Just came from the first video about this. Sorry to hear that MDZS didn't get the same love TGCF did. But glad to know that my favorite story got that love. The translation problem of MDZS makes me want to work harder to learn Chinese and many other languages. As my current career goal is to be a professional translator and interpreter.
I cannot but agree. It's sad that the translation is not as accurate and polished as it actually could have been but the bottom line is I cannot read Chinese. Love your videos, May. I've said this before I'll say it again, watching them and listening to your voice is very meditative for me. I don't know why 😄
It is definitely unfortunate that the official MDZS English translation has been met with so many issues. Personally, I never read the Fan translation, so I can't really compare and contrast the two versions. That may be a positive or a negative. But at the end of the day, I don't speak Mandarin. So to me, having the SS novels available is still a positive. Still, there are obvious issues when it comes to basic editing that I can't overlook either. When it comes to things like typos, I expect a lot better from an actual publishing house. However, as you say, we are still purchasing these novels. So we are complicit in how things have developed. It is very sad to say, but MDZS became the sacrificial lamb needed to get the SS danmei translations off the ground. Things already seem to be better when it comes to the other novels. And my hope is that they at least fix some of the most basic errors in future editions. I'm still grateful and I cherish my copies, but there's certainly a bitter taste left behind when you know that things could've been done better.
From reading volumes 1-3, I too actually have come across with some typos and error especially when it involves names of the characters and sometimes how they address each other.
At this point I just want someone wealthy who is also a fan of MXTX to buy the rights from Seven Seas and makes the books be re-translated properly, gives the series beautiful covers that actually match the tone and publishes it at a price that is not 25bucks a book. Maybe we could start a petition to have them re-translated.
Thank you for a lovely video!! I don’t have much to add, time flies so fast, it already another year since this happened, and just thought about this whole thing again, so came to search video about it Your points were very eloquently put together and describe everything I have been feeling! I hope you’ll have a lovely rest of your week whenever you’re reading this ☺️
That's right. Even though we have got a lot to say with the Seven Seas translation, we still keep purchasing the product because what can we do? We love the novel, especially for me who cannot understand the Mandarin version. But, reading MDZS in English does still give me a hard time because SS translation tends to use like literally highfalutin words which could really potentially ruin the mood while reading. Like, you'll come across such deep word and you cannot stop thinking what it means because it's included in the phrase. It's indeed a mess but well, better read rather than be left behind.
@@MayAnne Hello again, I'm sorry you mentioned that you have pre-ordered for the fifth volume of MDZS. May I ask if where did you order? Do they accept preorders from the Philippines?
As a person who reads a lot of translated novels from across the world, honestly MDZS is by far one of the better ones. I was reading a Polish-translated science fiction novel at the same time as MDZS and the lack of punctuation and typos drove me nuts (I'm a content editor and proofreading is part of my job, so this makes some errors hard to get past). MDZS was a welcome relief! That was an old sci-fi book too (The Invincible by Stanislaw Lem), so I don't know how it hasn't been fixed. Both Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20000 Leagues Under the Sea are so old there are multiple variations on translation and are generally very good. I have read totally different versions of classical literature in translation and more modern works, like Japanese novels and mangas. This is my first Chinese translated book, but honestly while it is not perfect (very few are) it is by far one of the better ones. It was easy to read and really pulled me into the narrative. Yes, there were some odd turns of phrase, some typos, and some words I would have changed based on what the more accurate words are to the translation or to the books meaning, but it has still been a good read (I've nearly finished book 3). Regarding my comment on the word translation changes: For example, I agree the word 'demonic' really is not a good word to use as it is both inaccurate to the literal translation of 'ghost' and evokes the idea of summoning otherworldly monsters, instead of what he actually was doing, which was raising an undead army; closer to the western idea of necromancy. As such either a literal translation (ghost) or a textual translation (undead/necromantic or similar) would have been better. I think the most recent versions of MDZS have been tweaked a bit as the version I have translates a few things differently from what I've read online were errors, so I think it'll continue to improve over the years. 'Demonic' might not get taken out though - it is part of the English title (and therefore, branding) and sounds too 'cool' in English lol! FYI: the worst translation I've read was the Nier: automata novel. Was unreadable and I returned it to the bookstore because of it. They translator couldn't even keep the names of the main characters consistent! I mean, what is so hard about 2B and 9S! Sometimes they were written in lowercase and written with a hyphen. I mean, no proofreader had ever looked at it, that is for sure. The grammar, spelling - everything. I couldn't read it. The only translated novel I've had that experience with.
