Isekai Izakaya "Nobu" - Vol. 13 Ch. 78 - Take-Out Bento

[HaikenEdge]

Having perused the raws up to the end of what's available, it's going to get even more confusing in terms of when terms were introduced and what not.

 

[WhimsiCat]

That's what I was thinking too. I'm pretty sure the author only uses the word "bento" in the raw because it's a translation for "boxed/packed lunch". I'll probably change it based on context, so if someone is aware of what a "bento" is, I'll translate it as bento while outsiders (ie. Lonbaudt and Benedicta) mention "bento" in the raw, I'll translate it as "packed lunch" until either someone mentions it or if there's an appropriate time to switch "packed lunch" for "bento".


I just went back to check chapter 15 and I think the use of "bento" in chapter 15 makes sense since there's a time skip between Helmina mentioning she has an idea and actually selling the boxes. Either Taisho or Shinobu could've brought up bentos and from there, Berthold used the word.

The "boxed lunch served as dinner" thing also does make sense in the context of this chapter since Lonbaudt is looking to ruin the meeting by serving lunch as dinner.

Everything's a little wonky since it's a translation and some words hold more value in Japanese than English and vice versa. I really don't think there's a right or wrong answer. I'll try to make it make some more sense moving forward by considering context and whatnot.

The thing is, "Toriaezunama" is written in kana when used by Aitherans and normal hiragana/kanji when used by Shinobu side to denote that the term is understood differently between them.
Same thing with terms like Shoyu, "Daizu", etc.

This is not the case with bento. Nobody said bento with kana so it's not treated as a foreign term.

And the 'boxed lunch' logic is completely EN only, the way bento is written there's no specific requirement for which meal it's for (in fact late night bento is pretty common for overworked office workers)

It's up to you if you want to translate it or keep it as bento, but it should NOT be translated differently between the natives and the Japanese group. This is not one of those terms.

 

[kairiaaa]

The thing is, "Toriaezunama" is written in kana when used by Aitherans and normal hiragana/kanji when used by Shinobu side to denote that the term is understood differently between them.
Same thing with terms like Shoyu, "Daizu", etc.

This is not the case with bento. Nobody said bento with kana so it's not treated as a foreign term.

And the 'boxed lunch' logic is completely EN only, the way bento is written there's no specific requirement for which meal it's for (in fact late night bento is pretty common for overworked office workers)

It's up to you if you want to translate it or keep it as bento, but it should NOT be translated differently between the natives and the Japanese group. This is not one of those terms.

Fair enough. I'll keep that in mind.

If anything, we can chalk it up to whatever magic/god is merging Japan with Aitheria.

 

[IrregularPerson]

man really was ready to game, just to end up eating a bento

 

[nhat2410]

the font was too smol on the last page, I misread that as "Do i have a foot fetish?"

 

[moblinsecret]

I think it makes more sense to translate it as "lunchbox" here. In Japanese, "bento" means "lunchbox", and while that usually refers to the Japanese-style lunchbox, "bento" can also be used to refer to other lunchboxes too. (Try searching 海外のお弁当 "foreign bento", you'll find lots of lunchboxes that English speakers would never classify as "bento"!)
In English however, there is a distinction: "bentou" refers specifically to the Japanese-style lunchbox, while "lunchbox" is the more general term.
In this case there's no evidence that it's understood to mean the Japanese-style box specifically, e.g. when Lonbaudt imagines they will contain bread and cheese, which fits the word "lunchbox" a lot better than the word "bento" in English.

The thing is, "Toriaezunama" is written in kana when used by Aitherans and normal hiragana/kanji when used by Shinobu side to denote that the term is understood differently between them.
Same thing with terms like Shoyu, "Daizu", etc.

This is not the case with bento. Nobody said bento with kana so it's not treated as a foreign term.

And yeah, as you say, "bento" isn't treated as a foreign term because it's not written with katakana. Which also supports that the native-to-English "lunchbox" is a better translation than the loanword "bento".

