Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!! Changes - Updated[2/15]

Arcana Heart 3: LOVEMAX!!!!! is the the latest update of EXAMU's Arcana Heart 3. It is scheduled to be released in winter of 2013. It is current under development, but has a tentative change list from recent location tests. Special thanks to Canon for listing the changes on his blog

Changes!!!!!

[ Feb. 14th ] The change list has been updated with information from the new location test change list.  OUT DATED

System changes!!!!!

Homing

-The time before you can start homing after a jump is slightly longer

-If you land during homing, you can no longer block during the landing recovery

Extend Force 

-When you activate Extend Force (EF), you will instantly recovery your current Arcana Guage

 -You can now EF during guard cancels.  EFs during guard cancel and at neutral will cause an Extend Burst

Extend Burst

- Extend Burst (EB) activation has invincibility and cause a no-damage wallslam attack

Arcana Eclipse

- During EF, you can activate an Arcana Eclipse (AE) with 214B+C. Using your AE will end EF

Arcana Burst

-You can burst during EF recovery

Recovery

-You can air recover with A B C or D and ground/wall recover with A B C D or E. You can just hold the button down for all techs

Other

-All characters have more health

-The two frame gap where you could not block is now cancellable

-The glitch where some arcana supers did not get the extra AG recovery time has been corrected

-The proration bonus for counter hits has been weakened

-The offensive power ratings (multipliers) have been modified

Characters!!!!!

Akane Inuwaka

-Guts down

-5B does less damage and is air blockable. Has better prorate

-6C's first hit is air unblockable and the second hit cannot be jump canceled anymore

-Tamafuri (22) has less recovery, but you cannot cancel into it with kotodama

-Tsuki Hoe (28) has it's start up altered and the start up is faster. The C version will guard crush airborne opponents

-Torigake A's movement is faster but has more recovery

-Hananagi's ground version has a new animation and proration is better

-Hana Utsushi has a new animation for the counter hit

Angelia Avallone

-2C is now two hits but lost its gatling to 6C

-Marlin attacks have been changed to n+BC

-Neutral throw has a new animation

-Starlight's clash properties change depending on how hard/long you push the button

-Vertical Starlight can now be used in air with J[8]2

-Drop kick now has 5 levels and is homing cancellable. You can also cancel into it from her teleport. And you can do it in air now. If you push another button down while you charge, then release the original button, the time will stack

Catherine Kyohbashi

-A and B missile launch are faster and have better recovery

-The cancel timing for I'll Smush Ya! (air) is quicker

-You can use Hover on the ground with BC and cancel into it from JE

-You can only use Chibigawa a number times per match and it has more recovery. The amount of times you can use it per match depends on the number of rounds.

-Cathy has new super, a timebomb with 236AB

Clarice Di Lanza

-J1C is faster and chains to JE

-La・Granfia and La・Falla do 3 hits and you can use the follow up if it whiffs

-La・Brezza has better start up, has throw invincibility for its start up, she moves faster. Landing recovery changes based on if it was blocked/hit or whiffed

-La・Catena will chip 0.25 of your opponents MAX arcana guage

-La・Vicenda is now 22A and it can be done in air

-La・Ripresa is a new move that is done with 22B during Il・Rapimento

Dorothy Albright

-5A is faster, has better duration, but worse starting prorate

-6B has new gatlings from 5B, 2B and 4B

-J2B will go backwards slightly if you do J1B

-All B moves (Except 6B) have more block stun on the last hit

-Fold; a new move that makes a new card appear with BC

-Ground Ten is bigger and will start up faster when an opponent touches it. It will not activated on a downed opponent

-Ten of Spades has longer duration. It will not activated on a downed opponent

-One Pair, Two Pair, and Three-of-a-Kind add more untech time on the last hit

-Magician's Choice (XH) knocks down now

Eko

-5A is faster

-You can whiff cancel 5B with moves that are over specials

-2B now arcana combos into 5E

-JE is now 4 hits

-Prince C (623C) has longer invincibility

-Drawings are chargeable can be selected depending on how hard you hit the button

-A new drawing super with 22AB

-Gentlemen!! (XH) is now [2]8AB, the start up is faster, and the HP requirement is gone. The down charge is 180 frames long. You must do [2]8 ([2]9 etc will not work)

Elsa La Conti

-5B has a better hit and clashbox, duration, and moves forward more

-J4B has better duration and a bigger hitbox

-You can interact with the Sanctus bottles with more attacks than just Kyrie. Also, their trajectory and number of times that they can bounce are different. The air version has better recovery

