September 25th, 2009
Yotsuba&! - Yen Press
Anime Relations: Azumanga Daiou The Animation
Okay so I just finished reading Yotsuba&! Vol. 6, published by Yen Press, who are taking over from where ADV Manga left off (as well as publishing new translations of Y&! 1-5) A few thoughts, if I may.
Some of the translation felt a little rigid but for the most part all the dialogue felt smooth and natural. Lots of care has been given to translating the sound effects, which appear in both English and Romaji, as well as the original Japanese inside the panel. Honorifics have been added which is a huge plus for Yen, since if my memory serves me right ADVM's interpretation offered no such luxury. Lots of translation notes appear in margins, which for me is a good thing, though some might prefer them to be listed in the back of the book along with the page number instead. Some of the translations differed from ADVM's, such as the name of Miura's robot costume, which caused momentary confusion, lol. The paper quality and binding are good, no complaints in that department. The cover is slightly flimsier than ADVM's.
Overall a fine release, most of my negative points are just silly nitpicks, and don't drag down the experience of reading the manga at all. I'm just thrilled Yen Press picked up this series (and did such a good job with it)! I was starting to wonder if I'd ever see more of Yotsuba's adventures here in the US. Eagerly looking forward to Vol. 7, as well as Yen's new translation of Azumanga Daioh coming in December. ADV Manga's original AzuDai translation had a lot of problems and with this volume Yen seems to have proven themselves capable of fixing them. But that's another story.
Some of the translation felt a little rigid but for the most part all the dialogue felt smooth and natural. Lots of care has been given to translating the sound effects, which appear in both English and Romaji, as well as the original Japanese inside the panel. Honorifics have been added which is a huge plus for Yen, since if my memory serves me right ADVM's interpretation offered no such luxury. Lots of translation notes appear in margins, which for me is a good thing, though some might prefer them to be listed in the back of the book along with the page number instead. Some of the translations differed from ADVM's, such as the name of Miura's robot costume, which caused momentary confusion, lol. The paper quality and binding are good, no complaints in that department. The cover is slightly flimsier than ADVM's.
Overall a fine release, most of my negative points are just silly nitpicks, and don't drag down the experience of reading the manga at all. I'm just thrilled Yen Press picked up this series (and did such a good job with it)! I was starting to wonder if I'd ever see more of Yotsuba's adventures here in the US. Eagerly looking forward to Vol. 7, as well as Yen's new translation of Azumanga Daioh coming in December. ADV Manga's original AzuDai translation had a lot of problems and with this volume Yen seems to have proven themselves capable of fixing them. But that's another story.
Posted by walla | Sep 25, 2009 3:39 PM | 1 comments