my two cents on the translations:
I remember one interview with a head of some anime big-name company on ANN regarding his personal/professional standing on fansubs, which goes something like this...
"Personally, I like fansubs because they are from the fan community. Professionally, if the fansubs are not made with much love and respect, (in this case, accurate translations) they have the potential to damage the product."
We don't know if a licensor will pick up KnJ in the future... so SaHa and NLB
both have a duty to treat their projects with utmost care and respect. The mere admission that SaHa was commissioned to do this project, and not doing it out of "love and respect," shows a major lack of fansubber/scanlator ethics on their side. And if things are commissioned, there is usually money involved... yet another taboo among fansubbers/scanlators.
@pedobear
Quote:
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I apologize if I'm being so cryptic here, but I can't say I'm willing to simply hand you the fixes on a silver platter when you're criticizing another for making mistakes and claiming to have the "refined" version.
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Although I agree with you on the above quote, perhaps you can help by pointing out the mistakes made? You may have seen something that both NLB and SaHa haven't noticed.
@Kaioshin_Sama
Well... KnJ is one of those manga that has to have accurate translations. If you scroll back a few pages, you'll see a phrase that goes something like "ejaculate inside me" or something. Those who know niponggo are arguing about the grammar and/or other stuff about how the phrase is meant to be understood.
Looking into the highly-controversial nature of this manga, accurately translating the words the author wants to convey with impeccable accuracy is vital to cleaning this manga's reputation. Improperly translated words may lose their true meaning, and those who are against this manga (even though they have no idea what the story holds) will further justify their stand.
Being too nit-picky on the translating is pretty much lame, but it's inevitable, considering that two groups are scanlating it: one being commissioned to speed-sub it, the other aiming for quality.
(just read SaHa's [and NLb's] chapter seven... it makes me go 'awww...' XD )
Quote:
Comparisons:
#1
Chap7, page 7, upper-left scene followed by a response in lower-right scene
SaHa:
"You stupid virgin with phimosis!"
"I might be a virgin, but I sure as hell don't have phimosis!"
NLB:
"Virgin!"
"I'm not just inexperienced, I'm also totally inept when it comes to this stuff."
*Phimosis? That's one deep word there... I have to critique NLB on their translation of the response. 'Inexperienced' and 'inept,' from what I understand, point to the same subject: virginity/sex... if this is true, then the mistake of redundancy is committed in this sentence. Unless 'inexperienced' or 'inept' is pointing to another unmentioned (but inferred) subject.
#2
Chap7, page 7, mid-left scene and lower-left scene:
SaHa: "What the hell!? What the hell!!?"; "I've been at Rin-chan's side... much, much longer than that bozo... !!"
NLB: "Why sensei, why!!"; "Why did you make me say it? You know how close I am with Rin-chan..!!"
*SaHa's implies a tone of irritation and anger. NLB's implies a tone of frustrated questioning.
#3
Chap7, page 12, upper-right scene
SaHa: "Um... are both parents out today?"
NLB: "Err... is there anyone a bit older I could talk to?"
*I know the core-meaning isn't different between the translations, but the choice of words used by the two groups makes this scene: considering the context of the situation, NLB's choice of words makes the speaker seem a bit brash or fresh, while SaHa's choice of words makes the speaker seem more subdued. My two cents.
#4
Chap7, page 14, lower-left scene
SaHa: "I advise that you be careful with her, sensei."
NLB: "And I'll be expecting nothing less from you."
*SaHa's translation can be understood two ways: as a 'warning to be aware of her', or as a 'warning to take care of her.'
#5
Chap7, page 19, upper-left scene
SaHa: "Yeah. It's better that I respect her privacy or I may end up creating more of a distance between us. I think I just need to learn to cope with it!"
NLB: "That's why... instead keeping[sic] our distance because we're worried about violating their private lives... we'd be better off getting to know our children and helping them solve their problems together."
*One of them is seriously off the mark on this one. SaHa's version says the speaker has to respect the boundaries of privacy, while NLB's version says the exact opposite.
I'll take the opportunity to point out a few errors on NLB's part:
grammatical error: page 14, on the lower-right scene
"Under these circumstances... I've assumed the the duties of her parents and taken care of ***."
How is Rin's adoptive-brother's name spelled? "Reiji" or "Leiji"?
grammatical error: page 19, upper-left scene, left-most speech balloon
"That's why... instead of keeping our distance because we're worried about violating their private lives..."
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Whew... now that that's done, I make my comments:
First off, although I
strongly question SaHa's motives and ethics as scanlators, they seem to have a good grasp of English grammar and expressions. The speech used by the characters seems more appropriate to the context of the situation and the flow of discussion is clear and concise... I'll give their group at least that much.
To NLB and MakubeX2, although I sincerely admire your group's drives and motivations in scanlating KnJ, there seems to be recurring problems with grammar and spelling typos. I know I'm no translator, and I know nil about Niponggo, but if you need assistance in reviewing the grammar and spelling, as well as "naturalizing" the flow of speech for an English-speaking audience, I would be more than happy to assist.
And finally, please don't call me a member of the grammar gestapo... From what I see in KnJ, I just want to help out with the scanlations, as well as serve as a critic to help improve the quality of the scanlations (at least for NLB, since SaHa has already confirmed that they have no intention to review or revise their completed chapters)