This is kinda a complaint post so bear that in mind. I'm slightly annoyed. I just bought chapters of a manga I've been reading on here that was dropped due to having an official english publication, but it seems to me that the scanlators did a better job than the official translators. The dialogue in the official chapters is about as bad as a manhua, stiff and awkward at best, while the scan group did a better job at making the dialogue flow better in their TL. It seems like a trend and I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience.
Scanlators Vs. Official Translators
- Thread starter Arenesos
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Dex-chan lover
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Official translators are humans in the end, if you get shit luck in the translator roulette, you're ending up with a subpar work. In my experience, INKR is no better than shit ass low tier MTL uploads, while anything on mangaplus is super decent.
Yeah, the sad thing is the official english was from the official Japanese publisher too lmfao.
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What series, out of curiosity?
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Here's the big reason that official translations are almost always disappointing compared to scanlator translatons: Audience.
Official publishers are translating it for an audience of casuals who they hope to entice to read these weird backwards (literally) comic books. They are trying to polish off any of the weird or rough edges that might trip up or confuse someone who would not know enough to expect them. So honorifics? Out, or mangled into Mister or Sir or Lord. Names for relatives? Simplified into awkward catch-all phrases like "big bro" or "cute little sister". Many food names get simplified or described literally, like "stuffed rice ball" or "noodle pancake" or "bean paste pastry". This is, perhaps, fine for the intended audience, as it reduces friction to adoption.
But we are not the intended audience of the official translations. Anyone who has been reading scanlated translations for over a month has gotten a more nuanced understanding of the Japanese language, even if we can't actually read the moon runes. We know the difference between -san,-chan, -dono, and -sama (among others). We understand the difference between referring to your sister as nee, onee, aneki, and ane-ue. We know yakitori and sukiyaki are made from two completely different animals. There is a big bundle of manga tropes, and we have seen all of them. Truck-san is an old familiar friend. So to us, the official translations are going to feel dumbed-down and incomplete.
This is why it is so irritating when Official Publishers take up your favorite series. Ethical (perhaps over-ethical?) scanlators will stop giving us the series presented in the way that regular manga readers prefer. So the only alternative is a watered-down version, behind a pay-wall. I'm all for manga writers and artists to get paid more for their work--as it is also a manga trope that these people are both overworked and underpaid--but getting me to pay for a "bad" translation of a work that is years behind where I have already read to is a hard sell at best.
Official publishers are translating it for an audience of casuals who they hope to entice to read these weird backwards (literally) comic books. They are trying to polish off any of the weird or rough edges that might trip up or confuse someone who would not know enough to expect them. So honorifics? Out, or mangled into Mister or Sir or Lord. Names for relatives? Simplified into awkward catch-all phrases like "big bro" or "cute little sister". Many food names get simplified or described literally, like "stuffed rice ball" or "noodle pancake" or "bean paste pastry". This is, perhaps, fine for the intended audience, as it reduces friction to adoption.
But we are not the intended audience of the official translations. Anyone who has been reading scanlated translations for over a month has gotten a more nuanced understanding of the Japanese language, even if we can't actually read the moon runes. We know the difference between -san,-chan, -dono, and -sama (among others). We understand the difference between referring to your sister as nee, onee, aneki, and ane-ue. We know yakitori and sukiyaki are made from two completely different animals. There is a big bundle of manga tropes, and we have seen all of them. Truck-san is an old familiar friend. So to us, the official translations are going to feel dumbed-down and incomplete.
This is why it is so irritating when Official Publishers take up your favorite series. Ethical (perhaps over-ethical?) scanlators will stop giving us the series presented in the way that regular manga readers prefer. So the only alternative is a watered-down version, behind a pay-wall. I'm all for manga writers and artists to get paid more for their work--as it is also a manga trope that these people are both overworked and underpaid--but getting me to pay for a "bad" translation of a work that is years behind where I have already read to is a hard sell at best.
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