Furuba vol. 17 [Tokyopop edition]
...wow, I just checked my tags, and it's been a year since I last made a full reaction post to a new Furuba volume (with vol. 14).
Notes before I start: I feel a little strange doing this now, due to the freelance work, and also due to some people who read my journal now who didn't then. ^_- But feeling strange doesn't mean I won't react the same way I would've otherwise. *shrugs*
Also, it's been a LONG time since I first read most of these chapters, so I'm a little fuzzy on my initial impressions; on top of that, these chapters were coming out when the fanbrats were giving Shadow so much hassle and misusing her translations, and she opted not to go back and translate chapters 99 and 100. I do have fan translations of those by other people, but I'm not going to rummage around and dig them up unless something strikes me as extremely different from what I remember from...has it been three years already? The fandom reaction to chapter 97 seems more recent than that.
So. Volume 17, translation by Alethea & Athena Nibley, adaptation by Lianne Sentar. The one additional thing I'll note is that I'm now much more aware of how much things can change between translation and adaptation; what's not different is that I like noting differences between translations just for the sake of alternate interpretations/readings. Bearing that in mind...
Chapter 96
Hee, Momiji's already as tall as Tohru! And I like the way the little aside when Tohru slips Haru's name into conversation with Rin is written ("Took the bait and extremely mortified").
When Shigure and Hatori are talking about Akito, Shadow's translation has Shigure telling Akito (in flashback) "You're the one who's chosen Kureno," while the TP version has him telling Hatori "He's the one who chose Kureno."
In the same conversation, a bit of reinforcement has been lost: Shigure's echoing his conversation with Rin back in vol. 14. ("I have no power and little merit. I'm worthless. The worst kind of man." [vol. 14] vs. "I'm powerless and worthless. A man of small caliber. I'm the worst of men." [vol. 17]) This isn't too surprising, since the series changed rewriters between vol. 14 and 15. Luckily, Shigure introduces the comment here by noting that he'd said the same thing to someone else, although he implies he doesn't remember who. (Do I buy that? Not for a second.)
...ohhh, I'd forgotten that Shigure set it up to make sure Tohru would meet Kureno. Nice. ^_^
Chapter 97
Ahhh, memories of fandom implosion. *coughs*
Content-wise, this chapter is just as I remember it. It's beautiful and so incredibly tragic for everyone involved. ;_;
On a technical level...this would be a brutal chapter to do, because there's no way to make everyone happy about Akito. Until this chapter, it made perfect sense for all of the older 12shi to use male pronouns all of the time, even in conversation with each other (from outside the story, there's no way to avoid it entirely--English doesn't have the option to drop all of the gender pronouns, and in translation we can chalk it up to it being their habit even when talking to people who know her secret). No argument there. But--personally--I disagree with having Kureno's conversation with Tohru being full of "he" and "him", since it ends with "that girl". There can't be any hint of feminine references before that, because we need that moment of impact at the end, and Tohru's complete surprise, but I can't see any indication that he's trying to keep it from her while he builds up to that moment. My understanding is that that works in Japanese. It does not work in English. [EDIT for clarity after rereading the post in the morning--what I'm referring to with "it doesn't work in English" is not the actual dialogue in this scene, but just that--AFAIK--the Japanese dialogue probably doesn't include any gender tags, and would sound fine without them, but English is too reliant on those pronouns for the lines to sound perfectly smooth without them.] Again, personally, I would much rather have his dialogue feel a bit stilted through working around a lack of pronouns or through overuse of her name than have it go through "Akito clung to me and cried so hard I thought he'd break in two. And so...for the sake of that girl..."
The other factor is that Kureno is the only character at this point in the volume whose dialogue feels...not awkward, but uncomfortable. I think it must be a deliberate choice (since Lianne's dialogue is exceptionally smooth most of the time), and maybe it's reflecting the Japanese in some way I'm missing, but it feels odd having *anyone* be in a conversation with Tohru where she sounds more casual than they do.
