How are japanese jokes transformed in other languages?

exoskelett · 10-07-2008, 10:12 PM

Hey,
I hope there's no topic like this existing. I didn't search because I didn't know a keyword...

So:
In many animes, there are jokes which you can only understand when you watch it in japanese. For example language jokes or word jokes.
An example:
In School Rumble, I think there are at least 2 or 3 of this kind, where Tenma (or Yakumo) mixed up two different japanese words with the same spellings.
Today I talked to my friend at school about this topic. He said in One Piece there are jokes like this, too. Somethink like "ichi-ji, ni-ji, san-ji" (which means 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock), while Sanji is the name of one character.

How can you transform jokes like this in other languages? Because I ALWAYS watch in jap-dub/eng-sub, I can't say something about it. But I mean, it should be impossible. What do they do with there scenes? Do they cut them out? Or do they just translate them and noboby understands it? I can't imagine what they should do...

Discuss pls^^

skullreken · 10-08-2008, 12:00 AM

to put it simply you cant a play on words cannot be translated into another language
and retin it's original humour

jsc315 · 10-08-2008, 04:14 AM

Well In Lupin the 3rd series the edited out a lot of the jokes for the dub. Even though the anime was made back in the 70's it humor in the 2000's. It just made no sense. This was in the Early days of Funimation when the Butchered anime. They for the most part keep to the script for the most part. This is a bit of a long explination but I'm just showing that comodey over seas doesnt translate well into english.

a1prototype · 10-08-2008, 04:43 AM

wow... what a Great question!!!, i never really thought about it myself....
i think they have to change the jokes... or edit it.... i don't think you can transform all the jokes, that wouldn't be funny or that would make no sense...

combatt999 · 10-08-2008, 10:11 AM

It's virtually impossible to translate language specific jokes from Japanese to other languages. If they try it just sounds awkward and does not flow as well with the story as it would in Japanese. That's why when you watch DVD's with English dub and English subs at the same time you notice a distinct difference between the two. However English is a bad example, being a backward language and all. But even if it was translated to some Asian language, such as Chinese, it'd still be close to impossible to get the meaning of the joke across.

Japanese Romaji, Kanji, and their meanings are too difficult to relay the full meaning across. Though the main problem is that the jokes are very language specific.

jugglindrew · 10-08-2008, 10:32 AM

I would agree that it is pretty much impossible to translate jokes especially plays on words from one language into another. That is one reason that i watch subs and not dubs. With subs the translators can add notes to the readers explaining the play on words and that does help retain some of the original humor.

exoskelett · 10-08-2008, 04:13 PM

So to come to a conclusion: You must be really dumb, or, to say it in a former way, unknowing about these kinds of jokes, when you watch animes in other dubs than japanese.

I told a friend about this, and she just said that she can abstain from these 2 or 3 jokes. For me, especially these plays on words and jokes referring to the japanese language are very funny and amusing because it wouldn't happen in my own language. I can't just say "2 or 3 missing jokes, it doesn't really matter". For me it does.

xZepHx · 10-18-2008, 07:59 PM

Due to the cute yet reallistic style in which anime is drawn most artiss use them to make comedy out of something serious. If theres no comedy, then its just plain ol boring serious.

exoskelett · 10-19-2008, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xZepHx

Due to the cute yet reallistic style in which anime is drawn most artiss use them to make comedy out of something serious. If theres no comedy, then its just plain ol boring serious.

I can't see the connection between this and the topic oO

Today I began reading the School Rumble manga, and just in the first 5 chapters there were the note "he/she misread the symbol" or something. And when Tenma tried to write "suki", it just didn't make any sense because she wrote things that don't have a connection to "I love you" or something. Too bad...

dingchavez · 10-19-2008, 04:39 PM

If the English dub is decent they are replaced with much better jokes or rewritten while retaining the same general meaning.

Example: Yu Yu Hakusho.

