That’s really one of my favorite things in manga - when a conscientious solo translator takes on a manga that includes a lot of wordplay and that they obviously appreciate, and documents the process along the way. There’s a sort of sense of camaraderie that develops as the translator shares the original kanji and what it means and what it implies and why they translated it the way they did. I haven’t had a really good one of those to follow since Bainhardt and Ueno-san wa Bukiyou, so that’s another point in this manga’s favor.
A recent series I found that has some good notes is Kimi no Kokoro wo Kanjitai. The premise essentially makes extensive notes needed most chapters. Basically, a boy starts being able to see what his girlfriend is thinking by the appearance of a single kanji on her cheek. However, due to the nature of kanji, the character could have multiple, ambiguous meanings and there is even a chapter where the kanji that shows up is very rarely used and the MC didn’t know what it meant, trying to piece it together based on the radicals used in its construction. It’s good stuff, but still pretty early with only 4 chapters so far.
Ah - yeah I followed a link to that one the other day and thought it looked promising, so I followed it, but I haven’t actually read any of it yet. Thanks for the rec.
I love the notes.
That’s really one of my favorite things in manga - when a conscientious solo translator takes on a manga that includes a lot of wordplay and that they obviously appreciate, and documents the process along the way. There’s a sort of sense of camaraderie that develops as the translator shares the original kanji and what it means and what it implies and why they translated it the way they did. I haven’t had a really good one of those to follow since Bainhardt and Ueno-san wa Bukiyou, so that’s another point in this manga’s favor.
The notes and memes placed in by translators is always my favorite thing
A recent series I found that has some good notes is Kimi no Kokoro wo Kanjitai. The premise essentially makes extensive notes needed most chapters. Basically, a boy starts being able to see what his girlfriend is thinking by the appearance of a single kanji on her cheek. However, due to the nature of kanji, the character could have multiple, ambiguous meanings and there is even a chapter where the kanji that shows up is very rarely used and the MC didn’t know what it meant, trying to piece it together based on the radicals used in its construction. It’s good stuff, but still pretty early with only 4 chapters so far.
Ah - yeah I followed a link to that one the other day and thought it looked promising, so I followed it, but I haven’t actually read any of it yet. Thanks for the rec.