-Benedictus is overall shorter in frames. The attack is bigger and the untechable time is longer.　It makes the same sound as Sanctus and there is less chip damage

-Communio downs on hit and the holy looking stuff stays after it lands on the ground. The opponent will float it if you OTG them after a successful communio

-Gladius' second hit comes out faster if you couldn't lock with the first. The recovery is also better

Fiona Mayfield

-Jump recovery is a little bit better

-Faster homing

-5B is slower, does less damage, but has longer duration and more upward reach. Longer recovery

-JB is slower, has shorter duration, more recovery and a smaller hitbox

-2B is faster and does more damage

-Caletvwlch (623) can now be preformed in the air

-Collbrand does less damage and knocks down on hit

-Grand Divide is faster, your upper body hitbox is narrower, and you move more during the attack

-Misty Chain's kara-cancel has been removed

-Misty Chain has more recovery if you don't do the follow up

Heart Aino

-JA's starting prorate is heavier

-JC untech time has been reduced and can't chain into JE anymore

-Heartful Punch is two hits and you can use the follow up even if it whiffs

-Ribbon Beam has better start up

-Love Tekken Punch is chargeable now

-Sugoi Special Kick's shock wave is now a low and is all-cancellable.

Kamui Tokinomiya

-Her old 6A is back

-JA is bigger (horzontally)

-Habaki A has less projectiles and has less recovery

-Habaki C's second projectile comes out on the second slash. The second slash is now all-cancellable

-Uruma is now a low and the attack is bigger

-Kanagiryou's blowback is different and the stance is homing cancellable

-Kuishi's blowback and whether it is air unblockable or not is now dependent on the which part of the move hits

Kira Daidohji

-5B and 6C are now chargeable

-Ekodashiki Cluster's launch properties have been changed. The recovery on hit and block have been changed

-Ekodashiki Rocket's is super cancellable now

-Physical invincibility has been added to Daidohji Bunker Buster A

-Physical invincibility has been added to Daidohji Bunker Buster B

 -You can change the jump trajectory with 4 or 6 for Daidohji Bunker Buster C

-You can use Daidohji Bunker Buster in air with 623+X

-Flying Armageddon has more vertical reach

Konoha

-5B has better start up, duration and worse recovery

-5B, 2B, and 6C followups for Hayate Tsuki have been changed

-The hitbox on the first part of Takinobori is narrower but, you can follow up the part right before she lifts off the ground into Doton no Jyutsu

-The A follow up to Doton no Jyutsu has longer hitstop and is air unblockable

-Midare Kunai's kunai spread has been randomized

-Damage has been reduced for Konoha Special

Lieselotte Achenbach

-5C(no doll) is only one hit now

-C attacks with the doll have less invincibility now

-Parted Soul now does multiple hits

-Endless tears is a new super move that you can do off Tyrannical Whip

-Unstoppable Bend has a longer duration now and the second hit is faster

-Death Inviting Gebel (super cmd throw) is now 623+AB. Unclashable

-The doll will comeback during superflash for Swindler's Red Tears

-The doll will be stored -immediately- after super recover

Lilica Felchenerow

-6C moves forward more, and the blowback properties are different on the first and second hit

-Drive Edge has lowerbody invincibility from the jump until the attackbox comes out.

-Screw Edge's hit back has been expanded downward and she rises less

-Quick Air improves proration if you use it in a combo

-Flip Through is faster, has a better upward hitbox, has better recovery on hit, and can be repeated on block. The launch properties of the Screw Edge follow up have been changed

-You no longer have a collision, hit or counterable hitbox during Night Stream's movement part. There are more bats and the timing for their startup is different

-Cyclone Storm has better start up, moves faster and has less recovery on hit

Maori Kasuga

-6B has a bigger hitbox and it pulls the opponent in more

-2C is faster, has better recovery and launches, and does more damage

-Sekka no Mai's string can be blocked crouching and the proration is heavier

-Sekka no Mai's top comes out faster, has better duration, and a better upward hitbox

-Tsumijigake (normal sister fall) corrects direction that the opponent is blocking in and the C version has more recovery

-Raijin Otoshi is now usable in air with J421X

-Hikejigake is faster and your counterable frames are shorter

-Gagakusonae will let the sister say out forever and you can use them twice. Also, using a move that uses either little sister will cancel Gagakusonae

-The air version of Hama no Shishiku's start up invincibility is longer

Mei-Fang

-2B is faster but has less hitstun

-6C has different blowback properties and gattlings to B and C moves for arcana combos

-JC is faster, has better duration and a better downward hitbox

-Genbu Toujin can now be cancelled into Byakko Houken or Seiryuu Kouzan on the first or second hit

-Byakko Houkencan be followed with Seiryuu Kouzan on hit or block

-Seiryuu Kouzan can be followed up with Suzaku Hourin on hit or block

-Kirin Kougeki moves forward more before hitting and guard crushes airborne opponents.

