@PreStoneX
I have to disagree some what on the note at the end. English steals words from other languages all the time especially win the are for a concept that english doesn't have a word for. Schadenfreude is one example I like to use, as in english it would take a whole sentence to explain what it means.
Another examples is honorifics. Japanese honorifics are usually mapped to mister or miss when they are so much more nuanced then that. Not to mention no one really addresses people like that unless it's a kid to an adult where as in Japanese they are used all the time. They can even foreshadow future events in a story. In "hanging out with a gamer girl" a character changes the honorific she uses for another character. If the translators had gone with using mr. and mrs. that subtle change would have been lost or tjrned into a major thing that stood ojt like a sore thumb and it would be odd that no one in storry called it out.
Then you have things like Onee, could be your older sister, an older girl you are close to, or an older woman who you've never met before. English doesn't have an equivalent word that means that and having someone constantly saying big sis or lady just sounds off.
But those are just my thoughts.
Did you see me using Mr. or Ms. and stuff like that in the manga?
I knew some people will try to argue with that point, I just didn't bother to go into details, because its quite obvious what I meant after writing the example in my opinion.
Do people not know what the "oshi" in, say, "Oshi no Ko" means? Especially here? Maybe -- MAYBE -- a substitute could be considered for a commercial, general audience release, but here???
EDIT: Also wanna join in on Team Honorifics.
Right, imagine trying to cater to a larger number of people and try to give the term some proper meaning for a better reading experience instead of assuming everyone knows what oshi means.
I think that leaving words that don't have a direct translation as is isn't a bad thing. I mean, we're keeping Otaku instead of calling him Nerd. We're also keeping the honorifics. Oshi is becoming a more commonly known word as well as Japanese and Korean idol groups continue to gain traction world wide. Also, with the joke that Otaku can't really define what an oshi is, fave doesn't seem right to me, because that's pretty easily defined.
Also, if you know what "Gal can't be kind to Otaku" means, you probably know what an oshi is. In fact, is imagine there aren't a lot of people who have found the scanlation of a manga like this who aren't familiar with the term.
Just my 2 cents as a language nerd.
Once again, it's true there are terms that are widely known in the west already, and I do think those things are also better left untouched (see honorifics, or otaku, etc.), but my example wasn't that, and you all read the translation, we kept honorifics and the word otaku and some more terms I can't really remember right now, so not even sure why is everyone going off on me about that.
I can't really fact check you on the "Oshi is becoming a more commonly known word as well", but I personally never really heard it anywhere else except the more recent Oshi no Ko manga/anime, but outside of that I haven't seen anyone ever mentioning the word oshi. I heard IDOL, but not OSHI.
Plus, why do you all assume everyone is like you guys, that "readers must surely know what OSHI means if they read an OTAKU manga?!" The answer is no, not everyone knows that, and I know this because I get a lot of feedback on translations.
I tried my best to localize the word OSHI, and I know its not perfect, but its better than writing OSHI, assuming everyone knows what it means, and then adding a note for each wordplay they make to explain to readers what's happening.
P.S. I guess it was my mistake trying to include all groups of people.
Edit: Sorry if I seem passive aggressive, I was pretty annoyed while writing this comment.
