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 11:24 am
Anonymous is pretty good too. If you don’t want to watch Mendoi-Conclave because you hate us or because you prefer Xvid, then I recommend Anonymous. But for the love of all that is good, stop trying to defend Nyoro~n.
There is a minimum standard of quality even for “speed subs”. I can honestly tell you that with Nyoro~n’s misleading “translations”, you are better off watching the entire thing raw even if you don’t know a single word of Japanese. At least then you won’t be under the false impression that you know what is going on with the story. Ultimately Nyoro~n’s release does a huge disservice to the community and contributes nothing to the series.
And judging from the Lolfang’s reaction to my accusations and those of other people before me, I find it hard to believe that he is unaware of his terrible translation. This is not a mistake, this is a deliberate attempt on his part to mislead and cheat. I find it highly despicable that he continues to defend his “translation”, especially when he knows that there are people out there who desperately want to continue to believe in Nyoro~n, who even now are trying to defend him. He is betraying their trust wilfully. I am disgusted.
The right thing to do now is to owe up that you have been making up more than half the dialogues and apologize to the people who wasted their time on your ego-trip.
That said, I don’t think zero-presence fansubbing has anything to do with this whole thing. Even if Lolfang had released his translations anonymously, I would still have done this comparison because I absolutely detest such forms of dishonesty in fansubbing. The only difference is that in that case we wouldn’t be able to find anyone to hold accountable for.
Once again, I find it weird that there are always people who accuse me of “not helping”. What more can I do? Lolfang had his mistakes pointed out to him in private numerous times before. He did nothing to improve and he showed no signs of regret. Would you prefer if I didn’t make this post and kept my mouth shut instead? I simply cannot understand this line of reasoning.
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:24 am
i don’t think he’s insulting them, he’s pointing out major mistakes so that the fans don’t run into continuity issues in the future, especially with that energy transfer thing. god even i noticed when reading the sub
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:16 pm
DM, I haven’t watched this series, but from reading your article I can already tell which person has the correct translation and all that… not gonna try fighting that in the slightest. I also appreciate that you put this up on your site, it’s great for the general fandom to get to read ^_^x
However, I think I should point out that there is a possibility where he isn’t doing this to intentionally piss people off. Perhaps he did try his best (I sure remember my first attempts at translating, when I probably shouldn’t have even bothered thinking about it) and in the end puzzled together something he thought made sense?
If he fought that hard, some personality types wouldn’t be able to accept to himself that his work is bad. I’m not trying to defend him here, saying that he might be morally correct… just saying that perhaps you might want to remember he might not be “just” as bad as you make him out to be.
Again, I’ve never been interested in this show, never downloaded an episode and certainly never spoke to the guy, so I have no clue outside of this article ^_^x;
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Excellent post DM, I haven’t watched any subs other than Mendoi/Conclave, but now I’m glad I didn’t.
I do speak Japanese and fansub for certain groups and reading through the translations of Nyoron gave me a wonderful giggle, I mean everyone makes mistakes, but thats virtually changing the storyline.
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October 23rd, 2007 at 2:41 pm
“He did nothing to improve and he showed no signs of regret.”
probably because showing regret isn’t going to help him to improve
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Not gonna defend nyoro~n, but from this we can conclude that
1) only a handful of people can do quality subs
2) only a handful of those handful of people would sub a project like Gundam
I’m pretty sure someday I’ll get owned by some lyric translation critic, but I also want to alert people that to send the meaning across, each translator would produce a different translation. Some would do it better than others.
It’s easy to distinguish a correct translation that one that’s not (especially from peer groups), but it’s up to the individual to choose the best one.
That said, you also need to know why DM is the best around. Usually a translator is either too on the literal side or the poetic side (in which I’m the latter), but DM is just about smack in the middle.
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Well, as I thouht, nyoro~n is not geting any better. It was a piece of shit when it was translating Gurren-Lagann, and it is just the same piece now.
So, I’m really think that he (them?) is doing it on purpuse.
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:20 pm
I knew there was a reason that I’m always watching the “quality” hroup versions of a shows sub - if available.
I don’t like the idea of speedsubbing in general (hell, the whole thing has to be translated and timed either way. Doing some QC and a proper encode is by far the least work).
And I’m not that big fan of zero presence subbing. Because I just don’t know how good the “Anon” subbing a certain show is. You can’t even know if it’s the same Anon who subs other shows with the same name-tag.
The only problem I have with regular groups is that they tend to become slower with their releases of a show and tend to drop them. No offense here, I can wait weeks for a proper sub. But anything beyond 2 months is cruel.
For example “Eureka 7″ by Nanashi. I guess I’m one of the 3 guys who actually watched the whole show by them and not the speedsubbers.
But despite those peanuts I really enjoy those subs, so thanks DarkMirage and silversurfer (I know my subbers lol ;)
October 23rd, 2007 at 5:23 pm
@Yggdrasil: Oh come on - you could have scrolled up just a few lines and found my name (and spelled it right, too!).
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Do anyone have any idea where I can get Gundam 00 shows with good subs?
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:22 pm
Anyhow, here’s mendoi’s reply to this entire incident:
http://www.mymenclave.com/
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:04 pm
“I am gay for u, one hot and sexy piece”
ur kinda good with the jokes…
Btw..I’m watching the anime from this subs
http://www.gundams.net/index.php
i don’t know there are good or bad but kinda quick release. just some slight problem….about the episode 3.
Thx for helping everyone with the translation error. Maybe i would check in some other subs some how..
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:08 pm
sadly they’re as bad as nyoron.
if you wanna go for a non-bullshit sub, and
for some reason you hate mendoi-conclave,
go for anon.
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:25 pm
@silverfire
lol I really messed up this one. No idea how this happened. Never even knew anyone with the “surfer” nick. sry.
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Hi DarkMirage,
I just bounced over from nyoro~n’s site, and I absolutely agree with what you said.
As the matter of fact, the initial reason for me to go on their site was to warn them of how inaccurate their subs are.
The argument of “we do speed-sub” is a complete pile of bull. The truth is, I used to be a translator myself. Having JLPT 1 and having done fansub myself a few years ago, I can do speed sub for this episode 3 within an hour with possibly similar quality to what Menclave did. If I can do it in a hour, someone with lower level of Japanese and a whole day to spend on subbing should have no excuse at giving us such a horrible sub.
FYI, “Ane” means sister, Saji Crossroad does not live with his mother, that lady who works at the station is his sister, not his mom. This is the worse possible mistake that even a normal anime fan would spot…
DarkMirage, you have my full support.
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:39 pm
I’d rather watch raw than watch Nyoro~n. This ain’t the first time they’ve fucked up.
Episode one was particularly memorable too. “Unknown unit approaching” got translated as “Fire all artillery”…. IIRC.
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:40 pm
This just shows why China is going to rule the world in the next century. There are more than 10 Chinese sub groups with the translation quality of at least Anonymous and possibly Mendoi, and they release faster than the speed of Nyoron. China vs the rest of the world… and they pwned.
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Except that they have to convince the rest of the world to read Chinese subs first.
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:55 pm
There could be several reasons why china has more subbers. No copyright fears (aka we’ll sue your ass), no commercial releases, more chinese people than europeans and americans together.
On the one hand I’m a little bit envious on the other hand IMHO the general quality of animes has decreased over the last few years IMHO so it’s no wonder that the times of oversubbing like Chrono Crusade are long over.