4 ms·

It might be unfair to generalize, because there are some shoddy fan translations out there, and I’m sure there are some studios / professionals that do great wo

It might be unfair to generalize, because there are some shoddy fan translations out there, and I’m sure there are some studios / professionals that do great work. But it can be jarring to see fan-translated versions put more care into preserving intent and readability in translations, and even preserve artwork like onomatopoeia while also providing context, only to see what appears to be sloppy disregard in the official release. It feels like an industry where you as the customer never really know what you’re getting, because the standards are all over the place. For all the legit criticisms, anime has at least generally evolved to have a minimum acceptable standard by which most studios operate, with considerable blow back when that doesn’t happen (see early Netflix dubs that they later re-dubbed based on complaints). The same can’t be said for manga, afaik.

jabroni_salad 4y ago
Manga does pretty well with fanlations since there is less overall text. It's when you get into webnovels / light novels things get hairy and you pretty much have to lower your standard to the proper nouns being consistent and nothing else. But the alternative is to wait 2+ years for yen press to ship (Overlord addict here).
- falcolas 4y ago
  As a former reader of "The Irregular in Magic High School", official translations are not proof against poor quality. I get it, the original author used lots of arcane and formal Japanese, but good lord it was terrible.
klodolph 4y ago
My experience with fan-translated versions is that they often prioritize clumsy, literal translations over readable, fluent translations and it’s the exception when you find a really good translation. It’s not uncommon to see random untranslated words, or an over-reliance on translator’s notes. The most infamous example is “keikaku”, which was from an anime fan translation. It just means “plan”.
- anigbrowl 4y ago
  I suppose you think the timing of that was an accident [dramatic pause] I kind of prefer transliteration over fluency unless it's really clumsy; overly 'helpful' translations that prioritize ease over engagement can lead to incongruities, like characters in a medieval or fantastic setting saying 'OK!' rather than 'certainly' or 'of course'.
  - astrange 4y ago
    Trying to judge the translation by this kind of accuracy implies it was well-written in the original language which sadly is, uh, not often true. Japanese isn't actually a great language to write Western settings in. In particular Final Fantasy games have surprisingly boring scripts in Japanese; the FFXIV pirate city doesn't sound piratey at all, just kind of military.
- least 4y ago
  It's a clash of ideals, for sure. A commercial company avoids literal translations for obvious reasons; you want to ingratiate yourself with as large an audience as possible and using terminology that most people don't understand is alienating. Putting a translator's note to educate viewers about Japanese culture isn't really an option. Fan translations don't have the same restrictions in place and while it can lead to infamous examples like the keikaku one you mentioned, it can be much more enlightening, enriching, and enjoyable. Most of the time they help provide cultural context and some of these are widespread enough in anime fandom that even the official translations will use things like honorifics. Ultimately, I think it's good to have both. I view it as sort of the "introductory" level and the "intermediate" level of anime watching.
falcolas 4y ago
> fan-translated versions put more care into preserving intent and readability in translations There's a reason for this - money. If there's a particularly high quality scanlation, it's because someone has paid a group to do it. There's a lot of relatively skilled work that goes into translating a manga from Japanese to English: Translation, Proofreading, Redrawing (removing Japanese glyphs and literally re-drawing what they covered), Typesetting, QA. Some of these steps can take minutes per chapter, some take days. And like all skilled labor, they're typically paid. Especially the translators - you can't not pay them if you want both quality and stability. That payment can take several forms - Patreon accounts direct payments to have a particular manga translated (probably most manga produced will never get an official translation), and tip jars. Many scanlation groups would love to go legit - purchasing the American distribution licenses - but it's a hard road. Also, the scanlation scene provides something very valuable for the Japanese publishers: free market valuation. It's why the Japanese publishers who hold the English publication rights rarely go after scanlation groups and sites - it tells them which of their properties are worth licensing off to American companies. It's these companies that go after the scanlations, and most groups give in peacefully - often glad for the opportunity to reward bringing manga to their countries. Ironically, the skilled labor I called out above? It's the same thing that causes poor quality official translations. It requires a lot of labor, lots of time, and probably comparatively small profit margins.
- astrange 4y ago
  No, they don't secretly like scanlations, they just can't afford the lawyers to take them down. English manga publishers frequently won't license a series if it's been scanlated because they think nobody will buy it. It's only because the market is so big now that places like Seven Seas can afford to try and do it anyway.
  - autoexec 4y ago
    > English manga publishers frequently won't license a series if it's been scanlated because they think nobody will buy it. How is it that companies cam fail so hard at understanding their customers. So many fans would love to throw cash into their passion, support the people doing truly quality work, and encourage the production of more of the same. Honestly, plenty of fans just love their favorite franchises so much they'll buy stuff of pretty terrible quality too just to be able to put it on a shelf. I really don't understand japan's take on copyright either, it seems lax in some ways and extreme in others, but people in japan seem to have little issue getting around it and are still putting out all kinds of infringing content for themselves and the rest of the world to enjoy so maybe it's a good balance.

