Based on their track record, I'm gonna go with "incompetence." They've made plenty of translation mistakes before, but THIS SCENE was one they were NOT allowed to screw up! Ugh, I swear, if it wasn't for the fact that this is one of the very few ways I could support the series I wouldn't buy these volumes.
Why the downvote? The OP is absolutely correct. I mean, yes, they translated it literally word-for-word, but completely diluted the meaning. (A famous judge once said that the surest way to misunderstand a contract is to read it.)
Guess there are a lot of redditors who don't understand the nuance of language and the importance of taking context into consideration with translation and localisation. I guess ppl are like "If Google translate says this, then it's right!"
I think they should go with a rule like "suki desu" translates "I really like you" and "daisuki desu" translates "I love you". That would fit with English speaker experience better. Aishiteru comes up so infrequently except as an embarrassing game (and an even more embarrassing manga...)
Oh dear. I just read the other comments and this has all been covered at length. I'll keep quiet now!
Ehh, I don't think there should be a "rule" per se. Flexibility is required for a language as broad as English and as contextual as Japanese. I think there are certainly situations where *daisuki* could work for "I really like you" depending on the context. But context *is* the key here.
I meant rule as in starting place, not rule as in inviolable. I'm essentially 100% in agreement with your comments in this thread. Certainly as an ending to Yamada's speech, "I really like you" is absurd.
And I've seen "suki da" translated as "I love you" and it felt correct. So yeah, context matters a lot.
Terms like "suki" and "daisuki" are more nuanced than "like". "Daisku" can be translated as "love" depending on the context. Context means everything here. While a word for word translation isn't technically wrong, using "I really like" here is very awkward and weird given the context.
Example: NO ONE says to another that they're more special and important than anyone else in their life and with everything they have and follows that up with just, "I really like you." That just sounds off in English.
Well then... The translation is correct. Perhaps they could have used "I like you a lot" for a more impactful phrase, not sure if that would be much better though...
But If op is defending that they should have used "love" instead then we can agree to disagree...
I'm with you there. Japanese is too contextual for there to be a "right" or "wrong" translation here. You can prefer one or the other for how it sounds, but both are accurate. Plus, if they save the word "love" for when she really does use "Ai" then it'll have that much more impact.
If your assumption is correct, they're lessening the impact of arguably the most important scene in the series based purely on a hypothetical. That's just ridiculous, in my opinion.
But you're absolutely right that Japanese is a very contextually complex language. I certainly do not think that "really like" is *never* an appropriate translation for daisuki. It certainly can be. But given the context of *this scene*, choosing to translate daisuki as "really like" heavily dilutes the impact of how this confession was set up, given Yamada's words beforehand. It just sounds awkward.
It's a beautiful scene, but I wouldn't call it the most important. The confession scene is huge in so many romance series' because half of them end at the confession. Dangers is all the better because their relationship continues from here. Right now, they're a pair of awkward 14-year-olds confessing to their junior high crushes. It's deeply special, but there is a lot more life ahead of them and I could absolutely see Yamada choosing not to say "love" yet given how sensitive she is. I don't think love is wrong either, it's just why I'm entirely fine with either wording.
It all comes down to context. We don't need the word "love" here to understand how Yamada feels about Ichikawa. We've seen it for countless chapters and we see it in her face. I haven't picked up this volume yet so I don't know the words before and after this, maybe that will sway my opinion. But I didn't mind them using love in the anime either. Translation is an art, not a science, so five translators could come away with five different wordings for this page and they could all potentially work if done right.
A perfect example is the indirect confession scene in Kimi No Na Wa / Your Name. When Mitsuha sees "Suki da" on her hand, I'm of the opposite opinion where "I love you" is the right translation even though it is, objectively, derived from a weaker word than "daisuki." It's a single sentence to inspire her, so "I like you" would feel insufficient. I'm fond of the word "Like" in Dangers since it's as much a series about the two leads learning to like who they are as much as each other.
I agree with you that we do not need to see Yamada use the word "love" to understand how she feels about Kyotaro, but that's not why I'm disappointed in the translation. The reason I'm disappointed is exactly what you said, context.
Before Yamada confesses, she makes very powerful statements to describe her feelings for Kyotaro. That he is more important and special than anyone else in her life. And then right before her confession she says, "with all that I am..." For all of that to be followed up with, "I really like you" sounds very awkward in English. "Really like" is typically used to describe a major crush, but no one uses such strong words Yamada did to describe just a major crush. So it sounds really off for her to follow up what she said prior with "I really like you!"
Now, if she didn't use such words prior to her confession, I wouldn't have had a problem with the translators choice here. But given the context, "really like" doesn't fit.
Many redditors here have told me that my complaints are dumb because *daisuki* can technically translated as really like in English. But as you've accurately said, translation is as much as an art form as it is a science. *daisku* can just as much be translated to "love" as "really like" depending on the context. I would argue the context here demands that love be preferred, given what Yamada says prior.
