My question for you: how did taking actual classes affect your level of interest in the language (was it lowered, retained, raised)?
Well, I wouldn't say it had a huge impact on my interest in the language, to be honest. Just gave me more opportunity to express that interest. I suppose naturally, as you become more "used" to a language, it loses some of the novelty value, but I'd say I'm still as enamoured of the language as I ever was. (Even if I can't say the same about the workload that I consistently fail to maintain
)
Hey Cnet. I was just redirected here via Mangashare as apparently they used your translation for their Bleach scan and i was left baffled in regards to what it said on the
back of a few characters' jackets. So my initial question is; Where abouts in the UK are you from?
My second question is; why do you/translators tend to opt not to do sfx/inline text (as found on clothes)?
My third question is; have you ever read Air Gear? And if so what do you think of it?
First question is easy enough; I'm originally from Epsom, Surrey, but I'm currently at university at the University of Sheffield.
Second question... Well, that sure isn't my translation in that scan you've linked to, but the question stands, I guess
If I'm perfectly honest, the reason I didn't translate the stuff on the backs of those uniforms is because I wasn't sure what it was exactly
(Well, that and it didn't seem too important...) Wasn't sure on the first two kanji. Of course, now that I check up on it, I feel silly; they're just Kensei's surname, Muguruma. So the text on the back of their uniforms just reads "Muguruma Ninth Division".
In general, I
do translate text that appears in-panel, unless it seems so trivial that I don't see the point in bothering ~_~ Not the case for SFX, though, which I omit in all but a couple of series - frankly, Japanese is an extremely onomatopoeia-rich language, in which you can write a legitimate "sound-effect" for just about anything (and they generally do). Considering that a) English is not such a language, so generally you have to just come up with either weird-sounding approximations or just descriptions of what's happening, b) SFX is incredibly common and it's a pain in the ass to translate it all, c) SFX is generally almost entirely extraneous, since you can
see what's going on; it's just there for that bit of extra effect, which is basically lost trying to translate it anyway; and d) even if a Manga Editor was willing to edit in all the SFX, it's questionable whether that would even be a good idea since they're essentially part of the artwork... I just figure it's not worth it in most cases.
And third question, no, I've never checked out Air Gear. Maybe I will one day; maybe I won't.
I'm kinda curious, in the manga that you translate, do you have favorite characters? If so, which are they?
Ohhhhhhh dear. Between the sheer number of series I translate, my inability ever to choose a single favourite, and my general propensity for long, in-depth responses... I daresay this is going to be a big one XD I'll try not to go overboard
Right, so, em, first series first. Bleach. As good a place to start as any, it's usually the first series I translate on a RAW day. And I guess it's appropriate enough, since it lets me bring up the most obvious character first - Isshin. He's been my avatar for god-knows-how-long, so you should've been expecting this one. He's damn well epic, and I certainly hope he shows up some more in the series soon. (Why hasn't he shown up in the flashback yet?! He's the perfect candidate! Is Kubo
that intent on keeping him shrouded in mystery? >_<)
Also, he, er, shares my love for another Bleach character - YUZU! (Have I made my love for all things loli painfully-clear enough in this thread yet? If not, I daresay it will be by the end of this post
) Yuzu is made of sex and love. Mmmm. Yachiru also gets loli points. Not nearly as
attractive as Yuzu, but still. I so want to see her actually in combat. Pity Ken-chan always hogs that kind of thing.
Of course, those aren't the only Bleach characters worth mentioning. Shinji is epic-Kansai-ben-character-ftw. Stark had better damn well be Primera Espada because he's just too awesome not to be. Plus he has h4wt Fracción Lilinette. (Besides which, if it's not him, then that would improve the chances of it being Barragan, to which I say HELL NAW.)
