Is the translation alright? Or is it better to wait for a Fan-Patch?

[Kaidan]

Question above

[MrMette]

Brambachacer の投稿を引用：

Ryou の投稿を引用：

Look I can put up with a lot of things, but I need a patch to change Sizuki to Shizuki. It bugs me to no end. You can hear Shi but it says Si it drives me mad.

Lol this. This right here was why I started looking for an alt translation. It's not just Shizuki though. They spelled Yamashiro as Yamasiro (Lol even the spellchecker on my phone knows better - it tried to change to Yamashiro as soon as I typed it!). I've read about 50 visual novels and I have never seen such weird romaji. It's tweaking my OCD something awful and breaks the immersion.

I am pretty sure this is how Japanese speakers tend to write their romaji. They read si as shi since si doesn't exist in Japanese. My guess is that the translation team either got instructions from the developer on how to translate the names or they were Japanese.

I quickly just checked wikipedia and found 2 systems that use si for し or シ .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihon-shiki_romanization
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunrei-shiki_romanization

Here you can find an overview:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Japanese

There are other things like that as well in other VN's, I remember something about a nameplate on a uniform in one that was similar (zu and du is an other one that are changed in some of them for づ or ヅ) and I know there were complaints about names in Rewrite as well where Shizuru was written as Sizuru. Western people tend to use Hepburn which does use shi instead because that's how it is pronounced.

It is what it is, Japanese companies generally will use their system instead of Hepburn as it makes the most sense to them.

[Halko]

There is no one universally "correct" way to romanize japanese to english anyway. There are just more and less popular ways to do so. At least that is a more valid complaint than people crying that honorifics arent included. A lot of peoples definition of a good translation is leaving half the damn sentence in japanese which is silly. As noted too its entirely possible its a situation with type moon declaring the spelling as canon like the good old Altria/Artoria deal which people are STILL unreasonably salty about and will descend into half hour long rants over.

[minhmacmen]

From what I have read, the translation is essentially the same as the version previously released on another platform. And we already know how "good" it is. For example, this Japanese person has pointed out some of the issues:

https://twitter.com/Weisskaiser/status/1601738531855966208

[MrMette]

minhmacmen の投稿を引用：

From what I have read, the translation is essentially the same as the version previously released on another platform. And we already know how "good" it is. For example, this Japanese person has pointed out some of the issues:

https://twitter.com/Weisskaiser/status/1601738531855966208

They will release a patch for the PS4 and Switch version to update translations, so I am pretty sure there have been changes.
https://twitter.com/mahoyo_game_en/status/1735762414581305668

I don't know what changes have been made, it might be close to nothing, but it seems like they at least changed some translations. I was pretty surprised actually.

[Halko]

rattata の投稿を引用：

RENZ の投稿を引用：

well done, you know japanese. So what? Are we not allowed to complain about the translation of a game because we dont know the original language? Like what are you even talking about

I don't think you should be allowed to read visual novels at all if you're not willing to put in the hours to read them in the original language.

Piss off with this gatekeeping ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. If you truly enjoy something you should want more people to experience it and not less. You are just looking for a way to feel superior to others so fuel your ego.

[pokedude900]

If we could all just report blatant trolling and then ignore it, that would be great.

Now, since I already played this on console (and reread it just last month), I'm not looking to pick up the Steam release right now. So can anyone confirm if any of the oddities I pointed out are fixed? Is Shizuki's name spelled with Hepburn romanization? Does Robin the little blue bird speak with a Cockney accent? Are there a notable amount of typos? One that stood out was during the amusement park scene. Aoko says Rickshaw instead of Kickshaw when talking about Ploys And does the post-game side story have a character talk about granny panties, or does he say something about sex as the original audio implies?

[Ryou]

rattata の投稿を引用：

People with "a cursory interest in Japanese media" think Sizuku is a typo/mistake instead of a valid romanization and more immersive at that because this is how Real Japanese(tm) write.