(I think I feel particularly strongly about this because of how I've handled Akito as a fanfic writer ever since this chapter came out, which has been to never once refer to her in anything other than gender-neutral terms anywhere but in dialogue between characters who believe she's male. So I'm far from unbiased about it. ^^)
Chapter 98
Continuing the same conversation, the sense of disconnect is heightened by Kureno immediately switching back to "he", but for some reason it bothers me less from here on: at this point we know the truth, and so having the pronoun be a bit jarring works on a meta level. (Context is everything, I guess.) It does emphasize just how messed up it is that these people, who've known and loved her since she was conceived, have to train themselves to think of her that way.
So I guess what I'm really saying is I don't have a perfect answer for how to handle the pronoun issue. ^_^ Which is fine, since it's not my job. (I assume I'm never going to make everyone happy either, y'know?)
(Can I pause and say I still loathe Ren? I hate what she did to Akito, and even though I understand that they're important to the story, I hate thinking about the superficial parallels between her and Rin. I really, truly hate looking at this woman on the page and knowing how much of what Akito put Rin through had nothing at all to do with Rin herself and everything to do with Ren. *shudders*)
The development of Kureno's explanation is beautifully done: he talks so carefully and clearly about feeling the spirit inside him awakening, of being aware of a "[him] that isn't [him]", and where in the last chapter it was already important that his feelings for Arisa were his own choice, at the end of this conversation it's equally clear how much it matters to him that he, himself, not the spirit that possessed him, chose and is still choosing to stay with Akito.
The picture of Hatori picking Akito up and holding her is lovely. [/random]
...and then Rin sees them, and...yeah. Knowing how that turns out derails me for the rest of the chapter, I'm afraid.
Hmm. Except that I'm now thinking maybe these chapters happened somewhat further from New Year's than I'd originally thought...? The reference to graduation rehearsal makes it feel closer to the end of the school year, but it *can't* be that long since New Year's, unless Kureno is unexpectedly the type to not look at that DVD for weeks and weeks. He was given it at New Year's, he watched it, he called Tohru. Let me echo seangaffney: "Speaking of Rin, she gets to do a lot of glaring and brooding this volume... and then disappears, something that happens very suddenly. Except it doesn't, clearly time has passed. Takaya has a couple of weaknesses in this work, and one is the horrifically bad way she conveys passage of time. Obviously time passed between the first three chapters of the book and the rest, but that's very unclear." Which I can only agree with, since vol. 18 clearly takes place somewhere around April...
Chapter 99
Not much comment on this, except that I love Saki and Arisa as much as always. ^_^
Kyo's memory of Tohru with the scarf is just adorable. ^^ Except it just gave me a spoilery thought for the last couple of volumes (highlight to read): I just realized how triggery it must have been for Kyo to go looking for Tohru in the streets and find her scarf in the road being run over. O_O And he runs into the road after it. Ohhhh, poor kitty. ;_;
Chapter 100
...too Yuki-centric (and taking place almost entirely at the school) for me to have much to say. ^^ I am still enjoying Yuki's chapters much more on rereading them, but at this point in the story they just don't grab me in the same way as everything else does. There are a lot of cute touches in here, though--Kyo having no clue why his flowers got stolen, Haru *still* messing with Takei Makoto after all this time, Yuki cluing in about Machi chasing him all over school, Kyo giving Tohru the flower...good stuff.
Chapter 101
I do love Mitchan's reaction to catching sight of Shigure's parents. *^^*
And this chapter is giving me the same feeling as it always has--there's a lot in here, and it's beautifully executed, and it's entirely about characters I don't specialize in talking about.
Other people's posts on the volume so far: Sean and Flamika. (No spoilers past this vol. in either post.)
Now I mostly sit back and wait for Adam to get hold of a copy and have time to do his analysis, assuming he's still so inclined.
