I’m still a bit iffy on the localization of the last part of this chapter and some of the next. Don’t be surprised if the name @ the end of this one changes in the next. I’ll update it accordingly when it happens if it happens.
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Fighting MTL with Literacy Since 2017
I understand why you think that. It unmistakably feels.. off.
I’m assuming it wasn’t really spelled out in katakana so the easy route is off the table. To specify are you just talking about the sequence spelling out the inscribing of Yuki’s name?
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Bit tough to explain. Hopefully this is tl;dr’d enough.
It being in katakana is actually one of the weird parts about it. The need for the joke’s perseveration takes the easy route off the table. If it were intended to mean demon lord and not potentially made to be mistaken as a name, it would be written in kanji.
The author also put a character used for dividing first and last names of western characters between the two and put it in the place of a last name. That is, the format is first name last name as opposed to last name first name as would be for Japanese (which immediately indicates that the character is in no way treating this as he personally would a name, and also is meant to serve to show but not tell the reader that he’s reading the dragons’ language.)
The whole thing almost seems to be set up for you to gloss over it, then do a double take and cringe and/or facepalm. The obvious solution is then to think of an awful pun for the name, but I couldn’t come up with anything that is equal parts funny and terrible. An ideal pun would be one that will make the unprepared reader bash their face against their desk, as its coming from an author who is notoriously bad at coming up with decent names.
Personally, I’m just waiting for an idea to suddenly hit me like a bolt from the blue while I’m either in the shower or on the toilet.
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I find it funny the some are blaming the TL….when that whole point of the joke is how cringe it is. Unless you mastered Japanese, the joke WILL fly right over your head. Un-educated gits I swear, Keep up the good work TL.
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There were only a couple blaming ST and obviously wrong about doing so. He does a great job.
But the thing is, this exceedingly simple joke in Japanese CAN be better localized in another language without giving off that iffy-meh feeling. And it’s the mark of a good translator to try to seek that out (which ST does).
It’s not cringey as much as it is vacant-sounding. Cringe-worthy groan-ers are like bad puns or ill-timed jokes or something else entirely. It’s not just stupid and thoughtless sounding like some playground insult.
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