Why Japanese Web Novels Have A Bad Reputation

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by Wujigege, Nov 20, 2019.

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  1. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    A translator sets the tone for a story.
    I am not talking about interrupting the story with (LOLs) or a comment in the middle of a chapter that ruins the big reveal in a mystery story.
    I am referring to amateurish translation turning a serious story into a silly one when poor word choice is used.
    Translators projecting their favorite character from one story into another one.
    One very good example was a reader raising hell on a novel I picked up called I Hate Pain. Although the previous translator admitted that he is bad at translating and grammar there was a lot of righteous indignation from a group of readers because " I changed the sex of a character".
    Those who actually understand Japanese knows that the language is usually gender neutral.
    It made me wonder how many stories have been messed up by poor translations.
    A dark story turned into a comedy instead etc
    Also, onomatopoeias when left in Japanese make no sense in an English translation eg chicken sounds

    I think I am not the only one who has read quite a few stories that the tone of this story doesn't match the plot.
    But what do I know?
    Cheers!

    #Read Kuro no Maou
    # Food for thought
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2019
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  2. JokeProgrammer

    JokeProgrammer Well-Known Member

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    kuro no maou, how many chapters available after the last translator dropping it ?
     
  3. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    Currently at chapter 419
     
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  4. JokeProgrammer

    JokeProgrammer Well-Known Member

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    okay, thanks
     
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  5. grish99

    grish99 [Pelican Hater] [Hater of Face-Slapping]

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    Why japanese novels have a bad rep for me
    1: fighting novel where mc dont want to fight
    2: Mc super op without knowing it (like mate you destroyed a forest with a sneeze you could think about it) bonus points if the mc a coward
    3: story about anything and nothing mostly nothing
    why theres so many novels with this elements
     
  6. Westeller

    Westeller Smokin' Sexy Style!! Staff Member

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    JP novels have a bad rap because they're.. how did I put it in that other thread? ... "Twenty volume semi-hentai cockblockers starring Jesus, the ultimate pacifist". ... The main problem being that it's not just one or two of them. It's flippin' all of them. JP novels that are more serious and mature in tone are exceedingly rare, and it has nothing at all to do with the translator. You can't expect a translator to somehow turn the novel equivalent of a shounen manga (One Piece, Naruto, Fairy Tail...) into some grimdark seinen. It wasn't written that way to begin with, whatever you believe about translators setting the tone. A large part of the problem may be the type of novels most translators choose to translate - you've said that before and I tentatively agree with that. But translators somehow changing the tone? No way, man. These novels were bad before the translator ever touched them.
     
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  7. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    I think the onomatopeia is a big deal
    Instead of a water going SPLASH!
    You just GHASHASHA!!

    It makes the novels difficult to enjoy. It ruins immersion.
    I will take your point into consideration when looking for novels to translate.
    Maybe "cruel protagonist" tag might fix that laid back approach that some novels have
     
  8. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    What's an example of a Japanese novel that you have read here that met your qualifications and you would give it 5 stars?
    A Chinese novel would be nice too.
    I am very interested
     
  9. lighterxx

    lighterxx Hoshi stan before a human °^°)

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    Bad writing, harem, usually kyaa ing and scared females

    And after SAO i cant take any of them with postive view
     
  10. Asf

    Asf 《《The aria of souls》》

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    The japanese do have tons of stereotypes novel on syosetu..
    But a few ones here and there I found some that are not and been enjoying it greatly..
    I think its just the TL that pick stuff that doesnt suit people's taste more than not.
     
  11. Westeller

    Westeller Smokin' Sexy Style!! Staff Member

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    5 stars... I dunno. I'm the type to see flaws even if I really like a novel.

    Some I really enjoyed or thought were great would be... Overlord, Spice & Wolf, ... maybe Death Mage? After the first two I feel like I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel to find something else worth mentioning in the same sentence as "five stars"... But I'm not sure I'd rate even the first two a full five stars. The list would honestly be longer if it didn't feel like there was an eternal shortage of JP translators - especially those capable of translating more than one chapter a week. It's basically impossible to follow up on any interesting JP novels... I swear it'd be faster to wait ten years for an anime than for a translator.

