Dragon Ball manga gets a new Norwegian translation

[Vegard Aune]

So I just found out yesterday that apparently Outland, a Norweigan specialist store for various geek merchandise including manga, has been working on their own re-release of the Dragon Ball manga. This is the second time the series has been translated into Norwegian after the previous release by Schibsted that lasted from 2004 to 2007 and covered the entire run of the series. (Though the translation was all kinds of awful.)

They just put out their first book, a 3-in-1 like the ones Viz has been putting out. Some notes...

-Holy shit the translator is someone I actually know! We were in the same class at the university. Obviously I immediately had to congratulate her on this.
-Unlike Viz's release, this is completely uncensored.
-Sound-effects are left in Japanese with Norwegian translations printed next to them.
-Unlike the old translation, this one doesn't treat "Son-Goku" as if it were the main character's GIVEN NAME. Seriously, I think there was precisely ONE instance in the entire 42-volume run from Schibsted where he was just called Goku. Here they stick to the Japanese and just use Goku most of the time.
-Muten Roshi is left in Japanese, Kame Sen'nin is given as his title and explained to mean "Turtle Hermit" the first time it shows up. Though their translation of it was a bit weird... "Skilpadde-einstøingen", wut? That gives off more of a "Turtle Loner" kinda feel, which doesn't sound very dignified.
-For some reason, Chichi is called "Kikki" and Lunch is called "Ranki". I asked the translator about this and apparently this decision was made for her and she was not happy with it herself.
-Translation quality is, in general, miles above that of the old translation, which is only to be expected when this is actually translated straight from Japanese and by somebody who, I presume, actually gives a damn, which the old translators sure didn't seem to.
-Print quality is pretty meh... The paper is decent though.

Apparently, depending on how well this thing sells they might start translating and publishing more series as well, so just as a personal request, my fellow Norwegian DB-fans... Please pick up this release. I mean it has some issues still, but I would very much like to see the rest of the series, and perhaps other series down the road, get an actual good translation in Norwegian.

[Nejishiki]

You had me when you stated it was uncensored. Are "Kikki" and "Ranki" a reference to anything in your language or is it an arbitrary name change? I could forgive it if they were still puns.

[Vegard Aune]

You had me when you stated it was uncensored. Are "Kikki" and "Ranki" a reference to anything in your language or is it an arbitrary name change? I could forgive it if they were still puns.

Seems arbitrary as far as I can tell. Outland claimed that "Kikki" was because it was easier to read (which sounds vaguely bull to me) and "Ranki" was because there was apparently some sort of double-meaning to the Japanese name that "Lunch" would not convey (which I have literally never heard anyone say anything about ever)...

[Nejishiki]

I didn't realize it until after I posted, but it seems Lunch was transliterated as the romanization is Ranchi. The explanation for that is definitely new to my ears, too. I have nothing for the former!

[Tian]

I'm glad Norway is finally getting a new manga release translated from Japanese because I remember I read the old Norwegian translation was like this (according to sangofe) : Japanese -> German, German -> Danish ->, Danish -> Swedish, Swedish -> Norwegian.

[linkdude20002001]

Is there no ʧ sound in Norwegian, or did they think CH is pronounced with a k sound like in Latinized Greek?

Also, would "Kame Sennin" be "Skilpadde Eremitt" in Norwegian?

[sangofe]

And here's the url for it: https://www.outland.no/display.aspx?men ... did=114162

Plus this is their facebook post for it:

https://www.facebook.com/Outlandbutikk/ ... =3&theater

Mike, make a news post This is pretty exiting for Norway!

[Vegard Aune]

Just a quick photo to show how this release is, in fact, uncensored, despite otherwise being in the exact same format as Viz's allegedly uncensored except not really 3-in-1s. Pardon the crummy quality, but eh. You can still see which finger Bulma's raising anyway.

Though there is one minor issue I'm noticing here that I sure hope will get fixed later down the road... I made some comics myself in high school and I was instructed to try and make the text inside the bubbles sort of match the general shape of the bubble, like, have the top line be short, gradually getting longer towards the middle and then shorten out again by the end... Whoever is in charge of lettering here, they don't seem to have put any effort into doing just that. That Bulma-line would have looked a bit nicer if formatted like: "Hmpf!! / Ikke / tale / om!!", for example. I mean it's not a dealbreaker, but it is mildly distracting.

[Cold Skin]

Trust me on this because it happened in France: a new, careful re-translation is a good reason to (re)buy the whole manga.
Hopefully, much like our own official French translator here, your friend will be in charge of all upcoming printed Dragon Ball material (manga, anime comics, quiz books, databooks, etc...).

[Alruneia]

Is there no ʧ sound in Norwegian, or did they think CH is pronounced with a k sound like in Latinized Greek?