10-07-2008, 10:12 PM	#1 (permalink)
exoskelett Chaos Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 97 Rep Power: 84	How are japanese jokes transformed in other languages? Hey, I hope there's no topic like this existing. I didn't search because I didn't know a keyword... So: In many animes, there are jokes which you can only understand when you watch it in japanese. For example language jokes or word jokes. An example: In School Rumble, I think there are at least 2 or 3 of this kind, where Tenma (or Yakumo) mixed up two different japanese words with the same spellings. Today I talked to my friend at school about this topic. He said in One Piece there are jokes like this, too. Somethink like "ichi-ji, ni-ji, san-ji" (which means 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock), while Sanji is the name of one character. How can you transform jokes like this in other languages? Because I ALWAYS watch in jap-dub/eng-sub, I can't say something about it. But I mean, it should be impossible. What do they do with there scenes? Do they cut them out? Or do they just translate them and noboby understands it? I can't imagine what they should do... Discuss pls^^ __________________ Fanclubs: Spoiler ~The Official Zero no Tsukaima Fanclub~ ☆ The Official Kawaii Lucky Star Fan Club ☆

10-08-2008, 12:00 AM	#2 (permalink)
skullreken Kanu Fanboy / General Mod Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Dublin Ireland Age: 22 Posts: 6,945 Rep Power: 640	to put it simply you cant a play on words cannot be translated into another language and retin it's original humour __________________ See My Claimed Characters Spoiler Claim your favorite character here http://www.animea.net/forums/f9/anim...aracter-17114/

10-08-2008, 04:14 AM	#3 (permalink)
jsc315 Bélias Join Date: Jul 2007 Age: 24 Posts: 570 Rep Power: 87	Well In Lupin the 3rd series the edited out a lot of the jokes for the dub. Even though the anime was made back in the 70's it humor in the 2000's. It just made no sense. This was in the Early days of Funimation when the Butchered anime. They for the most part keep to the script for the most part. This is a bit of a long explination but I'm just showing that comodey over seas doesnt translate well into english. __________________

10-08-2008, 04:13 PM	#7 (permalink)
exoskelett Chaos Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 97 Rep Power: 84	So to come to a conclusion: You must be really dumb, or, to say it in a former way, unknowing about these kinds of jokes, when you watch animes in other dubs than japanese. I told a friend about this, and she just said that she can abstain from these 2 or 3 jokes. For me, especially these plays on words and jokes referring to the japanese language are very funny and amusing because it wouldn't happen in my own language. I can't just say "2 or 3 missing jokes, it doesn't really matter". For me it does. __________________ Fanclubs: Spoiler ~The Official Zero no Tsukaima Fanclub~ ☆ The Official Kawaii Lucky Star Fan Club ☆

10-19-2008, 04:39 PM	#10 (permalink)
dingchavez Bélias Join Date: May 2007 Location: Ireland Posts: 248 Rep Power: 45	If the English dub is decent they are replaced with much better jokes or rewritten while retaining the same general meaning. Example: Yu Yu Hakusho. __________________

10-08-2008, 04:43 AM	#4 (permalink)
a1prototype Unknown Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: The planet that all of you call 'Earth' Posts: 11 Rep Power: 9	wow... what a Great question!!!, i never really thought about it myself.... i think they have to change the jokes... or edit it.... i don't think you can transform all the jokes, that wouldn't be funny or that would make no sense...

10-08-2008, 10:11 AM	#5 (permalink)
combatt999 Unknown Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	It's virtually impossible to translate language specific jokes from Japanese to other languages. If they try it just sounds awkward and does not flow as well with the story as it would in Japanese. That's why when you watch DVD's with English dub and English subs at the same time you notice a distinct difference between the two. However English is a bad example, being a backward language and all. But even if it was translated to some Asian language, such as Chinese, it'd still be close to impossible to get the meaning of the joke across. Japanese Romaji, Kanji, and their meanings are too difficult to relay the full meaning across. Though the main problem is that the jokes are very language specific.

10-08-2008, 10:32 AM	#6 (permalink)
jugglindrew Chaos Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Shhhh ;) Age: 24 Posts: 39 Rep Power: 0	I would agree that it is pretty much impossible to translate jokes especially plays on words from one language into another. That is one reason that i watch subs and not dubs. With subs the translators can add notes to the readers explaining the play on words and that does help retain some of the original humor.

10-18-2008, 07:59 PM	#8 (permalink)
xZepHx Unknown Join Date: Jul 2008 Age: 26 Posts: 11 Rep Power: 0	Due to the cute yet reallistic style in which anime is drawn most artiss use them to make comedy out of something serious. If theres no comedy, then its just plain ol boring serious.

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