Kyralih wrote:

I absolutely adore the manga series and I have been asked not to buy the rereleases for myself (my husband wants to get me them for christmas xD), but I must know something: Do they still call Usagi "Bunny" in the new release? 'cause if they don't, I'll be one sad kitty.

... and yes, I probably could look this up right now, but I am the lazy. (^v^")

No, they call her Usagi-chan. Although Mamoru calls her "Bun-head" as his teasing nickname in the first volume.

Awww, sad.... Well, I'll survive =D

It means the same thing lol

yeah, I know, but I just prefer "Bunny" to "Usagi" - my head just doesn't like the 'gi' sound. o.o for instance, I really dislike the word 'intriguing'. but enough about that.

I just received my copy today, and I read through the first act. I haven't found any issues with the translations thus far. I am greatly relieved that they're using the Japanese names rather than the North American "equivalents." It reads much more naturally that way, in my opinion.

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Japanese names rather than the North American "equivalents." It reads much more naturally that way, in my opinion

I know right? The same thing goes for them being called scouts. In the late mixx volumes got so annoying when switch between scouts and soldiers.

Yamichan16 wrote:

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Japanese names rather than the North American "equivalents." It reads much more naturally that way, in my opinion

I know right? The same thing goes for them being called scouts. In the late mixx volumes got so annoying when switch between scouts and soldiers.

oh goodness yes

I know that it has been mentioned that "guardian" is more appropriate than "soldier" because the connotations with soldier often involved aggression and retributive violence, but "scouts" made the Sailor Senshi sound so incredibly passive. They're protecting the world, not going door to door selling cookies!

People just like to complain its human nature. They don't take in that its difficult to translate, plus everyone has their own opinions on how everything in the world has to be. I have read some reviews and they are just petty critques.

Siren wrote:

People just like to complain its human nature. They don't take in that its difficult to translate, plus everyone has their own opinions on how everything in the world has to be. I have read some reviews and they are just petty critques.

I definitely agree with this. As I said in the Sailor V thread, the manga was translated beautifully, even with its (minor) flaws!

I have the manga in my hands finally! From the library, but still. ^____^ Reading with delight.

This was on Moonkitty's review; it was something he had a problem with. I don't know why, but I started laughing! I mean, it really is not a big deal.

No translation is going to be 100% flawless and perfect. It's extremely hard to translate something from one language to another, and things are bound to be lost in translation every time. The only thing translators can do is make notes of the odder things somewhere, and Kodansha did a pretty good job doing that. Also, I don't think people remembered that this was only the FIRST volume, so of course there is going to be some weird translations every now and then. I feel like some (not all, SOME) people are just jumping on the Moonkitty bandwagon with this whole complaint thing.

I think it's kinda funny how Sailor V has received no heat whatsoever (which it DESERVES, it's awesome) while Sailor Moon is being scrutinized under a microscope. You can make your own interpretations about that XD

That's what made me really mad in his review. Of course both translations would be different. Everyone interprets a language a different way. The same meaning was there. Usagi was mad that she had to stand in the hallway. It's not like Kodansha had Usagi say I wonder what's on TV tonight or something like that.

I bet Sailor Moon got more heat because it was translated in English before Sailor V has never been. There were fan translations (before Miss Dream's) and they weren't that good.

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Also, I don't think people remembered that this was only the FIRST
volume, so of course there is going to be some weird translations every
now and then.

Thank you for mentioning that. I think I mention it here or the Sailor V manga post I made in the Sailor V thread. I wish people realize this is the first volume and they have time to improve their translations. There is no need to demand a better translations already. It's not like they release the whole series at once.

Some people were saying that they already did most of the translations already. But I dunno. I still think a lot of people are making a big deal over small errors. Should they be things to point out? Sure, I bet Kodansha would appreciate some constructive criticism. A good company always wants to know how to improve for its customers. Should it be so bad that people not buy it at all or just download it off the internet? No. You're hurting our chances of getting more Sailor Moon here in the States and other english speaking countries. I don't understand why some people don't get that.

Brit-chan wrote:

I still think a lot of people are making a big deal over small errors. Should it be so bad that people not buy it at all or just download it off the internet? No. You're hurting our chances of getting more Sailor Moon here in the States and other english speaking countries. I don't understand why some people don't get that.

I agree. It has minor flaws but so what? At least you got the manga released in your language. I never got a single volume in my language, I should be the one complaining, not those guys. Kodansha deserves a huge thank you letter.
"Oh no! He called her bump-head once! It's awful! Don't support it, download it!"

And and they say Princess-sama! And and using honorifics is unprofessional!

*rubs at temples*

Okay, I think I can add something to this discussion.

I got my copies through Amazon, fortunately, both Moon and V arrived in the same package.

To me, I think that one of the main complaints is that the Official translation seems stilted. I'm in my Anime club meeting now, so I can't provide examples, but my opinion IS somewhat like Brad's opinion. (Brad is the webmaster of Moonkitty, just fyi.) There are a few grammatical errors in both volumes, such as using the the wrong their/they're/there. (I can't remember which off of the top of my head.) There are other things that a lot of people seem to think are 'nitpicky', but I seem them as essential.

