Manga translator and anthropologist
Rachel Thorn[1] (formerly Matt Thorn; born May 12, 1965) is a cultural anthropologist and a faculty member at the Kyoto Seika University's Faculty of Global Culture (in the Japanese Culture Course) in Japan.[2][3][4]
She[5] is best known in North America for her work dealing with shōjo manga (Japanese comics for girls). She has appeared at multiple anime conventions, including Otakon 2004.[6] She chose to translate shōjo manga into English after reading The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio in the mid-1980s.[7]
In March 2010, it was announced that Thorn would edit a line of manga co-published by Shogakukan and Fantagraphics.[8]
The following credits are for translation unless otherwise noted. Most of the translation credits are as "Matt Thorn":
- 2001 Nights, by Yukinobu Hoshino
- A, A', by Moto Hagio
- AD Police, by Tony Takezaki
- Banana Fish, by Akimi Yoshida (vols. 1–4, translated with Yuji Oniki)[9]
- Battle Angel Alita, by Yukito Kishiro
- Dance Till Tomorrow, by Naoki Yamamoto
- A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, by Moto Hagio (translator and editor)[10]
- Fanning the Flames: Fans and Consumer Culture in Contemporary Japan, edited by William W. Kelly (anthology, one chapter by Thorn)
- Four Shōjo Stories, an anthology of shōjo manga by Keiko Nishi, Moto Hagio, and Shio Satō[11]
- The Heart of Thomas, by Moto Hagio (translator and editor)[12]
- The Legend of Kamui, by Sanpei Shirato
- Love Song, an anthology of short stories by Keiko Nishi[11]
- Maison Ikkoku, by Rumiko Takahashi
- Mermaid Saga, by Rumiko Takahashi[13]
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, by Hayao Miyazaki[9]
- Otherworld Barbara, by Moto Hagio[14]
- The Poe Clan, by Moto Hagio[15]
- Project A-ko
- Red Blinds the Foolish, by Est Em[16]
- Sanctuary, by Sho Fumimura and Ryoichi Ikegami[9]
- Silent Möbius, by Kia Asamiya
- Striker: The Armored Warrior, by Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa
- Seduce Me After the Show, by Est Em (supervising translator)[16]
- Fujimoto, Yukari (2012). "Takahashi Macoto: The Origin of Shōjo Manga Style". Mechademia. 7 (1): 24–55. doi:10.5749/minnesota/9780816680498.003.0002. ISBN 9780816680498.
- Wandering Son, by Takako Shimura[17]