Translation Errata
PACKAGING
Things began to go wrong when I opened the insert. On paragraph 2, it says, "They (United Mankind) seem to have developed a new type of mine. One that, when struck by a beam weapon, rather than exploding, splits into 2 smaller mines."What is this, some kind of space ameba from an old episode of Star Trek!? One aspect of BotS that sets it apart from many other science fictions, is the care author Morioka exercises in establishing a realistic, believable science in the story universe. Nowhere in the novel, the anime, and any published materials or even on correspondences with his fans on BBS/forums that Morioka suggested the mines in BotS I split when hit by a beam weapon.
In fact, if you watch the upcoming footage in vol. 3 carefully, you'll note that the mines *don't* split when hit by a beam weapon. They split *before* the beam can hit and destroy them. And that is precisely how the novel describes the scene. Before the Abhs can track and hit the mines, they split into multiple warheads and overwhelm their point defenses.
The translators at Bandai, knowing nothing about the series they are working on (not unusual), and without doing any research (unprofessional and inexcusable conduct), simply wrote up the insert based on some footage they saw. And the sad thing is, they weren't even paying attention to the screen, else they would have realized none of the mines were hit before splitting up.
Now, on to the episodes proper...
EPISODE 6
Atosuruya refers to Lafiel as "Viscountess" but the sub puts down "Princess" instead. Also in the same episode, Lafiel identifies herself as a Viscountess but that gets changed to Princess as well. And when the waitress introduces Lafiel and Jinto, she calls her "Her highness the Viscountess" instead of Princess as the sub suggests.Before you say, "what's the big deal?" Well, for one thing Lafiel *hates* being called a Princess (if you watch Crest you'll know why) and would never call herself so unless protocols demand it -- such as representing the Empire in an official capacity. On personal matters, and Atosuruya's dinner invitation is certainly a personal one (she even emphasizes that to Jinto), Lafiel refers herself, and is addressed as a Viscountess. If the matter concerns the Star Forces, then she is a Deca-commander. Nothing more, nothing less.
And if you think I'm splitting hair here... In Banner II Lafiel and Spoor get into a heated argument about their course of action. During the verbal exchange, Admiral Spoor calls Lafiel "Deca-commander Abriel," indicating that Spoor outranks her and is the commanding officer on the scene. Lafiel, in the role of a proxy governor, addresses Spoor as "the Grand Duchess" and thus implying that for the issue at hand, they stand as equals and Spoor has an obligation to hear her out. Also in Banner II, Ecuruya leveled a huge insult at Lafiel and practically challenged her authority by suddenly calling her "Your Highness" instead of the usual "Captain." That is the kind of subtlety Morioka weaves into his story. And that is why Bandai should not arbitrary change people's rank and titles just because they can.
During the dinner, Jinto says Atosuruya's father came from the same noble family as he. This is blatantly not true, as anyone who watch Cots, heck even BotS (and pay attention to the dialogue) would know. What Jinto is saying here, is that both he and Atosuruya's father are humans made Abh nobles. They are "naturalized" Abhs, as opposed to genetic Abhs.
The star system Miskel (translated correctly in vol. 1), is now Mystel in vol. 2. One has to wonder if the translators are simply playing by the ear, on crappy speakers no less.
Just about every time the word "Kantoku" (Engineer in this case) is used to refer to Samson, the sub changes it to Line Wing Aviator instead. This can get confusing at times, because there are 3 Line Wing Aviators on the bridge -- Jinto, Ecuruya, and Samson. In the Japanese dialogue, you can always tell whom Lafiel is referring to. Not so in the sub.
And why change "Kantoku" in the first place? The word literally means "to oversee" or "one who oversees." Depending on the situation, it is translated differently. In anime credits, Kantoku is the "Director." In Princess Nine and Gunbuster, it's "Coach." And in BotS, it should be "Engineer." It is a crew position, not a rank like Line Wing Aviator. Is this an indication the translators can't tell the difference between a rank and a position on the ship? Or perhaps they can't figure out what Kantoku means in this situation?
