Forum - View topicREVIEW: Chibi Vampire GN 1
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
biliano
Posts: 956 Location: Cleveland, OH |
|
|||||
Believe it or not, I actually agree with you choice of title. "Karin the Little Vampire" sounds to me like a more appropriate English-language moniker for this manga. It fits the titular character perfectly, and it doesn't cause any confusion with Kamichama Karin. Still, I don't care what title TokyoPOP calls it; as long as the contents of the book remains enjoyable, I'm still going to read it. Unfortunately, the next volume won't come out until August. Four months is too long a wait between volumes. |
||||||
|
||||||
Wyvern
 Posts: 1561 |
|
|||||
|
I'm holding out for the volume where Karin begins forcing everyone to go to bed early, in a fiendish plot to eliminate the meal of dinner. :p
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
biliano
Posts: 956 Location: Cleveland, OH |
|
|||||
Simpsons reference, I presume! 
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18202 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
|
|||||
The problem with using a title like "Karin: The Little Vampire" is twofold: 1) There's already an American movie by the title "The Little Vampire" (do a Google search, it gets some interesting results); and 2) With a name like that it could easily be presumed to be a kid's title, which it clearly isn't. The title Chibi Vampire makes it instantly clear that it's Japanese in origin and does not have the suggestiveness of being a kid's title. It's also distinctive. I only checked out the title myself because of the name, and wouldn't have given it even a glance with a name like "Little Vampire" or just "Karin" even if either were feasible. Sorry, but accurate or not, Tokyopop made the correct marketing call on this one.
Er, that'd be kinda hard, since the rest of Karin's family mostly functions at night. 
|
||||||
|
||||||
championferret
 Posts: 765 |
|
|||||
I must say this bit annoyed me a little, as the use of the word 'although' makes it sound like not ruining the original art is a bad thing. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Key
Moderator
Posts: 18202 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
|
|||||
I don't look at it as "ruining the original art" to take out untranslated sound effects and replace them with ones that the intended audience for the translation (i.e. English speakers) can actually understand. Besides, English equivalents can be used in a style close enough to the original to retain the same artistic feel, as has been proven with other titles. Take it as a personal bias of mine if you like, but I'd rather sacrifice a little bit of artistic integrity in favor of actually being able to understand what I'm reading. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
championferret
Posts: 765 |
|
|||||
|
..I'm sorry but I really find that point of view rather ridiculous.
The mangaka draws the sound effects, they are integrated within the art. English sound effects are not the same shape. Therefore edited them ruins it. There are many frames in VIZ manga where I cant even figure out what's meant to be happening anymore because the edited sound effects obscured it. Heck, edited sound effects are reason enough for me to not buy an english release of something and opt for the japanese tank instead. I think the 'BUT I CANT READ THE JAPANESE SOUND EFFECTS!' view is ridiculous, as...does it matter? Even if you cant read kana, it's the size, shape and general look of the sound effect that conveys its meaning clear enough. Big sound effect, it's a big noise. Jagged and sharp, it's a screechy, ripping noise most likely, and a soft, fluttery one would be...soft and fluttery. This is graphic story telling, and it looks a lot prettier than giant, cheesy looking "BOOM!"s and "CRASH!"es. |
||||||
|
||||||
HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
|
|||||
God forbid we understand what is being heard by the characters.  By your logic, they shouldn't be translating the manga at all. After all, the manga-ka wrote out all that dialogue.