Nazuna Inuwaka

-Spirit guage consumption has been adjusted for all moves. You recovery more when the bird is in stand-by

-JC has a larger upward hitbox

-You can cancel all bird techniques into specials

-Kagiroi A is faster and had its blowback properties changed, but has less duration

-Choujutsu・Shirayumi is faster

-With Choujutsu・Nuedori, while the bird is on stand by, you can move it around with the stick

-Shoukan・Suzubachi has shorter recovery and the projectiles release quicker

-Choujuu・Ioenami  has better range and the bird moves faster

Petra Johanna Lagerkvist

-6C the two shots are now two different hitboxes. Also, you can only jump cancel it with a high jump

-L.G.A charge-1 is now L.G.A charge-X. The amount you charge depends on the button you use

-L.G.A dodge's cancel timings have been changed

-L.G.A dodge cannot be EFC'd

-L.G.A fire type-α (air) is now L.G.A fire type-α'. The recovery after hit is less and the hit properties of ground hits for anything over Lv1

-L.G.A fire type-β, L.G.A fire type-β', and L.G.A fire type-β'' are now L.G.A fire type-β and lv3 shots rebound fewer times

-L.G.A Fire Type-β’ can now be used in air

-L.G.A Combination Fire can be ground teched

Saki Tsuzura

-JE's hit properties have been changed

-5C is now her old 6C

-6C is now her 5C

-J2B is now J3C

-La'a is now 63214X and can be followed up with 28X

-Brionac can be followed up with Fragarach on hit or block

-Gae Assail is a new super move done with [8]2 in air

-Gulff・Dagda(XH) has an attackbox during the rush forward and locks on hit now

Scharlachrot

-JA slower, less duration

-You can follow J6B with JB on hit, but you cannot jump cancel it anymore

-J6C is slower, has landing recovery, a larger upward hitbox and different blowback properties

-Fulcrum Schlinge (236) has faster start up and less recover in air. You can also HC it now

-Burst Anzunden had an attackbox added for Scharl's hand

-You can cancel Snap Springen in the middle of the jump

-Drive Lauffen is a new special that you can do with [6] off Bind Ketten

-Armor Ruestung adds more untech time and the C version has different blowback properties. It can also be done in air now

Weis

-Her crouching hitboxes are bigger

-Backstep has less physical invincibility

-5C's jump cancel is HJ only now and it has more recovery

-2E has longer duration, better recovery and she moves more

-Rush Greiten (236)  has an attack during the rush forward and the A version will not go into the slash if it whiffs

-Drill Fliegen can clash now. The first hit does less damage

-Set Miene (214) is over all shorter frame-wise, has a larger spread, but the projectiles release slower

-Release Tatigkeit has a larger attack spread

-Pursuit Juergen is a new move that you can do after Tatigkeit with 214

-You will be able to move in air after the recovery of Layer Meteora (63214A+B) on hit

Yoriko Yasuzumi

-Backstep has less invincibility

-Mike has a hitbox before his neck extends for all command moves

-J3/6/9C is now J3/6/4B+C

-Air grab has been changed

-The effects of Ancient Talisman are now shorter

-Howling Anguish of Hades now reaches even higher up if you hold the button down during the effects of Ancient Talisman

Zenia Valov

-2C only does one hit now but does more damage

-JC is faster

-J6B does more damage and has a bigger clashbox. If you clash before the attack comes out, the attackbox will be preserved

-C Disturbed Gust's (236 follow up C) animation is different and can be followed up with A B or C on while hitting

-Whirlwind's (236's) command grab can now grab opponents in hitstun

-Raging Dark Tornado ([2]8) can now be homing canceled

-Anti air Golden Edinorog is faster

-The Edinrog guage fills up faster

Arcana!!!!!

Gier - Dark

-The shadow moves faster when you hold Dark's special moves

-Opponents will be in a blowback state after un-slime'ing

-Schere's first attack is bigger now

-AE: A giant something jumps at the opponent

Ohtsuchi - Earth

-Keystone falls faster and does more damage on a downed opponent

-Kaichimon (fistcuffs) does more damage has less command priority than Keystone

-AE: Double fistcuffs

Dieu Mort - Evil

-Invalide does less damage, but poison and absorbs more meter

-Sacrifice is now homing cancellable after hit.

