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slugtranslation-hypmic · 2 months ago

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How the Sooseeji is Made: What's it Like to Work as a Japanese-to-English Media Translator?

I'm a bit under the weather today, so in lieu of working, I thought it'd be fun to write about the practical aspects of working in localization. What's a day in the life like? How does this affect the translation itself? Why do translators conduct themselves in public the way they do? How does all this differ from fan translation?

This was something I wish I'd known more about before I started working, and I think a lot of it is quite interesting even if you're not planning on working in this field. Let's dive in!

(Note: This is part 1 of 3! Later parts will be reblogged onto this post.)

How does your manga get made?

The overwhelming bulk of manga translation is contract work. Tiny publishers may have one or two dedicated translators as salaried staff, but virtually every other publisher will assign a given manga series to one of many translators within a large freelance pool. Generally speaking, a manga series will only have one translator at a time, although there are a handful of siblings and spouses who translate in pairs. Very famous series will sometimes scout a particular translator for related materials--for instance, a new Sailor Moon spinoff manga might warrant seeking out main series translators Alethea and Athena Nibley--but high demand for certain translators, cramped production schedules, and (to be frank) universal internal disorganization means this isn't always the case. It's not uncommon for a translator to translate one part of a franchise but not another--even if they're available and interested!

This can lead to term mismatches or slightly different writing styles. In public, this is often chalked up to gross negligence on the part of the translator, but the truth is often not quite so black-and-white. In some cases, publishing staff may assign a weaker or less well-equipped for the series translator. This could be caused by a lack of familiarity with the translator--perhaps this translator is a new addition to the freelancer pool or has never been tested on this kind of material--or, more frequently, too much work on the publisher's end to devote a significant amount of time to a single series. Publication staff are grossly overworked and (frequently) underpaid as a rule.

Other common errors stem from a poorly curated or else totally missing glossary. Every manga series has a glossary/term bible that contains common series-specific Japanese terms, their set English translation, and other information that could be useful for the translator. A typical glossary looks something like this:

(Please note that all images of example resources in this post are made by me for the express purpose of this post and are not indications that Hypmic is or will be licensed in English.)

A good glossary is super handy! Let's imagine a parallel universe where Hypmic is licensed and I'm the translator. Presumably, I have a lot of other projects and may go months between translating each volume. I may forget how I translated a term or some rule I decided for character voice. If it's all written down, I can always go back and refer to it! Now let's suppose I have to leave the series for whatever reason, and a new translator is assigned to the project. If they have these notes, they can pick up right where I left off and continue using the same spellings, terms, and style rules. Score!

However, that "if" is carrying a lot of weight. Glossaries don't always make it to the next translator in line for one of three reasons:

As glossary maintenance is unpaid labor, the previous translator may have neglected to keep their glossary up to date.

The overworked publication staff have lost the glossary file or neglected to share it with the new translator.

(As is often the case with spinoffs or franchises like Hypmic with multiple subseries) The glossary belongs to another company, and requesting a copy of the glossary--or a living document between companies--requires approval from the Japanese publisher or too much red tape to be worth anyone's time.

If any aspiring translators reading this take away only one thing from this post, then have it be this reminder to keep your glossary updated. I know it sucks. I know you're not paid to do it. I know it's only slightly less painful than having your fingernails torn off with rusty pliers. But you will forget details, even if you think you won't, and if you have to leave a series and give the next translator 30+ hours of labor fixing your glossary before they can begin, the next translator will hate your guts. ("Slug, are you subtweeting someone in particular?" If only! If I never fix another glossary in my life, I will die happy.) Update. Your. Glossary.

As alluded to above, manga translators may have large gaps in their schedule between books and grow fuzzy on details. (This is less of an issue for simulpub translators, who work on a new chapter every month or week. We'll talk about simulpubbing more below.) This could happen naturally, ie whenever the English release is caught up to Japan and the translator is simply waiting for the next volume, or the translator's schedule is too packed.

Wait...packed with what? What else does a translator have on their plate but the one series?

Usually, a separate job or a whole heap of other series! Manga pay fluctuates depending on a variety of factors but is generally in the ballpark of $1000 USD for volume. Translators are expected to complete a single volume every month-ish, although this is "ish" is again doing a lot of heavy lifting as publisher timelines have a lot of variation. (Some pubs will ask for a full volume within a week, which is actually not unreasonable--I don't think it's difficult to knock out a volume for most series within a single day, provided you have nothing else to do--but the assumption is that you're busy and really only squeezing in two or three work sessions in across the course of your assignment period. This can be challenging to do in a week if you're really and truly booked up.) For most people in the US or other high CoL parts of the world, $1200 a year is nowhere near enough to live comfortably on--and that's assuming there's enough books in the series to give the translator an assignment every month. It's not like translators are being unfairly shafted, either. While there is some amount of corporate greed at play, the fact of the matter is that quite a lot of manga is produced at a loss, and even the profitable ones don't make huge sums of money. Many publishers are sustained on cash cow series like One Piece or Naruto, which subsidize the rest of the publication's lineup. There just isn't enough money in manga to sustain a translator--to say nothing of the editor, letterer, and all sorts of support staff--on a single series.

Therefore, the vast majority of freelancer translators juggle numerous other translation/editing/writing projects, work a whole other full-time job and only translate for the love of it, or are subsidized by their spouse or parents. This is why superfans will often end up more knowledgeable than translators about their favorite series and may be upset when the translator makes a goof. Should the translator take steps to avoid errors? Yes, absolutely. At the same time, it's important to remember that some amount of human error is inevitable in any work, and in the media translation industry, overwork is the rule, not the exception.

Simulpubbing can help to mitigate this, as the relatively predictable publishing schedule gives a translator a guaranteed source of income. Having one or two simulpub series to fall back on eliminates some of the scramble to cram in as many books as possible to avoid the famine end of the feast-or-famine freelance cycle. But simulpubbing isn't without its own challenges, the most annoying of which being the overwork on both Japanese and English publisher ends leading to files coming in incomplete, late, or both with astonishing frequency. Turnaround times can be very, very tight--sometimes a matter of hours--and a non-Japan-based translator may be required to stay up into the middle of the night to receive files and turn in the translation before US/EU morning.

Simulpubbing, or any manga translation where the work is caught up to Japan, also has the thorny issue of a lack of context. It may come as a surprise to learn that manga translators typically have no contact with the author--and may be forbidden from speaking to the author at all! (This latter issue stems from issues of harassment. Some publishers, as a blanket rule, forbid any contact so that any negative interactions between authors and English-speaking fans can in no way be traced back to the publisher. This enables them to maintain working relationships with the Japanese publishers.) This frequently causes issues for mystery manga or manga with nebulous text like Jujutsu Kaisen. The translator doesn't have any more idea what's going to happen next than the reader! How do you lay foreshadowing when you don't know whodunnit? How do you futureproof upcoming reveals when the source text doesn't give you essential information like gender or singular/plural? A translator has to develop workarounds, but even the best translators will inevitably slip up and occasionally make the wrong assumption. Oops!

Now, with all that complaining out of the way, how does a manga actually get made?

In virtually all cases, a manga translator creates a script formatted in such a way that it's clear to the letterer and editor precisely what needs to be done. The average script looks something like this:

It should be noted that the above format does not match any one particular publisher's, but the vast majority of them look similar to this.

As you can probably imagine, the formatting can be just as time-consuming as the translation itself. Many manga translators use macros or scripts to speed up the process, but it can still be annoyingly tedious.

But clear directions for letterers--many of whom are using scripts themselves and not reading the text in full--are absolutely vital. Translators and letterers rarely have direct communication with each other, so clear direction is crucial.

In fan translation, this may not be necessary, and as such scripts are often much more relaxed. Here's the same text in the style I used in my scanlation days:

Once a script is complete, the editor gets to work on it. Many editors in the publishing side of the industry are (overworked) salaried employees and generally are not as fluent in Japanese as in game editing, where editors are often strong enough in Japanese to translate themselves. As a result, it's vital that translators check their own scripts for accuracy and provide explanation for liberties taken or potential points of confusion. Editors may have the ability to query translators, and some editor/translator pairs may corroborate directly (sometimes without publisher approval), but there generally isn't the time for the translator and editor to confer over every line. (Additionally, sending and addressing queries is unpaid labor.) Many famous mistranslations were introduced in the editing stage--where a translator, having written confusing text, is often just as much to blame as an editor.

How does this happen? Say I had been awkwardly literal with Jakurai's final line on page 1 and written "Yes. No doubt both teams have gone up in skill." (There's a katakana "sukiru appu" I rephrased.) The editor would have--correctly--flagged this as strange and set about trying to fix it. But what does "skill" mean here? Is it referring to their talent or the Rap Abilities which, annoyingly, the Japanese manga occasionally mislabels as "skills"? If it's the latter, what does it mean for an Ability to "go up"? Hypmic doesn't have a leveling system, but maybe Abilities can get stronger over time? Assuming as much, the editor might rewrite this as "Yes. No doubt their Abilities have grown stronger, too." Uh-oh. Now we have an error that, while technically not being something I wrote, still resulted from me doing my job improperly.

Outside of the primary editor, there may be others who attend to the script at this stage, like adapters or copyeditors. Adapters are line editors skilled in reworking overly literal translations into natural-sounding English--thus facing similar challenges as in the above paragraph--while copyeditors ensure adherence to grammatical rules and style guides.

When a script has been edited, it passes to the letterer. Letterers typically start their work in InDesign, a program used for adjusting book layouts, and replace all Japanese dialogue with dialogue from the script. Many letterers have automated programs that assist with the tedious copy/pasting aspect. Next, letterers recenter and style the text as necessary before addressing the SFX, signs, and any other bits of text that require extra TLC. A lot of SFX work is done in Illustrator or Photoshop and later linked into the InDesign file. Unfortunately, while the Japanese dialogue is layered in InDesign, there's no guarantee SFX will be layered in the (often flat) source psds or tifs. Many source files look something like this:

^ From a volume bonus in the FP/M+ manga

While some of the text has been removed, the letterer still has to contend with the ポs and the 飴 surrounding Matenrou. Some publishers require these to be retouched, meaning the letterer places the English SFX on top and then redraws the surrounding image until all trace of the Japanese SFX is gone. However, this is a lot of work, and as such it demands an extra fee that many other publishers can't or won't allocate funds to. In such cases, the letterer places their SFX near the Japanese SFX and styles it in a similar fashion. For SFX-heavy series, this can easily look busy or overwhelming. Both options could be nightmarish in a series like Hypmic. The volume of retouch work would be atrocious, and assuming most rap pages would be delivered as flat files, it would be difficult to squish all the text into the few blank spaces on the page. The Korean localization of the manga tries this latter approach, and it's a little visually underwhelming.

(Image from this blog post)

Other publishers opt for unstyled SFX or simply including a chart in the back of the book. I feel like this is a shame, as well-done SFX are such excellent storytelling tools.

At this stage of the process, the book enters some form of QA and layout/production. The exact workflow will vary depending on its publisher and whether the book is slated for digital, print, or webtoon-style release. However, the overall process follows a few basic steps. A uneditable copy (like a pdf) of the lettered book is sent to a proofreader, typically another freelancer. The proofreader's comments return to the editor, and the editor--who has some lettering ability--makes the necessary changes to the book's files. (Some publishers may choose to send the proofreader's comments to the letterer and have them make these changes themselves.) Then, once the book is in good shape, a layout and production team add in the cover, colophon, and all the other bits that make up a book. Finally, the volume is sent to the printers or digital distributors. That's it! Not long after, the book reaches stores and is in your hands!

