Shiki Novel Translations 5.0 and notes

[sinnesspiel]

 Links to Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - 1

Chapter 5 - 2

Chapter 5 - 3

Chapter 5 - 4

 

 

 

Chapter 5 Translation Notes

Reader Question: Obaa-chan/Ojii-chan and variants of that get used an awful lot in this story. I'd been trying to translate them as Granny/Grandpa/Old Woman/Old Man and the like but there are times I'm not sure if my translation choice quite fits all the variations. Sometimes making it fit the character speaking is a stretch, too; Ozaki sometimes refers to people as just obaa-chan or something which works in Japanese but having him call them Granny seems off. Old man/old lady seems more his style, but I hesitate to translate the more polite Ritsuko calling them that even if she uses obaa-chan. I take issue with forcing my impression of the character voice over the text under any circumstances, including times like this when I think it's more a cultural nuance. English speakers don't tend to call people Granny/Grampy unless they're family or like family--while Sotoba is like one big family at times, Obaa-san/Ojii-san are standard in Japanese. I tried slipping an Obaa-san into one of the chapters here to see how it suits readers, but haven't gone back to revert all formerly translated bits into Japanese, and I can easily revert that one based on the final decision. Do readers have a preference between that being translated out or kept in Japanese?

Suzuki no obaa-chan; it's either going to be "The Suzuki Obaa-chan" or "The Suzuki's Obaa-chan" if kept in Japanese or, in English, "the Suzuki Granny" or "the Suzuki's Granny" and Suzuki Obaa-chan will either be Granny Suzuki in English or just left as Suzuki Obaa-chan. 

I will eventually put them all to one or the other, unless of course it's a familial reference. If someone is referring to their own or someone else's grandfather, then regardless of which direction I go with names, I will be keeping those with the English term, such as when the monks are talking about the family of four that died in Mizobe--The man, the wife, the son, the grandpa, etc. If someone talks about becoming an obaa-san or an ojii-san, then I'll still just keep it as talk about becoming an old man, etc. This is only a question of what to do with it as an extension of or as a replacement for a name. 




Chapter 5-1

A two-stone handicap allowance - Ichimoku no nimoku mo oku - In the board game of go there are handicaps that can be given to weaker players in the form of stones placed at the opening of the game before the more skilled opponent. In the story context, it means the temple had a lot of leverage over the people and had to be respected as such. 

Chapter 5-3

Child of Shame - Hajikakikko - A child born late to parents (say, in their late 30s or 40s), which is shameful because it's proof they're having sex at that age. 

Comments

8D

[(Anonymous)]

as for me, actually I prefer it to be kept in Japanese (since I'm more used to Japanese ways and isn't an English speaker lol) but it's just me. All in all I leave everything up to you - which way is more comfortable for you. I trust your judgment in this. 8D

[sinnesspiel]

Oh ho, another foreign language reader! Might I hazard a guess that you're Russian? I know the translations were linked on the Russian Shiki Livejournal...

8D

[(Anonymous)]

No, I'm Indonesian 8D I found your translations from google results. It was a very good day. I obviously didn't expect to actually find an active translations. You made my day! 8D (and literally every time you update, I check this page regularly)

[sinnesspiel]

Nice to see Shiki spreading to all corners of the globe. It got a Chinese and a French translation, but English is kind of the international language, so with this there will hopefully be even more fans it can reach!

[airlynx]

I actually prefer using the English. I like the translations to be kept literal and all, but still, it's an English translation, and sprinkling Japanese in is a little jarring for me. I know what it means, but it's a little break in the tempo when it's like BAM JAPANESE WORD. I wouldn't think that using the English would detract from the story too much.

Buuut as 8D Anon said, it's still ultimately your choice, I can totally get by with leaving the Japanese, but if you were asking my opinion, if I had to choose, that's it!

[airlynx]

I found it interesting that it's shameful for parents to be doing it in their late 30's-40's. Do you know why it's regarded this way in Japan? You'd think that it's not a really old age...maybe a little too old to be raising a child, but you could still definitely get it on.

[sinnesspiel]

I'd think a child conceived in later ages would be proud shining proof you can still do the deed and still turn each other on, rather than shameful. Clearly I'm too Western.

(I didn't want to put my opinion in the official explanations, but when I looked up the term--it wasn't in my dictionaries, so I had to rely on Japanese Yahoo Answers--I thought it was way too stupid an idea and that the response was a joke answer, as is typically given to stupid questions on Google Answers.)

[airlynx]

Same here! Real men aren't afraid to embrace those wrinkles. And real women aren't afraid to flaunt those wrinkles (not that there are even a lot when you're like, thirty...) Confidence is sexy!