I haven't purchased the volume 4 yet and still looking forward to it. I cannot agree more for this one but bottom line is, it's the only language where we can understand the masterpiece. No choice, let's all enjoy!❣️
[1/?] OK after reading the comments and watching the video, I feel the need to rant my annoyances about this issue (and honestly 7Seas in general). But I will first make this clear: I am glad we have the books in some format for English, just as I was for the ExR translation, even if it was the only complete one. -- Even with the issues and drama surrounding both both translations and their "teams". It's just unfortunate that there is a monopoly on these works and other Danmei in general. As trying to find alternatives when when you don't speak the native language on the source material is nigh impossible now. However.... --------------------------------------- While I do agree that ExR's translation wasn't perfect by any means. I also don't think it's fair for some people to bring up ExR's drama with other fan-translators as a way to brush away any rightful and earned criticism or critique of 7Seas/Suika & Pengie's translation/localization jobs. Especially when 7S & it's translators/editors have had the horrendous track record of: + Outright removing lines or whole paragraphs of text. + Changing entire lines or words so they no longer hold the same contextual meaning (or in worst case-scenario aren't even in the same ballpark anymore). Mostly done when something in the original novel/manga doesn't "fit" either the company's morals/ideals as a form of censorship. OR when the translator and/or editor doesn't like how the original text depicts usually a character or character dynamic. This practice has been seen in both their Novel licenses (which is where it's most common), but also their Manga titles. And the fact that both Pengie & Suika were both actively blocking anyone who was even remotely critical of their translations/editing (even the ones who were respectful about their disagreements & concerns...I don't blame them blocking the rude assholes). Then proceeded to ghost everyone for 1-2 weeks (as did 7Seas main account btw), before giving a half baked apology that did not address the concerns people originally had about how all the stuff being changed or omitted in MDZS seemed to be tied to specific characters and their portrayals...ultimately leading to ppl thinking the translators were translating based on their own bias view of the characters and their interactions. -- This is a completely justified reason to be concerned, especially when it was this frequent in the first 2 Volumes of MDZS, and given 7Seas track record for doing this exactly in other works. Add in the fact that when 7Seas finally made a statement, not only was their "fix" this pathetic excuse of an errata on their website, and a glossary fix for the following volumes....But it's a "fix" they don't even keep up to date with. To this day, despite seeing other errors or things removed from the other books, they have yet to even update the errata's on the website...Hell I don't own the digital ver. of the books, but I don't think they've even changed that one, and they've outright acknowledge those errors since December of 2021 with the release of the 1st MDZS book. This IS NOT how you handle understandable worries and criticism of your work?????? Because all it does is make you look; 1.) Lazy and only doing the bare minimum so you don't get into more trouble (that could alert the original creator/ppl who sold you the license). 2.) Like you can't handle being told you could even been "potentially wrong"...which in turn just kinda indirectly provides further evidence that the claims of bias in translation/editing, might actually be true. 7Seas and Suika/Pengie took the easy way out of having to deal with this issue. This is a fact. Most likely because 7Seas doesn't want to lose the untapped customer base that they now have a monopoly on. But also they in particular didn't want this to escalate to the point of fans getting their concerns to MXTX or her staff and getting them into more trouble (like many of their other works).