(I also think that Lonbaudt noticing some "karaage" in someone's lunchbox should be translated using something that isn't a loanword, e.g. "fried chicken" for the same reasons.)

 

[HDMI1]

huh, didnt know that. those 2 manga are connected??
i almost forget that manga exist (with the lack of update)

Yep, Nobu takes place in that world's version of Germany, while Gen takes place in Oiria which that world's version of France and the homeland of the spy and glasses-girl from a few chapters ago.

 

[popmol]

thank you o translator!

 

[HaikenEdge]

Yep, Nobu takes place in that world's version of Germany, while Gen takes place in Oiria which that world's version of France and the homeland of the spy and glasses-girl from a few chapters ago.

Gen also brings in the supernatural elements of the story much earlier and does so much more explicitly.

 

[fform]

I think last chapter it was completely right to translate it as bento, but in this chapter the story requires a differentiation of expectation between lunch box and what Nobu provides, which is bento. So the entire story is kind of ruined by calling it bento throughout because the character who is featured in the story expects a lunch box to just be, and states this, hard bread, cheese and pickled veg. Bento are specifically different and it kind of ruins the whole idea of the chapter because his idea of what to expect is different from what all of the gathered luminaries of Aitheria expect. It's kind of the joke of the whole thing, and it doesn't make sense with calling all lunch boxes, 'bento'.

Otherwise, great translation. These are the little context things that make a good translator a great one.

 

[Robbini]

If he's surprised with the city council eating there, just imagine how he'd react if the previous emperor, current emperor, former enemy regent now current empress, a duke, that many clergy etc etc. all like to eat there

 

[fight2live]

It would have been hilarious if you replaced "Bento" with "Jelly Donut"

LMAO

i would agree with you if it's "onigiri". sure, you might find onigiri in a bento, but having onigiri isn't a requirement for it to be a bento

 

[DigitalCielo]

huh, didnt know that. those 2 manga are connected??
i almost forget that manga exist (with the lack of update)

It's confirmed in universe by events in both series. From Nobu Celeste is the Queen Regent of Oilia. Gen takes place in there and they confirm there is a Regent. Gen also confirms a shop like Gen's in the Empire which is where Aitheria is.

 

[GoldenWolf]

Thanks for the scans.

 

[kairiaaa]

These are the little context things that make a good translator a great one.

It really is. Unfortunately, I'm an overthinker and a people pleaser, so I'll probably end up going back and forth on the whole "bento" vs "packed lunch" debacle for a while.

I'll probably go with switching based on context since that would make the most sense story-wise.

 

[rocksilver]

It really is. Unfortunately, I'm an overthinker and a people pleaser, so I'll probably end up going back and forth on the whole "bento" vs "packed lunch" debacle for a while.

I'll probably go with switching based on context since that would make the most sense story-wise.

You could always go with boxed meals or takeout if its too out of context when translating. You don't have to specifically say lunchbox for dinner time situations, unless its the afternoon, or if you have no other option.

 

[OniExpress]

In a vacuum I think it makes more sense for the new outsiders to call it a "lunch box", especially since they're so disparaging of the idea.

But getting meta it is interesting if the locals don't use it as a foreign word. Either its one of those little things that point out how this isn't just "medieval europe", or I think more likely it's just something that the author didn't think of doing here? We are translating Japanese to English, not every Japanese word choice is important.

 

[Exkalamity]

@kairiaaa

You got a website I can donate a few bucks to?

 

[kairiaaa]

But getting meta it is interesting if the locals don't use it as a foreign word. Either its one of those little things that point out how this isn't just "medieval europe", or I think more likely it's just something that the author didn't think of doing here? We are translating Japanese to English, not every Japanese word choice is important.

I do find that weird as well. I'm in the line of thinking that it could just be the author could've just used "bento" as a catchall term for bentos and lunch boxes.

@kairiaaa

You got a website I can donate a few bucks to?

Nope.

 

[parkourse]

we have another believer