Rai Rai Rai - Vol. 3 Ch. 18 - Grateful Days
- Thread starter MangaDex
- Start date
I think I know why the son hired his secretaries.
But they are very good at playing their role, that 'preeeez' was great.
But they are very good at playing their role, that 'preeeez' was great.
The fact that it's Koharu, his ally, who takes the initiative to attack him really sells it. He gets introduced, Sumire finds him attractive, he insults her, and instead of this being a 'oh dang' moment he's instantly both chastised and betrayed for it. It's really fuckin' funny
I'm fascinated by the decision to translate that to butterface. Because I wouldn't have thought of it, but it's so much better. I'm unsure how イモ女 comes off in japanese, but calling someone a bumpkin or lame is childish and immature here, not... actually insulting. It'd be strange to be affected by it at all, and rather than making him seem threatening, it makes him just seem weird and annoying.
Butterface, though, has a leering judgement. He's looked at her, seen her, and likes her body, but thinks her face is ugly. It's immediately dismissive and inappropriate. It makes him more of the shoujo bad boy, who'd pin her up against a wall and tell her she should be happy that he's even bothering to pay attention to her.
Which makes him being IMMEDIETLY kicked in the balls by his ally WAY funnier
Dex-chan lover
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2020
- Messages
- 607
That's because just about everything IS sexism because of clowns like YOU these days.
Dex-chan lover
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2020
- Messages
- 524
But if that's not what he was saying in original, then it's a bad translation. I don't care how much you like "leering judgment", if he was actually childishly insulting her as lame bumpkin, then that's what was actually happening. If he isn't shoujo bad boy, but lame asshole, then this translation is worse.
That depends on, again, what the implication of イモ女 is in japanese. If it's a stupid insult, then it's a mistranslation. If it's got the same connotation of a judgement of her sexual desirability, then it's a good one.
Am I going to have to go over the whole concept of localization with you? Cmon man, you know better.
Dex-chan lover
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2020
- Messages
- 524
According to what Kurosune says, it's not the right implication. And it also makes sense to me, since it doesn't make sense for him to imply MC is hot, except for her face. And she is totally a lame bumpkin, likable lame bumpkin but totally, unquestionably it fits, so it makes all the sense for this guy to insult her that way.
You're free to go over the whole concept of localization, if you like, because a localization that adds sexual element where there wasn't one is bad.
EDIT: I found some examples in Japanese Yahoo of イモ女, here's Google Translate:
It's very clearly about being lame and unfashionable, not about "liking her body".
Last edited:
I mean, Sumire is hot. We've seen her. Look at the first volume's cover art and the few times we've seen her in her suit. She's slim, sure, but she's genuinely shapely. She just doesn't dress in a way that shows it at all. I can easily see a teen-movie makeover on her to make glasses guy fall for her or something, you know?
But again, the point of butterface is its a judgement on her femininity and desirability, while calling someone lame and unfashionable is a general immature insult. Calling someone's style whack isn't a comment on their desirability, but instead often their economic status and social bearing.
From the thing you quoted, being a "potato girl" is something women are called derisively and dismissively, something to say that they look bad and are undesirable. I'm not going to do a deep dive into the nuances of potato girl because I don't have time to learn that stuff man, but from what you posted, being a potato girl is more than just having a bad fit. They talk about posture and makeup and having things match well. The first lady who calls herself a potato girl says she has a plain, ugly face. It's not the same as calling someone lame or unfashionable, cause that's got an entirely different feel.
So to me, the options seem like they're 1: translate it as lame and unfashionable and miss that it's a specific, gendered insult based around her looking bad, ugly, and unbangable, 2: translate it as 'potato girl' and then have a post-credits explanation as to what that is, or 3: translate it into a gendered insult about her desirability.
1, aside from the problems already spoken about, has another flashing problem: Sumire is unfashionable. She's got a simple and plain style, which is part of her charm. She's extremely normal and unassuming, which is why it's easy to root for her. Instant, open anger and hostility would feel strange, because that would sound like a thing that Hazuki could say to her as a joke, not something she'd get instantly offended by. The second option would be interesting for sure, as well as educational. I like that idea. Except it doesn't actually get across what he's saying and why the other two are so mad, and we enter into TL Note: keikaku means plan territory here.
This team went with 3, and I like the decision. I think the best option would've been doing 3 and then putting the explanation of potato girl in the post-chapter notes, but that's literally all the work for little benefit. Calling her a butterface shows that he's crossed a damn line by calling her unfuckable right after meeting her, instead of him being a prickly jerk.
Dex-chan lover
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2019
- Messages
- 337
You'd think Sumire got scammed, but this supposedly indestructible phone might well get destroyed every time she transforms. In which case that overly generous warranty would be an absolute bargain despite the insane sticker price. How many phones does Sumire need to go through before it's the shopkeeper who got scammed?
Dex-chan lover
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2018
- Messages
- 35
@Weoooo イモ/芋 has a fairly long history as a pejorative modifier, and isn't inherently gendered. For example, rural samurai were mocked by more metropolitan courtiers as "imozamurai". Being rural carries the connotation of being poor, uneducated, and uncultured, in addition to being unattractive and out of touch with fashion. One can say imo-otoko to mean much the same thing as imo-onna.
At any rate, look at Iruka's face on page 18. He's literally snarling; his expression is pure hostility. He's not trying to "neg" her or even insult her per se, he just wants Koharu to stop wasting time on some farm girl nobody, and is trying to scare Sumire off to achieve that end.
It may be worth noting that he calls her variants of ガキ (kid/brat) in subsequent chapters (imogaki, kusogaki, etc.), which makes butterface kinda problematic unless we assume he's a lolicon.
At any rate, look at Iruka's face on page 18. He's literally snarling; his expression is pure hostility. He's not trying to "neg" her or even insult her per se, he just wants Koharu to stop wasting time on some farm girl nobody, and is trying to scare Sumire off to achieve that end.
It may be worth noting that he calls her variants of ガキ (kid/brat) in subsequent chapters (imogaki, kusogaki, etc.), which makes butterface kinda problematic unless we assume he's a lolicon.
Dex-chan lover
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2019
- Messages
- 1,410
ALIENS! BATTLES! AND YURI!
Dex-chan lover
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2020
- Messages
- 55
Ouch, bro did not deserve getting a hard kick in the family jewels. A really hard slap? Justified, really need to teach someone to respect people. A kick in the balls? Too much harm done, only use with perverts or someone with obvious ill intent
Similar threads