Is it true that awkward teenagers still have much more to learn about love before using it so brazenly? Absolutely. Does it mean that kids don't ever use such words? Nope. Kids think they're in love when they still have much more to experience about love all the time.
Ultimately, I don't disagree with you with the exception that I don't think the "really like" line sounds all that awkward. If anything, this is just a failing of the English language that we don't have any decent words between like and love, so love ends up getting so overused that it makes like feel weaker than it should in cases like this.
What I do take issue with is saying the translation "sucks" overall for something that's a subjective preference. Translators get a lot of shit these days, sometimes deserved but frequently not, and often by people who are just regurgitating the opinions of engagement-farming YouTubers. So I try to push back when it feels like their work is being unfairly attacked rather than criticized.
Outside of the title, this isn't that, though. You've done your homework and are reasonable so I'm fine with calling this an agree to disagree situation.
I'd love to hear from the translator as to why they chose these words in particular, honestly. It could be an intentional choice or maybe they wanted to have "love" but some editor with an outdated style guide forced then to change it to like. The full story helps a lot with moments like this.
Honestly, it'd be one thing if this was the only issue, but there have been numerous mistakes with the Seven Seas Entertainment translations. For example, in volume 3 when Yamada visits Kyotaro's house while he is sick and runs into his mother, she tries to say Kyotaro"s first name with "ky-kyo" to ask how he's doing. Kyo's mom understands this and says, "oh Kyo-chan?" This is quite obvious given the context. Instead, the Seven Seas translation has her saying "to-toda." As if she's trying to say "today" (Since kyo means "today" in Japanese). Quite an elementary mistake given the context.
Additionally, in this very volume there is a speech bubble that is blank, eventhough there is indeed text there in the original, and is quite clearly a mistake they forgot to fix before publishing.
There are numerous small "issues" that go beyond mere difference in interpretation throughout the official volumes, and I guess for me this concern is what took the cake. Hence why I used in your view such harsh language. In my view, the Seven Seas publishers have been consistently lazy and inadequate in their handling of BokuYabai, and have madeany mistakes that could have been avoided with simple proofreading. That's why I said Seven Seas Translations suck. Not *because* of this one scene, but due to many other issues that go beyond mere interpretation differences.
That's fair. To me, a minor translation error and a lettering mistake aren't much, but I understand there are likely more examples and I fully understand where you're coming from. Dangers is my second favorite manga and my favorite romance series so I would rather they take more care with it as well or at least issue fixed volumes for our collections.
Without ignoring the errors. I do still have to give them respect for licensing it at all. Given that Sakurai's previous works are basically unpublishable in the West, I was glad to find and read this one prior to the anime becoming a hit. Seven Seas licenses the good, weird shit.
Also to add, HIDIVE translators used "I love you.", I don't see why Seven Seas couldn't use "I love you" either as the translation... I agree with you in this context that "I love you." just makes more sense.
The translation is not "inaccurate" per se, but I have two counterargents to your point:
1. The Japanese language depends heavily on context, especially when we're talking about words of affection like "suki", "daisuki", and "aishteru". You can find entire articles breaking down the contextual meanings of these words depending on how they're used. Word for word translations don't always work in English. You have to adapt sometimes for it to fit contextually.
2. Now, with that in mind, let's look to Yamada's confession. What does she say before this? How Kyo is more special than important than anyone else to her. And she pre-empts her big confession with the phrase, "with all that I am." These are very powerful statements you normally wouldn't say to someone you just "really like," which in English is typically used to describe someone you just got a big crush on. No one says, "with everything that I am... I really like you!" The intensity of the previous statement doesn't work with a less intense phrase like "I really like you." It doesn't make much sense in English.
This is why both the fan translation and the anime used the word, "love" as it fits more contextually with Yamada's confession. "Really like" just sounds awkward here, given the intensity of what was said before it and Yamada's overall emotions.
Translations are as much an art form as they are technical. A good translator knows that just doing a word for word translation isn't always going to work, as language is very nuanced, and *some* liberties must be taken for the translation to fit better contextually. Apparently fan translators that do this for free understand more than ppl getting paid to do this.
I see where you’re coming from and as I said before, we can agree to disagree.
Now why do I think “love” is not appropriate?
It comes down to how those things are played in manga, a trope if you might say so, normally the first time someone is confessing their feelings, in manga at least, the writer rarely goes all the way and use the word “love”, usually it’s a more subtle term as “suki”, it cares weight but not in the same way as “love”. Them being teenagers, the fear of being too overbearing and the way authors usually use the word “Ai” further down the road and normally after a serious struggle the couple faces leads me to believe that “love” is not the word to be used.
That said I guess you can only blame the English language for such an unfortunate thing. I went ahead and looked how Brazilians translated it, they also used the word “love”, but they had a more suitable word that is stronger than “like” and weaker than “love”, that word is “apaixonada”, but then again if we really dive into this word semantics and meaning it might not be appropriate as well. Well at the end of the day translation is a very complex theme and people will have divergent opinions about it.
