The Honest Life of a Game Studio
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Looking forward to more chapters! The first chapter really drew me in.
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Oh hell yeah, another "BL that is not just about BL" manga. Always need more of these
That being said, I don't think I like Older Guy Whose Name I Forget. It's a good thing this is two volumes, cause it will take a while for him to be... boyfriend material?
That being said, I don't think I like Older Guy Whose Name I Forget. It's a good thing this is two volumes, cause it will take a while for him to be... boyfriend material?
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YAOI .....
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I really ENJOYED this manga. Thank you translator team for this gem!
Dex-chan lover
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first chapter in, I really liked the title. I thought this was going to be broes until the hints dropped in. I wasn't even trying, I'm happy for BL development but it came right up when I was trying to have a comedy cleanse
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I haven't read BL in a long time! With such a cute couple, my soul is cleansed! TT-TT ❤
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I'm torn between considering this English translation of the title an elegant compromise for a difficult-to-translate title, or a complete butchering of it that gives off almost entirely the wrong meaning.
Direct translation being something more like: Game-Maker BL (The Frankly-Spoken Life)
Direct translation being something more like: Game-Maker BL (The Frankly-Spoken Life)
@Pokari
I'm glad someone else appreciates the Japanese title! And even more, to have taken the time to ponder over a befitting title.
I apologize if you already know this, but I have a hunch that you didn't quite get how the title is supposed to work.
The original title is ゲーム屋BL and marketed everywhere as just that. The「ぶっちゃけライフ」furigana was added for the BL when the comics in pixiv were bound and published as a two-parter set a few years later (fun fact: the author laments that when it got published, the world now had a PS4 😂). So it reads as 「ゲーム屋ぶっちゃけライフ」while also cleverly stating it's a Boy's Love manga. The one you directly translated is how you would write the title with the phonetic guide (the furigana).
I do wish I had a better grasp of the English language to have been able to retain the BL acronym, though (it's Bucchake Life for the other readers). That would've been neat. But I'm quite happy with how it turned out.
p.s. It's no coincidence that the game studio's name is in the synopsis and acts as the linchpin for all its cast of characters and inner workings. Game-Maker would've diminished that.
I'm glad someone else appreciates the Japanese title! And even more, to have taken the time to ponder over a befitting title.
I apologize if you already know this, but I have a hunch that you didn't quite get how the title is supposed to work.
The original title is ゲーム屋BL and marketed everywhere as just that. The「ぶっちゃけライフ」furigana was added for the BL when the comics in pixiv were bound and published as a two-parter set a few years later (fun fact: the author laments that when it got published, the world now had a PS4 😂). So it reads as 「ゲーム屋ぶっちゃけライフ」while also cleverly stating it's a Boy's Love manga. The one you directly translated is how you would write the title with the phonetic guide (the furigana).
I do wish I had a better grasp of the English language to have been able to retain the BL acronym, though (it's Bucchake Life for the other readers). That would've been neat. But I'm quite happy with how it turned out.
p.s. It's no coincidence that the game studio's name is in the synopsis and acts as the linchpin for all its cast of characters and inner workings. Game-Maker would've diminished that.
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@oyajidesu:
I'd actually... totally brain-whooshed and completely missed that "Bucchake Life" was furigana (something about the chaotic formatting of all the game-prompts all over the cover had my brain parsing it as oddly-placed text of a sub-title) and missed out on the key pun entirely 😅 I have no excuse. Well, other than that Japanese is not my first language and my brain does not always naturally process things correctly.
Difficult-to-translate for different reasons than I originally thought, then. No doubt I'd mislead you into thinking I understood it better than I had ~w~;;;
OTL
Nit-picking for fun on word-choice (probably not fun to read):
As for a serious attempt on my part at trying to translate the pun:
I'd actually... totally brain-whooshed and completely missed that "Bucchake Life" was furigana (something about the chaotic formatting of all the game-prompts all over the cover had my brain parsing it as oddly-placed text of a sub-title) and missed out on the key pun entirely 😅 I have no excuse. Well, other than that Japanese is not my first language and my brain does not always naturally process things correctly.
Difficult-to-translate for different reasons than I originally thought, then. No doubt I'd mislead you into thinking I understood it better than I had ~w~;;;
OTL
Nit-picking for fun on word-choice (probably not fun to read):
"Game-Maker", on my part, wasn't a particularly carefully considered choice of word, it's probably not what I would use if actually picking a title, because it's not really a proper term as such. Though it does have the benefit of being similarly ambiguous between "the person making games" and "the studio making games". "Game Developer" would have similar person/company ambiguity though it might or might not be too formal a term and definitely leans more towards describing the individual rather than the studio on the balance ("Game Dev" would be less formal but definitely refers to a single person, not a studio). "Game Studio" is, indeed, fine. (Even if it were talking about the people themselves, referring to the "Life of" a collective entity is clearly in reference to the individuals within it, here.)
"Honest" is the biggest problem here. "The Honest Life" by itself implies something like "ethical and clean". "The Honest Life of a Game Studio" sounds like either it's trying to be ironic (like if it were, say, actually a black company), or... it's close enough to be recognizable instead as a slight mis-phrasing of something like "an accurate/tell-all description of life in a game-studio". Which might be an acceptable interpretation of the original meaning.
