Hello… ^^
I want to start a new thread. If they’re publishing No. 6 in your country please let us know how they handle for example proper names. I think this could be a very interesting topic.
Ok, I can tell you something about the German version.
Volume 1The person names are like in the original. (Nezumi, Shion, Karan, Safu etc.) I’m really glad that they didn’t use „Ratte“(rat) for Nezumi.
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Westblock, Chronos, Lost Town and Violence Chip are still English terms.
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Moondrop is literally translated. (Mondtropfen) It bugged me a bit, but
@listenforthelove said that it’s Tsuki no Shizuku in the Japanese version. So it’s very accurate to translate it like that.
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The term for
Correctional Facility could be better. They use “Besserungsanstalt” (reformatory) instead of “Justizvollzugsanstalt”. But I guess it’s still okay.
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Ok, the next one is
Security Bureau. They use “Ordnungsamt” in the German version, which is pretty funny in my opinion, because it is something like a regulatory agency. They normally monitor diners and fries stands to make sure they are hygienic… and they make sure that you’ve an allowance when you want to run a little stall during a weekly market. I mean when you’ve a diner or something or you have problems with the license of your car it might be a scary instance, but in No. 6 the Bureau of Safety is more like a police and regulatory agency in one. I don’t know why they didn’t translate it just literally, something like. “Sicherheitsbüro”, Bureau of Safety and Health, (Sicherheits- und Gesundheitsbüro). I mean it’s very inviting to translate it literally. So I don’t really get it. ^^°
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Forest Park is “Stadtpark” in the German translation. That’s rather something like a city park. I guess “Waldpark” would probably have been a better choice. (Forest = Wald)
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Safu’s first love declaration when she talks to Shion via ID card also bugged me a bit, but I also learned that it is way more accurate than in the English version.
@listenforthelove translated it for us:
- What did Safu tell Shion back in volume 1 - daisuki, ai ****eru?
Safu’s words are: 好きよ、紫苑. 誰よりあなたのことが好き
suki yo, shion - dare yori anata no koto ga suki
‘I love you, Shion - more than anyone else, I love you’
So actually just ‘suki’! Which is more ‘like’ than love, though ‘suki na hito’ is ‘the one I love’, so it does imply love and not just fondness. But you also use suki/daisuki to say you really like a thing, not just a person. So translating as ‘love’ might actually be a bit strong in this case, especially since she does say ai ****eta (‘I loved you’) later on in volume 8.
So in the beginning, she uses “like” instead of “love” and used the stronger form later. In the German version, she’s also saying: “Ich mag dich, Shion.” (I like you, Shion.) I thought it was wrong, because they used: “I love you” in the English version.
Volume 2Cleaner is “Wegräumer”. Well, I guess that’s okay. Better than “Putzmann” / “Reiniger” or something. But “Wegräumer” is a neologism. It’s something like “put away guy/woman”.
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Inukashi is still Inukashi. I’m not really sure how they’re going to handle the matter concerning Inukashi’s gender. There’s just one scene in volume 2 where it is necessary and they found a nice solution.
Nezumi says: “Das ist der Bewohner dieses Gebäudes. Seinen wirklichen Namen kenne ich nicht. Wir nennen ihn Inukashi.“
“This is the inhabitant (der Bewohner) of this building. I don’t know “his” (seinen) real name. We call “him” (ihn) Inukashi.”
There are two possibilities. The first one is that they use the male form for Inukashi (his, him). The other possibility is, that “seinen” and “ihn” refers to the word “der Bewohner”. It’s a male noun. But it’s not clear. It could be both. ^^° I think they go for a male version in the beginning and tried to leave out everything that could reveal Inukashi’s gender.
It’s fact that we also have a female version for these sencentes: “Das ist
die Bewohnerin dieses Gebäudes.
Ihren wirklichen Namen kenne ich nicht. Wie nennen
sie Inukashi.”
They didn’t use it, so they go for “he and him” or they tried to be gender-neutral and made it inconclusive… But reading it, you rather think Inukashi is a boy.
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Rikiga is still Rikiga. Shion addresses him formally with “Sie” and “Herr Rikiga” (Mr. Rikiga). He’s pretty polite… but when Nezumi is insulted by Rikiga and Shion freaks out and yells at him, he’s using “du” instead of “Sie” and is on first name terms with him, pretty informally. Nezumi is pretty rude to Rikiga. XD He’s always calling him “du” and his typical “old man” (alter Mann, alter Knacker) is just “Alter”. It’s pretty common term among teenagers… (Something like: “Hey dude!”), but it’s pretty rude when you’re a teen and you’re calling a middle-aged man like that. ^^° In my opinion it’s even more rude than “alter Mann” (old man)…
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Ok, last but not least Eve… (;_;) They made “Yves” out of it. I mean… yes イヴ could supposedly also be „Yves”… And I guess they thought: “Uh, he’s a guy, why should he call himself Eve.”
Really, I contacted the publisher and told him that they should use “Eve”… I don’t think it’s still possible to change it, but it really bugged me. XD Just why…? This is a ****ing boy’s name. There’s a reason why Nezumi’s stage name is a female name. Ahhhrgh! Well, even if they can’t change it… I tried to improve it. X’D