Toren Smith
Encyclopedia
Toren Smith is a manga
translator and founder of Studio Proteus
. He was born in Alberta, Canada, learned to read by the age of four, and by the age of 12 had won his first award for writing from the Calgary Stampede and Exhibition. By thirteen he had sold his first magazine article, an examination of body morphology in deep sea fishes, which included drawings by himself. In 1974 his science fair project in physics with Martin Brock won first place in the Physics category and they moved on to competition in London, where they took an Honorable Mention. Brock also introduced Smith to comics, which would become a lifetime passion. Smith had already been drawing for years, mostly influenced by newspaper strips such as B.C.
and Andy Capp
, but now he began to look at the work of Jack Kirby
and Walt Kelly
. Upon entering high school, Smith became interested in what would now be called extreme sports. He participated in caving, motorcycle racing, climbing, and hang gliding—briefly being the youngest licensed hang glider pilot in Canada. Focusing on climbing, he spent time working at the Lac des Arcs climbing school, being among the first in Canada to experiment with ice climbing tools and techniques. Smith was active in the arts while at school, working with the drama club, writing plays, and drawing for pleasure and sale. After graduating from high school, Smith chose not to attend university, and worked a variety of jobs from oilfield roughneck to computer operator. This gave him the time to pursue climbing and motorcycle touring, combining the two into long trips to places like Yosemite, Black Canyon, and Joshua Tree.
, a noted SF and fantasy artist. The two hit it off and after extensive correspondence and meetings, they were married in 1981 (div. 1984), and Smith moved to California. There he became a part of the local SF and comics scene, and began writing comics for Epic Illustrated
, Eclipse Comics
, Amazing Heroes
, and others. This work included a collaboration with SF author James P. Hogan
, who was to become a close friend of Smith. Smith was introduced to Japanese anime
and manga
by James Hudnall in 1982, and in 1986 he sold his possessions and moved to Japan in order to found Studio Proteus
, a company that was for more than two decades one of the top two producers of translated manga for the English-speaking world.
In a stroke of luck, Hogan invited Smith to accompany him to Daicon V, an SF convention in Osaka, Japan, at which Hogan was Guest of Honor. The connections made by Smith at this convention would prove invaluable, and included Takeda and Okada of Gainax
, Osamu Tezuka
, Nozomi Ohmori, and Harumichi Aoki. At the convention Masamune Shirow
's Appleseed
was given the Sei'un-sho award for best manga, and Smith quickly chose it for his first publication in English.
As Smith was the first foreigner to come to Japan with the intention of translating and selling manga in America, he was given many opportunities to meet with curious publishers and professionals, once again a tremendous stroke of luck that allowed him to quickly arrange for several licenses. Still, his life there was difficult as a sudden upswing in the value of the yen just before his departure had cut his limited seed money in half. His first winter in Japan was spent in an unheated 12 m2 room with an outside bathroom and only cold running water. He worked out of his closet on a small manual typewriter. The rental agency for the small eight-unit apartment turned out to be run by the mistress of a yakuza member, which Smith found out only when several "heavies" came to collect the rent from a neighbor: Simon Binks
of the band Australian Crawl
, who had come to Japan to try and get his money from the company to whom he'd sent his classic guitar collection for sale (Binks has his own detailed account of the event on his Wikipedia entry, which includes information not known to Smith at the time). The owner lived just behind the apartment, and raised edible cacti in a large greenhouse there. Smith spent three months working as manager of the apartment in return for free rent, a convenient arrangement that unfortunately came to an end when the yakuza found out.
Smith, who is , arrived in Japan weighing 190 pounds (86.2 kg), and left nine months later weighing 163 pounds (73.9 kg) because he had little money for food. In order to extend his visa beyond the normal limits, Smith was assisted by famous Japanese SF writer and translator Tetsu Yano
, who wrote him a letter of recommendation.
After spending several months in the United States working with Eclipse Comics
to publish the manga he had selected, he returned to Japan and continued his work. This time he was invited to stay at GAINAX House, a house rented by Gainax to house animators. About twelve animators lived there, stacked up in bunk beds in every room. Smith was give a walk-in closet to live in, and there he spend his second winter in Japan—in an unheated room of 8 m2, working off of a shelf on a scavenged IBM Selectric (which eventually broke down and caught fire while he was working on it). Yasuhiro Takeda
of Gainax mentions Smith in his 2002 autobiography, The Notenki Memoirs:
Smith's time at GAINAX House was challenging, not least of all because the other occupants of the house had very loose ideas about hygiene. Once again, Takeda comments:
The "beautiful Japanese wife" mentioned by Takeda was Tomoko Saitou (AKA Tomoyuki Saitou, Asuka Rei, and later, Tomoko Saitou Smith). Saitou was an illustrator working with Hiroe Suga to illustrate her fantasy novels. Saitou also designed the characters for the computer game Animal Magnetism, and has done much other work. After joining Smith in the United States, she continued to publish manga and illustrations (including a cover for Science Magazine and providing yaoi
pages for Adam Warren's Empowered
Volume 3), and worked as a letterer for Smith's company Studio Proteus. Smith and Saitou were married in 1991.
