From: Andrew

Well, I'd like to talk about the whole "bad translation" thing. To me, it happens in recreating the show, in a different image. You see, to me, bad translation doesn't mean, he should have said that, that way. It means, why does Akane's voice sound nothing like Akane?
And, why did they water this down for me? Do any people really say that they dislike translations, over like grammar, or a missed word?

The audience for a dub isn't the same as for a subtitle, so most of the time, whether the actor sounds like the original Japanese voice actor is irrelevant, at least in the eyes of the producers. It's whether they're convincing as the English version of that character that's important. Sometimes, that means they end up sounding similar to the Japanese voice, and sometimes it doesn't.

From: Scott Martens

Hear hear!
As a former translator (of French mostly rather than Japanese) and an anime fan, I too am bugged by people who complain about translations without having any experience in the subject. My Japanese is pretty poor (about the level of the first year student) and even that's enough to realize how difficult the job of the subtitler or translator of anime can be, even compared to my own experience in French, German and Italian.
Occasionally, I do see something in a translation that's very awkward and suspect shoddy workmanship, but the first image that comes to mind is some overworked kid with a freshly minted degree in Japanese who is too tired to come up with something creative. That's a situation I can well understand, having been there a few times.
There are a few times I've suspected a translation was done by a non-native English speaker. Those cases are usually really easy to pick out, and I can certainly understand some grousing when that happens. However, nowadays it's not all that hard to find fluent translators for Japanese and professional standards in translation are a lot better, so it's a genuine rarity.
Anyway, as an ex-translator I want to thank you for coming to the defense of this difficult and woefully underappreciated profession.

Translators are something like the pawns in a chess game. They're the hardest worked, and the first line of defense against a product. The first thing to get attacked in a domestic release of anime is the translation ("They didn't do the song!" "They spelled it 'Shutaro' instead of 'Shutaroh'", etc.). Of course, the second round of attack is directed at the packaging.
It's a difficult job, but someone's got to do it. (Translate, that is).

From: Hokuto Okuyama

I just read the editorial "Lost in Translation" by Charles McCarter, and have some thoughts on the matter. First, I'm Japanese, and can speak the language. That said, I think there are translation errors even a non-Japanese speaking person could spot. For example, in the dubbed version of EVANGELION episode 24, there's a scene where Kaoru says "I love you". In the subtitled version, the text reads "I like you," at the same scene! Given that both versions are sold by the same company (A.D.Vision), I would think that they'd get their scripts straight; but for some reason, they use different versions. I've also heard secondhand some dialog from the dubbed version of episode 26, which also seems to be different from both the original Japanese and the subtitle text. This sort of thing can lead to confusion and misunderstandings, and leads to distrust of the companies selling anime. Can you guys find out how much of the dialog is different in the subbed/dubbed versions, and why the distributor put it out like this?

Well, usually a dub script (called an ADR script) is based on the subtitled script. The ADR writer changes things to make them more "sensible" and "natural" to an English audience. Exactly how much liberty is taken with the script depends upon how closely the company supervises the writer. For example, I know some companies are keeping a closer eye on their dub writers after a couple of products went out without being really checked over, resulting in some rather loose translations.
As for the "I like you"/"I Love you" EVANGELION lines, that's totally at the whim of the translator. But it also makes sense if you think about it from a cultural point of view, but then, that's splitting hairs rather finely.

