deathmailrock wrote:I feel that keeping Japanese order will help bring people closer to understanding the Japanese text better and join in on the Western Otaku culture we have, ya know.
My goal is to tell this specific story to English readers, and pushing English readers to understand elements of Japanese text is unnecessary for that goal. Getting readers to join in otaku culture is... also not something I'm trying to do.
Also, in this series, how names are shown show the difference in culture... I mean, Ikki is called Kurogane Ikki (family name 1st while given name last) while Stella is called Stella Vermillion (reverse of Ikki), it shows a bit of the difference in culture between the characters themselves.
What bit of difference in culture does that show, which isn't already displayed by their contrasting behavior?
It'd help them understand and be more comfortable with other works too.
This project cannot be responsible for helping readers understand or appreciate other works.
And it won't be a willy-nilly kinda translation since explaining how they are difference in the notes could also help educate the peoples (and we could show the Kanji and romanji in the notes section to help them understand things better). I mean, translating a work isn't just bringing the Japanese work to others, but other to the Japanese work as well.....
The translation should be "not willy-nilly" by staying focused on telling its story, not by diffusing readers' attention across multiple tangential concerns like teaching them a foreign culture or new language, et cetera, unless those things specifically and substantively add to the story. If they only help readers better understand Japan or some other light novel or so forth, they're hardly worth keeping for their own sake.
I think keeping the ordering and explaining why the names are ordered the way they are could bring in the people who don't have the experience and give them a new experience to enjoy.
But what is so immensely enjoyable about it?
I also feel it's more critical in this story where some people have Japanese order while others have Western order, since it does actual have a difference.
And what is that difference?