#bl captions

Inspired by a discussion in this post. Here are some BL scenes I really wish we had extensive notes from translators to read. Or that a language coach or linguistics professor would analyze. 

(Note: I don’t always have a picture of the scene in question.) 

1. Daisy & Touch’s Date in Secret Crush On You 

I did this one myself but I am nothing but a dilettante, I’d love someone more experienced with Thai nuance and the queer community do a full on analysis of the language use. 

2. Phun coming out to his dad in Love Sick 2

I haven’t rewatched in a while and I would probubly understand more now, but at the time this scene was SO confusing. The translated pronouns are all over the place and I wasn’t at all sure whether he even was actually coming out or not. 

3. Thun talking to his mom on the phone in He’s Coming to Me 

There a whole subtle thing that goes on when Mes overhears Thun on the phone, to do with “ter.” I think I got it, but also, I think I missed a bit of the nuances that’s insightful to their mother/son relationship. 

4. The ex-girlfriend, the boys, and the balcony in Precise Shot

A VERY odd choice as this is a Chinese censored bromance but I am pretty darn sure there is a whole subtextual dig at Taiwan and Taiwanese spoken Mandarin in this scene that went WAY over my head. I think it’s so rich for China to take a dig at Taiwan in an CENSORED BL. I want to know more about what’s going on.

5. The gendered(?) register code switch in the office kitchen in Old Fashion Cupcake 

Honestly the translations are just really really bad for this one (on Viki for Japanese in general) and I am super grateful I have at least some ear for Japanese because I can tell when they mess up (which they keep doing). It’s a marker of how good this show is that I adored it despite this. Still, I would like the nuance of this scene explained a bit more. I get that he switched into a feminine register but how exactly? To what degree? What are the additional implications of this? How rare is that for a man of his age? How mocking was it? Or does mockery not come into it? Is there a queer of gay coded implication to this behavior? I HAVE QUESTIONS.

6. Nuch’s speech in Not Me

We don’t get speeches in BL very often, especially not subversive ones from a queer person addressing a crowd. The language is by necessity completely different under these circumstances and I really really like to know how and why certain choices were made. 

7. Paitong’s speech of protection in La Cuisine  

I love the way this one is translated but I am not entirely sure that translation was accurate. The supportive way Pai talks about his sisters (including Kitty in that) made me so happy, I want to believe it is honestly translated but I am not 100% certain that the queer implications of that translation were thought through (in English). 

8. The frozen register usage from Prince’s mom in Sky in Your Heart. 

I did not like this BL but the language use going on when Sky visits Prince’s house mansion is CRAZY cool. There is a dialectic switch but also a register switch and I am pretty sure they are speaking in frozen (which no one really does IRL unless they are/are with royalty). I’ve never heard anyone speak Thai the way she does. 

* Note: Anytime you see Thai script subbed it means the characters are probubly speaking in a heavy dialect. So there are a few shows set in the north, like Siew Sum Noi that I would have liked a lot more linguistic info on, but the fact that I managed to find them translated at all, is kinda a miracle. 

9. Yaja time in Semantic Error

I think I fully understand the concept and I got the implications of the drunk conversation before the kiss. But I’d like to know, in that particular version of yaja time, if there’s anything else more subtly queer going in with these two. I mean we all known and could hear that JaeYoung executes the sluttiest “hyung” on the goddamn planet but is there something else happening linguistically? 

Often with KBL the culture around queer is so coded and so subtle I feel like I am missing a lot of the linguistic hints. Or maybe it just really is that repressed.

10. Mr Cinderella and the pronoun negotiations

I can’t pick a specific scene off the top of my head, although I am sure there is one. I understand from @squeakygeeky​ that Vietnamese I/you pronouns are pretty gender and power dynamic coded. This makes Mr Cinderella (the least Seme/uke of all VBLs) one of the most challenging on the actors and translations. I’d love it if they, and me, were given more information about this. Not just translation, but script choice, why those pronouns at that point in the narrative? Why the switch? Why NO switching? That kinda thing. 

Some of us are getting two sets of subs on these two BLs, Fukou-kun wa Kiss Suru Shikanai! (Japan) and Plus and Minus (Taiwan) both airing simultaneously on Viki (a Japanese company) & GaGaOOLaLa (a Taiwanese one) on Fridays. 

Never before have I had such luxury of choice! 

So I’ve been watching both shows multiple times on both platforms and just in case you too have a choice, or care, or are planning on binging, here’s my thoughts...  

First I should say that I don’t speak either nationalized Mandarin or Japanese. I know enough to get through a formal/business meet & greet in Japan but that’s it. But I do know English very very well. So I’m judging the captions based on how well they make sense to me, and seem to transmit what I believe is going on in the show AKA how good are they telling the story?

Plus and Minus 

(Taiwan Viki *rec* & GaGa Fri)

Despite the fact that this is a Taiwanese show airing on a Taiwanese platform, I like the Viki subs better for this one. Gaga’s are a little too slapdash (lots of English idioms, slang, and euphemisms) its almost like they leave too much information out in the interest of being “hip,” so sometimes it’s just confusing or they pick the wrong (business) word. 

So, for example, Aaron Lai’s character describes himself as radical but extreme would have been a better word choice. These two may sometimes be synonyms but not when applied to a person. Radical has political connotations, extreme has emotional and personality ones. (And actually what was probubly meant in this scene was agro or Type-A.) 

Also GaGa had more misspellings and homophones. Now, Viki’s subs are definitely stiffer and more formal, but in this instance for me, it makes the show easier to understand. 

So I’ll be watching this one on Viki first and Gaga second. 

Fukou-kun wa Kiss Suru Shikanai! AKA Mr Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss!

(Japan GaGa *rec*  & Viki Fri) 

For this one I think GaGa is better than Viki! For one thing, they use last names (as they should) and are less awkward seeming the rest of the time with phrasing. That said, without question irozuku’s indie subs are the best. It’s just you have to wait for those, and they aren’t exactly legal. 

Going forward for Mr Unlucky, I’ll be watching GaGa first and Viki second. 

Different subbers and different teams work for both platforms, so I can’t say this is a hard and fast rule going forward for either platform with either language. 

I have a feeling I’ll be double watching double airings when I can, but I will probubly try to figure out and settle into orders so I can recommend that in the weekly updates going forward.