to all bilingual/trilingual manga readers, especially if you are fluent in an east asian language. Which language do you prefer to read manga in. For me, reading in English has always made the experience somehow less enjoyable, and I can think of several reasons why:
For example the English scanlation of AOT:   VS the Japanese and Chinese versions   All images set to "width=150" Ignoring the scan quality, the bottom 2 are clearly more readable, while the English characters are all mushed together (at least according to my diyslexiic ass). Is this not a good reason to learn Japanese, hmmmm? |
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| I'm not really bilingual so I can't really say much about this, but I gotta say attack on titans english font is pretty damn ugly. |
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| I don't read manga in Japanese but I think I am not bothered by text in English. |
If you enjoyed the time you wasted, then its not a waste of time.  |
| I prefer English. I have never tried reading anything in my native language, but there was one time I was curious what it's like reading one, I felt my soul had transcended. |
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| I do prefer reading them in Chinese, but it ends up a bit frustrating since most online content I consume of the manga would be in English and I'll end up not knowing the English translations of characters' names. |
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| The superior language will always be one's native language, because it is the language one understands best. |
| その目だれの目？ |
| nowadays i just read in Japanese, but back when I used to read in Portuguese, the horizontal text never bothered me. by the way, Korean translated manga also have text in horizontal rather than vertical. |
| You can buy lossless digital music from your favorite Japanese artists on https://ototoy.jp/. The songs are all DRM-free and you can re-download your purchased albums as you wish. Show your support to your favorite artist if you can! ps. if you are looking for Japanese albums, you have to search it in Japanese (not romaji). Just copy and paste the name. For those who want to learn Japanese through anime Resources for learning the language |
Reply to Cassindra
I do prefer reading them in Chinese, but it ends up a bit frustrating since most online content I consume of the manga would be in English and I'll end up not knowing the English translations of characters' names.
| @Cassindra I concur. The biggest advantage of English is the translation of Katakana names and locations (because of Romaji). Chinese is a very awkward language when it comes to name translation. But it also depends on the setting of the work. If all the names are originally in kanji, then Chinese translation makes more sense...well there is no need for translation at all. For example: The Apothecary Diaries. There are so many nuances lost in the English translations. The superior language will always be one's native language, because it is the language one understands best. @Lucifrost Well, I did start the thread by asking bilingual/trilingual people, aka those who are fluent in more than 1 language. English is not my native language, but 90% of the content I choose to consume is in English. My problem is more about the typesetting of English Manga, and not language abilities/fluency. |
Ri-KoRinJan 5, 10:19 AM
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Reply to Ri-KoRin
@Cassindra I concur. The biggest advantage of English is the translation of Katakana names and locations (because of Romaji). Chinese is a very awkward language when it comes to name translation.
But it also depends on the setting of the work. If all the names are originally in kanji, then Chinese translation makes more sense...well there is no need for translation at all.
For example: The Apothecary Diaries. There are so many nuances lost in the English translations.
@Lucifrost Well, I did start the thread by asking bilingual/trilingual people, aka those who are fluent in more than 1 language. English is not my native language, but 90% of the content I choose to consume is in English. My problem is more about the typesetting of English Manga, and not language abilities/fluency.
But it also depends on the setting of the work. If all the names are originally in kanji, then Chinese translation makes more sense...well there is no need for translation at all.
For example: The Apothecary Diaries. There are so many nuances lost in the English translations.
The superior language will always be one's native language, because it is the language one understands best.
@Lucifrost Well, I did start the thread by asking bilingual/trilingual people, aka those who are fluent in more than 1 language. English is not my native language, but 90% of the content I choose to consume is in English. My problem is more about the typesetting of English Manga, and not language abilities/fluency.
Ri-KoRin said: My problem is more about the typesetting of English Manga, and not language abilities/fluency. Understanding the story is more important. My Japanese improves by the day, but I will never understand it the way I understand English and Spanish. Japanese comics don't use periods, so I can't confidently say it's the superior language even if I judge it by typesetting. There are other problems too such as furigana that require a magnifying glass. |
LucifrostJan 5, 10:34 AM
| その目だれの目？ |
Reply to Ri-KoRin
@Cassindra I concur. The biggest advantage of English is the translation of Katakana names and locations (because of Romaji). Chinese is a very awkward language when it comes to name translation.
But it also depends on the setting of the work. If all the names are originally in kanji, then Chinese translation makes more sense...well there is no need for translation at all.
For example: The Apothecary Diaries. There are so many nuances lost in the English translations.
@Lucifrost Well, I did start the thread by asking bilingual/trilingual people, aka those who are fluent in more than 1 language. English is not my native language, but 90% of the content I choose to consume is in English. My problem is more about the typesetting of English Manga, and not language abilities/fluency.
But it also depends on the setting of the work. If all the names are originally in kanji, then Chinese translation makes more sense...well there is no need for translation at all.
For example: The Apothecary Diaries. There are so many nuances lost in the English translations.
The superior language will always be one's native language, because it is the language one understands best.
@Lucifrost Well, I did start the thread by asking bilingual/trilingual people, aka those who are fluent in more than 1 language. English is not my native language, but 90% of the content I choose to consume is in English. My problem is more about the typesetting of English Manga, and not language abilities/fluency.