[2/?] One of the earliest instances I've seen on this being a thing was way back in 2013, with their Manga translations of "Alice in the Country of Hearts" series. Where they outright change the characterization entirely of one of the romance options, bc apparently in their minds he needed to be a bigger asshole then he was in the video game source material (of which I own and play in it's JP language & text). This character change was likely due to a similar issue that arose way back when the BL game Dramatical Murder was getting it's fan translation. Where the primary fan-translator at the time outright admitted to hating Mink & Mizuki, so they deliberately translated their scenes to make them seem way worse then they were actually in-game. Only a few years ago, a similar thing happened in the Akatsuki no Yona manga fan-translation. Except it was with the fan-translator hating Su-Won. And that's only with fan-translators. 7Seas even while still out putting the MXTX novels, was STILL having issues of horrendously bad company practices as were their translators & editors. Such as their more recent giant contraversery where they took a BL Manga, that featured a boy who OUTRIGHT identifies as a male, but likes to cross-dress and wear make up...and made him a trans woman....(they did this during Pride Month btw). We never did find out if it was a company decision, or a translator/editor thing...But given that other translators who were friends with the translator of this title decided it'd be great to brag on social media about how "this was a good change", I'm leaning towards the translator chose to read this gay man who likes feminine things as "a trans woman", even though it's just not even remotely near correct to the source material. The backlash from this was so bad, that 7S got in trouble with the people they bought the rights from (and prolly the author), and they had to publicly apologies & redo their entire translations for all volumes currently out and would be coming out in the future. This sort of thing is not uncommon for 7S titles sadly, as this has happened numerous times well over 10+ years.
[3/4] So when I heard the MXTX novels were being licensed, I was excited....then I heard it was by 7Seas...Which instantly tanked any hope I had of it not getting edited or translated badly, given some of the contents of MXTX's works. Then I heard they were hiring fan translators for the works, of which I figured ok, then maybe depending on which fan translators they get, this could go slightly better. Sadly Suika & Pengie's handling of understandable criticism & concerns towards their work, killed any faith I had in their translations not being filled with at least some level of bias. -- On what exact level, who knows.... BUT, while readers and even translators can interpret the same source material differently, the point of translation specifically is to be as objective as humanly possible. -- Something of which Suika/Pengie failed to address in the concerns laid out by the fandom, then proceeded to outright ignore. Thus painting them in a guilty light, and reaffirming fans concerns that they are untrustworthy in regards to an accurate translation. So in my mind, while the drama back in the day with ExR was bad (very bad), the drama with 7S/Suika/Pengie is arguably way worse. As ExR's was limited to fan-translations you got for free. You weren't paying for a service or product with them or any other fan-translator at the time. There was no expectation for quality. It just had be serviceable enough to get a basic jhist. What happened between the fan-translators was bad on a moral level, and unfortunate. But no one was making money off of it. 7Seas/Suika/Pengie however are all now part of a process that allows them to make money off of their work. They stand to get direct monetary gain over this, as a result, there is a higher expectation of quality and professionalism expected. The fact that they broke that trust, and tried to patch it up in the most pathetic way possible while holding the market in a choke-hold (not unlike the ExR drama)...Just screams unprofessional, opportunistic and ego-centric.
[4/4] Also for this "MXTX approves of this translation"...Do we even know that for sure? Yes she would have had to given the 'OK' to even have it get translated in the first place (as do all owners of the original property). However not even fans can get into contact with MXTX easily, and she herself very rarely makes any form of public appearance online. Hell, we don't even know if MXTX can even read English as a text enough to compare it to her original texts???? I'd bet the extent of her "approval", is her ok-ing the transitions to happen. Then being told they sold well overseas by her team. Then commissioned by 7Seas to give a word of thanks for the final book in each series (of which idk if she originally writes in CN, then 7Seas translates in English or if she writes in English). .........................Ok rant over. LOL
@@xSweetKyandi Your rant soothes my soul! 😆😆7S is so shady! I feel so bad for us English fans to get this version of the MXTX series. I only bought book 1 of MDZS and I just couldn't bring myself to buy the rest. I'm so glad I saved the original fan translation and now lives on in my Kindle forever. 😊😊
@@xSweetKyandi Thank you for these comments!! I didn’t know the background of 7S and how they were like, giving translators power to completely control the narrative of the translated work is very icky, I have no problem if it’s in fandom space, but an official work should remain the original work, no matter what a person may thought of it 😞
Thanks for your helpful reviews! This is good motivation for learning Chinese. Then I won't have to deal with translations 😅 at least seeing people explain translation errors and cultural differences is interesting. I can make do with this translation. Although I'm a bit conflicted about buying it, sense it'll be supporting seven seas haha. Oh well
I actually got into MDZS through the novels and I’m actually upset that the official English translations aren’t that good. I also have all of the TGCF and SVSSS books as well. I’ve been wondering though, if I want to share the books with someone or drag a friend through the rabbit hole that is MDZS, are the official English books a good way for them to get started?