Grammar is NOT something that should be overlooked in a publication. The thing with translation is that sometimes you have to know when to adapt a script, by changing it to keep the meaning the same when a phrase doesn't translate. That happens a lot in series. Sometimes you need to change a pun, like with Japanese homonyms. Chances are, they won't carry over into English.

I now return from that rant, into something more relevant. People have been saying that we should be grateful to even have the manga in official release. I am grateful, don't get me wrong, but I am of the mind that we shouldn't have to settle for mediocre. I know that the translation was freelanced, which isn't a problem. The problem I have is that Kodansha neglected to proofread the typesetting before they went to print. It's unprofessional, in my opinion.

I don't care about honorifics, I don't care about nicknames, I'm mainly just ticked about the grammar. It feels like the dialogue is being said by people much older than the middle-schoolers that comprise the main cast. (And "Bro" just sounds weird. I'm sorry, but it's been phased out of current jargon.)

See that I can agree with. I guess I looked over the grammar errors in my first read through, but yes, a publication should be free of grammar errors and I think Kodansha should have did a better job at that. But I am sick of the blatant hate going around.

And I also agree on the Bro one too. I would have rather they just kept in Onii-san or Sempai or whatever it originally was.

Well, there IS a precedent for them to keep Japanese terms in, without explaining what they mean in the end notes. (see Makoto's line to her sensei regarding her hair) If I recall, in the anime, Usagi always called Motoki Onii-san, which was awkwardly translated into 'Bro' for the Kodansha re-release.

I also would have preferred that, along with making end notes for the translated puns and other cultural references, they had at least made a note of what the honorifics mean. Not everyone who reads the new editions is going to be a denizen of the interwebs; some of them may be kids, or may be trying to relive their childhood.

Kodansha's lack of translations for the honorifics REALLY annoys me, because it makes it feel like they expect everyone to understand the basics of Japanese, while they explain night school and the Princess/pudding/Royal chocolate line change.

I dunno, maybe i am being a little hard on Kodansha, but I still think that the way the speech is translated is very odd.

I was VERY surprised to see that Kodansha had not included an honorific guide. I mean, it's common knowledge to manga readers/anime watchers, but you can't expect everyone to know what they mean. In every manga that I have/read that uses honorifics, there's been a translation key in the front. It was very odd of them to include translation notes but not honorifics notes.

@Dragonicsoul I would be very hesitant to call it mediocre, but there is ALWAYS room for improvement, and as a grammar Nazi, typos bug me like non other, especially in official releases. Hopefully Kodansha will do a better job in proofreading by Volume 2.

@Brit- That's just what it is; blatant hate. Dragonicsoul and a few other people have very well constructed arguments and have evidence/research to back them up, and they're very nice and respectful about it. However, I have been seeing an awful lot of "ZOMG IT SUX SO BAD GUIZE THEY CALLED HER BUMP HEAD ONCE EWWW I HAET THIS IMMA DOWNLOAD THIS OFF THE INTERNET INSTEAD". I feel like they've been jumping on the bandwagon with everyone else and are just hungry for something to complain about. It's really easy to tell a person who has constructive criticism and a wanker apart.

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However, I have been seeing an awful lot of "ZOMG IT SUX SO BAD GUIZE THEY CALLED HER BUMP HEAD ONCE EWWW I HAET THIS IMMA DOWNLOAD THIS OFF THE INTERNET INSTEAD".

Our of curiosity, where exactly have you seen this?
Because Brad and I from MK.net are friends, and I'm also friends with Cycyn from Sailor Moon Obsession, and the three of us are probably some of the most vocal critics of the Kodansha release. None of us have ever called for anyone to boycott the manga.

Plus, I kinda feel like if people were just going to only download instead because they thought the Kodansha release was that bad, I'd hear at least something about that over at Miss Dream since these days I'm pretty much the source for pirated Sailor Moon stuff. Actually, what I've seen happen is the opposite: people download scanlations AND buy the official release.

I've been really hesitant to post in this thread, period, because it feels like a lot of personal bashing. It's one thing to say that you like the Kodansha release, or that you think some people are being picky about their expectations with it. But I'm really turned off that people are being brought up by name and being treated like they're jerks for daring to criticize the manga (whether it's reasonable criticism or not).

I guess I'm just disappointed. How would any of you like it if you went on a website and found a thread that seems to have every other post saying that your friends are whiners or nitpickers or generally ungrateful people? I came here expecting an actual discussion about *the content of the Kodansha manga* as the title implies, but instead read all about how everyone here thinks Moonkitty.net and friends are a bunch of jerks.

=\

I guess the point is, if I'm not getting too off-topic here, is that I don't think that the language in this thread is being respectful or polite at all. Disagreeing with someone is one thing. Calling those who you disagree with wankers and whiners is totally uncalled for.

I'm just sad we can't have a serious discussion about this without resorting to insulting each other.

