RIP: Toren Smith, a Manga Translation Pioneer
Some sad news for anime and manga fans everywhere: Toren Smith has passed away. He was an early translator of many popular manga titles and helped bring over many early works. He helped translate The Legend of Kamui, one of the first manga titles brought over, and went on to found Studio Proteus which aided in bringing over manga like Akira, Appleseed, Astro Boy, Lone Wolf and Cub, and Nausicaa. He also helped found AnimeCon 1991, along with Gainax’s Toshio Okada and John McLaughlin. Gainax even featured him (in name) in Gunbuster to recognize his accomplishments. His influence has been felt far and wide, and the anime & manga industry today would be very different if not for his impressive body of work. He will be missed.