Interest

Attack on Titan Now Available in Kansai Dialect

Despite playing host to some 18% of the Japanese population and several of its major cities, Kansai can seem overlooked and even maligned by its rival metropolis. In what might be an attempt to give it a spot in the limelight — or just another opportunity for it to get mocked — the first volume of Attack on Titan has been "translated" into Kansai's distinctive, widely known dialect.

The cover includes numerous Kansai cliches, from the Titan's perm to the octopus balls floating around.

The conversion mostly involves swapping the standard Japanese da (a word that ends the sentence) with ya and swapping standard Japanese -nai or -masen (negative verb tenses) with -hen. Baka ("fool") is replaced with aho. While the word jinrui (humanity) is retained, it is now read as "Kansai-jin" (people of Kansai; in Japanese the readings of Chinese characters can be altered by other characters next to them). And some lines are modified more substantially; Armin is called a heretic and a Giants fan by the bullies who attack him. In this case Giants may refer to the Titans, but it probably also refers to the Yomiuri Giants, a Tokyo baseball team much loathed in Kansai. (In Kansai the series' Japanese name, "The Attacking Giants," would have special resonance.) As Kansai is strongly associated with comedy, the changes have the overall effect of making the manga seem goofier.

Hannes explains that he failed to save Eren's mother because he was hetare (weak-willed).

The manga is available on online retailers and for free here. Users of the online manga service LINE Manga will receive a stamp for downloading it there (Japan only). In addition, Yukina Yasuda, a noted Osakan comedian, will read the translation out loud on the online show Yoshilog on March 17.

[Via Comic Natalie]