From: Phillip Fischer

Very well thought-out editorial. I wonder, though ... I myself do not speak Japanese (although I wish I did) and after reading your editorial (even though I have never claimed that a particular movie had a bad translation) I can't help but feel a bit like I am missing out on a whole lot by watching a movie that has been dubbed or subbed because, regardless of which, I am still subject to someone's interpretation. If I wanted to, I could go off on a tangent that would lead to thinking that I shouldn't watch anime at all and then I would lead to the conclusion that not only should nobody who doesn't speak Japanese watch a single anime, but that those who do speak Japanese are in on some big inside joke that hasn't been translated!
Now I'm not going to go believing this because I'm (slightly) more stable than that, and while I can't remember why I'm sending this to you in the first place, I thought that it may interest you to see what horrible, horrible consequences your editorial may have. For all you know, anime will become a messenger for an elitist society of Japanese speakers who are oppressing those who do not, and eventually all non-Japanese-speaking people will head underground to live and evolve into hideous monsters while the Japanese-speakers live in a wonderful utopia (ala The Time Machine), and I'd be sad because I wouldn't be living in said utopia just because I don't speak Japanese.
I hope this was more amusing to you than it was annoying and tedious.

After reading so many serious pro and con arguments about this, this was a breath of fresh air. You've been listening to Scott Frazier again, haven't you?

Reviews of Reviews
From: Adam Clayborn

Hey, what's wrong with you folks over there? You'd call music composed by Uematsu ho-hum? The FF8 Soundtrack can't be appreciated by itself? Falls under 4 categories? Dear lord, some of you might be able to design a pretty looking web page, but you can't review for shit. Ha! You wish you could compose music that beautiful. No one can take someone's hard work and call it ho-hum. I suggest you take another listen to that soundtrack before you give such a generalized opinion of it. Please. Know what you're talking about before you talk about it. That's all I have to say.

Whether or not we can compose as well as Uematsu is irrelevant. If it wasn't, then everyone would just stand back and wait for someone like Kanno Yoko to compose everything. Reviews are opinions, and as such, are subjective. But I doubt that listening to the soundtrack again would change the reviewer's mind that much.

From: Justin Grant

First off, I want to tell you how good your magazine is. I usually don't buy a product unless you guys have reviewed it because, you don't put your own opinions into it like some other reviewers do. Anyway, I'm wandering how GALL FORCE: THE REVOLUTION did? I haven't heard or been able to find a thing about it since I saw it in your magazine. I'm also wandering how ANGEL LINKS and the second season of CARD CAPTOR SAKURA is doing? Also, I've been considering majoring in Japanese when I go to college and was wandering what kinds of opportunities I'd have in the job market.
Thank you for your time.

Well, I don't have any clue how the new GALL FORCE did. Some people liked it and some didn't, I guess. ANGEL LINKS is off and running, and seems to be doing ok, but CARD CAPTOR is being met with a warm reception since people just can't get enough of that CLAMP stuff.
As for job opportunities, it depends on what you want to do when you graduate. There are a lot of options open to you and you should explore them fully before you make a decision. Japanese is a lot of work, and it requires a lot of dedication. But it's also a lot of fun.

From: Rich Hatlestad

To whom it may concern. First off, thank you for the honest and insightful anime reviews each month. My wallet has been a lot thicker since I stumbled onto your site several months ago. I have a question I hope you can answer. I'm interested in attending an anime convention, but as far as I can tell, they seem to be held primarily in California. I live in New Jersey and would like to know whether or not there will be any coming to my area any time soon. So, are there any magazines or websites that might have a listing of upcoming conventions? Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again, for the consideration of this E-mail and for providing anime fans with a webzine (not sure if that is an appropriate description of EX) worthy of this wonderful medium.

Thanks for the kind words. Picking an anime convention is sort of a tricky thing. If you want to go and try and see famous Guests of Honor, then your best bet is to go to one of the bigger conventions like Anime Expo or Otakon (though since they're both over for 1999, you'll have a long wait). If, on the other hand, you just want to get together with other fans, watch stuff, and spend your money on anime things, then you can go to any of the smaller cons around. There are a lot more choices than there used to be, and for the most current information, I suggest you check the convention listing at the Anime Web Turnpike.

DVD Hunter
From: Denson Conn

A question about the CITY HUNTER motion picture review by Miss Au: You mentioned that you "were going to have to save up for DVDs" if the other ADV CITY HUNTER Releases are this good. Have you heard of this title being released on DVD?

