Hey guys! Time for another Lost in Translation! This entry comes, yet again, from Gabriel DropOut, this time from episode 6. But before we move on, I’d like to clarify that the current translator for this show is very liberal in his/her translation style, so there are some lines that are translated more with regard to context and perceived character idiosyncrasies as opposed to literal meaning. The reason for this is because some Japanese phrases lend to characterization by sheer delivery, whilst in English, characterization lies more in the choice of words than just manner of execution. This is doubly true for subtitles in that you have to read what is said.

It is for this reason that one character’s utterance of shikataganai (仕方がない) can mean (literally) “It can’t be helped”, but depending on context or even character archetype, can change in meaning to “whatever” or “guess I have no choice.”

That said, the current translations for this show lean quite heavily towards the liberal side, which means these type of lines are translated with these assumptions in tow. Now that in itself isn’t bad — to some extent, it allows the characters to be more relatable to an English audience — but what happens here is that the translator makes assumptions that might not necessarily be the case from the intent of the original author. Unless the translator is a direct member of the production team from the Japan side, it’s very hard to assume character intent without consulting the source first.

But yeah, I’m diverging quite a bit, so let’s get back to what was lost in translation! Today, we’ll talk about a strange Trick or Treat care of our resident Shut-in Angel. Continue reading →