Lost in Translation #8 – Demi-chan wa Kataritai

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Hey guys! Time for another Lost in Translation! This entry is courtesy of our pun-loving snow maiden from episode 8 of Demi-chan wa Kataritai. I thought we’d keep things a little simple (given I just came from a a fiasco involving faulty internet connections and housemates) and talk a little bit about puns. For the Japanese, at least, puns are pretty much standard fare in comedy owing to the “sound-poor” nature of the Japanese language. What this means is that homophones — words that sound alike, but have different meanings — are quite common, such that its use (or overuse) isn’t all that surprising when it comes to utilizing them for comedic effect.

Regardless, the Japanese still distinguish between good and bad puns, the latter often referred to by the coarse term dajare (ダジャレ). So strap yourselves in for a closer look into some of these stupid puns that pellet this week’s episode of Demi-chan wa Kataritai as we figure out just what was Lost in Translation! Continue reading →

[Rant] Internet Down!

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Please bear with me. There’s a backstory to this whole escapade that kinda annoyed me more than just not being able to post content… even though I had a bunch of stuff I was just itching to share.

So yeah, it was Monday and my flatmates were texting on our WhatsApp group around lunchtime that the internet was down, and that some of them were agonizing over the fact that they needed it to do work in the evening, yada-yada. They basically started asking who they should contact, and the senior house resident gives them some info on how to go about reporting the incident, given he can’t do it himself since he’s working part time at a pizza joint to earn for his tuition.

And so I make it through the rest of the day and come home at around six in the evening only to find no internet. I asked around if anyone called IT — apparently, no one did.

Okay, let me just stop for a moment to kinda parse this situation together. The internet goes down in a shared apartment around lunch time. People are told to contact IT for support to resolve the issue. Because, you know, internet is like a basic need now. Six hours later… no one bothered to call IT? Continue reading →

[Side B] Winter 2017 – Thoughts on Week 7

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ALL RIGHT! Brought out Side B before the weekend starts for a change! I feel pumped up!

In fact there are a lot of reasons for me to get excited. Not only are the shows on this side of the fence doing reasonably well, but also the Nintendo Switch is coming out in a week’s time! Yeah, I’m super hyped at the moment — and watching all of these teaser videos on YouTube isn’t helping much.

So yeah, I’m distracting myself with Animu. Strange predicament I’m in, but what the heck. Enough talk and let’s run down how the shows fared this week! Continue reading →

Lost in Translation #7 – Gabriel DropOut

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Hey Guys! It’s time for another Lost in Translation! This entry comes, yet again, from Gabriel DropOut, this time from episode 7. This show really does have a lot of neat jokes that aren’t so much poorly translated as the are, really, just a result of cultural differences between English and Japanese. As I have mentioned in past entries, the translator for this series (if you’re watching the CrunchyRoll subs) is fairly liberal, but in many ways I think it’s a good thing.

But then of course, there are those jokes that have nuances in them that just don’t come across as easily due to cultural reasons. And I totally understand why, as a translator, one would opt out of translating such nuances — especially since one of the lines I’ll be discussing today has a “generational gap” joke to it.

So yeah, I’ll be discussing not just one, but two lines from episode 7. Excited? Then read on! Continue reading →

[Side A] Winter 2017 – Thoughts on Week 7

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That screen shot probably needs no explanation.

But to be honest, I’ve lived a big chunk of my life experiencing sleep deprivation, probably due to my training as a doctor back during my residency training days. On average, I sleep 3-4 hours a day, but I can sometimes knock out 30 minutes while sitting on a chair during the day. It’s an odd phenomenon to the point that my colleagues have found some amusement in taking random pictures of me in all sorts of bizarre sleeping “configurations”.

So seeing a sleep-deprived Shimada is pretty much the story of my life, at the moment. But yeah, I’m so glad there’s always Animu to help me unwind. There are only so many times that Anime as actually lulled me to sleep — and thankfully, none of the titles this season save for a few are capable of doing that.

So how were things this week in Side A? Well, I’ll be honest and say that this wasn’t the best of weeks. Things were, how should I put it… noisy? Yeah, noisy works. So enough talk and let’s RUN ‘EM DOWN! Continue reading →

Winter 2017 – Mid-Season Round Up

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It’s that time of the season again folks!

As usual, I’ll be giving a short synopsis of the shows I’m currently watching, ranked in order of my personal preference. Hopefully some of these titles might be appealing to you, should you be one of those that likes to wait things out before binging on sure-hit titles. I don’t blame you if that’s your style, in fact I commend you for being able to binge watch in the first place. But yeah, that’s the general mechanics of this mid-season round up.

Also, if you’re lazy, look for the tl;dr in bold at the end of each entry. Lastly, I highly recommend the Top 4 of this season. And with that said, let’s do this! Continue reading →

[Side B] Winter 2017 – Thoughts on Week 6

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Yeah… I did it again. Another translation project took me by surprise, and this one was pretty complicated. Goddammit Japan, why do you have to have five different sound effects for something that could just be “WHAM!”

Ahem, that aside, it’s really strange how the weeks just creep up on you. I mean, wow… we’re officially mid-way through the season. That means I’m gonna have to put up a mid-season rundown for you guys, and then I have to write up my own thoughts on A Slient Voice, which I watched… crap, last week. D:

So yeah, I’m gonna make this a little quick, but suffice it to know that the top runners in this side have been scarily consistent in their thematic delivery and overall pacing. I won’t say this season has been a home run success by a long run, but it definitely is pretty solid despite my describing it as “odd” just six weeks prior.

Anyway, enough talk and let’s RUN ‘EM DOWN! Continue reading →

Lost in Translation #6 – Gabriel DropOut

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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 →

[Side A] Winter 2017 – Thoughts on Week 6

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What the– it’s mid-season, already?

Holy crap how time flies. That means I need to prepare a mid-season round-up soon. I dunno if it’s because so many things have been happening as of late, or maybe I’m just having too much fun this season. Because to be honest, I’m actually quite surprised with how the shows have been fairing this season. I mean, there’s March comes in Like a Lion, Rakugo Shinjû, and even Scum’s Wish and ACCA that are doing just fantastic. I mean, I hope I’m not sounding overly optimistic for a critic, but the shows are actually GOOD for a change.

But then again, every time I say that mid-season, I get disappointed when it comes time to pack up. Not that I’m getting anyone’s hopes up — I just honestly feel like I’m enjoying myself this season. And I guess that’s something to be happy about.

So just how were the shows on Side A this week? Let’s RUN ‘EM DOWN!

Continue reading →

[Side B] Winter 2017 – Thoughts on Week 5

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Oops. This post is obviously really late.

Part of the reason is because of work, and the other is because I had to do a last-minute translation check that had me up late at night over the weekend.

So yeah, I’ve only JUST caught up with the shows of last week for Side B as of this writing. The last reason for the delay is because I watched Koe no Katachi (also known as A Silent Voice) at the cinema today. My thoughts on that in a separate review, but yeah — let’s get down to talking about how Side B did (last) week!

Continue reading →