About this Translation
Hai to Gensou no Grimgar – Grimgar of Ashes and Illusion
by Ao Jyumonji (illus. Eiri Shirai)
Why are we here? Why are we doing this?
Before Haruhiro had realized what happened, he was surrounded by darkness. Why was he here? Where was here? Even now, he still didn’t know. Those around him were the same as him, no one remembered anything other than their own names. And when they emerged from the darkness, the world that awaited them seemed like something out of a videogame.
In order to survive, Haruhiro forms a party with the others, learns fighting skills, and as a soldier in the reserve force, takes his first steps into the world of Grimgal. What awaits him there, he doesn’t know…
This the story of an adventure born from the ashes.
– Summary (from Overlap, the publisher)
Team Grimgar
Supervisor – hikaslap – Joined October 2014
Once upon a time, hikaslap was happy. He had a good life – great grades, great friends, a solid future. A life full of light and love.
It couldn’t last.
Later, after all was said and done, hikaslap could say unashamedly that he didn’t even LIKE light novels anymore, hated them even, for what they had done to him.
But he never did escape.
At one of his lowest points, when his will was weakest and his spirit was tenuous, he saw an application for a position at NanoDesu Translations.
“Well, if you can’t beat ’em…” he sighed.
Then hikaslap became irredeemable, and the circle was complete.
(just kidding! hi, I’m hikaslap. the above bio was written roughly 1.5 years ago, when I first joined ND as an editor working under the nano himself in 2013. i’m now an admin, somehow, so i feel like i can say…)
(i hope you guys continue to enjoy all our time, effort, and dare-i-say artistry as we move forward! thanks for reading, now and hopefully in all our collective futures.)
Editor – Kuro-pi – Joined May 2015
Hi, my name is Kuro-pi. I volunteered as an editor for team Grimgal just over a week ago now, apparently without knowing what I was getting into. Hika says I joined Death Row. Dunno if I like that. While I say, “team,” Hika’s the only one I’ve talked to, and he’s a little weird. And creepy. He assures me we have a typesetter named Castor112, and a translator, who he’ll only refer to as the, “Translator of Mystery.” Seriously, what? I’ve never seen either of these people, or talked to them, and nobody besides Hika seems to know anything about them. Nano just seems to take it on faith from Hika that they actually exist. Seems fishy to me. I think maybe he’s made them up out of his imagination like some chuunibyou case. Especially with that name, “Translator of Mystery.” Who else but some chunni could actually say that so seriously and shamelessly? Either way, the pictures get cleaned and typeset somehow, and I do get translated manuscripts to edit. Who am I to question if he wants to do all the work and give the praise to some characters he made up out of his head? Other than that, he seems like a pretty nice guy. (I think) Anyway, I look forward to working on this project and hope you all enjoy Hai to Gensou no Grimgal!
Editor – Ayumi – Joined November 2015
I really really really don’t have the time to be doing this right now.
Typesetter – castor212 – Joined October 2014
I like Type-Moon. And caps lock. And cheeseburgerz.
Translator – ??? (TOM)
Hey, hikaslap here. Personally, I wish I knew more about this person. Because he translates and is mysterious, I’ve dubbed him TOM, for Translator of Mystery.
He must have his own reasons for remaining anonymous. I wonder what they are…
Ebook editor for Volume 1 – Kuro-pi
Ebook editor for Volume 2 – Superal (see ND homepage, or Fire Girl’s about page, for bio.)
Typesetter for Volume 1 ebook – DevilHands (see ND homepage for bio.)
Erstwhile Supervisor – msirp (see ND homepage for bio. retired January 2015)
Erstwhile Editor – hikaslap (was both supervisor and editor before November 2015)
Thanks to Kurokusari for the banner! (see ND homepage for bio.)
is this completed?
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Nope
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Will there be a PDF version available?
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at ND they always release the PDF and/or EPUB later on after they finalize the editing, which might take some time.
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Is there a need for any proofreaders/editors? If there is I am willing to help out
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is there romance in this novel?
