Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! [2006-10-27]
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ArielTsuki
Posts: 178 |
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I read the first volume of Challengers, but I can't remember if they used "nii-san" all thoughout though... But I don't think it's unprofessional at all since it shows the relationship of the main chara (forgot his name, ugh) and Tatsumi, his older brother. It's shows that he's close to his brother but he's extremely polite because he uses -san. But if they switch between "older brother" and "nii-san" then it's a problem and a mark on their professionalism. BTW, I remember a fan told me that Vic once put down yaoi, saying it's full of sin and wrong, but when I went to Anime Next, he played along the yaoi fangirls by saying "Mustang is dead sexy".. alot. But anyway, is this true or a load of hogwash? Because it looks like he went back on his beliefs if it was so. EDIT: Oh, it's not surprising if how they translated the American kinda awkward when there was English in the original Japanese tankouban. I've seen many, many travesties of the English language in tankouban that sometimes make me cry. Plus, it's hella diffcult especially if the chara mixed the two languages together and you're translating with one of the languages. Last edited by ArielTsuki on Fri Oct 27, 2006 3:23 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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PantsGoblin
 SubscriberEncyclopedia Editor  Posts: 2969 Location: L.A. |
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By "mostly girls" do you mean that it's most girls they are idolizing or that mostly girls are the ones who idolize? Either way though, I don't neccesarily think idolizing is a "bad thing" to do... I'll admit that I am more than obsessed with Ryoko Shintani. Although, I'm probably a very rare case, just try to tell me that it has had negative effect on me after reading this. Edit: Ah reading that entry always makes me a bit teary eyed, as I was dead serious at the time I wrote it... and I still am too. |
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hanachan01
 Posts: 504 |
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Tatsumi is the name of the main character that you are refering to. Can't remember his brother's name however. I think saying 'brother' would've made the relationship 100% clear though. And Vic doesn't put down yaoi in public, alothough he's not into it. I don't know his private thoughts about it, but in public, he doesn't put it down. And the "Mustang is dead sexy" thing is a joke thing he says....I even asked him to say it at AnimeNEXT this year 
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6868 Location: Kazune City |
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Aw, why the hate for ELO? Unfortunately, I don't seem to have "Twilight" on any of the old-school cassette tapes that I own. But I must say, I love that cat picture...I just can't get it out of my head
Hmm, Akukaze already mentioned that plans for a Nadesico sequel and a Stellvia sequel were abruptly canceled, complete with link. The Slayers info came in handy; I'll be sure to watch Premium as a "final send-off." I managed to find all the OVA discs from ADV at Amazon and/or Rightstuf, and the movies are widely available as a thinpack from ADV. The CPM discs of the TV series, however, are nowhere to be found, except as attractively-priced 3-disc "import" sets with English and Chinese subtitles 
Anyone who thinks US VAs have it easy should go to a "Dubbing 101" panel put on by VAs at a con, and see what the work is really like--it's not just, "Okay, here's these lines, read them," and there's a lot more involved. I'm finding I like dubs more and more because they re-interpret things and aren't slavishly accurate to the literal meaning, because the more Japanese you understand, the more anime dialogue seems repetitive, simply because of the nature of the language. Subtitle wording and editing choices play a large part of the "coolness" value. We all know there's another reason why US VAs get so much attention at cons...let's face it, many of them came from theater backgrounds, and don't exactly have "faces made for radio." The fangirlism over Vic Mignogna, Johnny Young Bosch, and others is apparent, but some of those female VAs aren't bad-looking either. I won't say which ones, so that I don't sound like an Internet stalker (Past, not a word from you!  ) I feel embarrassed as a fan whenever I hear about VAs of either gender being stalked--they take time out of their lives to come to conventions, and in my case, to conventions in the middle of nowhere (Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa), so they don't deserve to be treated like that. But as we all know, Japanese fans can be much creepier, like these guys. I think one reason for the increased security is that con staff know that US VAs will keep showing up at other conventions, even if they don't come back to a certain one after a bad incident. What they fear is that Japanese guests won't want to come back to any US convention at all if even the slightest incident occurs, so they keep the watchdogs on alert.