At this time, ADV has not announced any plans for CITY HUNTER DVDs. The reviewer was just being hopeful, especially based on the way ADV is ramping up its DVD releases.

Where Are You, HAL?
From: Jay Lim

Hi. Your online mag is really informative as I was able to catch up on what's happening to anime in the last couple years. So I was wondering if there are any new projects by Mikimoto Haruhiko. My interest in anime began with GUNBUSTER and MACROSS and your online mag has brought back the anime in me. I would really appreciate your reply. Oh btw, I used to be one of the otakus spreading the return of BUBBLEGUM CRISIS back in '94. =)

Well, Mr. Mikimoto spends most of his time working on his manga, MACROSS 7 TRASH. His most recent anime work was, of course, on GANDALLA. As to what he plans to do next, we're not really sure.

Anime Classes
From: Oliver Errington

Just a quick question, I've been working as an illustrator for a few years (while studying Industrial Design at uni), And have heard rumours that Anime courses (or schooling) are available in Japan, could you please send me some info, or even contacts. I've been using this style for the best part of seven years, it has secured me many jobs but I still feel that it isn't authentic enough. Frankly I need a bit of tutoring. Any help would be much appreciated, and congrats on the site again, its nice to see an industry orientated site that has something useful to say!

We get a lot of mail like this from people who want to take classes in how to draw anime, and unfortunately, it's not really that simple. Yes, there are animation schools in Japan, and yes, you can enroll in them, but the fact of the matter is that you really have to speak Japanese. They don't have classes for foreigners, and there are no classes that I know of offered outside of Japan. If you're interested, you should look into the Yoyogi Anime Gakuin, one of the largest animation schools in Japan.

A Rose Is Forever
From: Ken Hirose

I am a Japanese EX reader. I am happy to have read an article about THE ROSE OF VERSAILLES in your magazine. Early masterpieces of shoujo manga provide an abundant source of themes, motifs, and visual techniques in contemporary manga and anime titles. Popular anime titles are filled with quotations and parodies of shoujo manga classics. I wish more and more important classics were introduced to English-speakers!

The staff at EX has a wide variety of interests, so we do tend to cover a nice selection of topics. I too would like to see more of the older "classic" titles covered, but unfortunately there aren't that many people who can write about them all. (And Tezuka's stuff alone would take years). Still, I think we're doing ok when we introduce people to GALAXY EXPRESS, JUNGLE TAITEI, CHOJIN LOCKE, and of course THE ROSE OF VERSAILLES. We'll keep trying to review older titles so that people know that there was anime and manga before 1984.

Thanks
From: Christopher Knight

Personally I think that this web site gives us Anime fanatics (such as myself ) a grasp of the concept of the true art form of Anime. I would like to thank and also at the same time encourage this site to grow.

Well, thanks, I think. I don't know that we're trying to help people grasp the true art form of anime, but rather give people more information about this unique art form. Still, I guess those goals are pretty much one and the same.

Oh Where Oh Where Has My Labor Gone?
From: Max

I'm a big PATLABOR fan and was wondering if you knew anything about the new PATLABOR movie and/or the game for the PlayStation. I thank you for any help you can give. Keep up the good work.

Well, for more information on PATLABOR XIII (the new movie), you'll have to wait until next issue, when we'll post our interview with Izubuchi Yutaka, the mechanical designer and one of the co-creators of PATLABOR. Be sure to check next issue to see what's up with this film.

• WRITE IN UPPER CASE. This will guarantee immediate rejection.
  
• fail to use capital letters at the start of sentences or when using words like ranma and macross.
  
• Use inane words and phrases such as 'Ranma sucks' or 'Robotech rocks'.
  
• Use punctuation in an inappropriate and outlandish fashion !!!!??????
  
• Profanity and personal attacks will also wind up in the trashcan.

you!