Forum - View topicBad Translations
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smutchi
Posts: 189 |
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I've read some German manga with, in my opinion, "bad language". I haven't compared them to English or Japanese editions, but I just don't like the words or slang the translators used. It's more or less a feeling: I think they didn't do a good job translating them (I can't proove it though)... Sometimes they seem to try to use a language which they think young people find "cool" and "in".
Does anyone know what I mean or feel the same way about a (particular) manga? F.e. that a character uses words you think he wouldn't? BTW 1, do you think they translate from the Japanese or from the English versions (into German, French etc)? Well, I sure hope they translate from the original version... BTW 2, I think it would be interesting to compare some "bad pieces" of a German edition to the equivalent English edition... Or the other way round, more likely 
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HunterJumper197
 Posts: 13 Location: NC |
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I think that most manga is translated directly from japanese to german.
I have looked into buying some german manga (i really don't know german very well at all, but i was hoping that trying to read manga in german would help me improve ^^) and german releases seem to be ahead of american releases. For example i think all of ranma 1/2 is out in germany. So they couldn't have translated them from the english version (unless they used a fan translation or something). But aside from that i am not sure. |
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Unfortunately, I think the translation you're wrong, HunterJumper197.
The German-language manga are mostly published by Carlsen, so far as I know. The German Carlsen is a subdivision of Danish/Swedish Carlsen, and I know for a fact that they often use the English translations to work from - since it's easier, and cheaper, to get English translators. On a few occasions (e.g. Akira Toriyama's Kajika and Sandland one-shot manga), they have used direct translation from Japanese - but I gather they consider it to be a bother. Besides, the only Danish company specialising in translations of manga from Japanese (a company called Melos) suffers from a lack of good writers among their translating staff. Translation, you see, isn't just a matter of knowing the languages involved - you have to be able to write well, too. Otherwise, what comes out of the process is as stilted and artificial as Babelfish output. Incidentally, as bad as the situation is with manga, the anime situation is even worse. Nearly all the Danish-dubbed anime shown here is made from (often edited) U.S. versions. The results are sometimes sickeningly bad. - abunai |
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sailorspazz
 Posts: 195 Location: Portland, OR |
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I can't say anything about German manga, but there are English series I can think of that are guilty of being spiced up with "cool" things like excessive swearing and American pop culture references (which really only serve to date the manga to when it was translated, since in a few years people might not get the references anymore).
I don't read a lot of manga in English (I majored in Japanese in college, so most of what I read is in the original language), but one series I've read recently that is guilty of the things I listed above is Gravitation. I already own the series in Japanese and checked out the English versions from the library to see how their translation compared to how I imagined it, and it was definitely very different. It seemed very odd to me that characters who were originally very polite in Japanese (like Touma) were suddenly throwing around swear words in English. And then there were the American references with characters talking about getting "Punk'd" and stuff. Even though the series was translated fairly recently, some of the references were already dated, such as one where someone compared the media interest in the main couple to be like that of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston....and now they're broken up! Maybe I'm just a purist, but I think most manga can stand on there own in translation without needing to be "spiced up" for a foreign audience to enjoy. |
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smutchi
Posts: 189 |
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That's a shame!  Fortunately, there are some other German publishers, competing with Carlsen comics: Tokyopop, Egmont and Panini comics (planet manga). But if the situation there is any better...? I don't expect it to be, because they aren't bigger than Carlsen...
EDIT: Maybe HunterJumper197 has a point, too:
I've checked on some manga, and f.e. RG Veda is already entirely published in German (by Carlsen), while there's only one volume in English available yet... That would probably mean they translated it directly.... I didn't realize before, that sometimes the German versions are published earlier than the English. |
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Egmont is Danish, too. Heheh. We're like the Borg. Resistance is futile. - abunai |
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Kaitou KID
 Posts: 64 Location: The Netherlands |
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Usually, it's written in the credtits  I.e. in Egmont's "Detectiv Conan" releases, in the credits is mentioned: 'aus dem japanischen von..' [[translated] From Japanese by...] Practically every series I have in German has that written in the credits.
