volumes 2–3), Otonari Complex (volumes 3–5), Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire (volume 6), Throw Away the Suit Together (volume 3), Death's Daughter and the Ebony Blade (volumes 5–7), and 2 gray box stand-ins with the text "Coming Soon." Copy editing and proofreading (both light novels and manga): Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools (Side Stories, volumes 10–11), Lucia and the Loom: Weaving Her Way to Happiness (volume 3), Goodbye, Overtime! This Reincarnated Villainess Is Living for Her New Big Brother (light novel; volumes 3–6), The countess Is a Coward No More! (volumes 3–4), The Beginning After the End (volume 9), A Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires (light novel; volume 1), Lady Bumpkin and Her Lord Villain (volumes 3–5), This Gyaru's Got a Thing for...Vampire Hunters?! (volume 1), The Fearsome Witch Teaches in Another World (light novel; volume 1), Liar, Liar (light novel; volume 7; coming soon), Even a Replican Can Fall in Love (light novel; volume 4; coming soon), and a gray box stand-in with the text "Coming Soon."

It's that time of year... Tiny cover images to show off what I worked on this year! I edited 9 novels, 12 manga (though several of these were things I actually worked on previously but didn't publish until this year), and a whole heck of a lot of copy edits and proofreads of various books!

Hi! Here's every manga I lettered in 2025. 40 volumes, maybe 43ish if you count omnibuses. This was a recovery year for me "technically" but I still ended up pretty overloaded. I have about the right workload, but time management is a tricky beast. Will try better next year!

2025 Lettering in Review Seven Seas: Malevolent Spirts: Monogatari - Volume 14 Kenono Jihen - Volumes 17 to 20 100 Girlfriends - Volumes 16 to 18 Wait I Love You - Volumes 1 and 2 Chainsmoker Cat - Volumes 1 and 2 Yen Press: Story of My Fiancee - Chapters 76 to 83 Spy Classroom: 2nd Period - Volume 2 Spy Classroom: 3rd Period - Volumes 1 and 2 White Rabbit - Volumes 2 and 3 Helena and Mr. Big Bad Wolf - Volume 2 BS Situation - Volume 2 Pandora Seven - Volumes 5 and 6 Level Up With The Gods - Volumes 1 to 3 Corpse Knight Gunther - Volumes 1 and 2 Secretly Hot Husband - Volume 5 Battlefront of the Great Powers - Volume 1 Guillotine Bride - Volumes 1 and 2 Kodansha/KMANGA: Blue Lock - Volumes 33 to 37 Blue Lock: Episode Nagi - Volumes 7 and 8 Elegant Yokai Apartment Life - Volumes 30 and 31 Mangamo: Tokyo Death Game - Chapters 44 to 46 J-Novel Club: Elf Bride - Volume 13 Elf Bride Spinoff - Volume 3 Bibliophile Princess - Volumes 9 and 10 Der Werwolf - Volume 11

Another year is in the books, so here's what I lettered in 2025!

Here's hoping to another great year in lettering for 2026!

it's that time for an end-of-year lettering review!! the amount of work i did was DOUBLE what i did in 2024. i really locked in this year and next year i'll be even busier!!

i'm so thankful that i get to do this job and chat with so many cool people. cheers to more great things in 2026!!! 🫶🫶