章節 144: Chance! Make a Move!

創作者的想法

ryuxenji

First off, I'm very pleased by the steady ranking this week. Very pleased. :3 And since I also have some extra time, here's an extra chapter.

Secondly, as quite a few commenters have questioned the use of Japanese words in recent chapters, here is my response instead of having to reply again and again individually.

1. These words are included in accordance with the raws. Either the author spelled them out phonetically with Chinese characters, or it was implied, as with the structure of the names. The words are not left 'untranslated' because this is not a Japanese novel.

2. Despite point #1, some have requested the words be 'translated normally'. To that, I have to say, what is normal? Usage of foreign words in text has always been accepted as a literary device, even in original English works. It helps in setting background and differentiating characters. Ask yourselves -- would this be an issue if the words included were Spanish or French or, better yet, some obscure language you were unfamiliar with? The only issue here seems to be the anime-like impression Japanese has in some readers' minds. As a translator, my duty is to be faithful to the original, personal biases notwithstanding. I will only 'fix' the raws if something is greatly illogical (like with the laser missiles in a previous chapter), contradictory, or is clearly an error on the author's part (typos, wrong names, etc.). Which brings me to ...

3. Even reading the raws, the enemy Twilight Empire comes off as a little comedic, perhaps due to the inclusion of the Japanese words. Who's to say that that is not the original intent of the author? Belittle and caricaturize the enemy -- making it easy for readers to dislike them and cheer for the MC's side. This is not to say I agree with this method or the ideology of the author, but it is a possibility that this was what the author was aiming for.

Thus, I am sorry if it makes any of you uncomfortable, but I will be leaving the Japanese words as is. It's pretty systematic, so it should be easy enough to ignore or to just switch the terms in your own mind as you read if it bothers you. Besides, there won't be much more of it once the fighting gets into full swing, and this arc will end in about 10 chapters or so anyhow. I hope this answers all your questions on the matter. As always, thank you for your support, and happy reading. :3