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Submitting Info - Languages




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roxybudgy



Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 132
Location: Western Australia
PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 5:14 am Reply with quote
Hi, I just submitted a official site for Naruto, I don't know if I should have done that or not. The problem is, when you choose the languages, you have Japanese, English, Korean, etc, but no Chinese?

Are you assuming that all Chinese versions of anime are bootlegs or something? That's probably not it but anyway...

I was going to submit some more info, eg Mighty Delta Investments licenced Naruto in Chinese (Source: www.xingkong.com.cn) but there wasn't an option for Chinese. Perhaps you could add this to the list of languages, after all, I think other anime such as Fruits Basket, Mirmo Zibang and Tokyo Mew Mew have Chinese versions (all have been aired on Xing Kong).
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 9902
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC
PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 9:59 am Reply with quote
I share your disappointment (look at my "Location"). It's an old problem; see explanation here.
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Dan42
Chief Encyclopedist


Joined: 02 Jan 2002
Posts: 3794
Location: Montreal
PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 10:02 am Reply with quote
The problem with Chinese is that do you mean Mandarin or Cantonese? (or some other dialect?)

Now, I am no expert about China and the Chinese language(s). But my understanding is that both Mandarin and Cantonese can be considered "Chinese" and that they are different enough from each other to be mutually incomprehensible. So just adding "Chinese" as a language is not accurate enough.

But at the same time those 2 languages are used in the same country, so it's possible to have a Chinese version with both languages in it. So separating Chinese into Mandarin and Cantonese isn't quite accurate either.

どうしおうかな。。。
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 9902
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC
PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 11:05 am Reply with quote
Dan42 wrote:
Now, I am no expert about China and the Chinese language(s).

*Cough* Twisted Evil

Dan42 wrote:
But my understanding is that both Mandarin and Cantonese can be considered "Chinese" and that they are different enough from each other to be mutually incomprehensible.

Em, not that incomprehensible. However, today when a person mentions "Chinese" unspecifically, s/he is referring to Mandarin (well, maybe not applicable to the Board of Education of the City of San Francisco).

Dan42 wrote:
So just adding "Chinese" as a language is not accurate enough.

That's why I suggest using locale system, similar to the Regional and Language Options in WinXP Control Panel, which has five Chinese and 13 English options. Even within English-speaking nations, Australia, UK, and NZ have different licensors (e.g. Madman) from US/Canada.

Dan42 wrote:
But at the same time those 2 languages are used in the same country, so it's possible to have a Chinese version with both languages in it.

This really depends on whether you'd like the Encyclopedia to be "release-based," "country-based," or "language-based." We have nice examples using two Ghibli's movies: Mimi wo Sumaseba (Whisper of the Heart) and Neko no Ongaeshi (The Cat Returns).

In the case of Mimi, HK version differs much from TW version:

HK title: 夢幻街少女
Audio: Japanese, Cantonese
Subtitle: Traditional Chinese, English
Licensor: IVL

TW title: 心之谷 (P.S. milking Nausicaa)
Audio: Japanese, Mandarin
Subtitle: Japanese, two Traditional Chinese (subtitle and "dubtitle")
Licensor: BVHE Taiwan

These two definately need separate entries. However, Neko is different (I guess that BVHE Taiwan and IVL might have reached a cooperation agreement or something):

Both releases have the same title: 貓の報恩 (don't be surprised; "の" is so common that most Chinese know its meaning, equivalent to "之" or "的" in Chinese)

Both has Japanese, Mandarin, and Cantonese audio.

Both has Japanese, English, and Traditional Chinese subtitles. I'm not sure whether HK version has two TC subtitles, though.

In this case, DVDs from either IVL or BVHE Taiwan are almost identical, thus they might not need separate entries in the Encyclopedia (but they should still be separated in the Release database -- if one day it will contain international releases).

Well then, I've listed the possibilities; it will be up to you to decide. Wink
Kinda funny when Cookie worried about no one would submit foreign information....
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