Tasogare no Utsuwagami - Ch. 8.2

[MangaDex]

 

[eightrooks]

Boy, those SFX "descriptions" are a bit rough - apologies - but I finished this pretty late and I was more concerned with getting Hana's internal monologue to make sense. I think the dialogue is okay, at least.

 

[totallytotally]

Translating FX always seems a bridge too far, as you really aren't supposed to consciously read comic's onomatopoeia but rather, feel them. And then that brings up redrawing translated fx which is a travesty. Best to leave them untranslated and the page as close to the artists intent as possible.
I always liked how The Five Star Stories official English releases handled it, with a glossary of FX at the end of the volumes. But in the end do you really need to know that もぐもぐ means chewing sounds?

 

[eightrooks]

Translating FX always seems a bridge too far, as you really aren't supposed to consciously read comic's onomatopoeia but rather, feel them. And then that brings up redrawing translated fx which is a travesty. Best to leave them untranslated and the page as close to the artists intent as possible.
I always liked how The Five Star Stories official English releases handled it, with a glossary of FX at the end of the volumes. But in the end do you really need to know that もぐもぐ means chewing sounds?

Yeah, broadly speaking, I don't think you're mistaken; on the one hand, I think "Ah, crap, 'Gii' probably isn't 'Tension, menace' etc. in this context", but on the other hand, I think "Do you really want to cover a page in clang clang clang or whatever? Should you even bother writing 'LOTS AND LOTS OF SWORD SLASHES'?" I try to be realistic and tell myself "But in Japanese that is just like reading clang clang clang", but it always feels a bit... wrong?

Though at the same time partly it's just trying to be practical given I'm only one guy. I have to say, I don't agree that you can never, ever redo this stuff - if you look at my profile page you can see quite easily that I have been doing it for other titles when there's not that many SFX and/or they don't cover up really complex linework. I know I'm not great at it, but I like to think that sometimes I do add some value by doing so. Still, I definitely think there's something to be said for the idea that sometimes yes, they're part of the art just the way they are, you don't need to have them explained, the Roman alphabet just won't look the same, and it's a case of sitting back and soaking them in.

 

[Kushikime]

Thanks for the translation