Gundam 00 — Nyoro~n Translation Errors
I was quite alarmed by a comment posted by tsuki_Yomi in my previous entry. His understanding of the relationship between Ptolemaios and Gundams in Gundam 00 appears to be the complete opposite of what episode 3 revealed. I decided that some fansub group must have done everyone a huge disfavour and since Nyoro~n is the only group that has released so far (as of this posting)…
So yeah, here’s a comparison of all the major translation errors in episode 3 released by Nyoro~n Fansubs. Of course since I do translation checking for Mendoi-Conclave, you can say that I have a vested interest in doing this comparison. But keep in mind that I didn’t make anything up and all the errors are really there when you watch their release. Enjoy.
Original: よもや君に出会えようとは
Nyoro~n: Oh come now, this is just like when I first saw you.
Menclave: Who would’ve thought… facing you like this…
Original: おとめ座のわたしには、センチメンタリズムな運命を感じずにはいられない
Nyoro~n: You’re not going to end this fated battle without returning my sentimentalities.
Menclave: Being a Virgo, I can’t help but feel this is a sentimental destiny.
Comment: Completely missing out the first half of the sentence (Virgo part). I agree that “sentimental destiny” sounds really stupid, but at least it doesn’t alter the meaning.
Original: それとも、光の粒子を出していなかったから見つけられたのか……
Nyoro~n: Or perhaps you thought I hadn’t noticed that light that’s streaming out of you?
Menclave: Or was I able to find you because you forgot to send out those glowing particles?
Comment: An honest mistake, I’m sure.
Original: 手土産に…破片の1つもいただいていく！
Nyoro~n: I admire your strength… So I’m going to take you back in one piece!
Menclave: As a souvenir… I’ll take a piece of you with me!
Comment: WTF?
Original: いやはや、本当に予測不能な人だよ君は
Nyoro~n: Goodness gracious, you’re certainly someone who grasps your shortcomings far too late, aren’t you?
Menclave: My, my, you’re such an unpredictable character.
Comment: Nice…
Original: 今回の戦闘で得られたガンダムのデータは、フラッグ1機を失ったとしてもおつりがくる
Nyoro~n: We got some battle data on the Gundam, and your Flag was unharmed.
Menclave: Considering the data we obtained on the Gundam during this fight, even losing the Flag would have been a good trade.
Comment: Hey, at least all the important keywords are there!…This time~nyoro~
Original: それにしても若かったな…ソレスタルビーイングのパイロットは
Nyoro~n: I just did this to better understand… that Celestial Being pilot.
Menclave: Besides all that, he sure was young… Celestial Being’s pilot.
Comment: LOL~!! wakai (young) != wakaru (understand)
Original: モビルスーツの動きに感情がのっていたのさ
Nyoro~n: When you’re moving a mobile suit, you tend to lose yourself.
Menclave: I could read his feelings from the way he moved his mobile suit.
Original: 10分以内に速報配信！次のニュースは現地からの中継だ！3時間以内に人革主席の公式声明が出るぞ！
Nyoro~n: There’s got to be something that’s been leaked. Just run a recap for the next newscast; this time tomorrow you all better have something to give me!
Menclave: Send out this news flash within the next 10 minutes! Do a live on-site broadcast for the next news segment! The head of the Human Reform League is making an official statement in less than 3 hours!
Comment: Okay, Nyoro~n, now you are just making shit up.
Original: 枠を空けとけ！
Nyoro~n: Get your asses in gear!
Menclave: Keep that time slot open!
Comment: Mmmm…ass…
Orignial: 21世紀のセキュリティはあってないようなものだからな
Nyoro~n: Besides, there’s no way a man from the 21st century could be around today.
Menclave: Security in the 21st century was almost non-existent, after all.
Comment: Not even close.
Major WTF Errors
Actually I am sick of this. It’s only 5 minutes into the episode and a quick glance through the rest of Nyoro~n’s script reveals that the entire thing is full of nonsense. But I’ll just highlight a few more MAJOR MISTAKES, some of them which totally changed the entire plot. I have doubts that the translator speaks any Japanese at all.
Original: 僕たちに弱点があるとすれば、ガンダムがないとプトレマイオスの活動時間が極端に限定されてしまうと
Nyoro~n: If there was one weak point for us… It would be that our Gundams are severely limited by the need to periodically return to the Ptolemaios.
Menclave: If we have a weak point, it’s that, without the Gundams, the operational time of the Ptolemaios would be extremely limited.
Comment: This may sound counter-intuitive, but yes, the Gundams really are Ptolemy’s power source. The original Japanese dialogue made it very clear.
Original: アイルランドのアルスター地方では、散発的ではありますが、テロ行為が4世紀近くにわたって続いています
Nyoro~n: Ireland’s Ulster Volunteer Forces are scattered across the country, though those factions who engage in terrorist activities remain hidden.
Menclave: In Ireland’s Ulster region, though sporadic, terrorist acts have been occurring for approximately four centuries.
Original: 材質はEカーボン。最新素材ではありますが、構造上、目新しい技術は確認されていません
Nyoro~n: It’s well-reinforced with carbon, the technology on the inside is cutting edge, some of it’s unheard of.