I'm all for leaving certain things in Japanese for subtitles at least--I really enjoyed AnimEigo's Kimagure Orange Road because it felt like fansubs on DVD, with "Onii-chan" and various other terms left in. At the same time, I don't support laziness like you see in some of the more recent Bleach fansubs that leave things like reiatsu (spirit energy/pressure) and Sereitei (Court of Pure Souls) in Japanese. My policy in the translations I do is to leave the honorifics and culturally-specific terms in Japanese, but to translate to English whenever there's a compact, convenient translation that sounds "cool enough" and isn't too wordy--subtitle real estate is valuable, after all. So, things like "reverse blade sword" I would translate, but when you run into a repeated two-word chant that means "purify the six roots of evil," with "roots of evil" meaning the physical senses, I found it more efficient to give a note and leave it in Japanese. I'll be the first to defend official translations if someone comes in saying, "fansubs are better-translated, that's why I don't buy DVDs" (or vice-versa), but there are some points where the DVDs "deculturize" things or water them down to be more standardized/accessible. For instance, they're deathly afraid of using the word/concept of "moé," even though it's become quite common on the Japanese side. The preview at the end of My-Hime #14 is one example where the fansubs are more accurate on this count. |
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MorwenLaicoriel
 Posts: 1617 Location: Colorado |
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On Vic and yaoi--I do know *something* concerning that. I had a friend who went to Anime Oasis, and he hung around Vic's table while he was doing autographs. Well, one fangirl came up and asked Vic to sign a Roy/Ed hentai doujinshi. Vic politely declined to autograph it (my friend made sure to emphasize 'politely'), and she got ticked off and yelled that he was a "f---ing b-----" to his face.
Soo..yeah. It's hard for me to say if it was the relationship in general or the pornography in it that he was objecting to (probably a mixture of both), but I would say he's not a big fan of yaoi, no. Probably because of his religious beliefs. I've never seen him say anything either way on the matter, though. Oh, BTW, for the record, I appreciate Japanese VAs as well. ^^ I enjoy watching the subs, too. I'm not quite as crazy abougt them (mixture of not seeing them at cons, and just not being able to keep track of the names because of my poor Japanese skills), but I DO like them, I don't bash on them at all. ^^ Oh and--YAY FELLOW RANGER!  RED DAWN!
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JELEINEN
 Posts: 253 Location: Iowa |
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Twilight came off of the album "Time" in the early 80's, after Lynne had replaced the string section with synthesizers. It's not real big with a lot of the hard core fans. |
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Malintex Terek
Guest
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I'm actually glad Gantz hasn't been "brought over", since a title like that would most likely kill the daring company who had the funds/guts to license it. Gantz doesn't really have much story and the chapter format is an absolute nightmare to take in any form of subdivision; it's the kind of series that needs to be read at a pace of three volumes per sitting, not chapter-by-chapter or even volume-by-volume.
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Steventheeunuch
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It'd still sell, though, so there's no real reason for it not coming over yet (unless it costs a lot of money to license, or someone has it but can't say yet, etc), because regardless of how we think a title will go, it doesnt gaurantee anything (TT will never sell if it's edited ruuuh, and look what happened there) |
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Kouji
 Posts: 978 |
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However, I think honorifics should be kept in subtitle translations and in English manga. With manga it's easy just to have a glossary in the back of the book or you can just have a translation note next to the honorific to explain its usage and most people who read manga are diehard anime fans who are probably more familiar with Japanese honorifics, anyway. And I think they should be included in subtitled anime because even if you leave it out of the translations, it still sounds awkward. I remember the first time I watched a subtitled anime was when I watched the subtitled VHS version of Sailor Moon S The Movie almost six years ago. Back then I didn't know a thing about honorifics so I was always confused why Luna would call Kakeru just by his name in the subtitles but it would sound like she was saying something different when she spoke it. Because I didn't know the honorifics back then, I couldn't figure out why she was speaking something different than what the subtitles were saying, and it wasn't until years later that I found out that Luna was calling him "Kakeru-san" and I learned what the honorifcs were. However, if Geneon had just kept the Japanese honorifics in the subtitles and included an insert with the explanations (or as extras on the DVDs), I could've avoided all that confusion a long time ago. So, I think that honorifics should be left in with an explanation provided to explain them, since the characters are speaking something different than what the subtitles are saying, it's going to be confusing as hell anyway, speaking from personal experience here. |
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kolibri
 Posts: 712 Location: Vancouver |
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That's a fair point, I guess - it comes down to localization vs. direct translation doesn't it. (I was watching Loveless the other night and Kio calls Soubi Sou-chan but it's "translated" in the subs as Soubi - I just find it cute but I can see how that might be confusing to some.) Like you said having a reference list works very well in manga, but I don't think it would work that well with a DVD - with manga it's your own pace and you can stop to look, with a DVD pausing would be possible but just not as convenient. I've watched some DVDs that required a lot of checking up of the references and it does ruin the pacing and to an extent the enjoyment. |
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Steroid
 Posts: 329 Location: At home, where all good hikikomori should be |
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Regarding the overcautious handling of Japanese guests at conventions, I agree with Zac 100 percent. (Satan, order the parkas!) There's no reason why an NA VA panel can be fun and loose while a Japanese VA panel has to be conducted with the sort of atmosphere fit for an insurance seminar.