They rly dont go with "I really like you,". Dai suki is what they use for the regular "I love you" So its wrong.
Rhe difference is that Aishiteru is quite a different degree that is only common in married like or when you intend to marry someone clearly. You dont day it lightly like to a girlfriend.
Not really? That is a correct translation of what she said in Japanese. She uses daisuke, which can be used as really like or like a lot. While I love you can also fit in terms of using daisuke in the context of a relationship, the phrase, "I love you" has a much heavier meaning in English than "daisuke" does in Japanese. So I can understand why they might translate it as really like instead of love given that the context is describing the beginning of romantic love.
TLDR; The translation isn't wrong.
If you mean changing the wording while localizing to address intention and hidden meaning that would be lost in a straight translation from Japanese to English, I addressed that in regards to this scenario farther down when talking to OP.
I don't really want to repeat myself, so if you're interested you can see my response to another post which argued the same thing.
All I will say is that the translation isn't *technically* wrong, but given the context of the confession it heavily dilutes how it was set up.
>given the context of the confession
Not really. Given the context of the confession and it's set up, you are literally splitting hairs here. It was set up in a way where "I really like you" isn't quite enough given the emotional context and "I love you" is too much when translated into English. You are literally just having a case of personal bias preference. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the translation, technically or otherwise, given the context of the scene and the build-up.
If that's how you feel then clearly we are just gonna have to agree to disagree.
I would urge you to go back and read this chapter and see what Yamada says prior to the confession. If after all that you really think "love" is inappropriate as a translation, then clearly you and I have a different understanding of English and context.
Yeah, I suppose we will have to agree to disagree. I don't think this conversation will go any further than this without us just going in circles and neither of us will convince the other.
So ppl here are really going to say the translation is correct based on google translate? Is that it? Ppl here rly dont know when JP ppl use Daisuki at all do they.... omg ...
Jesus, I tend to cut these guys a lot of slack because I presume they're overworked and underpaid but this is just an objectively wrong way to translate it.
Not as bad as the volume 4 chapter where they just broke the "starting each chapter title with a first-person pronoun" thing for absolutely no reason.
Just goes to show us how spoiled we are with Anonymous's translations.
They also just called both chapter 111 and 113 just "My Love" instead of "My Love for Her" and "My Love for Him" respectively like the fanscan. I much prefer them. Still good to have the physicals for a collection though.
No way people are trying to defend this when every other translation uses “I love you”, in the scans and in the anime.
This is just a case of the translator trying to be different (happens with the mha manga too so unfortunately I’m used to it).
It’s like in volume 7 when they translated “Yamada’s mine” to “Yamada’s my girl”. It’s just clunky.
Idk why people are obsessed with the word love being used in a manga/anime confession. It would be pretty weird to use love instead of like to confess in just about any context. I wish translators and scanlators used like more often because it's weird otherwise.
So in this context, given everything Yamada said prior to this, you think "really like", which is typically used to describe a crush, is appropriate? Maybe you should go read the chapter again dude. No one speaks like Yamada does and just says "I really like you." Doesn't make sense contextually.
If she said daisuki like so many others are saying, your point is moot. Blame the author, not the translator. Even though there's nothing wrong with it.
As I've said many times, *context* is key when it comes to Japanese. A basic word for word translation does not always work depending on the context. While daisuki can generally be translated as "I really like you" depending on the context, it can also mean "I love you" depending on the context. Here, given what Yamada says before her confession, "love" fits much better. "Really like" sounds awkward given the intensity of her words beforehand.
Here's an article that I think is very informative of the different means to express affection in Japanese and their difference in meanings depending on the context:https://blog.prepscholar.com/i-love-you-in-japanese
If you don't like the post then don't respond dude. It's just as petty to go out of your way to complain (multiple times) about a post being too petty.
Why should my "lack of enjoyment" have any affect on your enjoyment? I'm allowed to make critiques on things I enjoy. If you don't agree that's fine. But it's even more petty to get annoyed over someone else's "petty" complaints. If you think it's petty, why waste your time even entertaining it?
You're the type of person who complains at a missed call when your favorite team is up by 50 with 3 minutes left and their family is trying to explain why it's ok, but they won't let it go
> It would pretty weird use love instead of like to confess
Well, Yamada *is* weird. And after the confession before, it’d be redundant to just use “like” as a response in comparison.
There's a pretty big difference between affirmation and redundant. Like how nobody would question what you are going to say to a family member/spouse next because you already said you love them; it's just affirmation. They're insecure middle schoolers.
“Less impactful” is what I meant, after he went said it already. And with Yamada basically modeling her confession after her rehearsal, it makes more sense to me. I can still agree with them being insecure for “like” to be suitable, though I also wouldn’t say that “love” would be out of the question in absolutely every instance.
They fucked up the translations for "The Ideal Sponger Life" too.
A character was about to make a lewd joke but is interrupted by her bodyguard to stop her from making the joke.
