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I once read Dragon Ball translated into English, and noticed that the author frequently inserted short bursts of onomatopoeia into moments where there would be
by needle0 4y ago
I once read Dragon Ball translated into English, and noticed that the author frequently inserted short bursts of onomatopoeia into moments where there would be none if it was a work that originated in English (eg. when a person stepped down onto the ground after finishing levitating). It felt totally natural and unobtrusive while reading it in Japanese, but it suddenly stood out and felt jarring in English.
I guess Japanese has a much lower threshold for when an occurrence of something warrants an onomatopoeia. Western superhero comics would only insert written onomatopoeia upon the occurrence of a fairly loud and memorable sound (Creaak! Thud! Wham!); Manga, on the other hand, sprinkles them much more liberally, even with small insignificant sounds and (famously) ambient atmospheres that would make no audible sound.
- goosedragons 4y agoIt's just part of the language. Everything has onomatopoeia. It's not just Toriyama who does it. You will find it in manga all over even stuff before his time. You'll also hear things like "jiiiiii" for people staring in anime too.
- needle0 4y agoUh, I know. I am Japanese, I have tons of manga reading experience over decades. It's just that reading the same work both in the original Japanese and translated English made the difference in threshold more obvious.