how much?
(16 char.)
18 dollars
though now I have something wrong with my order, and since it's in Japanese I don't know what'd wrong with it. :/
how much?
(16 char.)
18 dollars
though now I have something wrong with my order, and since it's in Japanese I don't know what'd wrong with it. :/
ah, i missed amano's. mind linking it?
Okay, so here's the deal guys. I'm done putting the text in for page 1 but what's been taking up so much time….cleaning. Making the whites white and the blacks black. I'm about 80% done with that on page 1. So here's my question.
1. Do you want me to clean all the other pages, resulting in more work and more time till the scan is done.
or
2. Don't worry about cleaning page 2 and 3 other than making the pages basic white and putting the text in. Less work and time.
What would you guys rather have? I could always release a HQ version afterwards if you choose 2, but the fact is after reading the MQ I don't see why you would the HQ.
Wow, I hope someone makes a HQ scanlation of this one day. It's way too awesome.
Edit: I just noticed the above post. I say you should take your time and clean it. So, IMO, go with #1.
Yeah, make it HQ…I don't think anyone else will take the time to scanlate it anyway...I'll be good to have a HQ version to keep...
yawns I'm tired, and from the sounds of my computer it is too. It's 4am, I'm about 30% done with page 2 and I need sleep.
I guess I'll finish the scanlation up tomorrow, hopefully someone doesn't grab the chance and beats me to it. XD
Night.
Yo, Buuhan. I decided to help out on this (for reasons unknown) and did my own Page 3. I'll PM you it so you can change the font or w/e to fit with your other pages.
(It's a .psd document…So I hope you got Photoshop. xD)
I have already. Like 3 days ago. The HQ spread came out before it was posted here. After seeing it I didn't care to do an edit anymore but then I was asked to. XD
Find it yourself, tho. No PMs please.
Well, damn. I've checked everywhere. No luck! :P
Anyways, good luck with scanlating those pages. It would be awesome if someone/group scanlated the entire book. I have a good feeling that this won't be released in English for atleast 10 years.
Thanks for page 3, Jay. But it'd be best if I did it so it'll be more consistent with the first 2 pages.
@ fps: I don't wanna imagine scanlating a book like that, I also can't think of anyone who'd translate it all.
Right, slept and now back to the scanlation.
Thanks for page 3, Jay. But it'd be best if I did it so it'll be more consistent with the first 2 pages.
No problem; at least I got to practice on my photoshop skillz.
?Mr. or Mrs? Ambiguous
1. Mr. 2 [duh]
2. Brooke [HAH]
3. Usopp [HAH]
4. Spandam
5. Wapol
Outside Top 5: Sanji
ROFL~!! I just figured out that this is a poll for the character with the most ambiguous gender! In other words, the characters who you look at and go "Is that a guy or a girl"?XDDD
Usopp ranking so highly is pretty funny! Sanji too!
@Cupcake:
hey i just joined to post the image that I just finished colouring of Akira Amano's Sanji. I hope you guys like it.
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/3384/akirasanjicu6.th.jpg
OH, NIIIICE. I was wondering. I'm the Lead for Bushido Angels Adventures, and part of Oozora. We're starting to add color pages and fan art to our KHR releases, and we were wondering if we could include yours this time around?
Is it cool? :: pleading eyes ::
Sorry guys, I know you must be wanting the scanlation already but I got side-tracked. Page 3 is about 70% done. It will DEFINATELY be done tomorrow.
Adding in two of my color jobs. Might do more.
Amano's
!
Obata's
!
Please do not repost/use without permission.
Specatcular job, Jubin. Three thumbs up
Thank you for waiting, here's the scanlation.
Wow who is this fine girl? So Sexy.
I believe that is Oda's wife.
Yes, that's Oda's wife. Tho I think that picture doesn't capture her beauty as others do.
Yes, that's Oda's wife. Tho I think that picture doesn't capture her beauty as others do.
And she's already beautiful in that pic! How hot is Oda's wife, that lucky bastard?
This is my favorite picture of her:
As stated many many times, she's very beautiful. Bet let's not act like perverted men here trying to grab hold of our idol's awesome wife by means of the internet. But I do believe I speak for all men when I say "I'd hit it".
(sorry for the off-topic)
Yeah, I wonder how Oda feels that where most of his OP fans talk about One Piece and how they would like to cop a feel (and more!) from his wife.
Oh, sorry to butt in. But anyways, mind a bit of criticism here on the translation of 3年SEA組赤髪TIME? Hope, not much
Here we go
I thought 番長 was actually a school gang leader, but whatever, bully's close enough.
