Talk:Golden Time

Things to do:

Retranslate summary: All I could figure out from it was that this was a romantic comedy.

Translate first chapter.

(Saganatsu)

At the moment is it just created as a teaser project - continuation is unknown... --Darklor 01:40, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

I hope someone picks it up. it's always good to have a variety of stories. --Saganatsu 05:54, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

The problem is simple: I've still got over two hundred pages of Spinoff 2 to do. --Rpapo 10:00, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

I've slightly redone the synopsis. It would be possible to simply post the translated contents of the Japanese Wiki page, which gives a more detailed plot synopsis and a cast of characters. The only problem with that is that there is a very important spoiler there. Not having read the whole story, I cannot say whether that spoiler is critical, but I can certain say it is important! --Rpapo 10:08, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

My apologies if I was insulting or presumptuous in the least, I was thinking along the lines: "this is what needs to be done to qualify as a full project", not "you: go and do these things". --Saganatsu 17:42, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

Don't worry about it. I was surprised when I saw that one of my earliest attempts at translating the publisher's promotional statement was posted as the story synopsis (I didn't create the web page). I corrected it, but it really needs something a little longer and more detailed. The Japanese Wiki page contains the following:

College is the stage upon which the protagonist, private university freshman Tada Banri, and a cast of supporting characters are interwoven to form a romantic comedy. Banri, due to the after-effects of an accidental fall from a bridge shortly after high school graduation, has lost all his memories from before then. On top of that, at the time of the accident, Banri's soul had escaped from his body, and the “Spirit of Tada Banri” came into being, carrying his memories from before graduation, though you could say those were written from a male perspective.

And this:

Tada Banri, a newly admitted student at a private law school in Tokyo, found himself completely lost after the opening ceremony, trying to find his way to the freshman orientation. At that moment, he ran into another lost freshman from the same school, Yanagisawa Mitsuo, and they hit it off at once. Somehow arriving at their intended goal just on time, there appeared in front of the two a beautiful girl holding a bouquet of roses. The girl then whacked Mitsuo across the face with the bouquet and handed the flowers over to him. “Freshman, congratulations”, was all she said, and then she left. The stylish, well dressed, perfect woman that had swung at Mitsuo was his childhood friend, Kaga Kouko. As children they had promised to marry each other one day, fulfilling their dreams. In order to escape from her, Mitsuo had gone out secretly and taken the examination for this well known private college, but now she showed up in the freshman orientation hall. She too had taken the law school entrance examination, catching up with him there.

It is the whole thing about "Banri's Spirit" that gives the story its special twist... or should. I have not read the five chapters between the prologue and the epilogue, just the beginning and the end.

The end of the story goes like this:

My name is Tada Banri.

I’ve died, an eighteen year old boy.

Unnoticed by anyone, without anybody knowing, I’ve always watched after Tada Banri’s affairs. I see everybody’s affairs.

I’m sitting in the first seat behind, taking it easy, legs stretched out. Today the sunlight is really strong, and the classroom is warm, making everybody sleepy. Staring at the boring back of Banri’s head, I find my eyes are closing by themselves. I’m getting awfully sleepy.

Banri's spirit speaks of being Banri, yet speaks of the physical Banri as being a separate person. I can only imagine what this must do the story dialog as it progresses, especially because at the beginning the reader has no idea what is going on.

--Rpapo 18:41, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

Narrative Perspective

The novel is completely narrated from a third person perspective. It has to do with the story, Banri had an accident where he loses all his memory. Then the character split in two. The original Banri who "died" at 18 with that accident, and the one who lived and spent 1 year in rehab (thus being a rounin for 1 year). The best way to take it is like the story is completely written by a ghost who "says what the living Banri does" or "may be thinking", li. The japanese grammar make it confusing to know who is the agent of the action so its confusing until you take it as a third person narrative AT ALL TIMES. -Zell 186.56.179.92 02:09, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for the comment. I had been wondering about that for quite some time, but it had not become completely obvious that I should be doing that. I guess I will have to spend some time going through the translation and adjusting it where necessary. If you've been reading the various forum posts, you will see we've been talking a bit recently about the nature of narrative and how it should be translated. --Rpapo 11:06, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Actually, it appears at times though the ghost appears to be the narrator, he's not a truly intrusive narrator. That is, it isn't always obvious. Most of the time he's a quiet narrator who doesn't insert his opinions into the story, and simply tells us what is going on. When he starts speaking in the first person, it's pretty obvious. Not from the grammar so much as from the things he says. So far, he's started each chapter, and I know from having skipped ahead that he speaks up in the epilogue. --Rpapo 00:05, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

