Very nuanced take on the subject. Hard to find people that don't speak Japanese who also understand how poor literal translations are, and the importance of localization. For the "Nah, I'd win" line, I can understand why it was translated the way it was. It is a fine translation, the issue just comes from the fact that it's calling back to an older line that was translated differently. They're both fine, but they need to be the same for consistency. Nah I'd win goes so much harder tho, lol. I'd have liked if they went with "Nah, I'll win" to keep the call back, but fix the tense to be proper. I'm so glad you mentioned Sukuna here as well. I see this sort of tone missed a lot in English translations. It really requires the translator to put a lot of effort into "fluffing up" the text to give it the same tone as the original.
Another thing I find weird is how the official name for Megumi's Rabbit Shikigami is called "Rabbit Escape" when the name "Fleeing Hares" I've seen in some fansubs is both a better name AND more grammatically correct, on top of this the name of "Mahoraga" might actually be "Makora" which would make the widely accepted and used name for the Shikigami once again be technically incorrect. It is simply astounding to me how one manga can be so riddled with translation issues from start to finish.
Makora is just the Japanese localization of the actual Mahoraga of both Hindu and Buddhist mythology. So this is the translator actually doing his homework well
Conversely the gojo "Nah I'd win" panel was a fan translation the werry translated as just "No", viz actually went back and changed it to the nah id win version because people were so pissed
Personally, the one that always rubs me the wrong way is choosing to translate Bom Ba Ye as "Star Rage." Like it's just a completely dysfunctional translation on every level. First of all, while the kanji read "Fury of the Stars" - which is a much better translation than something as half-assed as "Star Rage," which sounds like a mid-tier spell in a JRPG - the furigana read "Bom Ba Ye." This connects Yuki to Todo, since his cursed technique is named the same way: the kanji read "Immorality" or "Unjust Game," but the furigana read "Bugi Ugi," or "Boogie Woogie." So that means that when the anime gets to Yuki versus Kenjaku, the voice actress for Yuki is going to be saying "Bom Ba Ye" while the translation might end up going with "Star Rage" because of Werry, which loses the meaning completely. Because Bom Ba Ye is a reference to a famous chant associated with both Muhammad Ali and Antonio Inoki. Inoki was one of the original architects Japan's pro wrestling industry and he went on to serve in the Diet, where he successfully negotiated the release of Japanese citizens held hostage abroad. He passed away earlier the year that the chapter released when Bom Ba Ye was revealed to be Yuki's technique. So on top of it just being a shit translation, it also stepped all over a tribute to a person GeGe probably admired. What I mean to say is that John Werry should never be allowed to translate manga ever again.
yeah there's a lot of "small" things like these that I think show just how much care and attention Gege puts into his work so it's sad to see it not get properly conveyed.
@@Orion__no I think it also contributed heavily to the contentious relationship a lot of Western "fans" have with the series. Obviously there are people who just exist to hate things other people like, but I'm sure there are a lot of people who legitimately can't understand why there's so much ink spilled over JJK's themes and characters because the Werry translation makes it impossible to get through to that stuff. And that just irritates the hell out of me. In terms of sales numbers, cultural impact, and how well GeGe can use the medium of manga to tell a story, JJK has been on top of the world for most, if not all of its run since Shibuya. Yet Viz has the opportunity to bring that series over to the West, and they hire a hack to completely butcher it. It's the kind of thing that'll make me so irritated I can't sleep at night, knowing lots of people who would have liked JJK probably won't because they got duped into a hatchet-job official translation because everyone tells them unofficial translations are evil. Sorry to go off on a whole spiel, it's just been under my skin for a couple of years now.
@@therealhussein Furigana is basically little text over a word written in kanji that gives a simplified spelling for people who aren't as good at reading kanji, like kids. But some mangaka, including Gege, use furigana to add a double-meaning to a word instead. So when Todo's technique is written in kanji, the kanji read "Fugi Yugi," which basically means "Immoral Game" or, possibly, an illegal move in a game. But the furigana read "Bugi Ugi," or, "Boogie Woogie." Yuki's technique is the same way. The kanji read "Hoshi no Ikari," or "Wrath of the Stars," but the furigana read "Bom Ba Ye."
I get the same feeling with the latest HxH translations, TCB always feel better. Still try to "read" the chapter on the viz site to show some kind of support. Great content 👍
I really like the officials personally, Lillian Olson is better at condensing the dialogue then TCB, which streamlines it and gives more room for the art to shine. I can see why you'd like TCB more tho.