In the interest of time, I'd like to wrap up here and continue at a later date. This will probably be a three-parter, with part 2 focusing on game localization (ideally, also touching lightly on anime and prose books) and part 3 talking about self-marketing and expected conduct in fan spaces.

Thanks for reading!

#not a translation #translation essay

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slugtranslation-hypmic · 3 months ago

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hi slug-san! i was wondering if you’d be willing to translate some of the in game events. if not then that’s fine but if so and you have access to it, could you translate that one event with gentaro, jiro, and jyushi playing football/soccer if it isn’t too much trouble ^^”

Sure thing! This will probably be the last request until August.

This translation is written to be enjoyed on its own, but if you would like to follow along with art and music, please refer to this video courtesy of YouTube user 家政夫ジン.

[Setting: Gentarou's writing cafe]

Dice: Sorry, run that by me again? You want us to form a band and a soccer team?

Gentarou: That is what I said, yes.

Dice: Do I look like a guitar-toting soccer player to you?

Gentarou: Shaggy hair, athletic build... You look like you might've stepped foot on a concert stage or soccer field a time or two in your life.

Dice: Sorry, but no. I'm not interested. Go ask Ramuda.

Gentarou: Ramuda wouldn't know what a soccer ball was if one hit him. That, and he said no when I asked him. Well, Dice, you're a lost cause and no mistake. You might show an interest in something beside gambling for once in your life.

Dice: Nope. Sorry, dude. Lost cause and all that.

Gentarou: Now I simply don't know who else to ask.

Dice: Why d'you need to form a whole-ass band and soccer team anyway? Just, like, go to a game. Or a concert.

Gentarou: Nonsense. One must experience events firsthand for their writing to achieve the appropriate degree of verisimilitude.

Dice: ...Riiight. Oh, wait a sec--there's a soccer field on the upper level of Miyashita Park.

Gentarou: As I just said, I've no interest in merely watching a match--

Dice: Nah, I mean go find some dudes at the park and ask to join in.

Gentarou: Talking to strangers? I could never.

Dice: Bro, you're an adult. Grow up.

[Gentarou glares at Dice. Dice stands up.]

Dice: Welp, have fun with your writing. I got a match to gamble on. See ya!

[Dice leaves.]

Gentarou: "Grow up," he says. Like he doesn't run off to gamble at the drop of the hat instead of paying someone back...

[Setting transitions to the soccer field atop Miyashita Park.]

Gentarou: Well, here I am--for lack of a better idea, I suppose. Wait a minute... This isn't even a soccer field. It's a football field. Oh, Dice, can't you get anything right? Hmm? Now, do my eyes deceive me, or is that...

Jirou: Pass it! I'm open!

Gentarou: Ah, perfect. He'll do just nicely. Better yet, he's hardly a stranger!

[Time elapses.]

Jirou: Whoo! Did we win, or did we win?

Jirou's Friend 1: Dude, we woulda been goners without you.

Jirou's Friend 2: We owe you one!

Jirou: Nah, give yourselves more credit. We couldn't've done without all of us.

[Footsteps]

Gentarou: Pardon me, but could I have a word...?

Jirou: Hmm? Yumeno? What're you doing over he--oh, duh. This is the Shibuya Division.

Gentarou: That it is. Congratulations on your victory. It was a sound showing of athletic ability, if I do say so myself.

Jirou: ...Dude, what?

Gentarou: Come, come. Accept the well-deserved accolades, my dear boy.

Jirou: Do you, uh, need something? I find it hard to believe you came over just to hype me up for winning game of soccer.

Gentarou: Why, now that you mention it, there is indeed a trifling favor I might request of you.

Jirou: Me? What'd you need me for?

Gentarou: Let me come to the point--I'm interested in including a soccer match in my next work, and I was wondering if you might teach me a thing or two about the sport.

Jirou: Sure. Why not?

Gentarou: Then might I be allowed to join a match of yours?

Jirou: Yeah, no worries. We're down a guy for tomorrow's game, so you could sub i-[Jirou is interrupted by his stomach growling] Just, uh, buy me lunch to make up for it?

Gentarou: By all means.

Jirou: Sweet! Let's grab somethin' good! Sushi, steak, here I come!

[Jirou's footsteps move away.]

Gentarou: Easy for you to say, oh not-paying one...

[Setting cuts to a commercial street.]

Gentarou: A concert venue, here of all places? What'll they think of next?

Jirou: You a big concert goer?

Gentarou: Not in the slightest. I've simply got a rock concert in this book of mine, so I was thinking of catching a show.

Jirou: That's cool. ...Wait a sec, I know this band. The lead singer's that one Nagoya dude. Juushi Aimono.

Gentarou: Is it really?

Jirou: Yeah, it's gotta be. Last time I ran into him, he told me I should check out his one of his gigs. Wanna catch the show? The sign says it's gonna start any minute.

Gentarou: I don't see why not.

[Jirou and Gentarou walk into the crowded concert space.]

Gentarou: My, my. A packed house. Your friend Mr. Aimono has quite the number of fans.

Jirou: You're telling me. We're lucky we found seats.

[The lights abruptly flick off. Fans squeal in delight.]

Juushi fan 1: WHOOOOOOOO!!!

Juushi fan 2: OMG, JUUSHI!!!

[The lights come on, revealing Juushi and a set of instruments. Kick-ass music begins to play.]

Juushi: Many moons have passed since last we met--but now, maidens, I am come before thee to manifest the turmoil of chaos!

[The crowd squeals again.]

Juushi fan 1: YASSS!

Juushi fan 2: I LOVE YOU!!!

Gentarou: The "turmoil of chaos"... A tad redundant, but it does have that touch of je ne sais quoi.

Jirou: I think it's dope!

Juushi: Ready thy eardrums, my dear maidens, and let us begin!

[The crowd screams once more. The screen fades to black and picks up once more as the crowd is filing out after the show.]

Jirou: Dude! Juushi was, like, cool as shit!

Gentarou: Well said. This young man has a brilliant knack of working a crowd, to say nothing of his fine singing voice. I fully understand how he's charmed so many hearts.

Jirou: We should go say hi!

Gentarou: You mean, go backstage? Surely we're not allowed. We barely know the man...

Jirou: 'Course we do. C'mon, follow me.

[Jirou walks off.]

Gentarou: No arguing with this one, is there? Oh well, Gentarou. Buck up. This could very well be your lucky break.

[Gentarou joins Jirou backstage. The scene cuts to the band's dressing room.]

Juushi: Wow. Was that cool or what? The Shibuya fans loved us!

Bandmate: Hell yeah, dude.

[The dressing room door opens.]

Venue staff member: Mr. Aimono? There's two gentlemen here to see you.

Juushi: Huh? I didn't think any of my friends were coming to the show...

[Jirou and Gentarou walk in.]

Jirou: Hey, dude! How's it hangin'?

Gentarou: I hope we aren't interrupting anything.

Juushi: Whoa! Jirou and Mr. Yumeno? Were you guys in the audience?

Jirou: Yeah! We were just walking by and saw a flyer, so we dropped in to see what it was all about.

Gentarou: I must tell you, you were superb out there. Just stunning.

Jirou: No kidding. You rocked it.

Juushi: Aw, gee. Thanks! I'm glad to hear that.

Gentarou: Mr. Yamada and I were just about to grab a spot of lunch. If you aren't otherwise occupied, might we trouble you to join us?

Juushi: Do you really mean it? That's so kind of you!

Jirou: Unless you've got some kind of wrap party with your mates...

Juushi: Oh no, they've all got other plans this afternoon. I'd love to go, really.

Gentarou: Excellent. Then let's be off. Lunch awaits!

Juushi: Oh goody!

[The setting cuts to a restaurant.]

Jirou: Whoo-wee! That hit the spot.

Juushi: Are you sure you've got the check? I could at least pay for my own...

Gentarou: Nonsense. It's my pleasure.

Juushi: Well, thanks! I appreciate it.

Gentarou: Incidentally, do you mind if I ask you for a small favor?

Juushi: No, not at all.

Gentarou: My upcoming novel, you see, has to feature a rock concert.

Juushi: Ooh. That's cool.

Gentarou: Quite. And this is why I thought you might be just the man to help.

Juushi: What sort of help do you need?

Gentarou: Would you indulge me and put on a concert with Mr. Yamada and I as your bandmates?

Jirou: Huh? Since when was I part of this?

Gentarou: Since now. The more, the merrier, as they say.

Juushi: Wait, wait, wait. Can either of you play an instrument?

Gentarou: Not a bit!

Jirou: I'm okay with the guitar, but I'm not, like, a pro or nothin'. I've never put on a show with it.

Juushi: That's not...very conducive to holding a concert.

Gentarou: Oh, it'll work itself out. We're rappers, aren't we? You provide the music, Mr. Aimono, and we will simply rap along! Now tell me--when is your next concert in Shibuya?

Juushi: Next month, but that doesn't--

[Gentarou slips out of his seat and kneels before Juushi.]

Gentarou: Mr. Aimono, I am begging you. Only with your help will my work be elevated to its greatest heights. Your assistance is, I dare say, indispensable. Please, Mr. Aimono! Won't you aid me in my time of need?

Juushi: Oh gosh--yes, yes, I'll do anything! Just please get off the ground! Everyone's looking!

[Gentarou gets up, looking none worse for the wear.]

Gentarou: Splendid. I can't thank you enough.

Jirou: Yo, world's fastest recovery over here...

[The scene changes to our three characters on a school soccer field dressed in uniforms. Juushi looks deeply uncomfortable; Gentarou looks delightfully smug.]

Juushi: Why do I have to play?

Gentarou: The more, the merrier! Who doesn't love to work up a sweat with one's dear companions?

Jirou: Hey! You guys ready?

Gentarou: That we are. What's first?

Jirou: Juggling!

Juushi: Oh gosh... You mean juggling the ball without using our hands? I've never done that before...

Jirou: Don't sweat it, dude. That's what practice is for! Here, watch me first. [Soccer ball noises.] Hup! Hup! Hup!

Juushi: Ooh! You use your head and knees, too? That's incredible.

Gentarou: Astounding, really.

Jirou: Now you try.

Gentarou: Very well. [Distinct lack of soccer ball noises.] Well, that didn't go as intended.

Juushi: D-don't worry. I'm sure no one gets it perfect on their first try.

Gentarou: Perfect, no. Lift the ball off the ground, yes. Is there a trick to this, perchance?

Jirou: Totally. Once you get it up in the air, you wanna get it to a good height by bouncing it off your thigh, and then you just kinda wing it. Do whatever feels good, y'know? Vibes, man.

Gentarou: ...I'm afraid your explanation is a tad too opaque for yours truly to comprehend.

Juushi: H-here, let me try. Okay, kick it up... Hit it with my thigh...

Jirou: Yeah, like that! You're doing it.

Juushi: Then I just kinda...wing it, and...vibes??? [Soccer ball noises.] Hup! Hup! Hup!

Jirou: Dude, you're killing it!

Juushi: Heh. Just beginner's luck, but thanks.

Gentarou: How on Earth did you glean anything from that nightmare of a tutorial?

Jirou: 'Kay, Mr. Yumeno. You're up next. I wanna see you juggle the ball a hundred times without dropping it before practice is over!

Gentarou: I have absolutely no faith in myself, but if I must...

[The scene cuts out and returns to the soccer field the next day.]

Jirou: Aight, listen up. You know who's been practicing? Us. So who's gonna win this? Us.

Juushi: Y-yessir!

Gentarou: Who is to be the opposition, might I ask?

Jirou: Some cops from the Yokohoma Division or something. I dunno, I haven't met 'em myself.

Gentarou: ...Oh no. Please say it isn't--

[MTC rolls up in soccer uniforms.]