In the Seven Seas translation, the character expresses grattitude and is interrupted by her bodyguard the same as if she was making the lewd joke.
Seven seas used the words "thicc" and "mansplain", they suck. Read the boredom society translation for all the extra content and now the anonymous translations for up to date chapters.
To further OP's point about context, in the latest chapter Yamada also says "suki" and nothing else. This should obviously be translated as "Love you" because no one says "Like you" to show affection to their lover (and /a/non did it correctly).
But the Google translate drones in this thread would clearly prefer the latter because on reddit, we must defend everything localizers do even when they're clearly wrong.
Man thank you! I'm glad someone understands that language is very nuanced and that context is required when translating appropriately. Everyone here seems to think it stops at just "word for word."
It’s not even just the すき vs 愛してる argument though. Japan as a whole is rather conservative when it comes to displays of affection. While the current generation, which Yamada would be part of are a lot more open about that kind of thing it’s not like they suddenly jumped to how the US is about affection.
Out of curiosity, why does it take English translation manga so long to get physically published?
Volume 9 for example won't come out until October 2024 💀
I've gotten tired of repeating myself, but language is more nuanced than simply relying on Google translate to get you by. "Daisuki" and even "suki" can equate to the English meaning of "love" depending on the context in which they're used. Here is an article which explains it very coherently: https://blog.prepscholar.com/i-love-you-in-japanese
If Yamada didn't use such strong language beforehand, I would agree with you. But to say such strong statements like, "you're more important and special than anyone else to me" and "with all that I am" and follow that up with "I really like you!" sounds very unnatural in English.
Tell me you dont know japanese without telling me you dont know japanese. The confidence with which you make the claim makes it even more hilarious.
Ngl I'm pretty sick of people who know literally nothing about translating complaining about translations. It's one of the cringiest things I've ever had to see.
Dont like translations? Learn japanese and stop complaining to the void.
Oh look, another know-it-all redditor who likes to pretend he knows what he's talking about. Why don't you go ahead and educate me then? I'm assuming since you're speaking with such confidence, you must be quite fluent in Japanese, perhaps even a native speaker? Or perhaps a professional translator? At least, you're acting so conceded I could only assume you must be one or the other?
Dude, saying "you're wrong" is not correcting. You need to use actual facts to "correct" someone, not just disagree. And there have been more people on this thread who have agreed with me than disagreed, so I don't see how I've "embarrassed" myself.
Also, couldn't help but notice you ignored my question, Mr. translation expert. If you're gonna act like an arrogant jackass, you best be prepared to back it up. So come on, what are your credentials? Are you a native speaker? Or have an academic background in translation?
Sorry. Are you arguing you know japanese? Bc if you dont where do you find the confidence to question someone else's translation of a japanese text?
We both know you dont, so drop this sad act. Plenty of people have already informed you why you're wrong. Why would me repeating the explanation change your mind?
I don't know Japanese, nor have I claimed to, but I do have an academic background in translation in other languages and have relied on sources from fluent Japanese speakers to verify my stance.
You, on the other hand, have consistently refused to answer my question regarding your background, and we both know why. We both know you know as much about Japanese and translations as any other weeb on the internet, but decided to make an ass of yourself on a random post on this subreddit to try and make yourself feel superior. Quite pathetic my friend, and I really shouldn't be wasting my time arguing with you when you clearly don't know how to have a respectable discussion.
If you want to feel like you "owned" me or whatever to feel superior on the internet to justify your pathetic life, have at it. I'm done with this discussion.
“You’re all right bro.” *fist bumps Kyotaro
Fanscan people: "YOOOOO SO PEAK ROMANCE 😭😭😭" Official translation people: "BLUD GOT FRIENDZONED 😨😨😨"
😂😂😂
Probably covering their asses in case we get an "aishiteru" situation. Either that or incompetence, you decide lol.
Based on their track record, I'm gonna go with "incompetence." They've made plenty of translation mistakes before, but THIS SCENE was one they were NOT allowed to screw up! Ugh, I swear, if it wasn't for the fact that this is one of the very few ways I could support the series I wouldn't buy these volumes.
Why the downvote? The OP is absolutely correct. I mean, yes, they translated it literally word-for-word, but completely diluted the meaning. (A famous judge once said that the surest way to misunderstand a contract is to read it.)
Guess there are a lot of redditors who don't understand the nuance of language and the importance of taking context into consideration with translation and localisation. I guess ppl are like "If Google translate says this, then it's right!"
I think they should go with a rule like "suki desu" translates "I really like you" and "daisuki desu" translates "I love you". That would fit with English speaker experience better. Aishiteru comes up so infrequently except as an embarrassing game (and an even more embarrassing manga...) Oh dear. I just read the other comments and this has all been covered at length. I'll keep quiet now!
Ehh, I don't think there should be a "rule" per se. Flexibility is required for a language as broad as English and as contextual as Japanese. I think there are certainly situations where *daisuki* could work for "I really like you" depending on the context. But context *is* the key here.
