hakurei reimu, remilia scarlet, and izayoi sakuya (touhou) drawn by karaagetarou

Artist's commentary

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    【東方漫画】バンパイアキッス　ラスト

    不思議なバンパイアミラー再び
    これにて終了です！結局の所おぜうかわいいよねというお話でしたー！
    ここまで読んでくださってありがとう！

    その5→pixiv #15085979 »

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    WAHa 06x36
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    It bothers me that nobody's actually translating the descriptions of powers in Touhou right. In this case, it's not "power to manipulate age", but rather something more along the lines of "enough power to manipulate age" or perhaps "about as much power as one would need to manipulate age".

    All of ZUN's descriptions of powers are phrased like that. "About as much power as one would need to manipulate destiny", "about as much power as one would need to eat history". It's hard to find a good English phrasing for that that isn't awkward or too long, I suppose, but the way the Touhou wiki translations just leave it out entirely feels like you lose a very basic part of the charm.

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    kitakaze0013
    [hidden]

    WAHa_06x36 said:
    It bothers me that nobody's actually translating the descriptions of powers in Touhou right. In this case, it's not "power to manipulate age", but rather something more along the lines of "enough power to manipulate age" or perhaps "about as much power as one would need to manipulate age".

    All of ZUN's descriptions of powers are phrased like that. "About as much power as one would need to manipulate destiny", "about as much power as one would need to eat history". It's hard to find a good English phrasing for that that isn't awkward or too long, I suppose, but the way the Touhou wiki translations just leave it out entirely feels like you lose a very basic part of the charm.

    I agree with you somewhat, but in this case it seems you're missing the point. It's much simpler to look at it as Sakuya twisting the words to be humorous. Well, I think so at least.

    0 Reply
    WAHa 06x36
    [hidden]

    kitakaze0013 said:
    I agree with you somewhat, but in this case it seems you're missing the point. It's much simpler to look at it as Sakuya twisting the words to be humorous. Well, I think so at least.

    She's using the standard ZUN phrasing, though, to make the joke. That is totally lost when there is no such standard phrasing in English due to the bad translation jobs.

    I'm not saying THIS translation is bad. It's faced with an impossible task since nobody else has done it right before so there's nothing to reference.

    0 Reply
    Moonspeaker
    [hidden]

    WAHa_06x36 said:
    It bothers me that nobody's actually translating the descriptions of powers in Touhou right. In this case, it's not "power to manipulate age", but rather something more along the lines of "enough power to manipulate age" or perhaps "about as much power as one would need to manipulate age".

    As you later note, I'm simply following the template already established by the Touhou Wiki, and that was done possibly owing to poor translation establishing itself as tradition before anyone knew better, or possibly because the wiki's choice is simply a bit punchier and to the point.

    But yes, strictly speaking, it should be something like "power (strong) enough to manipulate X". Of course, that's like saying "money enough to buy an elephant". The implication is that it could be used for any purpose, including buying an elephant, if you see what I'm getting at.

    Anyway, back to enjoying Karaagetarou.

    1 Reply
    RNGCombo
    [hidden]

    Going by the 'proper' translations might indicate to people that the characters essentially share a homogeneous 'power', only to differing degrees, rather than establishing an area of influence for each. That might open up a whole new can of worms for the community.

    That and ZUN's been pretty consistent about tying each character's powers to a specific area. I think the existing translations work well enough but generalization might be due if and when he starts blurring the lines.

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    WAHa 06x36
    [hidden]

    RNGCombo said:
    Going by the 'proper' translations might indicate to people that the characters essentially share a homogeneous 'power', only to differing degrees, rather than establishing an area of influence for each. That might open up a whole new can of worms for the community.

    That and ZUN's been pretty consistent about tying each character's powers to a specific area. I think the existing translations work well enough but generalization might be due if and when he starts blurring the lines.

    You really should have learned by now to not take ZUN so seriously.

    The point was that ZUN is specifically writing like that, and that it's funny, and part of the quirky charm. Suggesting you should remove that because it would confuse fans who obsess over canon is absurd.

    1 Reply