For the grammar I meant that in japanese agents are omitted, 「○○と思っていた」 has no information of the person or agent who does it. For example p47. "「…ていうか…」　そして気がつけば、結局、また一人だ。". That could fit both Banri first-person or the ghost' narrative. But as the flow of the context, is the ghost all the time. I don't remember a single sentence where an action on the story is using a verbal phrase in first person as Banri. It's no different from the common narrative where the protagonist relates other actions, but in this novel Banri actions are related on the same way (e.g. p16. この声が万里に届くなら). The most clear example is on the very Banri' quotes, when the ghost narrates Banri' state. Ah, you remembered me the epilogue. I got confused with the story there, specially with the drunk man on the bridge with the れ sign. Later Kôko and Banri go to a club and get stamped that sign and Banri recalls it. I got lost at that point. Was the epilogue a dream, a time paradox idk.Zell 00:43, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

I agree 100% that the first part of each chapter, and the epilogue (not the prologue) are narrated from the point of view of the ghost. After that, though, the ghost becomes less intrusive, to the point where it seems a normal narrative story, not told from the point of view of any of the characters, but from the point of view of somebody watching it all. Of course, that is exactly what the ghost is doing: watching it all. He says as much many times. --Rpapo 00:48, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

The prologue was not a dream sequence at all, but rather an introduction to the character of Banri as he was before his accident. I have no idea at this point what is going on with the man with the symbol stamped on his hand. --Rpapo 00:48, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

FWIW, on page 70, we have the narrator (the ghost) making a quiet reference to himself, when he declares that nobody deserves the treatment that Mitsuo was giving to Banri. "...even somebody unseen attached to him..." --Rpapo 00:56, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

I must say that this novel is really confusing. First of all there is this weird narration perspective and then there is a lot of jumping around. The scene switches too suddenly and I have no idea what's going on. Especially that part SPOILER[with Banri dumping Kaga]SPOILER, my brain started malfunctioning because it was so sudden, and I can't tell what the hell Kaga is thinking either...so very difficult to read but the plot is very interesting. --203.218.82.107 02:35, 10 May 2012 (CDT)

Between the author and my own sometimes stilted translation, yes, things can be confusing at times... --Rpapo 11:50, 22 June 2012 (CDT)

ありがとうございます！

Thank you, anonymous user at 65.94.206.69! At least now I know somebody is taking the time and effort to validate at least a little bit of my translation work. Why don't you create yourself an account here on B-T so the rest of us can communicate with you now and then? --Rpapo 12:32, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

Who's the illustrator?

Is the character designer's name really Komato Eiji, or Komatsu Eiji? the way the hair was drawn is Komatsu's style...

Shame on Darklor for spelling it wrong on the initial version of the page, shame on me for not catching his mistake then. In either case I got it right on the public wiki page. --Rpapo 11:34, 8 January 2011 (UTC)

Hm? How could it be my fault, since I took it from your first forum post regarding Golden Time?: --Darklor 05:59, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

Ouch. My fault, then. 8-( --Rpapo 11:07, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

The Summary >:0

The girl then whacked Mitsuo across the face with the bouquet and handed the flowers over to him. “Freshman, congratulations”, was all she said, and then she left. The stylish, well dressed, perfect woman that had swung at Mitsuo was his childhood friend, Kaga Kouko. As children they had promised to marry each other one day, fulfilling their dreams. In order to escape from her, Mitsuo had gone out secretly and taken the examination for this well known private college, but now she showed up in the freshman orientation hall. She too had taken the law school entrance examination, catching up with him there.

For the life of me I do not know what is going on here. Especially the bold part. Who did what to escape from whom and why? If I am to interpret it as literally as possible, the main guys childhood friend Kouko is in love with the girl he met with while he was lost (mitsuo) and that's why she slapped that girl bcuz she was with the main guy, thus causing a misunderstanding? And Mitsuo has apparently been trying to escape from her and that's why she secretly took the law school exam? But Kouko also took the exam and stalked her? I think someone must have gotten names mixed up, not just that, male and female pronouns also. Well this is pissing me off. The summary is kind of important guys, I wonder how many people have been scared off by this incomprehensible mess? I am going to rework the damn thing so it at least makes sense.

