The Modern Strongest Hero Who Came Home - Vol. 1 Ch. 3.2
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I am pretty sure that this will turn into the standard "dense harem MC bullshit" manga.
I am pretty sure that this will turn into the standard "dense harem MC bullshit" manga.
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Oh my god! Is that loli-mom?
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I like the misunderstandings but I hate the Beta MC!
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The airhead (superhero) joke kinda failed here... 天然 (ten'nen), when alone, means "airhead", but when accompanied by another word, it means "natural".
She asks him if he's a natural, without completing her sentence, so he believes she's asking him if he's an airhead.
Yes, Japanese can be confusing, and that's what I love about it. Leading my victims with double meaning sentences (sexual or not) if my favorite method to tease the girls I know >
She asks him if he's a natural, without completing her sentence, so he believes she's asking him if he's an airhead.
Yes, Japanese can be confusing, and that's what I love about it. Leading my victims with double meaning sentences (sexual or not) if my favorite method to tease the girls I know >
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She has some prime protoyandere potential her. One wrong push could send her down a dark path.
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@YamiryuuZero The unfortunate thing is that it's almost near impossible to write both meanings in this particular scenario without just adding a TL note, especially with the reference the MC makes to his mother often calling him that
I ultimately chose to go with airhead without a note, because in a way, calling him an "airhead superhero" isn't exactly wrong; MC is as dense as a rock going through a black hole, and there's no actual evidence portrayed throughout the series about whether or not he's a natural. It's a pun, sure, but an unimportant one, I feel. The girl already has a very poor opinion of him, and the MC immediately interpreted the word in the negative sense and not the positive sense, without questioning which meaning it was
I ultimately chose to go with airhead without a note, because in a way, calling him an "airhead superhero" isn't exactly wrong; MC is as dense as a rock going through a black hole, and there's no actual evidence portrayed throughout the series about whether or not he's a natural. It's a pun, sure, but an unimportant one, I feel. The girl already has a very poor opinion of him, and the MC immediately interpreted the word in the negative sense and not the positive sense, without questioning which meaning it was
@Scrabbleman @darara Are you guys even reading the manga? The "joke" of every single chapter so far has been that the main character is too dense to realize he's being bullied and everybody thinks he's pathetic, and he's said he wants a harem several times. This turning into a standard dense harem would be an improvement if anything. Right now it's like the author saw Ichika and everybody in "Gamers!" and thought he could blend the two styles together if just he gave the character down syndrome and pretended he was "the strongest" at something, despite the fact that he doesn't do fucking anything.
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@zStella Oh, I feel you. I had similar issues when I used to translate for a mobile gaming company last year. The last big issue I had with things I couldn't translate well was the way the main character called her love interest. In Japanese, she called him Saku-san, but I was made to remove all suffixes from the translation, so she called him Saku in English. Problem is, by the very end of the script, on the best ending route, the guy asks her to drop the honorifics and call him just Saku. I thought about going back the 40 thousand lines and changing every instance of her calling him Saku to Mr. Saku, but then there was the foreigner guy that called him exactly that, and the way he called him was part of his character quirk. Not to mention I didn't have enough time to come up with something (two months was not a fair deadline for such a huge script), so I had him ask her to give him a pet name, "now that we're going out".
But if I were translating the manga, I would have done what you wanted to avoid doing and make use of translator notes. A fan translated manga is far different from a visual novel, you can take advantage of the media to add a glossary page at the end, or even short comments on the white parts outside the framing. My translation method is a mix of making the conversation sound natural in the target language and teaching the source language for those who want to learn (that's how I started learning Japanese back when I was 12, thanks fansubbers that left ohayou, itadakimasu and shikon no kakera as is, you gave me courage to start studying the language), so I see T/N as advantages instead.
But if I was going to adjust my translation to your ideal, I would have went with something like this:
-Are you... a natural (superhero)?
- (Geez, you're such a natural airhead...)
She still doesn't make her question clear and he still takes it the negative way, and the conversation sounds a bit more natural. Some alternatives would be "Were you born like that (a superhero)?"/"(Geez, you've been an airhead since you were born)" or "Have you always been like that (a superhero)?"/ "(Geez, you have always been an airhead)".
The problem with localization isn't translating, but rather making the meaning understood while making the script seem natural. It's not an exact science, even professionals who spent decades on the market still suffer with this. Keep it up, though, I'm enjoying this series, and you're doing a good job with the translation. Sometimes those hiccups are inevitable (but hey, at least you don't have to deal with a deadline).
But if I were translating the manga, I would have done what you wanted to avoid doing and make use of translator notes. A fan translated manga is far different from a visual novel, you can take advantage of the media to add a glossary page at the end, or even short comments on the white parts outside the framing. My translation method is a mix of making the conversation sound natural in the target language and teaching the source language for those who want to learn (that's how I started learning Japanese back when I was 12, thanks fansubbers that left ohayou, itadakimasu and shikon no kakera as is, you gave me courage to start studying the language), so I see T/N as advantages instead.
But if I was going to adjust my translation to your ideal, I would have went with something like this:
-Are you... a natural (superhero)?
- (Geez, you're such a natural airhead...)
She still doesn't make her question clear and he still takes it the negative way, and the conversation sounds a bit more natural. Some alternatives would be "Were you born like that (a superhero)?"/"(Geez, you've been an airhead since you were born)" or "Have you always been like that (a superhero)?"/ "(Geez, you have always been an airhead)".
The problem with localization isn't translating, but rather making the meaning understood while making the script seem natural. It's not an exact science, even professionals who spent decades on the market still suffer with this. Keep it up, though, I'm enjoying this series, and you're doing a good job with the translation. Sometimes those hiccups are inevitable (but hey, at least you don't have to deal with a deadline).
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Maeda-kun, my comrade...
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@YamiryuuZero Yikes, having to remove honorifics. That is just grounds for potential problems later on down the road, since it's just SO easy for any character to crack a joke or point out impoliteness about keigo or teineigo or whatever the heck. And it's not even an uncommon occurrence, since it's quite ingrained in Japanese society
I suppose in this particular case, being a bit verbose and superimposing both definitions could work, as you gave an example for. It would avoid the need for a note indeed. I'll make that change now
On an unrelated note, why don't you join my Discord? It would be cool have you around to consult sometimes when there are lost-in-translation incidents like these. I always ask for many point of views from people, and choosing the most acceptable interpretation
I suppose in this particular case, being a bit verbose and superimposing both definitions could work, as you gave an example for. It would avoid the need for a note indeed. I'll make that change now
On an unrelated note, why don't you join my Discord? It would be cool have you around to consult sometimes when there are lost-in-translation incidents like these. I always ask for many point of views from people, and choosing the most acceptable interpretation
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