Akebi-chan no Sailor Fuku - Ch. 91 - What does it look like they're doing?

[Ionisator]

Just to clear up the raw discussion:

妾 (mekake) literally means concubine/mistress. Neko comes from a super traditional family background, so using "concubine" fits her character and explains why Akebi reacts the way she does on the page. Downplaying it misses the point of the lore.

As for お別れをみせる (o-wakare wo miseru), sure, miseru is "to show", but page transitions exist for a reason. Having page 15 end with "I guess our only choice is to break up..." creates the intended dramatic setup that immediately resolves on page 16 when she mentions the drama club. Translating it as a past event ("show people we broke up") just makes the dialogue sound awkward and creates weird plot confusion that isn't actually there in the Japanese.

We localize for narrative flow and how characters actually talk, not line-by-line dictionary dumps. Enjoy whichever release you like!

Actually, there is a huge difference between a concubine and a mistress.

A concubine has a socially recognized semi-marital status as a secondary partner, while a mistress is an extramarital partner in a clandestine relationship.

To put it simply:

• concubine = not cheating
• mistress = cheating

A traditional family will not discriminate against a concubine's child, it's part the traditional norm (monogamy has been the legal norm in Japan only since the Civil Code of 1947), unlike one born of an affair.

 

[JuniorOliveira]

Actually, there is a huge difference between a concubine and a mistress.

A concubine has a socially recognized semi-marital status as a secondary partner, while a mistress is an extramarital partner in a clandestine relationship.

To put it simply:

• concubine = not cheating
• mistress = cheating

A traditional family will not discriminate against a concubine's child, it's part the traditional norm (monogamy has been the legal norm in Japan only since the Civil Code of 1947), unlike one born of an affair.

Do you think I was born yesterday? The author deliberately picked an archaic term (mekake). Akebi's delayed reaction alone proves how out of place and heavy it’s meant to sound. Softening or modernizing it into a dry legal lecture completely defeats the point of the scene

 

[k_reads]

to me it's just so stupid to break up after everything that happened, laying low is the only interpretation I have , not actual breakup

 

[EggsNRice]

Are you people slow? Re-read my message, it's not a matter of them being slop. The problem is the sniping itself

I don’t think you read my message? What’s the problem with “sniping”? It’s not like views matter on this website, groups do not directly lose monetary value or anything aside from pride. Like I said I get it if it’s slop because then the story itself is not properly told, but if it’s not then what is the issue? Ego?

 

[shemper]

I don’t think you read my message? What’s the problem with “sniping”? It’s not like views matter on this website, groups do not directly lose monetary value or anything aside from pride. Like I said I get it if it’s slop because then the story itself is not properly told, but if it’s not then what is the issue? Ego?

Purely ego, that's how people roll on internet

 

[Kamui]

I don’t think you read my message? What’s the problem with “sniping”? It’s not like views matter on this website, groups do not directly lose monetary value or anything aside from pride. Like I said I get it if it’s slop because then the story itself is not properly told, but if it’s not then what is the issue? Ego?

People who cry about "sniping" would lose their minds if they knew about "ye olde days" when you had three or four groups doing the same manga with very different styles of translation and even "cleaning." I remember a particular one that rutinely destroyed almost every detail on the drawings with their process (this was back when there weren't any digital copies to be found and everything had to be actually scanned)

 

[arcosapphire]

I don’t think you read my message? What’s the problem with “sniping”? It’s not like views matter on this website, groups do not directly lose monetary value or anything aside from pride. Like I said I get it if it’s slop because then the story itself is not properly told, but if it’s not then what is the issue? Ego?

There's a common explanation about this, which is basically that translation is hard volunteer work with essentially no payoff. The only thing keeping most groups going is the feeling that they are providing something for people that no one else is.

So when someone else comes in to grab the attention, it typically destroys the motivation of the first group to keep going, especially if the readers don't seem to care who's doing it or what the quality is and so on.

Often, snipers (and this isn't really a snipe by the way, as this version came out second) will quickly abandon the series or greatly slow down their work after the original team has given up, leaving readers with a worse experience or no translation at all. And sniped teams rarely have the motivation to pick it back up after feeling that the readers didn't care about the quality they put into it.

There are good and bad aspects to this response to snipers. It's good that the motivation of scan groups is preserved. It's bad in that sometimes readers have to suffer through pretty bad translations because reputable groups won't step on another's work, even if it's bad. Overall, it's really just a problem if a sniper provides something lower quality or abandons the series after forcing the old group away. It's good when the reverse happens and a better group takes over for some slop group, money-grubbing group, or a lazy one...but unfortunately that's quite rare. ("I Snipe MTL" is a rare heroic sniper for instance.) But in most cases that's not what's happening.

