Quick question regarding FMP/FMPF DVD releases

d-tecnolife · Post by **d-tecnolife** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:09 am

How do they do their translations? Does ADV hire professional linguists to translate? It just came across my mind since I compared the subtitles of an episode with one from a fansub and both are almost exactly alike. I'm hoping these translations are guaranteed to be 100% correct since we actually paid for them.

In short, would the english subtitles from the DVD releases be the most correct "fansub"?

Weltall Elite · Post by **Weltall Elite** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:32 am

Actually, ADV has a reputation of changing things sometimes for no apparent reason. I can neither confirm nor deny this though since I don't speak Japanese. But I've seen them differ from fansubs greatly in the past. But then, one thing I've learned from the TSR fansubs is that Japanese can be translated to English a lot of ways and a lot of times, they can have completely different, yet logical meanings. So there's really no "100% correct" translation from what I gather.

Jae · Post by **Jae** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:43 am

They hire translators- what criteria they require other than fluency in japanese and english, I'm not sure. I dunno how much their translators crib from fan translators, if any. In simple dialouge, there may just not be that many reasonable variations that fit the timing of the scene.

There are always debates surrounding lots of releases about if the company picked the most accurate or 'best' translation, heh. While ADV subtitles seem more or less okay, they've been known to take a few liberties with the dub scripts, which are harder anyway because they want to fit the mouth flaps.

I don't think 100% accuracy is even a goal for the companies- they want a script that flows, is sensible, and sounds good in contemporary english. I'm grateful they don't americanize character names much anymore *shudder* We could have had Sam Sagan and Karen Chitterly!

d-tecnolife · Post by **d-tecnolife** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:51 am

Ah, thanks for the replies. As stated,

Due to the grammatical, linguistic and sociological differences between eastern and western languages, it could be argued that a literal translation is impossible. I don't hold with that exactly, but simple substitutions of words from Japanese to English will not yield the same correlation of meaning that a similar treatment of Romantic or Germanic languages would yield. It takes training, thought and experience to convert an author's intended meaning to its equivalent in another language. I'm sure that there are many inspired translations coming out of fansubs, and I'm sure that professional translations are not 100% free of mistakes, but the translations coming out of professional studios are far more accurate than those of fansub studios -- no matter what your opinion may be of their interpretation.

I wish I was Japanese.

Weltall Elite · Post by **Weltall Elite** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 2:08 am

Where'd you get that quote from?

There are always debates surrounding lots of releases about if the company picked the most accurate or 'best' translation, heh. While ADV subtitles seem more or less okay, they've been known to take a few liberties with the dub scripts, which are harder anyway because they want to fit the mouth flaps.

Yeah. My only real consistant complaint about the dub is that Sousuke calls Kaname by her first name rather than Chidori. It seems unnecessary for them to change that and I think the fact that he calls her by her last name is an important aspect of their relationship.

But yeah, I like that they make it flow better in English when they translate it. To be honest, rather than having a perfect translation with linguistic differences that wouldn't make sense to me, I would rather have a most accurate, while enjoyable, viewing experience. So when they substitute plays on words for English ones, I can appreciate that.

The time they had Tessa say "Getting wet is my business" comes to mind. It made sense since the Japanese version of the script wouldn't have made any sense in English there.

d-tecnolife · Post by **d-tecnolife** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 5:22 am

Weltall Elite wrote:Where'd you get that quote from?

http://www.animenation.net/forums/showthread.php?t=6534

Post by **Taurec** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 7:05 pm

So when they substitute plays on words for English ones, I can appreciate that.

My gripe with corporate dubs, While translation / grammar might be accurate you can notice that "most" of the translators don't have a feel for the anime they are translating. It's seems to be just another translation job.

HELLFIRE · Post by **HELLFIRE** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 2:46 am

Due to the grammatical, linguistic and sociological differences between eastern and western languages, it could be argued that a literal translation is impossible. I don't hold with that exactly, but simple substitutions of words from Japanese to English will not yield the same correlation of meaning that a similar treatment of Romantic or Germanic languages would yield. It takes training, thought and experience to convert an author's intended meaning to its equivalent in another language.

Having had my own experience with another language (Chinese, actually)
I'd have to agree with this assessment 100%. It's hard enough translating
from one language to another, but between languages with their own rules
about grammar, word play, culture, etc... can become quite mindboggling.
Even having secondhand knowledge of a language doesn't fill in all the
gaps. Nothing really replaces actually living and experiencing the culture
and language 24 / 7 / 365.

For the most part, I don't pay much attention to the culture jokes and
such as most stuff I go for doesn't really count on understanding them
to actually enjoy the series...

Regards