-AE: Miasma sticks to the opponent and drains their HP

Baldur - Fenrir

-Berger has better startup, overall shorter frame-wise and the explosion after a clash is bigger

-Falke has better duration and range is better

-AE: Several shells fire up and blow the area in front of you up

Lang-Gong - Fire

-Kakou En (stationary fire) does more damage and has longer duration

-Kakou En (stationary fire) at Lv3 does more damage and has less recovery

-The later half of Gouten Shou does more damage

-AE: Fireballs come out of the ground, then explode

Kayatsuhime - Flower

-Single Blossom trajectory is set with n+E (all 8 directions)

-When you Harvest, you will slightly increase the force guage even if you didn't harvest anything

-AE: Flower petals come down and form a sakura shaped projectile. Flower petal will come from any set flowers as well

Mildred - Halo

-Noble Photon's explosion is faster and the move is a different during EF

-Celestial Gate stops if you take damage

-AE: Mildred jumps the opponent

Almacia - Ice

-Naru (ice) takes less time to charge, has better start up and the charged versions do multiple hits

-Kurua (flake) is faster and has less recovery

-AE: A little spirit shoots out a huge iceberg

Partinias - Love

-Ekrixi (EF Attribute) let's you cancel from character supers to arcana specials

-AE: Fire three super lasers

Saligrama - Luck

-Shani and Mithraism do more damage but have more recovery. You can also change the trajectory depending on how long you hold the button down

-Soma has less recovery

-AE: Boosts your luck to the max (passives always activate, dice always roll 1)

Medein - Magnetism

-Trigger (orb) is slower but reels on hit and block

-AE: chinatown street garbage gathers and moves around

Oreichalkos - Metal

-Kuriodoes is faster but has more recovery and less damage at level 1 and 2. Less duration

-AE: A ton of swords spawn and rush the opponent

Heliogabalus - Mirror

-Speculum duration is a little longer

-AE: Call your own and your opponent's doppleganger

Moriomoto - Plant

-Vine has more recovery on guard and whiff

-Blessed Light's life regain stops when the EF guage hits zero

-AE: Plants from the spirit realm eat the opponent

Koshmar - Punishment

-Sword's first hit reels and the second hit is super cancellable

-AE: A lot of slash attacks

Zillael - Sacred

-Javelin fires two projectiles

-Bless has better recovery, longer effects, and you recovery some of damage from Baptism

-Holy voice is bigger

-AE: Shock wave and a bunch of spears fire

Sorwat' - Sin

-Pain and Siege trajectories change depending on where your opponent is

-Pain (ball) has better start up and a bigger hitbox but shorter duration

-AE: Tail impales the opponent

Bhanri - Thunder

-Emlon Enado (super thunder field) does more damage

-Brodeur Anam (AB) the part where the arcana explodes attacks too

-AE: Lightning comes down on the screen

Anutpada - Time

-Impurity's (backdash) double will come out exactly where you were standing

-Infinite Light no longer has hitstop after the stop effects

-AE: Changes your homing into teleports for a while

Phenex - Tone

-Echo's hitboxes are bigger are multi hit

-AE: A sound wave surrounds your character. Lasts  for a set period of time or until you attack

Gottfried - Tyr

-Salomo does  more damage but the proration is worse

-Kruger does more damage

-Limit Daluege (cage match) is a little bigger vs Cathy

-AE: Tyr does a super fast rush attack

Niptra - Water

-Cataracta (waterfall) now has a hitbox for when the bubbles  burst and the attack is wider

-AE: A huge bubble captures the opponent

Tempestas - Wind

-You can only jump cancel n[E]s, but you can now double jump cancel E moves that have you registered as airborne

-Fast fall always costs 1 meter

-AE: A giant wind boomerang

Japanese Middle Schools - The School Year

Japanese Middle, or Junior High Schools, have a number of interesting differences. I'll start from the minor items and work up to the more interesting things in different articles.

First off, the school day. There are usually six periods in a day. The classes and the order of classes are different everyday. For example, first period could be math on Monday, and then science on Tuesday. The subjects include: Math, Science, Social Studies, Japanese, English, Physical Education, Technical Education, Art, Music, Ethics and Home Economics. The standard subjects such as math and science are usually everyday. The other classes are rotated in and out, or are once a week. First period starts at 8:40AM at my school. The kids have to be seated for "homeroom" by 8:15AM. Unless you live the mountains or the middle of nowhere, there are no buses. They have to either walk or bike to school. Each period is 50 minutes and after classes are finished, club activities start almost right away.

