[ SECRET POST #6094 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #6094 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 18 secrets from Secret Submission Post #871.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I do not understand why people rag on the official translation so much. Is it perfect? No. No translation can ever be perfect. But it's fine. It gets the point across, it makes distinct linguistic choices for characterization, and where things don't go smoothly you get a glimpse of the original language/culture. It's fine. ????

I'm also enjoying the art.

[(Anonymous)]

I've heard (specifically about MZDZ so I don't know about HOB or Guardian) that the official translations were much more 'wooden' compared to the fan-done ones? Is this true, or is this more of a 'they directly translated nakama instead of writing nakama' beef that original language purists sometimes have with subs or translations?

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT

I will say up front that I haven't read ExR for MDZS because the snippets passed around were enough for me to nope out of that. It's not well written. I fully acknowledge it was done by fans for free in their spare time, and it was what we had, but there's no consistency of voice for characters (sometimes they don't use contractions for pages and then one gets thrown in randomly), dialogue tags would be missing (i.e. 'Wei WuXian, "Why are you asking?"'), etc etc.

I don't find the official translations wooden at all. It definitely feels like language purists being themselves.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT d(o.o) Thank you! I might buy one volume just to see lol, or poke my library, I know they have a lot of manga so they might have some light novels too.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT

Fingers crossed! I would definitely recommend checking the first volume out from the library if you can. I really enjoyed running into the illustrations as I read.

[(Anonymous)]

This. The MDZS FTL wasn’t even good

[(Anonymous)]

I do believe there were more than one FTL, which was one of the things the ExR translator threw a tantrum about.

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe some people want more than "fine" if they're paying for it? Because fan translations are also fine... and they're free.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT

Then go ahead and read those? I don't much care for what I can only hope is the stylistic choice when it comes to the actual presentation of the English translation. Because if it isn't a stylistic choice, then it's just bad writing. I'd back out of a fanfic that pulled this stuff, so yeah, I'm gonna go to the official version which I find readable.

But I don't go around bitching about how horrible the fan translation is unless someone asks me about it (like above), so I don't understand why people keep bitching about the official translation. To even complain about the artwork... Smacks more of sour grapes than anything.

Also, you don't have to pay for it. There are libraries.

[(Anonymous)]

JSYK, I'm not one of the people bitching about translations.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't understand why people keep bitching about the official translation.

As a translator, it's very simple. The problem comes when a particular translation is held up as the one and only acceptable version of a thing. When it comes to translating, there simply is no such thing as "the one and only correct version." You can have a dozen different people translate something and get a dozen different translations that are all different but completely correct and acceptable.

I'm happy when people read my translations of things and enjoy them! But that doesn't mean my translations are the gospel truth and that no other translation could possibly compare. Sometimes other people will pick up on nuances that I may have missed, or have a different way of wording a particular line that might actually sound better than mine! So if people want to read other translations besides my own, I'm fine with that. I don't think any version should be held up above others as being "correct" or "better" because that just isn't how translation works.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT

That was not a simple explanation of why people keep bitching about the official translation. In fact, that just goes to my own points.

As I explained, no translation can be perfect. And, as you said, you can have multiple translations without having to see one translation as the only acceptable one. That also means you have have multiple translations without having to see one as the most godawful thing in existence when it's objectively fine.

I've never seen anyone claim that the official translation is the One True Translation. People seem to think that calling something the "official" translation means that you can only ever read that one. It's just the one that the person/people who own the rights to whatever is being translated have chosen. It doesn't make it objectively better or worse, just literally official. Yes, it does mean that making another translation infringes on the copyright of the official translation, but if someone wants to go ahead and do their own, I wouldn't bitch about their translation just because it's NOT the official one.

I always feel so bad for the translators of the official version because people love to just shit on it for no good reason.

[(Anonymous)]

It's not possible to read those anymore because they get taken offline as soon as the novel gets officially licensed. That's the whole point. You cant decide whichbtranslation to read because only the official one exists anymore.

[(Anonymous)]

Bingo.

[(Anonymous)]

Call me stupid, but aren't most of the popular ones that get licensed available via the Wayback machine?

[(Anonymous)]

Amazon lists the four-volune set of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation for $78.95. That's a lot for many people.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT

Library.

[tabaqui]

Yeah, no, my library would not have anything like that in it, and neither would the inter-library. Sad but true.

[(Anonymous)]

A lot of people dont live in the US and our libraries dont have a ton of English language novels, let alone niche ones like English CN BL novel translations.

[(Anonymous)]

and where things don't go smoothly you get a glimpse of the original language/culture

This is not what a translation is supposed to do, by the way.

Also, $80 is a lot of money to pay for a translation that's just "fine," and not everyone's library is going to have translated cnovels available. No, it doesn't need to be perfect. It does need to be worth the money it costs. A translation "getting the point across" is setting the bar on the ground. Which is fine for fan translations! But the bar is higher when it's a supposedly professional translation.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT

This is not what a translation is supposed to do, by the way.

It depends on what you want out of your translations. I absolutely learned a lot about Greek culture with the particular translation of The Illiad my college chose because it kept a lot of the Greek stylistic choices in the English version. And I've enjoyed a lot of the Chinese styles left in the official translation as well.

I kept the bar so low because I didn't want people to accuse me of claiming that the official translation is the "best ever translation and you're only allowed to read that one". I personally enjoyed the official MDZS translation AND the art, but if I said that it was really good, someone is going to say that they hated it therefore I want to force them to read only that translation. Because you know people would. ("How dare you say we piss on the poor!") Maybe you wouldn't like the official translation. Not all translations are to everyone's taste. But it is objectively a fine translation.

Everyone's objections so far seem to come down to money, making me think you're just pissed the free fan versions are getting pulled because they don't want to get sued. Not a good reason to hate on something.

Just go to the goddamned library.

[(Anonymous)]

This reminds me of how manga fans always say the fan translation is better even when it very much is not, because they just want it for free. I bet most of the people complaining about the official danmei translations can't even read Chinese and only have issues with the official translation because "someone on the internet said it was bad." I read the ExR translation of MDZS and the official version is so much less wooden than the fan translation.

People just want shit for free and don't want to go to the trouble of checking out the library, so they convince themselves the free version is superior and therefore it's totally okay to read it instead of supporting the author.

[(Anonymous)]

Nobody in this thread has expressed a pissed off opinion about fan translations getting pulled. They're just (quite reasonably!) pointed out that not everyone has that money to spend on something where they're uncertain of the quality. You're assigning negative motives where there isn't any evidence of such.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT

TBH I don't have skin in this game, I'm just a manga fan who has experience with reading translations (and no, I don't think fan translations are always better. I also dislike the fan translations of WSJ manga that has weekly official releases).

My point is that a "fine" translation is not worth $80. That's a big chunk of money for a lot of people, and it's fine, actually, to not want to spend $80 on a mediocre translation.

And stop going on about libraries. Not everyone's library is going to have this book, or be in a network that does. And there are people in countries where there is no official translation!

Something being official means it will get more criticism. This isn't a bad thing, though I think you think it is. It gets nitpicked because it costs money. This is how things that cost money work, they're held to a higher standard than things that don't cost money.

[(Anonymous)]

"Just go to the goddamned library."

My library has volume one of MDZS for digital download. Just the first volume only. Libraries are awesome, but not all of them have what people want, especially if it's something more obscure.

Please stop shaming people for not having the funds to spend $80 on the box set. We're not being broke to spite you. We're just too broke to spend that much money on something that we're not sure we'll like.