the donghua (animation) is the best way to get them started imo, that’s how I started and how I dragged my friends into it lol. from there, we went to the manga and novels lol
I think the publisher wanted to throw the books fast on the market. This resultet in a poor proof reading (did they proof read at all?). And it was a big mistake to miss on a proper market research because they would have noticed how big the fan base was already. Poor choices were made to make fast money. This is sad because it ruins to win potentially new readers. And for people like me who cannot read Chinese it is sad too, because we need to rely on the publisher that everything is translated and that the translation is truthful (I hope you know what I mean) to the source material. I also bought the german translation but have not read it yet. I'm curious if I will find differences. Thank you for your honest opinion about the books.
I don’t know why when you criticize the Seven Seas translation people bring up EXR. I would hope a professional translation would have been better translation that one done by High School student. The Seven Seas translation is making many of the same errors and new ones. Also EXR is not the only translation it’s the only completed one. There are many chapters that have multiple translations. As for Seven Seas the worst mistake for me is they don’t seem to know that Wei Wuxian cultivation is not called demonic cultivation it’s called ghost cultivation. The title of the novel is a misnomer. When people use the word demonic it’s to disparage Wei Wuxian. Also in the Cave in Book 3 they have Lan Wangji call Wei Wuxian loathsome which is not what he said. And yes I still buy them but I am still going to complain. And I agree with you MDZS is my favorite so it hurts the most that it was given the least effort.
Yeah, that's my biggest complaint too. I can live with odd word choices, or even typos, but it's a BIG plot point that Wei Wuxian doesn't *actually* practice demonic cultivation. That's just what people are accusing him of doing, while he's cultivating the ghost path -__- And it bothers me that readers now won't get this vital piece of information.
Have you read any of the other danmei series that seven seas has now licensed / or planning to?:O I also saw another commenter asking if you'd review the animation & I'd love it if you did that too!!:D & In case any new readers are going through the comments; I've only been reading these seven seas copies and I love the series so much!! I think a lot of the errors are invisible to me since I haven't read the original fan translation and i don't know any Mandarin either - so if you're completely new to it like I am, you probably won't have the same issues! I do hope seven seas does better though going forward now that they're printing many more danmei series xD
Yes that makes sense because I also feel that if the translation were too similar to EXR's one, people would call it out too and so I kiiiinda understand them on that part but mmm... still a bummer because mdzs is my fave of the 3 too 😔 ̶(̶ ̶a̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶n̶u̶m̶b̶e̶r̶ ̶4̶:̶ ̶l̶e̶a̶r̶n̶ ̶c̶h̶i̶n̶e̶s̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶r̶i̶g̶i̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶s̶k̶d̶j̶f̶d̶s̶f̶g̶ ̶/̶n̶o̶ ̶)̶
Just came from the first video about this. Sorry to hear that MDZS didn't get the same love TGCF did. But glad to know that my favorite story got that love. The translation problem of MDZS makes me want to work harder to learn Chinese and many other languages. As my current career goal is to be a professional translator and interpreter.
I cannot but agree. It's sad that the translation is not as accurate and polished as it actually could have been but the bottom line is I cannot read Chinese.
