What’s your experience in translating Japanese, and what piqued your interest in translation these novels?

I’ve been playing video games in Japanese since I was about 13 (around 1998!), and learned a bit of it through both study and just by playing. A little over 15 years ago I unofficially translated a few manga (mostly Zelda!) and posted them online (then took them down myself out of guilt over posting someone else’s art without their permission). I also translated a Kingdom Hearts novel (which I never ended up posting publicly for similar reasons). Shortly after that I somehow fell away from playing games in Japanese (When it came out, Mother 3 was one of the last ones I played in raw Japanese, I think!) and doing any translation work.

Around 5 years ago I decided to pick Japanese back up, and I started with Kanji study, since that’s where I was always weakest. But the problem was, I wasn’t actually applying what I was learning, which meant it wasn’t “sticking” quite right.

Around this time last year, Pollyanna happened to come on while I was listening to music, and it reminded me of how awesome the Mother series is. It happened to be near my birthday, so as a treat, I replayed Mother / EarthBound Beginnings (my first time playing it in English, on Wii U!)

This reminded me that when I was younger, I really, really wanted the Mother novel. My friend Path had bought it for me for my birthday close to twenty years ago, but she started reading it and fell so in love with it I let her keep it. 😂 I got kinda distracted (as I do) and hadn’t thought about it again until last year. And I thought it might be a perfect way to solve my Kanji dilemma, by applying the ones I had memorized while also reading something I had been meaning to for so long (and was TOTALLY in the mood for!) So I paid eBay prices (ouch) and finally got my own copy. ❤

I had only meant to read it. But I got to a part in chapter 1 that I thought was funny, and I typed it out in English to amuse Path. She laughed, and said basically, “You know, no one’s ever translated this book before. Maybe you should.”

And now here we are. 😂

Previously small pieces of the MOTHER novels had been translated and summarized by both Clyde “Tomato” Mandelin and Lindsay “Chewy” Moore. Did you take any inspiration from their efforts into your own? Or were you looking to moreso include your own voice in your translation?

When Path told me “No one’s ever translated these before”, I took that at face value. I was surprised to hear that, since it’s Mother, and while I’m not super active in any fandoms online, I know the Mother community is kinda known for Doing It Themselves when they have to. 😂 I went into this figuring someone else HAD translated both of these, but didn’t look into it, because I wanted to read them in Japanese to strengthen the Kanji muscles, anyway. When I was already a decent amount into translating book 1, someone did mention to me that there were chapter summaries up “somewhere”, but I specifically made sure NOT to look for them because I didn’t want any spoilers (I went into both books totally blind and I could NOT be happier about that, these were an absolute RIDE, both of them!). And, if I can be honest, I was also afraid I’d see how bad a job I did. 😂 I have seen a bit of the chapter summaries since finishing book 1, and when they lined up with what I had written out, I almost cried. (I have very little faith in myself, haha)

When I was about halfway through book 2, Path somehow ended up finding out that Chewy had translated that entire book (I think?), and when she told me about that, I almost put the whole project away entirely. But after looking into it a bit, I saw that Chewy had never posted theirs, and I wasn’t sure why, but since I was already halfway through mine and I really wanted to build up a “portfolio” for myself, I finished it and posted it. I have been hoping ever since that I didn’t cause any trouble by posting these online. 😭

How do you feel Kumi’s interpretation of MOTHER compares to Itoi’s own writing in the games? As she was personally chosen by Itoi to write these novels, do you feel they compliment each other in any way?

I absolutely love Saori Kumi, haha. I have since bought a few of her original novels and I can’t wait to read them! I believe in one of the afterwords (Mother 2, I think!) she talks about how she thought she could present another view on these worlds as a female author, and I think she nailed that by presenting Mother 1 through Ana’s eyes. I have to admit that after the book arrived and I excitedly started to read it, I was really disappointed to find out Ana was the main character (all those years I had expected it to be about Ninten!) but Ana grew on me FAST. I adore her!

Kumi also writes about some strange and uncomfortable things. Anyone who has made it through both novels knows what I mean, haha. And actually, this made me nervous about posting them in the end, too. Again, for a while there I didn’t know anyone else had written up summaries or anything, so I thought whatever I posted would be brand new to everyone, and a lot of it is wierd. But I do feel that somehow fits Mother. Mother is weird. 😂

Beforehand, the novels had mostly been known for it’s absurdist elements unique from the games, such as Porky owning a Ferrari. In your own words, what would you say to others to convince them to give these novels a read? What makes them special?

What I love about these novels is that they’re close enough to the games to give you feelings of nostalgia, but then at times Kumi will go absolutely off-roading on you. 😂 Another thing she mentioned in the afterwords is that she was told specifically to make these novels different from the games (and Itoi also told her both times to “do whatever you like”), and she sure did. Again, I’m very glad I went into these novels “blind”. I’m sure a few times my neighbors heard me loudly reacting to some parts. 😂 In fact, I’ve seen a few people mention that they “skimmed around” or skipped to the end, and that absolutely breaks my heart. Maybe I’m biased, because Mother/EarthBound has always been one of my favorite game series, but I loved every minute of these books, and watching them unfold was incredible.

Also I love Lloyd. And every single Lloyd moment in book 1 brought me a joy I can’t even describe. 😂 Turns out (more from the afterwords!) that Kumi also loves Lloyd (and Jeff!) and you can feel that. So anyone out there who happens to like Lloyd or Jeff, please do yourself a favor and enjoy Kumi’s renditions of these characters. I’m begging you.

But also, all the characters are good. All of them. And both stories will surprise you, no matter how well you know the games, and that, I think, is the best part. ❤