Do Not Buy: The Vampire Dies in No Time Volume 1 (Orange Inc.)
Tl;dr it's bad. Also do not support AI.
Some of you may not know it but The Vampire Dies in No Time actually has an "official English translation" that is being published on emaqi.com (access for North America only).
I'll start with the elephant in the room. Orange Inc., the company behind this "official translation," uses AI-translation technologies.
"To produce one localized volume of manga in another language requires several difficult, time-consuming, and complicated processes. What Orange is doing is using AI technology to try to streamline the more tedious tasks required for manga localization, so humans can spend more time focusing on what they do best." (link)
They claim the translation they're providing is not AI-generated and is done by their translators but let's see these statements.
On the translation side, we sometimes use Japanese-to-English translation that is 100% done by human translators, with no AI assistance. We also have some cases where we start with an AI-generated translation, and human translators will use that as a starting point to review and make edits or adjustments, if needed. But what is really important for us to emphasize is that we NEVER publish anything that is only an AI-generated translation.
<...>
For example, the first basic translation could be made by AI, and the human localizer would work on retouching and fixing stuff.
<...>
(From the press release) To maintain the integrity of the original works and build trust with the readers, artists and publishers over time, no more than 10 percent of the content on emaqi will be translated using AI support at launch, as the team continues to evaluate and refine its approach for the future (link)
According to them, they use AI-assisted automated tools for things like erasing the Japanese original text from a manga page, but as you'll see later that, if that claim is true, not only is this thing inconsistent in what to erase and what not but there are also moments that made me question if the translation was really done by human hand.
First of all, nobody is credited for the translation.
Translated, Lettered and Edited by Orange Inc.
How can anyone be assured that whatever they're reading was not done by AI? Just believe someone's "plz trust me"?
Second of all, fine. Let me put on a clown wig and assume it was 100% done by human translators and not MTL.
It doesn't save the book much because it's still bad.
Disclaimer: this post is covering only the first chapter and all the problems with it because it's the only one with an open access and could be read for free. Also because one post is not enough to cover all the problems I've found in the book.
Let's start with the contents page.
Call me old-fashioned or whatever, I really dislike the decision just to leave the chapters as 'chapters'.
The chapters in the series are referred to as 第ｘ死 instead of the usual 第ｘ話. This translates as Death X, because our titular main character happens to die in no time, what a shocker. By simply changing these 'deaths' to 'chapters' the translation already loses some charm of the original book.
As for the chapter titles...
(1) The Hunter Arrives, And He Gets Lost - no, that's not what the 空を飛ぶ part means. It is literal, because Ronald flies in the skies for just a moment because that's what happens in the chapter.
(4) Fukuma Attacks! - I'm convinced the title for this one is based on the fan translations of that chapter title because not even in the anime it's translated like that. The word 襲撃 does mean 'to attack', except there's a small nuance: the word is usually used to indicate that the attack is unexpceted. Again, that's what happens in the chapter.
(5) Shin-Yokohama Will Fall With Flowers - I will admit, this title is difficult to be properly translated into English, which is where the machine failed. Bonnoki is using two different meanings of the word 散る: one is applicable to the falling flowers, another one could be roughly translated as 'to die a noble death in the battle'. The second meaning is what happens in the chapter, because Draluc, well, dies during his encounter with Zenranium. 花と散る is basically just a euphemism of someone dying. No idea why it's suddenly Shin-Yokohama the one dying in this title translation. A human with basic knowledge of the Japanese grammar would not translate it like that, that's for sure.
(6) Can You Hit the Wall and Kill It? - like in the case with the anime's translation (Can a Bang on the Wall Kill Him?), I have no idea why they're specifying and making it worse when we all know from the context the one to be killed is Draluc, so it would be totally fine to translate is as just "Can You Kill by Hitting the Wall?" (This one is more of a nitcpick, I admit it myself, but still)
(7) Grumbling Highway to Success - again, if you know the context, the chapter title makes no sense. Hinaichi doesn't win. Her hopes of getting a serious job (出世街道, path to success) turn into getting the lamest job (転落道, path to failure). Could be also translated as "The Highway to Promotion is the Path to Demotion" but that's
(8) Eros Leading to Metamorphosis - ゆえに ('therefore') is translated wrong. I'll let them slide the omitted wordplay in the title with "love/eros" and "pervert/metamorphosis" because it's hard to show that in translation, it doesn't really matter that much here anyway.