I do however think that scan groups get a bit dramatic about it and a lot of the issues could be resolved with communication. Occasionally there are series worked on by two groups in parallel with different strengths, with a common understanding and no drama. But again...rare.

 

[mibombo]

Thats erika?! I didnt recognize her at first😭

 

[EggsNRice]

There's a common explanation about this, which is basically that translation is hard volunteer work with essentially no payoff. The only thing keeping most groups going is the feeling that they are providing something for people that no one else is.

So when someone else comes in to grab the attention, it typically destroys the motivation of the first group to keep going, especially if the readers don't seem to care who's doing it or what the quality is and so on.

Often, snipers (and this isn't really a snipe by the way, as this version came out second) will quickly abandon the series or greatly slow down their work after the original team has given up, leaving readers with a worse experience or no translation at all. And sniped teams rarely have the motivation to pick it back up after feeling that the readers didn't care about the quality they put into it.

There are good and bad aspects to this response to snipers. It's good that the motivation of scan groups is preserved. It's bad in that sometimes readers have to suffer through pretty bad translations because reputable groups won't step on another's work, even if it's bad. Overall, it's really just a problem if a sniper provides something lower quality or abandons the series after forcing the old group away. It's good when the reverse happens and a better group takes over for some slop group, money-grubbing group, or a lazy one...but unfortunately that's quite rare. ("I Snipe MTL" is a rare heroic sniper for instance.) But in most cases that's not what's happening.

I do however think that scan groups get a bit dramatic about it and a lot of the issues could be resolved with communication. Occasionally there are series worked on by two groups in parallel with different strengths, with a common understanding and no drama. But again...rare.

Probably the most comprehensive and reasonable response I’ve seen thus far. I understand that this is essentially volunteer work and that it’s not easy, hell I’ve cleaned and redrawn for a series here before. But I really don’t get essentially gatekeeping, completely understand not supporting MTL and AI slop, however if the “product” is good what’s there to fear? I’m 90% sure everyone bashed on the previous snipe anyways because it was slop. I.e. Everyone waited for Gay Sailor Scans proper release anyways.

 

[JuniorOliveira]

Probably the most comprehensive and reasonable response I’ve seen thus far. I understand that this is essentially volunteer work and that it’s not easy, hell I’ve cleaned and redrawn for a series here before. But I really don’t get essentially gatekeeping, completely understand not supporting MTL and AI slop, however if the “product” is good what’s there to fear? I’m 90% sure everyone bashed on the previous snipe anyways because it was slop. I.e. Everyone waited for Gay Sailor Scans proper release anyways.

You're right, I definitely didn't do this with bad intentions, that's why I released mine second. To avoid pointless drama, I’ll keep releasing the English chapter a day or two after them even if it's already finished. Like I said before, my main focus is translating to Portuguese, making the English version is just a technical detour for me. I'm not here for a group war, I just really dislike seeing the manga turned into an American sitcom instead of respecting the RAW.

 

[tamarakko]

Do you think I was born yesterday? The author deliberately picked an archaic term (mekake). Akebi's delayed reaction alone proves how out of place and heavy it’s meant to sound. Softening or modernizing it into a dry legal lecture completely defeats the point of the scene

And we had multiple people explaining that 'concubine' will cause confusion because it's a different meaning than what this scene intended, it's not about archaic term vs modern. Akebi is a very innocent girl raised by a traditional family, a reader will naturally associate that she wouldn't be aware of marital infidelity before Neko telling her, 'mistress' applies just fine.

 

[warrandyte]

The story for the last few chapters has been so shapeless and confusing I worried the author had become seriously ill.

And then I read this new translation and wow, the shapelessness was just the setup and punchline to a joke lost in translation.

Rather than calling this one the "shitty translation", I think you should be saying thank you.

 

[JuniorOliveira]

And we had multiple people explaining that 'concubine' will cause confusion because it's a different meaning than what this scene intended, it's not about archaic term vs modern. Akebi is a very innocent girl raised by a traditional family, a reader will naturally associate that she wouldn't be aware of marital infidelity before Neko telling her, 'mistress' applies just fine.

You're basically arguing that the reader is so cognitively limited that using the accurate, archaic term (concubine) would prevent them from realizing Akebi’s innocence regarding infidelity. So, instead of letting the reader process the subtext and character dynamic on their own, you’d rather sanitize the author’s intentional word choice into a generic modern term (mistress) just to spoon-feed them.