Ri-KoRin said: Definitely agree with that. Another manga I can think of is Paripi Koumei. As someone who's read about Koumei's (Kongming) exploits/stories in Chinese, it makes much more sense to read the Chinese translation so that I could recognize some of the strategies he employs in the story. Definitely brings an increased wave of enjoyment when reading it that way.But it also depends on the setting of the work. If all the names are originally in kanji, then Chinese translation makes more sense...well there is no need for translation at all. |
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| Its not, cause I can actually read it. I would like manga to be translated in my native language, but that really doesnt happen unless its the top 1% of popular series. |
 "Don't let your memes be dreams."- Ancient Japanese proverb, probably |
| i have always read it in english not another language but obv there is some difference |
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| I don't care for Attack On Titan, but anyway, I kind of agree that reading in Japanese is better. I'm reading Silent Möbius QD in Japanese despite having 65% fluency, but at least I got the gist of it and its prequel from 1988. I'm working on it (100% fluency), but at least I understand the story of both Silent Möbius and its sequel better than some Japanese punk that I talked to several months ago. Like screw you and your endorsement over incomplete adaptations. Screw that ignorance over western comics also. Whoever that Japanese punk is should read Saga or Transmetropolitan. Otherwise, that punk from Japan can be a fake ass nerd living under a rock for life. So yeah, fake nerds disgust me. Reading Evangelion doesn't make said person a real nerd overnight or whatever, so that person shouldn't get that carried away. Like don't let that shit get over your head. Being a real nerd includes no pain, no gain. |
Kurt_IrvingJan 9, 12:58 AM
| I read all my manga in Japanese, translations are always inferior be it fan-translations or official ones. |
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| But like who can actually read Japanese? |
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| I mean, obviously everything is better experienced in it's native language. But since I can't read that language, I don't really care. I'm not going to feel bad about it just because I can't read Japanese... |
 This ground is soiled by those before me and their lies. I dare not look up for on me I feel their eyes |
| This makes me wonder is there manga where the text is horizontal instead of vertical? Or is it always vertical? I know some Japanese books are horizontal even though most are vertical. Id assume it is rare in manga but not non existent. Also I dont get this meme hatred of comic sans. It is a decent font for comics and manga or certain ones at least although there is probably better ones out there that have multiple versions of each character to give a more true hand written look where it doesnt look so goofy. Also vertical English is fine enough though not always spaced correctly because incorrect program was used or lazy typesetting |
| I always prefer to read in Japanese. Beyond the prose issue, sometimes I've reread (or at least excerpts) in English of mangas I read in Japanese and I feel that the characters' personalities are a bit different and the comedy doesn't give as much laughter. Although maybe the problem is more due to the incompetence of the translators, but hey, that doesn't change the fact that the prose is lost (a little or a lot) in a translation. On top of that, I don't know if I'm the only one who thinks that Japanese is not only a beautiful language, but also an aesthetic one. Anyway, for manga fans, there is more than one reason to read in Japanese. |
Reply to Aaruon
I always prefer to read in Japanese. Beyond the prose issue, sometimes I've reread (or at least excerpts) in English of mangas I read in Japanese and I feel that the characters' personalities are a bit different and the comedy doesn't give as much laughter. Although maybe the problem is more due to the incompetence of the translators, but hey, that doesn't change the fact that the prose is lost (a little or a lot) in a translation. On top of that, I don't know if I'm the only one who thinks that Japanese is not only a beautiful language, but also an aesthetic one. Anyway, for manga fans, there is more than one reason to read in Japanese.
Youji9225 said: I don't know if I'm the only one who thinks that Japanese is not only a beautiful language, but also an aesthetic one. that was one of the reasons i became interested in the language, actually. long before i became interested in anime. the language looked beautiful yet somewhat mysterious. by reading in Japanese I can practice my reading skills, pick up new vocabulary and expression here and there and have fun at the same time! |
| You can buy lossless digital music from your favorite Japanese artists on https://ototoy.jp/. The songs are all DRM-free and you can re-download your purchased albums as you wish. Show your support to your favorite artist if you can! ps. if you are looking for Japanese albums, you have to search it in Japanese (not romaji). Just copy and paste the name. For those who want to learn Japanese through anime Resources for learning the language |
| I speak a few languages, read one manga in Japanese as well, and I honestly can't see any problem with English. Don't think that it looks uglier or anything, I'm really used to it |
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| Calling a language inferior sounds really pretentious lol. Especially when you're basing it off preferences such as vertical text, that's not objective whatsoever That AOT example is an extremely exaggerated one too. If you've read English manga, you know they don't usually look like that. The text size and font are irregular in that example. Possibly the leading too. Also the usual font in English manga isn't comic sans btw. I think it's called Wild Words |
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Stone76 said: Calling a language inferior sounds really pretentious lol. Especially when you're basing it off preferences such as vertical text, that's not objective whatsoever That AOT example is an extremely exaggerated one too. If you've read English manga, you know they don't usually look like that. The text size and font are irregular in that example. Possibly the leading too. Also the usual font in English manga isn't comic sans btw. I think it's called Wild Words Well you just mischaracterise my entire post...Idk if the issue is with your comprehension skills or the fact that perhaps English is the only language you understand and got offended by me suggesting that there better languages to read manga in. but ok, you do you. |
Ri-KoRinJan 30, 10:23 PM
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Reply to Ri-KoRin
Stone76 said:
Calling a language inferior sounds really pretentious lol. Especially when you're basing it off preferences such as vertical text, that's not objective whatsoever
That AOT example is an extremely exaggerated one too. If you've read English manga, you know they don't usually look like that. The text size and font are irregular in that example. Possibly the leading too. Also the usual font in English manga isn't comic sans btw. I think it's called Wild Words
Calling a language inferior sounds really pretentious lol. Especially when you're basing it off preferences such as vertical text, that's not objective whatsoever
That AOT example is an extremely exaggerated one too. If you've read English manga, you know they don't usually look like that. The text size and font are irregular in that example. Possibly the leading too. Also the usual font in English manga isn't comic sans btw. I think it's called Wild Words
Well you just mischaracterise my entire post...Idk if the issue is with your comprehension skills or the fact that perhaps English is the only language you understand and got offended by me suggesting that there better languages to read manga in.
