SENRAN KAGURA Burst Re:Newal

SENRAN KAGURA Burst Re:Newal

View Stats:
Monterossa Feb 15, 2019 @ 6:27am
Katsu-nee => Kat.... This translation makes no sense
Katsuragi + nee-san = Katsu-nee, this is Asuka trying to be friendly but still respect her as a senior at the same time. Simply Kat erased all of those feelings and meanings.

Heavy localizations shouldn't be a thing in 2019, especially for a franchise that most of its fans supposed to know what a nee means.
< >
Showing 1-15 of 28 comments
Shizi_kroc Feb 15, 2019 @ 7:35am 
This translation was like this since Shinovi Versus, as I remember. And since no one complain about it. Why now?

For example: when in EV Shiki was speaking in English - it was translated in French. But after that it was back at English in PBS.
So, maybe in new games they will change it to Katsu-nee.
Last edited by Shizi_kroc; Feb 15, 2019 @ 7:35am
CRES Feb 15, 2019 @ 6:42pm 
Originally posted by Shizi_kroc:
This translation was like this since Shinovi Versus, as I remember. And since no one complain about it. Why now?

For example: when in EV Shiki was speaking in English - it was translated in French. But after that it was back at English in PBS.
So, maybe in new games they will change it to Katsu-nee.
Actually it's been this way since the series was first localized in the original Burst.

The thing is it's the age old localization question of striking a balance between being accurate to the original versus making it clear to a non native speaker. Asuka refers to Katsuragi as "Katsu-nee" because of their close familiarity, with Asuka looking up to Katsuragi like an older sister. However, since English doesn't have special terms like Honorifics to refer to people of differing familiarity (the closest we have are Titles such as Mr., Mrs., and Dr. which used for individuals of seniority or higher education) the localizers decided to translate the "Katsu-nee" into "Kat" because in English close friends given each other nicknames is the closest equivalent to the level of familiarity as calling someone with the "-nee" honorific is in Japanese.

Now true, they could have just left "Katsu-nee" as it is, but that would also mean that, in order to remain consistent, they would have to leave in other honorifics as well like Mirai referring to Haruka as "Haruka-sama" (which was translated as "Mistress" as the closest English equivalent to their relationship), and going down that route would not only make the dialogue more awkward for an English speaker, but also requires a higher level of prior knowledge about the Japanese language that the audience might not have.
Blu Ray Feb 15, 2019 @ 9:27pm 
Originally posted by Monterossa:
but still respect her as a senior at the same time.

Calling Katsuragi "Katsu-nee" doesn't convey that information though, you're getting that from the story and character interaction. It just conveys intimacy rather than that kind of respect, so a nickname seems fitting enough.

What would be a better translation to you?
Monterossa Feb 16, 2019 @ 3:44am 
Originally posted by CRES:
they would have to leave in other honorifics as well like Mirai referring to Haruka as "Haruka-sama".

Yes, they should.
Monterossa Feb 16, 2019 @ 3:48am 
Originally posted by Blu Ray:
What would be a better translation to you?

Katsu-nee....

It's Katsu + nee = Katsu-nee, not that hard to understand.

If people know what a shinobi means, they shouldn't have any problem with a nee.
CRES Feb 16, 2019 @ 10:21am 
Originally posted by Monterossa:
Originally posted by CRES:
they would have to leave in other honorifics as well like Mirai referring to Haruka as "Haruka-sama".

Yes, they should.
Then you would have players who are sitting there wondering what the hell a "nee" and "sama" are.



Originally posted by Monterossa:
Originally posted by Blu Ray:
What would be a better translation to you?

Katsu-nee....

It's Katsu + nee = Katsu-nee, not that hard to understand.

If people know what a shinobi means, they shouldn't have any problem with a nee.
One) That's not a translation and Two) not everyone understands what "nee" is especially since it's short or "Onee" which is "Older Sister."

