The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You - Vol. 19 Ch. 159 - The Gothic Lolita Festival Girl

[Kurbo]

The author really does throw darts at a board for character traits, and it ALWAYS WORKS HOW

 

[377Z]

Yess sirrrr new girlfriend

 

[Aozura05]

Is she the only one that has 4 leaf clover irishes?

 

[Teasday]

On top of that, clearly from the comments here you have made a character that is nearly impossible for non-native English speakers to understand, defeating the point of the TL in the first place.

I don't really think so, no. "Nearly impossible" is a massive overstatement. It's a relatively few people bringing it up, and at worst they might want to quickly look up what a couple of new inconsequential words like sod mean. They don't have to, though, the story elements are kept straight. We always have and continue to be mindful of the actual important-to-understand dialogue being understandable, for example including stuff that Naddy says.

I know not everyone knows "natch" is short for naturally, which is why we wouldn't use that for anything meaningful so it's fine to ignore it if you don't want to bother. On the other hand, importantly, some people will greatly appreciate stuff like this. We're not a business trying to pander to every demographic at once, this is first and foremost a passion project for us. I totally understand if it's disappointing, but I don't think we should limit our range of expression to cater to the least skilled among the audience during times where it's not necessary. Again, readability is very important to me in many ways, but I'd much rather have our readers engaged than placated, with reactions ranging from "annoying" to "excellent" than from "forgettable" to "decent".

At this point I would honestly prefer a straight translation with a TL note

I understand, different strokes for different folks and all that. This reply is long enough so I'll skip explaining what I mean, but personally, I wouldn't want to work like that, I would feel lazy and like I'm kind of disrespecting the material.


As a side note, I find it a bit funny that some people suddenly raise concerns over not knowing what "daft" means (I doubt it's our first time using that word), yet nobody brought up needing translation notes for yakisoba, 'appi or nejiri, as if they were common English words already.

 

[Teasday]

Also as I'm sure everyone remembers, the girlfriends' quirks are always turned to 11 in their first chapter before they naturally settle in, so I just wouldn't worry about it

 

[erintem]

To throw in my two cents, I didn’t find the slang hard to understand, but the phrases felt repetitive, and made her feel like a recording-playing toy more than a participant in dialogue

 

[Nyaaa]

This is too western for me. I can't understand shit. I guess I'll have to put this in the back burner until my Japanese is better.

Anyone knows where I can look at JP raws? It'd be cool if the site is similar to manga dex in uses, but for the raws.

 

[comedyxtragedy]

I'm English literature student and this chapter gives me a headache

 

[avawan]

don't exaggerate the shit out of the slangs again,I've got zero idea of what she's saying

 

[Outflanks10]

I'm from east London and I have to say it really reminds me of how we all used to speak around 15 years ago.
god some of the conversations I can remember even till this day. 'Oi u dissing me' Was something you would hear a lot lol

Thanks everyone at XuN for working so hard on the transitions

 

[DuckingV]

this new gf is cute and unique but how tf can i understand what she said

 

[ryokome]

loliraden

 

[PrototypicalLurker]

As a side note, I find it a bit funny that some people suddenly raise concerns over not knowing what "daft" means (I doubt it's our first time using that word), yet nobody brought up needing translation notes for yakisoba, 'appi or nejiri, as if they were common English words already.

Now that you mention it yeah. Oni san and shit like that commonly doesn't get translated yet people don't complain about it.

 

[Lavenderloins]

I don't really think so, no. "Nearly impossible" is a massive overstatement. It's a relatively few people bringing it up, and at worst they might want to quickly look up what a couple of new inconsequential words like sod mean. They don't have to, though, the story elements are kept straight. We always have and continue to be mindful of the actual important-to-understand dialogue being understandable, for example including stuff that Naddy says.

I know not everyone knows "natch" is short for naturally, which is why we wouldn't use that for anything meaningful so it's fine to ignore it if you don't want to bother. On the other hand, importantly, some people will greatly appreciate stuff like this. We're not a business trying to pander to every demographic at once, this is first and foremost a passion project for us. I totally understand if it's disappointing, but I don't think we should limit our range of expression to cater to the least skilled among the audience during times where it's not necessary. Again, readability is very important to me in many ways, but I'd much rather have our readers engaged than placated, with reactions ranging from "annoying" to "excellent" than from "forgettable" to "decent".