IMO, this 思春期の心の刃まで奪えんんのか、てめェ!! is more like 'You, bastard, really gonna go so far as to take away the sword of my puberty heart!?' or even like ' you, bastard, gonna go so far as to take away the sword from a person goin' through his pubertal period!?' if we use a bit of translation techniques here.
Then, the introduction, Usopp got: 天才暗黒ハッカ. The first two characters are for the word 'genius' (tensai), so it's more like 'Underground genius hacker' or 'Shady genius hacker'
And for Robin: 裏取り引き 密買 - just 'backroom dealer' is ok, since there's not 'bully' in there, is there.
Luffy's intro'll do, since ブチキレ 's derived from the verb ぶち切れる 'to be enraged, to fly off the handle', and meanings're pretty close.
With Harvard Uni I'm not sure myself, 'cause I kinda have doubts if this ハーバーディ can be the word はるばるぢ spelt funny in katakana or not, since Harvard should be spelt as ハーバード. But whatever, Harvard seems ok and logical, so don't mind.
Then there's this whole Shanks-teaching thing with him, trying to explain the spelling of the word 'dokuro'. The bummer is that there hardly can be a substitute in other languages, since what he's saying is carryin' out important semantic work. I mean this:
@Greg:
The 'do' in 'Dokuro' is the same as Dom Pérignon. The 'ku' is the same as 'kushiyaki'. And the 'ro' is 'rock'.
If this isn't relayed properly the pun dies. Oda intented here to show Shanks' personality through the things he associates these syllables with. Dom Pérignon is a famous high-quality champagne (and expensive). And what Shanks does most of time? Yeah, riiight, he drinks, and his beverages are not water most definitely, ne? Then there goes 串焼き, meaning is 'spit-roasting, grilling on a skewer'. And what can be spit-roasted? The most obvious answer, of course, is meat, what else? He loves meat just as much as Luffy does, or should it be vice versa? Luffy loves meat just as much as Shanks does And the last word in this game of associations is 'rock'. Like in the pharse 'He rocks!' (Hehehe, Shanks really rocks, doesn't he)))))
Well, next, I wouldn't say that 話を聞けー!!should be like 'shut up', 'cause it's pretty rude for a teacher, besides the actual wording is 'Listen to what you're being said'
And I first thought that the line おれが相手だ!!was Luffy's, but oh, well, I might be in the wrong here.
And you don't translate vertical lines? I mean the one on the 1st page 'Mugiwara high school is full of known-to-all pupils' and on the last page 'Thanks, Red-haired-sensei!'
Ah, that's about all, I guess. Thanks for attention.
Nice avatar Buuhan
Anyone know where I can import the book (and other OP Merch featured in the pics, posters, flags, etc.)? Much appreciated.
Thanks much Buhan and Greg for the highschool scan, it's great.
One odd thing though… Shanks is left handed in the comic. He holds the pointer and punches luffy both with his left hand. Does anyone else think that this supports the old shanks was a lefty before he lost his arm theory?
Also, gotta love Chopper's "I'm actually cute" revelation.
Well in both flashbacks he's been shown in, he's held his sword with his left-hand, so if he isn't ambidextrous, he's likely left-handed.
lol Despite having the occasional bout of yellow fever crop up, I actually don't find Oda-sensei's wife all that attractive..XP
I don't really find her hot or anything, but she is indeed beautiful.
Oh, I don't think she's ugly. Just not all drool-worthy like ppl are saying.
I don't find her drool-worthy and I don't recall anyone using those words.
They're saying it…with their EYES!
What font didju use for that Mugiwara HS scanslation?
Arial Black for title's and narration, Anime Ace for normal text, and Blambot for large loud text (like on the last panel).
I thought 番長 was actually a school gang leader, but whatever, bully's close enough.
I'm not translating it.
Translations read like shit. I translocalized it.
Yes, it does mean a 'school gang leader'. How many people use the term 'school gang leader'?
"Oh that's Franory, the Iron Man School Gang Leader."
IMO, this 思春期の心の刃まで奪えんんのか、てめェ!! is more like 'You, bastard, really gonna go so far as to take away the sword of my puberty heart!?' or even like ' you, bastard, gonna go so far as to take away the sword from a person goin' through his pubertal period!?' if we use a bit of translation techniques here.
Yeah, since we usually speak in terms of our 'pubertal period'?