In 1988, Gainax produced the anime OAV
series Gunbuster
, and named one of the characters after Smith. Smith and Saitou also contributed background voices to the anime. Also in 1988, Smith's company Studio Proteus
began co-publishing with Dark Horse Comics
, a rewarding partnership that continued until 2004. Their first manga was Johji Manabe's Outlanders.
Smith traveled back and forth from Japan to the United States several times a year for nearly two decades. In order to save money early on, many of these trips were made as a "courier" for companies that used a passenger's baggage allowance to inexpensively ship valuable documents and cargo. Due to his constant travels, Smith eventually found himself pulled aside at Customs and Immigration, and in front of a "stone-faced" Immigration Officer who wanted to know exactly why he was spending so much time in Japan. Smith produced a copy of The Legend of Kamui
from his carry-on bag. The officer turned out to be a big fan of the original manga, and Smith was quickly cut loose.
As profit-sharing money finally began to roll in, Smith's situation improved, and eventually he rented an apartment in San Francisco with comic artist Adam Warren
and later purchased a house there. As well as managing Studio Proteus, Smith worked a co-translator on 34 manga series, totaling nearly 80,000 pages. He also co-wrote the first three American Dirty Pair
comics with Adam Warren, and the short series Terminator
: Hunters and Killers for Dark Horse. Smith has commented that out of the top ten manga he most wanted to work on when he moved to Japan, he ended up publishing or co-translating nine.
Smith has appeared at multiple anime conventions as a guest. Smith retired in 2004, having sold most of his rights and materials for his entire output of manga to Dark Horse Comics. He currently spends his time diving his KISS Sport rebreather
around the world, camping, reading, and still enjoying manga and anime.
(See Studio Proteus
for manga translations)
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
translator and founder of Studio Proteus
Studio Proteus
Studio Proteus is a Japanese manga import, translation and lettering company, founded in 1986 by Toren Smith and based in San Francisco. Other staff included translators Dana Lewis and Frederik Schodt, letterer Tom Orzechowski and translator/letterer Tomoko Saito...
. He was born in Alberta, Canada, learned to read by the age of four, and by the age of 12 had won his first award for writing from the Calgary Stampede and Exhibition. By thirteen he had sold his first magazine article, an examination of body morphology in deep sea fishes, which included drawings by himself. In 1974 his science fair project in physics with Martin Brock won first place in the Physics category and they moved on to competition in London, where they took an Honorable Mention. Brock also introduced Smith to comics, which would become a lifetime passion. Smith had already been drawing for years, mostly influenced by newspaper strips such as B.C.
B.C. (comic strip)
B.C. is a daily American comic strip created by cartoonist Johnny Hart. Set in prehistoric times, it features a group of cavemen and anthropomorphic animals from various geologic eras...
and Andy Capp
Andy Capp
Andy Capp is a British comic strip created by cartoonist Reg Smythe , seen in The Daily Mirror and The Sunday Mirror newspapers since 5 August 1957. Originally a single-panel cartoon, Smyth later expanded it to four panels....
, but now he began to look at the work of Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
and Walt Kelly
Walt Kelly
Walter Crawford Kelly, Jr. , or Walt Kelly, was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip, Pogo. He began his animation career in 1936 at Walt Disney Studios, contributing to Pinocchio and Fantasia. Kelly resigned in 1941 at the age of 28 to work at Post-Hall Syndicate,...
. Upon entering high school, Smith became interested in what would now be called extreme sports. He participated in caving, motorcycle racing, climbing, and hang gliding—briefly being the youngest licensed hang glider pilot in Canada. Focusing on climbing, he spent time working at the Lac des Arcs climbing school, being among the first in Canada to experiment with ice climbing tools and techniques. Smith was active in the arts while at school, working with the drama club, writing plays, and drawing for pleasure and sale. After graduating from high school, Smith chose not to attend university, and worked a variety of jobs from oilfield roughneck to computer operator. This gave him the time to pursue climbing and motorcycle touring, combining the two into long trips to places like Yosemite, Black Canyon, and Joshua Tree.
