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Manga Answerman - Is Translating 'Lolicon' as 'Pedophile' Accurate?

Florete wrote:

bennyl wrote: How can it even make sense that a child is a pedophile? It's possible for the character to be wrong in what she says rather than the translation of what she said to be wrong.

There's a difference between a character being wrong and the writer not knowing wtf they're putting out.

Generally, I'm of the opinion that culturally-specific or otaku-specific terms should be left in. It's no more gatekeeping than having to learn basic greetings or how not to offend others when you go overseas. It's part and parcel of enjoying the media from another culture.

If you're into photography you learn the Japanese term "bokeh". If you're into cooking you learn a whole bunch of French (saute, bouillon, entree, mirepoix, roux, etc...) And so on. I don't think it's unreasonable in the slightest to leave words like lolicon in Japanese here--any hobby or interest has its jargon and its foreign loanwords.

According to DSM-V in America, pedophiles have to be at least 16 and five years older than the other kid, so technically a 16 year old and a 17 year old could be one if they're attracted to others five years younger than them.

Since pedophilia is a necessary condition for pedophilic disorder, any factor that increases the probability of pedophilia also increases the risk of pedophilic disorder. There is some evidence that neurodevelopmental perturbation in utero increases the probability of development of a pedophilic orientation.

If individuals […] report an absence of feelings of guilt, shame, or anxiety about these impulses and are not functionally limited by their paraphilic impulses (according to self‐report, objective assessment, or both), and their self‐reported and legally recorded histories indicate that they have never acted on their impulses, then these individuals have a pedophilic sexual orientation, but not pedophilic disorder.

I can expect an anime fan to be at least passingly familiar with the term (which, however, as I said earlier, might lead to more confusion). I would not expect anyone watching anime to be an anime fan,

just like not anyone that takes a photo has photography as a hobby or profession, and almost nobody that ever cooks aspires to be a chef.

Come on Funimation... you should be smarter than that, given both your target audience and backlash of using such a charged word.

It would be like calling a hunter a murderer because they happen to have a weapon with which they kill living beings. While you can certainly apply the word (specially if you are against the killing of animals) that is not the most appropriate use of it, and it is bound to polarize the conversation.

You are basically going tomato, tomato. Just because the fandom dances around the word doesn't really change its meaning.

StarfighterPegasus wrote:

You are basically going tomato, tomato. Just because the fandom dances around the word doesn't really change its meaning.

It does change nuance drastically though.
Calling someone creepy is very far from calling them a criminal.

that reminds me when youtuber Suede was lambasting Dan Kanemitsu for his translation choices in Netflix's Evangelion and labeling him as a nazi and pedo supporter for liking Girls und Panzer and Strike Witches and blocked me on twitter when I said he can't judge people like that for liking those kind of anime because it would be the same as calling someone a psychotic killer for liking violent games...

Yuvelir wrote:

StarfighterPegasus wrote: You are basically going tomato, tomato. Just because the fandom dances around the word doesn't really change its meaning. It does change nuance drastically though. Calling someone creepy is very far from calling them a criminal.

No all pedos are criminals, There is a difference between a pedo and a child molester. People are quick to use the term pedo to mean child molester which are two different things.

StarfighterPegasus wrote:

Yuvelir wrote: StarfighterPegasus wrote: You are basically going tomato, tomato. Just because the fandom dances around the word doesn't really change its meaning. It does change nuance drastically though. Calling someone creepy is very far from calling them a criminal. No all pedos are criminals, There is a difference between a pedo and a child molester. People are quick to use the term pedo to mean child molester which are two different things.

Yeah, well, nuance. Whatever you want to revindicate, what people will understand by "pedophile" is [potential] criminal, they won't care about your fine combing.
Therefore, if a character is referred to as "a pedophile", anybody that isn't well versed in otaku culture or how Japanese people use the word "lolicon" will take it in the worst possible way.

Whether it's used as a light joke or a severe accusation, anyone that actually needs a translation will assume the character is the worst scum. And this can badly damage not just people's perception of the character but the show's reputation as well by association.

Because what matters here isn't textbook definitions, it's what people will understand and interpret.

Words are a powerful thing and thus controversial ones must be used carefully.

So you want to bank on your audience's ignorance of Otaku terms To misled them? People don't like being lied to unless you are a magician

StarfighterPegasus wrote:

So you want to bank on your audience's ignorance of Otaku terms To misled them? People don't like being lied to unless you are a magician

What are you even talking about?
If you put "pedophile" in the subtitles, people will take it in the absolute worst way possible. Period. No amount of TN or wishful thinking will change that.
So if they aren't supposed to interpret the worst possible meaning, then you MUST use a different word or synonim that conveys the correct meaning AND nuance. Like, just "pedo" would already be a better word for lighthearted contexts than outright "pedophile".