Either way, though, "honest", in this exact context, is somewhat missing out on the aspect of bluntness that "bucchake" implies. (Which may or may not be important, my interpretation had been that it was that it was somewhat in reference to Nobu-san's personality which I think might be different from how you saw the meaning of the title?)
"Honest" is the biggest problem here. "The Honest Life" by itself implies something like "ethical and clean". "The Honest Life of a Game Studio" sounds like either it's trying to be ironic (like if it were, say, actually a black company), or... it's close enough to be recognizable instead as a slight mis-phrasing of something like "an accurate/tell-all description of life in a game-studio". Which might be an acceptable interpretation of the original meaning.
Either way, though, "honest", in this exact context, is somewhat missing out on the aspect of bluntness that "bucchake" implies. (Which may or may not be important, my interpretation had been that it was that it was somewhat in reference to Nobu-san's personality which I think might be different from how you saw the meaning of the title?)
As for a serious attempt on my part at trying to translate the pun:
On that note... if trying to incorporate the pun, "Blunt" incidentally would probably be my best 'B' word to use here. Though it's awkward to fit in. "The Blunt Life of a Game Studio" just doesn't parse well. "The Bluntly-spoken Life of a Game Studio" works... okay... ish... for meaning but is impossible to recognize as an acronym and is a bit awkward. Maybe go back to parentheticals? "The BL (Bluntly-spoken Life) of a Game Studio", or for better pun-grammar, the "The Game Studio's BL (Bluntly-spoken Life)".
Or for a more radical approach, forced bolding to emphasize the pun: "The Bluntly-spoken Life of a Game Studio"... except I don't think bbcode is supported for manga titles, so would have to use ugly unicode-bold-letters, e.g.: "The Game Studio's 𝗕luntly-spoken 𝗟ife", ...except that in turn might break searches so there'd also have to be an un-bolded alt-name... ugh. Besides the letters are too far apart. And "Blunt Life" is really a no-go.
So, I'm torn between "The BL (Bluntly-spoken Life) of a Game Studio" and "The Game Studio's BL (Bluntly-spoken Life)" as my best effort. They're still not great XD
...I guess, alternatively, "The Game Developers' BL (Bluntly-spoken Life)" is, perhaps, how I'd translate it if I were totally coming up with this with free reign on my own sole (quit possibly bad) judgement.
I suppose a more elegant solution might be to drop "Life" and say something like "The BL (Blunt Language) of a Game Studio" for a smoother pun; in keeping of the spirit of the original in reaching for any workable words that would fit "BL". My preference is always for literally-accurate-as-possible, but that's a personal thing XD
So, I'm torn between "The BL (Bluntly-spoken Life) of a Game Studio" and "The Game Studio's BL (Bluntly-spoken Life)" as my best effort. They're still not great XD
...I guess, alternatively, "The Game Developers' BL (Bluntly-spoken Life)" is, perhaps, how I'd translate it if I were totally coming up with this with free reign on my own sole (quit possibly bad) judgement.
I suppose a more elegant solution might be to drop "Life" and say something like "The BL (Blunt Language) of a Game Studio" for a smoother pun; in keeping of the spirit of the original in reaching for any workable words that would fit "BL". My preference is always for literally-accurate-as-possible, but that's a personal thing XD
@zelara
Ahaha. I never would've thought of that!
@Pokari
You'd be happy to know I went through the same process of elimination you just did--blunt being the closest I could get, but it didn't sit right.
I finally decided on "the honest life of a" because of its tongue-in-cheek usage in blogs and social media. It's used more along the lines of "confessions of a...," of being frank with no sugar-coating, which I thought fit quite well. And nice catch on Nobu-san, since it's him that says that phrase in the manga (when he says "to be honest").
Re: game studio
One message in the manga is that people who aren't directly involved in making something (like Anan and Miyoshi) also plays a part in its completion, no matter how small. I loved how the main story ended to enforce this message that playing support is just as important. So yes, I was avoiding words that would put the spotlight on Nobu-san.
Sorry about the delayed response. I got caught up in a video game that came out this month (I'm still in the process of getting it out of my system so I can get back to scanlating). And hey, if you ever want to flex your Japanese skills and some time to spare, I'm open for help on proofing. =)
Ahaha. I never would've thought of that!
@Pokari
You'd be happy to know I went through the same process of elimination you just did--blunt being the closest I could get, but it didn't sit right.
I finally decided on "the honest life of a" because of its tongue-in-cheek usage in blogs and social media. It's used more along the lines of "confessions of a...," of being frank with no sugar-coating, which I thought fit quite well. And nice catch on Nobu-san, since it's him that says that phrase in the manga (when he says "to be honest").
Re: game studio
One message in the manga is that people who aren't directly involved in making something (like Anan and Miyoshi) also plays a part in its completion, no matter how small. I loved how the main story ended to enforce this message that playing support is just as important. So yes, I was avoiding words that would put the spotlight on Nobu-san.
Sorry about the delayed response. I got caught up in a video game that came out this month (I'm still in the process of getting it out of my system so I can get back to scanlating). And hey, if you ever want to flex your Japanese skills and some time to spare, I'm open for help on proofing. =)
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This is such a good series! I love the artstyle and the relationship between the characters feels really... authentic. It feels genuine and sweet. Plus the way the plot wraps up well between volumes is nice.
Thanks so much for translating this one, it's a real treat!
Thanks so much for translating this one, it's a real treat!
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