    There are some novels I may never bother to read simply because the anime showed up first, too..

    CN? Hmm... Same deal with not wanting to rate anything a full five stars, but offhand some of my favorites are Lord of the Mysteries, 1/2 Prince (which for some reason I tend to think of as being JP), City of Sin, Cultivation Chat Group, Absolute Choice..
     
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  12. runsing

    runsing status : bleeding, health -10/s Novel Updates Staff

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    you can't stand the onomatopoeia?
    face the most important facts first. they are not written for you (as a target audience) nor your taste. you're just intruding on their scene to make money. in fact i can say the same about "splash" too. why is it "splash"? do water even make that sound. i just slapped the water (in the water tank in my bathroom) and it doesn't sound 'splash' at all

    woof woof
    wan wan
    gav gav
    ouaf ouaf

    they all onomatopoeias of dog barking. and they're not going to change.
     
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  13. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    You made an even better example with dog barking

    Woof wood vs wan wan.

    It is certainly out of place when you read wan wan. Especially when the sound will make a scary sounding dog sound silly.
    Money? It has nothing to do with money.
    I just feel they are not doing the novel justice.
    When you have readers commenting saying thanks for the translation but my eyes are bleeding as I don't understand what you released

    I think we have a problem
     
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  14. runsing

    runsing status : bleeding, health -10/s Novel Updates Staff

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    you can always make a poll, and ask your readers. keep original, or localized it.

    tbh, i don't remember wan wan being used when the dogs are barking angrily. or perhaps 'all' the manga i've read has been 'localized' by the translator. but perhaps because they never did use one in the first place.
    unless you have seen otherwise?
     
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  15. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    Yes, I have in glutton berserker.
    You used the most apt word : localized.
    Unlike Korean and Chinese translations, Japanese novels are not localized.
    Sometimes you can see from the translation that words are put in the wrong order. It seems to follow reading from right to left.
    All this in Glutton Berserker, it is just a another reminder why I don't read Japanese novels.
    The syntax is all wrong

    @Westeller I think that we need companies to enter the fan translation scene for Japanese novels for releases to be fast.
    I have tried it but it's not sustainable to release 30 chapters of one novel in a month.
    It's better to release 3 chapters of 10 novels
     
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  16. runsing

    runsing status : bleeding, health -10/s Novel Updates Staff

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    how big is this 'angry dog' ?

    i've seen even more english original novels where woof woof was used, even for chihuahuas. i mean, wtf?
     
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  17. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    I am not referring to dogs per se. No dog in the novel but a rabbit rustling in the bushes was GHABADASHA

    It seems so out of the place.
    My point is that due to poor grammar and lack of localization a story could be messed up very badly

    A serious story turned into a comedy. Japanese novels aren't as bad as their reputation seem to suggest. We just don't have professional companies in the fan translation scene for Japanese novels so you get very low quality translations and little to no localization.

    @Westeller says the genre getting translated plays a bigger role even though I think the obvious poor syntax plays a larger role.
    I am looking for ideas to improve the novel scene.
    Noir novels, mystery and horror have been suggested over your classic isekai harem
     
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  18. Paps

    Paps Well-Known Member

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    It happens, trasnlations aren't stric and there needs to be a measure of felxibility when taking something from one lenguage to another. It ain't an easy work so fails are expected.
     
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  19. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    The issue is that these translations claim to have editors.
    Look a Glutton Berserker the chapters have a translator and editors but it is littered with errors eg

    :You like Roxy-sama, arent you?

    It should be dont you

    Given how the Japanese translation scene is, it is a faux pas to criticize translators.
    Mediocrity has been standardized.
    I feel that it is a shame as good story get butchered and become average stories
    average stories become butchered and become bad stories
     
  20. Paps

    Paps Well-Known Member

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    Oh, not only in translations, I can't aactually complain much because english isn't my first lenguage, but I guet what migth frustates you.
     
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