A popular Facebook page decided to report on “an isekai light novel too traumatizing for translators“, and it seems that the translation groups that have ventured to translate the light novels written by Kou Hiratori“JK Haru Is a Sex Worker in Another World (JK Haru wa Isekai by Shoufu ni Natta)” have agreed on one thing: They do not want to know more about the subject.
It is clear that these are not official translations, which is why these groups of translators can take the liberty of abandoning the project. According to the newsroom, the first translation came from the hand of “Ferindrad Translations“, but at the end of the PDF document you can read the following translator’s annotation:
- I finally finished this… From a certain point in the story (from chapter 3) I wanted to finish translating this as quickly as possible. I don’t regret translating it, but I won’t read this again. And if a second volume comes out, unless I get paid (seriously), I’m not going to translate it, let alone read it. Due to the multiple mixed feelings, I am not going to make any allusion to what happened, since from that part I simply thought: well, ok, and I hurried to finish.. So sorry if that caused some error or inconsistency to exist (which would seem like a miracle if there wasn’t).
- In order not to dismiss this on an ambiguous note, I will say that at this point I realized (somewhat late by the way) that I have a certain obsession with isekai. It is what I have mainly translated, apart from that an entire saga that is comedy, a short story and fewer works than I would like from NISIOISIN. I also know that there are more and more and they are stacked up to form a great mountain that does not exactly scream quality, but among that mountain, for those who bother to search, they will find something to their liking.
After leaving the project, it was the group “Saekano Translation” who took up the translation of these light novels. The group published the two translated volumes of the story, and although nothing is mentioned in the first volume, in the second and last there is a section “Words of the Translator”, where the following can be read:
- With the publication of this volume, the JK Haru is a Sex Worker in Another World project is completed. This pair of novels narrates the lives of Haru Koyama and his former partner, now friend- Chiba, in another world. In this other world, the roles are reversed: the otaku chunibyo Chiba becomes a famous hero with almost unlimited potential and the unattainable and popular Haru Koyama has no choice but to become a prostitute. Because? Because the god who transported them to the new world was a son of a bitch; not a misogynist, just a son of a bitch.
- Haru’s life is not easy, she is abused practically daily in different ways, although she almost always knows how to cope with adversity. And that god, it seems, gave him no ability to take advantage of. On the other hand, Chiba lives large, she sees life as a game in which she has fame, power and does not disgust girls, except Haru. However, there is something that both cannot achieve: a reciprocated love.
- The first volume is narrated from Haru’s perspective, describing her experiences in the brothel -alongside Lupe and the other girls-, and her relationships with Lupe, Kiyori, Sumo and Chiba. It is a strong volume, although not so explicit. However, it gives some details that can make more than one uncomfortable. Volume two is narrated from different perspectives, where Haru’s perspective stops being so present and we begin to delve into the way everyone else sees and lives their lives since Haru came to change everything. All the stories intertwine with each other at some point.
What will have been that content of the first volume that came to traumatize its translators? Telling it takes away the fun, so the best thing would be to find that first volume and give it a read (at least until chapter 3), maybe you can tell it in comments? It should be noted that J-ta Yamada is commissioned for a manga adaptation of this story, but it’s apparently quite a bit more toned down than the original story.
Synopsis for JK Haru Is a Sex Worker in Another World
High school student Haru Koyama and her classmate Seiji Chiba are killed in a car accident and are teleported to another world together. As Chiba becomes an adventurer and goes out to kill monsters, Haru discovers that women cannot have special powers in the new world, so she decides to earn a living as a sex worker.