Ruri Dragon - Vol. 1 Ch. 1

[MangaDex]

 

[Wildtale]

Why are we getting this from Viz now? It's the same stinkin' translation! Complete with the character change and everything!

 

[LoopStricken]

God damn it.

 

[KRS1]

Is Viz planning on publishing Ruri?

 

[omegazion]

Physical book when?

 

[curvedtree]

Is there a way to block Viz releases from my update?


Edit: I can literally click Viz and block, wonderful!

 

[KoetekishiYui]

Why are we getting this from Viz now? It's the same stinkin' translation! Complete with the character change and everything!

Character change?

 

[Evangelear]

Please don't tell me this is an ownership move. I couldn't read this even if I wanted to, and I do want to.

 

[BuyVelomobiles]

Character change?

Quick example: Raw Ruri is meek, and withdrawn. Re-write Ruri is sarcastic, and "spunky". RawRuri dreads being the center of attention, so she keeps to herself. ReRuri made a calculated decision not to be the center of attention.

It's 12 chapters in, and it already makes a difference, since one of her classmates thinks she doesn't care about people. Raw Ruri is just not good with them. ReRuri could totally deal with them, she just chooses not to.

 

[ZeroWWE]

oh hey look an Official Publisher click block

 

[residentFATBOY]

So now we've got J-Novel, MangaPlus, Azuki Manga, and Viz Manga to eat up half our feeds. Cool.

 

[Insignis]

To lazy to play with region of my phone, not in any of the countries supported by that bad app (from what people comment about how bad UI is in it). Did what someone said in comments here - gone to the group page and blocked. And my updates feed is now clean like it used to be before .

 

[ComCubeV972]

Quick example: Raw Ruri is meek, and withdrawn. Re-write Ruri is sarcastic, and "spunky". RawRuri dreads being the center of attention, so she keeps to herself. ReRuri made a calculated decision not to be the center of attention.

It's 12 chapters in, and it already makes a difference, since one of her classmates thinks she doesn't care about people. Raw Ruri is just not good with them. ReRuri could totally deal with them, she just chooses not to.

Holy shit, I had no idea.
Been reading it on mangareader.to, guess they just rip the Viz re-write
Are there any scanlations to read?

 

[BuyVelomobiles]

Holy shit, I had no idea.

Brother, it's current year. You should never trust anything "Localizers" put out unless you've double-checked it yourself.


In this very chapter, ReRuri sasses her mom after asking about the horns. Meanwhile mom looks like she hesitates for a bit before finishing her answer, like she doesn't know.

RawRuri asks mom what they are, mom looks at her for a moment before plainly telling her they're horns, and RawRuri acknowledges it plainly.

The joke is that mom is comically underreacting, not that she's stating the obvious. But you wouldn't fucking know that because the moron that got paid to do this decided he was actually a second writer.


Another thing you probably didn't know: There's no slang in this manga. Not that you'd know that reading this butchered shit. The way they talk, you'd think this is some dank, zoomer banter they've got going on. But all they're doing in the original is speaking casually, with contractions.

Are there any scanlations to read?

Since it's licensed, nobody wants to touch it. Otherwise I would personally have taken this project on and shown that loser how it's done. Wouldn't be the first time, and it won't be the last.

 

[Kirin-kun]

Yeah, to be honest, the translation on mangaplus (=Shueisha=Viz) is a disaster. Ruri, all the characters, and even her mother or the teacher talk vulgarly, like they're from the hood or something and it changes the whole tone of the manga from a "coming of age" story for Ruri to a bunch of idiotic teens talking gangsta.

They totally ruined this manga in English.

 

[ComCubeV972]

Hm. Well, shit. Time to look for TLs in my native lang, since they're very less likely to be targeted and/or care.

 

[hellyeboi6]

People are exaggerating the issues with the Viz translation, I'm fluent in both english and japanese, regularly read both raws and english version, and I say it's perfectly serviceable.
First of all I really didn't see any of the flaws @BuyVelomobiles mentioned in the first chapter, the translation makes it very clear that Ruri is simply an asocial girl who has trouble dealing with being the center of attention, exactly like in the raw, for example. Maybe @BuyVelomobiles isn't a native english speaker, so they have a hard time reading the subtext in the english version, but the subtext is conveys the meanings of the raw fairly well for me, as a native english speaker.
As for the issue of the usage of slang, it's really not an issue. Mainly because the raw also uses a bit of youngster slang, but also because it's not "gangsta" slang, like how @Kirin-kun said, but it's very common teenager slang, something that you'd expect a 15 year old kid to say, just like Ruri's classmates. Once again, this might not be obvious for people who aren't native english speakers, but not all slang is "gangsta", the one used in Ruri Dragon is compatible with the high school setting for sure.

TL;DR: The Viz translation is completely fine.