Love your videos, May. I've said this before I'll say it again, watching them and listening to your voice is very meditative for me. I don't know why 😄
Thanks SO MUCH Mary. My own voice sounds weird to me so that's nice to hear.
It is definitely unfortunate that the official MDZS English translation has been met with so many issues. Personally, I never read the Fan translation, so I can't really compare and contrast the two versions. That may be a positive or a negative. But at the end of the day, I don't speak Mandarin. So to me, having the SS novels available is still a positive. Still, there are obvious issues when it comes to basic editing that I can't overlook either. When it comes to things like typos, I expect a lot better from an actual publishing house. However, as you say, we are still purchasing these novels. So we are complicit in how things have developed. It is very sad to say, but MDZS became the sacrificial lamb needed to get the SS danmei translations off the ground. Things already seem to be better when it comes to the other novels. And my hope is that they at least fix some of the most basic errors in future editions. I'm still grateful and I cherish my copies, but there's certainly a bitter taste left behind when you know that things could've been done better.
From reading volumes 1-3, I too actually have come across with some typos and error especially when it involves names of the characters and sometimes how they address each other.
We have no choice but to try and ignore them :)
At this point I just want someone wealthy who is also a fan of MXTX to buy the rights from Seven Seas and makes the books be re-translated properly, gives the series beautiful covers that actually match the tone and publishes it at a price that is not 25bucks a book.
Maybe we could start a petition to have them re-translated.
Thank you for a lovely video!!
I don’t have much to add, time flies so fast, it already another year since this happened, and just thought about this whole thing again, so came to search video about it
Your points were very eloquently put together and describe everything I have been feeling!
I hope you’ll have a lovely rest of your week whenever you’re reading this ☺️
That's right. Even though we have got a lot to say with the Seven Seas translation, we still keep purchasing the product because what can we do? We love the novel, especially for me who cannot understand the Mandarin version. But, reading MDZS in English does still give me a hard time because SS translation tends to use like literally highfalutin words which could really potentially ruin the mood while reading. Like, you'll come across such deep word and you cannot stop thinking what it means because it's included in the phrase. It's indeed a mess but well, better read rather than be left behind.
Read rather than be left behind is the crux of our problem. Love that
@@MayAnne Hello again, I'm sorry you mentioned that you have pre-ordered for the fifth volume of MDZS. May I ask if where did you order? Do they accept preorders from the Philippines?
@@ioririzada455 Hi Lori, you can pre-order from Book Depository (I have ordered and had books sens to the Philippines before) and also on Amazon
@@MayAnne Thank you very much, may I ask if you have a link where I could go to? Sorry for the inconvenience.
@@ioririzada455 you can just google "Book Depository" and it should pop up easily
As a person who reads a lot of translated novels from across the world, honestly MDZS is by far one of the better ones. I was reading a Polish-translated science fiction novel at the same time as MDZS and the lack of punctuation and typos drove me nuts (I'm a content editor and proofreading is part of my job, so this makes some errors hard to get past). MDZS was a welcome relief! That was an old sci-fi book too (The Invincible by Stanislaw Lem), so I don't know how it hasn't been fixed.
Both Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20000 Leagues Under the Sea are so old there are multiple variations on translation and are generally very good. I have read totally different versions of classical literature in translation and more modern works, like Japanese novels and mangas. This is my first Chinese translated book, but honestly while it is not perfect (very few are) it is by far one of the better ones. It was easy to read and really pulled me into the narrative. Yes, there were some odd turns of phrase, some typos, and some words I would have changed based on what the more accurate words are to the translation or to the books meaning, but it has still been a good read (I've nearly finished book 3).
Regarding my comment on the word translation changes: For example, I agree the word 'demonic' really is not a good word to use as it is both inaccurate to the literal translation of 'ghost' and evokes the idea of summoning otherworldly monsters, instead of what he actually was doing, which was raising an undead army; closer to the western idea of necromancy. As such either a literal translation (ghost) or a textual translation (undead/necromantic or similar) would have been better.