(9/10) Some Idiots Cause a Disturbance in the Hunter's Guild... (Again) - バカ騒ぎ is an adjective attached to the guild, not some idiots. The まだ part in the sequel indicated the guild is still fooling around.
And finally, Draluc's iconic 'sand' scream is now something gibberish. Great start.
Page 3
Someone saw him heading toward Draluc's castle...
Again, I'm slightly nitpicking, but for a reason. Draluc's castle is literally called just Draluc Castle. Poor woman is telling Ronald the name of the castle her son was last seen, and then she adds that the castle belongs to the vampire with the same name.
Continuity error (真相にして無敵). For some reason, the 無敵 part is always translated along with some new added words when it's not the case in the original. "Said to be invincible", "supposedly invincible".
Page 8
Font inconsistency. Despite using the same font in the original, Ronald shouts in two different fonts in the translation.
What you see straught ahead is the castle of Draluc...
The word that the tour guide uses here is not 城 (castle) but 屋敷 (residence, mansion).
Page 9
Mischellanous. Some of the written stuff is not translated and left as it is, without any logic behind such decision. On this page, Draluc's buns with his initial D are not translated. Draluc's games referencing the very well-known ones are also left untouched.
Page 10
I was picking out a QSQ software.
Where do I even start with this...
Most of the time the word ソフト in gaming spaces does not mean a short form of ソフトウェア (software program) but a short form of ゲームソフト (console game). Sure, technically speaking a game is a software, but I've never seen any casual gamers call it "software" even once because imho the word software has a slightly different meaning than when you say a video game.
And here we have an elementary school kid calling it a software. When he was literally shown picking a game on the previous page. Dpmo.
I ended up staying late because I was playing until I completed the game.
He did not complete the game. That's part of the reason why he runs away and continues playing later on.
Most of the time, author's notes (aka Bonnoki's additional comments) are usually introduced via a character saying something and the line being marked with this ※ reference mark. For some reason, this reference mark is erased in translation.
Page 11
Don't think you can beat me in my own castle, brat!
No idea why they decided to add the word brat that wasn't in the bubble in the first place. We know already that line is addressed to the kid.
While technically it's the correct transation, Draluc refers to him as 小僧 in the chapter, which is more polite than Ronald's ガキ, usually translated here as "brat". Draluc is yet to go through his polite-to-rude speech change, so of course he's referring to the scooter kid politely, with the only time of him using "brat" as a reply to Ronald's previous speech where he refers to kid as such. However, the translation fails to adapt this nuance in their speeches. (No idea how it is in the dub, but at least in the English subs they do refer to him differently, with Draluc using "boy" and Ronald using "kid" and they were always consistent with this)
Mischellanous. Due to the pics limit I can't post every case of the manga being inconsistent with Draluc's 小僧/Ronald's ガキ so I'll just write them down if there are any in the remaining screencaps. While I can close my eyes on Ronald's inconsistency and sort of excuse it as a PR persona vs. real persona slipping up moments, all the Draluc moments literally have no excuse.
Bratconsistency x1
Page 13
The のに part is missing in the translation. Ronald is technically continuing hiss speech from the previous page, hence のに.
However, if anything happens to the client's kid...
Also... Bratconsistency x0.5 (Like I've mentioned before, I can at least (sort of) excuse Ronald's lines, but still.)
See? Your long-winded speech made us lost track of the brat.
Made us lose track.
Bratconsistency x1
Page 14
...little punk
Doesn't even count as Bratconsistency because it wasn't in the original lines. Ronald doesn't call out to him even once during this scene because he does it in the next one.
Page 15
This is a popularity business. Going viral for the wrong reasons is the scariest thing.
I rather prefer "online backlash" from the anime as the translation for the 炎上 because (imho) "going viral for the wrong reasons" is too vague and could mean anything.
All right! You go give that kid a Wii or something!
It's Vii.
Page 16
Mischellanous: Ronald's book cover is not translated. Again, no idea what's the logic behind translating some things and leaving some of them untranslated.
Damn. That little brat...
That's not what he said.