There are plenty more Bleach characters I could mention, but let's leave it at that and move on to Naruto. For a start, let's establish that I'm
not one of the many Sasuke-haters
Sasuke is cool. Yes, he is stoic and emo like all hell, but hey, he pulls it off. If that's because Kishimoto wants to have teh buttsecks with him, then so be it
While we're talking Uchihas, can't help but love Tobi, too. Both sides of him. (Though that just reminds me I really ought to get around to reading/translating this week's Naruto chapter... >_<) And you can't beat Shikamaru. Shikamaru is the
man. No ifs, no buts. Though he does need to drop that smoking habit. Memento of Asuma or otherwise, smoking is for the lose. I kind of feel like going on to bring up Lee, and Kakashi, and Kankuro, but... I don't want to turn this into a list of half the characters in the series >_< I will mention that Kabuto needs more screentime, though. Particularly now that he's turned batshit-crazy-Orochimorph-thing.
On the female side of Naruto, it's clearly all about Hinata. (Screw the Sakura/Naruto shippers; if Hinata wants Naruto, she can damn well have him.) Naturally, pre-timeskip Hinata is preferable, but... a post-skip Hinata is fine too ^^
Right, moving swiftly onwards to the last of the so-called Big Three. One Piece. I don't think any One Piece viewer/reader could fail to agree that Luffy is, always has been, and always will be
the man. One Piece is one of the few examples of a series where the main character
is, in fact, one of the best characters. I say "one of" because the cast in general is just made of epic win. Can't beat One Piece when it comes to the central crew. That said, if I had to pick favourites besides Luffy, I'd probably have to go for Zoro and Brooke (is there just something about the swordsmen, I wonder?)
Of course, there are a ton of awesome characters
outside of the actual crew, as well - just look at Ace, Shanks, the Smoker/Tashigi combo, Blackbeard, Aokiji... all characters who need more screentime, mind. And of course there's the clearly-awesome Dragon lurking in the shadows of the plot somewhere. Loving Caimie in the current arc, too, and hoping against all the odds that she does actually join the crew. (Can't see her leaving her beloved Hacchin, though
)
Not really any females I find particularly attractive in One Piece, though. Guess they're just too old for me?
(Although there was this one incredibly h4wt doujin with a Loli Loli no Mi... but I digress
)
So that's the Big Three done with... time to move on to the not-quite-so-big series that nevertheless ought by rights to make it a Big Four... yep, it's D.Gray-man. I could go off on a rant about why D.Gray-man is so awesome, but let's just stick to the characters.
This is another series in which I really do like the main character. There's just something about Allen. His sheer stubborn ability to get through even the most horrific situations with a genuine smile - combined with the author's willingness to put him through all of it. Yeah, the Togaochi arc really defined his character for me. It was just disaster after disaster after disaster, and Allen just kept struggling through it despite the ridiculous physical strain and ignoring the moral doubts, purely because he wanted to save that one guy - and then to cap it all off, the author not only refused to give him a happy end, he gave him approximately the most tragic end imaginable. And even when everything was lost, Allen was still lying there, everything ruined, about to die, putting a brave face on it and trying to make the best of the situation.
And even when he did get the obligatory shonen-manga "power-up", the turning point was his decision that "I'm no longer human - I
am a weapon." Not exactly cheerful, even if the outcome was immensely satisfying. D.Gray is making a nice habit out of that, actually - power coming from not-so-cheerful-or-expected places. Lenalee got her upgrade thanks, of all things, to LeVerrier's stubborn, ultra-practical, dehumanising insistence, against everybody's wishes and despite the heavy dangers involved, to attempt to force an upgrade upon her. I mean, normally you'd expect a character like that to see some sort of comeuppance, but no, his was actually the
right move, and probably the thing that saved the entire Order.
I think I kind of
have digressed into the whole why-I-love-D.Gray topic here. But hey, at least I'm still focusing on awesome characters. Lenalee is a very strong lead (and it doesn't hurt that she's very attractive as well
), and LeVerrier is just so... interesting. Meanwhile on the Noah side of things we have Tyki and Road, who are easily among my favourite characters of the series as well. I don't think that really needs any explaining. They're just made of win. (And Road is h4wt, too.)
Okay, I guess the next logical series to cover here is Hunter. Oh, boy XD Hunter is just the kind of series that makes you want to say "oh, boy..." no matter what the context, really, isn't it?