Comics career
In 1980 Smith attended at local science fiction convention and met Lela DowlingLela Dowling
Lela Dowling is a graphic artist who draws fantasy and science fictional characters. In collaboration with Steve Gallacci, she drew the comic book series Fusion, a science-fiction action adventure...
, a noted SF and fantasy artist. The two hit it off and after extensive correspondence and meetings, they were married in 1981 (div. 1984), and Smith moved to California. There he became a part of the local SF and comics scene, and began writing comics for Epic Illustrated
Epic Illustrated
Epic Illustrated was a comics anthology in magazine format published in the United States by Marvel Comics. The series lasted for 34 issues, from Spring 1980 to February 1986....
, Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...
, Amazing Heroes
Amazing Heroes
Amazing Heroes was a magazine about the comic book medium published by Fantagraphics Books from 1981 to 1992. Unlike its companion title, The Comics Journal, Amazing Heroes was a hobbyist magazine rather than an analytical journal....
, and others. This work included a collaboration with SF author James P. Hogan
James P. Hogan (writer)
James Patrick Hogan was a British science fiction author.-Biography:Hogan was born in London, England. He was raised in the Portobello Road area on the west side of London...
, who was to become a close friend of Smith. Smith was introduced to Japanese anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
and manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
by James Hudnall in 1982, and in 1986 he sold his possessions and moved to Japan in order to found Studio Proteus
Studio Proteus
Studio Proteus is a Japanese manga import, translation and lettering company, founded in 1986 by Toren Smith and based in San Francisco. Other staff included translators Dana Lewis and Frederik Schodt, letterer Tom Orzechowski and translator/letterer Tomoko Saito...
, a company that was for more than two decades one of the top two producers of translated manga for the English-speaking world.
In a stroke of luck, Hogan invited Smith to accompany him to Daicon V, an SF convention in Osaka, Japan, at which Hogan was Guest of Honor. The connections made by Smith at this convention would prove invaluable, and included Takeda and Okada of Gainax
Gainax
is a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as Gunbuster, The Wings of Honneamise, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann which have gone on to critical acclaim and commercial success, as well as for their association with...
, Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka
was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...
, Nozomi Ohmori, and Harumichi Aoki. At the convention Masamune Shirow
Masamune Shirow
is an internationally renowned manga artist, born on November 23, 1961.Masamune Shirow is a pen name, based on a famous swordsmith, Masamune. He is best known for the manga Ghost in the Shell, which has since been turned into two theatrical anime movies, two anime TV series, an anime TV movie, and...
's Appleseed
Appleseed
is a science fiction manga authored by Masamune Shirow. The series follows the adventures of ESWAT members Deunan Knute and Briareos Hecatonchires in Olympus. Like much of Masamune's work, Appleseed merges elements of the cyberpunk and mecha genres with a heavy dosage of politics, philosophy, and...
was given the Sei'un-sho award for best manga, and Smith quickly chose it for his first publication in English.
As Smith was the first foreigner to come to Japan with the intention of translating and selling manga in America, he was given many opportunities to meet with curious publishers and professionals, once again a tremendous stroke of luck that allowed him to quickly arrange for several licenses. Still, his life there was difficult as a sudden upswing in the value of the yen just before his departure had cut his limited seed money in half. His first winter in Japan was spent in an unheated 12 m2 room with an outside bathroom and only cold running water. He worked out of his closet on a small manual typewriter. The rental agency for the small eight-unit apartment turned out to be run by the mistress of a yakuza member, which Smith found out only when several "heavies" came to collect the rent from a neighbor: Simon Binks
Simon Binks
Simon John Binks is an Australian rock musician who was a guitarist and singer-songwriter for Australian Crawl from founding in 1978 to disbanding in 1986.-Early career:...
of the band Australian Crawl
Australian Crawl
Australian Crawl were an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne , Brad Robinson , Paul Williams , Simon Binks and David Reyne in 1978. David Reyne soon left and was replaced by Bill McDonough...
, who had come to Japan to try and get his money from the company to whom he'd sent his classic guitar collection for sale (Binks has his own detailed account of the event on his Wikipedia entry, which includes information not known to Smith at the time). The owner lived just behind the apartment, and raised edible cacti in a large greenhouse there. Smith spent three months working as manager of the apartment in return for free rent, a convenient arrangement that unfortunately came to an end when the yakuza found out.