Then, the introduction, Usopp got: 天才暗黒ハッカ. The first two characters are for the word 'genius' (tensai), so it's more like 'Underground genius hacker' or 'Shady genius hacker'
I felt it was redundant in English. Someone with actual hacker capabilities is already associated with being intelligent.
Actually, I'm going through your post and it seems all of your nitpicks are based solely on 'chokuyaku' or direct translations. Which are fine for amatuers but no one speaks like that in English.
A real translator doesn't take words literally. If you translate every word or every phrase literally then not only could you be missing the point, but more importantly, the personality.
Do you REALLY think Zoro is the kind of person to say "pubertal period"? If so I have to ask which OP you've been reading. It's a common term punks use in Japan but punks in America just don't talk about those kinds of things.
If you're looking for those types of direct robotic translations you might just as well use www.jisyo.org and get the same results. In the end it sounds awkward AND out of character.
Take for example stephen's depiction of the soldier zombies. They all speak with Cockney accents. There's no such thing in Japanese. But they do speak like uncivilized thugs. Thanks to movies like 101 Dalmations, Snatch, etc. 'Westerners' tend to associate brutish low-life thugs with a Cockney accent, hence stephen's choice. I realize I'm speaking for him here but if I'm wrong he can certainly correct me.
And you don't translate vertical lines? I mean the one on the 1st page 'Mugiwara high school is full of known-to-all pupils' and on the last page 'Thanks, Red-haired-sensei!'
Since this isn't a chokuyaku complaint, I never translate crap that probably wasn't put in/intended by the author. These phrases litter the pages of JUMP and most of them were put in by others to 'excite' fans. I find them downright annoying and I'm happy they take them out for tank publications, as will likely be the case here.
Well, that was a good read!
Hey guys thanks for the good job!
I'm here to ask if someone can scan Watsuki's fanart…
I can sell my body for a good scan of that fanart! >_<
Thanks! ._./
That´s a very good job, thank you ^^
What about putting all the SUGK author fanarts together and release it? That would be good!
Well, first of all, Greg, don't misunderstand, please, I'm not sayin' your translation is bad, heck, if it was, I wouldn't have even bothered to say anything at all as I usually do in such cases. And I understand you're feeling potective of it like any normal person would. I'm just sayin' there're still ways to improve it. From my experience it's pretty useful for masterin' languages and overall improvement, but oh, well, forgot not all people see it in such light. Anyways, I meant well.
Next I'll try and explain my reasons and that'll be it, 'cause I'm not here to start a fight or anything, I'm here 'cause I love One Piece, and just as I said, I sincerely was tryin' to help out a bit.
Yes, it does mean a 'school gang leader'. How many people use the term 'school gang leader'?
This text was in a narrator's bubble. I believe it's normal for such things to be more formal than the rest of text. It's kinda more like 'written speech style' than spoken one. But as I said earlier I don't see big problem here as it was.
I felt it was redundant in English. Someone with actual hacker capabilities is already associated with being intelligent.
I do tend to think that there's a reason behind every author's chosen word. Being hacker is associated with being intelligent not only in English, in other languages/ cultures as well, and Japanese's not exception. And still, Oda put this 'tensai' in there. Why, then? For emphasizin' the point, obviously. And if so, this function should be preserved in translation.
Yeah, since we usually speak in terms of our 'pubertal period'?
Do you REALLY think Zoro is the kind of person to say "pubertal period"? If so I have to ask which OP you've been reading. It's a common term punks use in Japan but punks in America just don't talk about those kinds of things.
Nope, we don't and Zoro's not the guy to usually say this. But there's a pun intented by Oda in here. It's not his usual phrase actually, is it, and you saw it too, since used in translation pretty metaphoric, even with some pathos, turn of speech that hardly suits the usual Zoro too (heh, my first association was "Oh, hello, Gai-sensei!" ). The first stylistic effect here is born from the contrast b/w Zoro's usual way of speakin' with all these low-colloquial forms and words like '-nnoka','temee', 'kora' and usage of the words of totaly different speech style all in one utterance, 'cause 'shishunki' and the obsolete reading 'yaiba' for 刃 can be classified as 'bookish'.
See, there're other synonyms that could be used instead of this one like 'shousou' or 'seishun' (Gai-sensei, hello again!))), but nevertheless Oda chose this one, and here's where my belief about reasons behind every author's word kicks in again. I believe that usin' this exact word 'shishunki' in here implies well-known problems and difficulties relatin' to this period of growin' up both for teens and people around them who have to deal with it, namely irritability, heightened sensibility to criticism, mood swings, cry fits, etc. All in all, teens are prone to be hurt easily and deeply by unbelievably small things (like taking away one's beloved sword ), and that's what Zoro implies, hence, the second stylistic effect.
