hortafan
Gourmet Academy Recruit
Posts: 5
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Post by hortafan on May 29, 2010 22:57:04 GMT -5
I have some questions I'm sure the long-term members will know.
Why are the chairman's remarks always subtitled and never translated?
The English translation of the judges remarks sounds like it is an attempt at translating the original Japanese commentary, given some of the awkward phrases. The comments during the battle are full of American idioms and puns in English. As I don't speak any Japanese, I'm wondering are these very rough translations or completely original remarks unrelated to the original dialog?
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Post by herringchoker on May 31, 2010 9:22:09 GMT -5
Re: Chairman Kaga He has such a beautiful voice, who wouldn't want to hear it, whatever the language? Seriously, though, I think that was part of the decision. As for the voiceover, translating is a difficult business, in a way. You're trying to capture the spirit of the conversation as well as the literal meaning. Translating slang/idioms is the most difficult part because there sometimes isn't an equivalent phrase in the other language. So, as you've noticed, you're hearing American/English idioms and puns to come as close as possible to the spirit of as well as the actual words of the Japanese discussion. I hope this helps.
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Post by ironchefcanadian on Jun 1, 2010 12:05:02 GMT -5
The other part to remember is that the translation also has to capture the personality of the commentator, as heard on the original track. Since Kenji Fukui (for example) is a sports and baseball announcer, Bill Bickard's script partially reflects that -- but in terms of an American announcer, not a Japanese one.
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hortafan
Gourmet Academy Recruit
Posts: 5
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Post by hortafan on Jul 17, 2010 20:09:24 GMT -5
After hearing a few where the chairman was translated, I have to agree it adds to the atmosphere to have the subtitles. One plus of the translation is that his comments during the judging are translated while they are never subtitled.
The ICA chairman never says anything during the judging except to introduce the dishes. I notided the difference when Alton Brown subbed for him a few times and added his own comments to the judges. I guess Mark was dancing with the stars during these episodes!
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Post by Man Alive! on Jul 18, 2010 22:38:37 GMT -5
Re: Chairman Kaga He has such a beautiful voice, who wouldn't want to hear it, whatever the language? Seriously, though, I think that was part of the decision. Indeed it was part of the decision. Initially, Chairman Kaga was dubbed. However, the dubbers quickly realized that Kaga's unique performance was best left in raw Japanese. I think just about everyone agrees with them. It may have been a cooking show, but Takeshi Kaga really gave the performance his all and crafted a really great character.
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