Reflection and Analysis

Komi-San - Subtitles (3/2/22)

So, I recently learned that there are complaints from the fans of the Manga regarding the fact some of the line text within said series wasn't subtitled. Specifically, they're complaining about how background text which pretty much fills the entire page ends up not being properly subtitled.

And, to be honest - it didn't negatively affect my viewing experience, but I think as someone who is a dyslexic doing exactly what they wanted would have, yet by them doing it the way they did I'm actually more inclined to pick up the Manga series to see that text as it's easier for me not having to pause to read that much text in-show.

But, who cares about the individual whose experience could be negatively impacted if they had subtitled the entire thing at the very bottom because obviously, we're not important. Doesn't matter that some of us have legit reasons for using subs for which readability is an important factor, yet should I be surprised that these are pretty much the same individuals who diss the idea of watching a dubbed version of a series even though there's a legit reason for doing so.

We are, after all, just one small fan whose readability issues don't matter one bit.

I'm far more concerned with learning the subtitled version used gender-neutral words for a certain character who does in fact switch between certain pronouns in the series which was done for the Brazilian release, or so I've read.

Of course, I also find it amusing that people hold fansubs up as the golden standard when I've seen mistakes such as confusing the word "uncle" for "grandfather" and while I might be dyslexic, I can definitely hear the difference between those two words when I watch something.

I've also encountered cases of fansubs adding in more "colorful" language that wasn't there in the original, which has led to some (but not all) of the claims of censorship. We're talking claims I used to believe because I didn't know what I now know, such as the word teme which fansubs like to translate to everything and everything including "you bastard" when in reality it simply means "you".

No, seriously. Teme means "you", but what's important is that it's saying "you" in a manner that conveys the person detests the other person for some reason, which is why when I write fanfic I leave the word as teme rather than having someone say "you" which doesn't convey the person is upset with the other person and I don't translate it as "you bastard" which would be a different word.

What about dubs though?

Think of it this way. From the linguist point of view, while it is true that the English language has only one phonetic way of saying the word "you" whereas the Japanese have multiple phonetic ways of saying the word "you", this doesn't mean there aren't multiple ways to say "you" in the English language, but in this particular case, the difference in meaning is conveyed through "tone" rather than syllables.

And if that tone is properly conveyed, the use of just "you" is not inaccurate, no matter how much English fans want a more colorful version of what is being said. Yet, the other issue is because fansubs have the practice of translating "teme" as "bastard" or "you bastard", there is no a genuine misconception that is what "teme" means rather than it simply being a rather rude way of saying you.

The other issue - and I'm getting this from Japanese with Anime - And kanji with manga's article "Anata,Omae, Temee, Kimi, Kisama あなた,お前,てめぇ,君,貴様" the word isn't considered rude within the series as it is in real life which brings you to the real uh-oh moment in that while it would make sense to translate a conversation happening in real life to possibly "bastard" or "you bastard" it doesn't make as much sense, particularly since the point of using it is to convey "shit is really going to hit the fan".

As I said, there's a reason I choose to in written language leave teme as is when it is spoken. Simply using "you" doesn't convey what I want without verbal tonnage to go with it unless there is also a physical tone with the way the character posters. Using the word "bastard", while being how it is commonly translated - well, the word doesn't mean as I said "bastard", although the level of rudeness is equivalent.

And the other reason I don't trust fansubs is that it's way to easy for a fan to sneak in their translation preference rather than what the writer actually means. By this I mean they go with what they want the canon to be rather than the most logical explanation for said canon material, yet this is likely to happen when something happens within the canon material that doesn't fit their personal headcanon. Saw it for Bleach a lot when the manga was still being published.

Another truth?

There's also a habit of taking someone's word that it's "wrong" without doing their own research into the matter. Junhyun Cho talks about this in her article, "Squid Game and  the 'untranslatable': the debate around subtitles explained", yet no matter how many times a professional translator like her says, "comparing the Korean language with the English subtitle translation of Squid Game, occasional minor omissions and distortions are apparent -- but the overall quality of the translation, is, in my opinion, fine."

They also talk about suffix, another thing I see misunderstood among fans, who also use it as an argument not to dub stuff, which for some is an actual issue. Me, I'm fine with subtitles when care is given, but others with dyslexia do better with dubs. The way to handle suffixes aren't "translation issues" as certain fans like to claim, but a stylistic choice. And, it's not as if the work is being censored, just that some of the nuances are lost in translation which is not the fault of translating, contrary to popular belief, albeit some are better than others.

You know, like triangular donuts which is for those who don't know a reference to earlier dubs of Pokemon.

And it isn't as if someone translated "uncle" as "grandfather" an actual translation error, but it wasn't the Netflix version which had this error but the so-called "better" translation. There's talk about how those who do the subtitling are underappreciated, yet it never occurs that the ones who are underappreciating what they do aren't just those paying low wages, but those who complain about so-called translation issues which are really personal preferences.

And sure, as I said...

I get complaining about mistranslations - which often get overlooked when they're in the preferred sub as that is "better" than everybody else despite more often than not, not being the case. I also get complaining about censorship.

This isn't what it is though, is it?

It's more about being an Anime snub, but it would be like me insisting other fanfic writers use the exact same spellings of words as I do, or me insisting someone use the word teme spelled out rather than translating it.