'Youth' will be generalized term for this 'shishunki', I'm not sayin' it's bad, but it certainly cuts off these shades of meaning and implications.
As for the question about manga I usually read OP in Japanese (with masterin' of language there's no need to resort to translations, is there) and sometimes in English, though only when there's no choice.
And speaking about ooc-ness - Shanks's ooc, IMO. Don't remember him ever using 'urusai', 'damare' or anything like this in manga throughout the whole story; he seems like a guy who knows to watch his mouth when he needs and doesn't resort to outright rudeness in speech, it's not in his nature.
And with 'dokuro' there're 2 ways of doin' it in practically any foreign language. First one, a beeline, the easiest, but still acceptable, is to just keep the words and syllables as they are in original text and to make all the explanations by means of t/n. The second one is hardest, but perfectly proper from the POV of translation theory and that's how it's done in literature translations. You take the meanin' of the word explained in original text and find for every letter or syllable in this word a word fittin' both letters or syllables and, most importantly, the implications, seen in original text. Thus, we gotta take 'skull' as the base word and proceed to look for words start with 's', 'k' and up to the last 'l' and, at the same time, closely connected with what Oda implied, that is, Shanks' habits and his piratic lifestyle as it's shown in manga. For example, for 's' the most obvious word 'sake' can be taken, even though it's not english one in terms of origins, and it will show Shanks' weakness for alcoholic drinks implied by 'Don Peri' in original text. And so on for the rest of references. As it is in your text, sorry to say, but it's a failed attempt.
Well, I'm stoppin' lecturin' now, thought it wouldn't hurt and might be useful for you to know a bit of actual theory on this.
Take for example stephen's depiction of the soldier zombies. They all speak with Cockney accents. There's no such thing in Japanese. But they do speak like uncivilized thugs. Thanks to movies like 101 Dalmations, Snatch, etc. 'Westerners' tend to associate brutish low-life thugs with a Cockney accent, hence stephen's choice. I realize I'm speaking for him here but if I'm wrong he can certainly correct me.
Unfortunately, didn't read stephen's translations or any others' on this. Will read, though, if it's necessary. But from the POV of translatology, I agree on the choice. It'd have been just too much to see those zombie guys speak with impeccable RP.
I never translate crap that probably wasn't put in/intended by the author.
Oh, そっか, I see. Your choice. Just got used to translate everything I see on a page if actually translating.
Actually, I'm going through your post and it seems all of your nitpicks are based solely on 'chokuyaku' or direct translations. Which are fine for amatuers but no one speaks like that in English.
A real translator doesn't take words literally. If you translate every word or
every phrase literally then not only could you be missing the point, but more
importantly, the personality.
Ahahaha, what a funny thing to hear! No, really. Hehehe. I'll say only one thing to this: half a year more - and I'm a fully established graduate of Linguistic Department of Uni with diploma of linguist and translator/interpreter, and believe me, I know translatology, linguistics, stylistics, so on, so forth, pretty well, if I say so myself, as well as the cost of inaccuracy of interpretation, moreso translation. So no, I'm by no means an amateur in this, thank you, even though Japanese is not my first working foreign language, third one, actually. "If the accurate translation is possible, it should be done", that's what my uni profs have been teachin' me all these years.
Oh, well, I'm good-natured, not takin' offenses and such, hope, you too, it's just I'll have to keep readin' in Japanese, then, and hope, we're not crossin' on translation grounds again. And thanks for answerin' anyway, this was pretty amusin' experience, I really appreciate it. And of course, a deep and heartfelt thanks for sharing scans.
Ah, almost forgot. About translocalizations. There's a classic real story, usually used as a warning example for students. It's about a linguistic experiment conducted relatively not long time ago, when scientists gathered respected experienced pro interpreters/ translators and asked them to translate just one phrase selected from a classic literature book, but one by one (that is, the first person, for example, translated it from original German into English, the next one took this translation and translated it already from English into French and so on). The funniest thing was, of course, what became of the poor phrase in the end. Ever heard of this story?