There are all kinds of clubs for the students to join. To name a few: Basketball, baseball, volleyball, tennis, soccer, brass band, and art club. Since the time that the sun sets in Japan changes drastically from summer to winter, the times for clubs change as well. In the summer, it's usually from 4PM to 6:40PM. In the fall, it's from 4PM to 5:15PM. In the dead of winter, clubs are only until 4:15PM because it's pitch black by 5PM. This is a safety measure since most of the students do club activities, and most have to walk or bike home.

Lunch time. Lunch is after 4th period everyday. The students eat in their own classrooms in most schools. The meal is usually cooked up in a lunch center somewhere in the city, then delivered to the schools. The students get their lunches from where the lunch was dropped off, take it to their classrooms, then serve it to each of the students. Only after each student has been served can they start eating. After they've finished, they take it all the trays and dishes to where they got it from, so it can be delivered back to the lunch center for cleaning.

Next, cleaning time. After 6th period (or after lunch in some schools), the students clean the school. Each class is broken into groups, and each group has an assigned area to clean. One group could be the classroom, another the hallway or the bathroom. Most schools only have the standard weapons for the war against dirt: dust cloths, brooms, sponges and etc. There is almost always no running hot water in the schools, so using dust cloths to clean the floor in winter can be... not-so-fun.

Breaks are also different. Winter break starts before Christmas and ends "some time" after New Years. This year the break started from 21st of December, and school starts January 7th. Here, the school year starts after spring break, in April. Spring break starts from the third week in March, to the second week of April. Those breaks are relatively long, but their summer break is quite short. It starts from the third week of July until September. As a matter of fact, they still come to school after summer break starts in Elementary schools. They get weekends off, but since most of the students have clubs, they usually come back on Saturday and some Sundays for practice or tournaments. In middle school, they have club activities throughout all of their breaks.

That's most of what I can say about the most basic things for now. Next time, I'll talk a bit about the role of teachers in schools. If you have any questions, please ask!

-Bōnenkai-

-忘年会-
Literally, "forget the year meeting." 

Anyone who has the pleasure of socializing in Japan has probably noticed profound effects of alcohol on the average Japanese person. The red face, reduced space-bubble, increased boisterousness and "need to touch things." It's great really because it opens up people that are otherwise quiet and normally harder to talk to.

Japanese people, especially teachers, work extremely hard and need a chance to unwind every once in a while. One particular chance is called a Bōnenkai. It is a socializing event at the end of year, and is to forget the troubles of the past 365 days; there's no better method than the consumption of a lot of alcohol. 

I had the pleasure of attending one of these last year and it was quite the experience. 

These kinds of events are usually split into parts: the official meeting and the after party(ies). The first part is usually a standard, formal party. The one that I attended was at a fancy Japanese restaurant. After the opening ceremony, people usually walk around with adult beverages and fill each others glasses up. At these kinds of events it's a pretty big faux pas to fill your own drink. You either have to wait until someone comes around to you, or fill someone else's glass, then have him fill yours (no homo). However since these are often a race to see who can get the most wasted first, you won't be waiting long. 

There are often various games to go along with the festivities. Ranging from Bingo and how many 4 stroke kanji can you write, to rock paper scissors tournaments and guess which of these hands belongs to the opposite gender.

After closing the main event, many hold an after party. Now no longer under an official setting, the juice is let loose and all hell breaks out. The particular after party I went to was held at a karaoke establishment.

The most memorable part of the night was with a gentleman that was really getting into it. I had not talked to him much before but I could tell that he was having a pretty good time. I could tell because most Japanese adults (unlike my students) are usually not as straight forward with analyzing the tactile quality of my hair. However he was having no problems that night. 

Karaoke places usually have accessories and garments that you may equip to increase(?) your singing stats. The closest available one was the Cat Paw™. According to him, the appropriate way to using such an item is to hold your hand out like a stop sign, bend your fingers at approximately 45 degrees, and then say "nyaa" at no more than 55 decibels. The dynamics of this art are harder than one may estimate. He was very strict but I eventually gained his approval. 

After being forced gently encouraged to sing Baby by Justin Bieber by the other participants, I wondered as to where my Cat Paw™ master had gone. He shortly appeared in an AKB48 outfit and proceeded to entertain me with a lap dance during my performance. He, equipped with the miniskirt and Cat Paw™, could not be more than 2mm away from me for the rest of the night. 

