Jump to content

Gubaba

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    11673

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Gubaba

  1. Gubaba
    That's Megumi's signature...
  2. Gubaba
    Tell me about it...
  3. Gubaba
    Spoken like someone who's never seen "Invasion from Inner Earth"...
  4. Gubaba
    It always bugged me that subbed videos were cheaper to produce, and yet were always more expensive... but, as you say, DVD made the issue moot. Yeah, that's true. I'm friends with some professional translators (English to Japanese) and they always complain about trying to fit everything into a short subtitle. And I remember watching "Clueless" with one of my Japanese friends, and getting horrendously pissed-off at the Japanese subtitles. A massive part of the humor of "Clueless" is the invented slang the characters use ("I'm Audi" "Isn't she a Betty?" "I was totally BUGGIN'!") and yet, the Japanese subtitles kept representing what the characters MEANT (as opposed to what they SAID), using plain, normal Japanese. As a result, while I laughed a lot, my Japanese friend laughed a little. My friends inform me that Japanese subs have to be all about meaning, when often, it's the WAY characters say their dialogue, and not the MEANING of the dialogue that's funny. As such, I would say that the Japanese version of "Clueless" was a bad translation. In a comedy, losing the humor is fatal.
  5. Gubaba
    Well, as I said, translation is an unclear, touchy-feely, case-by-case thing. Reacting to translations is the same. So I think, in this thread, you're just saying, "Here's my fine line, and here are some examples that cross it." You can't take what you've liked and/or objected to and make any kind of translation guidelines out of them. Just a reference for "Here's what Dio specifically liked in these specific dubs, but may not like in a different context."
  6. Gubaba
    (incidentally, I note that the plot of Macross Plus is more-or-less the same as the plot of Weird Science...)
  7. Gubaba
    Personally, I love the scene where Alto puts on Sheryl's earring.
  8. Gubaba
    Yeah, but, as I said previously, Robotech (i.e. RICK HUNTER) isn't a straight adaptation and was never meant to be. So if you think a different name is needed for Robotech, more power to you. If it's a straight adaptation of Macross, then yes, Hikaru is Japanese, and could conceivably use terms that are unique to Japanese society. Just as if you said, "John McClane shouldn't say 'Yipee Ki-Yai-YAY, M-----F-----,'" I'd say you were crazy. He's American. It's an American term. And, as such, it should be available to him in any language. EDIT: I couldn't tell if you were being sarcastic or not, so I assumed you weren't. My apologies if you were.
  9. Gubaba
    Heh. It's not like "Gubaba" is an Evangelion-type name, is it...? EDIT: Heck, I was "Colus VI" at Gundam.com...
  10. Gubaba
    It's tough when you work on the weekends, and have to ask for Saturdays off WAY in advance...
  11. Gubaba
    I agree with you... up to the point of "Sempai." AnimEigo put a little note, explaining the term "Sempai," and I think that's okay. "Big Brother" is as close as one can get in English, I suppose, but "Sempai" is okay. At least, it's better than, say, "One Piece" fansubs that claim that "Nakayoshi" cannot be translated, when clearly, it can. Or, at least, because Hikaru is Japanese, I'd err on the side of caution there. If he were American, I'd try to come up with some equivalent. But, again, that's me, and my own personal attempt to "walk the tightrope." Gosh, I've only been a member of EvaGeeks for six years. Please tell me more.
  12. Gubaba
    Not a member. I still checked tonight. Nothing.
  13. Gubaba
    No, I asked one of my friends to help, but they didn't have a credit card. Is it too late, or should I show up on the 10th and hope that someone cancelled?
  14. Gubaba
    That's a trick question. No one saw it.
  15. Gubaba
