Front Mission Translation Project

Hello everyone!

There’s been internal changes going on with the team as of the past few months, so don’t expect to hear much from the original founders of the project. You could say the Front Mission: Series Translation Project is in the hands of new management… Anyways, I’m Dave. I’m an avid fan of Front Mission since the original Front Mission days and was lucky enough to get a chance to work in Japan to indulge myself in the whole shebang too! I’m not really into forum posting and all, but when I heard of this project I couldn’t help but follow it. And after some back-and-forth communications with the FMSTP team, I now have the fortune (or misfortune!) of being the project’s main spokesperson. I’m not sure what I can say I’ll bring to the table, but I’m well versed on my Front Mission stuff and in some cases, even more so than the folks who started up this project!

Well then, for some new updates, check these pictures out…

As you can see, these pictures are about the Front Mission Dog Life & Dog Style seinen (adult in Japan-speak) manga (comics in Japan-speak too!). I’m sure you’ve heard of this series before in some ways and of course, through the FMSTP. What you may not know is that this is the only thing left from the Front Mission brand in Japan that’s still active. And not just any ordinary thing – it’s a perennial favorite of people who read the Japanese seinen publication Young Gangan and a perennial best-seller as far as manga goes! The last project of the Front Mission Project line and written by Yasuo Otagaki of Moonlight Mile fame, the Dog Life & Dog Style seinen is an original storyline which revolves around people who get caught up in the Second Huffman Conflict. Well, I can’t really say it focuses exclusively on the imaginary Huffman Island since it’s been focusing less on that and more on world conflicts which hit close to home for some. Anyways, the seinen has been a huge hit in Japan and has done so well in sales that Square-Enix authorized South Korea releases of it in fall of 2010. Not sure it will ever make it outside of Asia though…but I digress.

Since 2007, Front Mission Dog Life & Dog Style has become one of Young Gangan’s top 5 seinen series and frequently receives color treatment for new chapters. Those same new chapters are almost always on the front end of a magazine issue and in the case of Young Gangan 2011 No.13, it’s the very first one you see! Dog Life & Dog Style also graces  the front covers of the magazine once again, just in time for the release of…Front Mission Dog Life & Dog Style 07! The latest omnibus volume collecting several chapters of the Style 7: Return of the Shepperd was a huge sell on Japanese book retailers and Amazon Japan. How huge? Well, just a mere day before its release on June 25, it was already sold out from pre-orders alone. On June 25 itself, it was temporarily restocked before being sold out again and debuted in the top 5 of all new manga for that week itself! And in its debut it trounced both the newest omnibus volumes of Dragon Quest Emblem of Lot ~Heirs to the Arms~ (a very popular spin-off of Dragon Quest) of Fullmetal Alchemist: Complete Edition (Square-Enix’s most popular manga)!

Almost a week since its release, Front Mission Dog Life & Dog Style 07 has been rock-solid within the Top 8 best-selling manga from Square Enix’s line on Amazon Japan. With rave reviews of its trademark story qualities and huge sales, this is a remarkable sign that Front Mission just refuses to die even after the end of the original story, and after an underwhelming Front Mission Evolved release in fall of 2010. And the best part of all this is that the series is not even close to being finished! Like the Energizer Bunny, Front Mission keeps going and going and going…

For something new for a change, we’d like to ask you about your thoughts and impressions of Front Mission. Here’s a few questions for all of you to consider:

1. How did you find out about Front Mission?
2. Where did you start off in Front Mission? (i.e. the first Front Mission product you bought)
3. What were your original impressions of Front Mission?
4. Have your impressions of Front Mission changed over time?
5. Why do you like Front Mission?

You don’t have to answer everything (especially if you’ve barely scratched the surface of Front Mission!), but we encourage you to answer as many of these questions as candidly as you can. Post your thoughts below or send them to our email addresses if you feel shy!

Sorry for the long update! Things have been very busy for our team in real-life in the past month or so. Don’t worry, we’re still working away on our projects here!

Anyhow, head on over to our project website for some information on the updates. If you don’t want to do that, I’ll post a few of them here.

First off, our website’s hit a major milestone as of March 2011 – over 500,000 visitors! That’s the total for the 3 years frontmission.info has been around since March 2008. Not too bad for a franchise which supposedly has a very “small presence” outside of Japan, eh?

The other major update I have to say is that the next patch for Front Mission 2 is being tested as we speak. It’s looking sweet to see more and more of the game in English, even if we’ve ran into some programming roadblocks along the way. Editing thankfully has been finished for a while now, so it’s just a matter of trial-and-error with the programming parts. As editing lead, I’ve tried harder to make the text flow better so I’m hoping those results show with Front Mission 2!

Oh yeah, I forgot! Toshiro Tsuchida’s no longer with Square Enix! He’s been officially an ex-employee since February 28, 2011…the same day that the Front Mission Mobile service officially ended. We’ve made a special tribute page to him on the website, so check that out whenever you can!

So what does that mean for Front Mission? Well, it’s virtually assured that we won’t see any more Front Mission video games in the future. Kind of a bummer that Front Mission Evolved will be the last title in the video game line-up. On the other hand, Front Mission is still alive and well through other media! Front Mission Dog Life & Dog Style 07 is coming out this June, with an eighth volume confirmed for release in 2012…and possibly more! Also, the South Korean edition of Front Mission Dog Life & Dog Style 05 was recently released so that’s a sign that the brand still sells. With any luck, Front Mission might officially end by its 20-year anniversary in 2014…

Operation Nightfall? Belgrade? Sounds eerily similar to 24, doesn’t it? Well, stay tuned for a featured article on why Front Mission and 24 have a lot in common with each other!

While we are preparing for the release of Prototype Patch 2, here’s a small gift for all of you fans – the opening and 2 full-motion video (FMV) event scenes in English! Just as a warning, the two FMV event scenes spoil what happens at the end of Front Mission 2. Watch at your own risk if you haven’t played and beaten Front Mission 2 yet!

Opening

Australia (SPOILERS!)

O.C.U. Central Parliament (SPOILERS!)