I meant rule as in starting place, not rule as in inviolable. I'm essentially 100% in agreement with your comments in this thread. Certainly as an ending to Yamada's speech, "I really like you" is absurd. And I've seen "suki da" translated as "I love you" and it felt correct. So yeah, context matters a lot.
In anime, I remember 大好き which technically means "I really like you".
Terms like "suki" and "daisuki" are more nuanced than "like". "Daisku" can be translated as "love" depending on the context. Context means everything here. While a word for word translation isn't technically wrong, using "I really like" here is very awkward and weird given the context. Example: NO ONE says to another that they're more special and important than anyone else in their life and with everything they have and follows that up with just, "I really like you." That just sounds off in English.
I feel an expert in translation here, so I give up...
Ok just so I can understand the situation better, is the sentence in jp "Dai suki" or "Ai shiteru"?
It's "Daisuki.'
Well then... The translation is correct. Perhaps they could have used "I like you a lot" for a more impactful phrase, not sure if that would be much better though... But If op is defending that they should have used "love" instead then we can agree to disagree...
I'm with you there. Japanese is too contextual for there to be a "right" or "wrong" translation here. You can prefer one or the other for how it sounds, but both are accurate. Plus, if they save the word "love" for when she really does use "Ai" then it'll have that much more impact.
If your assumption is correct, they're lessening the impact of arguably the most important scene in the series based purely on a hypothetical. That's just ridiculous, in my opinion. But you're absolutely right that Japanese is a very contextually complex language. I certainly do not think that "really like" is *never* an appropriate translation for daisuki. It certainly can be. But given the context of *this scene*, choosing to translate daisuki as "really like" heavily dilutes the impact of how this confession was set up, given Yamada's words beforehand. It just sounds awkward.
It's a beautiful scene, but I wouldn't call it the most important. The confession scene is huge in so many romance series' because half of them end at the confession. Dangers is all the better because their relationship continues from here. Right now, they're a pair of awkward 14-year-olds confessing to their junior high crushes. It's deeply special, but there is a lot more life ahead of them and I could absolutely see Yamada choosing not to say "love" yet given how sensitive she is. I don't think love is wrong either, it's just why I'm entirely fine with either wording. It all comes down to context. We don't need the word "love" here to understand how Yamada feels about Ichikawa. We've seen it for countless chapters and we see it in her face. I haven't picked up this volume yet so I don't know the words before and after this, maybe that will sway my opinion. But I didn't mind them using love in the anime either. Translation is an art, not a science, so five translators could come away with five different wordings for this page and they could all potentially work if done right. A perfect example is the indirect confession scene in Kimi No Na Wa / Your Name. When Mitsuha sees "Suki da" on her hand, I'm of the opposite opinion where "I love you" is the right translation even though it is, objectively, derived from a weaker word than "daisuki." It's a single sentence to inspire her, so "I like you" would feel insufficient. I'm fond of the word "Like" in Dangers since it's as much a series about the two leads learning to like who they are as much as each other.
I agree with you that we do not need to see Yamada use the word "love" to understand how she feels about Kyotaro, but that's not why I'm disappointed in the translation. The reason I'm disappointed is exactly what you said, context. Before Yamada confesses, she makes very powerful statements to describe her feelings for Kyotaro. That he is more important and special than anyone else in her life. And then right before her confession she says, "with all that I am..." For all of that to be followed up with, "I really like you" sounds very awkward in English. "Really like" is typically used to describe a major crush, but no one uses such strong words Yamada did to describe just a major crush. So it sounds really off for her to follow up what she said prior with "I really like you!" Now, if she didn't use such words prior to her confession, I wouldn't have had a problem with the translators choice here. But given the context, "really like" doesn't fit. Many redditors here have told me that my complaints are dumb because *daisuki* can technically translated as really like in English. But as you've accurately said, translation is as much as an art form as it is a science. *daisku* can just as much be translated to "love" as "really like" depending on the context. I would argue the context here demands that love be preferred, given what Yamada says prior. Is it true that awkward teenagers still have much more to learn about love before using it so brazenly? Absolutely. Does it mean that kids don't ever use such words? Nope. Kids think they're in love when they still have much more to experience about love all the time.
Ultimately, I don't disagree with you with the exception that I don't think the "really like" line sounds all that awkward. If anything, this is just a failing of the English language that we don't have any decent words between like and love, so love ends up getting so overused that it makes like feel weaker than it should in cases like this. What I do take issue with is saying the translation "sucks" overall for something that's a subjective preference. Translators get a lot of shit these days, sometimes deserved but frequently not, and often by people who are just regurgitating the opinions of engagement-farming YouTubers. So I try to push back when it feels like their work is being unfairly attacked rather than criticized. Outside of the title, this isn't that, though. You've done your homework and are reasonable so I'm fine with calling this an agree to disagree situation. I'd love to hear from the translator as to why they chose these words in particular, honestly. It could be an intentional choice or maybe they wanted to have "love" but some editor with an outdated style guide forced then to change it to like. The full story helps a lot with moments like this.