Okay, I fixed it up and now I think it is 100% accurate. Unfortunately this appears to have been machine translated or something since there are a ridiculous amount of grammar errors. Particularly with third person pronouns. I merely scanned chapter 1 and found myself even more confused than before. I cannot even tell which characters are male and which are female, it changes sometimes within a single sentence. This is the version I fixed-

Tada Banri, a newly admitted student at a private law school in Tokyo, found himself completely lost after the opening ceremony, trying to find his way to the freshman orientation. At that moment, he ran into another lost freshman from the same school, Yanagisawa Mitsuo, and they hit it off at once. Somehow arriving at their intended goal just on time, there appeared in front of the two a beautiful girl holding a bouquet of roses. The girl then whacked Mitsuo across the face with the bouquet and handed the flowers over to her. “Freshman, congratulations”, was all she said, and then she left. The stylish, well dressed, perfect woman that had swung at Mitsuo was her childhood friend, Kaga Kouko. As children they had promised to marry each other one day, fulfilling their dreams. In order to escape from her, Mitsuo had gone out secretly and taken the examination for this well known private college, but now Kouko showed up in the freshman orientation hall. She too had taken the law school entrance examination, catching up with her there.

To see what I changed follow this link, both old and new summary plus changes are shown. http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Golden_Time&diff=prev&oldid=101284

It actually looks like someone purposefully went in and screwed shit up, since the summary written above under the "things to do" subsection is accurate, but not the one shown on the project page. I would appreciate it if someone else would make sure everything is right.--Blackfaia 01:53, 17 June 2011 (UCT)

No, the summary is correct. Think of Kouko as the most self-center person you've ever met. Although she means no harm, she ignores everything that's not part of her 'grand scheme of life'. This involves ignoring all Mitsuo's wishes for her to leave him alone. She would be a terrifying stalker, if not for her apparently out of this world beauty, demeanor, and (at least on the surface) self confidence.

She is literally 'cry all you want, but you will be my lover in the grand scheme of my life and there is NOT A SINGLE DAMN THING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT. You can run but you can't hide' Mitsuo, for his part, while initially like her, has been agitated and eventually loath the way she ignores, yet cling to his live (and according to him, ruined everything in it).

It's hard for me to describe her- if you read the book you would know what I mean. --69.165.129.77 02:39, 17 June 2011 (UCT)

Perhaps you should read the story before judging the summary (or more accurately, the teaser). Your edits showed that you thought that Mitsuo was a girl, but the second large color illustration foldout shows him very clearly male. If you read our forum thread on this story, however, you will see that we were far from clear as to the gender of Banri at first. Even my Japanese friends weren't clear on it. But the reason for the confusion lies in the story itself: before his accident, Banri was much more outgoing and playful than your typical Japanese male of his age, to the point where a female Japanese friend of mine thought he was a she. Worse, after his accident, his memories from before are gone, and good deal of his male personality too . . . gone to "Banri's Ghost", who follows him around all the time and watches what is going on, but who nobody can see. Anyway, while it is true that a better introduction could probably be written, I have simply translated the summary that was posted on the Japanese Wiki page about the story. That introduction only barely touches upon the events of chapter one, and leaves the supernatural elements entirely alone. Nor does it hint at the love triangle that will shortly be developing. In this, I was simply honoring the intentions of the publishers themselves. --Rpapo 10:37, 17 June 2011 (UCT)

FWIW, the prologue and first chapter in particular have been heavily reviewed by many people, including 4-5 native speakers of the Japanese language. Though I myself am still only an intermediate level translator, there are several very good ones following along and pointing out problems with the text as I go. I believe we are getting the story more or less correct. Perhaps not the best, most flowing English, but reasonably correct. --Rpapo 10:59, 17 June 2011 (UCT)

FWIW2, Kouko was indeed stalking Mitsuo. Mitsuo secretly took the entrance examinations to the law school in an attempt to escape from her, but somebody clued her in and she took the same exams in order to follow him. Mitsuo had just got done rejoicing in his new freedom to Banri when she appeared out of nowhere and assaulted him with the bouquet of roses. --Rpapo 11:06, 17 June 2011 (UCT)

V1 Full Text

Do you mind if I create a Full Text page for volume 1? I usually use that to save and convert in calibre for reading on my ereader. I got the impression that the spinoff is not a part of the volume, so I'm guessing all v1 contents are done?

