They're challenging in different ways. Saint Tail had a lot of abstract symbolism, metaphors, and wordplay all over the place, and its subplots are rarely ever stated in explicit words, so I had to be very precise about checking for recurring wording, phrases with double meanings, and other things that would get lost if I wasn't careful. Kind of like being in a university literary analysis class for almost every single line in the series 😅 But the good thing is that there's about four or five specific consistent themes that everything constantly ties back into, so if you can figure those out, the rest is simply about being cautious and precise about keeping the translation in line with it. It certainly put my skills and experience as a translator to the test, but the series is overall very consistent and cohesive, making it solid material to work with.

For Digimon, on one hand, the plot points and themes it's trying to get across are generally more explicit; it's still obtuse, but you definitely won't get subplots that are primarily communicated via abstract metaphor. The part where things get tricky is the fact that we're dealing with characters with an extremely high level of complexity, extensive backgrounds, and tons of situational nuance (especially in Adventure and Adventure 02-related works). On top of that, the franchise is still ongoing, and it loves to be self-referential...and it would be one thing if it were mostly referencing famous plot points or scenes, but no, it's often things like "some one-off moment in this one episode that was never mentioned again".

I think Digimon has a reputation for being contradictory, but from what I've seen, it's actually more consistent than you'd think at first. But that's a blessing and a curse, because it means I have to remember too many things just in case it becomes important later. And you get things like LAST EVOLUTION Kizuna retroactively making the difference between "destiny" and "fate" plot-important when it had been a non-issue beforehand, or the recent THE BEGINNING relying heavily on a bit of background lore that had mostly only been in side material up until then. (Let's just say I'm going to have my work cut out for me this summer...)

Of course, the challenge is part of the fun. I wouldn't be translating so many Digimon things and even branding websites after them if I didn't genuinely enjoy it (I don't want to be seen as a "fandom translator" or anything, so the high percentage of Digimon content is really just because I like it that much). But while I posted some of my Saint Tail notes with minor touch-ups because doing so was easy, I'll probably never put up my Digimon notes because they're way too messy to be presentable, and...well, I'll be honest, because I'm pretty sure someone out there will see my thought process and accuse me of trying to force my personal interpretations on others. Believe me, I'm trying to keep any potential deviations and speculation to a minimum. It's just that with translation, and especially with Digimon, you're inevitably going to get to a point where you have no choice 💦