Menclave: It’s made out of E-carbon. It’s made out of the most up-to-date material, but, in terms of design, we cannot find any new technology being used.
Comment: The whole point of this dialogue is to show that CB are really careful not to divulge their technological secrets. Great job missing the whole point, Nyoro~n.
Original: あの特殊粒子は、ステルス性のほかに機体制御にも使われている
Nyoro~n: If we obtain a sample of that special particle, we can achieve the same results.
Menclave: Those special particles, besides their stealth features, are also used for controlling the suit.
Original: おそらくは、火器にも転用されているじゃろうて
Nyoro~n: So you’re going to give a Flag the firepower to match him?
Menclave: They’re likely to be applied as weapons too.
Original: 恐ろしい男じゃ、わしらより何十年も先の技術を持っておる
Nyoro~n: He’s a wicked man. 70 years ago I learned of his deceit.
Menclave: A dreadful man… having technology that’s several decades ahead of us.
Comment: STOP MAKING THINGS UP!!!
Original: わしは麻薬などというものが心底嫌いでな！焼き払ってくれるというなら、ガンダムを支持したい
Nyoro~n: That’s not the role you’re meant to fill, you need to be remade before then. I want to teach you what you need to blow the Gundam away.
Menclave: I hate narcotics from the bottom of my heart. If they intend to burn that down, I’ll support the Gundams.
Comment: Uh… How the fuck did you even get that?
Original: エネルギー、ヴァーチェからトレミーへの転送準備完了、転送開始します
Nyoro~n: Virtue now drawing energy from the solar furnace.
Menclave: Energy, transfer preparations from Virtue to Ptolemy complete.
Comment: Once again, Nyoro~n totally fucks up the relationship between Ptolemy and Gundams. Oh well, at least they are being consistent about it. :)
Original: ソレスタルビーイングを利用する国。その国すら利用する国
Nyoro~n: Celestial Being begins to be received by countries. These countries become host nations.
Menclave: The nations who make use of Celestial Being. The nations who use those nations.
Comment: Once again, I admit the shortcomings of Menclave’s version. It sounds a little weird in English, but at least that’s what the original dialogue is saying. We didn’t make things up! Yay!
Conclusion
Keep in mind that beyond the first 5 minutes of the episode, I only chose to highlight selective mistakes because it would probably take me a few hours more to document the whole thing. There’s something wrong with at least 70% of the lines. The translator goes to great length to make it sound like he knows what he is doing, such that his so-called “translations” sound reasonable to someone who doesn’t speak Japanese. That is, in my humblest opinion, dishonest and disturbing.
If you don’t understand a single word of Japanese at all, it’s better for you to watch the raws than to watch Nyoro~n. I hesitate to call their release a “translation” because in reality it is closer to being a parody sub. It’s as if the “translator” decided to write his own story because he didn’t like Sunrise’s scriptwriters. If you are a Gundam fan, please, for the love of Haruhi and all that is good, wait for some other group to release. It doesn’t even have to be Mendoi-Conclave…
If my experiences are anything to go by, some commentators will start accusing me of being “elitist” and “not helping the situation” just about now. But this time I learnt my lesson. Rest assured that Nyoro~n’s translator has had his mistakes pointed out to him many, many times before I typed this blog entry. He continues to insist that he knows what he is doing. Fine, here’s my proof otherwise.
That said, Nyoro~n’s release does offer hours of quality entertainment for someone who speaks Japanese. It’s hilarious. :)
This has been a public service announcement from a guy with too much free time on his hands.
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:35 am
This just in:
Nyoro~n teams up with Doremi just to spite DarkMirage. News at 10.
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:46 am
Wow… Just wow….
I’m a fluent Japanese speaker and part of a fansub group myself, so I’m not very versed in what other groups do…
I can’t believe this type of garbage a fansub group will put out just to be ‘first on the block’… I had no reason to download subs of other series… but now I may just to laugh at the mistakes the low quality ones make.
- PrincessRydiamon/LNF Nuku-Nuku
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:57 am
Marek: You are right. It is Leif.
Anonymous: Attacking the person doesn’t make the message any less true. At least this troll speaks the truth. :)
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:11 am
BTW here’s what the translator has to say:
Taken from Nyoro~n’s blog. Some guy spammed this page there and he wasn’t too happy about it. But it wasn’t me. I guess there are a lot of pissed-off people out there.
Strangely, I don’t think I know this guy. I do feel kind of sad that he accuses me of being “not too good with Japanese“. :(
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:26 am
I don’t see how he can try to claim you are lying or trolling — you posted the original Japanese along with their translation.
I’ve only watched Ep3 raw, and I can see the inaccuracies myself. The energy transfer TO Ptolemae-whatever is in “plain Japanese”, and I thought the sentence about the Flag pilot being able to tell the CB pilot was young based on his movements was also pretty obvious.