Argh, it's turned out rather long, sorry.
i just got my one, my friend hand delivered it from Japan. It's awesome. some of the best drawings haven't even been scanned yet. I also got a Monkey D. Dragon toy, it actually says "Monkey D. Dragon" on it and says ask for his bounty. I also got a copy of WSJ. Though it's like two weeks' ago's one, so no exclusives by me, sorry. Oh and i got a copy of One Piece Yellow too. Anyway you really need to see some of the missing drawings as they're fantastic, i especially recommend Watsuki's Franky even if it is part of a bigger drawing and Tanaka's Luffy is cool
Oh yeah, props to Suzuki on that fantastic group shot.
Guess no one is doing any more of the HQ scans eh?
Just wonder…Not trying to be an ass...
This text was in a narrator's bubble. I believe it's normal for such things to be more formal than the rest of text. It's kinda more like 'written speech style' than spoken one. But as I said earlier I don't see big problem here as it was.
Whether formal or not, again, do we use the term, 'school gang leader'?
We'd at least say 'leader'. It actually doesn't even indicate any existence of an actual gang in this case. Bully is just a far more natural term.
I do tend to think that there's a reason behind every author's chosen word. Being hacker is associated with being intelligent not only in English, in other languages/ cultures as well, and Japanese's not exception. And still, Oda put this 'tensai' in there. Why, then? For emphasizin' the point, obviously. And if so, this function should be preserved in translation.
I mentioned specifically English because it doesn't always have associations with being a genius. In Japan (and in many other languages) the cookie cutter 'how to hack' guides and freeware popping up all over have made someone that can send an automated e-mail bomb a 'hacker'.
Nope, we don't and Zoro's not the guy to usually say this. But there's a pun intented by Oda in here. It's not his usual phrase actually, is it, and you saw it too, since used in translation pretty metaphoric, even with some pathos, turn of speech that hardly suits the usual Zoro too (heh, my first association was "Oh, hello, Gai-sensei!" ). The first stylistic effect here is born from the contrast b/w Zoro's usual way of speakin' with all these low-colloquial forms and words like '-nnoka','temee', 'kora' and usage of the words of totaly different speech style all in one utterance, 'cause 'shishunki' and the obsolete reading 'yaiba' for 刃 can be classified as 'bookish'.
See, there're other synonyms that could be used instead of this one like 'shousou' or 'seishun' (Gai-sensei, hello again!))), but nevertheless Oda chose this one, and here's where my belief about reasons behind every author's word kicks in again. I believe that usin' this exact word 'shishunki' in here implies well-known problems and difficulties relatin' to this period of growin' up both for teens and people around them who have to deal with it, namely irritability, heightened sensibility to criticism, mood swings, cry fits, etc. All in all, teens are prone to be hurt easily and deeply by unbelievably small things (like taking away one's beloved sword ), and that's what Zoro implies, hence, the second stylistic effect.
'Youth' will be generalized term for this 'shishunki', I'm not sayin' it's bad, but it certainly cuts off these shades of meaning and implications.
If I understand correctly, you took a paragraph to say:
He uses slang and technical terms in the same speech bubble.
I agree but it's not just attempting to be technical, it sounds pathetically poetic. Many of the tsuppari characters tend to use those terms which is why I preserved it as making it sound poetic with the 'cold steel heart of my youth' as it not only sounds like a half-assed attempt at being metaphoric, but also includes his swords (cold steel) and the 'heart of his youth'.
What you suggested while direct, again, is simply a translation which is fine for people that want to read translations but…it sounds awkward and amatueristic.
with masterin' of language there's no need to resort to translations, is there
If you've really mastered it you'd know there's far more to it than just translating. Translating is only the first step.
And speaking about ooc-ness - Shanks's ooc, IMO. Don't remember him ever using 'urusai', 'damare' or anything like this in manga throughout the whole story; he seems like a guy who knows to watch his mouth when he needs and doesn't resort to outright rudeness in speech, it's not in his nature.
Another paragraph to say, they're saying things ooc so it should be translated as such.
Sure they say some different things, but they retain certain qualities that make them who they are. If you don't have fun with it, then you're not getting across Oda's equally playful sense. Using something like what you suggested for Zoro doesn't sound playful, it sounds like reading a dictionary.
