Another translation! :O Spoilers to the max!

[Incog Neato]

Again, there are some literal translations and just odd choice of wording. Still, at least it's not Engrish. ^^;

It's a translation of a scene which takes place in the Silent Desert during the Claw's story. Run away if you don't want to be spoiled!

I have no idea why the Black Pearl is referred to as the Black Core. Considering the kanji can be translated literally as "black pearl", this just strikes me as being something very very strange. Maybe you folks that know Chinese or Japanese well can figure it out? ^^

[Varion]

deuce said:

I don't know why I bother...

Meh, some people are just either impatient or desperate enough to know what happened in certain bits to want to read it now even if it's mangled and poorly translated. Everyone else's efforts seem to die quite quickly anyway. In most fandoms when it comes to Japanese only stuff that's all the fans have got, too, so you sort of get used to dealing with it even if it makes you cringe inside.

Everyone here would rather have your translation when it's good and ready though. I like to be able to read a game translation without having to be slightly cautious over whether it's actually right or not. I mean, how can you get Black Core out of Black Pearl? That sets off alarm bells in the head right there.

[seki]

Actually that *blush* is probably an offshoot of a rough translation I did for a friend over instant messaging. I originally called it "Black Thingy," figuring he knew what the translation was from Ys I and II. Couldn't be bothered to look up what the kanji meant, looked close enough to Core for me to switch to it later (because of the use of 真), still not realizing the word was Pearl and that the real translation was Pearl anyways. When I got to the *end* of the game in explaining to him what happened it dawned on me it was just "Black Pearl." I did that with the Essence/Root/Whathaveyou too, roughly guessed at what it was for the sake of my friend's comprehension of the overall thing. Sorry~ ^^U

[Incog Neato]

deuce said:

I don't know why I bother...

seki said:

Actually that *blush* is probably an offshoot of a rough translation I did for a friend over instant messaging.

*pats ye both ^^*

Well, it's always nice to see scripts in English, no matter how rough they may be. ._.~ But the problem that might arise is that people might walk away with misinformation. D:

And lord, literal translations in the final product really really suck. Please see Drakengard 2 for an example. :P I seriously don't remember how many times bloody Nowe had to remind the player that Oror was his father.

NO ONE speaks like that in English! I can actually imagine without a doubt that it was in the original Japanese dialogue though.

[Incog Neato]

Guh. The poor actors having to work with silly scripts. TT~ I don't understand how the people working on the English scripts can NOT notice that the dialogue is unnatural. (Helllloooo Star Wars. Not that that's a translation of anything. Dumb Lucas. Attack of the Clones had me reeling in pain and I PAID to see it in on the big screen.)

Do they actually converse with each other in the way their translations read? I sure hope not. Or do they not have the time and skill to refine them? Or maybe they just don't care? .___.

Oh yeah, since I'll never play it, how was Konami's localization of Napishtim anyway? Any strange dialogue? ^^

[Paralel]

deuce said:

At risk of sounding horrifically self-important, there's no "probably" about it. When I say I hate literal translations, I'm not even remotely kidding. I see them constantly, in translation patches, professional subtitling, etc. Line-by-line and free of context. It's garbage. What's the point of translating if you're going to churn out material that sounds/reads exactly like every other half-baked translation?

It's called "localization" at the professional level for a reason. Translating is only one part of the job.

I totally agree

[seki]

nunuu, look up screenshots for it. Ye gods ;;

EDIT:
In case you're actually wondering.

真珠 = Pearl

I knew it was pronounced "Shinju" from the kanji, but I didn't know what the word meant off the top of my head (come on, you have to admit that happens every now and then... especially when it's for your less-used language and is a fairly obscure word) and I didn't really consider it important (just a name). Thus, I originally winged it as "Thingy" because my friend knows what it is (if you've played Ys I/II of course you know... so... wasn't a big deal for either of us).

真 is the word/prefix-ish-thingy for "True." 珠, I knew, was some kind of ball, although I originally mistook it for 球 (sphere). Thus, my mind went "true + sphere = something like core maybe?"

And then near the end of the game I went

OMG

Pearl.

Doh!