The after party ended a couple more songs... and drinks. 
If you ever have chance to go to a Bōnenkai, I have several tips:

1. Do not pound drinks: Your (apparently) bottomless drinking hole will only encourage others to test your might.
2. Eat before going: There will be food... You will not get to eat it.
3. Take A LOT of money: You might run your wallet up around 10,000 to 15,000 yen.
4. Take this as a chance to really talk and socialize with your co-workers. There are few other chances to get them to loosen up.

Another faux pas is mentioning any potentially damaging event that occurred during drinking in public. Ever.

Projects: College Essay

A project that was brought to me a while back was for a college essay.

The woman wanted to apply for a certain nursing school in the states and wasn't confident in her ability to express herself to the college in English. That's where I came in. This was not a particularly difficult project, but it did have its peculiarities.

Prose in Japanese is a bit different from what Americans are used to. The flow of intentions is almost the opposite. In English we tend to sandwich what we want to get across. I remember learning the "Hamburger Model" in many stages of my education. We tend to use this even when we want to give people advice, bad-news and applying for a job. For documents like letters of intentions or essays, we usually say:

1. What we want
2. Why we want it　・　Why we should have it
3. Why the reader should want us too (restatement of what we want want)

There are extra things to accompany that, but that's basically what it is. English speakers are generally comfortable reading and writing professional letters in that format.

However, in Japanese, one usually doesn't state their intentions until the very end. Perhaps due to the structure of Japanese (SOV), what is being conveyed isn't expressed until the end of the statement. "I apples want" as opposed to "I want apples." So even in an essay or speech, what the writer/speaker's intent isn't fully apparent until the very end. All of the information that they want the listener/reader to know made explicit, then they state what they want at the end of it. This also shows up in their humor. As an example, Japanese people say that they never start laughing until the very end of a joke or story.

At the risk of rambling, basically, I had to transform her essay into what English speakers are used to reading without ruining her intents. Translating it itself was not difficult, but I did have to dance around the structure of the would-be English version.

If I was to do it again, I would like to meet with the person and talk about exactly what they wanted to express it make it even better; even more personal. There is only so much you can do with only text, but I feel like I did a good job on it.

I heard from her a while later and head that she got into the college and the program of her choice.

Projects: Bar Menu

One of the more fun projects I have had was making an English version of a Japanese menu.

The menu was for a small bar in the town of Iwakuni. This city is about forty minutes away from the city of Hiroshima, and it has a large American marine base in it. So there are many English speaking foreigners in that town. The bar was "foreigner friendly" (I'll touch on that if people want to hear about it), and a place that I frequented quite a bit.

I was always fine with the Japanese menu, but if I came with other foreigners, they most likely used the English menu. The problem was that it was missing about half of the original. When I asked the owner, "yo what's up with your English menu?" He said, "I don't know how to translate the rest myself, and just left it like that." So, like any aspiring business owner, I offered my services... as a favor.

The Japanese version breaks up the mixed drinks, beers and hard liquors like an other menu. Also, the names of drinks are just about the same besides a few exceptions. For example, the names of shots, from vodka to Jägermeister are usually written in katakana. Same goes for whiskeys. Miscellaneous drinks such as shōchū, umeshu, sake, Irish coffee and wines go under "Sake." There were also a lot of cocktail mixes that went under a different category. I used the official names for particular cocktails, such as gimlet (gin/lime), cape cod (cranberry/vodka) and vodka buck (vodka/ginger ale), then added subtext for what it is. The bar owner ask me to put additional "American cocktails" in there. So I added things like Long Island ice tea.

One intricate part was with the food and high alcohol cocktails. Like any good bar, this one had crazy, unique, "what the hell did I drink last night?" kind of drinks. And of course, with them came daunting names. For example: 三途の川 (lit: River of Three Crossings) and 閻魔大王の涙 (lit: The Great Enma's Tears). I called those drinks Sanzu River and Yama’s Tears respectively. There is no particular need to translate them literally/perfectly. The patron only needs to know, "hey, that's probably a crazy drink." So I translated them in a way that comes off the tongue easily. Things that are a mouth full to say can be a turn off, so one needs to be careful in that respect when doing menus.

Left-New | Right-Japanese Menu

The food was similar. The Japanese menu had food items like "Great smelling garlic fried rice with a side fresh lettuce." It's not strange in Japanese but it needs to be condensed and "sound appetizing" in English. So I went with translations like "Aromatic Garlic Fried Rice and Fresh Greens."

After that, I had a good friend of mine come up with a good template and plug it in. Since this is a menu, the presentation, the layout, and keeping it condensed is very important. He was able to balance all of these and make a great template for the menu. Frankly, I think it's better than the original menu.

