557: ''The Pirate of Iron! The Debut of the General Franky''

[Waboshi]

Hey, I'd rather have a Funi translation instead of MangaPanda for the anime!

Oh yeah, the episode! A bit dragged, but overall, pretty good! Again, I am destroyed by Chopper's cuteness...

Choppa shirekan?

[Crossword]

I remember the first simulcast episode (403, I believe) was leaked before it had aired in Japan, so I'm sure FUNimation has some breathing room, though I really wouldn't be surprised if they get most of their scripts at the eleventh hour. Errors are inevitable, though I'm never going to forget that time where they spent an entire episode calling Whitebeard ''old buddy'' and Buggy became ''Big Buggy''.

Hmm, for the Franky transform/pervert pun, I think I would localize that as something like ''I'm gonna transform into something freaky!'' but I'm not sure how ergonomic that would be.

[ChibiGoku]

From what I recall, I believe Mato said awhile back that they would get the episode materials in roughly 3 or so weeks before broadcast (which I believe included scripts and prototype versions of the episodes). I remember he mentioned that they got an episode where the dialogue had not been 100% mixed/recorded. Sometimes it also had censorship between those and what broadcasted.

[Mr. Luffy]

Perhaps they don't have a great deal of time doing this, although this particular episode had a few real gems: "Gear Secando" and "I don't know why, but I'm full of fight now" Also Usopp's "I got kicked out of the tank after all" made no sense at all considering when he said it.

No derpface shots for this episode?

Spoiler:

Granted it was a poor zoom shot.

[DarthAsthma]

Yes, it was Toei who forced them to. Even in the dub, FUNi had to say "Point Boost" to use the term and also use the original as well. I believe they finally stopped doing that, but I remember specifically they had to do it during Drum.

Toei also forced the term Haki/Haki Energy (which I have no issue with) instead of Willpower, although no one knows if Oda intended for it to be Haki in English.

As for the other awkward issues, as I said, remember this is done ONE HOUR after the broadcast. Those of you who have never subbed a 20 minute episode would never understand (I am a fansubber for Yu-Gi-Oh that does not have a proper English release), but to do an entire 20 minute episode in ONE HOUR, make no spelling errors, and get every single cultural reference or difficult-to-translate-to-English scenario downpact in such a short time is just impossible for one person. I would imagine this is one guy doing this and not a whole team, as that would be confusing. Even if you're completely fluent in English and Japanese (and I am not fluent in Japanese at all), under such a tight schedule it would be very difficult to have the time to make such calls.

There are some things that slip through that I feel could be better, such as King-sama or Super I won't forgive you. But as far as the very awkward "Let's get perverse/Time to transform", and Usopp's, "You're already a pevert!", could any of you think of a good fitting English equivalent in about 3 minutes without wasting the time needed to translate the rest of the episode? And I'm not saying that sarcastically either. I'm curious if any of you could, because I am very curious as to how the dub will deal with that whole exchange.

To compare, if I actually decide to translate an entire 20 minute episode in a day (which happens very little because of my schedule), it takes 4 hours or so. Sometimes longer if the dialogue is a bit more challenging than the standard Shonen-level Japanese, which does happen even in Yu-Gi-Oh from time to time, and even more so in One Piece. But anyway, it takes me that long to translate an episode because I have to look up some words to double check things I am not 100% sure about. For some completely fluent in both languages, I would imagine it would take them 2-3 hours for a 20 minute series (maybe a little less for One Piece, but not much, with the recap and opening), if they spent the time thinking about how to deal with the ackward stuff and make it as close to perfect as possible.

Just out of curiosity don't they like have a proofreader or anything like that. Sure it's hard to translate proper english within harsh time contraints but in that case the job of the translator is rather having the intent of every line be clear and that the guy who proofreads should fix them into proper sentences.
If the translators also proofreads than he has to allocate extra time to it.
In any case having super harsh time contraints is not an excuse for shabby quality it's the easy answer out.

As for taking 2-3 hours for a 20 minute series that is really a vague estimate to make so much that it's almost wrong.
It really depends on the show. I've seen series that have such dense dialog within 20 minutes compared to ones that really don't have have much dialog at all.
And depending with what you want to achieve with the translation it takes more or less time. Being accurate and clean doesn't necessarily mean to be elegant or being literate, the first one can probably be achieved way faster than 2-3 hours for a show like one piece for a skilled translator the second one probably not as for the third it's very rare why one would want to do such a translation but depending on the language it's really a pain.

It also depends on factors if you have the script already typed out or if you have to write it by hearing or what not. In my experience (from translating german<->english) translating in itself doesn't take that much time (again if you're only aiming to be accurate and have clean sentences). That said I'd probably acknowledge that this might be a little different for japanese <-> english since these languages differ vastly from another especially in structure whereas german <-> is a littler more similar.

[Chopperrules]

Hmm, for the Franky transform/pervert pun, I think I would localize that as something like ''I'm gonna transform into something freaky!'' but I'm not sure how ergonomic that would be.

That's...actually pretty good. To be honest, it seems so obvious now and I'm wondering why I didn't think of it in the first place. Freaky is on the same lines as perverted in a way, and it would work.

Perhaps they don't have a great deal of time doing this, although this particular episode had a few real gems: "Gear Secando" and "I don't know why, but I'm full of fight now" Also Usopp's "I got kicked out of the tank after all" made no sense at all considering when he said it.