I think the most recent versions of MDZS have been tweaked a bit as the version I have translates a few things differently from what I've read online were errors, so I think it'll continue to improve over the years. 'Demonic' might not get taken out though - it is part of the English title (and therefore, branding) and sounds too 'cool' in English lol!
FYI: the worst translation I've read was the Nier: automata novel. Was unreadable and I returned it to the bookstore because of it. They translator couldn't even keep the names of the main characters consistent! I mean, what is so hard about 2B and 9S! Sometimes they were written in lowercase and written with a hyphen. I mean, no proofreader had ever looked at it, that is for sure. The grammar, spelling - everything. I couldn't read it. The only translated novel I've had that experience with.
I haven't purchased the volume 4 yet and still looking forward to it. I cannot agree more for this one but bottom line is, it's the only language where we can understand the masterpiece. No choice, let's all enjoy!❣️
Yes, let's just enjoy :)
[1/?] OK after reading the comments and watching the video, I feel the need to rant my annoyances about this issue (and honestly 7Seas in general).
But I will first make this clear: I am glad we have the books in some format for English, just as I was for the ExR translation, even if it was the only complete one. -- Even with the issues and drama surrounding both both translations and their "teams".
It's just unfortunate that there is a monopoly on these works and other Danmei in general. As trying to find alternatives when when you don't speak the native language on the source material is nigh impossible now.
However....
---------------------------------------
While I do agree that ExR's translation wasn't perfect by any means.
I also don't think it's fair for some people to bring up ExR's drama with other fan-translators as a way to brush away any rightful and earned criticism or critique of 7Seas/Suika & Pengie's translation/localization jobs.
Especially when 7S & it's translators/editors have had the horrendous track record of:
+ Outright removing lines or whole paragraphs of text.
+ Changing entire lines or words so they no longer hold the same contextual meaning (or in worst case-scenario aren't even in the same ballpark anymore).
Mostly done when something in the original novel/manga doesn't "fit" either the company's morals/ideals as a form of censorship. OR when the translator and/or editor doesn't like how the original text depicts usually a character or character dynamic.
This practice has been seen in both their Novel licenses (which is where it's most common), but also their Manga titles.
And the fact that both Pengie & Suika were both actively blocking anyone who was even remotely critical of their translations/editing (even the ones who were respectful about their disagreements & concerns...I don't blame them blocking the rude assholes).
Then proceeded to ghost everyone for 1-2 weeks (as did 7Seas main account btw), before giving a half baked apology that did not address the concerns people originally had about how all the stuff being changed or omitted in MDZS seemed to be tied to specific characters and their portrayals...ultimately leading to ppl thinking the translators were translating based on their own bias view of the characters and their interactions. --
This is a completely justified reason to be concerned, especially when it was this frequent in the first 2 Volumes of MDZS, and given 7Seas track record for doing this exactly in other works. Add in the fact that when 7Seas finally made a statement, not only was their "fix" this pathetic excuse of an errata on their website, and a glossary fix for the following volumes....But it's a "fix" they don't even keep up to date with. To this day, despite seeing other errors or things removed from the other books, they have yet to even update the errata's on the website...Hell I don't own the digital ver. of the books, but I don't think they've even changed that one, and they've outright acknowledge those errors since December of 2021 with the release of the 1st MDZS book.
This IS NOT how you handle understandable worries and criticism of your work??????
Because all it does is make you look;
1.) Lazy and only doing the bare minimum so you don't get into more trouble (that could alert the original creator/ppl who sold you the license).
2.) Like you can't handle being told you could even been "potentially wrong"...which in turn just kinda indirectly provides further evidence that the claims of bias in translation/editing, might actually be true.
7Seas and Suika/Pengie took the easy way out of having to deal with this issue. This is a fact.
Most likely because 7Seas doesn't want to lose the untapped customer base that they now have a monopoly on. But also they in particular didn't want this to escalate to the point of fans getting their concerns to MXTX or her staff and getting them into more trouble (like many of their other works).
[2/?] One of the earliest instances I've seen on this being a thing was way back in 2013, with their Manga translations of "Alice in the Country of Hearts" series.