Juuto: Well, well, well. Who do we have here?

Samatoki: ...What the hell is that lineup?

Juushi: Um. It's a long story.

Gentarou: Now, I was under the impression that cops did not mean ex-military and active criminal. Tell me, was I wrong?

Juuto: We were all last-minute additions, I'm afraid. The precinct needed three extra players, so I invited Riou and Samatoki to fill the roster.

Riou: Come. Let us both expend our every energies and make this a good fight.

Jirou: You know it!

[The whistle blows for the start of the match. Upbeat music begins to play.]

Jirou: And I'm off!

Juuto: Uh-uh-uh. Not so fast.

Jirou: Oh yeah? Try and stop me!

[Jirou breezes past Juuto.]

Juuto: Urgh!

Jirou: Aimono! Passing it to you!

Juushi: Oh gosh... Um... L-let's hope all my training pays off! Oof! Hrgh! Haah!

Jirou: Hey! Yumeno's open!

Juushi: Got it!

Gentarou: Hup! Ha ha... The enemy shall rue the day the ball e'er fell into my possession.

Riou: Not so fast.

[Riou plows into Gentarou, and Gentarou stumbles.]

Gentarou: Ouch!

Riou: Samatoki! Pass!

Samatoki: Got it!

Jirou: Aw, shit-- Fall back to the goal!

Samatoki: Yeah, you'd better run! Take...that!

[The soccer ball swishes into the net, and the whistle blows.]

Juushi: Oh, drat. That's 1-0 against us...

Samatoki: Booyah!

Gentarou: So, too, shall my allies rue the day the ball e'er fell into my possession.

Jirou: Quit yapping and get back into position!

Gentarou: What's the magic word? ...Oh, never mind. Very well...

[Time elapses. The whistle blows again.]

Jirou: It all comes down to this. I wanna see you play like your life depends on it. Now let's go!

Juushi: Right behind you!

Gentarou: Well, as long as it's only like our lives depend on it, I'm sure I'll manage somehow.

Jirou: Eat...this!

Riou: Not on my watch.

Jirou: Heh. Get lost!

[Jirou swoops past Riou.]

Riou: What the--

[Juuto pops up in front of Jirou.]

Jirou: Whoa!

[Samatoki and Riou close in on either side.]

Juuto: Playtime's over, little boy. You'll never get past all three of us.

Samatoki: Three-vee-one ain't right, but all's fair in love and soccer.

Jirou: Heh. I'd like to see you try 'n stop me.

[Jirou squeezes past Samatoki and Juuto.]

Juuto: Wha--

Samatoki: The hell--

Jirou: Aimono! It's all on you!

Juushi: I'm on it!

Jirou: Quit dribblin' and shoot! You're open!

Juushi: Okay! Here I...go!

[The ball flies through the air and...hits the post.]

Juushi: The post?!

[It rebounds, sails through the air, and beans Gentarou on the head.]

Gentarou: Ow!

[The ball drops and rolls a few paces. The whistle blows.]

Jirou: Dude, you did it! Awesome header.

Juushi: Thank you for the assist!

Gentarou: Ah, but of course. I knew if I stood right here, I would intercept the ball's trajectory perfectly. Really, it was almost too simple.

Juuto: He says, taking credit for a complete coincidence...

[Time passes, and it is now evening.]

Jirou: Ahh! Nothing feels better'n winning a game.

Juushi: You're telling me. I feel like I'm walking on air.

Gentarou: After seeing the shattered looks on the opponents' faces, I, too, am enjoying a metaphorical stroll through the skies. A pity I didn't have a camera on me.

Jirou: You're one sick bastard...

Juushi: Now, now. Be nice to him. He worked hard and helped us win, didn't he?

Gentarou: Yes, and with that out of the way... Shall we now turn to musical pursuits?

[The scene cuts to the trio walking into a practice room.]

Gentarou: My, my. I've never been in a practice studio before. Amazing how much equipment one can cram into such a small space.

Jirou: Damn, the whole band showed up? You guys didn't have to...

Bandmate 1: Nah, no worries, dude.

Bandmate 2: We gotta have the full crew if we're gonna put on a show.

Gentarou: Well, I, for one, appreciate it.

Juushi: All righty. Time's a-wasting, so let's get started. You've...listened to the set list, I hope?

Jirou: Yup. Heard every song!

Gentarou: I even took the liberty of composing accompanying lyrics for us guest artists.

Jirou: Well, I'm ready when you are. Let's get cracking!

Juushi: All right. Let's go!

[Music begins to play. Time passes.]

Juushi: You guys were incredible! I mean, I shouldn't have expected anything less. You've been in the DRB and all...

Gentarou: I must say, I never imagined rapping with live performers would be so entertaining an experience.

Jirou: Yeah! That was tight.

Bandmate 1: Aight, I'm gonna step out for a smoke.

Bandmate 2: Same.

Juushi: Okay! See you in a bit.

[The bandmates step out.]

Jirou: Man, you guys are hella good at guitar. Makes all my practice look like nothin'! Maybe I should take up drumming instead. Can't be more to it than bashing a coupla sticks around, right?

Gentarou: I should imagine it's quite a bit harder than that, really.

Juushi: Do you want to try it and see?

Jirou: I'd love to. You wanna show me what to do?

Gentarou: I'd appreciate a lesson as well, if you're offering.

Juushi: Oh, I'm not a drummer myself. I just know a few of the basics. Here, let me teach you the 8-beat rhythm.

[Juushi walks over to the drum kit and plays a simple beat with obvious enjoyment.]

Jirou: You call that basic? Nah, dude. You're rocking it!

Gentarou: Marvelously done.

Juushi: Aww, shucks. But you should see how the pros play.

Gentarou: What did you say this was called? The 8-beat rhythm? How does it go?

Juushi: Well, let's see. You're going to alternate between the hi-hat on one side and the snare on the other. You want a tat-tat-tat-tat rhythm! Meanwhile, you're counting out a bum...bum... rhythm with the kick pedal.

Gentarou: ...Ah. I feel most...illuminated. Well, I shan't know how it works until I try. [Gentarou plugs away at the drums arrhythmically.] This is wretchedly difficult. I don't feel the least bit coordinated.

Juushi: Everyone struggles with it at first.

Jirou: Lemme have a go at it.

Gentarou: By all means.

Jirou: So it goes like this, right? [Jirou, obviously enjoying himself, manages the rhythm more or less.]

Juushi: Wow! You're a natural.

Jirou: This is kinda fun!

Juushi: Next time, you should try a fill. I think you'll really like it.

Jirou: Hell yeah. Just show me what to do.

Gentarou: At least those two are enjoying themselves. Meanwhile, I seem to be as devoid of musical ability as I am of its athletic counterpart...

[Time passes. The scene cuts to a concert dressing room. Juushi, Gentarou, and Jirou are kitted out in goth V-kei costumes and makeup.]

Juushi: You two look great!

Gentarou: We certainly make a strong impression.

Jirou: I feel kinda bad that you went all out on us for just a one-time thing. All these doodads must've cost a fortune.

Juushi: Oh, don't look at me! Mr. Yumeno went out and bought all of it.

Gentarou: It was the least I could do after your kind tutelage.

Jirou: Hey, thanks! Now, who's ready to go out there and rock out?

Gentarou: Me, certainly. What started out as writing research has morphed into quite the fun personal endeavor.

[The door opens, and in walks Ichirou, Saburou, Ramuda, Dice, Kuukou, and Hitoya.]

Ichirou: Hey, Jirou!

Saburou: Guess who came to watch your show?

Jirou: Yo, for real? You're the best!

Ichirou: Nice outfit. Is that eyeliner?

Jirou: Yeah. I, uh, kinda don't know how I feel about it...

Saburou: Really? I think it's cool.

Ramuda: Ooh! Your clothes are sooooo cute. You were born to be goth!

Gentarou: Why, thank you.

Dice: I skipped a boat race to come watch you, so this had better be good!

Gentarou: Oh, heavens. You needn't have bothered. I'm sure I can't possibly compete with a boat for your attention.

Kuukou: Yo, Juushster. How's it hangin'?

Hitoya: Hey. I was working in the area and thought I'd stop by.

Juushi: Aww, thank you! I appreciate you both coming out all this way.

Kuukou: Wouldn't've missed it for the world. So, what's up with the back-up singers? Kind of a weird crowd you're running with.

Juushi: You can say that again. I have to admit, I was a little nervous at first. But we practiced hard, and I'm sure we'll do ourselves proud!

Hitoya: Knock 'em dead, kid.

Juushi: We will! I just hope you like it.

[Scene cuts to the stage amid screaming fans.]

Juushi: And for our final escapade, I summon to the stage two beings of darkness. Presenting...

Gentarou: ...summoned by the cthonian call of this most eldritch of ensembles--'tis I, creature of chaos, master of malice, weaver of wonders and producer of phantasms--the illustrious G Yumeno!

Jirou: Bruh.

Gentarou: When in Rome, do as the Romans do. And as we happen to be Goths, why not sack it?

Jirou: I'm...not doing that. Hey, all! I'm, uh, Jirou...from Ikebukuro! Thanks for having me!

[The crowd cheers.]

Juushi: Come, mine children! To the last dance!

Gentarou: Yes, pray lose thyselves in the siren song of our sylven symphonies.

Jirou: ...What he said! We're gonna rap your socks off!

[Time elapses. The crowd cheers once more at the end of the song.]

Juushi: Alas, the time has come. The full moon stands poised over the horizon, ready to slip into obscurity once more. We, too, must break from this bacchanal and prepare to depar--

Kuukou: Yo, hold up!

[Kuukou runs through the crowd and leaps onstage. Bad Ass Temple Funky Sounds begins to play.]

Juushi: Kuukou?! You're not allowed up here!

Kuukou: Yeah, and? Y'all're killing it with these songs. Now we're gonna join in and do one of our own!

Gentarou: Dare I ask who is this "we"?

Kuukou: All's y'alls! Hitoya! Ichirou! Sabs and the Shibuya crew! Get your asses up here!

[The rest of the cast scrambles up on stage.]

Ichirou: Haha! Now how's that for an entrance?

Saburou: Too bad we don't get costumes...

Hitoya: Y'know what? Going along with Kuukou's harebrained ideas every once in a while won't kill me.

Ramuda: Whatever keeps the party going!

Dice: Yeah! Let's end this thing on a high note!

Juushi: Ah ha. Ah ha ha. Yes, just...highjack the show, why don't you...

Gentarou: Well, it'll certainly make for a memorable concert.

Jirou: Yeah, man. Nine of the world's best rappers in one show? This is gonna be awesome.

Juushi: I guess you're right... All right. [Juushi clears his throat and gets into character] Behold, the finest assemblage of musical savants the world has e'er seen! The stuff of legends! Are we ready, gentlemen?

Gentarou: Most assuredly.

Saburou and Jirou: Yup!

Ramuda: You know it!

Dice, Ichirou, and Hitoya: Sure are.

Kuukou: Hell yes I am! Let's kick ass!

[Fade to black.]

[Final shot of Juushi, Gentarou, and Jirou chibis on stage.]

Juushi: And for our final escapade, I summon to the stage two beings of darkness. Presenting...

Gentarou: ...creature of chaos, master of malice, weaver of wonders and producer of phantasms--the illustrious G Yumeno!

Jirou: I'm, uh, Jirou...from Ikebukuro! Thanks for having me!

#asks #hypmic asks #hypmic translations

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slugtranslation-hypmic · 3 months ago

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Hi anon! Let me answer the second part now since it's only two lines.