Also, would "Kame Sennin" be "Skilpadde Eremitt" in Norwegian?

I'm fairly certain we'd write "ch" for that sound. It's that or "tsj", which we did with some Russian names (Gorbachev = Gorbatsjov is the best example I can think of). The sound goes unused in our actual language, though, I'm pretty sure. I can't think of any Norwegian words with that sound. The use of "ch" as a "k" is much more common. We can easily know from context which sound it's supposed to be, though.

Also, that'd be a weird translation, but I don't think it's directly wrong. I guess I'd translate it as "Skilpadde-einstøingen" instead.

Anyway, this is interesting. But, and allow me to go native for a moment: Jeg har så godt som null interesse i å faktisk kjøpe dette. Kul ide, men det er ikke noe for meg. Interessen kommer for det meste fra å lese fornorskede navn (gode eksempler i tråden her allerede med det jeg gjetter er Chi-Chi og Launch).

[sangofe]

Is there no ʧ sound in Norwegian, or did they think CH is pronounced with a k sound like in Latinized Greek?

Also, would "Kame Sennin" be "Skilpadde Eremitt" in Norwegian?

I'm fairly certain we'd write "ch" for that sound. It's that or "tsj", which we did with some Russian names (Gorbachev = Gorbatsjov is the best example I can think of). The sound goes unused in our actual language, though, I'm pretty sure. I can't think of any Norwegian words with that sound. The use of "ch" as a "k" is much more common. We can easily know from context which sound it's supposed to be, though.

Also, that'd be a weird translation, but I don't think it's directly wrong. I guess I'd translate it as "Skilpadde-einstøingen" instead.

Anyway, this is interesting. But, and allow me to go native for a moment: Jeg har så godt som null interesse i å faktisk kjøpe dette. Kul ide, men det er ikke noe for meg. Interessen kommer for det meste fra å lese fornorskede navn (gode eksempler i tråden her allerede med det jeg gjetter er Chi-Chi og Launch).

Whaaaat Alruneia: you won't support a Norwegian attempt at an accurate translation? The last one was pretty garbage... It may lead to other good things, you know. Although, if you know Japanese, I guess you wouldn't have an interest in buying translated versions in the first place.

[Alruneia]

<snip>

<snip>

Whaaaat Alruneia: you won't support a Norwegian attempt at an accurate translation? The last one was pretty garbage... It may lead to other good things, you know. Although, if you know Japanese, I guess you wouldn't have an interest in buying translated versions in the first place.

It's cool that they're doing it, but here, translations are considered to be for kids (especially concerning dubs) and for subtitles. It's a good idea to translate the manga for the kids to read, but personally, I'm not interested, and I'm not in the project's target group, so that's fine.

[sangofe]

<snip>

Whaaaat Alruneia: you won't support a Norwegian attempt at an accurate translation? The last one was pretty garbage... It may lead to other good things, you know. Although, if you know Japanese, I guess you wouldn't have an interest in buying translated versions in the first place.

It's cool that they're doing it, but here, translations are considered to be for kids (especially concerning dubs) and for subtitles. It's a good idea to translate the manga for the kids to read, but personally, I'm not interested, and I'm not in the project's target group, so that's fine.

Well, I can understand where you're coming from, but I think it'd be nice if Dragon Ball could get really good sale numbers so that they eventually take on Super and someone dare pick up the anime... I've always had a dream of that happening here in Norway, but sadly, it has never happened, except those awful dubs based on the Big Green dub.

[linkdude20002001]

I'm fairly certain we'd write "ch" for that sound. It's that or "tsj", which we did with some Russian names (Gorbachev = Gorbatsjov is the best example I can think of). The sound goes unused in our actual language, though, I'm pretty sure. I can't think of any Norwegian words with that sound. The use of "ch" as a "k" is much more common. We can easily know from context which sound it's supposed to be, though.

Also, that'd be a weird translation, but I don't think it's directly wrong. I guess I'd translate it as "Skilpadde-einstøingen" instead.

Hm... Interesting. Do you mean "the use of CH for the k sound"? Cuz that would explain what happened to Chichi and Lunch's names. Hepburn style Latinization of their names gives you: チチ (Chichi) and ランチ (Ranchi). Latinizing the names in a Norwegian style would give you Tcjitcji and Rantsji, correct? But instead the translator—no, maybe the editor—saw the names Latinized as Chichi and Ranchi and assumed the incorrect pronunciation...?

I don't know anything about either Norwegian word, but the Japanese word 仙人 (sen'nin) is, to quote Herms: "Sen’nin are figures of Japanese folklore (originating from the Xian of Chinese folklore), and so the concept is hard to translate into English in a single word. In short, they’re immortal Taoist wizards who typically live alone (or in groups together, but isolated from human society at large).". It's probably just as hard to translate into Norwegian as it is to translate into English, tho.

