Since I started to pre order and purchased the new SM manga from Kodansha a question has been on my head and since Kodansha USA has not answered it (and doubt they will) maybe someone here knows it.


I use to own the whole SM manga series that tokyopop published, then for several reasons in my life back in 2006 I got really depressed and sold almost everything I had of Sailor Moon (which I regrets today)
Time went by and I discovered that SM manga was re released in Japan with a new presentation, cover, etc.


So with the regret of my sales I now wanted the manga, even though it was in Japanese, (I understand basic japanese so I was ok with it) time passed and my Boyfriend back in 2010 got them for me on my birthday, I was happy until 2011 when Kodansha announced that it would translate the manga.


Until now I have read them all and see lots of translation mistakes and was very disappointed that they didn't even leave the commentary that Naoko left at the end of each volume on the original Japanese release. But my real concern is...


Will Kodansha translate and publish the 2 special volumes with the side stories in vol. 1 and vol 2 being the SM Kaguya Hime lovers special which was vol 11 on the original 90's release.


I would be really disappointed if they don't get them out, even though I already have them in Japanese.


I know that they are translating vol 1 - 12 but what about those 2 specials, any insights?

Yes, they will translate both specials the same way they released Codename: Sailor V.

As for the left-out-Naoko-note, it was simply Kodansha who asked for them not to be published, they were left out of Pika Edition's french release as well.

._. I seriously can't understand the fandom's hate for this release. it's not worse than Tokyopop's, is it? Damn purists. Did the Tokyo Mew Mew community complain about Flanagan changing Zakuro's name to Zacro? No they didn't.

unfortunately the only problem I see is the whole translation mistakes and awkward grammatical errors.
For example... When the sailor were looking for the princess, they would refer to her as "Princess sama" ... and other awkward translations of that nature.
But it's a good thing that they will be translating it! makes me at ease XD

^^ I own all 8 volumes so far, the only BIG mistake that bothered me was "Princess Beryl". (I always ignore the honorifics, and mistakes like "Death Ribbon Revolution" and "Sparkling Wide Pressure" don't bother me that much, because I imagine them being spoken by their japanese actresses anyway. (I spammed Hotaru's attack A LOT in Another Story))

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I seriously can't understand the fandom's hate for this release. it's not worse than Tokyopop's, is it? Damn purists.

It's because for those of us who can speak Japanese, what we're seeing as the official English translation is a pretty far cry from how it ought to be.

I guess it depends on how much you care, but for people who work as professional translators (like me), or others like Sailor Hell who have degrees in Japanese, it is very irksome to see such a shoddy, sloppy product out on the shelves. Most of us in the field would get fired for making so many basic mistakes.

But by no means do you have to hate the Kodansha release because of our complaints. It's just that we're all disappointed that it wasn't handled with more care.

Elly wrote:

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I seriously can't understand the fandom's hate for this release. it's not worse than Tokyopop's, is it? Damn purists.

It's because for those of us who can speak Japanese, what we're seeing as the official English translation is a pretty far cry from how it ought to be.

I guess it depends on how much you care, but for people who work as professional translators (like me), or others like Sailor Hell who have degrees in Japanese, it is very irksome to see such a shoddy, sloppy product out on the shelves. Most of us in the field would get fired for making so many basic mistakes.

But by no means do you have to hate the Kodansha release because of our complaints. It's just that we're all disappointed that it wasn't handled with more care.

Randomish question for someone who speaks Japanese, the meanings aren't changed much in the Kodansha translations, right? Is it just sloppy or does it stray away from what it's supposed to say?

Mayonnaise wrote:

Yes, they will translate both specials the same way they released Codename: Sailor V.

As for the left-out-Naoko-note, it was simply Kodansha who asked for them not to be published, they were left out of Pika Edition's french release as well.

I would imagine if they were left out of your French edition, then you are probably right with it being Kodansha's decision to not include the notes in the international releases of the manga. I'm curious as to why though...

well... here's an example



It does some times change the meaning, for example in Vol 7, where all the sailor are facing Haruka and Michiru where they are rejecting to fight along each other, Michiru says that "Haruka is both a man and a woman" with that sentence, I would think that maybe Haruka is a Hermaphrodite but in the original Manga from tokyo pop Michiru says "Harauka posseses both male and female strength" but not saying that she has both genders.


So yeah, it sloppy and because of that, the meaning is lost in several parts of the story


Update:

Here's what I mean:

Kodansha's Version:




Tokyo pop version:

That does bother me a little bit, they way that both translations state that Haruka is both male and female. I'm not that big into the huge debate over her gender, but I think she's just a strong female. Not like Makoto, but in Haruka's own way. She acts like a boy but looks like a girl.

