Anime and Manga Translations:
The Fall of Localization Adriana Garcia (Sapporo Alumnus)
If you’ve been following the e anime and manga scene in your home counttry, you’ve most likely noticed the increase e in both quality and quantity of Japanese title es in bookstores, online libraries, DVD sections, and even streaming services. Both legal and d illegal translations have developed throug ghout the years due to the proliferation of the internet, which allows opinions and feedback to be shared, as well as the growing ability of fans to understand the original Japanese sources. Such changes include decreased localization—the adaptation of settings and people to fit where the audience is from rather than keeping it Japanese—as well as the speed of release dates and reduced translation times. Early anime tran nslations have become dated, largely due to the rampant nature of localization. Ch haracter’s names were often changed comp pletely in order to appeal to English speakking audiences. Even our dear “Tetsuwan Attomu” was not immune to this localization treatment and is still known today as “Astro Bo oy”. If you know the story of “Astro Boy”, you would know that Astro was built by Dr. Boynton to replace his late son, Toby. That is to say, Atomu was built by Dr. Tenma to replace his late so on, Tobio. These names were mixed together in the 2009 “Astro Boy” CGI film (which was surprisingly good!) starring Nicolas Cage 24
as Dr. Tenma, and his son being called both “Toby Tenma” and “Astro”. My personal favorite example of localization would be in “Mahha Go Go Go”, where names were given based on personality. Goh was a race car driver, so he was given the name “Speed.” His little brother Kurio was hyper and chipper like a sprite, so he was given the name “Spritle.” His girlfriend was cunning and a bit of a trickster, and so she was named “Trixie.” His parents were stuck with the names “Pops” and “Moms,” but due to the family nature of this race team, they were given the last name “Racer.” And just like that the series “Speed Racer” was born, a name that stuck with the 2007 Japanese-dubbed live-action movie as well. “Battle of the Planets,” the American localization of the Japanese 1972 anime series “Gatchaman,” is listed among one of the greatest victims of this localization process, with a translation never really being made at all. It can be argued that this had been done for several early anime, but this one stands out the most because the localized plot of “Battle of the Planets” was made up by watching what happened; words were added to fit the scene rather than in any attempt to translate, and death scenes were removed to make the show more child-friendly.