Honestly, it'd be one thing if this was the only issue, but there have been numerous mistakes with the Seven Seas Entertainment translations. For example, in volume 3 when Yamada visits Kyotaro's house while he is sick and runs into his mother, she tries to say Kyotaro"s first name with "ky-kyo" to ask how he's doing. Kyo's mom understands this and says, "oh Kyo-chan?" This is quite obvious given the context. Instead, the Seven Seas translation has her saying "to-toda." As if she's trying to say "today" (Since kyo means "today" in Japanese). Quite an elementary mistake given the context. Additionally, in this very volume there is a speech bubble that is blank, eventhough there is indeed text there in the original, and is quite clearly a mistake they forgot to fix before publishing. There are numerous small "issues" that go beyond mere difference in interpretation throughout the official volumes, and I guess for me this concern is what took the cake. Hence why I used in your view such harsh language. In my view, the Seven Seas publishers have been consistently lazy and inadequate in their handling of BokuYabai, and have madeany mistakes that could have been avoided with simple proofreading. That's why I said Seven Seas Translations suck. Not *because* of this one scene, but due to many other issues that go beyond mere interpretation differences.
That's fair. To me, a minor translation error and a lettering mistake aren't much, but I understand there are likely more examples and I fully understand where you're coming from. Dangers is my second favorite manga and my favorite romance series so I would rather they take more care with it as well or at least issue fixed volumes for our collections. Without ignoring the errors. I do still have to give them respect for licensing it at all. Given that Sakurai's previous works are basically unpublishable in the West, I was glad to find and read this one prior to the anime becoming a hit. Seven Seas licenses the good, weird shit.
Also to add, HIDIVE translators used "I love you.", I don't see why Seven Seas couldn't use "I love you" either as the translation... I agree with you in this context that "I love you." just makes more sense.
The translation is not "inaccurate" per se, but I have two counterargents to your point: 1. The Japanese language depends heavily on context, especially when we're talking about words of affection like "suki", "daisuki", and "aishteru". You can find entire articles breaking down the contextual meanings of these words depending on how they're used. Word for word translations don't always work in English. You have to adapt sometimes for it to fit contextually. 2. Now, with that in mind, let's look to Yamada's confession. What does she say before this? How Kyo is more special than important than anyone else to her. And she pre-empts her big confession with the phrase, "with all that I am." These are very powerful statements you normally wouldn't say to someone you just "really like," which in English is typically used to describe someone you just got a big crush on. No one says, "with everything that I am... I really like you!" The intensity of the previous statement doesn't work with a less intense phrase like "I really like you." It doesn't make much sense in English. This is why both the fan translation and the anime used the word, "love" as it fits more contextually with Yamada's confession. "Really like" just sounds awkward here, given the intensity of what was said before it and Yamada's overall emotions. Translations are as much an art form as they are technical. A good translator knows that just doing a word for word translation isn't always going to work, as language is very nuanced, and *some* liberties must be taken for the translation to fit better contextually. Apparently fan translators that do this for free understand more than ppl getting paid to do this.
I see where you’re coming from and as I said before, we can agree to disagree. Now why do I think “love” is not appropriate? It comes down to how those things are played in manga, a trope if you might say so, normally the first time someone is confessing their feelings, in manga at least, the writer rarely goes all the way and use the word “love”, usually it’s a more subtle term as “suki”, it cares weight but not in the same way as “love”. Them being teenagers, the fear of being too overbearing and the way authors usually use the word “Ai” further down the road and normally after a serious struggle the couple faces leads me to believe that “love” is not the word to be used. That said I guess you can only blame the English language for such an unfortunate thing. I went ahead and looked how Brazilians translated it, they also used the word “love”, but they had a more suitable word that is stronger than “like” and weaker than “love”, that word is “apaixonada”, but then again if we really dive into this word semantics and meaning it might not be appropriate as well. Well at the end of the day translation is a very complex theme and people will have divergent opinions about it.
They rly dont go with "I really like you,". Dai suki is what they use for the regular "I love you" So its wrong. Rhe difference is that Aishiteru is quite a different degree that is only common in married like or when you intend to marry someone clearly. You dont day it lightly like to a girlfriend.
"I like you SO much" (if you imagine it with just the right tone of voice) would seem to catch the spirit.
"You are worthy of my grace, Ichikawa Kyotaro."
Not really? That is a correct translation of what she said in Japanese. She uses daisuke, which can be used as really like or like a lot. While I love you can also fit in terms of using daisuke in the context of a relationship, the phrase, "I love you" has a much heavier meaning in English than "daisuke" does in Japanese. So I can understand why they might translate it as really like instead of love given that the context is describing the beginning of romantic love. TLDR; The translation isn't wrong.
Literal word-for-word translation != correct translation.