Page 17 (+ bonus Page 22)
Become minced meat along with the kid, vampire hunter!
Again, that's not what he said. He just says they will become victims of said traps. The anime subs got it right.
Hey, there was some kind of beam-emitting device in there!
I have to admit, this was the moment I gave up and had to laugh out loud, for the completely wrong reason.
Ah yes, I can totally imagine a really pissed off Ronald, after almost getting himself killed, saying "beam-emitting device" in his politest voice ever.
At least on page 22 he says something more in character. Wait a second-
It's the thing that shoots beams from its eyes!!!
Eye. One eye. Also inconsistent with the name from page 17.
Page 18
Font inconsistency. When Draluc is being fried by lazers, his speech becomes pixelated. While the font slightly changes, it's nowhere close to the original line in terms of style.
(Ronald) C'mon, one look and it's obvious the place is full of traps. Don't mess with me.
(Draluc) You went in even though you could tell there was a trap at first glance?
Draluc's reply makes no sense. Not to mention that's not what he said. "You could tell that at first glance, and yet you still went in?"
Page 19
Mischellanous. Again, the poisonous gas button is translated on one frame and left untranslated on another.
Page 20
I mean, wouldn't it be harder to actually get fall traps that obvious?
???
???
You either choose "to actually fall for such obvious traps" or "to actually get caught in such obvious traps", not both at the same time.
Page 24
Mischellanous. Again, Draluc is being fried by lasers and his speech is in pixels. No pixels for the translation.
I totally forgot about the poison gas!
Poisonous gas, you mean. Proofreading seems to be nonexistent.
Page 27
The gag of Draluc's sand sfx being reversed when revived is nonexistent in the translation.
Page 28
Gah, sunlight!!!
Font inconistency. Draluc's "gah" should also be enlarged.
Draluc Castle
They finally got the Draluc Castle name right, too bad it's inconsistent with what was introduced before, huh.
***
And lastly, for anyone thinking it gets better later, have some moments from the extras. (No pics since I've reached the limit and I don't want to be hit by a random copyright)
Special Thanks Page. They translated the address but decided to leave out the part mentioning Bonnoki's editor and his assistants.
Character Notes. 兄弟 from Ronald's note is translated as "brothers". While typically it does mean exactly that, we know from context 3兄弟 means "three siblings" because we have Himari, Ronald's sister.
Extra Bonus Story. Oh boy. Firstly, Ronald-Donald joke doesn't land if you have a Ronaldo-Donald combo. (Another win for Ronald truthers) And if you don't know why their names are suddenly spelled as "Ro-na-lu-do" and "Do-ra-lu-ku" to make the joke work, don't worry, they just gave up on adapting the joke. Secondly, they also gave up on the Funamushi-Hinaichi joke adaptation and wrote "Funamushi (Ligia exotica)" and I wish I was kidding.
Uso/Fake Preview. Despite being a two-page spread, the text is placed as if it's two different pages. The fact it was even approved makes me frustrated. The grammar is also messed up at one point.
Back Cover. Again, another proof that this translation lacks proofreading.
The translation of the frame on the cover does not match the one in the actual book. ("That cocky brat… Mocking us with those fancy kickboard moves." (book) vs. "Why you little... Mocking me with those kickboard skills!" (back cover))
The description of Ronald and Fukuma's frame: "Clothes being torn into shreads by editors with his battle axe...?!" Again, zero understanding of the context and zero proofreading. Fukuma is one entity (so far...), where did multiple editors even come from?
Speaking of proofreading, the synopsis also (sort of) lies about the premise. "In order to find the missing children, the vampire hunter Ronaldo came to the castle of the supposedly invincible vampire and true ancestor, Draluc. <...>" One. Missing. Child.
Closing thoughts
Objectively speaking, I can't prove that this translation was done by AI, but I also can't prove that it was done by humans either.
The reason why I'm even making this post is because I'm frustrated and very disappointed. Some of Bonnoki's jokes might be either too niche (I swear I've learned more about the Dragon Quest just from him than my gaming circles) or too clever for the translation that a human hand will always be required, no matter what. If I don't have any guarantees that these jokes will not be butchered by some AI that missed the context or simply doesn't get the joke, then why should anyone bother paying for the lackluster content?