As to the rant, I've always believed that the translation should help to not only to understand the work, but to understand it as a native speaker would. It should help you to think a little in the language in question. Differences in idiom, connotation, and even sound make a difference in the message. Keeping the honorifics and using notes to explain concepts that don't translate directly are aids to this endeavor. |
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genman
Posts: 40 |
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I help out with Sakura-con Guest Relations. I've been to many conventions and agree with Zac.
A lot of other conventions are very protective of their Japanese guests. Yes, these people are busy and smart and might get offended at the attendees, but they are (as far as I've seen) very humble and gracious people. They don't think of themselves as rock stars. They don't need the level of protection most staff think they do. If you approached my guest at Sakura-con in the hotel lobby or someplace, and you were polite, I'd be happy to help translate or facilitate communication. These people want to know who their fans are; anime and manga is more their work for love than money and they need affirmation. That's what I hope Japanese guests come--although obviously they like going to Hooters and the mall as well. For approaching a guest at Anime Expo, you'd probably get your badge taken away...or at least told to go away. It's not quite that bad there, but feels like it. Japanese guests at conventions keep get treated like old senile people who need reminding they have a schedule to keep. I wish that would stop. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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There are people out there who do feel the same way Vic does, that slash fanfiction creators are showing a total lack of respect for the source material and are taking the false sense of "ownership" they have over the material as fans much, much too far. I agree with him, to a point. Do I think they should be forced to stop? No, absolutely not. Do I think they're misguided? In a way, yes, I do. |
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indrik
 Posts: 365 Location: yonder |
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The problem I am having with the rant is that I can't summon up the will to care that much. I mean, I can generate an opinion, but it just won't metastasize into anything resembling rantworthyness.
But in any event, I've seriously considered ordering Gantz from France or some other foreign country that has it in a language I can read (ie, not Japanese, darnit) but I haven't done it yet. I keep hearing about how much better the manga is, and I was really surprised at how much I liked the anime. A US license would be better, though, and probably cheaper. Also, in regards to voice actors, Hilary Haag is hot. And I perfer to remain anonymous on the interent so I can say things like that without somebody calling my wife. |
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frouella
 Posts: 199 Location: 大阪 |
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 We won't even go into Naruto's recent problems with his "little kyuubi"...
As for the rant, I think one thing he (she? the ranter?) forgot was that "English" is also made up of many different languages (e.g. Anglo-Saxon, Latin, Greek, Arabic, etc., etc.). Granted, they were assimilated into the language a long time ago, but at some point they were all still considered foreign. And really, what's the harm in Americans learning Japanese words? Especially the honorifics, since not only do they give a more accurate portrayal of the characters' relationships, they also offer insight into Japanese society and sociology (after all, why does Japan have so many? What does that say about the culture?). We have unrivaled access to information; if someone doesn't understand an untranslated word, he or she can look it up. Unless that's, like, too much work. In which case, said individual should go watch "Survivor" or something that's a little less challenging and leave everyone else alone. Grrr -- see, I was in a good mood and now the stupidity is making me cranky. Maybe Naruto episode 5183 is out; that'd make me feel better! |
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