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Can you give information about genre here? VR? Summon?
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Seems like the novel update constantly every week…
I’d like to know if there are chances for this novel to turn into a romance one…
Or will it just focus on friendship, etc…
Interested…
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Thanks for translating :3
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I am in love with these editors! The novel’s translating nicely, thx guys!!!
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I am in love with these editors xD!!! It’s coming along nice, thx guys!!!
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whaaaaaaat? why do you love our editors? the translator is the real magic one here honestly
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How long will one chapter per level will i take to be translated?
Are the translation done based on any japanese website where it’s uploaded like chinese (小说)?If not, do you buy the novels and translate them?
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Usually, chapters are long enough that it takes about 2 weeks on average to finish them. Yes, we buy novels to translate them.
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Will you continu translating to the 7 volum or you gona stop with the therd just wana know of possible
Big up from albania grat work with the translation
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The third, you mean? There are currently no plans to stop, and if things keep going the way they are, we might actually get to the 7th volume. But who knows what may happen midway – we can only hope TOM sustains interest.
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chunibio admin … is tom even real? :p
but seriously gr8 work
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Well, of course TOM is real. Where do you think these translations COME from?
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Thanks so much for the translation. This series is great. I also wanted to ask if there was any chance that this project might get more translation help in the near future? Or if there might come a time when more than one chapter is translated each week? Sorry if that’s a rude question. This story is just so good that a weeks wait seems like an eternity lol. Either way, appreciate all the hard work!
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Probably not. It’s not rude, but a question like this usually gets you a “no” matter who you ask, or where, I think.
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Gotcha. No worries, then. It’s certainly worth waiting for lol. Appreciate the response!
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You guys are amazing. Maybe I chose the wrong light novels to read in the past or something, but the English here isn’t broken! Rather, it’s so good, it makes me wonder if the author of the novels has a very clear writing style or there’s just a lot of editor’s magic that puts everything together so well. Guess I’d have to read it raw to find out.
I couldn’t appreciate the effort put into each chapter more, nor could I EVER complain about getting a chapter a week. Some people don’t understand the amount of work involved in doing translations. Thanks for everything so far, team Grimgar. I’ll follow this series for as long as you do.
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“English isn’t broken”, wow! That’s… certainly a compliment, haha…jk
Dditors can’t fix everything. The translator is doing a really good job too of course, and you have to be a good writer to do good translation in any case.
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well I sure disagree on this part…..maybe you guys are unaware of it….but there are light novels with better “un-broken English” than the one here….for e.g. the light novel of an anime series called kampfer…and though it’s a bit perverted; but the English is irrevocably and undoubtedly good there (sorry for the punch in the gut #hikaslap) …but kudos to the translation here anyways….since it actually caught my interest and all…so I’d like to give a thumbs up there P.S. like some of the fellow commentators suggested … even I would like to request you to be a tad faster with the updates…even though I know that the work takes plenty of time to be furnished properly ; but my patience starts to wear down after 4 – 5 days ….so I’d REALLY appreciate an effort
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Well, you know what they say. There’s always someone better!
I’d appreciate an effort, too, but we’re all very tired lately. We won’t be able to help you here, but it’s possible you can find another novel that updates every week, or faster even.
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@aishwarya:
Wow. Just… wow. I’ve seen some really bad examples of self-entitlement among the LN fan community, but you my friend, deserve that extra SPESHUL star next to your name.
Why, might you ask? Well, let me go over your ellipse-tastic comment and break it down so that you realize exactly what you’ve said (because obviously, you’ve got your head so far up your own posterior that you don’t realize it yourself).
aishwarya: “but there are light novels with better “un-broken English” than the one here… but kudos to the translation here anyways”
MEANING: Hi guys, I like your work but LULZ I’ve seen better.
aishwarya: “since it actually caught my interest and all”
MEANING: You guys are DAMN LUCKY to have my attention. Because I’m SPESHUL. Because I’m the CENTER of the GODDAMN UNIVERSE and MY INTEREST should be the ONLY CONCERN of you puny mortals.
