Sunday, March 30, 2008

Names, translation, censorship etc.

(March 31st, added Japanese. 3月31日、日本語を書き足しました。)
To be honest, I do not own any English version of the manga. I only have the Japanese version. (These photos are taken from a set that is technically not mine.) Why? I hate how the words are broken. I understand that the bubbles are made for Japanese and way too narrow for English. But it drives me crazy and I just can't stand it.
ぶっちゃけ、英語版漫画は持ってません。縦長のふきだしに台詞の文字が切られて、読みにくくで、イライラします。(汗)

Back to the subject. First, I'd like to apologize to Totsu for taking these photos with her books without asking. (Sorry~ I'll send you more candies to make up for it~) (^_^;)
まず、Tさん、すみません、勝手に本の写真を撮りました。お詫びにお菓子を送ります。(^_^;)

(1) So... this is the answer for Utaneko regarding translation and how characters call each other. I'd say this is true to the original. (Mission accomplished. While I'm at it, might as well check a few other things...)
Uさん・・・この場合の翻訳はほぼ完壁と思います。これで任務完了。(笑)でも気になる部分もついでにチェックします。

(2) I'd always wanted to do a side-by-side comparison of the censored pages in book 8. But I also don't want to bend the book too much, so, only one page got photographed. Then I noticed, the Viz version is slightly bigger than the Japanese.
8巻の修正された部分をずっと見比べたかった。うーん、別に修正しなくてもいいじゃない?でも修正された部分は細くて、いい仕事でした。本を傷つきたくないので、1ページだけに。サイズ違い発見。Viz版は日本版より横長1センチずつ大きい。
(3) Mustang does call his teacher "master". In this case, the manga's translation seems to be better than the anime. Ed calls Izumi "teacher" and it drives me nuts. Oh wait! He does that in the manga too! Aaaargh!!
大佐の「師匠」は"master"。エドの「師匠」は"teacher"。後者はアニメだけと思ったが、漫画も。orz
この違いは謎です。イズミは本職の錬金術師じゃなくて、masterに呼ばれないかしら?いや、翻訳の人がそこまで拘ったら、teacherと訳さないと思います。orz
(4) Ed's shower scene in book 14. I totally thought it would be "Full Monty Alchemist" or something, haha...) So... is that slang? Sorry I'm only ESL.
14巻のシャワーシーン。わはは・・・!予想外の翻訳でした。これは俗語かな?軽く調べても分かりません。(英語は母国語じゃなくて、すみません。)
(5) Stumbled across this by chance. Shouldn't Kimblee be the "Crimson Alchemist"? What's with this "Red Lotus"? They're trying to stay close to the Japanese, but in this case, anime's translation seems to be better.
これは・・・偶然に発見した翻訳の謎。「紅」=Red、「蓮」=Lotusの文字だけの直訳でしたよね。アニメでは意訳のCrimsonになって、漫画よりずっとかっこいい。

Al calling Ed "brother" instead of his name is what bugs me the most. Unfortunately this is the same for the manga. Are they trying to stay true to the original? But it doesn't work!
一番気になる「兄さん」は、やっぱり'brother'か'big brother'と訳された。原作に忠実でしょうか?でも凄い違和感。(汗)

I'm afraid the translation quality of the anime and manga are about the same. Sigh...
アニメと漫画の翻訳は、ほぼ同点になると思います。残念。orz

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello.
I am Urikurage.
Nice to meet you.
I came here from Yukasuke-san site.

You send me an E-mail last year.
I was realy happy!
But,sorry.
I was so cowardly.

I love your blog.
It is very interesting and excitement!
You compared Japanese HGAREN to english one.
I have English HAGANE comics.
I didn't realize that!

I think the ward 'Full Monty' is the movie title.
The movie tells the story about men's strip.
I heard 'Full Monty' meant 'stark-naked'

I really enjoy your blog.
Thank you very much.

MC said...

Wow! Thanks for your comment, うりくらげさん! I'm so happy!!! しかも英語で。(笑)ありがとうございます!
Actually I first knew about you from Mizuki-san's site. (And I found hers from web search.) At about the same time, Yue-sanから特製post cardが話題になりました。(笑)Your study on anatomy is awesome, and I love your drawings!
周りに鋼ファンがいないので、寂しいです。So I ended up reaching out to Japanese fans.(^_^;)I enjoy your blog very much too! うりくらげさんのイラストは、毎日の楽しみです!

うわ!フランケンシュタインな返事で、すみません!(>_<;)

Anonymous said...

 こんにちは、はじめまして!
nonと申します。
「英語版鋼の錬金術師」は直訳が多くて、違和感を感じる箇所も多いですよね^^; やはり、そのなかでも"Brother"はダントツ変だと思います。It makes the two sound like monks...lol
Maybe...the translator must have thought that he should make Alphonse and Edwards relationship clear.... but I personally think it was better to simply call Edward "Ed".

MC said...

Hi Non! Thanks for your comment! I totally agree with you! Perhaps they tried to stay true to the original, but it doesn't work...
Nonさんは日本の方ですか?日本語と英語両方も凄く上手くて、I can't tell. (笑)

Anonymous said...

 I was born in Japan, but I used to live abroad.
mcさんも、日本語とてもお上手ですよね!You seem to live abroad, and your English seems more fluent than your Japanese, but where did you learn your Japanese? Of course, if you don't want to say, that's okay^^
I've always wanted to discuss the "Full Metal Alchemist" with someone who spoke English^^ Its nice to know there's someone like you!
By the way, I'm curious why the author named "Hagaren" "Full Metal" alchemist.... I mean, it doesn't match with the Japanese title, and it seems to describe Alphonse more than Edward. Do you have any ideas why?
長々と失礼しました!
Non

MC said...

Hi Non! It's great to know you too! I haven't been able to find many FMA English-speaking fans either. (Which is really strange considering none of my ex-colleagues from an animation studio and 2 game companies was a fan...) Well, actually I'm not Japanese. I only immigrated to Canada 18 years ago. English is not my mother tongue. I learned Japanese by reading manga, and I know my grammar is incorrect. (^_^;)
As to the title of "Fullmetal Alchemist"... are you referring to the short form? As it's the title given to Ed, I don't feel anything weird. Al does feel like he's the older brother. The characters are full of paradox, and I think it's one of the reasons that makes the story so interesting. (^_^)

Anonymous said...

 少しご無沙汰していました^^
About the title "Fullmetal Alchemist", I wanted to know why it was "full metal"...or, is it a common word?? I thought the name was the author's creation, and wondered why it was a "full" metal. ...hmm, 英語の語彙が(日本語も…)少なくて、説明が難しいです(汗。

MC said...

Haha... I never thought of that. There was "Full Metal Panic" before that, so it might just be "the word" to use. かっこういいから、いいじゃない?(^_^)

Anonymous said...

確かに、カッコいいですよね!他にしっくりくるタイトルがないのも事実ですし。
Full Metal Panic、よくご存知ですね^^
私は今日はじめて知りました(汗

私の微妙な疑問に答えてくださってありがとうございます!これからも、このサイトに来させていただきますね^^

MC said...

あはは・・・よく考えたら、興味深い疑問ですよね。
考察上手いの歌猫さんはどう思うかな?
更新が遅いブログだけど、thanks for visiting!
これからも、どうぞよろしくお願いしますね~!(^_^)