And with 'dokuro' there're 2 ways of doin' it in practically any foreign language. First one, a beeline, the easiest, but still acceptable, is to just keep the words and syllables as they are in original text and to make all the explanations by means of t/n. The second one is hardest, but perfectly proper from the POV of translation theory and that's how it's done in literature translations. You take the meanin' of the word explained in original text and find for every letter or syllable in this word a word fittin' both letters or syllables and, most importantly, the implications, seen in original text. Thus, we gotta take 'skull' as the base word and proceed to look for words start with 's', 'k' and up to the last 'l' and, at the same time, closely connected with what Oda implied, that is, Shanks' habits and his piratic lifestyle as it's shown in manga. For example, for 's' the most obvious word 'sake' can be taken, even though it's not english one in terms of origins, and it will show Shanks' weakness for alcoholic drinks implied by 'Don Peri' in original text. And so on for the rest of references. As it is in your text, sorry to say, but it's a failed attempt.
But…you're completely ignoring that they use 'dokuro' as a term for 'skull and crossbones' here. Again you are blatantly ignoring the English equivalents.
Again, fine, but reeks of amatuer.
There are any number of ways of playing with the words that would be fine. Yours is fine of course but just using 'skull' shows that you don't understand the use of the word in its original language in OP and are ignoring what it indicates in English. And you could easily go through each and every letter in 'skull and crossbones' but that would take a while a detract attention from the rest of the comic.
Unfortunately, didn't read stephen's translations or any others' on this.
I think that may be your problem. You'll improve much when you learn to expand from translating to translocalizing.
I really don't think there's anything wrong with your translations or ideas. They're all fine. But it sounds like it was done by someone with an electric dictionary implanted in their brain.
I'll say only one thing to this: half a year more - and I'm a fully established graduate of Linguistic Department of Uni with diploma of linguist and translator/interpreter, and believe me, I know translatology, linguistics, stylistics, so on, so forth, pretty well, if I say so myself, as well as the cost of inaccuracy of interpretation, moreso translation.
Since you promised to say only one thing I don't expect any reply but…
Talking about yourself like that and boasting how much you know shows how much you have to learn.
People who are real experts don't need to boast or brag by pulling out papers, they do what they do with humility and without justifying their credentials.
And despite what you claim to know about Japanese language, seems you have a long road ahead of you with respect to understanding and respecting the culture if you can freely talk about your credentials in such a manner.
Ah, almost forgot. About translocalizations. There's a classic real story, usually used as a warning example for students. It's about a linguistic experiment conducted relatively not long time ago, when scientists gathered respected experienced pro interpreters/ translators and asked them to translate just one phrase selected from a classic literature book, but one by one (that is, the first person, for example, translated it from original German into English, the next one took this translation and translated it already from English into French and so on). The funniest thing was, of course, what became of the poor phrase in the end. Ever heard of this story?
Naturally the procedure you're describing was doomed. Involving multiple translators taking terms and making them colloquial terms that then go into multiple languages.
But….I fail to see what this has to do with one person taking it one step from Japanese to English.
I mean you should also consider who you're translating for in what time period. That's why it's important to use popular terms of the time in order to show the age of the work (hence Shanks' 'For reals!?')
Your example is great for when working with multiple individuals (which also means mixed opinions socially and otherwise) which will result in many different ideas AND when going from one language to another to another....but....that isn't exactly the case here? Is it?
Anyway, since you just had one thing to say I believe that means you will simply read this and take my advice, which is much appreciated….unless you feel the need to retort with more papers and qualifications.
woooooooooooo
yeah
I've got the 10th Treasure book
EDIT: Sorry, did this post in bits and pieces and forgot to explain what it is. It's a discussion between Oda and Tanaka Mayumi (Luffy's VA)
Okay, started out just picking out bits but it got kinda deep so I went into some detail. Don't wanna spend time translating right now but this is basically the entire interview. Enjoy.
When she first heard the title, Tanaka thought it was a shoujo manga.
Her first impression of Luffy was when her son showed her an issue of Jump at which time she thought, 'What a weird art style!'.
Oda says he was told that often at the start because he did 'dot style' eyes at a time when 'big eyes' were popular.
When her son told her it was the most popular manga she couldn't believe it because of the art style. Then when she actually sat down and actually read tanks, it made her cry while she was riding a train. She thought, 'Well, the art may be wierd but this is alright!'
VERY COOL INFO HERE FOLKS
Oda drew Luffy with Tanaka's voice in mind. Even though he wasn't sure if the story would survive in Jump, he wondered what to do about VA's and consulted his buddy from assistant days, Takei of Shaman King. They decided on Tanaka.
Oda first met Tanaka when he was about 24-25. Tanaka says kinda like knowing him as a son. She was kinda in a mindset of telling him 'Don't just eat meat! You have to eat veggies too!', because just like Luffy, all Oda ever talks about is meat.