I don't think its a typo, I think anyone stupid enough to be posting about VN's would know enough to understand there are different romanization methods. I just think that Sizuku looks dumb when written out and Shizuku looks better.
But I mean, you are just a reddit tier troll so, go on.

[AngryChinesEDOTAER]

型月，苍崎青子，有珠，they dont use Romanization, they use our great chinese character
汉字（han zi, kan ji）。

For the shi ，si？as a chinese who learned katakana, it's " sa shi su se so ,romanji pronunciation spell "

the su= si in chinese mandarin pronunciation

(like the "S" tail sound, in english pronunciation,cut the phonetic sign
[e(cuted) s], )

shi=xi (no english sounds like this, maybe "she" in rap songs is a little bit like its sound)

in general, they use our great chinese character(汉字han zi） which called kan ji（汉字） in western

don't care much about pronunciation，cuz use 汉字 kan ji, the superiority of Chinese characters

[Fey]

To get a sensible voice in this vitriolic thread—I'll start by saying that you're unlikely to get a fan patch anytime soon, or ever. The most I can see is a patch changing the names to Hepburn romanization, but nothing beyond that.

Secondly, and this is speaking as someone that's read the original in Japanese and has partially read the English version and compared it, I can say the translation is... fine, for the most part, but it has a lot of snags.

People have mentioned the typos which were notorious in the Switch/PS4 version, but Aniplex has stated that the game received a localization update, and we can confirm[i.imgur.com] it's true. That said, it's definitely not perfect[i.imgur.com], so while it is an improvement, it's not quite a gamechanger.

I would like to say however that, at the very least this is, with all its faults, one of the better TM translations, and easily outdoes anything mirror moon has put out. The issues with the translation are not at all for a lack of competency, but rather a lack of time, as the issues with it are the telltale signs of a work being rushed rather than not cared for.

Character voice is handled extremely well. The narration prose is, while lacking compared to Nasu's original, still quite enjoyable to read and carries the nuances where it counts. I would still very much say that anyone who's read this version has read Mahoyo, even if they hadn't read the best version of it. If you're not planning to learn Japanese anytime soon, I see no harm in giving this version a try.

While the twitter thread being posted here raises some concerns regarding the localization accuracy, there's a fair bit of examples on it that indicate the writer doesn't have the best English comprehension, as it mixes in some actual complete inaccuracies with just... translations that are fine and make sense. Like this.

Also, side note, and this is speaking as a JOP—many JOPs don't have reading comprehension, so don't take their words at face value.

[∞]

Since we actually got a localization update, which is quite rare, I am hoping they do a third pass and polish it even more.
I wish I knew Japanese to compile inaccuracies to help or something.
...and talking about a fan patch, I wonder what happened to Hollow Moon.
I just hope someone makes a fan patch to change the romanization, name order and honorifics, that is all I want.
BTW, any idea if they restored the censored scene someone talked about?

[pokedude900]

It's not really a scene so much as a single line of dialogue. But yes, I would like specifics on the things I mentioned previously.

pokedude900 の投稿を引用：

Is Shizuki's name spelled with Hepburn romanization? Does Robin the little blue bird speak with a Cockney accent? Are there a notable amount of typos? One that stood out was during the amusement park scene. Aoko says Rickshaw instead of Kickshaw when talking about Ploys And does the post-game side story have a character talk about granny panties, or does he say something about sex as the original audio implies?

[Shylaar]

MrMette の投稿を引用：

There are other things like that as well in other VN's, I remember something about a nameplate on a uniform in one that was similar (zu and du is an other one that are changed in some of them for づ or ヅ) and I know there were complaints about names in Rewrite as well where Shizuru was written as Sizuru. Western people tend to use Hepburn which does use shi instead because that's how it is pronounced.

It is what it is, Japanese companies generally will use their system instead of Hepburn as it makes the most sense to them.