And thanks for the translation! --Hypernova 02:37, 6 February 2012 (CST)

Go ahead, it's not like you really need my permission. After all, the text, once posted on B-T, is property of the site (or all of us, depending on your perspective). In any case, I personally have no intention of going back into volume one to revise the translation at this time. I know the translation is flawed, but I think a better use of my time would be to forge on ahead. You are correct about the spinoff. It was published simultaneously with the first book, as a promotional item in Dengeki Bunko Magazine. The same is true with the other two spinoffs: they were published simultaneously with the books, but as promotional items in the magazine. --Rpapo 05:14, 6 February 2012 (CST)

And now another guy has already done EPUB and MOBI versions of the book. It's a stampede! 8-) --Rpapo 15:26, 6 February 2012 (CST)

Just got my atention. My goal is to create ePUBs of all Novels. --Simon 16:26, 6 February 2012 (CST)

I went ahead and create a Full Text page. ePUB is actually better for me since caliber can't really do anything about the image (I want them bigger) so thank you Simon.--Hypernova 04:52, 7 February 2012 (CST)

Is there any plan to include the first spin-off in the ePUB and MOBI versions, or create one for it separately?

Questions

Are there 5 volumes in total?

There will apparently be more. In the postscript to the latest book published, the "Extras" volume, in the very last sentence, Takemiya-san indicates she has to get back to work on the next book. --Rpapo (talk) 05:21, 4 February 2013 (CST)

I need more juicy fruit Rpapo.

I'm working on it as I can. The next few pages should be interesting, judging by the expression on Linda's face three pages from now. --Rpapo (talk) 04:51, 25 February 2013 (CST)

Ahh, I (or we) know. Just wanted you to know I'm (or we) lovin' it!

Anime vs LN (possible spoilers)

At vol 3, ch1: "So it is. They told me not to get close to you. They said that if I stuck with you, my life was going to go amiss. They told me to pick a new target!" The anime did this part quite differently. Question being, was the original text misinterpreted or did the anime do a 180 on this part by having Kouko's parents say she would be harmful to Banri?

Good catch. I heard this in the anime too, and thought it odd, but didn't go back to the text to check. See correction. --Rpapo (talk) 04:11, 17 November 2013 (CST)

It is Kouko's obsession that is talked about. When she has a new target, it is her obsession, now, it will be interesting whether Linda stays in the back or not. --YCMCA1956 (talk) ] 19 November 2013 (PST}

And with episode 8, we are past the translations. Thank you for all your efforts so far Rpapo. Initially, I thought they would get here by episode 12 but they're going at a faster pace than I expected. Makes me wonder what they have in store for us. Without further ado, question: Just how faithful do you think the anime will follow the LN (or has been)?

About as faithful as it has been so far. That is, they have been rearranging the presentation of Banri's flashbacks, and have been paring the details to the bone, leaving out an awful lot of the development. You really need to have read the manga or the light novel to understand some of the things that happen (especially in episode 4). I think they will continue in this way until they get to what has not yet been published. I find it hard to imagine that this director will invent significant new stuff that isn't in the books. He/she hasn't in eight episodes, and there's only sixteen more left to go. --Rpapo (talk) 03:59, 22 November 2013 (CST)

Finished?

So is the light novel finished or is it still continuing?--Dman21 (talk) 12:01, 1 November 2013 (CDT)

Beyond the current page, or beyond volume 7? Yes, we are continuing to work on the translation, and we presume there will be a volume 8 still. --Rpapo (talk) 14:34, 1 November 2013 (CDT)

Currently Active Editors

I am wondering which editors, beside myself (Fukukaze), are still active on this project.

In case you are wondering who I am, as you can see, I joined both the translating side as the editing side. The former as I want to try and improve my still modest skill in Japanese and the latter as I hold enough confidence in my skill of the English language to be able to spot any possible errors and also correct them afterwards.

Henceforth, I will be working together with Rpapo, as well as any editors who are still active here. At present, I'm working on the end of volume 5, that is, chapter 4 & the postscript. -- Fukukaze (talk) 10:00, 01 December 2015 (MET ~ UTC+1)