aishwarya: “so I’d like to give a thumbs up there”
MEANING: I’d like to grudgingly tell you that you have my approval (because that’s the only thing you should care about). Oh except for the fact that ‘there are light novels with better “un-broken English” than the one here’.
aishwarya: “even I would like to request you to be a tad faster with the updates”
MEANING: GIVE ME MOAR FASTER NAO even though I’ve got better things to read because there are light novels with better un-broken English than the one here but kudos anyways.
aishwarya: “even though I know that the work takes plenty of time to be furnished properly ;”
MEANING: i’ve, obviously, never written a proper english sentence in my life… because i clearly don’t realize periods; and proper capitalization exist… but man… i sure love random semi-colons; and spamming ellipses EVERYWHERE… but I know that english is hard to be furnished properly…
aishwarya: “but my patience starts to wear down after 4 – 5 days”
MEANING: ME, ME, ME. It’s all about ME. I don’t care about your lives, I WANT because I CAN’T WAIT. MOAR. GRIMGAR. NAO. Don’t you dare make me wait because I’m NOT a patient person.
aishwarya: so I’d REALLY appreciate an effort
MEANING: I’d REALLY appreciate it if you GOT OFF YOUR LAZY ASSES AND RELEASE FASTER even though there are light novels with better “un-broken English” than the one here.
Oh, and I hope that you’re not referring to the BT version of Kampfer with lovely and obviously unbroken sentences such as:
– “Twisting the faucet to wash my face…”
– “In the first place it was currently early morning.”
– “She was probably sixteen or seventeen year old.”
– “Even if they were my birth parents they, without allowing for any opportunity to object, had moved far away for job relocation, leaving me at home alone.”
…in the first 10 lines of Chapter 1. But yes, on the other hand, you’ve aptly demonstrated that your taste in unbroken English just goes that little extra mile of speshul.
Congratulations. I hope Team Grimgar reads your comment and get so annoyed that they decide to delay the next release indefinitely in honor of your speshulness.
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WHOA!!!! Am I being sent to jail ? NOW I’m scared like shit…seriously I might have even wet my pants here -_- anyways, thank you for spending your time to kick my worthless ass @anon … and for a suggestion, try reading “lessons” from fairytail . It might cool down your nerves … but believe me, I am as much of a hardcore fan of this lightnovel as you seem to be… it’s just that my boards will be starting soon and so I’ll get to regularly visit this site only for the upcoming 2-3 months . After that , I won’t be allowed to touch the computer for the next two years or more( except for project work) since my parents are obviously TOO hyped up about my last 2 years’ result at school (sorry my dear , but once again it’s about me ; maybe I can’t really help being an arrogant bitch after all !! ) but anyways , I loved reading your interpretations about my last comment , so if you wanna mess up this one too , feel free . And sorry for having pissed you off and for having forced you into spending another 15 minutes of your time in searching up for kampfer and the related “flaws” in its BT version….REALLY sorry . And I think you can compose an awesome song titled ” Me, my universe ” or something of that sort… it looked awesome back there in your reply . And those “random semicolons ” and ” spamming ellipses ” ?? well I guess it’s sorta inborn … but thank you for pointing out anyways . 😀
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I’m torn. Be nice, guys…
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That’s why I love reading comments =D
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Oie, just droppin’ a line to say I appreciate the hard work ya’ll are throwin at this. I started reading after the anime aired, and was disappointed to only see two downloadable books, (especially after reading them) but when I saw the rate you guys were putting up new chapters I was elated. Idk why people would ask for faster updates, I know some light novels updating a chapter ever 1 or 2 months, so I just assumed that was the norm. This Group on the other hand has an absolutely fantastic quality with an outstanding update time.
Thanks again for translating this series, I’m loving it. And fuck Captain Backhanded Compliment. As you said, Hikaslap, theres always someone better, but in this case you’ll be hard pressed to find one.