Where they outright change the characterization entirely of one of the romance options, bc apparently in their minds he needed to be a bigger asshole then he was in the video game source material (of which I own and play in it's JP language & text).
This character change was likely due to a similar issue that arose way back when the BL game Dramatical Murder was getting it's fan translation. Where the primary fan-translator at the time outright admitted to hating Mink & Mizuki, so they deliberately translated their scenes to make them seem way worse then they were actually in-game.
Only a few years ago, a similar thing happened in the Akatsuki no Yona manga fan-translation. Except it was with the fan-translator hating Su-Won.
And that's only with fan-translators. 7Seas even while still out putting the MXTX novels, was STILL having issues of horrendously bad company practices as were their translators & editors.
Such as their more recent giant contraversery where they took a BL Manga, that featured a boy who OUTRIGHT identifies as a male, but likes to cross-dress and wear make up...and made him a trans woman....(they did this during Pride Month btw).
We never did find out if it was a company decision, or a translator/editor thing...But given that other translators who were friends with the translator of this title decided it'd be great to brag on social media about how "this was a good change", I'm leaning towards the translator chose to read this gay man who likes feminine things as "a trans woman", even though it's just not even remotely near correct to the source material.
The backlash from this was so bad, that 7S got in trouble with the people they bought the rights from (and prolly the author), and they had to publicly apologies & redo their entire translations for all volumes currently out and would be coming out in the future.
This sort of thing is not uncommon for 7S titles sadly, as this has happened numerous times well over 10+ years.
[3/4] So when I heard the MXTX novels were being licensed, I was excited....then I heard it was by 7Seas...Which instantly tanked any hope I had of it not getting edited or translated badly, given some of the contents of MXTX's works.
Then I heard they were hiring fan translators for the works, of which I figured ok, then maybe depending on which fan translators they get, this could go slightly better.
Sadly Suika & Pengie's handling of understandable criticism & concerns towards their work, killed any faith I had in their translations not being filled with at least some level of bias. -- On what exact level, who knows....
BUT, while readers and even translators can interpret the same source material differently, the point of translation specifically is to be as objective as humanly possible. -- Something of which Suika/Pengie failed to address in the concerns laid out by the fandom, then proceeded to outright ignore. Thus painting them in a guilty light, and reaffirming fans concerns that they are untrustworthy in regards to an accurate translation.
So in my mind, while the drama back in the day with ExR was bad (very bad), the drama with 7S/Suika/Pengie is arguably way worse.
As ExR's was limited to fan-translations you got for free. You weren't paying for a service or product with them or any other fan-translator at the time. There was no expectation for quality. It just had be serviceable enough to get a basic jhist. What happened between the fan-translators was bad on a moral level, and unfortunate. But no one was making money off of it.
7Seas/Suika/Pengie however are all now part of a process that allows them to make money off of their work. They stand to get direct monetary gain over this, as a result, there is a higher expectation of quality and professionalism expected. The fact that they broke that trust, and tried to patch it up in the most pathetic way possible while holding the market in a choke-hold (not unlike the ExR drama)...Just screams unprofessional, opportunistic and ego-centric.
[4/4] Also for this "MXTX approves of this translation"...Do we even know that for sure?
Yes she would have had to given the 'OK' to even have it get translated in the first place (as do all owners of the original property). However not even fans can get into contact with MXTX easily, and she herself very rarely makes any form of public appearance online.
Hell, we don't even know if MXTX can even read English as a text enough to compare it to her original texts????
I'd bet the extent of her "approval", is her ok-ing the transitions to happen. Then being told they sold well overseas by her team. Then commissioned by 7Seas to give a word of thanks for the final book in each series (of which idk if she originally writes in CN, then 7Seas translates in English or if she writes in English).