Somewhat related, in case people've missed it--the series is switching to a three-month release schedule after this volume, so vol. 18 is due in November.
Notes before I start: I feel a little strange doing this now, due to the freelance work, and also due to some people who read my journal now who didn't then. ^_- But feeling strange doesn't mean I won't react the same way I would've otherwise. *shrugs*
Also, it's been a LONG time since I first read most of these chapters, so I'm a little fuzzy on my initial impressions; on top of that, these chapters were coming out when the fanbrats were giving Shadow so much hassle and misusing her translations, and she opted not to go back and translate chapters 99 and 100. I do have fan translations of those by other people, but I'm not going to rummage around and dig them up unless something strikes me as extremely different from what I remember from...has it been three years already? The fandom reaction to chapter 97 seems more recent than that.
So. Volume 17, translation by Alethea & Athena Nibley, adaptation by Lianne Sentar. The one additional thing I'll note is that I'm now much more aware of how much things can change between translation and adaptation; what's not different is that I like noting differences between translations just for the sake of alternate interpretations/readings. Bearing that in mind...
Chapter 96
Hee, Momiji's already as tall as Tohru! And I like the way the little aside when Tohru slips Haru's name into conversation with Rin is written ("Took the bait and extremely mortified").
When Shigure and Hatori are talking about Akito, Shadow's translation has Shigure telling Akito (in flashback) "You're the one who's chosen Kureno," while the TP version has him telling Hatori "He's the one who chose Kureno."
In the same conversation, a bit of reinforcement has been lost: Shigure's echoing his conversation with Rin back in vol. 14. ("I have no power and little merit. I'm worthless. The worst kind of man." [vol. 14] vs. "I'm powerless and worthless. A man of small caliber. I'm the worst of men." [vol. 17]) This isn't too surprising, since the series changed rewriters between vol. 14 and 15. Luckily, Shigure introduces the comment here by noting that he'd said the same thing to someone else, although he implies he doesn't remember who. (Do I buy that? Not for a second.)
...ohhh, I'd forgotten that Shigure set it up to make sure Tohru would meet Kureno. Nice. ^_^
Chapter 97
Ahhh, memories of fandom implosion. *coughs*
Content-wise, this chapter is just as I remember it. It's beautiful and so incredibly tragic for everyone involved. ;_;
On a technical level...this would be a brutal chapter to do, because there's no way to make everyone happy about Akito. Until this chapter, it made perfect sense for all of the older 12shi to use male pronouns all of the time, even in conversation with each other (from outside the story, there's no way to avoid it entirely--English doesn't have the option to drop all of the gender pronouns, and in translation we can chalk it up to it being their habit even when talking to people who know her secret). No argument there. But--personally--I disagree with having Kureno's conversation with Tohru being full of "he" and "him", since it ends with "that girl". There can't be any hint of feminine references before that, because we need that moment of impact at the end, and Tohru's complete surprise, but I can't see any indication that he's trying to keep it from her while he builds up to that moment. My understanding is that that works in Japanese. It does not work in English. [EDIT for clarity after rereading the post in the morning--what I'm referring to with "it doesn't work in English" is not the actual dialogue in this scene, but just that--AFAIK--the Japanese dialogue probably doesn't include any gender tags, and would sound fine without them, but English is too reliant on those pronouns for the lines to sound perfectly smooth without them.] Again, personally, I would much rather have his dialogue feel a bit stilted through working around a lack of pronouns or through overuse of her name than have it go through "Akito clung to me and cried so hard I thought he'd break in two. And so...for the sake of that girl..."
The other factor is that Kureno is the only character at this point in the volume whose dialogue feels...not awkward, but uncomfortable. I think it must be a deliberate choice (since Lianne's dialogue is exceptionally smooth most of the time), and maybe it's reflecting the Japanese in some way I'm missing, but it feels odd having *anyone* be in a conversation with Tohru where she sounds more casual than they do.