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Oh and this is for hikaslap – thank you for the response , I’m happy for the acknowledgement , and I’ll be sure to stay tuned for as long as possible …but sorry for being a pain the ass anyways , if I’ve been so (which I guess is true in this situation) , mt sincere thanks and apologies once again
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Ah, really, it seems your comment made people angry, but we all do the best we can. Thank you very much, and I appreciate you reading! I try to reply to everything. I’m really sorry we might not be able to go fast enough for your situation, but grimgal is one book out of millions. I’m sure you’ll make it! Do your best!
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No doubt about that fact I guess…but my sincere apologies to all the team members and the fans out there once again for being that rude….I might have gone a bit too far back there …and I feel kinda guilty . But I really was interested in this light novel and wanted to complete the entire series at any cost , so I got a bit pissed off at the thought of missing out on the upcoming chapters , and ranted about too much ( unnecessarily ) ! So thanks again for bearing with me . Oh , and by the way , no need to be torn ; this is not escalating into a bigger riff-raff , I promise . Or rather I hope so .
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Heyyy I’m glad to see this is being translated. I really enjoyed the anime and am looking forward to reading these!
Hikaslap you’ve supervised at least a few novels I’ve read so thanks, especially for rokka cuz ik you keep on him about progress =]
Thanks oh mysterious TOM and everybody else involved! I know a lot of work goes into these and I appreciate everything you guys do.
I would like to say it’s easy to get unappreciative of their work, but they don’t have to do this at all, and 2 weeks on average is incredibly fast for any translation I’ve seen so far. These people(well unless TOM is some kind of magic creature or one of hikaslaps alternate personalities…) have real lives and this is done in their spare time and most likely at their expense. At the very least they do this out of the kindness of their hearts for our enjoyment.
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I email Zero so much. =( I always feel reaaaaally bad that I bother him all the time but I gots to do it, man…
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Thank you very much for this guys
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Can anyone tell me what volumes the anime adaptation covers?
After watching the anime, I really wanted more of this story… Will I find that here, or has the anime covered 4 volumes or something? I’ve tried searching around for this info but everywhere I look it just says that the anime is based on the light novels, just not exactly which volumes.
Either way though, I’ll probably read it all from the start. I’m really in love with this world :3
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anime covers volumes 1 and 2
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Thank you for translating this series… just finished the anime myself and will start reading this up in free time… will be patiently waiting for the 3rd volume 🙂
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I LIKE the anime adaptation, but i LOVE this novel very much!
i just finish the pdf vol 1 in one fell swoop, and i got this chilly thing when i got to the last part.
By the way, is the bonus part in pdf really happen? did ‘TOM’ name originated from there? and is their lost teammate really did continue to live in real world? i get confused because i can’t find the last part on the website…^^”
and finally, many thanks for the translations; TOM, hikaslap, kuro-pi, castor212 and the others:)!
my rainy cold town got warmer after reading this (ehehe, at least on the inside)
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No, the bonus thing in volume one didn’t happen. I thought it would be a cute thing to add. =)
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Thank you for translating this series. Watch the anime but after reading this it made more sense. Look forward to the next update.
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i been waiting for an update every sunday ever since summer began, this summer is gonna be great~~
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I would just like to say, Thank You. I’ve recently finished the Anime Adaptation and now I need to fill that void. Thank you for your awesome translations ❤
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Translator – ??? (TOM)
Hey, hikaslap here. Personally, I wish I knew more about this person. Because he translates and is mysterious, I’ve dubbed him TOM, for Translator of Mystery.
He must have his own reasons for remaining anonymous. I wonder what they are…
TOM……… did anything think that maybe they don’t want there name blasted all over the place or to have there name come up in argurements. I see it all the time XXX is so slow or STFU XXX is awesome… most of us know the translators are doing us a favour for translating this on sites like this for us to read. but they don’t want to be harassed over it. besides a bit of secrecy is good for the imagination.
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I can’t thank you guys enough for doing this. I just finished the anime and love the series.
Will be checking back a lot…
Thanks again for you guys who are translating this!!
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Sorry to hear this is getting licensed. But, thank you for working hard on this series. I got into this series thanks to you.
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