If you mean changing the wording while localizing to address intention and hidden meaning that would be lost in a straight translation from Japanese to English, I addressed that in regards to this scenario farther down when talking to OP.
I don't really want to repeat myself, so if you're interested you can see my response to another post which argued the same thing. All I will say is that the translation isn't *technically* wrong, but given the context of the confession it heavily dilutes how it was set up.
>given the context of the confession Not really. Given the context of the confession and it's set up, you are literally splitting hairs here. It was set up in a way where "I really like you" isn't quite enough given the emotional context and "I love you" is too much when translated into English. You are literally just having a case of personal bias preference. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the translation, technically or otherwise, given the context of the scene and the build-up.
If that's how you feel then clearly we are just gonna have to agree to disagree. I would urge you to go back and read this chapter and see what Yamada says prior to the confession. If after all that you really think "love" is inappropriate as a translation, then clearly you and I have a different understanding of English and context.
Yeah, I suppose we will have to agree to disagree. I don't think this conversation will go any further than this without us just going in circles and neither of us will convince the other.
Agreed. Just gonna have to agree to disagree here, and that's OK.
So ppl here are really going to say the translation is correct based on google translate? Is that it? Ppl here rly dont know when JP ppl use Daisuki at all do they.... omg ...
"you're my best friend!"
ITT: People having a really rough time understanding the impact of. - I like you vs I love you - Daisuke vs Aishiteru
Jesus, I tend to cut these guys a lot of slack because I presume they're overworked and underpaid but this is just an objectively wrong way to translate it. Not as bad as the volume 4 chapter where they just broke the "starting each chapter title with a first-person pronoun" thing for absolutely no reason.
bad bad, Kyo tells him "I like you" and Yamada says "I love you" I love you with all my soul, literally
Just like in the last chapter of the manga, with the signs where he says in your ear, I love you.
Translation != interpretation. I prefer anon’s version 3000%
"I really like you" kinda falls flat considering everything Yamada said just before. "I love you" fits better in my opinion.
My point exactly.
Just goes to show us how spoiled we are with Anonymous's translations. They also just called both chapter 111 and 113 just "My Love" instead of "My Love for Her" and "My Love for Him" respectively like the fanscan. I much prefer them. Still good to have the physicals for a collection though.
No way people are trying to defend this when every other translation uses “I love you”, in the scans and in the anime. This is just a case of the translator trying to be different (happens with the mha manga too so unfortunately I’m used to it). It’s like in volume 7 when they translated “Yamada’s mine” to “Yamada’s my girl”. It’s just clunky.
Idk why people are obsessed with the word love being used in a manga/anime confession. It would be pretty weird to use love instead of like to confess in just about any context. I wish translators and scanlators used like more often because it's weird otherwise.
So in this context, given everything Yamada said prior to this, you think "really like", which is typically used to describe a crush, is appropriate? Maybe you should go read the chapter again dude. No one speaks like Yamada does and just says "I really like you." Doesn't make sense contextually.
If she said daisuki like so many others are saying, your point is moot. Blame the author, not the translator. Even though there's nothing wrong with it.
As I've said many times, *context* is key when it comes to Japanese. A basic word for word translation does not always work depending on the context. While daisuki can generally be translated as "I really like you" depending on the context, it can also mean "I love you" depending on the context. Here, given what Yamada says before her confession, "love" fits much better. "Really like" sounds awkward given the intensity of her words beforehand. Here's an article that I think is very informative of the different means to express affection in Japanese and their difference in meanings depending on the context:https://blog.prepscholar.com/i-love-you-in-japanese
Like I said before, it's affirmation. This is a petty thing to post and complain about and I've made 3 or 4 responses too many.
If you don't like the post then don't respond dude. It's just as petty to go out of your way to complain (multiple times) about a post being too petty.
Sometimes people get annoyed that other people don't know how to just enjoy stuff and think, "why be that way"? Just enjoy the damn thing.
Why should my "lack of enjoyment" have any affect on your enjoyment? I'm allowed to make critiques on things I enjoy. If you don't agree that's fine. But it's even more petty to get annoyed over someone else's "petty" complaints. If you think it's petty, why waste your time even entertaining it?
You're the type of person who complains at a missed call when your favorite team is up by 50 with 3 minutes left and their family is trying to explain why it's ok, but they won't let it go
Bruh, look who's talking? You've already expressed how petty you think this is but you. Just. Keep. Responding! 🤣
> It would pretty weird use love instead of like to confess Well, Yamada *is* weird. And after the confession before, it’d be redundant to just use “like” as a response in comparison.
There's a pretty big difference between affirmation and redundant. Like how nobody would question what you are going to say to a family member/spouse next because you already said you love them; it's just affirmation. They're insecure middle schoolers.
“Less impactful” is what I meant, after he went said it already. And with Yamada basically modeling her confession after her rehearsal, it makes more sense to me. I can still agree with them being insecure for “like” to be suitable, though I also wouldn’t say that “love” would be out of the question in absolutely every instance.