    I think it's a fine line, and that that's part of the translator's job. The goal SHOULD (I think) be to make a script that sounds as natural in English as the original did in Japanese... i.e., if it sounds somehow "off" or "weird," then it's just a poorly-done translation. However, finding the balance between being 100% accurate and being 100% natural is where the translator has to make some hard decisions, generally case-by-case, and it will NEVER please everyone. (Also, there's the fact that often, Japanese sentences simply CANNOT be translated 100% accurately into English (and vice-versa) because the gulf between the languages is simply too great... so even a translation that CLAIMS to be "completely accurate" usually isn't.) To a native English speaker, I think that "Did you say faster?" just sounds funnier and more natural than "Thrilling, huh?" In that way, one could argue that it's a better translation. Robotech is, I think, a different story, because it wasn't trying to be a faithful adaptation, so they could throw in one-liners and such wherever they saw the opportunity. The result may have been entertaining, but it wasn't the original, nor was it trying to be. (And I'm not even getting STARTED on the problem of making dubs fit the lip-flaps... a hindrance which subs don't have). "Sempai," I think, gets a pass for the reasons >EXO< and Jenius said...and because Hikaru is Japanese. Likewise (to take an example that just popped into my head), Hitomi in Escaflowne saying "Amano-Sempai" should be fine, but Merle saying "Van-sama" wouldn't, because Merle is from a very European-style fantasy setting, and Japanes-isms would just distract from that setting. For me, the highest example of "Not-Literally-Accurate-but-ABSOLUTELY-catching-the-meaning" is from The End of Evangelion: Throughout the TV series, Shinji refers to himself as "Boku" (which is the "I" or "me" that young boys use), so it's shocking in EoE when he switches suddenly to "Ore" (the "I" or "me" that young men, often disreputable young men, use). The same effect was mimicked PERFECTLY (IMO) by having Shinji use the F-word in that line in the English version (sub AND dub). It gives the same sense of shock, for exactly the same reason that switching to "Ore" did in the original. And yet, there was a rather large outcry from fans about it. Go figure. So, again, I think it's up to the translator. If you can translate it accurately and it sounds great in English, do it that way. But if you can't, you've got to use your own sense of language and intuition to figure out a way around the problem, and some people are simply better than others in that regard. No matter what, though, SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, will still hate you for making the choice you made. EDIT: I want to point out that this only applies to storytelling and drama. Technical writing (such as, say, the mecha sheets of Macross Chronicle) is an entirely different kettle of fish (with its own problems, natch... as I'm sure Sketchley could tell you at length).
  16. Gubaba
    Not specifically, no. But Yot-chan taking over Nyan-Nyan and turning it into a chain was referred to on his Character Sheet... they just didn't say what the source of that tidbit of info was. (I *think* they also mentioned that Millard was in Skull Squadron, which is a detail that comes from the Macross Classic drama album.)
  17. Gubaba
    Tell me about it... I finally had time to go to Shinjuku today to get a ticket, and... they had just sold out.
  18. Gubaba
    Tell me about it. What jerks.
  19. Gubaba
    Well, they only made 5000 copies (and NO REPRINTS), so let's hope it didn't COMPLETELY sell out, for those who want to jump on it later. Me, I got my copy last week. Like everyone said, it's classy and wonderful. And I just pre-ordered Vol. 2 a couple of days ago.
  20. Gubaba
    Yeah... it's pretty kinky when you think about it... and the fact that the kid is joining in while Grandpa Jin from Zambot 3 voyeuristicly looks on just makes the whole thing creepier.
  21. Gubaba
    There's a part of me that REALLY wants to document every time "SEIKO" or "AKINA" appear in SDFM TV... I resist it. But I can't resist it forever...
  22. Gubaba
    Wait... you've seen Space Black Knight, right...? If not, you're in for a treat... make sure you watch to the end... Trust me. It'll blow your mind.
  23. Gubaba
    Yes, and maybe.
  24. Gubaba
    Oh, well clearly you know better than I do. I can only marvel at how seamlessly the American editors assembled the final product. Anyway, never mind. If you're so strenuously arguing against giving even "consideration" to a Youtube video that's been presented to you, then I guess that's that. Most people would, I think, just check the video and see if they liked it, rather than play twenty questions and research it on MAL and Wikipedia before choosing whether to click the play button or not. Man, this is like the worst blind date ever...
  25. Gubaba
    Then please, find out and tell me. I'd be grateful to know.
×
×
  • Create New...