Also, remember at the beginning of the game where you do get a short description of what a "Shinobi" is? If they left all the honorifics in then you'd have to give a short description of every term used to help clarity with the audience. Or you can just translate it into something the audience is already familiar with.
Monterossa Feb 16, 2019 @ 12:23pm 
If they don't know what a nee or sama are, why are they playing this kind of game?
CRES Feb 16, 2019 @ 2:30pm 
Originally posted by Monterossa:
If they don't know what a nee or sama are, why are they playing this kind of game?
Because it looks fun?
Because they like Action games?
Because they think the girls look cute/sexy?
Because they are interested in the story?

There are multiple reasons why any person would like to play a game, but I don't think anyone plays these games because "I know a little bit of the Japanese language" as a primary or even secondary reason.
Shizi_kroc Feb 16, 2019 @ 3:48pm 
Originally posted by CRES:
Originally posted by Monterossa:
If they don't know what a nee or sama are, why are they playing this kind of game?
Because it looks fun?
Because they like Action games?
Because they think the girls look cute/sexy?
Because they are interested in the story?

There are multiple reasons why any person would like to play a game, but I don't think anyone plays these games because "I know a little bit of the Japanese language" as a primary or even secondary reason.

When I don't know something, I just google it. So I don't see a problem if someone don't know what all this honorifics mean.
MiKowaii Feb 16, 2019 @ 4:42pm 
Originally posted by Shizi_kroc:
Originally posted by CRES:
Because it looks fun?
Because they like Action games?
Because they think the girls look cute/sexy?
Because they are interested in the story?

There are multiple reasons why any person would like to play a game, but I don't think anyone plays these games because "I know a little bit of the Japanese language" as a primary or even secondary reason.

When I don't know something, I just google it. So I don't see a problem if someone don't know what all this honorifics mean.


Do you consider "good" translation that requires you to google terms every other paragraph?

Honestly, ideal would be if localisers would leave two english translations.
One for weebs.
One for normies.

But I doubt that any company would find that a plausible option.
Last edited by MiKowaii; Feb 16, 2019 @ 4:46pm
Blu Ray Feb 16, 2019 @ 7:25pm 
Originally posted by MiKowaii:
Do you consider "good" translation that requires you to google terms every other paragraph?

Honestly, ideal would be if localisers would leave two english translations.
One for weebs.
One for normies.

But I doubt that any company would find that a plausible option.
Most people complaining about pointless details like the honorifics which can be properly conveyed in other ways probably don't understand Japanese well enough to realize there's generally much more information being lost in the translation.
Xiwen Feb 16, 2019 @ 8:22pm 
you will have better luck hoping for re:translation mods like Neptunia did
or eng dub

As far as i know,most of the anime games translation has been like this. The subtitles dont match what they are actually saying
Blu Ray Feb 16, 2019 @ 10:20pm 
Originally posted by Xiwen:
As far as i know,most of the anime games translation has been like this. The subtitles dont match what they are actually saying
It's not just anime and games though, any translation between two very different languages is bound to have some loss of information.

A very common joke in anime takes advantage of how Japanese is rather vague and context dependent have characters misinterpreting each other. How are you going to translate that? Same goes for most puns. In jokes and dialogue in general there also tends to be a lot of subtle references to their culture and daily lives and it's just impossible to get that information across in the same way if the audience doesn't have any of that context.

You could put a large translator's note to explain those things or just accept the loss of information and just change or adapt those things so it works in another language.

In any language to be honest, even small things like accent and intonation can reveal some information of a character personality and his relationship to other characters and that's generally lost in a translation.
PureRok Feb 16, 2019 @ 10:48pm 
Originally posted by Blu Ray:
You could put a large translator's note to explain those things

Just according to keikaku*.




*keikaku means plan.
Last edited by PureRok; Feb 16, 2019 @ 10:49pm
Shizi_kroc Feb 17, 2019 @ 2:02am 
Originally posted by MiKowaii:
Originally posted by Shizi_kroc:

When I don't know something, I just google it. So I don't see a problem if someone don't know what all this honorifics mean.


Do you consider "good" translation that requires you to google terms every other paragraph?

I bet a lot people actually don't know what futomaki rolls are. This doesn't mean it should be translated as jelly filled donuts.

So if this is terms of some country, where plot takes place in, it should be untouched. For me it makes sense.
Last edited by Shizi_kroc; Feb 17, 2019 @ 2:05am
< >
Showing 1-15 of 28 comments
Per page: 1530 50