And again, the quality of the volume wouldn't change much even if no AI was used, because then it would mean none of the translators bothered to check if what they've translated before was consistent or matches with what's happening in the book.
And, to top it all, people are asked to pay $5 for this quality on the site.
Unfortunately (?) I don't have access to volumes 2-4, so I can't just check the chapters where AI would be the most obvious or simply check the later content, but I'm afraid it probably doesn't get much better. And if the description on the site matches the one from the back cover like with volume 1, then we have Ronaldo suddenly turning into Ronald three volumes later. Another peak of consistency. (If it's just a typo on the back cover and he's still Ronaldo in the series, it just shows the lack of care again)
I really wanted for The Vampire Dies in No Time to be picked up by some daring publishing company and be properly translated into English with all the nuances. There is a reason why the series is so beloved in Japan among the fans, so I hoped that its chaotic charm would find its way to the public outside Japan.
So far, all I feel right now is sadness. I'm disappointed with how the official English release is being handled right now.
Last thing I will say is this. Do not even dare blaming or insulting Bonnoki for this mess. We don't know the extent of how much he actually knows about it, considering he's been recovering from his injury and not even once acknowledged the release of the English translation.
(P.s. I might make some follow-up posts regarding the butchered translation of the first volume but since I don't live in North America I have no idea if publishing the excerpts from the rest of the volume is even legal and whether they could strike down my post, lol. Honestly, I wouldn't have minded just making a text post and listing all the things butchered, just to be safe, but the fake (or Uso) preview spread is just that bad that it needs to be seen as a whole. Also I've been making this post for ages and it's just one chapter, so I need a small break before I make another post regarding the book's quality check.)
It’s so upsetting because there are lots of TL nuances that the machine can’t detect without knowing the context so we get stuff like 兄弟 being translated as “brothers” by AI instead of “siblings” because the machine doesn’t have the context about Himari being mentioned later in the books 💀
Not to mention all the Y-stuff but that probably deserves another post for discussion.
Fun fact: Nakata Jouji, The Progenitor/Draluc's grandfather's voice actor, had been reading the manga long before the anime adaptation was announced.
For context, on the day of Kyuushi's Volume 3 release in 2016 Fujisaku Junichi, with whom Nakata previously worked on the anime Blood+, tweeted about imagining Nakata voicing Draluc and how much he wanted to hear him say the iconic "saaaand..." lines. The voice actor replied to him in a joking manner, and Fujisaku then added that he for some reason just associated the very image of the vampire race with Nakata. Needless to say, Bonnoki was fanboying a lot that these two mentioned his work.
And the rest is history!
(Bonus thought. In hindsight, grandpa pretending to be Draluc in Episode 12/Death 63 is now even more hilarious.)
If I had to pick my favourite Bonnoki's illustrations, I'd probably go with the ones he made for Season 1's special booklets.
Not only they're quite minimalistic, which is probably the last word I would associate with Bonnoki's artstyle, but they also show us how different these two were before Ronald went to Draluc's castle, and I can't help but feel a bit sad by looking at them?
I know Bonnoki said that Draluc didn't really feel lonely during his time at the castle because he shared his company with John + Draus would often visit him, but I still feel bad for him. Like, he literally couldn't even go somewhere simply because he would literally turn to dust the moment he tried to open the door to his own castle. He was basically just trapped inside. And aside from the hot springs in the basement and some trap rooms that looked like they came straight from some game, his castle really didn't feel like it belonged to him, the hedonistic game-loving vampire.
As for Ronald, seeing him smokng feels so wrong (especially if you're an anime-only fan who have no idea that he used to smoke in the first chapters), as if he's not feeling well. No one is there greeting him, welcoming him home or just simply caring about him.
And so, we have two men silently looking at the same moon in the skies (let's pretend that's also what Ronald does after he lights up his cig): so far from each other, not knowing about their destined encounter later on.
And then, the last booklet for Season 1 shows us...
...how livelier and chaotic these two get when they're together! Their lives have truly changed for the better after their first encounter!
Kyuushi is lying to you about its premise its not about a vampire who dies its about 2 guys who got divorced before they got married and now are trying to stay together for the kid they didnt have
areudirty
theartofmadeline
vaporwave
gummygunk
origamiaround
tangentwithtanner
prguitarman
dededos