ラストソングともに歌おうか不滅の愛で僕一二三が悩殺する Care to join me in singing this last song-- Where I, Hifumi, will steal your heart with my indefatigable love? Ngl the phrase "indefatigable love" hits different coming from Hifumi.

#asks #hypmic asks

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slugtranslation-hypmic · 3 months ago

Text

A Reflection on Translation's Role in R. F. Kuang's Babel or the Necessity of Violence

I don't think I've ever encountered a work that pairs messages I so completely agree with and an execution that I so profoundly dislike. What a frustrating combination.

I'd had this book hyped up to me by colleagues in the Jp -> En media translation field, and I went into it with the impression that it was an adult fantasy/dark academia novel. I don't read much dark academia--the genre doesn't tend to do much for me--but due to a stroke of unfortunate timing had read dark academia's posterchild, Donna Tartt's The Secret History, just before this, leading me to draw unfavorable comparisons between the two. Furthermore, despite its marketing, Babel strikes me as much more of a YA novel--or at the very least pure pop fiction--and inherits many subjectively negative traits from this classification. Too high expectations, a dislike for the book's genres, and a greater understanding of translation theory than the lay audience--I was never a part of Babel's target audience and had little chance of being perfectly satisfied with it.

Nevertheless, I do think the book has tremendous value to those who aren't translators/translation studies academics or who enjoy dark academia pop fiction. While I don't read much English pop fiction, my subjective lack of enjoyment is not a statement of objective lack of value in this type of literature. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with even the slightest interest in language's effect on the world, and I commend R. F. Kuang's ability to deliver Babel's important messages to a wide audience.

At the same time, the book's status as a translation of 18th century events to a modern audience is fascinating and bears looking at, particularly in how this framework serves to undermine the characterizations and, consequently, the novel's core messages.

The Basics of Babel (Beware of Spoilers!)

Babel is, first and foremost, a medium to deliver certain key messages. The pursuit of empire is inherently evil; when the ones in positions of power will never listen, violence is one of multiple necessary tools; together we stand, divided we fall; spheres of oppression overlap in intersecting patterns; revolutions disproportionately affect the already disenfranchised; even so, structural change is necessary to alleviate structural ills; academia appears to be disconnected from the real world but has real, lasting impact. And so on. I agree (as would, I assume most of this audience--I don't think any of these ideas are especially challenging) with all of these; I'm also not trained in these fields and don't have much to comment on here.

Of secondary importance and primary prevalence in the novel are messages about language. Translation is both a tool of violence and liberation. There is inherently a degree of "betrayal" (the book's term) or "transformation" (mine) in all translation. Language and translation have real effect on the world and its individuals. It is impossible to translate with absolute fidelity and yet an absolute necessity to try. Translation--and by extension, all communication and all human contact--is the necessary violence expressed in the subtitle.

And again, I agree! I agree so completely I struggle to remember a time these themes weren't so self-evident to the point of being part of my self. Where my disagreements begin to creep in occur at the level of the characterization where, by virtue of being flattened in the "translation" process, the characters are inadvertently dehumanized to the degree of undermining these core concepts.

Babel consists of two distinct segments, the former being a 400-page sprawl of the four protagonists' upbringings and undergrad experiences in 19th-century fantasy Oxford as translation students. In this universe, magic is performed by matching a pair of words with the same denotative meaning in two different languages. The unshared secondary meanings or connotations are then manifested into the real world, thus implementing the spell. As a simple example, an English watermelon is not an English vegetable, but a Japanese スイカ is a Japanese 野菜. Therefore, if 野菜 and vegetable were matched, this spell might latch onto the notion of a watermelon/スイカ--something that exists in the Japanese definition but not the English definition--and make the melons grow faster. The protagonists thus spend the bulk of the novel learning translation theory, spell crafting, and the ways in which the British Empire is built upon the back of these spells and global exploitation.

Tensions slowly ramp up until one protagonist ultimately murders another, at which point the somewhat doddering pace revives and proceeds at a brisk clip for the last 130 pages while the surviving pair of "good" protagonists stage a revolution out of Oxford's translation magic hub. While the revolution ends in death for all but two of the "good" characters, it is implied that the revolution's aims are largely successful, with the bulk of the British Empire's spellcasting abilities destroyed. This latter segment of the story has some of the same juvenile, almost fairytale-esque simplification of the rest of the book (it's a tempting fiction to believe the destruction of a single building by a small handful of elites could bring an empire to its knees; this book ultimately reads as an academic's power fantasy), but I actually quite like it compared to the rest of the book. The narrative finally grants the main character some much-needed agency, the characterization improves by leaps and bounds, and the protagonists' views are at long last explored with contrasting and three-dimensional opinions. It's a welcome breath of fresh air and complexity.

The problem, as I see it, is that because Babel tackles such critical and multi-faceted ideas as the ethics of revolution and translation, complexity is a necessity that Babel too often forsakes. Babel flits between the competing notions of an educational call for action spoken by real, imperfect people and a cozy, somewhat twee fantasy of paper dolls coming together across racial, gender, and class lines for justice. If the work wants to discuss dehumanization via language, it can't afford to dehumanize its own characters with its language.

Babel as Translation

Kuang's narrator and narrative work hand-in-hand to produce this uncomfortable and clumsy effect.

The book is framed as a historical text written by a minor participant in the revolution in an effort to humanize the characters, "a record that doesn't make us out to be the villains." (504) This aim is achieved as Kuang's narrator follows the internal life of Robin Swift and, to a lesser degree, the three other members of his Oxford cohort in dramatic fictional prose. The text is peppered with footnotes providing extra context, much like a translator's gloss, generally about historical injustices but with occasional dips into the protagonists' private thoughts. The narrator themself, while content to remain in third-person, injects their personality heavily with didactic commentary on oppression and translation theory. I don't knock this as a storytelling technique in and of itself; a brutal hammer of a narrator could be an interesting parallel to the brutal hammer of systemic oppression. It does, however, create the impression that the narrator is hovering just over the story's shoulder at all times, unwilling to trust that the characters will perform their allotted roles once the narrator's back is turned.

Furthermore, the narrator's voice is firmly grounded in its time and place--the time being 2022 and the place being the leftist internet. The prose is undeniably the rhythmic, somewhat dramatic style presently in vogue in the English fiction market, and arguments are formed in the thinking patterns and vocabularies of modern day English internet discourse. When the work itself is set in the 1800s, this creates a slightly jarring effect--language supplanted into a setting where we wouldn't expect to see it.

This suggests the narrator is, effectively, translating a series of events written in an older English into the English of our day and age.

We must assume the narrator is taking their fair share of liberties. Apart from the inclusion of vocabulary that's wildly anachronistic (the word "narcostate" would not materialize in English until long after the 1830s), we also see the narrator's presence in the similar speech styles of all English-speakers across place of origin, class, and upbringing. Compare the college-educated Robin:

But how do you know? ... You didn't see what I saw, you don't know what the new match-pairs are-- ... It's just... It just feels like--I mean, I'm the only one who's always at risk, while you're just-- (182, quotation picked somewhat at random)

to the working-class laborer Abel:

"Is it really as bad as all that?" Robin asked Abel. "The factories, I mean." "Worse," said Abel. "Those are just the freak accidents they're reporting on. But they don't say what it's like to work day after day on those cramped floors. Rising before dawn and working until nine with a few breaks in between. And those are the conditions we covet. The jobs we wish we could get back. I imagine they don't make you work half as hard at university, do they?" (493)

Similarly, most characters retain the same vocal quirks as the narrator and Robin. See also on page 493, a third character starting and stopping herself in an identical fashion to Robin, "It's just... it's a side of the story we don't often think about, is it?" or on page 529 the same character copying Robin's habit of amending her comments with I mean, "Possibly the younger students... The ones who don't know any silverworking, I mean."

This produces a muted, washed-out effect wherein characters struggle to differentiate themselves on the basis of their personalities. But, in terms of translation, is this necessarily a bad thing? Is it wrong to familiarize the unfamiliar with the vernacular of the target audience?

Fortunately for us, Kuang's narrator has their own opinion on this very subject, delivered to us through the mouth of Ramy, Robin's love interest and generally all-around "good" character. In fact, one of the very first things we learn from Ramy is his dislike for a certain style of translation:

That's a terrible translation. Throw it away. ...and for another, it's not remotely like the original. What's more, Galland -- Antoine Galland, the French translator -- did his very best to Frenchify the dialogue and to erase all cultural details he thought would confuse the reader. ... And he entirely cuts out some of the more erotic passages, and injects cultural explanations whenever he feels like it -- tell me, how would you like to read an epic with a doddering Frenchman breathing down your neck at all the raunchy bits? (52)

Blessedly, we are spared that specific experience--if any raunchy bits existed, Kuang's narrator has trimmed them accordingly.

The reader, at this point, is expected to know little of translation theory on their own and should accept Ramy's opinion as that of fact. Ramy is the first character with purely positive associations in Robin's life, and the narrative swiftly propels us through the process of Robin and Ramy falling in love within a handful of pages. ("Robin felt a strange, bursting feeling in his chest then. He'd never met someone else in this situation, or anything like it..." (50) "...they sat cross-legged on the floor of Ramy's room, blinking like shy children as they regarded each other, unsure what to do with their hands." (50) "And [Robin] wanted so badly to impress Ramy. [Ramy] was so witty, so well-read and funny. He had sharp, scathing opinions on everything..." (51))

The reader is therefore expected to associate a liberal or heavy-handed translation style with bad practices--that is, until we learn that Ramy himself "was always ready to abandon technical accuracy for rhetorical flourishes he insisted would better deliver the point, even when this meant insertion of completely novel clauses." (224) (We must also note that this is the "polar opposite" of a "bad" character's style, which we will touch upon shortly.) Ramy, it seems, is allowed his liberties because he has "an uncanny ear for rhythm and sound. He did not merely repeat the phrases he absorbed; he uttered them in such precise imitation of the original speaker, investing his words with all intended emotion, it was like he momentarily became them." (269) Meanwhile, on page 383, we are told "Non-European texts [translated into English by Europeans]...tended to be loaded down with an astonishing amount of explanatory content, to the effect that the text was never read as a work on its own, but always through the guided lens of the (white, European) translator." This information might have been better received were it not in an explanatory footnote that takes up the half page.

I would like nothing more to give Kuang the benefit of the doubt and assume these hypocrisies are intentional, but writing a heavy-handed 500-page book just to poke fun at heavy-handed translation in a single footnote is either a Modernist masterpiece or simply not happening.

I also understand and acknowledge that there is plenty more nuance to these arguments. The Galland translation of One Thousand and One Nights bears a strong moral impetus toward exact fidelity as an introduction of a work of enormous cultural value to a society largely ignorant of that culture; Ramy's translation is a college writing assignment. Elisions for cultural sensitivity are not the same as additions for aesthetic sensibilities or contextual glosses/footnotes. Kuang's narrator is translating concepts from an academic environment to a general audience, where the balance of power is relatively equal, whereas Galland is translating across a broader power gap between cultures. Etc etc. I don't take umbrage with any of that--I also think Galland's translation practices were unacceptable, and I'd be a fool to pretend I don't take translation liberties when appropriate. My concern is that the general audience lacks this background and, when asked to reconcile these hypocrisies, will draw the conclusion that Kuang's narrator is espousing "white, European = bad / non-white, non-European = good."

Which, in the broadest brushstrokes of this colonial environment, is true! The British Empire--and empire in general--is cartoonishly evil, and I don't care much that most of the white English cast is flattened into 2D caricatures as a consequence. It's the reverse that's far more troubling.