Oh, that is pretty sketchy. But on the off chance that it's true... The most reliable way to find out would be to ask a native Japanese person if you know any. Maybe the whole shame thing is only relevant in small, removed communities such as Sotoba, like in more Westernized areas it wouldn't even matter. Maybe it's just antiquated.

[sinnesspiel]

I checked some other sources to be sure, because I thought it was so ridiculous. It's apparently a thing.

Unless of course it's specifically to have kids. So, Ozaki will still be under pressure to finally share a bed with his smoking hot wife five years from now if they haven't sprung one out yet, and presumably Seishin, if he were to marry late like his father, would still be expected to do the shameful act of (gasp) middle aged sex, while lying back and thinking of merry old England Japan.

[airlynx]

Huh, maybe it's just one of those old sayings where it's not like his parents are truly shameful, but it's just an expression?

Maybe that's why Seishin hates Toshio; the guy has this hot chick for a wife and he doesn't even take advantage of that. Poor Seishin.
But somehow I can't imagine either of them having kids...

[sinnesspiel]

I could see Ozaki being the stock anime jackass, well meaning but likely lazily absent dad type. Seishin I'm having a harder time picturing in fatherhood. I wonder if he'd put on a good face and take it as an obligation?

Both seemed asexual to me, though you could attribute that to context. I have difficulty with dime-novel horror due to it usually being too smutty for me (I'm by no means a prude, it's just not what I want when I want horror), but Shiki is pretty low in romantic/sexual motives. It's not completely devoid of it, Chizuru is certainly a horror femme fatale archetype, but Ozaki not responding to Chizuru like that has other obvious explanations and I don't think Seishin has any scenes alone with an adult (bodied) woman who isn't lineal consanguinity.

[airlynx]

With the new chapter that kind of talks about Seishin's mother, I think that he would be a parent kind of like her. He'd be reserved, very preoccupied with manners and kind of overbearing sometimes. It'd be kind of like:
Kid: Hey Dad, can I go out with a friend?
Seishin: Have you combed your hair today? And is that a T-shirt I see you're wearing? You need to change into something more elegant. You can borrow my robes if you want. Also did you finish your homework? Give it to me so I can check your answers.
Kid: ....
Kid: Hey Other Dad, can I go out with a friend?
Toshio: lol idgaf

Yeaaah, I think if Shiki had a lot of romance, it would kind of detract from the story and horror atmosphere, althoough it would provide new horror opportunities, like for instance they could have a scene where Atsushi and a date are walking around tipsy at night through the woods...and some hungry shiki are nearby...
But I can totally understand the author not wanting to write in romance, because I write a little bit when I have time, and I also try to avoid romance. It's absolutely impossible to write well!! However, I do like reading it occasionally if it's well-written.
I read some translated Ghost Hunt books by Ono and it's a total shock how different they are from Shiki, it's on a totally different level and feels like a totally different author! I guess there's the difference between full-out books and light novels for ya.

Heh, maybe Seishin wouldn't be so dramatic if he got laid once in a while!

[sinnesspiel]

So Seishin would be Takae?

The only problem with that Atsushi date scenario is, would his obvious love interest Takami and he be so bold as to openly date him within the village? Atsushi may be stupid and drunk, but Takami is a fairly reliable adult who understands social nuances...

[airlynx]

...touche. I guess he wouldn't be Takae, he doesn't have the spirits for that. Maybe Toshio would be Takae, like becoming what you hate. And Seishin is delicate, so Toshio would probably always yell at the kid for disturbing his sickly mother. He'd be like a dying anime mom with a side ponytail and a robe. Yes. He already has the robe.

That's why Takami is taking out Atsushi at night. Obviously he can't during the day, but...let's just say that the shiki aren't the only thing that are going to go bump in the night tonight. *sultry jazz plays*

[sinnesspiel]

He's already becoming his dad whom he hates, why not throw a dash of his mom on in there, too. Worst of both worlds.

...If we're talking about them as fathers, I love how it's assumed they're fathers of the same kid in a two-daddy family. But, really, how much do we hate Seishin, arbitrarily throwing him into a marriage with an asshole like Ozaki, much less when he's channeling his asshole parents?

[airlynx]

Sugar and spice and everything Toshio! I wonder where Toshio got his badassery from? It certainly wasn't Takae, maybe his dad was like Toshio back in the day.

We can go farther and inflict kids with 100% Toshio genes on Seishin. They'll all grow up to be chain-smoking cheeky pragmatists, and Seishin would be so unstable he'd channel his novel-writing skills into writing fanfiction.

[sinnesspiel]

Truly there are none more unstable than those who write fanfic.

On the plus side, fanfic is often too embarrassing to show others, so he'll no longer have to worry about Toshio putting his work out in the waiting room.

[airlynx]

It will be best for the villagers too, not to be subjected to his fiction whenever they visit the doctor's. They're already sick, they don't want to feel even worse!