And that's what happened with that translation of the name. But it's a rough 2 minute work, gimme a break ;_;

Hate hot-linking but nunuu, here's PS2 American Adol:
content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/6/6a/250px-AdolonShipYsVI.png

[Varion]

seki, don't worry about it. No one's persecuting you or anything, mistakes happen. On the other hand, when people (and companies even) actually release stuff with horribly stilted, literal translations in them that isn't just a mistake, which is what we're complaining about here. It's not even about Ys translations anymore

I'm almost curious enough to play ZoE2 JUST to see how horribly bad the translation is. If they had the money to hire big voice actors you'd think they could touch up the translation. It's not like it's particularly difficult to make a somewhat natural sounding script.

[Incog Neato]

seki said:

nunuu, look up screenshots for it. Ye gods x_x;;

I meant the overall translation though. ^^; And goddammit, I didn't want to see THAT again! XP

[Varion]

Sad, isn't it? Doesn't surprise me at all though. In fact that's one of the areas that practically seems to be encouraging it more and more as time goes on as opposed to getting any better. I bet they demanded all the honorifics be kept in too, right? Start a rebellion!

[jeffx]

deuce said:

If I can ever get my hands on the other volumes, I've considered scanlating the Ys manga that came out way back when. It takes a boatload of liberties with the story, and has a whole bunch of comic relief, but it's still pretty neat.

DOKI DOKI!!!!! would be amazing.

[Vert]

deuce said:

Big "if." Only will happen if someone gets me the manga volumes (or scans of them).

Ask Dark Fact. I think he said something to me about having some Ys manga, he might be willing to share.

[FM-77AV]

vert said:

deuce said:

Big "if." Only will happen if someone gets me the manga volumes (or scans of them).

Ask Dark Fact. I think he said something to me about having some Ys manga, he might be willing to share.

He doesn't have these. I posted some photos (I won't scan it) of it earlier which he were unfamiliar with.

That said, I have the entire series, but I won't scan it I'm afraid. First off, it's 1200+ pages in total (and I think it takes too long to scan ONE page), and I don't want to ruin them.

[FM-77AV]

Yeah, Yahoo Japan. That's where I got mine.

You can use www.shoppingmalljapan.com in order to buy stuff from there.

[Incog Neato]

omgfloofy said:

Man. I love the Mask of the Sun manga. I've got a copy of it, but I'm not sure I'm willing to do anything with it that will hurt it. I've done enough scanslations in the past to know that if you pick a manga to scanslate, you might as well kiss it goodbye. You're destroying the spine beyond all recognition by making the flat scans.

Heheh. Forget the spine, just MELT the glue. XD

[FM-77AV]

deuce said:

Any idea how much I might expect to pay?

I bought the entire set for ¥1000, and I've seen it for ¥600, so not much. Internal shipping should range from ¥700-1500 and base fee + wire fee is $10,50. Shipping to you might be a bit expensive, but overall, I think it will be worth it.

[bishopcruz]

I picked up the Ys IV manga when I was in Japan year before last, if I can find a scanner I could scan that in for ya.

[SkyeWelse]

Deuce, You'll be glad to know that I'm planning on taking your advice to make a translation/scanlations sound more "localized" than literal when it comes time to scanlate the Xak manga project I've been working on bit by bit and when or if I ever attempt to work on a translation project for Xak I & II for PC Engine.

I'm wondering though, are you in the industry at all as a translator. I hear they can make some serious money if they are serious about it. Something like 13 cents per kanji?

-SkyeWelse

[bishopcruz]

I'm pretty sure it does have furigana, I don't have it in front of me right now, but I'll let you know. My main problem is the fact that I don't have a scanner. Looking to see if anyone I know does and doesn't mind me using it for a few hours.

[raynes]

I think translations like that one on gamefaqs and the incredible ones Deuce does both serve a purpose.

Ones like linked above are good when you are playing the game for the first time and want to have a general idea of what is going on. I know with my knowledge of past Ys games, I can read a horrible translation and still have an idea what is going on.

The ones Deuce creates are great cause they let you experience the game as it should be experienced. It gives you a chance to really study the storyline and really pushes the game to the next level.