In Memoriam: Toren Smith

Anime News Network reported last night, by way of James Hudnall’s blog, that founder of Studio Proteus, co-founder of AnimeCon (later known as Anime Expo), and manga translation legend Toren Smith passed away recently.  The man had effectively been retired in the industry since selling Studio Proteus to Dark Horse in 2004, but this was still very depressing to hear.  Not only did he help create the market for manga in the United States with the titles that he worked on, the overall quality of these titles virtually guarantees that his name will live on long after today.  Off of the top of my head, you can find his name in volumes of “Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind,” “Oh! My Goddess,” “Gunsmith Cats,” “Ghost in the Shell,” “Dominion,” “Appleseed,” and “Blade of the Immortal.”  Along with artist Adam Warren he also wrote the first “Dirty Pair” comics which laid the groundwork for the idea of “global manga” and ultimately convinced me that such a thing could have actual artistic merit and entertainment value.

In fact, it’s safe to say that without the titles that Smith worked on you’d be reading and listening to a very different blog and podcast from me.  One that would likely not be as focused on manga, that I’m certain of.  You see, during the pre-boom manga years — back when Dark Horse and Viz were the “big two” of the industry — the quality of the Studio Proteus/Dark Horse output was such that I’d be willing to give just about anything they published a shot.  Yes, nearly all of the titles he brought over were violent, sci-fi seinen series, but they were some of the best examples of their genre and I’ll be damned if they didn’t convert me to the greatness of manga and make me a lifelong fan in the process.  He was also a sharp writer and many of his translations still hold up pretty well today.  In fact, I got even more enjoyment out of “Ghost in the Shell 2:  Man-Machine Interface” reading his thoughts on the difficulty in bringing the title over and localizing it than the manga itself.

That Smith foresaw the end of the manga boom isn’t anything to be impressed about.  Though, he at least managed to get out at probably the best possible time.  He did do right by his former employer by getting Carl Horn to come over and fill the void that he left.  Now that he’s gone, I realize that he made a small difference in my life too and I wish I could’ve met him before this to let him know about it.  I can’t do that now, but I can go back and read titles like “The Two Faces of Tomorrow” and so many other titles to be reminded of what he brought into my life.