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MagicPolly
Joined: 26 Nov 2020
Posts: 1589
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Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 11:30 am
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So will all mentions of BL later be edited out of this review like the anime news articles?
Anyway I was wondering what the translation quality was like? I keep getting really tempted to pick up the series when I see it at the store but I heard the translation wasn't the best. Either way I really need to get around to reading it before the anime airs.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2617
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
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Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 11:43 am
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MagicPolly wrote: |
Anyway I was wondering what the translation quality was like? I keep getting really tempted to pick up the series when I see it at the store but I heard the translation wasn't the best. Either way I really need to get around to reading it before the anime airs. |
It's not the most amazing translation I've read, but my biggest issue is really the way that they don't use "fujoshi" and "fudanshi" in the main text at all. I'm not always hung up on using the original Japanese for cultural terms like that, but in the case of this series, it feels a bit like talking down to the readers. Other than that, I'd say it's largely fine.
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MagicPolly
Joined: 26 Nov 2020
Posts: 1589
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Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 12:39 pm
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Princess_Irene wrote: |
MagicPolly wrote: |
Anyway I was wondering what the translation quality was like? I keep getting really tempted to pick up the series when I see it at the store but I heard the translation wasn't the best. Either way I really need to get around to reading it before the anime airs. |
It's not the most amazing translation I've read, but my biggest issue is really the way that they don't use "fujoshi" and "fudanshi" in the main text at all. I'm not always hung up on using the original Japanese for cultural terms like that, but in the case of this series, it feels a bit like talking down to the readers. Other than that, I'd say it's largely fine. |
Yeah it really seems like anybody who'd be reading this series would be very familiar with those terms so it seems weird to leave them out. Anyway thanks for the response, I'll probably pick it up next time I see it!
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar
Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 16941
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Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 9:36 pm
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Ya know, just a short time ago I was mentioning how much I enjoyed I Hear the Sunspot and wished there was more BL stories like that. I enjoy romcoms and dramatic stories and material, but all too often I find BL manga to be heavy handed with tropes and often cringe factors with the character/couple dynamics. This one seems to be another very good example, going by your review, of a story that leaves those facets behind and focuses on a good story and developing it's characters. Since I was just asking for something like this I will take this as a "your request has been fulfilled" and go check this out.
Edit: My county does not have it, but 2 other counties in my state have vol 1-3 so I actually can order them to borrow.
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wolf10
Joined: 23 Jan 2016
Posts: 907
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Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2021 12:29 am
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I had heard this series was the bees knees in terms of slow-burn "don't call it BL," so I really wanted a better takeaway than what I got. While I don't disagree with the general statement that you can like BL without necessarily being into dudes (I have known lesbians who were also fujoshi), it did feel a little too much like we, the audience, are meant to accept that the sheer pervasiveness of Miyano's internalized homophobia is proof that he isn't into guys, which didn't sit right with me, and made me think the author needed to consult a real, live gay man or two about what they went through in high school. (Volumes 4 and on do handle it better, and I somehow didn't have the same problem with Sasaki.)
I get that it's supposed to be romantic to have a "one and only," but having either of the male leads realize that they feel attraction to guys besides each other seems like it would be a fairly realistic and natural development in their relationship, even just as a speed bump along the way. (Especially with all the gay smut they've been reading.)
EDIT: Agh, that came out wrong. Basically, the more I read, the more I felt like this series was trying to gaslight me into believing that Miyano's incessant assertions are valid proof of his heterosexual attraction (while subliminally asserting how "normal" he is), when my own lived experience recognizes what he's doing as a very serious kind of psychological self-harm. Frankly, my own reaction caught me really off guard and I'm still not sure what to make of it.
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