(L) Stellvia of the Universe

[Sunglare]

Are these two titles the same show or is one like season 1 and the other season 2?

[DemonMage]

Where have you heard of Cosmic Stellvia? It's not listed on Animesuki, Animenfo, or AniDB. I don't think it's the same as Stellvia the Universe, or a second season. Though I wouldn't complain seeing the cast of Stellvia again

[meingts]

I remember reading "Cosmic Stellvia" in Newtype USA. It appears that indeed, Cosmic Stellvia = Stellvia of the Universe.

Another ref: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ency...nime.php?id=74

[Sunglare]

Originally Posted by meingts

I remember reading "Cosmic Stellvia" in Newtype USA. It appears that indeed, Cosmic Stellvia = Stellvia of the Universe.

Another ref: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ency...nime.php?id=74

Well, that clears up a lot of confusion. That's also where I saw it was in NewType USA.

[Zoya]

Originally Posted by Sunglare

Well, that clears up a lot of confusion. That's also where I saw it was in NewType USA.

Let's hope that when Stellvia gets licensed they don't call it Cosmic Stellvia, that just sounds goofy to me.

Zoya

[Jasconius]

Better than "Stellvia of the Universe" ~.~

Cosmic Stellvia is the best translation I've seen yet, although it's hard to capture the same feeling that the Japanese title conveys.

[snoopy]

In what language does 'Uchuu no Stellvia' translate directly into 'Cosmic Stellvia'...? Maybe 'Stellvia of the Cosmos', but no, Cosmic Stellvia would be one of the worst translations you could have while keeping the same meaning. At least in my opinion.

[Hast]

Spacestation Stellvia perhaps? Though I have to say that it's hard (if not impossible) to get the same intent as the original while not getting to "engrishy". And since it's supposed to sell in the US it's best if it's actually something that makes sence in English.

[bluemist]

Lots of names for this one:

Stellvia of the Universe
Uchuu no Stellvia
Cosmic Stellvia
Sora no Stellvia (saw this one in Newtype)

[snoopy]

Sora no Stellvia...? That's gotta be for a different anime... I mean, why would they put a Japanese title that's different from the Japanese title? That'd be like TV guide calling the Powerpuff Girls 'Cute Little Girls Who Beat Up Monsters' in their little program listings. If we're talking actual titles, it's 'Uchuu no Stellvia', that's what's written in the title graphic at the beginning of the anime, so that's the only *true* title. Everything else is nothing but a translation, and those are always subject to translator opinion.

[bluemist]

So you mean the translators at Newtype got it quite wrong? I have the mag here, May 2003 issue. It's clearly about Uchuu no Stellvia.

But maybe Sora (commonly associated to 'sky') can also mean Uchuu (commonly associated to 'universe') in some sense, but then I don't know Japanese so I'm not sure. Enough about names, but I'm just wondering what would the name be if this anime was licensed (here's me hoping that it will).

[snoopy]

Then allow me to enlighten you.

宇宙 = uchuu
空 = sora

No obtuse reading or secondary meaning to it, either... so yeah, I'd be happy to walk up to the 'professionals' at NewType, give them a hardy handshake, then piss on them.

Aside from that, there's really no way of telling what any American company will do with names nowadays. I point to TokyoPop's licensing of the Ikkitousen manga under the title 'Battle Vixens' as a prime example (by the way, an accurate translation would be something along the lines of 'Strength of 1000'). Not sure if the anime is under the same name, as I don't really follow anime all that much.

[bluemist]

Yeah, Battle Vixens, quite funny! It is a desperate way to make the manga sell I guess...

And I don't like their title for Kodomo no Omocha, which is Kodocha: Sana's Stage. Kodocha is just a shortened version of the title, and it means nothing AFAIK.

[Jasconius]

Originally Posted by snoopy

Then allow me to enlighten you.

宇宙 = uchuu
空 = sora

No obtuse reading or secondary meaning to it, either... so yeah, I'd be happy to walk up to the 'professionals' at NewType, give them a hardy handshake, then piss on them.

Thank you for jumping to conclusions! However, you fail to realize that the name "Sora no Stellvia" has an origin of its own. When information for Uchuu no Stellvia was first posted to the web, many places, including the OFFICIAL SITE, actually listed the pronunciation of "宇宙" as "sora". Japanese names often do this (giving pronunciation for subtly different words) to convey multiple or more vague meanings in their wording. However, at some later point in time, the reference to "sora" were taken out, and so today we have "Uchuu no Stellvia". However, it's unsurprising that something like a Newtype issue would have the early "sora" pronunciation instead. I'm assuming that they would be translating from an early Newtype JP article on the anime, which definitely would have still had the "sora" reading.

Originally Posted by snoopy

In what language does 'Uchuu no Stellvia' translate directly into 'Cosmic Stellvia'...? Maybe 'Stellvia of the Cosmos', but no, Cosmic Stellvia would be one of the worst translations you could have while keeping the same meaning. At least in my opinion.

Have you even taken Japanese? The phrase "x no y" translates into english as either "y of x" OR "x's y". Hence, a literal translation of the title would be "Cosmos's Stellvia", "Stellvia of the Cosmos", "Space's Stellvia", "Stellvia of Space", and other things like that. Cosmos's Stellvia, rendered into English instead of Engrish, very easily becomes "Cosmic Stellvia". The reason that I prefer this over the "Stellvia of the Universe" title is that the English language doesn't really make the "of the" phrases sound good. If possible, it almost always sounds nicer to use an adjective before the noun, and this is no exception, in my opinion.

