The prompt for this week on Women in Translation Month is “Asian continent, Africa, and Oceania”. That’s a heck of a lot of territory to cover, but it is not quite as big as it seems because so many of the people from those parts of the world are able to write in English; or in French or Spanish which also have big markets. The best places to look for translations are probably Japan, China and Russia (which I’m counting as Asian because much if it is, and because I didn’t mention it last week).
To Japan, then, which means manga and anime. One of the best known anime series in the West is Sailor Moon. It began life as a manga written and drawn by Naoko Takeuchi. Wikipedia says the books have sold over 35 million copies. All of which probably makes Takeuchi the most successful female science fiction writer that you have never heard of. Her profile on Anime News Network says she owns a Ferrari and a Porsche. You go, girl!
Sailor moon! Did you know that they relaunched the anime series in this summer?
I did, yes, though I haven’t yet figured out how to watch it in the UK. Crunchyroll tells me that it’s not licensed for my region. I’m planning to ask Sarah Ash at Worldcon.
NicoNico has worldwide streaming rights– you should be able to access it here.
Got it. I’ve seen Acts 1 & 3, but aside from 1 the episodes are time-limited and I’ve missed Ami’s origin. 🙁
Hulu still has Act 2 up, but like Crunchyroll they don’t have UK rights.
You can see extensive highlights here: http://youtu.be/tqsEo4w0_cI.
I think it’s possible that Rumiko Takahashi is actually the most successful female sf writer most people have never heard of, given that she’s responsible for both Ranma 1/2 and Urusei Yatsura. (But IMHO, Sailor Moon is the better work.)