Oda calls Tanaka his 'Tokyo Mother'. But recently he's learned to like fish a lot.
[Note: OH SHIT!!! His 肉時代 (nikujidai) is coming to a close!!! He's rounding the corner of 'Ossan'!]
Tanaka was worried whether or not she'd be able to fill the shoes of a new comic's anime version's hero. Considering her work with Jump comics her portfolio's biggest spot is obviously filled by Krillin and she was worried if that image was too strong.
Oda was simultaneously worried that she didn't want to do it because she didn't want to do a male teen's voice.
Tanaka said she only does shonen voices which she was cool with in her 20's-30's but she wasn't too keen on it in her 40's-50's. She reassures Oda though, that if she didn't want to do it, she wouldn't have shown up at the audition. Oda says he always believed that and that in choosing the lead they needed someone as a 'chairperson' who would be responsible for the atmosphere of the workplace and have a sense about them which is why they wanted to go with Tanaka. Tanaka says if anyone else took that 'chairperson' position not just her, but the whole team would have been made of completely different people and would have turned out completely differently. She says it was kinda something like fate that brought them together. Oda agrees and says that all he really first said was that he liked the voice of Krillin and Pazu (Laputa). Since he was a total beginner with little experience he never expected her to work with it. Tanaka admires this quality in him 'cause she says there are lots of authors who expect certain VA's to work with them since they have a popular series. Oda says if you take that kind of attitude you're taking on a certain responsibility and since you can't take responsibility for the whole thing, it's a lot better to just say 'have fun with it' from the start. There's lots of things she needs to take care of like the studio atmosphere etc. so it really shows that she's the pro here. Just from watching episode 1 he realized he met a great group of actors.
Oda has a question for Tanaka regarding an acting thesis she proposed. She said that when she sees young people acting in scenes where they must cry, she doesn't believe they look like they're really crying and he'd like to know why. She says it's because they just think, "Gotta cry, gotta cry", and they do which she thinks is totally unnatural. She thinks when you really cry, you think to yourself, "I mustn't cry! I mustn't cry!", and this results maybe in some laughter between the tears trying to hold them back. They go back and forth on this for a bit and it's a bit dry but I see her point and I agree with her actually. In a way this is kinda important for OP because it shows how Oda feels about his controversial (at least here -_-) crying scenes. He feels that the face of someone crying out of sympathy and someone with tears just running down their face are two completely different things. He believes manga is on the same page as acting. Oda is obviously very affected by crying scenes. He believes his 'master' Tokuhiro sensei (whom he apprenticed under) can draw amazing crying faces that just make you wonder, 'How can you draw a face like that?' Oda practiced hard and realized that you must feel the same as your characters in that scene. [He must really feel this way because he mentioned something similar in his interview in Animation Log.] Oda says he doesn't do something as childish as simply drawing tears to make readers cry, first he has to be the one to cry, then and only then can he draw the scene, it's his policy. Tanaka says everyone in OP has such an excellent crying face. Oda agrees and says that even his woman have wet noses when they cry. He says that mucus is something that if you don't draw, you simply are not getting across the point and the feeling. In a fantasy world like OP, he says the one pinch of reality he wants to add is human emotion. If he doesn't do it, it will all fall apart.
[VERY COOL HERE!! Been wondering about this!]
Tanaka mentions it [mucus] also works for villains. She specifically mentions the Ener 'scene'! Oda says that from the very start he always drew Ener very cool and collected all for that one page. He was looking forward to the response it would draw that week.
Tanaka mentions that Morikawa did a great job as Ener and it's hard to believe he's the same guy who did Hacchan. Oda says that expressions are something he makes a big deal over. It makes the character's acting.
They talk at length about conveying expressions and feelings, mostly comedy, and Oda complements Tanaka for her opinions and experience. She says that it's a comedian's job to convey certain feelings like rushing to ride a train, missing it and then pretending like you didn't want to ride. Or tripping in public and acting like you meant to. Oda asks if there are differneces between the real expressions and the ones comedians must express and she agrees and admits it's a problem of adjustment for those acting to get it right. Oda believes it isn't important for a character to say what they're feeling as much it is for the characters around said character to bring out the feelings with their actions. Oda believes that having characters express themselves directly through lines just so that children can understand is no difference from reading a novel and he's not writing a novel, he's writing manga. You have to do it all with expressions.
Tanaka says (because she's an old lady) she likes the drama in the series the best. Oda says he tries with all his heart to make the story "A battle with drama". He admits shonen manga really stems from feelings of 'I wanna be strong' and 'I wanna fight strong guys'. Oda says the reason he wants to go beyond that and infuse it with drama is because of (wait for iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit)
Dragon Ball.