[Alruneia]

I'm fairly certain we'd write "ch" for that sound. It's that or "tsj", which we did with some Russian names (Gorbachev = Gorbatsjov is the best example I can think of). The sound goes unused in our actual language, though, I'm pretty sure. I can't think of any Norwegian words with that sound. The use of "ch" as a "k" is much more common. We can easily know from context which sound it's supposed to be, though.

Also, that'd be a weird translation, but I don't think it's directly wrong. I guess I'd translate it as "Skilpadde-einstøingen" instead.

Hm... Interesting. Do you mean "the use of CH for the k sound"? Cuz that would explain what happened to Chichi and Lunch's names. Hepburn style Latinization of their names gives you: チチ (Chichi) and ランチ (Ranchi). Latinizing the names in a Norwegian style would give you Tcjitcji and Rantsji, correct? But instead the translator—no, maybe the editor—saw the names Latinized as Chichi and Ranchi and assumed the incorrect pronunciation...?

I don't know anything about either Norwegian word, but the Japanese word 仙人 (sen'nin) is, to quote Herms: "Sen’nin are figures of Japanese folklore (originating from the Xian of Chinese folklore), and so the concept is hard to translate into English in a single word. In short, they’re immortal Taoist wizards who typically live alone (or in groups together, but isolated from human society at large).". It's probably just as hard to translate into Norwegian as it is to translate into English, tho.

"Einstøing" is a word that describes a person who lives secluded from society. In folklore they do have special abilities, if I recall correctly. Therefore, that's the word I'd use. (The "-en" ending is the same as the article "the". "Skilpadde-einstøingen" = "The turtle hermit".)

And yes, romanising from Japanese directly to Norwegian would give Tsjitsji and Rantsj/Lantsj (actually we'd probably translate the latter to Lunsj, which is the Norwegian word for lunch, unsurprisingly). However, that's a very weird way to write names like these, and we'd usually understand that "Chichi" and "Lanch" would be pronounced with the same sounds, so we'd simply write "ch". In this case, however, it seems to have gone wrong, because they decided to go further with the translation instead of leaving the "ch" as is. Your theory is pretty likely.

[linkdude20002001]

Thank you for the explanation. That's quite unfortunate, tho. Hopefully they fix it in the second printing.

[UltimateHammerBro]

It's cool that they're doing it, but here, translations are considered to be for kids (especially concerning dubs) and for subtitles. It's a good idea to translate the manga for the kids to read, but personally, I'm not interested, and I'm not in the project's target group, so that's fine.

Well, it's not like many people would be able to read the manga in its original language, is it?

[Alruneia]

It's cool that they're doing it, but here, translations are considered to be for kids (especially concerning dubs) and for subtitles. It's a good idea to translate the manga for the kids to read, but personally, I'm not interested, and I'm not in the project's target group, so that's fine.

Well, it's not like many people would be able to read the manga in its original language, is it?

Well. What I mean is that we tend to keep it English when it's not aimed at kids. We learn English at school all the way from first grade at the age of 5-6, so once the kids reach around 9, Norwegian dubs are usually rendered useless. Reading subs/books/comics/manga is a bit different, but still, at somewhere around 12, reading English translations is second nature, so Norwegian subs and translations become a matter of personal taste. Therefore, for the kids to read.

[linkdude20002001]

Hm... That seems odd. If anything, I would think the opposite would be true. As in...adults would prefer stuff in Norwegian to ensure their language doesn't die, and children would prefer English becuz...I dunno, "Norwegian is for old people", or something to that effect.

[UltimateHammerBro]

Well. What I mean is that we tend to keep it English when it's not aimed at kids. We learn English at school all the way from first grade at the age of 5-6, so once the kids reach around 9, Norwegian dubs are usually rendered useless. Reading subs/books/comics/manga is a bit different, but still, at somewhere around 12, reading English translations is second nature, so Norwegian subs and translations become a matter of personal taste. Therefore, for the kids to read.

I understand that mindset, but I thought it would be more related to experiencing stuff in its original form.
I myself have a growing number of books in English, but they're all originally in English (I do have two DBZ Viz volumes though, but they're souvenirs). If I read something whose original language I don't speak, such as manga, I don't see the benefit of reading an English translation rather than a translation in my own language, or why it would be for kids (supposing both translations are more or less equally good).

That's also why I don't understand why some countries just aired DBZ in English (be it Funimation or Ocean) with subs. If they choose subtitling instead of dubbing, having the audio track being dubbed and not the original feels kind of pointless to me.