Some are more vague in crediting, I got "Saint Seiya Episode G 1" today in German, publisher Planet Manga / Panini and comparing it with the French version of that same book, I can say the German version looks like a direct translation of the French version. In the credits they only mention the translator, but it doesn't mention from what version it was translated.
I have most of the German Ranma 1/2 series, it is partially translated from the English release, till about tankobon 17, afterwards it's translated from the French releases. |
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HunterJumper197
Posts: 13 Location: NC |
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yeah, sorry for giving the wrong info...
 I was just assuming based on the fact that some german releases are ahead of american. But anyway it is kind of sad that they aren't translating directly from japanese, going through two different languages probably takes the dialouge even further from the original.
That said does anyone have any suggestions of good and fairly short manga series i could get in german? And any suggestions about where i could get them from? I live in the US so i guess i would probably have to order them off of the internet. ~ thanks |
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smutchi
Posts: 189 |
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HunterJumper197:Actually, I could give you a lot of suggestions, but it would be easier if I knew, which kind of manga you like! Could you give me some hints?
About ordering: I'll check it out for you as soon as I have some suggestions. Generally I'd say amazon.de is your best bet!
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Sashatwen
 Posts: 7 Location: Germany |
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I can safely say this assumption is wrong. While Carlsen is owned by the same conglomerate as the Swedish Carlsen, it is an independent company and their creative choices are in no way influenced by theirs. I do not know about the Danish and Swedish publishers of the same name, but I know for a definite fact that Carlsen only translates manga from the original Japanese. When they first started out, over 10 years ago, Akira and Battle Angel was translated from the English Dark Horse editions. At least since the publication of Dragonball, however, and the subsequent introduction of the tankoubon format, they have never translated a manga from any other language than the original, to my knowledge. I know this for a fact because I did an internship with Carlsen Germany last summer, and I have a working relationship with them [/b]
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smutchi
Posts: 189 |
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You lucky, lucky person! 
Lässt du mal ein paar Beziehungen spielen für mich?
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Sashatwen
Posts: 7 Location: Germany |
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I did not mean to brag, just pointing out I have valid sources 
Actually, any publisher I know is always glad to have qualified interns. Your standard publishing person is underpaid and overworked and will gladly share the workload. Feel free to apply. No need for Vitamin C from my side. (I currently work as a freelancer, BTW, they just pay the bills I send them )
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darkhunter
 Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
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I was going to start a topic on American Slang and "trendy" words, but since this relate to bad translation, I'll just post it here.
While reading Dance Until Tomorrow (awesome manga), I notice that they say, "none of your beeswax" or "mind your own beeswax" a lot. Personally I would have the editor or tranlator stay away from these type of slang, and use regular "mind your own business." Now I know that was a trendy word back when I was like in 6th grade, but times has change. Do people still use the word beeswax anymore? It's really annoying. I would hate to see a manga filled with slang like "my bad" or "that's the shit". I know these words are still trendy and I used it all the time, but it just doesn't fit in the context of japanese manga. Last edited by darkhunter on Thu Jun 02, 2005 6:19 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Haiseikoh 1973
 Posts: 1590 Location: Waiting for the Japanese 1000 Gunieas. |
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An article that was linked here by/to ANN cited that Tokyopop uses College Students to do some of their translation work. So yeah, you have to wonder about some translations. |
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Kazu-kun
Posts: 10 |
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iv'e seen some actual bad translations, like in .hack vol1 they made Ouka Orca in my edition (the first printing) apparently they changed it in the second printing. Viz did a pretty good job with excel saga imo. a lot of jokes americans wouldn't get, they try changing to keep the meaning, but in the back put tons of notes and stuff, and explained the original jokes. i don't know anything about the german mangas at all. i just hope i don't see tons of crappy translations done, where the peopel try making the dialouge completly americanized....that would really suck. oh well, i'll just ask my obachan if she could send me the next couple volumes of negima so i can learn japanese. since negima has the hiragana next to the kanji, and since i have tons of refrence guides and translating stuff, i should be able to read it and learn a lot.
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