If all he drew was a battle comic it would be compared to DB and he would instantly be crushed in the history of manga. It was something he had to avoid in order to survive.
Tanaka recalls that Kappei read his lines from the scene where they part with Merry and it made her cry which she got mad about since it was before recording.
Oda reflects on the Merry scene and says that even for OP it's a huge leap into the realm of fantasy, a talking ship. When he drew it, of course he cried and worked extremely hard on it but he was deeply concerned about how people would accept it. He was surprised that it had such a deep emotional response from fans.
Tanaka wonders if it was even necessary considering the heavy impact of Luffy VS Usopp and comments on what a wonderful character is. Oda says he's the closest to a human in the series with everyone else being super human. He feels that as Usopp slowly gets stronger, his readers can feel the same way and get stronger too. Tanaka loves how when Luffy and team go off leaving Nami and Usopp behind then they both say, "Counting on you -_-;" Oda says there are certain things he wants to keep the same because it will just upset the balance. No matter who joins, he always wants Usopp to be the weakest, he always wants Chopper to believe Usopp's lies. There are just some weaknesses he wants them to carry.
They're asked if they have any requests for one another.
Oda takes a paragraph to say he wants Tanaka to stay the same and do as she always does. She asks if he means it since he says it so much. He says yeah, he even likes how she plays tricks on others because she thinks about how the person she plays tricks on will enjoy it later. Tanaka says she sometimes says too much because she ate the Pera Pera no Mi (a footnote describes it as a fruit she concocted that will let anyone say anything without reservation, the footnote also says 'it will not appear in the manga…......or just maybe....'. perapera means speaking freely or speedily. )
Tanaka just requests that Oda keep up the drama because it's great for the 'Ma and Pa's' of Japan to enjoy. In response to this, Oda says he has a new ambition. He relates how many children grow up and read manga and then read it to their kids thinking about how nostalgic it is, but he admits there's a blank where most people just stop reading it in their life. He wants to erase that blank and make it so people can enjoy it throughout their entire lives. He wants parents and children to be on the same level of fandom. Tanaka questions whether or not he hasn't already succeeded. Her son is 20 and she and him have different opinions and discussions regarding the series. As a parent she loves Kureha's line, "Go on, ya idiot son!", and her son loves Hiruruk's line, "I enjoyed my life to the fullest!"
...........oh man, this next part......
Damn you Oda! Damn you and your cutting straight through my heart strings!!!! I guess because he's specifically talking about my age and what I'm planning on doing in the near future this is why this resonates with me. I'll just quote them here.
Tanaka: Since this began publication, readers who were in middle school are just about to get married aren't they?
Oda: Yeah. Readers now have their own families and until their children become old enough to read, I'll do my best continuing One Piece.
Tanaka: And I'll continue to put your words onto the screen.
Wow… that has got the be the most inspirational interview I've ever read... My eyes are watering up right now ;_;
Also, that last part... I would totally be the same way. I want to keep reading, even when I have kids and all that... I can't imagine myself quit reading my favorite manga series just because of old age...
Thanks for posting that, Greg!
Also, that last part… I would totally be the same way. I want to keep reading, even when I have kids and all that... I can't imagine myself quit reading my favorite manga series just because of old age...
Yeah, part of me is with Tanaka in with wondering why he set that as a goal because…he already accomplished that. Not to mention Dragon Ball rang a similar bell with audiences. I'm sure he just wants to destroy the barrier completely so it beomes natural but already so many people (partly due to the series' length and partly due to its quality) enjoy it across the age groups.
I never pictured Oda as a Monster Hunter fan. Oh well, this book is fun despite my extremely limited knowledge regarding how to read it.
Monster Hunter is huuuuuge over here.
Oda talks from time to time in his weekly quips about his PSP.
Oda has PSP? Consider my PSP bought.
And I used to be a pretty big MH fan myself. Loved the sad ending to the anime.
Haha. I always pictured him being too busy to be able to really enjoy stuff like video games.
See, that's yet another thing I love about the man.
He must be as busy as hell but he rarely complains about it and still takes more time to interact with fans than any other author I've seen.
Toriyama was constantly bitching about being busy and pressure and stuff and between doing DB and DQ designs as well as other projects, yeah, I'm sure he had a reason, but Oda doesn't dwell on that. You can really tell he loves what he does.