The reward

In the end the owner was very happy with his new menu and said that the foreign customers are able to order more easily. We didn't ask to be paid, but he insisted that he compensate us somehow.

If I was to do this sort of thing again, I would like to use better materials to make the menu itself look extremely classy. The menu we made looks nice, but it's made from items from a 100yen store. It all, of course, depends on what restaurant or bar I am doing it for though.


By the way, don't drink the Sanzu River. It's like half gin, half black coffee...

Projects: Evolution 2010 - Letter to Ecole

One of the biggest tasks I've done as a translator was to write a letter to a game company and coordinate Japanese people for an American event. 

About 2 years ago, Melty Blood (MB) would finally see the limelight. Through a series interesting events, MB became one of the major games at Evolution 2010 (EVO). EVO is -the biggest- fighting game tournament in the United States. It has been gaining more and more attention over the years and is probably the biggest stage for fighting games in the world.

In order to make sure that it would be US-MB's finest showing, I did a number of things:

1. Advertise that Melty Blood would be at EVO as a major game on multiple Japanese sites.

2. Help coordinate the people that could come. Specifically: inform them on the best time to come, help them register, tell them who they should meet to and where they would be.

3. Write a letter to the creator of the game.

Number 1 was not terribly hard. I simply posted everywhere (on Japanese BBS) about what was happening, when and where. As you can expect, many people were very interested in coming. One problem though: Japanese Melty Blood players are cheap... potentially more so than their American counterparts. So there were about 12 people that really wanted to go, but didn't have the funds to travel or wanted people to help sponsor their trip. The later was not realistic for our community, but we were fortunate that two fine gentlemen, Garu and Chelsea, could make it out.

After that, it was simply a matter of making sure they understood the details of the events (number 2). Since Paypal is not commonly used in Japan, I had someone else register them. They would then reimburse that person later. After they knew what they need, it was just a matter of them coming. After they arrived, we communicated through email to help them find the other MB players.

The last part was a more delicate than the others. I thought it would be best to involve the company that made the game, ECOLE. There are two huge problems here. Problem one: Who is Richard Meadows? Problem two: WHO THE #%!@ IS RICHARD MEADOWS?! No really, this is big. Japanese companies are super tricky. I may be the best damn translator in the world, but If they don't have someone to tell them that, no amount of work on my side will do. The best way to wedge your way in, is to know someone that knows someone (who may know someone). So I had two people help compensate for these two problems. The first person I talked to was a Japanese player that previously worked at ECOLE as a test player. He helped me talk to the company before hand and tell them that a letter was coming from my number two person, Joey Cuellar. With someone on the inside and "The granddaddy of SRK and EVO," it was a lot easier to get their attention and tell them what we wanted them to do via mail.

This kind work is different from your average translation work. Japanese can be divided into 3 parts. I will give them names to make this easier: 

Homeboy

Homeboy is the language you use with your friends and close family. Fairly loose and relaxed manner of speaking

Casual

Casual is the way you might talk to your boss or some of your co workers. Perhaps even family or neighbors that you don't talk with very often. You refrain from using certain words and you speak politely, humbling yourself at times

"Yes, Master"

This is the alien language that you don't master until you are 30. Not only do you refrain from using a lot of words that you usually use, you lower your own stature, raise who you are speaking to, and avoid even the slightest notion that you are speaking for them or putting words in their mouth. This is how you talk to the emperor.

The last one is what you use to speak to other companies in Japan, and it is extremely difficult for even Japanese people. It was necessary to write the email in this tone for this task. Here is example from the top of the letter.

Japanese:

- 突然、 このようなメールを差し上げることをお詫び申し上げます。

Translation:

- We apologize sincerely for the sudden email.

Literal:

-We humbly offer an apology for presenting a letter like this to one such as yourself so abruptly.

In the end, they only sent ten copies of the game, but it was an accomplishment for me. This is the type of work that I would like to make a living out of. Not just providing the best quality of translation, but assistance for all of the small things in the middle. 

If I was to do this again, I would like to see it all the way to the finish and interpret for the people in question... so, where is that Mad Catz deal at?

Applying for an ALT Position

I work for Interac (also known Selti or Maxceed), as an Alternate Language Teacher. I've been getting a lot of questions about how I got this job lately, so I'll try to give some information for people who want to get into this line of work. I will be speaking from my experience from applying to Interac.

Requirements:
The only thing that you absolutely need is a college bachelor's degree. So, before you apply you should either have graduated and have your degree, or be graduating soon. Note that you need to be able to prove this with the actual degree or a scan/picture of it. Before I got the job with Interac, I applied for Amity. I didn't get the job seemingly because at the time I had an outstanding debt with my college and they couldn't check for my graduation status. The interview went well, but I was not hired since I could not show my diploma; even though I had graduated.

