[ NIHON BUNKA KENKYUU ] BUNKEN 101: Reviews, comments, and insights on Japanese pop culture.
A slew of English-language BL manga releases announced by overseas licensing companies at this year's YaoiCon has BL fans from many English-speaking nations squealing in their seats with excitement. However -- as much as I am happy to hear that non-Japanese manga publishers are beginning to regularly license and translate BL manga and novels as part of their regular line-up (albeit under labels separate from their main lines), I am also somewhat alarmed that this sudden influx of material could lower production standards -- quid pro quo between the quality of translation and the volume of releases.
I have to admit that I am not a fan of the English-language releases. I rarely bother with them since I have no problem acquiring and understanding the Japanese language releases. Of the BL manga series I have read in both English and Japanese, I sometimes find the English versions awkward or unsatisfying. Even worse, some of the subtle complexities essential to the over-all plot have been lost or obscured in the transition to English. This leads me to turn back to the original Nihongo versions of these works, in order to get a better grasp of the story. I also noticed that I was able to work out some plot points that were poorly conveyed in the English translation upon re-reading the material in Japanese.
This is not to say however that I am not pleased that the boys love stories I have been enjoying in Japanese are now available to fellow readers in other languages. My personal biases against the official English versions aside, I fully recognize and understand the important role the English language versions play in increasing awareness and appreciation for BL manga among non-Japanese speakers. For some -- if not a majority of the readers, the English version is the only version of the story they will be able to read and enjoy fully, unencumbered by language barriers and cultural impediments. This is essentially the reason why I am so cautious and critical when reading and reviewing English-translated BL manga : I am afraid that something crucial to the plot is misread or mistranslated, turning what could have been a good story into a pile of drivel.
I have already encountered instances wherein several critical plot devices -- mostly culture-centric concepts that do not have direct equivalents in the English language, were given poor or inadequate translations. The translation feels forced and unnatural, leaving me with the impression that it would've been better if these concepts were not translated at all but retained in their original Japanese forms, with appropriate explanations left for them in an appendix section at the beginning or the end of the book. This practice is no longer unfamiliar to avid readers of BL manga, as fan translations available online from popular scanlation circles make use of this device in many of their projects.
Since we have touched on the topic of fan translations and scanlation circles, I would also like to point out that in several cases, it is not unusual to find that the quality of the translation used in the fan works are far superior to those used in the officially licensed releases (which can sound rushed and incomplete). Several scanlation circles will also go as far as to edit out sound effects and background text, and replace them with accurate onomatopoeia equivalents in the English language, whereas some licensed publishers -- perhaps due to tight schedules and multiple deadlines, are happy with scribbling (sometimes inaccurate) translations over them. If at this low level of production, the quality of translation for official releases pales in comparison to fan releases, how much further will they deteriorate when the volume of releases are doubled – or in the case of some publishers, tripled?
My last -- but no less important sticking point, is my somewhat ambivalent view of the publishers' title choices for licensing. While some titles are well worth the effort of licensing and translating for the non-Japanese market, other titles are not so impressive and should have been looked over in favor of other, more deserving titles. This perhaps is a reflection on how much the licensee can really afford to pay the copyright holder of the original material, but I am of the opinion that the publishing companies should focus less on expanding their line-up for the sake of providing more choices, and pay more attention to improving it by acquiring quality titles from both superior established authors, as well as up-and-coming new talents in the field of BL manga .
In light of all this, I hope that the publishing houses who have acquired the official rights to at least a dozen BL manga series slated for future release do not sacrifice the quality of their licensing choices simply for the sake of having an expanded line-up. I also hope that they do not put forward overly-optimistic release dates in order to satisfy the booming market, at the cost of poor translations or shoddy editing. Quality should always come first; readers are more likely to forgive a late relase that came out almost perfect, than a slipshod release that barely managed to squeak past the deadline. Last but not least, I hope that this grand experimenting in acquiring and publishing such potentially controversial, risque material goes well. This way, industry standards and market options continue to improve, as the publshers try to outdo each other in bringing even more excellent titles to the highly competetive BL manga market.