Not least after I finish translating a chapter of it ~_~ But yes. Great Hunter characters. Been a while since I thought back in that series. Well, can't beat Bisuke-tan ^^ Damn, she's cute. (Though let us not speak of her, ah, "true form". Ever.) And everybody gotta love cool characters like Hisoka and Kuroro/Chrollo/whatever-you-wanna-call-him. But in the current arc, my favourite character has to be Pitou. I mean... y'know. Pitou. What can you say about Pitou? He's just... intense. And likeable, despite being a murderous ant thing
Plus of course the whole, er,
intense chemistry between him and Gon is extremely interesting to watch. (Not to mention that his ability is very unique, to say the least.)
Next series! Might as well finish up the Jump titles before moving onto others, so... Sket Dance! Switch is epic win. How can anybody not love Switch? He is the embodiment of brilliance. Also rather like Momoka, for whatever reason. She's just... likeable, I suppose. And the Student Council in general are just great. Oh, and Roman! She's cute and outrageously odd! What's not to like?!
Last of the Jump titles - Hatsukoi. Don't really have any "favourites" among the guys, so to speak... they're all pretty likeable, but none stand out. Well, Sogabe stands out in terms of pure being-odd, I suppose, but that's not necessarily a good thing ;p Kusuda stands out because Kawashita-sensei seems intent on turning him into the main freaking character, but... yeah. I think if I had to choose a favourite of the guys, it'd be someone like Terai or Yoshihiko. Or even Uemura (who is
really overdue a reappearance, he hasn't been seen since Chapter 3 >_<). Amongst the girls... well! Clearly my heart belongs to only two girls - Koyoi and Yuu!
Yoshihiko is a damned ingrate, and I want to steal his sister, because I would appreciate her a damn sight better than he does
And as for Yuu... EPIC YUU. EPIC EPIC EPIC YUU. And like I said, why the HELL has the Yuu/Uemura storyline not been seen since Chapter 3?! T_T
Right! Now for Tsubasa! Now, all the characters in Tsubasa are extremely engaging, of course, but that said... FAI. Always, eternally and for ever FAI. Does the sheer win that Fai possesses even need explaining? Would it even bear explaining? It just
is. It is there. It is transcendent. It is godliness.
And obviously you can't cover Tsubasa without covering Holic immediately after. And you can't really beat Kohane. Beautiful loli? Check. Engaging storyline? Check. Generally incredibly likeable character? Check. If-she-gets-relegated-to-the-background-after-this-storyline-there-will-be-hell-to-pay? Check. Of course, the main trio are just generally great as well. And Tanpopo!
Moving swiftly onwards... Fairy Tail. I'm loving the new characters introduced in the Tower of Paradise arc, particularly Shou (he just looks so damn cool, even if he is a little... unstable...) and Miriana (KITTY! KITTY KITTY KITTY!
) Oh, and I'm generally liking Lluvia
Of the less-recent characters... well, Lucy is always likeable
And Mirajane.
Finally getting towards the end here! We've reached my more recent series. Yep, it's Kekkaishi time. Well, can't fault Masamori, I guess. He's Masamori, after all. And Yoshimori and Tokine themselves are nice characters. But the best character of Kekkaishi ever? Little Misao from the box-user arc, of course! ^___^ So cute... so plucky... and she had an awesome ability, as well! Forget Yoshimori, make her the main character pls kthxby
Hm, I suppose I should give crazy old Heisuke a mention as well - he's a very interesting sort of character to say the least. And while we're on characters from the Kokubourou arc, that flower-demon girl, Aihi, was certainly an interesting character too. I do hope she didn't die.
And for the final series, my own most recent - Negima. Oh dear, what a series to finish with. Its cast is enormous
But I can certainly name favourites. Nodoka and Yue, for starters. I
them both, I really do. I am a heavy supporter of Nodoka x Negi, but if Nodoka doesn't get him, then Yue totally should. (And I can have whichever one of them doesn't
) Evangeline is clearly up there, both for being an interesting and entertaining character, and for being one of the hottest lolis in the world, ever.
Oh, and Konoka is also made of epic win. And by win, I mean cute. And by cute, I mean win.
...That will be all