That's the result of "direct translation", which always comes across as awkward. I'd have to watch the scene to double check, but the term is most likely yappari, used frequently in Shonen anime, and it means "after all, as I thought, etc." It's one of those cases where it only works sometimes, and probably should have been translated as something like "I had a feeling he'd throw me out of the tank" or "He went and threw me out of the tank". Luffy's comment about being full of fight was pretty accurate as well, though I forget the actual terminology off the top of my head. I just know the term well because Natsu in Fairy Tail uses it all the time. I believe the term here causing the mixup in translation is nanka, meaning something along the lines of "For some reason, something, something like that, etc." and that's likely where the "For some reason" came from. The Gear Secondo (I don't even remember that one, maybe because I only look at the subs when I need them, for like 60% of the episode or less at times) is obviously a typo. Perhaps the guy listening to it was tired and put what he heard in Japanese instead. It sounds stupid, but I've done that from time to time when I'm translating with little sleep.

Just out of curiosity don't they like have a proofreader or anything like that. Sure it's hard to translate proper english within harsh time contraints but in that case the job of the translator is rather having the intent of every line be clear and that the guy who proofreads should fix them into proper sentences.

I don't know if they do. I do the entire job myself (translating, timing, editing, etc.), so I my be a bit biased in my response here, so you'll have to interpret it however you will. Maybe someone can ask FUNi how the sub process is done so we can see who's right. I won't rule out that it's some guy rushing to get the job done so he can party it up on Saturday night, but I wouldn't want to believe One Piece was in the hands of someone like that.

If the translators also proofreads than he has to allocate extra time to it.

It would certainly help, for sure.

In any case having super harsh time contraints is not an excuse for shabby quality it's the easy answer out.

But it's not like we're paying for this either. If the DVDs we paid for came with the same subs, then I'd agree, but I think it's acceptable quality for a simulcast. Sure, things could be improved upon, and again, maybeo someone should contact FUNi and make some suggestions.

It really depends on the show. I've seen series that have such dense dialog within 20 minutes compared to ones that really don't have have much dialog at all.

I'll give you that, but One Piece is pretty dialogue heavy usually. Of course there are more action-based episodes, but One Piece has far more dialogue than a show like Bleach that would take far less time to sub.

And depending with what you want to achieve with the translation it takes more or less time. Being accurate and clean doesn't necessarily mean to be elegant or being literate, the first one can probably be achieved way faster than 2-3 hours for a show like one piece for a skilled translator the second one probably not as for the third it's very rare why one would want to do such a translation but depending on the language it's really a pain.

This is coming from someone who still has a ways to go. I can translate a good emount of an episode, but I still have to look up a good amount of words. As said earlier, my response may be a bit biased comparing my own situation with a professional translator. I am sure they are much quicker, but I still can't see it done in one hour without any errors. As for my own style, I tend to go for the "elegant" style you mentioned. Literate is overkill, but I do have my own style and I try to make the subs sound stale. But that's because I do it as a hobby and I put more life into my work. Some of these people getting paid to do it may not feel that way. Whether it's right or wrong depends on the person, I guess.

It also depends on factors if you have the script already typed out or if you have to write it by hearing or what not. In my experience (from translating german<->english) translating in itself doesn't take that much time (again if you're only aiming to be accurate and have clean sentences). That said I'd probably acknowledge that this might be a little different for japanese <-> english since these languages differ vastly from another especially in structure whereas german <-> is a littler more similar.

Again, from my own experience, I used to do it all by ear and that takes much longer. Now I used a Japanese script because I've learned Hiragana and that helps me deal with pronunciation to look up kanji for words I don't know. I won't say you're wrong, because it is different for everyone. I don't know German too well, but it seems more straightforward and closer to English, whereas Japanese is backwards and words can have tons of different meanings depending on the situation.

It's a good debate that I've never actually had before, so thanks for engaging on the topic with me.

[Crossword]

That's...actually pretty good. To be honest, it seems so obvious now and I'm wondering why I didn't think of it in the first place. Freaky is on the same lines as perverted in a way, and it would work.

Oh, thanks. Whenever I'm watching subs I usually tend to unconsciously pick out parts, usually small stuff, that I think could be phrased better or more naturally. Like I've noticed a lot of the subs I watch seem to not like using contractions where they would make the dialogue flow a little more smoothly.

[Chopperrules]

Oh, thanks. Whenever I'm watching subs I usually tend to unconsciously pick out parts, usually small stuff, that I think could be phrased better or more naturally. Like I've noticed a lot of the subs I watch seem to not like using contractions where they would make the dialogue flow a little more smoothly.

Yes, contractions with Japanese to English seems to be a huge issue. It makes sentences sound unnatural. The only time it works is with "intelligent" characters who may be trying to go out of their way to sound smart. Most pirates would not qualify as that. Robin and Nami, for example, are intelligent without going out of their way to try to look that way, so I wouldn't put them under that label.

[Aldrato]

it was a pretty good episode this week. although the art was kind of bland compared to the previous one

[BuggyTheProfet]

3 Times Pandaman?! 3 Times?! It's the end of the WORLD!!!

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

edit: Sorry for the mistake, 4 TIMES!!!

Spoiler:

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[Medical Orbit]

Whenever I get around 6 minutes in, the whole window freezes completely. The episode stops, I can't click anything and I have to go into the Task Manager and end Firefox in order to close the tab. I've done this four times.

How does fix?

[Miss Saturday]

Go watch it somewhere else?

[Medical Orbit]

It worked! Thanks.

[AoNoPiece Shippuden]

Finally looks like the battle between mugiwaras and gyojin pirates is going to start.