Smith, who is , arrived in Japan weighing 190 pounds (86.2 kg), and left nine months later weighing 163 pounds (73.9 kg) because he had little money for food. In order to extend his visa beyond the normal limits, Smith was assisted by famous Japanese SF writer and translator Tetsu Yano
Tetsu Yano
Tetsu Yano was a Japanese science fiction translator and writer. He began to introduce to Japanese readers the works of US science fiction writers in the late 1940s. He was the first Japanese writer of the genre to visit the United States, in 1953...
, who wrote him a letter of recommendation.
After spending several months in the United States working with Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...
to publish the manga he had selected, he returned to Japan and continued his work. This time he was invited to stay at GAINAX House, a house rented by Gainax to house animators. About twelve animators lived there, stacked up in bunk beds in every room. Smith was give a walk-in closet to live in, and there he spend his second winter in Japan—in an unheated room of 8 m2, working off of a shelf on a scavenged IBM Selectric (which eventually broke down and caught fire while he was working on it). Yasuhiro Takeda
Yasuhiro Takeda
is a Japanese anime director and founding member of Gainax; for most of his career, he was General Manager. He is also a two-time chair of the Nihon SF Taikai...
of Gainax mentions Smith in his 2002 autobiography, The Notenki Memoirs:
"Not too long after the move, we became acquainted with another otakuOtakuis a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga or video games.- Etymology :Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another's house or family , which is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun...
who had come from North America (Canada, actually). His name was Toren Smith, and his love of manga had brought him all the way across the ocean to Japan. He'd run out of money somewhere along the way, however, and was having a hard time of it. Apparently, Okada had met Smith during our Osaka days. The Canadian had visited the General Products store in Momodani with sci-fi author J.P. Hogan, who was in Japan for the Sci-Fi Convention. Naturally, after hearing his foreign friend was down on his luck, Okada suggested we put him up at GAINAX House. Toren went on to be a success in his own right, later returning to North America and becoming president of a publishing company in the U.S. He is one shrewd fellow—not only did he make plenty of manga-related connections while he was here, but he snagged himself a beautiful Japanese wife to boot. I still remember one morning, shortly after we all woke up; the door to Toren's room opened and out walked a young lady we'd never seen before!"
Smith's time at GAINAX House was challenging, not least of all because the other occupants of the house had very loose ideas about hygiene. Once again, Takeda comments:
"Make no mistake, GAINAX House was a den of rabid bachelors. Nobody cleaned or even straightened up—ever. When we received a visit from Hiroe SugaHiroe Sugais a Japanese science fiction and mystery writer. She was first published in 1981. She has won three Seiun Awards – in 1992 and 2001 for best novel of the year, and in 1993 for best short story of the year....
(who for a time was staying at a boarding house in Tokyo and working as an author), she was literally sickened by the smell. The color drained from her face and she beat a very hasty retreat.
Ultimately, we elected to move out of GAINAX House. When the landlord came by to give the place a once-over and release us from our contract, he was stricken speechless. Almost immediately after we vacated, the house was demolished."
The "beautiful Japanese wife" mentioned by Takeda was Tomoko Saitou (AKA Tomoyuki Saitou, Asuka Rei, and later, Tomoko Saitou Smith). Saitou was an illustrator working with Hiroe Suga to illustrate her fantasy novels. Saitou also designed the characters for the computer game Animal Magnetism, and has done much other work. After joining Smith in the United States, she continued to publish manga and illustrations (including a cover for Science Magazine and providing yaoi
Yaoi
In careful Japanese enunciation, all three vowels are pronounced separately, for a three-mora word, . The English equivalent is . also known as Boys' Love, is a Japanese popular term for female-oriented fictional media that focus on homoerotic or homoromantic male relationships, usually created by...
pages for Adam Warren's Empowered
Empowered
Empowered is an original English-language manga written and illustrated by Adam Warren. Described by Warren as a “sexy superhero comedy", Empowered began to take shape in 2004 with a series of commissioned sketches of a damsel in distress; these illustrations became the basis for short comic...
Volume 3), and worked as a letterer for Smith's company Studio Proteus. Smith and Saitou were married in 1991.
In 1988, Gainax produced the anime OAV
OAV
OAV is a three letter acronym that may stand for:* Original animated video* Österreichischer Alpenverein * Object–Agent–Verb * Odour activity value...
series Gunbuster
Gunbuster
Gunbuster, known in Japan as is a six episode anime OVA series created by Gainax in 1988. It was the directorial debut of Hideaki Anno, best known as the director of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The title is a combination of the titles of classic tennis anime Aim for the Ace!, whose plot inspired...