Unfortunately, for the first 400-some pages of the book, the narrator plants all intelligent, kindhearted, or otherwise pleasant thoughts in the heads of non-English characters. (Here, non-English refers to any PoC character born outside of Britain, any half-white characters, and the one "good" Irish character. "Non-English" is a terrible classification system, but as all the "good" characters don't self-identify as British or English anyway, this will have to do for now.) Arguments between non-English characters are astoundingly minor; worse, they have little to no bearing on the overarching plot--it takes the murder of a white man to turn the story from academia romp to goodnatured revolutionary conspiracy. (And this only boils over into full revolution because a white English girl takes negative action!) Non-English characters' worst traits are annoying at best to the point where one, their repeated inability to understand intersectionality, comes across as bizarrely out of character and inappropriately dim-witted. Even then, such comments are set up to be angled at "less oppressed" characters. Robin and Ramy frequently fail to conceptualize the struggles of their female classmates or, at times, have rude thoughts about women. However, when their black female classmate Victoire is having anxiety attacks and white female classmate Letty is suffering nervous breakdowns, Robin ignores Victoire to say Letty is "not helping the general feminist case that women were not nervous, pea-brained hysterics." (368) Victoire simply cannot allowed to be "bad" in any way.

The constant need to be "good" strips characters of any ability to develop personality, deep character flaws, or culpability for their actions. For 4/5 of the book, Robin, Ramy, and Victoire are so caught in the narrator's stranglehold that they appear only little more three-dimensional than the paper-thin villains. This, while unintentional, is nevertheless a tragedy.

The Translated Narrative

Similarly, the narrative suffers from being a modern day experience transplanted onto the 19th century setting.

Protagonist Robin and the other members of his cohort are introduced as linguistic geniuses, all of whom have studied from a young age--and not always willingly--to be part of an elite class of undergraduate translators at Oxford. From the age of eleven, Robin spends hours every day studying Greek and Latin, both of which have historically been taught and to this day are taught with copious amounts of translation work. We are shown Robin translating Latin into English as a child (31)--amusingly, the author he works on will be complained about later as very difficult to translate when taught in the later years of undergrad, an inconsistency I can only assume is unintentional--and have every reason to believe it is done competently. Furthermore, Robin continues to retain his native fluency in Mandarin, meaning he should be intimately familiar with basic translation theory and the differences in language by the time he reaches university.

However, the modern day reader is not expected to share this same linguistic background, and the narrative must quickly bring them up to speed. Thus, upon arriving at Oxford, the narrative takes the audience on a ride through a series of bare-bones basic translation theory lectures.

The first lecture opens on the professor "try[ing] to impress upon [the protagonists] the unique difficulty of translation," (104) an absurdity when presented to characters who have been translating for years. Suddenly, characters are catapulted out of their 19th century elite backgrounds and into the bodies of 21st century freshman.

"I don't understand," says trained classicist Letty. "Shouldn't a faithful translation of individual words produce an equally faithful text?" (105) (Later, we discover that Letty's translation style leans strictly literal in opposition to Ramy's. This is posited as a bad choice--which is broadly speaking true--but becomes an uncomfortable parallel between Letty's unyielding, "bad" personality and her "bad" translation choices. Ramy also equates being a good listener and with being a good translator (535), leading to one of the few places where I openly disagree with the narrator. In an ideal universe, truly good translation could only be unlocked with great care; unfortunately, technical skill does not equal strength of character.)

"Is faithful translation impossible, then?" a professor later "challenges." "Can we never communicate with integrity across time, across space?"

"I suppose not," reluctantly (153) says Victoire, who is "raised to read and compose and interpret." (541)

The notion that these characters can have drilled in languages and translation for years on end without having ever considered these basic concepts is laughably absurd. It is like an engineering student receiving a full-ride scholarship to MIT, walking into class on the first day, and saying, "What are all those letters doing on the board next to the numbers?"

And yet the narrator would have us believe this because, fundamentally, the narrative is that of a 21st century university undergraduate's experience. Someone with an interest in languages but little formal training in translation--we certainly don't teach that in American high school--could, conceivably, walk into these lectures and be charmed by "this dramatic mysticism, these monologues that must have been rehearsed and perfected over years of teaching. But no one complained. They loved it too." (107)

Our imaginary 21st century undergrad takes Robin by the hand and leads him along four years of lectures, luncheons, exams, rowing club, and endless giggle sessions with friends. It's cozy and cute. Everything is magical and ready-made for a Pinterest board.

Meanwhile, the bloody cogs of the British Empire churn relentlessly in the background. Robin is invited to participate in a largely low-stakes revolutionary operation and, for about 200 pages, most of his inner turmoil centers around the conflicting desires to lean into the revolutionary movement and the desire to cement himself in a cushy life at Oxford.

Here, the lighthearted atmosphere is by design; for the modern-day reader to feel shock at the abrupt turn in tone, the luxuries and conveniences of an idyllic modern-day academic experience must be shown. However, it must be stressed that this tonal shift occurs over 400 pages in. The slow pace hinders the narrative's ability to be considered in its full 19th century ramifications. We spend so long in Robin's 21st century head that the core struggle, for a sizable chunk of the novel, is coming to terms with one's position of privilege in society and how that affects one as a translator. These are valuable things to consider, and it is something the audience--most of whom are closer to Lettys than Victoires in terms of societal position--should devote time and attention to, but I cannot help thinking there could've been more efficient use of space in this book. It is difficult to examine more of the hard-hitting topics when so much of the book is devoted to the author's nostalgia for their college experience.

The narrative's other core issue interweaves with something I touched upon earlier, the lack of agency in its core characters. For most of the book, Robin is largely shepherded along by forces outside of him, giving him an (intentional) learned helplessness under the oppressive colonial system. However, likely unintentional narrative choices contribute to this problem and give Robin the impression of being even less empowered than he is meant to be. Robin's first two decisive actions of any note are triggered when another character forces him to make an "It's us or them" style choice. In both cases, Robin chooses to side against the revolutionaries for self-motivated reasons, and the narrative later rewards him with a third "It's us or them" choice motivated by purely selfless desires. These could be great character-establishing moments--if any of those choices mattered. But they don't! After choice 1, Robin winds up in contact with the revolutionaries again due to complete coincidence. After choice 2, Robin faces the personal fall-out of turning in the revolutionaries...until a more pressing issue turns up, only partially of Robin's doing (the question of whether this was intentional or accidental is discussed heavily throughout the rest of the book), at which point the personal issues dissolve and vanish. Oh, and the revolutionaries suffered no consequences after Robin ratted out their safe house. Everything is fine and dandy!

And also deeply frustrating. If Robin's actions don't matter, then why have Robin act at all? Is Robin a person or a cardboard cutout doll?

Similarly, the narrative is littered with deus ex machinas to an unfortunate degree. The reader quickly becomes accustomed to a common narrative structure: A problem presents itself, the protagonists panic and make an attempt to fix the problem, that solution fails, tension heightens--and a side character (often a revolutionary) steps in and resolves the problem. So, too, are the major turning points orchestrated by other people. Robin's father instigates his own murder by approaching Robin. Robin is radicalized by Letty setting the police on the revolutionaries.

Robin, then, has no more control over his person than a puppet until the final 1/5 of the book. This is partially intentional as a means to demonstrate Robin's unconscious conforming to racial stereotypes of passivity as a means to be "accepted," even partially, in colonial British society. Had this vanished entirely upon Robin's dramatic turn to agency in the final hundred pages, I wouldn't have been the slightest bit concerned--but it doesn't. Once Robin seizes control of the magical translation tower on page 448, he sits and waits for outside forces to act. And waits. And waits. And waits. The army arrives, but that's all right, because here come the townspeople, who've made a miraculous turn of heart and are ready to be good revolutionaries alongside the Oxford elites. Oh no, they're running out of food--oh, whew, the problem solved itself by virtue of the townsfolk showing up. Uh-oh, Robin has to make the decision of breaking the siege under flagging moral--oh never mind, here comes Letty to take that problem away. I can't wait for Parliament to respond and end the siege for us, but until then, we just all have to wait. And wait. And wait.

It is 84 pages before Robin takes another action.

Translation as Necessity

I don't fault Kuang for the ideas she presents, nor the means she chooses to employ, but I do think it's a tragedy that her own writing skills are inadvertently undercutting her work. Babel is, at heart, a heavy translation of a fictional 19th century event that accidentally does the very thing it criticizes--making people less than people through the act of translation.

And yet still we must translate.

Kuang is correct and expresses herself elegantly when her narrator says:

Language was just difference. A thousand different ways of seeing, of moving through the world. No; a thousand worlds within one. And translation -- a necessary endeavor, however futile, to move between them. (535)

Communication is an attempt to link two agents to one another, and communication is informed by its medium. The conventions and limitations of e-mail shape a message differently than does a phone. A translation, then, is an act of communication wherein the medium plays a dual role of conveyance device and additional agent. The translator, be they human or machine, must always make choices. There is no chance a message can passage from agent to agent to agent perfectly intact.

But then, can a message ever be perfectly communicated? If languages are only another medium, then so too will the language inform the delivery of the message. The words I've chosen in this essay are not the same as my thoughts, nor is your impression of this text the same as my words. Language itself, of course, has no inherent meaning. Even single words--let's take "vegetable" again--conjure different images and different associations with different people. There is no Platonic ideal of "vegetable" we can point to and say this, and only this, is "vegetable."

And if it's that hard to communicate with individuals who share the same language, what about individuals in other languages? Or how about when languages overlap? My command of English is informed by the facts of my life, both the demographic--white, American, Latino, male, born in the 90s, asexual, multilingual, middle-class, blah blah blah--and the experienced--listened to this life-changing song, read those books, played those games, loved and cherished those other people. Your English, too, is informed by all the millions and millions of things that make up you--some of which may be other languages. If, being as you also speak Japanese, you consider a "watermelon" to be a "vegetable," who am I to tell your concept is lesser?

In the way English is no monolith, Japanese is no monolith. So are Spanish, French, Mandarin, Swahili--every individual uses their language or languages in a different way in an imperfect attempt to express their unique thoughts. It's daunting, then, to be the medium with which someone else reaches out and attempts to convey a message.

But that's no excuse not to try. Rather than not convey anything at all, we all have to try, and try our best, to convey ourselves. The fact that it's impossible to translate--to communicate--should not be the deterrent it so often is. Without conveyance, we are nothing to one another. It is communication that allows us to shape ourselves and shape the world around us.

I think a lot about translation as an act of betrayal or violence. I agree that it can be, and often is, but underlying that I think it's even more simple--translation is an act of transformation. Transformation, or change, can be influenced by malice or sheer clumsiness. We are betrayed by and violated by those who would seek to change us against our will; on a broader scale, it's remiss for anyone working with different languages to ignore the power dynamics between their source and target cultures.

At the same time, is it always such a bad thing to be changed? I'm reminded of all the vocal tics I've picked up from friends or favorite books. It's an honor to see colleagues integrate phrases I often use in translation in their translations; in turn, I'm constantly writing down words I see in their works and adding them to mine. I'm molded by everything I've ever cared for and that's cared for me, and so are you. So is everyone on the planet Earth.

When we communicate, then, it's vital that we do so with care. We must try to be conscious of our changing, even if doing so will not guarantee success. We have everything to lose by not trying at all.

While the nature of today's Japan-Anglosphere relations are nothing like the relationship between the early 19th century British Empire and its colonies, there are undeniable power balances and cultural considerations to be made. I'm always cognizant of the freedom my US salary gives me versus that of my JP counterparts, the skewed relationship of American vs Japanese global power, the US's continued military presence in Japan, and so on. I don't let it bother me on a daily basis--guilt with no outlet isn't productive--and I recognize how very lucky I am to be able to dismiss that at all. I'd prefer to continue to listen to others and, when possible, use what powers I have for assisting.