Conversely the gojo "Nah I'd win" panel was a fan translation the werry translated as just "No", viz actually went back and changed it to the nah id win version because people were so pissed
I highly doubt it's a money issue for not hiring a better translator than Werry. Whatever money they're saving by not firing/replacing him and/or hiring an editor to cover for his incompetence they lose by putting an inferior product out that will have to be reviewed years from now. It's most likely just incompetence on somebody's part. If you've ever worked a job where someone doesn't pull their weight but continues to exist within it, you'll know that it's ultimately someone higher up not paying attention the way they're supposed to vs just pure greed. Not saying pure greed doesn't happen at Viz, but it'd be odd for that to be the motivation behind keeping Werry.
@@EnbyOfTheBorealValley Say "You can see it Makora" and "You can see it Mahoraga" out loud and ask yourself which one sounds better, and Mahoraga is also the name of some Hindu deities or smt
Completely off topic, but your editing is so mwahh **chef's kiss** 🤌🤌 Editing with a splitting headache really paid off! Hopefully you ended up getting that ibuprofen!
2:13 It’s a Me Reference 😭
Amazing video broski
Very nuanced take on the subject. Hard to find people that don't speak Japanese who also understand how poor literal translations are, and the importance of localization.
For the "Nah, I'd win" line, I can understand why it was translated the way it was. It is a fine translation, the issue just comes from the fact that it's calling back to an older line that was translated differently. They're both fine, but they need to be the same for consistency. Nah I'd win goes so much harder tho, lol. I'd have liked if they went with "Nah, I'll win" to keep the call back, but fix the tense to be proper.
I'm so glad you mentioned Sukuna here as well. I see this sort of tone missed a lot in English translations. It really requires the translator to put a lot of effort into "fluffing up" the text to give it the same tone as the original.
"Nah, I'mma win"
Another thing I find weird is how the official name for Megumi's Rabbit Shikigami is called "Rabbit Escape" when the name "Fleeing Hares" I've seen in some fansubs is both a better name AND more grammatically correct, on top of this the name of "Mahoraga" might actually be "Makora" which would make the widely accepted and used name for the Shikigami once again be technically incorrect.
It is simply astounding to me how one manga can be so riddled with translation issues from start to finish.
at least the Mahoraga was a W accident
I was confused why Mahoraga was called Makora in german
Makora is just the Japanese localization of the actual Mahoraga of both Hindu and Buddhist mythology. So this is the translator actually doing his homework well
you can yap all'you want but without this horrible translations we would never have the legendary ''Nah I'd Win''
Conversely the gojo "Nah I'd win" panel was a fan translation the werry translated as just "No", viz actually went back and changed it to the nah id win version because people were so pissed
as someone who is learning japanese, I have noticed Sukuna is the ONLY ONE in the entire series I cannot understand a single word of.
Personally, the one that always rubs me the wrong way is choosing to translate Bom Ba Ye as "Star Rage." Like it's just a completely dysfunctional translation on every level. First of all, while the kanji read "Fury of the Stars" - which is a much better translation than something as half-assed as "Star Rage," which sounds like a mid-tier spell in a JRPG - the furigana read "Bom Ba Ye."
This connects Yuki to Todo, since his cursed technique is named the same way: the kanji read "Immorality" or "Unjust Game," but the furigana read "Bugi Ugi," or "Boogie Woogie." So that means that when the anime gets to Yuki versus Kenjaku, the voice actress for Yuki is going to be saying "Bom Ba Ye" while the translation might end up going with "Star Rage" because of Werry, which loses the meaning completely.
Because Bom Ba Ye is a reference to a famous chant associated with both Muhammad Ali and Antonio Inoki. Inoki was one of the original architects Japan's pro wrestling industry and he went on to serve in the Diet, where he successfully negotiated the release of Japanese citizens held hostage abroad. He passed away earlier the year that the chapter released when Bom Ba Ye was revealed to be Yuki's technique.
So on top of it just being a shit translation, it also stepped all over a tribute to a person GeGe probably admired.
What I mean to say is that John Werry should never be allowed to translate manga ever again.
Agreed. He has John'd his last Werry. It's time to stop.
yeah there's a lot of "small" things like these that I think show just how much care and attention Gege puts into his work so it's sad to see it not get properly conveyed.
@@Orion__no I think it also contributed heavily to the contentious relationship a lot of Western "fans" have with the series. Obviously there are people who just exist to hate things other people like, but I'm sure there are a lot of people who legitimately can't understand why there's so much ink spilled over JJK's themes and characters because the Werry translation makes it impossible to get through to that stuff.