That being said, "Stellvia of the Cosmos" certainly does sound better than "Stellvia of the Universe", mostly because when I think of "uchuu", I think the English words space and cosmos are more accurate translations of the word's usage.

[snoopy]

Yes. Yes, I have taken Japanese. For many years, actually.

Secondary furigana readings only work when they list the furigana. Siting something that doesn't exist anymore is unfair! *laughs nervously* Besides, I'm fully aware of the use of secondary readings in manga and so forth. I have to cope with such things quite often...

And I did say that 'Cosmic Stellvia' was technically correct, right there at the end of the post *points*, I just said that it was the worst one I'd ever heard. The problem is that giving possesion directly to an inanimate object simply doesn't flow in English. Thus it's common to turn the apostrophe into an 'of' statement and switching the word order. You'll see it in documentaries, too. Stuff like 'Journey to the ends of the universe' instead of 'journey to the universe's ends', it just sounds weird.

[Jasconius]

Originally Posted by snoopy

Yes. Yes, I have taken Japanese. For many years, actually.

Secondary furigana readings only work when they list the furigana. Siting something that doesn't exist anymore is unfair! *laughs nervously* Besides, I'm fully aware of the use of secondary readings in manga and so forth. I have to cope with such things quite often...

And I did say that 'Cosmic Stellvia' was technically correct, right there at the end of the post *points*, I just said that it was the worst one I'd ever heard. The problem is that giving possesion directly to an inanimate object simply doesn't flow in English. Thus it's common to turn the apostrophe into an 'of' statement and switching the word order. You'll see it in documentaries, too. Stuff like 'Journey to the ends of the universe' instead of 'journey to the universe's ends', it just sounds weird.

Okay, point. I just re-read the "In what language does it translate directly" and thought... "Huh?!" before I posted.

Anyway, I agree that "cosmos's" doesn't work, but I guess it's just a matter of preference whether you think "of the cosmos" or "cosmic" sounds better. "Ends of the universe" is a pretty unfair example to choose, too, since that's a common phrase. "Stellvia of the Universe" doesn't sound nearly as smooth as that.

And yes, I understand that you would be unlikely to know that Uchuu used to have a secondary furigana reading, but it's not cool to jump on people and mock their professionality without looking into why that might have come about. ^^

[PocariSweat]

He he... my guess is early on maybe someone confused the title with the opening lines of the theme song

True enough kaji can have multiple readings, but it can't be just anything. At least none of the readings for "宇" and "宙" listed in EDICT could make "そら"

宇 - ウ, いえ, たか, ひろ, ひろし
宙 - チュウ, ひろ, ゆ

but that's not to say there's not some rare reading EDICT missed.

[snoopy]

All respect that I had for professional translators was lost years ago. And they still never cease to amaze me with their stupidity. I have maybe 1 or 2 companies that I still believe in, and they test my patience at times. So I'm sure I'll hate them by this time next year, too.

And sorry about that, but 'ends of the universe' was the first think that came to my mind when I was looking for an example

And yeah, there is no reading for those kanji's that comes out as 'sora'. But that wouldn't keep them from putting a double meaning kanji/furigana combination in there, but it's not a very common practice. Sure, some mangakas do tend to use excessive puns, but usually you don't see that in made-for-TV animes not based on manga.

[zalas]

Originally Posted by PocariSweat

He he... my guess is early on maybe someone confused the title with the opening lines of the theme song

True enough kaji can have multiple readings, but it can't be just anything. At least none of the readings for "宇" and "宙" listed in EDICT could make "そら"

宇 - ウ, いえ, たか, ひろ, ひろし
宙 - チュウ, ひろ, ゆ

but that's not to say there's not some rare reading EDICT missed.

Actually, producers are free to put whatever furigana reading they want for the kanji. I've seen DOA used as furigana for Tobira. I've seen Cantonese pronunciations used (in Outlaw Star manga I believe). I've seen watashi used as furigana for madoushi (I think it was madoushi, or maybe some other magician name) in Fate/Stay Night. I've also seen sora used for tenkuu. Just because a Kanji doesn't officially have a certain pronunciation doesn't mean the producers can't use it ^^;

EDIT: Oops, didn't see the last part of the previous post ^^;

[Doddler]

Furigana has alot more use than telling you the proper reading of a kanji. There's quite a few things furigana are good for. First, you can use it for additional meaning. I've seen quite a few cases where english abreviations are used, with the japanese meaning/pronounciation in furigana above it. It can be used give alternate meanings, or being more specific. In this case we have sora no stellvia. In that case, you'd read it as sora, even if the kanji is never pronounced that way. It also picks up the meaning of "sora" in a way too. Furigana can be used to give additional explanation. This can be seen in the angelic layer manga, when the angels are witten with the kanji "tenshi", but have "angel" written in furigana above each instance of tenshi. If you've watched the show, you'll definately know they call them angels though. And last but not least, furigana can be used to clear things up. In the game Baldr Force, in the stunning conclusion you and the character Renn is fighting another... Renn (a long story). Unfortunately, Renn refers to herself in the 3rd person, so in the dialog leading up to the final battle can be more than confusing (Is she talking about herself, or the other renn?). Since this is a game, characters have voiced dialog as well as written dialog. Thankfully, through clever use of furigana, when ever they refer to each other (or themselves), its written in furigana witch one in particular it refers to. It doesn't just happen just in baldr force, there's many many cases in manga where a character will say a name like "ano ko" or "that kid", and write in furigana which one he's actually talking about.

Hope that clears up a bit about furigana.

Doddler