(I’m certainly not totally fluent, but I can spit out a fairly accurate TL in around 6hrs … I tend to be anal about checking against my dictionary for everything to make sure I get it correct)
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:57 am
I quickly glanced over at Nyoro~n subs earlier (since I’m not that familiar with Gundam terminology) and noticed they translated “sister” as “mother, Anne.” WTH, Nyoro~n?!
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:01 am
Oh wow. Thanks so much for the insight into the wrong translations. I actually had downloaded Nyoro~n and was going to watch it when I came across this blog. After reading this, I would’ve have definitely had a wrong perception of some of the bigger points of the plotline in this series (i.e., Gundams giving energy, not the need to be recharged). Just, wow. Unfortunately, since I do not speak Japanese, I need to rely on subbers. But now that you have brought this up, I’m going to have to be careful on which groups I download from.
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:26 am
Nyoro~n does speedsubs.
Your group does slow, methodical, higher quality work.
You are a tremendous faggot.
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:35 am
@ggg: I understand that they’re speedsubbers, but when you’re putting opposite meanings in your subs, it’s closer to the realm of jokesubbing than speedsubbing.
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:45 am
There’s a minimum quality to speed subs, and as DM demonstrated, this guy definitely does not meet that standard.
I don’t understand this “well he’s doing it for free” and “why don’t you help out instead of complaining” argument. If something is bad, it’s bad. There’s really nothing personal to it.
There’s also a difference between criticism and bitching, and DM clearly had done the former.
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:52 am
I agree with “ggg” in saying that they are speedsubs.. But even if your a speedsub group, i think the only difference should be the quality of the language interpreted,
So i wouldn’t be expecting intricate jargon that ties it in (which Nyoro~n try to incorporate).
I think if they tone down the language, they might be looking at a more accurate translation,
Then again i have no idea about translating from Japanese, i just hav picked up a couple phrases here and there.
But i reckon the importance of translation, specially in a show that has technical explanations, and also a political view that it needs to convey, is pretty important, u not only misunderstand the plot line but the whole experiences of what the writer is trying to put across to the audience is lost, because in reality we get Nyoro~n’s Gundam 00…
For a couple of years now i have been following DBs Speedsubs for Naruto and Bleach, and for the life of me i have no idea if there subs are accurate or not. So once i downloaded another groups to compare the releases, and it didn’t flow as nice.. I guess really i could be in the same situation, the subs just flow well for DB or are the accurate o_0” No idea
my 2 cents worth in the bowl, mix it up, hop out the kitchen when it gets hot cause too many cooks spoil the broth, and there’s no point crying over spilt milk since all roads lead to Rome and it wasn’t built in a day, and if you change horses midstream you’ll be up the creek without a paddle, and we’ll be talking bout this till the cows come home.
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:09 am
Nyoro~n didn’t just do a speedsub. They did a joke/troll/shit sub. Nyoro~n definitely know it’s wrong but they’ll defend because obviously each group has its sheep that’ll believe them. They get a kick out of it. Unfortunately, bad for the community. DarkMirage did a great service to all the English viewers.
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:38 am
Looks like Anime-Junkies is back!
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:55 am
This is a real problem with bad speedsubbers, to see it in perspective, let’s see numbers:
Downloads of Nyoro~n version as of now: 26922
Downloads of Mendoi-Conclave version as of now: 10679
So, the QUALITY fansubs of Nyoro~n have a market share of 71%!! 71% of english fans who use fansubbers think that Graham Acre grasps his shortcomings!!
I see this post as a great service for the anime fandom around the world, as speedsubbers have the advantage of “first post” and a lot of people don’t care or even know the “speedsubbers” term. One will hope Nyoro~n will receive this as a good thing and use it to be better, but it seems is “cooler” to be part of the Anonymous Groupthinking (Even with 4chan dead).
Great work, DM
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:28 am
This is why I prefer zero-presence fansubbing.
There is no “market” - its piracy.
Fred, explain how “Anonymous Groupthinking” has anything to do with shitty subs. You are very ‘hip’ to internet developments. I gained a great deal of respect for you. Perhaps the next time I encounter your selectively portrayed internet-persona I will hold your opinion in higher regard than I would the opinion of a stranger. Yes sir you made an internet friend today. Relax, allow me to caress you e-peen, now, and in the future.
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:52 am
How does Anonymous group compare to Conclave Mendoi’s?
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:16 am
If people are so concerned with the accuracy of the translations they should just go learn japanese, downloading something for free will always have its risks, including dodgy translations. Although i must say some of the mistakes are quite shocking, what use is it to list all their mistakes and insult them?
And um, soulshift, Bigpond is kind of known for it’s high prices, i’m with iiNet’s plan of $70($90SGD)/month 60gb cap.
Just a note, i’m not invovled in the fansubbing scenario at all, nor do i download english subs
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:19 am
thanks for the corrections those Nyoro~n retards better start picking up their act
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:21 am
^oops, forgot to add that it is 24mbps
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:22 am
Aww man…the reason I d/led from Nyoron is bcos they at least release theirs in HD avi format. Not that mycom doesnt support mkvs, I just prefer avi/mp4 over mkv…
Any chance of M-C releasing in mp4/avi?? Else I gotta wait for Shinsen…