It's nice to know there are some good people in there at TOKYOPOP. I am always a little torn for wanting to pick up their releases, because they butchered a few titles, some are bearable, and then some just make me want to buy them... like Yubisaki Milk Tea
Hah I guess this has all kinda gone off topic..
Re. Yotsuba&: I've been relatively pleased with it.. the only part that bugged me is that they localized Yotsuba's misinterpretation of her Dad's job from some kind of Japanese term for a worker who prepares food (i'm just going from memory here) and made it "trainspotter." Normally that kind of thing is no problem, but in the next volume his wrongly-perceived career is the basis for a whole chapter.
That's why I'm against these artistically liberal translations when a series is still being worked on in Japan. A US publisher just has no idea where the story is gonna go and what's going to contradict their adaptations down the line.
Digiwombat: I got their first 5 vols of Negima before I gave up on it to tell the truth (altho the first 3 were defiately far worse than the later). I heard that they really picked up their game around volume 7 or 8, so I'm gonna have a look at one of their latest efforts and see if I can read it without groaning via way of terrible puns. (even if it is great however, I still can't praise someone for leaving me with 1400 or so pages of a good manga i can't bring myself to read again)
Also, Honorifics are good, but I hate it when a publisher uses that or some other "look how pure we're being" reasoning as a crutch to go nuts in other areas of a translation. It seems as though everybody has a disclaimer how "real" they are for ther fans nowdays.
Yeah, no one is doing a flawless job, and Negima is likely Del Rey's best representation of how they've tried to pull it together after a questionable start. Genshiken has been rock solid from day one.
Again, I think this has more to do with the translator/adaptor than it does with the company in some cases. Like I said about my interview with David Ury, no one looks at who is bringing their manga across, and while honorifics are a step in the right direction, I think we as consumers need to be more aware of who is bringing things over and that person's track record across multiple publishers and make comparisons to figure out which companies can earn a baseline of trust and which need to get their act in order. But that being said, I think honorifics are a prerequisite and aren't going to make me forgive everything.
But then, if I could read those crazy Japanese word-pictures, I wouldn't be having this discussion, so I guess it's my own shortcoming. :D
Yeah that's a good call. It would be nice to think that the editors all read japanese and are up to date with the original manga and know it inside and out to pick up on any trans/adapt mistakes but I guess it's just not a realistic situation.
Funny you should mention those crazy Japanese word pictures though, because that's what's funally prompted me to learn Japanese.. I've even picked up a few of my favourite titles just to have on hand when I am ready. I feel as though it's going to be a long journey though.
*looks at topic* Uhh.. oh yeah, Love Hina!
You mean Chinese word pictures? That are used by Japanese?
Sorry, just had to chime in as a Chinese person. Not like I take offense or anything.
