momentai.

While reading Water 7, there is a particular scene that always stood out to me, and it’s this one;

But, it turns out, One Piece is one of those things where the translation can slightly differ sometimes, because I found this;

And, being extra, I even tried to find the Japanese page of this scene, but haven’t had luck, so, with perhaps some inaccuracies, here’s what Google says the Japanese text says;

Robin: 「今日を限りに… 私達はもう二度と会うことはない」 (meaning "With today as the limit… We will never meet again")

Zoro: 「ロビンが…… そう言ったのか？ チョッパー」 (“...Did Robin really say that, Chopper?”)

Chopper: 「うん…」 (“Uh-huh.” / “Yeah…”)

Zoro: 「ーー今日を限りに二度と会えないって事は……」 (“...She said we wouldn't meet again after today...”)

Zoro: 「今日 これから起きる 何事かを…… 更に悪化させる様な 事態を 自分で引き起こすって 意味じゃねェか？」 (“...Which probably means she's going to do something today that will make matters even worse.”)

Zoro: 「おれには そう聞こえるぜ」 (“That's how it sounds to me.”)

But, when I highlighted the text to see how my device would translate it, here’s what I got:

Robin: As long as today… we will never see each other again.

Zoro: Robin… Did you say that? Chopper

Chopper: Yeah…

Zoro: ーーIt means that we can't see each other again for today…

Zoro: What's going to happen today… Doesn't it mean that you're going to cause a situation that will make it worse?

Zoro: That's how it sounds to me.

Now, my device’s grammar is probably horrid, and google may be wrong, but I believe google’s translation is pretty close to the first translation panel. I find it interesting the little nuances that change depending on how you translate the scene. If anyone has the Japanese page and it’s closer enough translation, that’d be greatly appreciated!

Now, why I’m pointing this out? let’s take a look at the second panel of the translation, shall we? Particularly to how Zoro speaks;

She said we won’t ever meet after “today”.

It sounds like she’s announcing that she’s going to…

(Going to what? Die?!)

Do something to make things worse for us.

The way he trails off in the second translation is very interesting to me, because my mind immediately jumped to “oh no, she’s gonna die”, especially when her goodbye to the crew seemed to be coded in that way, and whadyaknow… she later in Enies Lobby chooses to die if it meant protecting the Strawhats (And in general because she feels that she would be a burden to them later on, which we know is not true, but she’s speaking from trauma-) It’s as if it’s a little hint to the future, but it’s even more interesting that this nuance was delegated… to Zoro. The one who distrusted her the most when she first joined.

But, yet, despite it making sense for that distrust to be vindicated and renewed again, since it seems as if in that moment that she did betray them, and with seemingly pining the assassination plot on them no less, that’s not how Zoro reacts at all, strangely enough. He doesn’t show anger, or immediately distrust her. Instead, he calmly and logical considers all the possibilities, actively maintaining that they can’t lean one way or another, since if they do, they won’t be prepared for the truth of the matter, regardless of what they find.

Meanwhile, in this very same arc, he refuses to have Usopp welcomed back to the crew after him leaving, even threatening to quit (The first mate, the very first member of the crew!) if Usopp didn’t make the correct amends for leaving. Technically, Robin left the group, and actively betrayed them (or so it seemed), and yet, he gave more grace to the newbie than the established crew member. Seems a bit strange on the surface, don’t you think?

But, regardless of the translations, though I feel my device’s felt rather romantically coded (like its owner), the basis stays the same; Zoro didn’t immediately fall for the obvious conclusion that they’ve been had, and why is that?

Could it have been what had happened in Skypiea, her actively trying to pull a fast one on Eneru for their benefit? Could it have been the clear panic at seeing Aokiji (who he was the first to protect her from)? Add it up in your mental calculator, and you’ll see that whether he wants to admit it or not, there was a part of Zoro that was hoping Robin wasn’t through with the crew, which is why he wanted so badly to get to the truth of the matter, as if to get closure one way or another on why she would do such a thing, when with others, he definitely did not take that extra time for them, immediately casting judgement on them.

It’s these nuances, even with language, you have to look out for. Remember, everyone, punctuation makes the difference in how a sentence is perceived. It’s the difference between; “Let’s eat, Chopper!” And “Let’s eat Chopper!”. Same words, completely different meanings, and all because of a single comma.

I don’t think we should take either translations for granted with its use of punctuation. It could be conveying a subtle message we might miss the first time around! That, and the words themselves.

Zoro's last three speech bubbles do not have the ellipses. Instead they're broken up by (loose translation):

「今日限りでもう合う事はねェつてんだから」 "Because [she] said today is the last we'll ever meet"

※　idk if I wrote "ェつ" correctly bc it's hard for me to tell what is half kana, but it didn't seem to matter to Google translate as it translated it similarly no matter what combination of kana/half kana I used

「今日中に何かまた事態を悪化させる様な事をするつて」 "[she will] do something else today that will make the situation even worse"

「宣言してる様にも聞こえる」 "sounds like a declaration"

In a nutshell, "Because she said today is the last we'll meet, it sounds like a declaration that she's going to do something that will make the situation worse."

Comparing the effect of the Japanese to these two translations, I don't like the use of ellipses. The lack of ellipses in the Japanese showcases Zoro's directness, and understanding of the situation and Robin's mental state; he immediately understands that whatever Robin is about to do will make the situation more complicated [for them specifically? I'm not sure if that's supposed to be implied overall or if it's that's an assumption from the way the Japanese is written, but as far as I can tell, it's not explicitly stated. So I like the first translation you posted the best, minus the ellipses.]

English manga translations seem afraid to have phrases/incomplete sentences hanging out in a speech bubble by themselves. And if it's hard to avoid, they use the ellipses to show the sentence continues into another bubble. But it creates a pause in the mind of the reader which may embue a meaning that was not originally there.

And it's not like they don't also use ellipses in Japanese in a similar manner. In the panel right before this, there's ellipses to show a pause between the small flashback of what Robin said and Zoro speaking to Chopper as he ruminates on the situation. If that rumination in his understanding were continuing in the next panel, ellipses could be used again. But they're not. He's already formed his opinion and gives it with no hesitation. He also has the real world experience to read between the lines of what Robin is saying and come to his conclusion.