Why I Translate Official Translations more then Unofficial Ones
I know that there are certain people who hate dubs and official translations with a passion. Some of this distaste comes from the idea that the “original” is the best. The problem with this is unless you actually understand Japanese you aren't getting the “original” and someone is doing the translations for you. More on this in a bit.
The other place that this distaste comes from is there was a period of time where companies would bring series over here and translate them and make edits. For example, they used to change mangas from being read right to left to left to right to fit the American audience's reading style. Names were changed to being more English in sound. Plots were changed around as well and there was censorship.
Even when the translators have the best intentions they can end up with issues. For example, sometimes things will be changed in a dub because of the fact the words need to match up with what is said. Other times there are mistranslations because humans aren't perfect. Despite this I am going to say that I trust official translations and more then I trust unofficial translations, the exception being when a company does go and butcher the original.
There is this attitude though that unofficial translations are more reliable then official translations. Is this necessarily true?
Official Translations
Unofficial Translations
In most cases the translators for companies will have a good grasp of the Japanese language as well as culture. The exception to this would be for companies that have bad business practices that would lead to them hiring people who don't know the language and culture well.
There is no telling how good of a grasp the language and culture that the unofficial translators have. There is no way to confirm this due to the anonymity of the net. Certain translation groups are looking for more help. Other times I read the translations and there are some very obvious errors.
Sometimes companies will take the route they will feel more make more money rather then keeping true to the original, or they will take routes to censor works so it can air on television or so that it will not run against government laws.
They're not making money and they don't have to worry about government laws. In these regards they are not confined as official translations may be.
Sometimes companies want to make a better version. That's one of the reasons names get changed to English. Again, this comes down to trying to make more money. However...
… unofficial translations are not free from this bias. If a particular fan has a particular bias they can translate the medium in such a manner that favors their bias.
Sometimes official translations can get odd translations from the original, or at least translations the fans think are weird.
Unofficial translations can also get odd translations, but they are also more likely to have other errors that lead one to wonder how they got the translation they did.
Let's put aside the whole trying to make more money by making a better version as companies are moving away from this. Let's first focus on the odd translations that occur in the original. There are three type of odd translations. The first are the ones done because of mistranslations. The second one is because the person misunderstands the culture. The third is because the person was used to what the unofficial translation said and it varied.
Fact is the last two are the ones most likely to occur. One of the mistranslations for Bleach was that it was impossible for people to age or even be born in Soul Society and people came to accept this as canon truth and it has become an element in fanfiction. One of the misunderstandings comes from not understanding the warrior culture Bleach is based around as there are differences between it and our culture.
However, I wish to focus on the biases of translators. I read the translations of Bleach before they come out and I've noticed that someone has coming along and changing the translations a few days later. Some people have argued that these translations are the better translations and they hold that the things said in these translations are canon. However... note the mistranslation I noted above. For a long time the “official” unofficial translation had that translation.
I bring this up because I couldn't help but notice something in the latest “edit” to chapter 573 of Bleach for the scanlation on page three to five.
Isane: uh... uhm...
Isane: How is... commander Unohana...?
Kenpachi: (silence)
Kenpachi: Dead.
Isane: (silence)
Isane: ..Oh... is that so?
Isane: collapses
Kenpachi: I killed her.
Kenpachi: I hated her... so it shouldn't matter if I killed her.
Isane: (silence)
Isane: I'm glad.
Isane: If she was killed by commander Zaraki... then that means it'll be inherited...
Isane: … commander Unohana's... name...
Kenpachi: (silence)
Kenpachi: yeah.
I can't see the original translation anymore, so it ran something like this.
Isane: uh... uhm...
Isane: Is Captain Unohana Dead?
Kenpachi: (silence)
Kenpachi: Yes?
Isane: (silence)
Isane: ..Oh... is that so?
Isane: collapses
Kenpachi: I killed her.
Kenpachi: If you want to seek revenge then do so.
Isane: (silence)
Isane: I'm glad.
Isane: If she was killed by Captain Zaraki... then that means it'll be inherited...
Isane: … Captain Unohana's... name...
Kenpachi: (silence)
Kenpachi: yeah.
Now... I honestly don't know which translation is correct because I don't have the raws either. Even if I did it would take time to look up each kanji. I do know that we have two very different translations here, one... the current one... that paints Kenpachi as a barbarian... and another that paints him as an honorable Samurai. I'm actually more likely to go with the second one and have to wonder how much of the barbarian translation comes from misconceptions certain fans have about Kenpachi's honor system.
Let me ask a few questions.
If Kenpachi hated Unohana, then why would he name Yachiru... the child he cares for... both in her needs and as a person... Yachiru? He named Yachiru that because he hated Unohana? Yes... there was something along that lines during their fight, but that was again “another” translation and I have read one that was different. It makes more sense for him to call Yachiru what he did because he respected her.
And then there is Isane's reaction. She's fine with him killing Unohana because he hated her and saying it didn't matter. Actually, who in their right mind would say that? Kenpachi should know that it should matter to Isane. It makes more sense for him to say that he respected Unohana, so did it matter whether or not he killed her.. The main point though I wish to make is that the original translation was a lot smother then the later one.
And this isn't the only time I've noticed it. There was the fight between Unohana and Kenpachi before. I'm personally waiting for the official official translation of this one.
Oh... and when Rangiku noted that Isshin was not of a lower branch clan of the Shiba clan they changed it to being that he was a lower branch clan member. This was despite the fact he was the head of the clan. Some people speculated it was similar to Naruto, but in Naruto they inherit based on whose the strongest as they're ninja clans. This is nobility and a different system.
The reason though people insist that Isshin is of a lower branch clan is because they also want to believe that he is the “uncle” that is mentioned earlier. “uncle” though could be a reference to his rank within the clan or it could be a reference to another character completely.
Then there is Soifon's name. The official translations make it out to being Soifon... or Soi Fon, but there are fans that wish to translate it suffering. It's not just her name though. There has been a major jumping around of the translations of some of the Vandenreich's name. Some people mind you want to go for the absolute literal translation of a name which is why we get Toushirou. I used to be fine with this, but then I realized that spelling out the phonetic symbols is actually bad English on the part of the person writing said name. Some of this amounts to people nit picking things too much.
But there is a bit more. Look at that first translation I gave you. The person who translated the chapter used the word “commander” and not “captain”. The “commander” is the “head captain”. Which in turn makes it so I can't trust this translator's translation. Taicho can mean “commanding officer” and in the modern era captain, or even a CEO. It does not translate into “commander”. Well, sometimes it does... but it depends on the situation. Kenpachi is not at this point giving commands, so the translation is in fact incorrect.
I enjoy Bleach and I enjoy reading the new chapters each week. I just want people to be more careful with their translations and I think anyone translating needs to put their biases aside, not to mention know what they're doing. That, and I guess as a linguist hobbyist I know why the official translations make the changes they make and the process that goes into picking the translations that best works. It feels like there is a lack of care going on.