Well I mean it pretty much goes the same way. Obviously, Sailor Moon is very much a part of our personal lives. Some readers have been DYING to see some sort of rerelease and not have to read something online or buy the manga for 50 or more for ONE copy of the old one.

I agree that EVERYONE should have an opinion about the manga. But at the same time, it is VERY disheartening that so many people have been waiting for this moment and all they see is bashing about "bump-head" or a couple of "samas." It's nothing compared to the Mixx translations and further more, at least Kodansha is recognizing that it is a Japanese manga and not some recycled creation of the dub.

So to say that bashing a website that has a negative view is wrong is fine, but to bash something that we've all worked hard and dreamed of to come back is pretty much the same thing.

Personally, having read the Mixx translations, this is a far cry from what we have dealt with. I think that all the crap being tossed around is seriously petty.

thewhitemoonfamily wrote:

Well I mean it pretty much goes the same way. Obviously, Sailor Moon is very much a part of our personal lives. Some readers have been DYING to see some sort of rerelease and not have to read something online or buy the manga for 50 or more for ONE copy of the old one.

I agree that EVERYONE should have an opinion about the manga. But at the same time, it is VERY disheartening that so many people have been waiting for this moment and all they see is bashing about "bump-head" or a couple of "samas." It's nothing compared to the Mixx translations and further more, at least Kodansha is recognizing that it is a Japanese manga and not some recycled creation of the dub.


So to say that bashing a website that has a negative view is wrong is fine, but to bash something that we've all worked hard and dreamed of to come back is pretty much the same thing.

Personally, having read the Mixx translations, this is a far cry from what we have dealt with. I think that all the crap being tossed around is seriously petty.

I agree with this full heartedly it is very petty. No one is perfect not even publishers, there are many famous books out with grammatical errors. Its just petty. Like I stated earlier everyone has an opinion on everything in the world it will never go away, but us who don't care about little things will continue giving and if you don't like it then don't buy it, I think people forget they have that option.

Also like someone else said its the first vol, there is errors to be expected.

I also wouldn't say that Brad from MK.net was bashing. I felt like he was being a bit harsh, but that's my opinion. I was kind of disappointed in how everytime I saw a post from him on facebook, it was something negative about the manga and it hadn't even been officially released yet! I wanted to read it for myself. It was really grating to see constant negativity about something I was VERY VERY excited about. So i chose to ignore and go on with my life. But I don't think I've ever actually bashed on him. I brought up MK.net mainly because it is such a huge website for Sailor Moon and he was one of the first reviews out there from the fandom. If it came across as bashing (I even agreed with some of his points, but w/e) I apologize.

However, from those reviews, I've seen some other people kind of take it pretty far, mainly on comments on facebook. But I've kind of chosen to ignore it now and just have been discussing the problems here.

I hope I didn't sound like I was bashing on people who were criticizing the new manga. I wasn't trying not too. I was just bit annoyed that's all. Everyone has a right to their own opinion and I totally respect that.

Anyway, I finally got a chanced to buy the first volume!

I love it! It feels great to open of a sailor moon manga and not have the pages full out! I love the colored pages! I kind of wish the whole thing was colored

As for the typos and grammatical error. That doesn't bother me a bit because I have bad grammar and spelling. For awkward wording it looks like they left words out which is perfect for me because that's the way I write. So as I was reading it I just fill in the words like I do when I read over my sentences. lol

Yamichan16 wrote:

Anyway, I finally got a chanced to buy the first volume!

I love it! It feels great to open of a sailor moon manga and not have the pages full out! I love the colored pages! I kind of wish the whole thing was colored

Aren't they GREAT? I'm a dork so I went through and counted all of the pages in the SM manga that were originally colored but were reduced to grayscale in the volume releases and haven't been included in artbooks: In total, there are 10. I managed to find two of these pages in color thanks to Three-lights.net, but unfortunately, no luck with the other 8. Aside from one, they're all from the first and second arcs.

Sailor V has so many pages like this it's not even funny. Somewhere full-colored pages exist! XD

I want them so badly!!! Manga is so pretty when it's colored.

Here are the two pages that I found colored on www.three-lights.net;




Back on topic, I've personally decided to just blow off this new manga drama, enjoy mine, and go on with my life.

The colorings are beautiful by the way!

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Back on topic, I've personally decided to just blow off this new manga drama, enjoy mine, and go on with my life.

Heck ya! Shall we just turn this thread into a discussion about the new manga releases?

Yamichan16 wrote:

The colorings are beautiful by the way!

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Back on topic, I've personally decided to just blow off this new manga drama, enjoy mine, and go on with my life.

Heck ya! Shall we just turn this thread into a discussion about the new manga releases?

I think that's a great idea, Yami!

So like we said, I can't tell you how giddy I am seeing such gorgeous colored pages when I open the manga! It's the closest I'll get to owning an artbook.

first of all, I'm new to reading the Sailor Moon manga (and mangas in general) and you don't know how much I really enjoyed them.

I cannot wait until November for the next part!