Some Ramblings About Subtitles

 

 (found this from a Deviantart user named Dopepope and had to use it. Check him out)

     As someone who enjoys watching Tokusatsu I tend to look at subtitles a lot. It's even gotten to a point where it's hard for me to watch some dubbed media. With that, I started finding little things here and there that bug me when used or misused in subtitles. Now I am not a translator and do not have a tight grasp on the Japanese language. The people who make these subtitles have a tough job that I don't know if I could ever do. Even then, I still see things that bug me or just feel a tad sloppy. I started thinking about what bugs me the most in subtitles and I came up with 3 rules that I honestly believe should be taken into consideration when making subtitles.

1) There are certain things that should not be translated (names, titles, sound effects and made up words)

     While not the thing that bugs me the most, I do see this broken more often than not. I simply don't understand why people insist on say, Dinosaur Squad Abaranger when the show is called Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger. There is no reason to change the name of a show when the show never refers to itself by that translation. I understand the argument for this being that it is easier to understand for newcomers who don't speak Japanese. Again, the problem is show never refers to itself like that. In Japan they refer to American shows and movies by their American name. Japanese citizens went to go see Pacific Rim, not Taiheiyō En or Kantaiheiyō chiiki or whatever the translation is. We should treat their shows with the same respect.
     The same goes for made up words. If the word is meant to convey a sound effect or was made up, there is nothing there to translate. Just convey the word to the audience. One of the most prominent examples that has been on my mind is the word Gaburincho. The word is not a real word. It derives meaning from Japanese and Latin roots to roughly mean "to bite strongly". That translation was never used for Gaburincho. One that was used was even more confusing. I recall seeing people translating it to "Chompa Chomp". I wish I could provide a screenshot of what I saw, and I sincerely hope I am remembering it wrong. Either way, there is not reason to translate fake words. Especially if those words are translated into fake meanings.

2) Even if a word's meaning is widely known (baka, sempai, etc) translating is still necessary

     I'll admit this is more of a way for me to say I forgive certain slip ups. I have seen people translate baka to idiot and people leave it as "Baka!". The more I think about it, it is because I pretty much know what these words mean by default. I still say those words should be translated. The outliers that I am less forgiving of, kind of relate back to the first rule. Honorifics should be translated. Most people don't know the subtle differences between all of the honorifics in Japan so it is only reasonable for a subtitle to say things like "big sister", "little brother" or "grandma" instead of the traditional honorifics. One shortcut people use is to use the word in the subtitles then display the meaning somewhere on the screen, which only really creates clutter. Either way, these honorifics do fall into sort of a gray area since most people who watch Tokusatsu and anime tend to already know what they mean or can tell given certain context clues. I just believe as a good rule of thumb, they should be translated.

3) Only Translate, try to interpret as little as possible

     While this sounds counter-productive I truly believe that the words and actions of characters should be enough to carry a scene forward. A translator should not ever try to convey what they think the meaning of a scene is. A translator should simply translate what is being said with as little interpretation as possible. This rule is rarely broken and, as I understand it, is an ironclad rule of being a translator. This is a great thing but there are little slip ups now and again that I can't help but notice. The most glaring kind of covers all three of the rules. When somebody uses an honorific, or calls them Senpai or something else, DO NOT TRANSLATE TO THE PERSON'S NAME. I see this way way way too much and it makes no sense. I am putting a picture of the first episode of Dairanger to the right. The girl is calling out "Oniichan" after being dragged away but the translation displays "Ryou" being the characters name. By this early in the show we know who Ryou is, we know from Ryou who Yumi is, so why shouldn't we also try to establish some sort of chracter connection? The show seems to be trying to do that. When Yumi shouts "Ryou" mulitiple times I know this person means something to her. When Yumi shouts "Oniichan" I start to understand how he is important to her, if that makes any sense.

     Admittedly all of these are small gripes and pet peeves and maybe I am overthinking a lot of these. Some of these things may not bug most people and that is fine. This was really just a way for me to gripe about what I think subtitles should be doing. Either way, I will continue to enjoy these shows and most people should too. Try not to be like me and let little subtitle quirks bug you so much. This is the Kaiju Kidd signing off.