(I think I feel particularly strongly about this because of how I've handled Akito as a fanfic writer ever since this chapter came out, which has been to never once refer to her in anything other than gender-neutral terms anywhere but in dialogue between characters who believe she's male. So I'm far from unbiased about it. ^^)
Chapter 98
Continuing the same conversation, the sense of disconnect is heightened by Kureno immediately switching back to "he", but for some reason it bothers me less from here on: at this point we know the truth, and so having the pronoun be a bit jarring works on a meta level. (Context is everything, I guess.) It does emphasize just how messed up it is that these people, who've known and loved her since she was conceived, have to train themselves to think of her that way.
So I guess what I'm really saying is I don't have a perfect answer for how to handle the pronoun issue. ^_^ Which is fine, since it's not my job. (I assume I'm never going to make everyone happy either, y'know?)
(Can I pause and say I still loathe Ren? I hate what she did to Akito, and even though I understand that they're important to the story, I hate thinking about the superficial parallels between her and Rin. I really, truly hate looking at this woman on the page and knowing how much of what Akito put Rin through had nothing at all to do with Rin herself and everything to do with Ren. *shudders*)
The development of Kureno's explanation is beautifully done: he talks so carefully and clearly about feeling the spirit inside him awakening, of being aware of a "[him] that isn't [him]", and where in the last chapter it was already important that his feelings for Arisa were his own choice, at the end of this conversation it's equally clear how much it matters to him that he, himself, not the spirit that possessed him, chose and is still choosing to stay with Akito.
The picture of Hatori picking Akito up and holding her is lovely. [/random]
...and then Rin sees them, and...yeah. Knowing how that turns out derails me for the rest of the chapter, I'm afraid.
Hmm. Except that I'm now thinking maybe these chapters happened somewhat further from New Year's than I'd originally thought...? The reference to graduation rehearsal makes it feel closer to the end of the school year, but it *can't* be that long since New Year's, unless Kureno is unexpectedly the type to not look at that DVD for weeks and weeks. He was given it at New Year's, he watched it, he called Tohru. Let me echo seangaffney: "Speaking of Rin, she gets to do a lot of glaring and brooding this volume... and then disappears, something that happens very suddenly. Except it doesn't, clearly time has passed. Takaya has a couple of weaknesses in this work, and one is the horrifically bad way she conveys passage of time. Obviously time passed between the first three chapters of the book and the rest, but that's very unclear." Which I can only agree with, since vol. 18 clearly takes place somewhere around April...
Chapter 99
Not much comment on this, except that I love Saki and Arisa as much as always. ^_^
Kyo's memory of Tohru with the scarf is just adorable. ^^ Except it just gave me a spoilery thought for the last couple of volumes (highlight to read): I just realized how triggery it must have been for Kyo to go looking for Tohru in the streets and find her scarf in the road being run over. O_O And he runs into the road after it. Ohhhh, poor kitty. ;_;
Chapter 100
...too Yuki-centric (and taking place almost entirely at the school) for me to have much to say. ^^ I am still enjoying Yuki's chapters much more on rereading them, but at this point in the story they just don't grab me in the same way as everything else does. There are a lot of cute touches in here, though--Kyo having no clue why his flowers got stolen, Haru *still* messing with Takei Makoto after all this time, Yuki cluing in about Machi chasing him all over school, Kyo giving Tohru the flower...good stuff.
Chapter 101
I do love Mitchan's reaction to catching sight of Shigure's parents. *^^*
And this chapter is giving me the same feeling as it always has--there's a lot in here, and it's beautifully executed, and it's entirely about characters I don't specialize in talking about.
Other people's posts on the volume so far: Sean and Flamika. (No spoilers past this vol. in either post.)
Now I mostly sit back and wait for Adam to get hold of a copy and have time to do his analysis, assuming he's still so inclined.
Somewhat related, in case people've missed it--the series is switching to a three-month release schedule after this volume, so vol. 18 is due in November.