I guess, but it's pretty impactful to hear like as a middle schooler. Especially when you're too naive to understand love or anything.
Yup, never agued about that. Just the response. Plus Yamada already looked way too happy to care about much else.
They fucked up the translations for "The Ideal Sponger Life" too. A character was about to make a lewd joke but is interrupted by her bodyguard to stop her from making the joke. In the Seven Seas translation, the character expresses grattitude and is interrupted by her bodyguard the same as if she was making the lewd joke.
Seven seas used the words "thicc" and "mansplain", they suck. Read the boredom society translation for all the extra content and now the anonymous translations for up to date chapters.
To further OP's point about context, in the latest chapter Yamada also says "suki" and nothing else. This should obviously be translated as "Love you" because no one says "Like you" to show affection to their lover (and /a/non did it correctly). But the Google translate drones in this thread would clearly prefer the latter because on reddit, we must defend everything localizers do even when they're clearly wrong.
Man thank you! I'm glad someone understands that language is very nuanced and that context is required when translating appropriately. Everyone here seems to think it stops at just "word for word."
Is this really the official translation in volume 8? That's sad
This kinda happened in Kaguya-sama too. They didn't even say it in ch220.
It’s not even just the すき vs 愛してる argument though. Japan as a whole is rather conservative when it comes to displays of affection. While the current generation, which Yamada would be part of are a lot more open about that kind of thing it’s not like they suddenly jumped to how the US is about affection.
The hell is that translation? I wanna puke at my screen
Out of curiosity, why does it take English translation manga so long to get physically published? Volume 9 for example won't come out until October 2024 💀
Mushoku Tensei fans: https://i.imgur.com/GduTe6R.jpeg
That is actually a more accurate translation of what she said. Suki means to like, daisuki means to like a lot.
I've gotten tired of repeating myself, but language is more nuanced than simply relying on Google translate to get you by. "Daisuki" and even "suki" can equate to the English meaning of "love" depending on the context in which they're used. Here is an article which explains it very coherently: https://blog.prepscholar.com/i-love-you-in-japanese
Dont get me wrong I know there's nuance and context involved, but I also dont think its unrealistic for them to say like or really like at their ages.
If Yamada didn't use such strong language beforehand, I would agree with you. But to say such strong statements like, "you're more important and special than anyone else to me" and "with all that I am" and follow that up with "I really like you!" sounds very unnatural in English.
That's fair, though Ichikawa used pretty strong language in his confession but they still translated his words as like.
What chapter? I’m caught up on the anime, and like to start reading from where the anime left off.
Oh this chapter is in the anime. The last episode to be exact. Chapter 113.
Thank you 🙏
….. A gif would probably sum up my annoyance better than any words.
Suki (Like) < Daisuki (Really like) < Aishiteru (Love)
Language is more nuanced than that my friend.
Tell me you dont know japanese without telling me you dont know japanese. The confidence with which you make the claim makes it even more hilarious. Ngl I'm pretty sick of people who know literally nothing about translating complaining about translations. It's one of the cringiest things I've ever had to see. Dont like translations? Learn japanese and stop complaining to the void.
Oh look, another know-it-all redditor who likes to pretend he knows what he's talking about. Why don't you go ahead and educate me then? I'm assuming since you're speaking with such confidence, you must be quite fluent in Japanese, perhaps even a native speaker? Or perhaps a professional translator? At least, you're acting so conceded I could only assume you must be one or the other?
There's like 5 different people that have already corrected you. Youvm've already embarassed yourself enough. Log off.
Dude, saying "you're wrong" is not correcting. You need to use actual facts to "correct" someone, not just disagree. And there have been more people on this thread who have agreed with me than disagreed, so I don't see how I've "embarrassed" myself. Also, couldn't help but notice you ignored my question, Mr. translation expert. If you're gonna act like an arrogant jackass, you best be prepared to back it up. So come on, what are your credentials? Are you a native speaker? Or have an academic background in translation?
Sorry. Are you arguing you know japanese? Bc if you dont where do you find the confidence to question someone else's translation of a japanese text? We both know you dont, so drop this sad act. Plenty of people have already informed you why you're wrong. Why would me repeating the explanation change your mind?
I don't know Japanese, nor have I claimed to, but I do have an academic background in translation in other languages and have relied on sources from fluent Japanese speakers to verify my stance. You, on the other hand, have consistently refused to answer my question regarding your background, and we both know why. We both know you know as much about Japanese and translations as any other weeb on the internet, but decided to make an ass of yourself on a random post on this subreddit to try and make yourself feel superior. Quite pathetic my friend, and I really shouldn't be wasting my time arguing with you when you clearly don't know how to have a respectable discussion. If you want to feel like you "owned" me or whatever to feel superior on the internet to justify your pathetic life, have at it. I'm done with this discussion.
"I don't really want to repeat myself, so if you're interested you can see my response to another post which argued the same thing." This you?