Steven declared that he couldn’t stop laughing after the second episode of Asobi ni Iku Yo (spoilers), so I checked it out. There’s more fan service than I like, and it’s a bit too off-color to generally recommend, but otherwise it’s been fun. It looks like the story is will be pleasantly convoluted, with nearly every character representing various competing secret organizations, and I’m certainly not going to object if one of the central characters is a sweet, playful and competent catgirl.
If the series gets stupid or devolves into mere fanservice, I’ll drop it. However, this is one of the very few recent shows that have caught my interest, and I have hopes that the crew can maintain a high level of complicated absurdity through the remaining eleven episodes.
How much sense Asobi ni Iku Yo ultimately makes might depend on the translators. Compare these two versions of a moment in the second episode. Eris, the adolescent fantasy alien catgirl, is speaking to her human captor, who has the scent of dog on him.
Ayako & SubDESU:
Team Zebraman:
Update: Here’s the clip in question. Would someone who understands Japanese please explain what exactly Eris says?
[flowplayer src=’http://tancos.net/flv/wp-content/uploads/Asobi_ni_Iku_Yo!-clip.mp4′ width=600 height=340]
The previews for the third episode suggest that the Ayako/SubDESU version is more accurate. Note the entity in the lower right corner of this screen capture:
A thought: so far, no weapon has presented any real threat to Eris. What would happen if an enemy were to roll a ball of yarn in front of her at a critical moment?
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Steven also enjoyed Battle Programmer SHIRASE. Unfortunately, scarywater.net is defunct, and many older torrents are no longer available. Grr.
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Want a catgirl of your own? Visit the catgirl generator:
This brave catgirl has slitted, red eyes. She has neck-length, luxurious, curly, brown hair worn in an impractacal style. Her skin is pale, and she has brown fur with orange patches on her ears and tail. She has a voluptuous build. Her ears are alert. Her fashion preferences are best described as “as little as possible.” When she talks, she tends to use a lot of big words – and know exactly what they mean. (sic)
You can find many more generators here and here. (Does the world really need a “Bishotron“?)
The reason that Ayako and SubDesu agree on that translation is that both of them stole the translation from CrunchyRoll. TZM did their own.
Until someone fluent listens to that line and tells us which is right, we have no reason to assume that Ayako/SubDesu are right. Their agreement with each other isn’t indicative.
You probably like Asobi ni Iku Yo a lot more than me. The use of harems generally has no effect on me, and I do find somethings to like about the series. But while I know the show is designed for Japanese consumption, once they start going into the part with Kadena Air Base…
…I’m afraid I am going to move the show to ‘Probably going stop watching list.’ I think I know where the sub-thread is going to end, and honestly, I see enough of that in more enjoyable entertainment that I already hit my quota.
C.T.
Ayaka and SubDESU “agree” because they jointly released the sub. If they copied the CrunchyRoll translation, so what? I’m interested in how accurate the translation is, not its provenance. In the Zebraman translation, the business about dogs is an insult; in the Ayako/SubDESU/CrunchyRoll/Whoever translation, it’s foreshadowing. Given that the final images from the previews feature an evil-looking canine, I’m inclined to think that A/S/C is closer to the original.
There’s a third fansub translation out there, and it’s even more baffling: “according to the laws of the universe, it’s compulsory for dogs like you to negotiate”. That’s the one I found when I went to listen to the line in question (and look at the busty catgirl).
Her words are, as far as I can tell, “Tokoro de anata, inu-kusai desu yo. Yappari. Uchuu no ruuru dewa, inu no hito to kouryuu wa mitsuboueki desu yo.” Naturally, after I spend ten minutes trying to be sure of every word, I google the phrase and find this Japanese episode review that quotes it as ????????????????????????????????????????, which is almost identical.
Jedict has mitsuboueki as simply “smuggling”, but ALC’s online dictionary has the more general “illicit commerce”. So, he smells doggy in the same way you’d say “that smells fishy”, and dealing with dogs is against the rules in space.
-j
I’ve just been informed that I was wrong about those two circles stealing their translation from Crunchyroll.
I’ve also been informed that the real translation of that line is, “There’s a rule in space: when you’re dealing with dogs, you’re involved in smuggling.”
I’ve just been informed that I was wrong about those two circles stealing their translation from Crunchyroll.
I’ve also been informed that the real translation of that line is, “There’s a rule in space: when you’re dealing with dogs, you’re involved in smuggling.”
This is one of those cases where I understood the words and the grammar, but the literal translation was just a WTF: “By the way, you smell doggy. Of course. According to space rules, interaction with dog-people is smuggling.” It just doesn’t lead you toward a compatible idiom. 🙂
-j
Doki’s translation is similar, but not exactly, to TZM’s: “By the rules of the universe, making contact with the dogs leads to trouble.”
FWIW, they’re the one I’m following. Prior experience tells me that their scripts “sound right,” in much the same way that A.F.K. sounded right. Their translation might not be perfect, but it worked better for English.