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- Joined
- Feb 4, 2018
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Since the proofreader commented, I feel like I, the translator himself, should comment too.
I've been considering whether to fix earlier chapters in various ways, but if I end up doing this, I won't replace usages of "magical girl" with "mahou shoujo" - I've actually experimented earlier in the chapter 6 with leaving "mahou shoujo" untranslated (in the context of "mahou shoujo genre", other uses were left untouched), and quickly discovered that this usage makes for really awkwardly sounding sentences. So if I end up updating earlier chapters, it will rather be removing all the prior usages of "mahou shoujo" that were there and make it all "magical girl"
I rated the listed alternatives by three criteria: 1.) respects the pun wrt "magical girl" 2.) implies being evil, and 3.) implies being a ruler, where the first criterion was more important than the others. None of the listed were perfect in all criteria, but "maou shoujo" very explicitly fails the first one.
Ultimately: if "maniacal girl" conveys the pun in English, and "demon lord girl" conveys the meaning in English, then "maou shoujo" achieves none of these goals.
This is my humble opinion though. If you feel like "maniacal girl" is inadequate, feel free to substitute it in your head with any of the alternatives listed on the credits page.
I've been considering whether to fix earlier chapters in various ways, but if I end up doing this, I won't replace usages of "magical girl" with "mahou shoujo" - I've actually experimented earlier in the chapter 6 with leaving "mahou shoujo" untranslated (in the context of "mahou shoujo genre", other uses were left untouched), and quickly discovered that this usage makes for really awkwardly sounding sentences. So if I end up updating earlier chapters, it will rather be removing all the prior usages of "mahou shoujo" that were there and make it all "magical girl"
I rated the listed alternatives by three criteria: 1.) respects the pun wrt "magical girl" 2.) implies being evil, and 3.) implies being a ruler, where the first criterion was more important than the others. None of the listed were perfect in all criteria, but "maou shoujo" very explicitly fails the first one.
Ultimately: if "maniacal girl" conveys the pun in English, and "demon lord girl" conveys the meaning in English, then "maou shoujo" achieves none of these goals.
This is my humble opinion though. If you feel like "maniacal girl" is inadequate, feel free to substitute it in your head with any of the alternatives listed on the credits page.
