A Linguistic Analysis: Manga Translation (EN/JP/TWN) Comparison of Chapter 90.1 | Part 3
This is written in response to @connoisseursdecomfort's post Comparing Versions of Short Mission 11
((I realized that I should have just made this into a post because my response would be lost as a reblog. And it did... OTL
Also, this is an updated version with more insight/details))
Consider this is as a part 3 of my Linguistic Analysis posts on Spy x Family's Ch. 90.1 or Short Mission 11.
Part 1: A Linguistic Analysis of the Spelling "Ania" and "Anya"...
Part 2: "Ania" is the closest to an identity reveal
This analysis contains spoilers from Chapter 90.1 / Short Mission 11!
What's so interesting about the discourse analysis amongst Japanese, Taiwanese, and English translations is the hedging (word choices that lessen the directness of a dialogue) langauge that Loid uses. It is more clear in the Japanese ("by the way") and Taiwanese ("it came to mind") translations. Whereas, English's hedging is found in "...right?" What the three of them do share in common is that Loid's discourse is pointing to active voice by stating "your name is spelled A-N-Y-A". Apply all of these translations below:
(ENG) Your name is spelled A-N-Y-A, right?
(JP) By the way, your name is spelled A-N-Y-A.
(TW) It came to mind, your name is spelled A-N-Y-A.
It is consistent that Loid's tone is holding authority by demonstrating his knowledge on Ostanian orthography based off the transcriptions he's seen of Anya's name registered as "A-N-Y-A" which was spelled by her previous Ostanian adopted parents. So Twilight feels confident that the spelling of her name MUST be "Anya."
Another thing I wanted to add on to @connoisseursdecomfort's observation is catching loss of translation, which is so unfortunately common. English translation omits translations mainly because some expressions or dialogue that are common in a language (Japanese and Taiwanese) would be perceive differently in English-speaking countries (USA, UK, AUS, CAN, etc.). This is called cultural discount.
It's the reason why Squid Game English dub missed out on many jokes that are play on words in the Korean dub. It is also the reason why a lot of American jokes are not understood by non-English speakers OTL
But this is a general phenomenon because English native consumers would find the expression strange simply because we do not have this style reflected in our discourse. The best example is when @_mika60 translated the omitted text "Anya's heart stirred at the mention of her own name."
To an American (possibly English natives in general, but I can't really speak on behalf of British, Canadians, nor Australians beause their English may be slightly different in terms of cultural lifestyle/upbringing), this expression can be perceived as corny/purple-prosey. Because American discourse don't generally have this emotionally-charged reflective discourse. Hence, omitted. Which is unfortunate because it says so much about how Loid's spelling affected Anya's feelings. So this is a perfect example of cultural discount.
An example of loss in translation is the omission of Anya's text which explains why she can't carve out her name is due to feeling insecure about her bad handwriting. (Again, this is character analysis that English-reading consumers missed out on! Because anything written in the manga is deemed canon.) Whereas English, we completely omit that detail because English native speakers don't need that extra dialogue. The English discourse is typically straight to the point and English native consumers draw inferences from icons (images/illustrations).
Based off my explanation, this is how I see the above picture as an American consumer (using a think-aloud method):
Anya says, "I can't do it right..." and she looks frustrated as illustrated by the swirl above her head.
Her brows are furrowed which supports that she's annoyed/frustrated/angry.
Her cheeks... are they blushes? Is she embarrassed? I can't really tell.
She's also a 4 y/o or was it 5 y/o child (she lied being 6, right?) so it's obvious she probably might be annoyed because she can't draw straight lines.
Because she's an infant, I'm sure she doesn't have the strength to draw clean lines.
Based off my thought process above, do I think OR am I convinced that Anya feels insecure? No.
Can it be argued that she's insecure? Yes, absolutely.
If I were to talk to someone who posits Anya may be insecure because of his/her knowledge of children behavior and/or mannerism, then I would be convinced. However, I would arrive to this assimilation through negotiating observations and exchanging knowledge of children behavioral mannerism. However, this would become more of headcanon if it wasn't explicitly stated in the manga (keep it mind that the Japanese translation DOES explicitly state that she's insecure because of her bad handwriting, so yes, it is canon that Anya is insecure of her bad handwriting).
Anyways...
I love translation comparisons mainly because you get to experience cultural exchange if you are fortunate enough to understand or have access to a translator (*cough* @connoisseursdecomfort *cough*) who enjoys comparing multiple languages. Thank you for doing God's work @connoisseursdecomfort <3
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LuNa analysis: Strong World in the context of Oda's story
This post is a bit of a "remake" and a bit of an "update" of my first actual analysis on LuNa.
Thanks to several interviews and official sources, we know Oda played a significant role in the development of the One Piece Film series. In fact, it all started with a movie written by Oda himself: Strong World.
He put a lot of effort into this movie, and many fans both inside and outside Japan admit this movie had its fair share of LuNa moments. But, I'd like to focus on this matter from the perspective of the manga.
Let's go back to the Arlong Park arc. Luffy always trusted Nami and put his faith in her even people around him were giving him seemingly good reasons not to do so. One remarkable example of this is in chapter 75 when Luffy is informed by Johnny (someone trustworthy) what Nami apparently did to Usopp, and Luffy not only kept holding onto his faith in Nami, he also threatened Johnny for saying such things about her:
Why is this so relevant? Because during the Whiskey Peak Arc he came to doubt Zoro because of the words of a random wounded man...
...and even doubted Robin during Water 7 before Nami told the crew the truth behind Robin's desertion.
But not even once he doubted Nami
After listening to most of Nami's recorded message, Luffy gets enraged! Why? Luffy never doubted Nami, he always relied on her blindly putting his faith in his navigator, to an extent greater than his trust in Zoro or Robin. So after thinking his navigator doubts him and his capabilities he got really angry...
...notice that he never got angry at Robin and Sanji for doubting his strength or power.
As another clever reader put it, he gets angry at Robin “for not worrying about her own safety, not because Robin doesn’t believe” in his strength...
And he got mad at Sanji for not being honest to himself when he tried to justify the choice of abandoning the crew and his dream.
But, from Luffy's point of view, the one who's not allowed to doubt his capabilities is Nami. There’s the probability he was expecting all his trust and faith in Nami to get reciprocated.
Turns out Nami does return that feeling. Why can we say that? Remember the movie's ending: Nami finds out everyone in the crew got her hidden "save me" at the end of her message... everyone but Luffy. Then when Luffy is about to play the recorded proof of Nami's unwavering faith in him, what does she do? She tries to get rid of the "edvidence" out of embarrassment So the crew listening to the recording? Not a big deal for Nami. Luffy listening to the recording? She feels the need to destroy the edvidence.
We know these moments were completely intentional because Oda stated he wrote Strong World as "hero saves the heroine" story. Since Luffy is the hero (One Piece is pretty much about his journey), it makes sense the author would want to focus on how the hero's relationship with the heroine (Nami) has a remarkable effect on him, and vice versa.
Someone once explained that Strong World encapsulates and sums up what One Piece is all about. That includes the exceptional strength of the bond between the hero (Luffy) and the heroine (Nami) of this manga.
