Ichi the Witch

[sqpc]

warlock

 

[undeed]

Just my opinion on the title's translation the Office translates 魔男 as witch even if it specifically means "male witch" because Japanese has 魔女 meaning female witch as the common word for just witch. In English this differentation is hard to see. Is there a English word for male witch?, well "Warlock" could been fine choice but they didn't think so. Just my opinion.

There's already another series that uses witch to refer to males as well in the translation, and warlock in that series is a witch that loses their way and uses black magic.

Personally, I also view witch and warlock as separate and non-gendered terms too, but it's authors choice at the end of it all.
It's a little more complicated when you translate a gendered word to a language that no longer genders the terms, but it's probably best to just use the closest term for both.

so I really just read this series just today
(I've known about it for a while, but decided to wait for a few chapter to binge it all)
and then I noticed that comment on chp 7 about this witch and warlock translation, and yeah, that makes sense
so apparently this has already ongoing since the beginning, eh?

I just returned form reading the Japanese version
and... the only other thing that is made up is the "majik" word for the living magic
nothing else is that different from the translation perspective, in my opinion

So I'll try to play the Devil's Advocate here, and try to guess what caused the translation to turn out like this,

First, the Witch vs Warlock:
I think the translators were only given the synopsis and the first chapter, without any further information from the author.
And then they could only see the kanji 魔女 throughout the chapter and synopsis. Even after Ichi transformed, there was no mention of the kanji Madan (魔男) anywhere.

So, I think it is quite reasonable for the translators to conclude that Ichi just turned into a witch, there is no need to distinguish between Majo and Madan translations, (and some could argue that Ichi's outfit looks like a witch)
Even though, yes, the title emphasizes the difference between men and women.
I think the translator just did not know that in chapter 7 the author would emphasize the difference between Majo and Madan.
They didn't think it would be that important.
Mistake has been made.
But I don't think it's worth the hate and the "deliberate mistranslation" accusations.
I mean, even when you plug the kanji 魔男 into google translator (and other 5 online translators I tried), it just translated as "Devil Man".
So I think the translators just thought it was basically "Male Witch", and, like you said, they thought that was lame, so they dropped the word Male, and kept the word Witch.
Though I do think, if it isn't Warlock, at least the word Wizard would be better to convey male magicians like in Harry Potter.

Second, the word Majik:
Well, I think it is obvious, isn't it?
They just want to differentiate between the word magic for power/attacking and magic for the animate/living thing that has consciousness and can talk,
Although in the Japanese version, they both use the same kanji

 

[dsfargeg]

So I'll try to play the Devil's Advocate here, and try to guess what caused the translation to turn out like this,

First, the Witch vs Warlock:
I think the translators were only given the synopsis and the first chapter, without any further information from the author.
And then they could only see the kanji 魔女 throughout the chapter and synopsis. Even after Ichi transformed, there was no mention of the kanji Madan (魔男) anywhere.

The problem with this theory is that you're suggesting the translator wasn't given the title of the manga (Madan no Ichi) and was just given a plot synopsis. Would you like to explain how they mistranslated a title they never saw?

I'd like to offer a counter-theory that resolves that dilemma and also addresses your second point: The translator is bad at his job.

 

[undeed]

The problem with this theory is that you're suggesting the translator wasn't given the title of the manga (Madan no Ichi) and was just given a plot synopsis. Would you like to explain how they mistranslated a title they never saw?

I'd like to offer a counter-theory that resolves that dilemma and also addresses your second point: The translator is bad at his job.

I mean, even when you plug the kanji 魔男 into google translator (and other 5 online translators I tried), it just translated as "Devil Man".
So I think the translators just thought it was basically "Male Witch", and, like you said, they thought that was lame, so they dropped the word Male, and kept the word Witch.

tl;dr mistakes were made

 

[DIO_DA]

Does the whole Warlock Vs Witch thing really matter that much though?

Ichi the Witch reads a lot better than Ichi the Warlock imho

Edit: Also, wouldn't they all be Warlocks? Since they derived their powers from another being (Fae, Eldritch Creature, etc) or is that just a D&D thing?

 

[AndroidLB]

But I don't think it's worth the hate and the "deliberate mistranslation" accusations.
I mean, even when you plug the kanji 魔男 into google translator (and other 5 online translators I tried), it just translated as "Devil Man".

In my opinion translating Madan as witch isn't wrong it just looses nuance which can lessen the author's intention.

Also online translators don't know how to enterprite 魔男 because it isn't "common" word. Devil Man most likely comes from Chinese, and it is the meaning if the kanji aren't read as one word.

Why I initially didn't say wizard or mage is because those word have matching words in Japanese. Warlock doesn't have a straight match in common dictionary, and it is the word that comes up when you search "male witch". But if the translatior thinks it's better to keep gender neutral I'm not complaining, still the author didn't intend it.

 

[dsfargeg]

Does the whole Warlock Vs Witch thing really matter that much though?

Ichi the Witch reads a lot better than Ichi the Warlock imho

Edit: Also, wouldn't they all be Warlocks? Since they derived their powers from another being (Fae, Eldritch Creature, etc) or is that just a D&D thing?

"We should ignore what the work actually says and do whatever reads better" isn't a translation, it's making shit up. Chapter 7 had a huge emphasis on Ichi distinguishing himself from witches by refusing to call himself one. The official translation tied itself into knots trying to get the same meaning across by adding new stuff like "lady witch." This mistake has already compounded into mangling the translation more to try to compensate for it by adding tons of awkward dialogue. If you think throwing out a huge point of the character because it ""reads better"" is adequate translation then you're too stupid and immature to have meaningful opinions.

 

[SUPER7X]

First, the Witch vs Warlock:
I think the translators were only given the synopsis and the first chapter, without any further information from the author.
And then they could only see the kanji 魔女 throughout the chapter and synopsis. Even after Ichi transformed, there was no mention of the kanji Madan (魔男) anywhere.

So, I think it is quite reasonable for the translators to conclude that Ichi just turned into a witch, there is no need to distinguish between Majo and Madan translations, (and some could argue that Ichi's outfit looks like a witch)

No, this is utterly stupid. I could've and did tell you from the title alone that “Ichi the Witch” was a bad translation. It's not a reasonable translation. It's not a translation at all. Because VIZ doesn't care about translation, about accuracy. They care about making money. And for whatever reason, they determined that “Ichi the Witch” would make them more money than “Ichi the Wizard” or “The Wizard Ichi” or “Warlock Ichi” or “Ichi the Warlock” or whatever other permutation of an actual translation you want to give, and so we got “Ichi the Witch”. And the fact that you and others come on and defend this nonsense is fucking pathetic. You're a part of the problem as much as them.

 

[Munib400]

this is literally just witchcraft work in more fantasy setting

 

[SoulZ25]

I've said this before but, why does the official tranlation have worse image quality than the online ones?

 

[aleisterboi]

Honestly, I hope the author begins to/need to add more male magic using characters into the story, because the manga absolutely reads exactly as one of those shitty fanfic/stories where the entire premise is "females w/ power, men no"