 

[BuyVelomobiles]

People are exaggerating the issues with the Viz translation, I'm fluent in both english and japanese

Oh, thank goodness.

regularly read both raws and english version, and I say it's perfectly serviceable.
First of all I really didn't see any of the flaws @BuyVelomobiles mentioned in the first chapter, the translation makes it very clear that Ruri is simply an asocial girl who has trouble dealing with being the center of attention, exactly like in the raw, for example.

Right, so you don't see the part where they turn a normal statement into a sarcastic quip?

Maybe @BuyVelomobiles isn't a native english speaker, so they have a hard time reading the subtext in the english version, but the subtext is conveys the meanings of the raw fairly well for me, as a native english speaker.

Maybe you don't speak Japanese, and the characterization in the original version eludes you, because "そだね" and "Nothing escapes you" are completely different lines, with completely different tones, spoken by completely different people.

As for the issue of the usage of slang, it's really not an issue. Mainly because the raw also uses a bit of youngster slang, but also because it's not "gangsta" slang, like how @Kirin-kun said, but it's very common teenager slang, something that you'd expect a 15 year old kid to say, just like Ruri's classmates. Once again, this might not be obvious for people who aren't native english speakers, but not all slang is "gangsta", the one used in Ruri Dragon is compatible with the high school setting for sure.

"Moving on: That thing where they're using slang, but there isn't any? Doesn't matter. The raw has them use a contraction or two, so mom rambling on about pipes? Totally fine"

TL;DR: The Viz translation is completely fine.

Agree to disagree.

 

[hellyeboi6]

Oh, thank goodness.

Right, so you don't see the part where they turn a normal statement into a sarcastic quip?

Maybe you don't speak Japanese, and the characterization in the original version eludes you, because "そだね" and "Nothing escapes you" are completely different lines, with completely different tones, spoken by completely different people.

"Moving on: That thing where they're using slang, but there isn't any? Doesn't matter. The raw has them use a contraction or two, so mom rambling on about pipes? Totally fine"

Agree to disagree.

Hm, the original line that's been translated as "nothing escapes you" is "…だよね" not "そだね", please check again. Either way the gist of the answer is the same, albeit more in your face in the translation. If I had to translate it literally I would've gone for something like "... right", but the reason Ruri says "だよね" in the first place is because her mom is underreacting, hence the "nothing escapes you" translation. It's a less subtle translation, but a more natural sounding one for a english speaker. That's something you have to deal with as an jp->en translator, sometimes the literal translation is not the best one for your readers.
Regarding the slang, I don't really get the hostility for the use of slang in the en transaltion, but having no problems with it in the raw. The language used by the students in the raw is distinctly teenager lingo, dare to talk like that to anyone older than 30 like that and you'll get scolded. I don't see the problem with using a similarly immature lingo in the english translation. If anything that actually makes it a better translation because it conveys just how laid back the japanese the students use actually is.
If I had to make an example it's kind of like how Goku talks like a hillbilly in the en dub of DBZ to convey the fact that in the jp dub he talks like someone who grew up in the countryside.

EDIT: Just to summarize, the fact that the Viz translation isn't literal is not a bad thing. Most professional translators actually avoid being overly literal because it creates unnatural sounding translations.

 

[Kirin-kun]

Hm, the original line that's been translated as "nothing escapes you" is "…だよね" not "そだね", please check again. Either way the gist of the answer is the same, albeit more in your face in the translation. If I had to translate it literally I would've gone for something like "... right", but the reason Ruri says "だよね" in the first place is because her mom is underreacting, hence the "nothing escapes you" translation. It's a less subtle translation, but a more natural sounding one for a english speaker. That's something you have to deal with as an jp->en translator, sometimes the literal translation is not the best one for your readers.
Regarding the slang, I don't really get the hostility for the use of slang in the en transaltion, but having no problems with it in the raw. The language used by the students in the raw is distinctly teenager lingo, dare to talk like that to anyone older than 30 like that and you'll get scolded. I don't see the problem with using a similarly immature lingo in the english translation. If anything that actually makes it a better translation because it conveys just how laid back the japanese the students use actually is.
If I had to make an example it's kind of like how Goku talks like a hillbilly in the en dub of DBZ to convey the fact that in the jp dub he talks like someone who grew up in the countryside.

EDIT: Just to summarize, the fact that the Viz translation isn't literal is not a bad thing. Most professional translators actually avoid being overly literal because it creates unnatural sounding translations.

It's not about being literal. Literal translation is bad, we can agree on that.

Rather, it's about keeping the personality. Ruri comes across as sarcastic and cheeky in English, which she does not in JP.

I read the JP and the characters, while they use youngster slang, are nowhere near talking like American teens.

It's localization at its worst: they make Japanese teenagers talk like American teenagers, whereas in Japanese culture, being polite and not "in your face" is paramount. The characters come across as aggressive in a Japanese context.