.........................Ok rant over. LOL
@@xSweetKyandi Your rant soothes my soul! 😆😆7S is so shady! I feel so bad for us English fans to get this version of the MXTX series. I only bought book 1 of MDZS and I just couldn't bring myself to buy the rest. I'm so glad I saved the original fan translation and now lives on in my Kindle forever. 😊😊
@@xSweetKyandi Thank you for these comments!! I didn’t know the background of 7S and how they were like, giving translators power to completely control the narrative of the translated work is very icky, I have no problem if it’s in fandom space, but an official work should remain the original work, no matter what a person may thought of it 😞
Thanks for your helpful reviews! This is good motivation for learning Chinese. Then I won't have to deal with translations 😅 at least seeing people explain translation errors and cultural differences is interesting. I can make do with this translation. Although I'm a bit conflicted about buying it, sense it'll be supporting seven seas haha. Oh well
Could you please also make a review about the anime version of MDZS?
I actually got into MDZS through the novels and I’m actually upset that the official English translations aren’t that good. I also have all of the TGCF and SVSSS books as well.
I’ve been wondering though, if I want to share the books with someone or drag a friend through the rabbit hole that is MDZS, are the official English books a good way for them to get started?
the donghua (animation) is the best way to get them started imo, that’s how I started and how I dragged my friends into it lol. from there, we went to the manga and novels lol
I think the publisher wanted to throw the books fast on the market. This resultet in a poor proof reading (did they proof read at all?). And it was a big mistake to miss on a proper market research because they would have noticed how big the fan base was already. Poor choices were made to make fast money. This is sad because it ruins to win potentially new readers. And for people like me who cannot read Chinese it is sad too, because we need to rely on the publisher that everything is translated and that the translation is truthful (I hope you know what I mean) to the source material. I also bought the german translation but have not read it yet. I'm curious if I will find differences. Thank you for your honest opinion about the books.
Thanks for commenting. I don't read German but I'd be curious to know how that translation is as well.
Is absolutely love to hear about the German version, should I buy it? Is it more accurate?
I don’t know why when you criticize the Seven Seas translation people bring up EXR. I would hope a professional translation would have been better translation that one done by High School student. The Seven Seas translation is making many of the same errors and new ones. Also EXR is not the only translation it’s the only completed one. There are many chapters that have multiple translations.
As for Seven Seas the worst mistake for me is they don’t seem to know that Wei Wuxian cultivation is not called demonic cultivation it’s called ghost cultivation. The title of the novel is a misnomer. When people use the word demonic it’s to disparage Wei Wuxian.
Also in the Cave in Book 3 they have Lan Wangji call Wei Wuxian loathsome which is not what he said.
And yes I still buy them but I am still going to complain. And I agree with you MDZS is my favorite so it hurts the most that it was given the least effort.
Yeah, that's my biggest complaint too. I can live with odd word choices, or even typos, but it's a BIG plot point that Wei Wuxian doesn't *actually* practice demonic cultivation. That's just what people are accusing him of doing, while he's cultivating the ghost path -__- And it bothers me that readers now won't get this vital piece of information.
Have you read any of the other danmei series that seven seas has now licensed / or planning to?:O I also saw another commenter asking if you'd review the animation & I'd love it if you did that too!!:D
& In case any new readers are going through the comments; I've only been reading these seven seas copies and I love the series so much!! I think a lot of the errors are invisible to me since I haven't read the original fan translation and i don't know any Mandarin either - so if you're completely new to it like I am, you probably won't have the same issues! I do hope seven seas does better though going forward now that they're printing many more danmei series xD
In my opinion; The bad writing is the author's fault, now you come to blame the translator🤷
Yes that makes sense because I also feel that if the translation were too similar to EXR's one, people would call it out too and so I kiiiinda understand them on that part but mmm... still a bummer because mdzs is my fave of the 3 too 😔 ̶(̶ ̶a̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶n̶u̶m̶b̶e̶r̶ ̶4̶:̶ ̶l̶e̶a̶r̶n̶ ̶c̶h̶i̶n̶e̶s̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶r̶i̶g̶i̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶s̶k̶d̶j̶f̶d̶s̶f̶g̶ ̶/̶n̶o̶ ̶)̶