I understand, different strokes for different folks and all that. This reply is long enough so I'll skip explaining what I mean, but personally, I wouldn't want to work like that, I would feel lazy and like I'm kind of disrespecting the material.


As a side note, I find it a bit funny that some people suddenly raise concerns over not knowing what "daft" means (I doubt it's our first time using that word), yet nobody brought up needing translation notes for yakisoba, 'appi or nejiri, as if they were common English words already.

Don't get me wrong, you do you. This is your project, not mine, and you are doing it for free. As someone that has done a fair amount of scan work myself, I was just offering my two cents. There is a reason why I led the comment with, "I really respect the work that you guys are doing". It is absolutely true, and I know that this author does a lot of word play and bananas dialogue. It is a lot to parse, and I think you have all done a stellar job so far.

All that said, I still stand by the idea that her dialogue is too over the top. Hopefully, as you said, it will be toned down in future chapters. I love the character design, it would suck for her to become the most annoying, least understandable character of the series with a decision being made without any basis in the source material. Like another said, using Cockney UK slang for a character that is speaking with a distinctively classic Japanese dialect is like giving an American Southern dialect to a character from Kansai.

Either way, I will continue to read and support you all. Thanks for all the hard work.

 

[ngkn92]

is that cooking tho?

IT IS! TO ME!

 

[AlphaTM]

Like another said, using Cockney UK slang for a character that is speaking with a distinctively classic Japanese dialect is like giving an American Southern dialect to a character from Kansai.

This is stated as though it's self-evident why it's ill-advised, or wrong, or simply something that shouldn't be done, but I'm afraid I'm not grasping why. Let me, for the sake of example, bring up Ahko and gyaru characters in general. These characters have a "distinctively" Japanese way of speaking that involves a lot of modern slang, a lot of Japanese wordplay, and particular twists on unique features to the Japanese language. Like most nonstandard Japanese methods of speaking, it doesn't map 1-1 on to English very well. Hence, the decision is made to render that kind of speaking as how a "trendy, popular" teenage girl would speak English, ranging from valley girl to more general millennial/generation Z speak.

It should go without saying what the reasoning for that is. That "concept" of the character is roughly equivalent to what the Japanese "concept" is meant to be. Through that lens, is the decision to render a Kansai native as speaking with a Southern American dialect appreciably different? The decision is made because the two methods of speaking are seen as culturally "equivalent," that being, both are unique to people from a country region apart from metropolitan cities, and who are often viewed as being dim and crude. If a gyaru character speaking like a valley girl is acceptable, but a Kansai character speaking like a southerner isn't, then there must exist a line between the two, but I wouldn't know where it is.

The kind words are appreciated, and of course I understand your reservations, but I also don't know if saying this has "zero basis" in the source material is particularly accurate. Googling "Shitamachi cockney" demonstrates that comparing the two as "culturally equivalent" is something plenty of people have done-- and in fact, this goes both ways. Eliza Doolittle's cockney dialect in "My Fair Lady" has been rendered as a shitamachi dialect in the Japanese translation. This isn't a thoughtless decision with no regard for the source material.

 

[Lavenderloins]

Eliza Doolittle's cockney dialect in "My Fair Lady" has been rendered as a shitamachi dialect in the Japanese translation. This isn't a thoughtless decision with no regard for the source material.

This is an interesting point that I didn't know. Thanks for that information. I understand what you mean about localization, but when over a third of your feedback on here is that she is not understandable or that the repetitive use of foreign slang is distracting/annoying, I would hope that you guys would at least take that into consideration moving forward. I am not attacking anyone, and I am sorry if it seems that way. As I said, I just feel like it missed the mark by a bit. From the beginning of the convo I was just, like others, expressing what I thought. Thanks for taking so much time to explain where you are coming from with this decision. I appreciate everyone at XuN, and especially you Alpha for your work on this series so far (As well as Do Chokkyuu Kareshi x Kanojo. God that one was a blast).

 

[Dwander1219]

this new gf is cute and unique but how tf can i understand what she said

She's speakin the kings English ya daft sod.
Takes wee canny to understand, aye.

 

[kzaofkkua]

Hypothetically speaking, if the new gf weren't British but American, would she have a Brooklyn accent instead?

 

[JoeKerr]