EPISODE 7
At the end of the episode, when Lafiel tells Jinto over an ice-cream parfait, "When unsure, you should always go forward." That is a reference to what she said to him back in Crest, when she was offered a choice of waiting things out in Febdash Barony, or continuing to Sufugnoff and the unknown. Lafiel then reminds Jinto, "Izen ni mo, sou itta de aro?" (I've said that to you before, right?)The sub turns that around, and makes Lafiel says that's what Jinto told her in the past. Putting aside the fact the translators missed the reference to Crest, here they are making simple, entry-level mistakes. To put it in plain terms, the translators have confused the person doing the talking, with the person doing the listening in a sentence. It's a fairly common mistake for beginner students in Japanese, but a professional translator working for a for-profit company should rise above that level.
EPISODE 8
In a discussion between the Crown Prince and his Chief of Staff, she says, "...approximately 170 squadrons of assault ships, give or take 15 contingents." Why is the same word, "Bunkantei" (battlegroup) translates to "squadrons" and "contingents" in the breath of the same sentence? This is an intelligence briefing, and it is critical they keep the same terminology throughout. You don't tell your superior officer, "We are facing 10 divisions, give or take a few task forces." If it's a division, or battlegroup, you state it as such and stick to it throughout your report.On top of that, the Japanese dialogue made no mentioning of "assault ships." The Chief of Staff merely says, "approximately 170 battlegroups, give or take 15 battlegroups." And it is obvious these are not all assault ship battlegroups, because in the next sentence she says, "But they appear to have more patrol ships than we assumed." Well if these are "assault ship squadrons" where the hell do the patrol ships come from? I have to wonder if the translators even bothered to read their own scripts to see whether everything makes sense or not.
In the same conversation, we next see "...better to build up a force of patrol ships than attack vessels?" Suddenly "Totsugekikan" (assault ships) are called "attack vessels" instead. They can't even stick to the same translation in the same conversation, or even the same sentence? Is this what we call professional quality?
I wonder how Gundam fans will react if Amuro fights Char the Red Comet from Zeon in ep. 1, Shar the Crimson Shooting Star from Zion in the first half of ep. 2, and Zar the Vermilion Meteorite from Jion in the second half of ep. 2? If this is not acceptable for Gundam, why is it okay for BotS?
Later in the episode, the Bibos brothers and their staff are discussing the lack of "coolant" in their fleet. In reality, they are talking about a lack of "propellant." The Japanese word used in this case, "Suishinzai" literally means "dose/stuff for pushing forward" (hence, propellant). The three kanjis that makes up "Sui-shin-zai" have absolutely no relations whatsoever with temperature or heat exchange.
In fact, a casual look in any decent dictionary will reveal that "Suishin" is a fairly common word that means "propulsion." I found the entry both in my pocket Kadokawa kana dictionary, as well as the Nelson kanji dictionary. If the translators were unable to decipher the word at first glance, they could found the answer easily with a simple check with a dictionary. Instead, they opt to change the plot and make up their own explanation. This shows that not only are they ignorant of the Japanese language, contemptuous of the series they are working on, but also too damn lazy to do their job.
Now that they are changing the plot, they have to keep changing the dialogue. Just a few sentences down, the sub says "We do have lots of water that can be used in place of a coolant." When in fact, the Japanese says "If it's water that is to be used as propellant, then don't we have plenty right here?" (Abh ships use water as propellant.)
When Lafiel shows up for her pre-battle briefing, she bumps into the captain of Kidroil.
"Hello your highness."
"I'm just your unit commander."
Since when did Lafiel get promoted and take charge of ships other than her own? Everything in Banner so far indicates she is just the captain of the Basroil, equal in rank and status with the captain of the Kidroil.
In fact, the actual Japanese dialogue goes like this:
"Hello, your highness."
"I'm just a regular deca-commander."
This is a simple, straightforward sentence. Many people, myself included, have resigned over the fact that Bandai will never get the ranks straight, so I'm not going to complain about mangling deca-commander into unit commander. However, there is just no way "a regular" can be mistranslated as "your" in the sub. The only reason? "Creative" translation at work. Should I expect BotS to turn into a Robotech sequel soon?