And "Death Ribbon Revolution" bothered me a ton I know it sounds like that when it's spoken, and when she performs the attack ribbons show up, but pretty much everyone in the Sailor Moon fandom knows that the attack is "Death Reborn Revolution." Yes, it's grammatically incorrect but so are all the other Senshi's attacks "Mars Snake Fire"? "Shine Aqua Illusion"? The list goes on.

So anyway xD there's my two cents

mysteryloveandjustice wrote:

That does bother me a little bit, they way that both translations state that Haruka is both male and female. I'm not that big into the huge debate over her gender, but I think she's just a strong female. Not like Makoto, but in Haruka's own way. She acts like a boy but looks like a girl

I think this was intentional by Naoko herself though. she wanted Haruka to almost appear "genderless" like she has gone beyond gender. She is who she wants to identify herself as, sometimes thats more feminine sometimes thats more masculine. However, that just brings up a whole other discussion not really related to this topic. ^^;


Edit: Also TBH, I like both translations. Though I feel Kodansha's does a better job portraying what is really intended.

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I think this was intentional by Naoko herself though. she wanted Haruka to almost appear "genderless" like she has gone beyond gender. She is who she wants to identify herself as, sometimes thats more feminine sometimes thats more masculine. However, that just brings up a whole other discussion not really related to this topic. ^^;

Haha I totally agree xD And that's totally a Haruka thing to do anyway

Depends on the line, honestly.

Without getting into too much detail in this thread (since SailorHell's site and Misty at Miss Dream already do a fine job of getting into the nitty gritty of the issues), it's a mix of outright wrong translations (like, using entirely different words than what appears in Japanese - WILDLY different) and a lot bad grammar choices and terrible editing. In any other industry except manga publication that level of sloppiness would get you fired. Heck, it even got Kodansha's first editor and translator fired. Sadly, the new people involved don't seem much better.

The Haruka line about her being "both female and male" stands out because that's not what's said in Japanese. They say she has the qualities of both genders - which is big difference. It's the difference between literal and figurative speech in Japanese, and that should be clearly reflected in the English. As I recall, there's also a line where Haruka says to Usagi - "male, female...does it matter?" with the insinuation that her gender isn't important. In the Kodansha version, that distinction isn't nearly as clear.

And then there are the problems with romanization of katakana words, like Spark Ring Wide Pressure, etc. And then there are the totally made-up sound effects that mean nothing at all. In quite a few spots Kodansha has managed to do a worse job than Tokyopop, which is saying something.

All I know is, when Kodansha starts releasing their translation for Stars I'll have a big bucket of popcorn ready, and will give my editorial staff at Miss Dream a pack of red bulls to work through that hot mess. When I translated stars it was incredibly difficult for me, and not to boast but I work as a translator dealing with technical engineering documents. I'm not coming at this from a students perspective or someone whose grasp of the language is shaky. The language in Sailor Stars is just -brutal-, the grammar is convoluted and its intentionally vague. Tokyopop messed it up pretty bad and I have no doubts Kodansha will do the same.

Elly wrote:

All I know is, when Kodansha starts releasing their translation for Stars I'll have a big bucket of popcorn ready.

Eheh, how much do you bet the three lights will be named "Kô"?
Doesn't bothers me much, though. It's common in french manga for "ou" to be romanized "ô".

It's so sad I've stopped being so psyched for every new release. Seriously, it took me forever to get through volume 7 and I finally just ordered 8. What's worse is I'm spending more time with my old Tokyopop releases and trying to get a full set again.

I don't know, for as wrong as Tokyopop was, their translation at least sounded fluid when I read it. More natural to a native English speaker. With the Kodansha releases I've had to re-read pages two to three times!

I honestly don't mind differences in the translation, as long as the overall meaning is kept the same. The only thing that really bugs me is the fact that Kodansha's releases are so prone to misprints!!!   My copy of volume 4 has a major one where, in the middle of act 21, they just randomly printed bits from a previous chapter instead of the pages that were supposed to go in that place. WTH??? Thank God for scanlations to fill me in on what my copy missed; however, it really shouldn't have missed that at all.

oh i had that same problem with one of my Mixx/Tokyo Pop sailor moon volumes. I think this is just prone to any manga publisher. :/

So far, the only problem I've had with the Kodansha release was in my copy of volume 5, a whole chapter was scanned wrong and had almost half of the top panel cut off. :/

I'm not going to let that incident, and the somewhat lazy translation stop me from buying the rest of the series, though. I'll just check each volume before I buy it.

Very true Neith! Plus as they rerelease them later on they will fix printing and translation errors.