, and named one of the characters after Smith. Smith and Saitou also contributed background voices to the anime. Also in 1988, Smith's company Studio Proteus
Studio Proteus
Studio Proteus is a Japanese manga import, translation and lettering company, founded in 1986 by Toren Smith and based in San Francisco. Other staff included translators Dana Lewis and Frederik Schodt, letterer Tom Orzechowski and translator/letterer Tomoko Saito...
began co-publishing with Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
, a rewarding partnership that continued until 2004. Their first manga was Johji Manabe's Outlanders.
Smith traveled back and forth from Japan to the United States several times a year for nearly two decades. In order to save money early on, many of these trips were made as a "courier" for companies that used a passenger's baggage allowance to inexpensively ship valuable documents and cargo. Due to his constant travels, Smith eventually found himself pulled aside at Customs and Immigration, and in front of a "stone-faced" Immigration Officer who wanted to know exactly why he was spending so much time in Japan. Smith produced a copy of The Legend of Kamui
The Legend of Kamui
is a manga by Sanpei Shirato. Set in feudal Japan, it tells the story of a low-born ninja who tries to flee his clan. The series combines historical adventure with social commentary and themes of oppression and rebellion that reflect Shirato's Marxist convictions...
from his carry-on bag. The officer turned out to be a big fan of the original manga, and Smith was quickly cut loose.
As profit-sharing money finally began to roll in, Smith's situation improved, and eventually he rented an apartment in San Francisco with comic artist Adam Warren
Adam Warren
Adam Warren is an American comic book writer and artist who is most famous for his adaptation of the characters known as Dirty Pair into an American comic book, and for being one of the first American commercial illustrators to be influenced by the general manga style...
and later purchased a house there. As well as managing Studio Proteus, Smith worked a co-translator on 34 manga series, totaling nearly 80,000 pages. He also co-wrote the first three American Dirty Pair
Dirty Pair
is a series of sci-fi comedy light novels written by Haruka Takachiho and illustrated by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko that was later adapted into anime and manga versions....
comics with Adam Warren, and the short series Terminator
Terminator (franchise)
The Terminator series is a science fiction franchise encompassing a series of films and other media concerning battles between Skynet's artificially intelligent machine network, and John Connor's Resistance forces and the rest of the human race....
: Hunters and Killers for Dark Horse. Smith has commented that out of the top ten manga he most wanted to work on when he moved to Japan, he ended up publishing or co-translating nine.
Smith has appeared at multiple anime conventions as a guest. Smith retired in 2004, having sold most of his rights and materials for his entire output of manga to Dark Horse Comics. He currently spends his time diving his KISS Sport rebreather
Rebreather
A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycled exhaled gas. This recycling reduces the volume of breathing gas used, making a rebreather lighter and more compact than an open-circuit breathing set for the same duration in environments where...
around the world, camping, reading, and still enjoying manga and anime.
Selected comics writing works
- The Dirty PairThe Dirty PairThe Dirty Pair is an original English-language manga written and illustrated by Adam Warren, based on the Dirty Pair characters created by Haruka Takachiho....
: Biohazards - The Dirty Pair: Dangerous Acquaintances
- The Dirty Pair: A Plague of Angels
- TerminatorTerminator (franchise)The Terminator series is a science fiction franchise encompassing a series of films and other media concerning battles between Skynet's artificially intelligent machine network, and John Connor's Resistance forces and the rest of the human race....
: Hunters and Killers - "Rumiko TakahashiRumiko Takahashiis a Japanese manga artist.Takahashi is one of the wealthiest individuals, and the most affluent manga artists in Japan. The manga she creates are popular worldwide, where they have been translated into a variety of languages...
: The Princess of Manga (an interview with Rumiko Takahashi)"
Anime translation works
- Ghost in the ShellGhost in the Shell (film)"See You Everyday" is different from the rest of the soundtrack, being a pop song sung in Cantonese by Fang Ka Wing. It can be faintly heard playing in the marketplace scene, when Batou is hunting the ghost-hacked puppet....
(script) - Venus WarsVenus Warsis a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. It was serialized in the Gakken magazine Nora Comics from 1987 to 1990...
(subtitles)
(See Studio Proteus
Studio Proteus
Studio Proteus is a Japanese manga import, translation and lettering company, founded in 1986 by Toren Smith and based in San Francisco. Other staff included translators Dana Lewis and Frederik Schodt, letterer Tom Orzechowski and translator/letterer Tomoko Saito...
for manga translations)