At the same time, I don't deny that differences of race affect many core tenets of my work. Japan occupies an odd position in the Anglosphere cultural world of possessing both immense soft power and a strong perception of negative alterity. Besides the overtly offensive opinions, we see so often notions of Japanese stories--and by extension, their Japanese authors--as excessively exciting or alienatingly weird by virtue of being Japanese. Japanese society is so polite! Or, on the flip side, Japanese society is so racist! People draw conclusions--sometimes containing a kernel of truth, sometimes not--from the whole and apply it to the individual.

Even talking about it too much leaves a funny feeling in my mouth. When I speak in broad strokes about what applies to how most people use Japanese, will that be taken as a statement about every individual person's command of the language? If I constantly compare Japanese, English, Japanese, English, Japanese, English, won't that serve to make them seem like two irreconcilable things? What about all the many people who make their home in both languages? And third, fourth, fifth languages too? When I talk about English with the unconscious expectation that this is where the lack of alterity is found, am I driving away those who approach English in another fashion? And so on.

It's especially difficult working in media, unlike interpretation or other related fields with small target audiences, when the target audience is so big. I change the way I talk when I address my friends vs my coworkers--but what about when I address a vast sea of people, an audience I can't control? How do I know what English phrases resonate with them? How do I tailor my communications and the communications I've been entrusted with so the messages land home, as close as they possibly can?

What I do, then, is try to translate in such a way that always considers the person first. When a line shines, I want it to shine in English. I want authors to appear clever and goofy and banal, because people--Japanese-speakers, English-speakers, both, and neither--are way, way more similar than we give ourselves credit for. I want my one weird author to sound weird in all the right places, because he's not weird by virtue of being Japanese, he's weird by virtue of being a feral goblin of a man. I want my one socially sensitive author to sound caring and clever, even if the words she uses don't align with English discourse. I want the sexy scenes to sound sexy, the funny scenes to be funny, the kinda stupid to be kinda stupid--because people are dumb. And amazing. And so very, very good.

I think a lot about a beginning Japanese learner saying "I'm sorry!" (which came across as "Because it's my fault!") when hearing her instructor had a cold. I think a lot about the man who spoke very little English and still went "D: Fall!" to alert me when I dropped a bag. I think a lot about how, no matter how imperfect, we all want to express care for our fellow human beings. I love all the many things that make us different, and I love all the many ways in which we're exactly the same.

Betrayal, violence, and care bubble out of us no matter how much we try to stop them. It's on us to channel the ways in which we change the world and it is, of course, a necessity.

This book drove me up the wall. Go read it.

#not a translation #translation essay

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slugtranslation-hypmic · 3 months ago

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hello!! I was curious about a specific line in 3$even (the line being “神様俺様my god my god my god”) because i was looking at the wiki TL and this line felt a little off to me? and i’ve seen it translated differently elsewhere and was just wondering how you’d interpret it :)

Hmm... I don't think the wiki TL (which appears to be a Hypmic_en TL--I generally think very highly of their work) is inaccurate.

Oh jk, the wiki translation is...a derivative of their work??? An earlier/later draft...? Very weird. It appears to be their lyrics with a few words changed. Anyway...

These two lines in conjunction are written on the wiki as

(Please!) Gimme, gimme the 3$EVEN of my dreams Oh my, I’m begging you, my god, my god, my god

Like this translation shows, it's a desperate appeal to god for the coveted triple 777 jackpot.

Where some translations differ, I'm assuming, is on the 俺様--"me" but given the same level of respect as god. It's not unheard of to do this (I've seen it done before w/ 神様俺様仏様--god, me, the Buddha), but it's definitely not a thought that would come naturally in English. The idea here is that you're so desperate for help, you're begging for anyone to listen. Whoever's out there! God! Buddha! That one nice barista who slips me the employee discount! Me! Pleeeeeeeeeeease let me hit the jackpot!!!! That kind of feeling. There's a little bit of a tongue in cheek aspect to it as well, since Dice is simultaneous debasing himself--all but groveling--and elevating himself to god status.

#not a translation #asks #hypmic asks

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slugtranslation-hypmic · 3 months ago

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Would you be cool with translating the new DH single at some point? I was so normal about it on release it's like my favorite one out of the batch 🤣🧡

*and @ a handful of other anons who asked for multiple songs, including this one

It's procrastination o'clock, so you got it! After reading the full lyrics, I choose to title this one "Fortune Smiles upon Our Smiles."

The Japanese title is the short form of a proverb (笑う門には福来たる and the shortened 笑門来福), and while several common translations of this proverb exist, I don't think any single one adequately encompasses all the ways in which the proverb is used here. Meaning-wise, this proverb is a call for optimism--good things will seem to happen more often to those approach life with a good attitude. However, per the 門, the proverb also calls to mind an image of family--a household with lots of smiles and laughter will be blessed with good fortune. Sasara calls to question the wisdom of this phrase in relation to his usage of laughter as a means to hold together his turbulent family situation in his childhood home. Throughout the song, all three characters stress the notion that there's more to life than joy; ultimately, though, this newfound family of "smilers" finds joy and catharsis in their shared, imperfect experiences with one another. In homage to the role comedy plays in DH's life, I wanted to use wordplay in the English title ("fortune smiles upon"/"smiles") and acknowledge the optimistic tone found by the end of this emotional song. Fortune, therefore, smiles upon Dotsu Hon's newfound smiles. It would be remiss to ignore the appeal to traditional Japanese images in the MV and some word choices, including the title itself. (Using the short form of the proverb, which contains only kanji, makes it evocative of Chinese and thus seem even more historical.) This poses a challenging question: How can the audience catch the characters' allusions to something if the audience lacks the requisite background knowledge? In the interest of time, I've generally sidestepped this, especially as these images are less prominent than in other DH songs and less crucial to the core messages. However, during the comedy routine interlude, DH devotes a couple of lines to talking about the proverb mentioned in the title and how the Japanese language has evolved since the proverb's conception. I felt that it would be appropriate to pick an actual English phrase here, and I chose a line from the Bible with a similar meaning because it allows me to follow both the form and the spirit of the passage to an impressively close degree. I do feel like this is an incongruous intrusion that I'm not totally happy with. I may seek a different solution in future. Amusingly, this line (Luke 15:32) is from the story of the prodigal son, whose themes tie heavily into this song; this is a lucky bit of coincidence.

That's enough about the title. Let's talk style! Wordplay and rhyme is at the crux of the song, so I felt that to do a purely prose translation would be doing a disservice. I also thought it'd be difficult to illustrate how certain concepts flow together without a rhyme structure--for instance, why does Sasara jump from money to vehicles of transportation in his first verse? Because he's rhyming the clinking of coins (charin) with bicycle (chari). I therefore opted to write the song in roughly the same rhyme scheme--I use simple couplets more often than they do for the sake of time/simplicity--and with wordplay in the same spots/using the same themes.

I would've liked to have done more and ironed out a lot of the clunkiness/cheesiness occurring as a result of juvenile rhymes and mediocre wordplay, but I realized really quickly that if I let perfectionism take the wheel, I was never going to finish this. So I locked myself into a strict two-hour time slot and banged out a first draft. I would really, really like to revisit this and create something I'm happier with, but to be perfectly honest, if I'm going to sink a lot of time into this, I'm probably going to publish it elsewhere under my real name. 1. Sorry. 2. If you notice a version of this song up elsewhere with some familiar phrasing, haha no you didn't.

Because I'm doing a lot of reworking and moving things, I'm going to annotate this very, very heavily. I also want to draw attention to a few lines that stand out for being incredible in JPN.

Apologies for the roughness and the walls of text...! Let's get into it.

Sasara: Fortune smiles upon a happy home, the proverbs avow. [0] Sasara: But what good do those old rules do here and now? Roshou: Running free with the joy of an unbroken horse, [1] Roshou: the comeback from my downward-spiraling course. Rei: What? Isn't this fun? Am I not entertained? Rei: Could it be that all hearts can be freed from this pain? [2] All: Everyone, everyone, there's no need to suffer. All: Why not use our joy to absolve one another? Sasara: Say you hit a dead end when fortune's not your friend, when kith and kin try to spit and skin each other [3] and the only way to get away costs a pretty penny-- but of that currency, I've got plenty. Watch me make it rain; you wanna go by car, bike, or train? Pick whichever transportation--your problem's your hesitation. [4] You'll only fall behind if you stay trapped in your mind. And me? What drives me along? That'd be my motor mouth; it's never steered me wrong. [5] Chorus: It all happened so fast; it was over in a flash. We looked up and knew that it was true. It was just like that; we all started to laugh. And that was when we knew we were a crew. Put your smile on and come dance 'til dawn. Bring yourself--be yourself--all night long. Sing and squawk; lose track of the clock. We can be who we are and still reach the stars. [6] Belly laughing together when times are bright Bellyaching, sobbing, anger-driven fights Bellicose tumult all day and night And still we're moving, moving on Futile endeavors are okay Few would fault you for walking away Furious tumult all night and day On and on and on Roshou: But not everything's worth smiling about! I mean-- Sometimes I need to cry or shout! I mean-- It's just, at this stage, I'm always filled with rage! I'm completely, totally burnt out! I mean-- [7] This harshest of rubrics on which I've been graded and this hollow inside me that's never once abated aren't actually so bad. I'm really quite all right. They're just the long, long set-up for the joke that's my life. [8] Rei: Yes, pay attention to relief and tension, when hearts start to race, both of which pale before the thrill of the chase. It's rich of me to say, but in all our souls we're born with the drive to chase down all our goals. "That can't be true," you say. "Shut your mouth, pop!" But if no one catches me, who's gonna make me stop? [9] It's rich of me to say, but you should fall for my scheme if it means you don't ever, ever stop following your dream. [10] Chorus: It all happened so fast; it was over in a flash. We looked up and knew that it was true. It was just like that; we all started to laugh. And that was when we knew we were a crew. Put your smile on and come dance 'til dawn. Bring yourself--be yourself--all night long. Sing and squawk; lose track of the clock. We can be who we are and still reach the stars. Belly laughing together when times are bright Bellyaching, sobbing, anger-driven fights Bellicose tumult all day and night And still we're moving, moving on Futile endeavors are okay Few would fault you for walking away Furious tumult all night and day On and on and on

Roshou: There are lots of old phrases tying joy and fortune. Take "it was meet that we should make merry," for example. Do you know what the word "meet" means there? [11] Sasara: Meets me. [12] Roshou: "Befitting" or, in this case, "necessary." It's vital to give our lives joy. [13] Sasara: Oh, buddy, you missed the perfect opportunity! You could've said "It's meet we meet our need for laughter." Heck, you could've gone for "Well, I'd be merry if we made meat!" [14] Rei: Lay off him. You're setting the bar too high. No one's merry facing expectations they can't meet. [15] Sasara: True! Merry wise of you to say so, if I do say so myself. And it's kind of you to look out for him like that. You're a regular meetheart. [16] Rei: At my age? Nah, regular meat's bad for the heart. [17] Roshou: You two can cool it with the bad puns any day now, you know. Sasara: Well, I'm pretty merry that we all got the chance to meet! [18] Rei: And I'm ready to meet a merrier future... All: ...where fortune smiles upon our smiles! Our flow and vibes are a spotlight shine lighting our places on the world's front line. [19] Chorus: Put your smile on and come dance 'til dawn. Bring yourself--be yourself--all night long. Sing and squawk; lose track of the clock. We can be who we are and still reach the stars. Belly laughing together when times are bright Bellyaching, sobbing, anger-driven fights Bellicose tumult all day and night And still we're moving, moving on Futile endeavors are okay Few would fault you for walking away Furious tumult all night and day On and on and on

Notes: 0. (I forgot about this bit until I was halfway through annotating lol). The lyrics contain a syllable set off in parentheses at the end of each line. The latter three are simply English words that sound very similar to the final syllable; they contain no meaning and are there for the lyricist to flex their chops. The first lines' parenthetical double syllable finishes a word in Sasara's line. (rule, ruuru) I didn't see a point into tying myself in knots to replicate this effect--probably with a third language outside of Japanese or English--and skipped it accordingly.

