Translation

[Shajirr]

I don't really like the translation style of this game...
It seems way too liberal. Sometimes entire portions of the sentences are cut off, and sometimes new sentence parts added, which the characters didn't say. Some clearly english-only phrases are used, which the characters couldn't have used, when a more direct translation could have been made without compromising translation quality.

I can understand some basic commonly used phrases, occasionally anyway, and it is very weird hearing something you recognise and then the translation being off, with the characters saying something completely different in english.

This problem doesn't exist without voice acting, but once it gets introduced, liberal translation is not a particularly good way to do things...

[ManDynasty]

I feel you mate. I´m just studying japanese and was happy to play another VN with JapDub. But the translation is so off most of the times. I can understand some changes to be more understandable for western readers...but if "oneechan" turns to "nice lady" it really makes me upset.

[Miya]

I thought so too first but apparently it's a bug or rather, an error in the voice lines.
You can read more about it here: http://steamcommunity.com/games/620210/announcements/detail/1648755467424909863
hope they'll fix it soon.
About not translating "-senpai", "-san" etc: it's a shame that they decided to localize them more but if that's the only issue, I can live with that since I often see them not being translated in fansubs either. But really, some nuances get lost like this ("Mishino-senpai" becomes "Miharu" which has quite a different tone).

[Shajirr]

Well, sure, this will fix the cutoff sentences, but I am talking more about the overall style.

When something like "What are you going to do?" (I don't remember exactly what line it was, but something like that) is translated into "Are you game?", it makes me sad

[ManDynasty]

yeah i also read about this bug before adding my comment. But this is not about completely random voicelines mapped to the text, but about sloppy/liberal translations. You realize that they belong together, but still you realize that it changes the overall meaning.

[malienvictor2004]

Yeah, that irks me also when the character is saying oneechan(sister) but they decide to have the text say their name instead.

[ManDynasty]

Well I can understand that much, since its also common in Anime to clarify who one is speaking to and it really helps in that regard. But if the situation is so clear like I mentioned above...It changes the whole context.(Spoilerwarning: Where Yu enjoys his time with Rinka, cause she looks like a sister to him..."nice lady" destroys this whole scene)

[ManDynasty]

I also can understand these name-sufix changes since "Miharu, who is one year above me" has no real translation and its fine, cause we dont talk to those, who are one year above differently than to any others. But we sure know the conecpt of someone being like a sister to us.

[Orange]

"Rinka's Lion Dance" really?

[quixoticaxis]

It also looks like there are quite a few typos here and there. for example, in the opening movie "won't" is used where "want" probably should have been

[takezo689]

Hm, I thought the translations were pretty good in keeping with the spirit of what the characters were trying to say. There's always a fine line to walk. You can try to keep the intended nuances, but create a convoluted English text that is hard to read, or you can simplify the text to make it smoother. It all depends on who you're catering to. Since it's obviously catering to an English-speaking audience, a more liberal interpretation works better.

The example you gave of "oneesan" being translated as "nice lady" I think is perfectly valid. (I briefly searched for the exact line, but couldn't find it). But given their relationship, I'd say it keeps in better with the spirit of what he's trying to say. It's not like he actually considers her a sister, and saying 'sister' would only serve to obfuscate the relationship between the two.

If you can understand the Japanese, you can listen to the excellent voice acting. If you can understand the English, you can enjoy the well written translation. My only objection would be if they only had English. Unfortunately, it's not like Umineko where you can switch languages on the fly, but having the original voices more than makes up for it I think.

[Shajirr]

Originally posted by takezo689:

There's always a fine line to walk. You can try to keep the intended nuances, but create a convoluted English text that is hard to read, or you can simplify the text to make it smoother.

Actually, it is almost always the opposite.
Translators forgoing simple, direct translation for some fancy rewriting using clearly english, sometimes even area-specific slang or phrases that the characters did not say.

I just tried to watch Initial D and official translation is such ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ a lot of the time its painful.
Sometimes translators threw original meaning straight into the garbage and just rewrote entire sentences with completely different meaning.

[takezo689]

I have to disagree; a 'direct translation' often doesn't work, and there are many times when there simply isn't an English equivalent. I can give you several examples (sorry, not game specific, because I uninstalled after I finished the game).
"Itadakimasu." How would you translate that? The 'direct translation' is "I receive." But that's obviously not a very clear translation.
How about when a character makes a pun? If someone says: "天井に穴がある。　やね。" Other characters might give a lukewarm response, or groan. But if you translate it as "There's a hole in the roof! That sucks." and the other characters groan in response, that would be confusing, right?
Especially in the area of when humor is involved, if you translate it directly, it often won't be funny and the reader will be left with the impression that the person is really weird, rather than humorous.
One example of creative translation is the Phoenix Wright series. The title itself is hard: "Gyakuten saiban." They often translate it as a 'turnabout.' Which is kind of true. But it's often used for like sports when a team is losing 3-4 the whole game, but they comeback in the very end to make it 5-4. Now that might not make a lot of sense in terms of the courtroom in America, but in Japan the court system is set up so that a guilty verdict is almost guaranteed. So when you play as a lawyer and get an innocent verdict it's like a comeback win. But if you don't get the cultural context, you won't understand the meaning.
If you can understand Japanese, that's great. But translating isn't for the benefit of people that already understand Japanese. A 'direct translation' only works if you speak Japanese and you read the English translation and try to rework it back into Japanese, which is more trouble than it's worth.
(Just so you know where I'm coming from, I've never done official translation work, but I'm semi-fluent in Japanese.)

[ManDynasty]

i dont prefer a direct translation, but one that has a meaning heading in the same direction. Im currenlty studying japanese and also try to catch some vocab playing japanese games. So I read the english translation...heard the japanese voice line...and really couldnt bring them together. Of course there changes to simplify lines or rephrase something to make it better to read. But I really couldnt make sense of these translations, even if i understood the japanese counterpart. Maybe its not everywhere but often enough for me to be upset...

[angela]

I don't speak Japanese so I was about to let it slide but after "Shikata nai wa" was translated to "I'll let it slide just this once" I have to admit this game's translation definitely has a problem with just making ♥♥♥♥ up

[angela]

I don't speak Japanese so I was about to ignore it but after "Shikata nai wa" was translated to "I'll let it slide just this once" I have to admit this game's translation definitely has a problem with just making ♥♥♥♥ up