So being able to show that you have graduated (or will soon) is the first hurdle. I believe you will finally need to prove it after the interview.


Application:
I applied on-line through Interac's website. Much like any other on-line application, they will ask for some personal information. Items such as your full name, age, date of birth, current address and a picture. You will also be asked to give information such previous job experience and education. They will ask if you have any certificates such as TEFL. You don't need to have it to be hired (I don't have it), but I'm sure it helps. The application also has a field for the other languages that you know. They will also ask when you would like to take vacations. I'm not entirely sure why they ask this as the only time you'll really be able to travel is during the summer and winter. So I would put in dates between July-August or the end of December. Another item is where you would like to be placed if hired. You can put what you like here, but you are almost guaranteed to not get it in your first year. Don't worry and shoot for what you like. Two short essays are also part of the application process. Basically, they want you describe what kind of experiences you are looking forward to in Japan, your work ethic and experiences with children.

There is also a place to upload your resume. I would recommend telling them as much as you can about yourself here, especially in the essays. Show all of your work experience and that your are interest in working in Japan. The also want letters of recommendation so ask your professors and people from your previous jobs if you can.

Phone Screening:
Should your application go well. You will be asked to talk with one of their representatives. They will ask what the best day for you is and set a time. The times are usually in MST so be careful. During the phone call they will ask pretty much what you expect. "Have you ever been to Japan? Have you ever worked with children? What kind of person are you? Do you like long walks on the beach?" They basically ask the things that they didn't get to in the on-line application.

Speaking of the on-line application, there are two things that they want right about now. A TB test and a criminal background. Even if you are positive that you don't have TB (which nobody would -ever- have now) or that you have never killed anyone (...), you must send these in.

I personally think that the phone call is the first part of their personality screening. Sound bright, positive and show that you know the difference between liking kids and being able to work with kids.

Interview and Demo Lesson:
If everything has been good so far, they will send you an email and have you decide when and where you want to take your interview. Luckily for Interac, they have plenty of sites for interviews. So you shouldn't have to travel very far to get to one. There were approximately 20 people that took the same interview with me. The first thing they will do is explain a bit more about the company. How the company started, what it does, how you will work and some of the expectations of you should you be hired. After that, they want each of you to present a demo lesson in front of the other interviewees and a video camera. The whole demo should be under approximately 5 minutes long. They have a number of on-line sources that explain and show you want they want, but its basically four things.

1. Self introduction
Your name, age and a quick word. About 30 seconds to a minute long. The also want you to say something in Japanese. Even if it's as simple as "Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu."

2. Reading
They want you to read a prompt in a clear voice, at a smooth pace. About 30 seconds to a minute long.

3. Sample Warm-up
A quick warm-up lesson about simple topics such as numbers, colors and vocabulary. A clear presentation of simple English in any way you like to a phantom class. Songs and chants are the most common. About 2 minutes long, give or take

4. Sample Lesson
Showing that you can set up a lesson with a couple of phantom students. Setting up the lesson, explaining the activity and encouraging your illusionary students. This is also about 2 to 3 minutes long.

You don't have to be super amazing or have a ton of experience, but show that you are willing to give it your best and that you have prepared. They want these to be clear cut and around 5 minutes long, so it would be wise to bust out the candle and mirror and practice... even just a little bit. The rest of the interviewees will not say a word, so you'll have to pretend there is a child there for the last two items.

After all of the lessons, you take a personality sorter and quick English test. The English test is just to check that you are not a brick, to be honest. I'm pretty sure I bombed it.... But try your best at it. It has things like, "Is this spelled correctly? Is this sentence correct? How does a GPS triangulate your location?"

Last, you will have a one on one with your interviewer. He will ask questions much like the ones during the phone screening. He will ask more personal questions as well, such as "What does your family think?"or, "Where do you see your self in two years?" At this time, they will also ask you job related questions such as, "What do you do if a child is being troublesome?" and "How many schools do you think would be too much for you?" The interviewer will also ask if you have any questions for him or her and that will be about it.

Look sharp and prepare. There are many people that don't prepare for interviews... That's fine but do look into the demo lessons. I believe it will help your chances immensely.

Hired?:
A couple of weeks afterwards, they will send an email bearing good or bad news to you. This whole process takes about 4-6 months, depending on when your applied. Since the times that you start the job are either in March or August, it would be wise to start in February or October.

I hope this helps anyone trying to apply to a company such as Interac or Similar companies. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.