If nothing else, they can include translations on the side or inside the SFX (when they are big enough), which is done in some titles. Apparently, reading the original Japanese tankoubans is an option for you, but it isn't an option for most people. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
championferret
Posts: 765 |
|
|||||
|
Um...I think you're entirely missing my point. -_-'
The text in speech bubbles does not impact on the art, it's inside a speech bubble. Of coures you can often run into problems when there is text over the top of images, but so far I haven't seen any translating company obscure any art by just replacing normal lettering...which makes sense as it is only lettering, and usually set in an unobtrusive way. Of course, ADV often leaves the japanese text there with a translation nearby, a practice I dont have a problem with as long as it doesnt clutter up the frame...which has happened. I just dislike people thinking untranslated sound effects makes for an 'inferior' translation, because honestly, you can tell what the sound effect means whether you can read it or not. True, tokyopop could have put a rough translation under the frame, which they have done in some titles before, this, it seems, just isnt one of them... And if you're absolutely desperate, a sound effect glossary is absolutely fine (a practice I STILL cant understand why VIZ have now dropped...) and can actually let the readers LEARN something. I just find that, the english Shonen Jump titles especially, the glaring english sound effects COMPLETLEY ruin the art. I feel like I'm reading an X-men comic or something. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Key
Moderator
Posts: 18202 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
|
|||||
The sound effects used in modern American comic books are no more or less cheesy, or done as part of artistic style, than those which appear in manga. In fact, I usually don't even notice them unless I make a conscious effort to pay attention to them. Can't say the same for untranslated manga sound effects; to my eye they just clutter up the artistry, and provide a distraction rather than an enhancement, in a way that American sound effects don't. Granted, the fact that I've probably read 15-20x as much American comic book content as I have manga content probably has something to do with that. And I don't know what you've been reading, but I'm come across a few titles which unobtrusively replaced the original sound effects with American equivalents and others which included the translation with the originals, and without making much extra clutter there, either. Thus it can - and - has - been done. Battle Angel Alita is an excellent example of the former, and it's as artistically intensive as any manga title out there. Look, I can see that our views our miles apart on this, championferret, so it's best we just leave it at that. I guess in the future you'll just have to skip that part of my manga reviews. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
championferret
Posts: 765 |
|
|||||
You didn't have to bold my name, I really do hate it so there's no need to rub it in. Anyway: Fine then, keep your view and I'll keep mine, but I only wonder why if people can get used to reading manga 'backwards' then there shouldnt be anything wrong with the sound effects, it's part of the cultural integrity and all, much like name monikers etc. (I'm also just going to wonder why, as always, why VIZ's 'timeline' for their manga releases, from when they entered the market to present, goes something like this: flipped/reversed artwork, edited SFX(ie Pokemon, No Need for Tenchi)---->unflipped artwork, intact japanese SFX+glossary (ie DiGi Charat, Excel Saga) ----->unflipped artwork, retouched SFX. (ie Wolf's Rain, Shonen/Shojo Jump/Beat titles) )[/quote] |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Key
Moderator
Posts: 18202 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
|
|||||
It's pretty standard forum practice here to highlight the name of another forumite when speaking directly to them in a post. I wasn't trying to "rub it in," as you put it.
Not the same issue, since the forward/backward thing doesn't affect the translation in any way. That's about like saying "there shouldn't be anything wrong with signs/on-screen text not being translated" in an anime. |
||||||
|
||||||
darkhunter
 Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
|
|||||
|
I agree about the backward isn't the same as translating--some might even consider manga with untranslated sfx to be "half"-translated. Some people prefer that their sfx be subtitle or retouch so they can at least understand without referring to a glossy (break the flow of reading) It's just more convenient that way.
Purist might want to consider learning Japanese to read it in its truest form.
Just your opinion, doesn't represent the majority. Do you read the graphic novel more for the story or for the art? Also think about it, when the Japanese manga fan read the Kana in which they actually understand the "crash" and "boom", do they feel it's cheesy too? |
||||||
|
||||||
|
biliano
Posts: 956 Location: Cleveland, OH |
|
|||||
Not only that, but I went back through my back issues of Newtype USA and discovered that Dark Horse released a manga called Hipira the Little Vampire last April. So if TokyoPOP used my proposed title, they might get into trouble with Dark Horse for using a similar title.
You're right, and I stand corrected. Thanks for clearing that up for me. That's why I studied accounting in school and not marketing: I'm good at crunching numbers, but stink at pushing products. 
|
||||||
|
||||||
SnowStar_7*
 Posts: 87 |
|
|||||
|
So much to say!
I do not remember the word for it someone remind me. I think it's somewhere along "reprint". When a company issues books and then you print more since the first batch is gone. Kinda of like how Tokyopop releases some manga with the original color artwork inside, and then after it's been out a while they release them as b&w copies. That anyways in the second "reprint" does anyone wonder if they will correct this error? Since they are saying that future volumes will be corrected, and they do not seem to plan to keep on releasing them this way. I think it's kind of a collectible (kind of like their unremovable Parental Advisory warning on one volume and then not on the rest of the series). lol I really want them to look like a collection though. So I'm not sure if to pick it up. About the series, I did see that part where Kenta says that Karin should stop "whoring" around. I thought that was weird. He was so blatant and I thought he was a little shy. I have not ever read the original though. The MILF thing well what can you do, but I do not like that they make him say that. It's kind of like the "Dr. Phil" mention in Viz's Absolute Boyfriend. sigh Oh, and The Little Vampire is a cute vampire movie at least in my opinon.
|
||||||
|
||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group