To set the record straight, from Brian Bell’s account on VII the head translator had only a month to do it.
A leading mind of the Japanese translation industry, Alexander O. Smith's efforts have contributed to the localization of a score of anime, manga, and video games. With a keen understanding of both Japanese and American popular culture, his name has been affiliated with many quality game titles.
Born in Vermont, Smith attended Dartmouth College and Keio University to obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree in Asian Studies in 1995. He earned his Master of Arts in Classical Japanese Literature from Harvard University in 1998. Joining Square in the late '90s, he aided in the localization of titles such as Final Fantasy VIII and Parasite Eve II.
Smith was the lead translator on Vagrant Story in 1999, commended by reviewers for its high-quality English script: a unique creation featuring archaic diction interwoven with more contemporary language. More recently, he was a lead translator on the thematically related world of Ivalice title Final Fantasy XII. He shares the distinction with Yasumi Matsuno of having worked on two of Famitsu magazine's highest rated game titles.
For Bowne Global Solutions, Smith was contracted on other popular titles as Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, Koudelka, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Currently, he resides in Mitaka, Tokyo, where he operates his own localization company, Kajiya Productions with Joseph Reeder.1