TYPE-MOON fans ought to be familiar with Satsuki's family name being awkwardly spelt as Yumiduka in Melty Blood. People keep talking about Sizuki and Yamasiro though but no one in this thread has mentioned Soujuurou turning into Soujyuro which is even more baffling, because that's not how Kunrei-Shiki or Nihon-Shiki would handle it.

Halko の投稿を引用：

There is no one universally "correct" way to romanize japanese to english anyway. There are just more and less popular ways to do so. At least that is a more valid complaint than people crying that honorifics arent included. A lot of peoples definition of a good translation is leaving half the damn sentence in japanese which is silly. As noted too its entirely possible its a situation with type moon declaring the spelling as canon like the good old Altria/Artoria deal which people are STILL unreasonably salty about and will descend into half hour long rants over.

When competing romanisation systems exist and one is designed to make sense to English speakers and another is designed to make sense to Japanese speakers with little consideration for English speakers, I think it's valid to say that one is the correct choice when translating something into English for an English speaking market. And localising honorifics for a Japanese visual novel set in Japan is moronic.

Fey の投稿を引用：

While the twitter thread being posted here raises some concerns regarding the localization accuracy, there's a fair bit of examples on it that indicate the writer doesn't have the best English comprehension, as it mixes in some actual complete inaccuracies with just... translations that are fine and make sense. Like this.

Well he's not saying that that doesn't make sense, he's saying that the tone of the original line and the translated line are different, and offers an alternative that I would agree would be more fitting.
It is at least good to know that the translated script has been updated. You can say it's better than mirror-moon's work but one thing they excelled at was proofreading, and the state of this official release's script for the console release was appalling in how many basic English errors were present, along with a lack of word wrapping.
Also, if you're fluent in English, then you aren't a JOP. That's kind of how it works.

[Shylaar]

rattata の投稿を引用：

If your argument is "something that makes sense for the English speaking market" you might as well go all the way and adopt phonetic spelling from WW2 Japanese handbooks given to American GIs. Enjoy playing series like "Yah-koo-zah" because you decided to cater to people who don't understand Japanese.

No, my argument was that we should use the better romanisation system of the options we have, not your stupid hypothetical that demonstrates complete ignorance on the subject. Go away.

[pokedude900]

Shylaar の投稿を引用：

People keep talking about Sizuki and Yamasiro though but no one in this thread has mentioned Soujuurou turning into Soujyuro which is even more baffling, because that's not how Kunrei-Shiki or Nihon-Shiki would handle it.

Well both of his names are spelled weird, and Shizuki/Sizuki is a lot easier to remember than Soujuurou/Soujyruo. lol

Shylaar の投稿を引用：

You can say it's better than mirror-moon's work but one thing they excelled at was proofreading

Eh....for the most part. But I read through the entire Type-Moon VN library over the past year or so, and Mirror Moon does have their fair share of typos.

[Halko]

Oh there are fan translations being "worked" on. If by saying that you mean they started got partway through and abandoned the project without telling anyone for almost a decade. And to be perfectly clear most of the "standards" many anime fans hold up as some kind of gold standard make translators that do the thing for a living on things like novels and professional work recoil in horror. "Cultural vandalism" is a joke. Its just something people that dont actually understand what they are talking about made up because they are mad that half their english translation isnt just in japanese for some reason. Over localization is a thing as is mistranslated work but to broadly claim that anything that doesnt live up to the fairy tale that is the absolutely perfect never wrong efforts of fan translators is really stupid. Especially when those standards are the most ass backwards concepts like trying to leave in honorifics or absolutely refusing to reword or adapt things that dont work in english at all amounting to jibberish being presented. Simple fact is the average translation done by a professional for a check is of higher quality than fan translations. Is EVERY instance better? No and there have been some really stupid things done to translations from official sources but at the same time fan translators also release garbage often.

TL;DR a translation isnt automatically good or bad because it was fan translated or done professionally. You have to actually read the damn thing to find that out.