A fascinating and rare piece of imagery. It's not uncommon to see punks, societal misfits, etc. compared to wild horses for their unruliness. Here, that's used favorably for Roshou and his wild, runaway emotions--his emotions and rebellion are being portrayed as a strength. I chose to write it as "running free" for that reason.

Rei spends most of the song--at face value--talking about Sasara and Roshou. However, there are undercurrents of reflections on himself that rise to the surface at times. Here, while he uses language that suggests a degree of distance from the hurting heart, I'm operating under the assumption he's talking about his own heart.

Highlighting this line because it's so clever in Japanese -- "when hakama (jackets) with familial crests [montsuki hakama] mean people who hit each other [dotsukiau nakama]." The crest and hakama give this line a strong historical feel a la the proverb Sasara references in his very first line. We're suddenly forced to examine if that proverb is really true--does good fortune come to happy families? Or is Sasara's "happiness" in his childhood home a coping mechanism for something else?

The images of movement and running to catch up with someone appear many, many times in this song. Here, we see Sasara use running both as an escapist tool and as a metaphor for chasing his dreams. (This latter metaphor is very, very, very common in Japanese and, as such, all the talk of "chasing" in this song is automatically understood as such to the Japanese audience.) While the focus on anxiety and hesitation in these lines suggest Sasara could be talking to Roshou, I actually think this serves a double purpose of being self-talk. Sasara's lost plenty of things in his life as a result of not speaking up and/or trying to laugh away/deflect the pain. See his first falling out with Roshou for a clear example. He could've had the object of his desire--a loving relationship (and I don't mean necessarily in a romantic sense)--had he chosen to talk things out with Roshou instead of doing the easier thing and let Roshou leave.

Highlighting this because it's both fun and revealing about Sasara. "My 口車 is a maglev train." The "maglev train" is likely mainly for rhyme (kuchiguruma and rinia mootaakaa), whereas 口車-- mouth + vehicle--suggests Sasara's saying his own form of verbal transportation (again, escapism) operates very quickly. However, 口車 has nothing to do with vehicles in normal speech. 口車 is the skill of buttering people up or saying things one doesn't mean. Sasara, then, is not only saying he's very quick to run away but that he's very good at doing so via his constant jokes.

Drawing attention to this line because its English may give the wrong impression. At a very literal level, it's "with you as you are, I'll have all eyes on me." The stress is on as you are. The listener (the other members of DH) don't have to change who they are; they can be themselves! And DH will still have an audience! And be loved! I tied in the "reaching the stars" phrase I commonly use in the manga for DH because I'm extra and it fit the rhyme.

"burnt out" is a very deliberate word choice on my part. The phrase Roshou uses, atama ga panku shichau (my head feels like it's about to explode), is commonly associated with stressed students. The emotional Roshou in the first half of this verse is Roshou as a child and adolescent arguing against his parents and the same proverb that weighs heavily on Sasara's mind. He can't always be a part of this perfect laughing, smiling family. He needs to be able to cry, scream, and blow off steam just like anyone else!

There's a recurring bit of food wordplay in here I didn't have the time to work in. "Harshest" has a double meaning of "spicy." "Never once abated"/"with no brakes" looks like "stopping one's teeth" in kanji. "aren't actually so bad"/"easy" is literally "before breakfast." Roshou then reuses the "before" concept to say his whole struggle growing up is the lead-up (or the "before") to a joke. I'd have to have found a concept I could make three puns about that would segue into the notion of "prefacing a joke." What immediately leaps out to me, looking at it now, is trying something with faces--maybe tie that back into his emotions in lines 1-4? Hmm.

A lot of Japanese listeners zeroed in on this line; it's deceptively simple. Who will ever stop Rei? Some people have interpreted this as Rei implicitly saying that he wants someone to come along and stop him forcefully. And there's a corollary to that question--stop him from what? We see evidence for that in the unique word choice here. "Stop me" is literally "to give me my last rites." In practice, we see this phrase used allegorically when warning someone they're on death's doorstep, and they need to stop whatever they're doing (usually fighting). So we have a rather violent image of someone coming along and stopping Rei headlong because to go any further would be to get himself killed. Rei seems to want to stop whatever he's doing--pushing people away, tricking people, fooling people--but doesn't think he has the capability to do it himself. He needs Roshou and Sasara to "catch up to him"--become just as clever and capable he is--in order to do it for him.

I wrote this as "my scheme" in terms of the scheme he's proposing in this particular verse. Rei doesn't seem to believe that everyone is capable of achieving their end goal (happiness? connection? family?) but says it's crucial we pretend that it is true anyway.

"So, Sasara. You know that phrase 'fortune comes to a happy kado'? [warau kado ni ha fuku ga kitaru; the long form of the titular proverb. This is an archaic phrase and 'kado' is no longer a standard reading for the kanji 門] I always picture that 'kado' as something like a street corner [magari kado]; don't you?"

"Huh, you do?" This isn't strictly a joke in Jpn, but the kado/chau no is a similar enough sound I thought it was acceptable to put a pun here in Eng.

"Yeah, so the thing about that word, we write it as 門 [gate, usually read as "mon"] and read it as 'kado.' But it's not a gate. It's like family, your clan, your kin [ichimon]."

"Aww, prof. [Sasara's making fun of Roshou for suddenly having a teaching moment.] You could've thrown a nitpicking [ichamon] or a 'excuse me, I have a question... [ichimon]' joke in there."

"Don't set unrealistic [kado] expectations. It'll hurt his feelings [kado ga tatsu]."

"Whoa, that was kind [kandou] of you! I'm impressed [kandou]."

"Don't underestimate a middle-aged man's flexibility [kadouiki]." A joke on Rei being mentally "flexible" enough to drop these puns. I must admit, at first I wrote this as "S: You're a big meatheart!" "R: They do say I have a big meat...heart." before my sense of responsibility forced me to delete it.

"We're the Dotsuhon clan [ichimon]!"

This is a nasty rhyme to execute bc "flow and vibes" doesn't rhyme with "spotlight" in Eng. :/ The "front line" here is meant in the sense of being very good--standing on the front line or cutting edge of society, the comedy world, the rap world... etc.

#asks #hypmic asks #hypmic translations

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slugtranslation-hypmic · 3 months ago

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hii slug! very much appreciate all the work you and the team does for the fandom ;w; if it's not too much trouble, whenever you have the time, I'd love to read a translation for matenrou's newest song Bless You if possible! Haven't seen anyone translate the movie songs yet and I'm dying to know what the lyrics are 💙

is it possible for you to translate bless you by matenro... no rush of course, i just cant find any translations anywhere else 💔 matenro is so peak

Yes, thank you for your patience! Under a cut for length

Style notes: This song is largely written in everyday language with only a very small handful of fancier words introduced for rhyme. This achieves a conversational, yet beautiful effect. I've attempted to do similar with simple, natural language. The words which mainly exist to establish rhyme (musical key, Raphael, etc.) have been absorbed into the main text. I'm also not going to fuss too much over fidelity on the word level in favor of capturing the broader meaning and tone (tiny things like "how much we bleed" vs "how much we hurt" etc).

Pronoun/agent notes: Some portions of this song are explicitly focused outward (particularly Hifumi's) or narrated in first-person. Others are implied first-person or second-/third-person (see the first two lines of Doppo's first verse, which are most intuitively first-person, and the second two lines, which are most intuitively about Matenrou). However, most of Jakurai's verses are more vague and could easily be read in either first- or third-person. Given the PV, I've chosen to write them in first-person, but feel free to recast the agent in those lines to the "you" audience.

Doppo: I know I swore I'd stop, but here I am apologizing again. You're like family to me, with the way you make up for all my faults and the way you're always there for me. Hifumi: So why don't we sit down and talk it out? The world turns on our joy, and I have a message for you if today has reduced you to silent tears: I love you, today and everyday, no matter your insecurities. Jakurai: In both times of joy and times when pain renders you immobile, I let these notes carry me until everything is all right again. Doppo: And for all of us who've lost Jakurai: the warmth of companionship, we must take these gentle words. We must know that it's all right to be different. We must know that it's all right to be wrong. For this song was written for the express purpose of helping us all move past this. Chorus: No matter how much we struggle, no matter how much we bleed, everything will be different tomorrow. And that lets us keep on keeping on. Times may be awful and we may have much to grieve, but at the end of the day, no one's ever alone. And isn't that all we need? Doppo: Oh, I'm just so stupid. I can't do anything right. God, tell me: Is there any point to me being here? Hifumi: I'm no god, but I'd be glad to answer: I'm happy that you're still with us, partner. Doppo: You saying that will get me through another day. You still believe in me, despite everything wrong with me. Nothing I apologize for fazes you, and with that, we can make a brighter tomorrow come just that little bit faster. Hifumi: You and I are both cut to the bone with harsh traumas, but let every cut be another reason to lean on me. Let's you and me take all our abundant love and turn it to song, painting the tomorrows we'd like to live in. Jakurai: We all have those moments when we stand on the cusp of abandoning everything, when we've all but abandoned hope. But as for myself, I'm at the point where I'd prefer instead to weather these hardships, to transform this planet into one of love, to seek the final, lasting peace-- and to do it together. Chorus: No matter how much we struggle, no matter how much we bleed, everything will be different tomorrow. And that lets us keep on keeping on. Times may be awful and we may have much to grieve, but at the end of the day, no one's ever alone. And isn't that all we need? Jakurai: I love you and want to keep you free from harm, all by myself, all by my own two hands. [1] Hifumi: But you're not all by yourself. And don't you think we feel the same way about you? Doppo: I'm going to be the change I want to see. And if I can do it, what's going to stop the whole world from coming together for the better? [2] Jakurai: But then why do people still fight one another? If only this message would reach them: You're not alone. Doppo: If only we all just made that first step, all of us together now, we'd end all our problems this instant. Hifumi: It's all right now. Listen; can't you hear this song of love? Wouldn't it be wonderful to take it in? To really believe it? [3] Jakurai: Imagine what we could do if we could treat with one another without reservation, if we could start again after countless setbacks, if we could trust in these words of love and come together. All: So what are you waiting for? Let it go. You're the lead role now. You're the one who has to do it. Let it go, let it go, let it go. [4] Take my hand, and let's go achieve peace for ourselves. Let's all set off together for that brighter tomorrow. Bring your loved ones. Follow the light. Go! Hifumi: And no one gets left behind! Jakurai: Indeed. Now let's go. Chorus: No matter how much we struggle, no matter how much we bleed, everything will be different tomorrow. And that lets us keep on keeping on. Times may be awful and we may have much to grieve, but at the end of the day, no one's ever alone. And isn't that all we need?

[1] Note the PV focusing on Jakurai's hands on this line. It is also significant that, during the chorus, Doppo and Hifumi save Jakurai from drowning by grabbing those same hands, thus cementing Hifumi's next line into fact.

[2] I'm doing some heavy lifting in regards to the imagery here. More literally, it's "if [I] can change, the earth will bloom with morning glories." "Blooming" evokes an image of smiling, a common companion to images of world peace and brotherhood. Morning glories, apart from fitting the rhyme, symbolize love and solidarity. Thus, Doppo is saying the whole world can follow in his footsteps and achieve the same peace, love, and harmony he's learning to embrace. I was a bit torn on removing the image altogether, as it's quite a pretty one, but I wanted to ensure the broader meaning would be understood unequivocally.