And that just irritates the hell out of me. In terms of sales numbers, cultural impact, and how well GeGe can use the medium of manga to tell a story, JJK has been on top of the world for most, if not all of its run since Shibuya. Yet Viz has the opportunity to bring that series over to the West, and they hire a hack to completely butcher it.
It's the kind of thing that'll make me so irritated I can't sleep at night, knowing lots of people who would have liked JJK probably won't because they got duped into a hatchet-job official translation because everyone tells them unofficial translations are evil. Sorry to go off on a whole spiel, it's just been under my skin for a couple of years now.
I'm sorry but i think im missing something, how is "bom ba ye" connected to "Bugi Ugi"?
@@therealhussein Furigana is basically little text over a word written in kanji that gives a simplified spelling for people who aren't as good at reading kanji, like kids. But some mangaka, including Gege, use furigana to add a double-meaning to a word instead.
So when Todo's technique is written in kanji, the kanji read "Fugi Yugi," which basically means "Immoral Game" or, possibly, an illegal move in a game. But the furigana read "Bugi Ugi," or, "Boogie Woogie."
Yuki's technique is the same way. The kanji read "Hoshi no Ikari," or "Wrath of the Stars," but the furigana read "Bom Ba Ye."
I get the same feeling with the latest HxH translations, TCB always feel better. Still try to "read" the chapter on the viz site to show some kind of support. Great content 👍
I think reading officials is a must (sadly). Gotta show support to the mangaka who don't really have any control over this.. Thank you!
I really like the officials personally, Lillian Olson is better at condensing the dialogue then TCB, which streamlines it and gives more room for the art to shine. I can see why you'd like TCB more tho.
I miss the old JJK translator for Viz, a shame he got arrested for owning CP
Huh?
your honor, he was trolling.
He wanted to cosplay as Mei Mei.
1:42 THEY TOOK THE YODA DIOLOGUE FROM US
Conversely the gojo "Nah I'd win" panel was a fan translation the werry translated as just "No", viz actually went back and changed it to the nah id win version because people were so pissed
Damn
The funny thing is that Viz actually has a lot of really good translators but for some reason they stuck the worst one on their most popular property
JJK translations were whack
John weery has a permanent place on my int list
pick gnar
I highly doubt it's a money issue for not hiring a better translator than Werry. Whatever money they're saving by not firing/replacing him and/or hiring an editor to cover for his incompetence they lose by putting an inferior product out that will have to be reviewed years from now. It's most likely just incompetence on somebody's part. If you've ever worked a job where someone doesn't pull their weight but continues to exist within it, you'll know that it's ultimately someone higher up not paying attention the way they're supposed to vs just pure greed. Not saying pure greed doesn't happen at Viz, but it'd be odd for that to be the motivation behind keeping Werry.
Came for the yapping, stayed for the music
I love Sonic RPG
What the peak
John. Werry.
02:19 I miss funny pink man
This needs more views fr
bro bringing up stuff we know already but where you been at
cooking up videos for December and 2025
Great work Orion!
Chills 🥶🥶🥶🥶
That guy thought he was cooking
don't forget how Makora became Mahoraga
Ok but seriously...who likes saying 'Makora'? That's a W on his part even if it is wrong
@Buraq786-bm1uh I prefer Makora, and the name is actually quite important as it's the name of a Buddhist divine general
@@EnbyOfTheBorealValley Say "You can see it Makora" and "You can see it Mahoraga" out loud and ask yourself which one sounds better, and Mahoraga is also the name of some Hindu deities or smt
Kinda don't care? Mahoraga just sounds much better in English that I'd never call him 'makora'
Steins Gate mentioned rahhh💯🙆♂WTF is a bad character???🗣
Steins gate is one of the best to ever do it
i swear i can hear faint naruto music
It is indeed there
Omg Orion hiiiii
hello
nah, i’d translate
Good video
Nah, I'd translate
Japanese is a branch of Albanian. If you speak Albanian you will understand it no problem.
The world is Albania
Nah i'd translate
Cyber I know ur gonna see this comment
under 200 >
w
Completely off topic, but your editing is so mwahh **chef's kiss** 🤌🤌 Editing with a splitting headache really paid off! Hopefully you ended up getting that ibuprofen!
i did thankfully lol.I've been trying to up the quality incrementally so im glad you noticed!