Abstract
This study examines how manga translation judgements are made defensible through warranting discourse and operationalises translational configuration by distinguishing documented cue availability from coded cue uptake. Eighteen Japanese undergraduates (mock TOEIC 281–580; approximately CEFR A2–B1) completed the same Japanese–English panel tasks using My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! at the first and final sessions (R1 and R2, respectively) of a 13-week sequence; Q1 and Q2 were administered at both endpoints and Q3 at R2 only. Eleven intervening sessions used three manga for panel-supported L2→L1 (English-to-Japanese) retranslation, individual feedback, and anonymised whole-class editing. Q1, Q2, and Q3 were analysed using qualitative content analysis, reflexive thematic analysis, and directed qualitative content analysis, respectively. The R2 Q1 corpus contained more reformulation-, stance-, and interpersonal-effect-oriented codes; Q2 alternatives drew on four warrant types; and 18 of 100 Q3 responses formed warranting chains. The findings support a descriptive, task-ecological account without causally attributing any warrant to a single cue.