jabroni_salad 4y ago

Manga does pretty well with fanlations since there is less overall text. It's when you get into webnovels / light novels things get hairy and you pretty much have to lower your standard to the proper nouns being consistent and nothing else. But the alternative is to wait 2+ years for yen press to ship (Overlord addict here).

falcolas 4y ago
As a former reader of "The Irregular in Magic High School", official translations are not proof against poor quality. I get it, the original author used lots of arcane and formal Japanese, but good lord it was terrible.

klodolph 4y ago

My experience with fan-translated versions is that they often prioritize clumsy, literal translations over readable, fluent translations and it’s the exception when you find a really good translation. It’s not uncommon to see random untranslated words, or an over-reliance on translator’s notes. The most infamous example is “keikaku”, which was from an anime fan translation. It just means “plan”.

anigbrowl 4y ago
I suppose you think the timing of that was an accident [dramatic pause] I kind of prefer transliteration over fluency unless it's really clumsy; overly 'helpful' translations that prioritize ease over engagement can lead to incongruities, like characters in a medieval or fantastic setting saying 'OK!' rather than 'certainly' or 'of course'.
- astrange 4y ago
  Trying to judge the translation by this kind of accuracy implies it was well-written in the original language which sadly is, uh, not often true. Japanese isn't actually a great language to write Western settings in. In particular Final Fantasy games have surprisingly boring scripts in Japanese; the FFXIV pirate city doesn't sound piratey at all, just kind of military.
least 4y ago
It's a clash of ideals, for sure. A commercial company avoids literal translations for obvious reasons; you want to ingratiate yourself with as large an audience as possible and using terminology that most people don't understand is alienating. Putting a translator's note to educate viewers about Japanese culture isn't really an option. Fan translations don't have the same restrictions in place and while it can lead to infamous examples like the keikaku one you mentioned, it can be much more enlightening, enriching, and enjoyable. Most of the time they help provide cultural context and some of these are widespread enough in anime fandom that even the official translations will use things like honorifics. Ultimately, I think it's good to have both. I view it as sort of the "introductory" level and the "intermediate" level of anime watching.

falcolas 4y ago

> fan-translated versions put more care into preserving intent and readability in translations There's a reason for this - money. If there's a particularly high quality scanlation, it's because someone has paid a group to do it. There's a lot of relatively skilled work that goes into translating a manga from Japanese to English: Translation, Proofreading, Redrawing (removing Japanese glyphs and literally re-drawing what they covered), Typesetting, QA. Some of these steps can take minutes per chapter, some take days. And like all skilled labor, they're typically paid. Especially the translators - you can't not pay them if you want both quality and stability. That payment can take several forms - Patreon accounts direct payments to have a particular manga translated (probably most manga produced will never get an official translation), and tip jars. Many scanlation groups would love to go legit - purchasing the American distribution licenses - but it's a hard road. Also, the scanlation scene provides something very valuable for the Japanese publishers: free market valuation. It's why the Japanese publishers who hold the English publication rights rarely go after scanlation groups and sites - it tells them which of their properties are worth licensing off to American companies. It's these companies that go after the scanlations, and most groups give in peacefully - often glad for the opportunity to reward bringing manga to their countries. Ironically, the skilled labor I called out above? It's the same thing that causes poor quality official translations. It requires a lot of labor, lots of time, and probably comparatively small profit margins.

astrange 4y ago
No, they don't secretly like scanlations, they just can't afford the lawyers to take them down. English manga publishers frequently won't license a series if it's been scanlated because they think nobody will buy it. It's only because the market is so big now that places like Seven Seas can afford to try and do it anyway.
- autoexec 4y ago
  > English manga publishers frequently won't license a series if it's been scanlated because they think nobody will buy it. How is it that companies cam fail so hard at understanding their customers. So many fans would love to throw cash into their passion, support the people doing truly quality work, and encourage the production of more of the same. Honestly, plenty of fans just love their favorite franchises so much they'll buy stuff of pretty terrible quality too just to be able to put it on a shelf. I really don't understand japan's take on copyright either, it seems lax in some ways and extreme in others, but people in japan seem to have little issue getting around it and are still putting out all kinds of infringing content for themselves and the rest of the world to enjoy so maybe it's a good balance.