From: yaniv_tempelman@hispeed.ch   
      
   Gilles Poitras wrote:   
      
   > While I don't agree with everything he says I feel he has the gist down   
   > right. Especially the weak translation work being done by some of the   
   > companies today.   
      
   Where manga translations back then in the early and mid-nineties so much   
   better than todays translations? I somehow doubt it.   
      
   Concernig Studio Proteus/Dark Horse, as a swiss manga reader I'm not too   
   much into us manga translations, but I remember for example that there   
   was some swearing in the first chapter of the english Naru Taru version   
   (aka Shadow Star) where there isn't any in the original by Kitoh. The   
   same goes for the english Outlanders and Caravan Kidd translations.   
   There's hardly any real swearing and/or "cool" sounding slang in the   
   original volumes.   
      
      
   > Toren has done so much to promote good quality manga, I've been reading   
   > his translations since the late 1980s. He is a great example of a fan   
   > who saw an opportunity and turned pro.   
      
   I agree with some of his opinions about "neo-otakus", but I strongly   
   disagree on some of his remarks, for   
   instance about the "quality cut" of todays manga market. I mean, there   
   was also a lot of "junk" translated before the tankoubon boom which   
   occured some years ago. I wouldn't consider Yoshi Manabe's work "good   
   quality" for example, even though I like some of his stories. The same   
   goes for Gunsmith Cat's, Oh My Goodess or other longtime fan-series.   
   Just because those series are around in the english market since more   
   than ten years and considered classics doesn't mean they're "better"   
   than what he seems to qualify as junk from today's output.   
      
   The other thing I don't understand is his rant about some otakus   
   stubborness concerning pictures and translations adjustments. Example:   
   If Shiina is sometimes naked in the original Naru Taru - a series which   
   is full of sexual allusions and coming of age, by the way - and Toren Smith   
   says this wouldn't be important for the overall plot at all, then I   
   can't help asking myself  a) why did Kitoh draw her naked for Afternoon   
   in the first place and b) maybe Kitoh has no problem with any   
   alterations to his (art)work because he's a polite japanese and doesn't   
   want to be rough towards some gaijin? You know, the tatemae/honne aspect   
   when dealing with japanese people.   
      
   Of course, manga is buisness, and if there is anything which can put   
   sales in jeopardy, it will be removed or altered. I fully unterstand   
   the publisher's position. It's just Toren Smith's rant about fans, his   
   justifications and "old days nostalgia"  which seem over top to me.   
   Maybe he had really bad experiences whith some fans in the past; I can't   
   explain some of his views and remarks otherwise.   
      
   --   
   Yaniv Tempelman   
      
   Manga Takarajima http://www.manga-takarajima.mangafan.net/ (german)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)