LN Volume 20 Translation

Jul 28, 2023 1:17 AM

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Oct 2022

The digital copy of Volume 20 that I have has a completely new translator. Many agree that this translator didn’t do the best job on this work. The Seven Seas website, however, lists a different translator (one who has translated ~half of the volumes) as having translated it. Is there an alternative version with a different translator as the website would seem to suggest? The translation that I have, in my opinion, is very poor, and it contains many colloquialisms and grammatical errors that make it difficult to read.

Aug 8, 2023 2:15 PM

-DxP-

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Nov 2020

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There is no second version of v20 from 7seas with a different translation. Alternatively, you can read the arc that V20 includes in the WN if you don't like the translation at all. Haven't read v20 yet, but somehow I can't really believe that 7seas would publish a book that has such a bad translation as you describe. Are you sure you are reading an official release?

-DxP-Aug 8, 2023 2:19 PM

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Aug 8, 2023 2:21 PM

animejas

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Jul 2017

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-DxP- said:
There is no second version of v20 from 7seas with a different translation. Alternatively, you can read the arc that V20 includes in the WN if you don't like the translation at all. Haven't read v20 yet, but somehow I can't really believe that 7seas would publish a book that has such a bad translation as you describe. Are you sure you are reading an official release?

Yeah the translation in the official volume was rough. One thing I remembered being really annoyed with was a group of people that acted like fans of idols in Japan, which Rudeus referred to in the English translation as e-girls multiple times, and I think simp was mentioned once too. Not only was it really cringe to read through but considering when it was written, doesn't even fit Rudeus' original life's timeline to make references like that. I think the issues were more in one chapter than the entire thing to be honest.

Aug 8, 2023 5:21 PM

DoIExistRealy

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Oct 2022

You’re correct, thank you. As you can likely see from my profile, this is the first light novel series that I have had the pleasure of reading. As such, I’m not sure to what standard I should be holding these books, however, I can say that in comparison to the other 22 light novels, this one is the worst by quite a bit. I was able to get through it and discern that what I originally thought to be errors were likely conscious choices from the author, but they were ones that were inconsistent with the other novels. That made the transition jarring. For me, it was a lot of little things such as sentence fragments, run-ons, colloquialisms, and other small yet noticeable things. It seems as though the author was trying to go for a more casual writing style by writing in a way that one may speak. By contrast, the other works used more formal language and grammar more befitting of a novel. On the surface, the casual writing style doesn’t bother me, but having read the 19 novels before it in a 3 week period, I was already accustomed to a formal style. One could argue that the casual style is more befitting of the Rudeus’ first person narrative, but the formal precedent was already set. As I got further into the book, I got more used to the style and it flowed better… only for the language to take a turn for the worst. Despite what I said earlier, I don’t think that colloquial words “simps” and “e-girls” should be used no matter the context. Even if the terms didn’t seem cringy, they will certainly seem dated in just a few years. Other than the less formal language and grammar, the translator also tends to use more short and simple sentences instead of longer compound, complex, or compound-complex sentences. Though no one would say that this is an issue per se, it makes the experience of switching between novels all the more jarring.

In the end, some of the issues I take with the translation are my own fault for having read these novels over such a short period, but some are definitely with the translator. I still enjoyed this book for its content, and the language wasn’t really that bothersome by the end of ~chapter 3. My belief that there was a retranslation was just wishful thinking, and the translator on the Seven Seas website is just an error.

Sorry for my poor formatting; I’m on mobile.

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LN Volume 20 Translation

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