Golden Time

[rpapo]

There you go. The first few pages of chapter one. I have also sent it to a Japanese friend for review, so I may change it yet. In any case, I think those first few pages give a good idea of what the changed Banri and his shadow are like: the one almost useless, the other very aware but powerless to do anything. It will be interesting to see if Banri's spirit gets to be anything but a passive observer or narrator in this story, or if somehow they get reunited in the end.

[larethian]

Other than the fact that I keep forgetting this thread is located under Toradora LOL, great work there! What's the thing about the ghost being Tada Banri as well?? Makes me want to go and buy the LN now. I just saw it recently at a local Kinokuniya, unlike Denyuuden which I have to import.

[rpapo]

I only -know- as much about the story as I've translated myself, or I've read from translated reviews, or I've translated from the Japanese wiki. I can theorize a lot, though. So far, Banri's Spirit is a nice plot device allowing the writer to introduce commentary as to what is happening. Beyond that, it gives the writer an excuse to create a male character with a lot of female characteristics. Just what the writer will do with all this in the end, I have no idea. But that's part of the fun of translating something nobody has even commented on in English yet: you get surprised.

If the forum administrators want to move this topic to Auxiliary Brigades, I suppose that's fine, or merge it with the Teaser thread, that would work too. For the time being, history and circumstance have placed this topic here.

[Vaelis]

I moved the topic in Auxiliary Brigades because I don't really know where it belongs.
It's still a teaser but I guess it might turn into a full project.

[rpapo]

We will see. There don't appear to be any other translators interested at this point, and though I'm interested, I am also rather slow still, and I'd also like to at least finish the other story I'm working on. The Gunma story has another 35 pages or so to go.

[Darklor]

Why not do it in turns, one page here one page there?

[rpapo]

Actually, I am transcribing Golden Time in the evenings, and translating Spinoff 2 (for which I already have a transcript) during my spare moments at work. Right now, I have nearly two pages more of Golden Time transcribed.

My Japanese friend would much prefer I work on Golden Time, because she really doesn't like Haruta.

[rpapo]

My Japanese friend would much prefer I work on Golden Time, because she really doesn't like Haruta.

And she just proved it again, giving me a complimentary review of what I'd translated of chapter one, with some corrections, after having ranted about Haruta in her previous note.

To be fair, she hasn't seen anything of that story after the part where Haruta insults Taiga. I was having some difficulty there, and the difficulties were in something I wound up having to gloss over in the translation. The food for thought that Haruta imagined himself giving Taiga (but not actually doing so) was something American publishers would probably censor. Different countries have different standards. Not looser, not tighter... simply different.

[thelastguardian]

It's (as expected from Takemiya) a very sweet book . she always does managed to capture the mood of every day live.

[rpapo]

I take it you're a fluent reader of Japanese, and have already read the book? I hope my translations haven't been too far off the mark so far. Not having lived in Japan, I am at a certain disadvantage, only partially mitigated by a Japanese friend (a housewife, artist and writer I know from my church, who now lives about a half-hour from where we do). Her English is still a bit fractured, even after twenty years here.

Having cheated and read the last two pages of the book, I can say I am very curious to see how things turn out.

I could only wish that some people I know weren't quite so judgemental about Takemiya's work. If she portrays somebody as a something less than ideal, it's for a good reason, and she generally rehabilitates the person in question before the end of the story, or at least explains their behavior sufficiently so you can understand them.

[thelastguardian]

I wouldn't call it fluent, but yah, I can understand Jap books adequately.

The thing with Takemiya's book is that, she uses so many conventions that only a Japanese would understand. Furthermore, her writing style is very casual. She would often have line after line connecting one another, as if the main character is talking to himself. Not easy to read :p

Not having perfect character is fine, but I wish most light novel authors would take a leaf out of her books- you can have a outwardly plain main character, but at least put some effort into his characterization to make him more life like. Make him someone that you as the reader would care about.

[rpapo]

And I had no idea what I was getting in to when I started working on her stuff as an exercise to learn to read Japanese better. It took me two weeks to get through the two page postscript of Spinoff 2! Now I'm getting used to her style, but my few Japanese associates have had various reactions:

(1) Professor (Japanese): No way! That stuff is written by otakus for otakus. Why would you have anything to do with such lowlife?
(2) Professor's wife: Why can't you pick something worthwhile to translate? Do you want some real literature?
(3) Wife (Peruvian): If you're going to spend time on something, at least earn some money for it. Don't forget to mow the lawn...
(4) Friend (Japanese): She sure writes complicated stuff!

At least #4 gives me useful feedback and corrections...

[larethian]

なんか、竹宮先生と読者の代わりにあの博士の言葉にむかつくになっちゃった！むっ！！

[rpapo]

本当に。

[Darklor]

And I had no idea what I was getting in to when I started working on her stuff as an exercise to learn to read Japanese better. It took me two weeks to get through the two page postscript of Spinoff 2! Now I'm getting used to her style, but my few Japanese associates have had various reactions:

(1) Professor (Japanese): No way! That stuff is written by otakus for otakus. Why would you have anything to do with such lowlife?
(2) Professor's wife: Why can't you pick something worthwhile to translate? Do you want some real literature?
(3) Wife (Peruvian): If you're going to spend time on something, at least earn some money for it. Don't forget to mow the lawn...
(4) Friend (Japanese): She sure writes complicated stuff!

At least #4 gives me useful feedback and corrections...

1) Ah, so the anime cliches are true that the normal Japanese looks down at otakus ?
2) Would that really be worthwhile?
3) Problem would be that one would have too pay too much to get a license to do that legally (also I heard translators are normaly paid very bad...)
4) Great that you can understand that!