by Cheb » Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:30 pm
Some time ago there was a huge holywar around "Heir to the Empire" by Ozzalos. He did a grave mistake by casually adding Jurai to the mix, and his plot was thoroughly blown to bits by Tenchi fans.
Now SiberianTroll translates "Master of Orion" by Black Dragon bit by bit, posting his translation for C&C.
As always in the case of comedies it's best to adapt a bit than to translate literally... like this:
Orion twitched badly. Their new companion was NOT catching up to that bus.
--> (approx.)
Orion twitched badly. Their new combatant, it seems, wasn't just slow. She had rusted down to the rails.
This is the rule any decent fansubber or fan translator should know: If you translate the humor and it comes out not funny, you have failed -- no matter how precise your translation is. So the translator should be able to substitute any non-compatible puns and jokes with ones of his own. Requires a lot of talent (and sometimes - a forum-wide brainstorm).
Other examples are "Kick the tires and light the fires" in the English manga scanlation or "Ryouga, this map is as useful for you as a stop-light for a hare" in the Russian fansub.