Forum - View topicWolf`s Rain name translations
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Arkard
 Posts: 677 Location: Poland |
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Here is my problem.
A few days ago we had in Poland the premiere of the Wolf`s Rain manga. This was a title I was waiting for a really long time and I am overly happy with it. It is printed on high class paper and the translator did a tremendous job... BUT! We of course had some people bashing the translation and the translator... because in the polish edition of the manga the names Kiba, Tsume, Hige and Toboe have been translated to polish words (Kiba - to the polish word meaning Fang, Tsume to Claw, Hige to Whiskers and Toboe to Howling). The translator happens to be my friend and I have stood by him on his choice to translate the names. But I want to know what yoy think about the name translations. I see it liek this. Kiba, Tsume and Toboe are NOT real japanese names (at least thats what my japanese prof said). Plus those names somewhat give away the character of each hero (Toboe (howling) because he is a brat and cries alot - I thinkthat is pretty simple). So - I can ASSUME that the author chose specific non existing names for his heroes in order to point out their character... so those names are kinda like nicknames (I dont knwo any better name in English for this). So in order to have what the author INTENDED in the manga the names should be translated. This is the call the translator made and I am behind him all the way. If he kept the original names - those would be just empty words for the typical reader.. and this way we can feel what the author wanted us to feel. So again - what do you think about translating the names? Feel free to disagree. And - was the WR manga released in the US? Did they translate the names? |
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littlegreenwolf
 Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Yeah, WR's manga was recently released here, but I believe they names were kept.
I don't think it's that much of a problem. Like you said, they aren't really Japanese. I think the names were ment to be taken literal, like perhaps it's a wolf tradition to be named after a wolf feature. I think it gives the story a nice bit of character. However, some might think taking the names literal sounds stupid, and the translator could of just made a note of what the names translate as. I usually do frown on name translation, but sometimes it just works. Like for example, Usagi from Sailor Moon. The manga was jammed pack with rabbit jokes about her, and just calling her Bunny seemed like a good move. |
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Arkard
Posts: 677 Location: Poland |
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Yeah... the situation here is as follows:
30% likes the changed names 30% hates them and wants the original ones (no notes) 30% wants notes 10% doesnt care I am leaning towards the 10% group  but like I said the translator for the publishing house is my friend so I tend to stand by him.
I thought that I could find some conclusive evidence as for what the intentions of the author were (like an interview or whatever). |
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littlegreenwolf
Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Well, it would't be the original author of the manga who you'd want interviews from. You'd want the creative staff behind the anime, BONES. Not sure if there are any intreviews, especially ones concerning names though.
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Arkard
Posts: 677 Location: Poland |
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I am aware of that.
thought so :/ oh well |
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lianncoop
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 1705 Location: Indiana |
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Whiskers?! Hahaha...that's really funny.
No, they didn't translate the names in the American release; kept them the same. I think name changes are only good if, like Aila said, they can be somehow linked to the story and/or jokes going on within the story and characters. |
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Jadress
 Posts: 809 Location: Seattle. It purdy and nerdy! |
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Just out of curiosity, what are Fang, Whiskers, Claw, and Howling in Polish? ^^ I just want to hear what the names would sound like. I have to agree with everyone else that it's not a big deal. The Japanese names sound cool, but yeah, they're not really Japanese names.
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Kieł, Pazur, Bokobrody, and Wycie, would be my guess... or something very similar. My vote on the subject of whether or not to translate names that carry meaning in the original, and which aren't actual Japanese names, is: of course they should be translated - that is in the spirit of the original. - abunai |
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Sarki-Kun
 Posts: 594 Location: Spain |
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Well, I think that when the author is drawing a manga, he/she wants other people to know about why does he/she choose the characters names. It is rather obvious that people who speaks japanese everyday does not have problems to understand those words, but maybe europeans & americans do.
I like things in its original version, with translation notes specifying useful information. I guess I'm on the third group... |
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Arkard
Posts: 677 Location: Poland |
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now dont tell me you actually know polish _-_" he he just kidding... that is almost good expect: Hige = Whiskers = Wąsy (Vonsi - soft/voiceless i) this is a tought translation. Because the word whiskers in polish has the same meaning as mustache. Bokobrody are.. how in the world are they called.. those long pieces of hair that grow from the sides..
Tsume = Claw = Pazur (Pa-Zur) Kiba = Kieł = KiyeU/KyeU Toboe = hmm right this is Wycie (Howling) but we had to change it a little so it had some sense. It was changed to Skowyt (S(u)kovit) which is.. hmmm a young animals howling.
this is exactly what I have been telling them! |
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Homo sum; nihil humanum a me alienum puto. (Terentius) 
Ah, you mean sideburns.
Three correct, out of four - I'm pretty happy with that.
Hmmm... the English equivalent for that would be...yammering? Yelping?
See? We're so smart.
- abunai |
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Arkard
Posts: 677 Location: Poland |
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Which means you used a dictionary, right?
that`s it 8)
Yeah I guess it could be it. Skowyt is also used sometimes to describe a person whining.. which is pretty accurate in Toboe`s case  but originally its a term used for animals.
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Well yes, but you make it sound like a bad thing. I have two different Polish dictionaries in the bookcase devoted to dictionaries and the like (next to my computer). I honestly didn't know the Polish word for whiskers...  My practical Polish vocabulary is somewhat limited. I can say "Prosze mnie zawiezc X." and "Chcialbym zamowic piwo.", and stuff like that, but after a while, I tend to devolve into a lot of "Prosze to powtorzyc? Nie rozumiem...", and then I have to admit: "Ja nie mowie po Polsku..." (not completely true, but I don't consider a vocabulary of less than 500 words to be enough to say you "know" a language).
Still, as I once stated in another thread, I know the two most useful things in Polish (as in any language): how to order beer, and how to call someone a rat-bastard dirty scumbag (or the local equivalent).
So is "yelping". I was originally going to suggest "whining", but you described it as infantile howling, and the two terms don't really match. - abunai |
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NetDiver
 Posts: 65 Location: Northern Europe |
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Since this is a Polish translation for Polish people, my take on this one is to keep the Polish names for the wolves. Since they are wolves their names are more like symbols which represent their nature rather than just being names given to them. With human characters my advice is to keep the original names unless the character's name has some similar meaning as with the wolves's names. If this had been a Finnish translation (or any other language), I would have made the same choise as the translator had made. Similar method of translation was used in the Finnish translation of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time-books which featured some wolf characters. In my oppinion it work really well. It gave the wolves some distance to the human characters. The reader got the imperssion while they could communicate with certain humans, they were still beasts. This is something that applies even more to Wolf's Rain since the wolf characters can disguise their true nature from the human eyes but in essence they are still wolves.
Having said that, I need to remind you that I haven't read the manga and I've only seen the first three episodes of the anime. Anyway, whatever is your friend's continuing choise on the name translations I wish him good luck with the future translations .
Last edited by NetDiver on Thu Dec 02, 2004 3:54 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Arkard
Posts: 677 Location: Poland |
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and again - this is EXACTLY what I told them! Only I used exampes from the novel "White Fang" (his name WAS translated to polish) and the translations of Native Americans Names (Sitting Bull, Rain-in-the-Face). But I guess I am getting all worked up over this for nothing. I mean, we always get some neigh sayers, right?
He is going to need all the luck he can get he is doing Fullmetal ALchemsit next time  And we have some Die Hard FMA fans here
Well let`s say I am more than a little impressed. I really dont know alot foreigners who would willingly try to elarn even the basics of a language they will use so rarely. Dont stop learning new polish words Powodzenia
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