[3] Hifumi's diction throughout the song is largely that of his host persona. Here, it switches almost jarringly to his bubbly, Doppo-focused persona. I didn't make an effort to reflect that here because their character voices are all much more muted in this song than in straight dialogue, and I thought leaning too hard into something poppy in English would ruin this line's ability to be taken seriously. That seemed more counterintuitive to the song's intended purpose than dropping the character voice marker.

[4] In the PV, it is on this line that Doppo grabs Jakurai by the arm, forcing Jakurai to let go of the painting that is all but burdening him throughout the song.

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slugtranslation-hypmic · 4 months ago

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Hello! after seeing the translation req from the anon in the server and your reply to them, I considered asking for the same here. I'd like if you translated FP's 2nd stage song, 'bunch of roses', although I understand that you're not able to focus on this currently but I considered dropping in the req anyway. Thank you!!!

Sure thing!

I always get tripped up by FP songs because they're so vibes-dependent... Much of what makes them fun is the rhyme and wordplay, and without that, I feel like you're losing half the song. So for this translation, I incorporated simple rhyme and wordplay whenever the song uses either. I also tried to line up rhymes with the source whenever possible--ie, if someone says something weird for rhyming purposes in Japanese, that's where the rhyme would go in English. I did not incorporate rhythm or line length considerations because that way madness lies... (*cough* the beast of Torima sitting in my drafts *cough*) Finally, I made an effort to avoid my usual verbosity/line bloating with...somewhat middling results...and made an effort to stick very close to the source. I'm attempting a style more similar to Hypmic_en/official subs, basically.

Instances where I added ideas or wanted to talk about interesting wordplay are noted in the extensive notes. Casual readers are encouraged to skip them; I have made no egregious additions to the text.

The somewhat twee nature of this TL is the byproduct of me rhyming and not being an especially good writer haha. Similarly, slightly inconsistent character voice are byproducts of my limited abilities. I feel like this would be less obvious in subtitle form, but... Oh well. To the song!

Shibuya's bunch of roses Just a bunch of us blooming however we supposes [1] A bunch [2] of very different guys Who, together, can still harmonize [3] In a city that's hectic, [4] Its culture, eclectic, Each person's story stands the test of time And weaves together into a single rhyme. I know you, and you know me: Rows of different roses [5] in harmony.

Ramuda: Up first is me! Dice: Nuh-uh, I'm ready! Gentarou: If I may intercede... Ramuda: Whatever! Whoever wants to go first, you're free! Dice: This game gives me a rush; watch me throw down a fat stack. Next thing I know, I've got no money. But at least Gen's got my back! Gentarou: That I don't. You shirk your debts as a matter of course. These ideas then spray across Shibuya with a spatter of force. [6] Ramuda: We're the perfect pairing [7], a music-making clique! Our dope rhymes have a vibe that's perfectly unique! Dice: Which is what? I dunno, I'll just keep rolling the dice. Keep looking forward and never think twice! Gentarou: How quaint. Tonight's a party as short-lived and airy-fairy As a bubble, fictions, and truths floating down the Udagawa tributary [8] Ramuda: Anyone can pull the lever and set the reels a-trundle. [9] All: Even when we're doing our own thing, we make an awesome bundle!

Shibuya's bunch of roses Just a bunch of us blooming however we supposes A bunch of very different guys Who, together, can still harmonize In a city that's hectic, Its culture, eclectic, Each person's story stands the test of time And weaves together into a single rhyme. I know you, and you know me: Rows of different roses in harmony.

Dice: I'm the kind of guy who's gotta win it every minute. [10] Nothing to worry 'bout at all, I'll take home the whole haul! Gentarou: Gambling tales are no substance and all style While my stylish crew of friends are substantially worthwhile! [11] Ramuda: C'mon, let's go! All together now, not alone Chasing after freedom, bypassing what's set in stone Dice: Forget all the scolding and naysayers C'mon, Shibuya! We still gotta be the main players. Gentarou: Even if it won't last long, let's all make an accord That a friend is someone not to be hurt, but adored [12] Ramuda: That's the goal! That's the plan! Here in this culture center There's always something happening; everyone's welcome to enter Dice: It's 'cause we blend together that we're friends forever. Gentarou: When we go our separate ways, there's a part of you in me that stays. [13] Ramuda: When we each shout out our love the way it appears in our hearts, All: Each of our colors bleeds together into a whole bigger than the sum of its parts.

Ramuda: C'mon, everyone say it with me! (Yeah!) [14] No more boring battles, do we agree? (Yeah!) Dice: Our Posse's ahead of the times! (Yeah!) [15] Dropping all the dopest, chicest rhymes! (Yeah!) Gentarou: Let's use our words and put this place to rights! (Yeah!) Let's do away with all the petty fights! (Yeah!) All: Let's put our heads together Ramuda: And dream up a universe Dice: Where no one, no matter how "unique," Gentarou: Is ever treated any worse. All: Help us make this world not a myth: a place where no one's laughed at, but laughed with! [16]

Shibuya's bunch of roses Just a bunch of us blooming however we supposes A bunch of quite different guys Who, together, can still harmonize In a city that's hectic, Its culture, eclectic, Each person's story stands the test of time And weaves together into a single rhyme. I know you, and you know me: Rows of different roses in harmony.

You're in the bunch too All of us blooming in one single crew Each of us different but sharing the same stance [17] And just foolhardy enough to think we may have a chance [18] To share our stories and look to tomorrow Wrapped tight in a light, a mutual glow R-E-S-P-E-C-T A bunch of roses passed between you and me. [19]

Notes: [1] わがのまま (waganomama, as we please) is evocative of わがまま (wagamama, willful). Wagamama often contains a childish connotation, hence why it's often used around Fling Posse and Ramuda in particular. It also means plentiful, which in this case suggests lots and lots of flowers blooming in many colors. Both the notions of lots of color and possessing a strong individual will, even if it's not as conformist as is maybe socially acceptable, are bylines running through the song.

[2] The chorus makes multiple plays on the similarity between バラ (bara, rose) and バラバラ (barabara, varied). Something that's barabara evokes an image of something scattered, like many flowers growing in different places before being gathered together into a single bouquet. Interestingly, barabara is usually negative connoted, and I think it's fascinating how things like this and wagamama appear so often in the song. There's a sense that FP and the Shibuya residents being sung about are acknowledging some societal expectation they're failing to live up to, but from that failure blooms something beautiful.

[3] "One balance" isn't a common phrase in Japanese either, but I'm working off of the idea that it's a singular, shared sense of 調和 (being "balanced," being in accord, sharing common elements). Like a oneness or a harmonization, essentially.

[4] I added the "hectic" idea for the rhyme, but that appears constantly in FP songs, so I don't feel like it's putting words in the characters' mouths.

[5] Same barabara/bara wordplay.

[6] It's vague enough here that I could see an argument for Gentarou saying ideas in general spray out of and across Shibuya, but this particular word for forceful splatter is most often used when other things are caught in the crossfire. Like "So-and-so was hit by a spray of water/so-and-so was embroiled in the aftermath of the murder case." So I applied it to Dice's idea/habit of reneging his debts, but I'm not married to the concept, and you should expect to see it rendered other ways in other translations.

[7] Pairing as in food-wine pairing, which works well with FP's and Shibuya's urban image, but マリアージュ (mariaaju, marriage) is playfully worded enough for readers to take away shipping meanings if desired. Incidentally, "music-making clique" was added for the rhyme, but it's nothing that isn't suggested from the source line which is, more literally, "a hot lyrics-producing pairing"

[8] 泡沫 (utakata) is both literally a bubble on the surface of a liquid and something as short-lived or easily destroyed as said bubble. Because Gentarou mentioned the Udagawa river, I had the means to tie both concepts together. Whoo! The Udagawa river is a tributary of the Shibuya river, so I borrowed "tributary" for the rhyme.

[9] As on a gambling machine

[10] More like he has to compete vs. win outright, but I needed "win it" for the rhyme... Forgive me... (The "minute" is from the source's "every instant," so I couldn't drop that.)

[11] Gambling tales are 徒花 (adabana, colorful flowers that don't produce fruit; style over substance). My 色鮮やか (iroazayaka, colorful) friends, my 同胞 (harakara, brethren/homies but ~fancy~). Gentarou doesn't outright say the homies are better like I did, but the notion of color is supposed to make the reader compare the two, and it's in-character for Gentarou to love his homies. See the rest of the song for examples.

[12] This stood out to me as one of the most interesting lines in the whole song. "Let's mutually agree to be people that don't hurt one another." The "hurt" concept isn't for rhyme, so it feels very deliberate. I added the "friend" and "adored" bits for rhyme and flow; as ever, I don't think this is that OoC. (Although "adored" is a bit openly mushy for Gentarou. Eh. Fuck it.)

[13] This doesn't sound quite as wistful in the source, but it's close. Gentarou literally says "[When we part at an] intersection, we don't just go our separate ways" wherein the "go separate ways" is also meant figuratively to not see eye-to-eye, to not be of the same mindset. I unfortunately had to drop the "intersection" idea for space, but FP mentions intersections a lot in their songs, usually as a nod to Shibuya's infamously busy Scramble Crossing.

[14] Part of the reason they're yelling "Yeah!" is because it rhymes with the last syllable of each line. I briefly considered doing the same here (probably with "Word!"; "Yeah!" and "Yes!" are abysmal for rhyming) but that would have taken more time than I was willing to commit. I try to spend no more than an hour on song TLs to prevent overthinking and keep it fun haha.

[15] Technically more like "better than all the rest" but I needed the rhyme... The word Dice uses here, 独走 (dokusou), is interesting in that it ties back into the notion of being unique or atypical that pervades the rest of the song. Literally, to be 独走 is to be running far ahead of the pack to the point of outstripping them. Kind of a lonely concept, right? Hypmic often flirts with the notion of being so good that it's isolating, although this is most often used in MTR or Ichirou's songs. Incidentally, I added "dopest" in the next line because I thought "chicest" on its own would be too OoC for Dice, but I wanted that specific word for the Shibuya-ness of it haha. 粋 (iki, chicness, smartness, fashionableness) isn't hoity-toity enough in Japanese that it'd sound weird coming from Dice's mouth.

[16] Another extremely fascinating concept. This is very, very close to being exactly literal except for the addition of "Help us make this world not a myth" for rhyme (again, the text supports this) and swapping Gentarou's "is ever made fun of" to "is ever treated any worse." for rhyme. I would've preserved Gentarou's concept of being made fun of if it wasn't repeated right below as it feels very deliberate.

[17] More literally, "barabara (scattered, varied) people bundled together." Because I didn't preserve the scattering image earlier, instead focusing on its meaning, I once again prioritized meaning over image here.

[18] There's a "because we're friends" here I wasn't able to fit in, but I also think that's so apparent in the rest of the text (esp. with slight additions like the "friends" in Gentarou's line in 12) that I'm not concerned.

[19] The question of where the roses are being passed to is more nebulous in the source. I see a strong argument for suggesting it's being passed to the future (and there's even a ready rhyme via "posterity") but I'm interpreting this notion of "toward the future" like the characters themselves looking toward the future, striving, always pushing forward. I also see a great argument for it being more open-ended, like a bouquet ready to be passed to anyone who wants to come along and pick it up. I went for "between you and me" both for the rhyme and to suggest some of that openendedness, like it's passing around and around among the listeners and singers. We're all in the bunch of roses today, baby... Yeehaw.

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