but ok, you do you.
| No, there's no comprehension problem. You're saying that you think English manga is inferior due to the production of its translations and the fact that the Roman alphabet is made to be read horizontally. But a lot of the stuff you listed is flat out incorrect and the example page you linked is incredibly exaggerated and not reflective of 99% of English manga. So you either don't realize that a lot of the stuff that you listed is incorrect and exaggerated, or you're still trying to say that English manga is inferior and bundling it with incorrect or subjective reasoning, which is pretentious. And btw the title of this topic makes it sound like you're calling the entire language unsuitable for manga lmao This entire topic doesn't really make sense. There aren't better languages to read manga in, even in terms of its production. You just read in whatever you know. |
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Stone76 said: No, there's no comprehension problem. You're saying that you think English manga is inferior due to the production of its translations and the fact that the Roman alphabet is made to be read horizontally. But a lot of the stuff you listed is flat out incorrect and the example page you linked is incredibly exaggerated and not reflective of 99% of English manga. So you either don't realize that a lot of the stuff that you listed is incorrect and exaggerated, or you're still trying to say that English manga is inferior and bundling it with incorrect or subjective reasoning, which is pretentious. And btw the title of this topic makes it sound like you're calling the entire language unsuitable for manga lmao This entire topic doesn't really make sense. There aren't better languages to read manga in, even in terms of its production. You just read in whatever you know. Man...It is like arguing with an American who never travels anywhere in the world, about how other countries may have better systems, food, and living conditions. They will just refuse to acknowledge your experience and end up calling you pretentious and incorrect, and your examples exaggerated. There is no winning. For the record, my manga language reading habit is: English (40% digital), Chinese (50% printed & digital), Japanese (10% printed). Every time I check the English version against the Chinese/Japanese versions, the latter would always come out better, visually. But this only applies to manga, and actually the reverse for Novels, which English always comes out on top. |
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Reply to Ri-KoRin
Stone76 said:
No, there's no comprehension problem. You're saying that you think English manga is inferior due to the production of its translations and the fact that the Roman alphabet is made to be read horizontally. But a lot of the stuff you listed is flat out incorrect and the example page you linked is incredibly exaggerated and not reflective of 99% of English manga. So you either don't realize that a lot of the stuff that you listed is incorrect and exaggerated, or you're still trying to say that English manga is inferior and bundling it with incorrect or subjective reasoning, which is pretentious. And btw the title of this topic makes it sound like you're calling the entire language unsuitable for manga lmao
This entire topic doesn't really make sense. There aren't better languages to read manga in, even in terms of its production. You just read in whatever you know.
No, there's no comprehension problem. You're saying that you think English manga is inferior due to the production of its translations and the fact that the Roman alphabet is made to be read horizontally. But a lot of the stuff you listed is flat out incorrect and the example page you linked is incredibly exaggerated and not reflective of 99% of English manga. So you either don't realize that a lot of the stuff that you listed is incorrect and exaggerated, or you're still trying to say that English manga is inferior and bundling it with incorrect or subjective reasoning, which is pretentious. And btw the title of this topic makes it sound like you're calling the entire language unsuitable for manga lmao
This entire topic doesn't really make sense. There aren't better languages to read manga in, even in terms of its production. You just read in whatever you know.
Man...It is like arguing with an American who never travels anywhere in the world, about how other countries may have better systems, food, and living conditions. They will just refuse to acknowledge your experience and end up calling you pretentious and incorrect, and your examples exaggerated. There is no winning.
For the record, my manga language reading habit is: English (40% digital), Chinese (50% printed & digital), Japanese (10% printed).
Every time I check the English version against the Chinese/Japanese versions, the latter would always come out better, visually. But this only applies to manga, and actually the reverse for Novels, which English always comes out on top.
| Keep your prejudices to yourself bro. Really weird thing to try and flex, I'd delete that if I were you. It's embarrassing. None of what you said is remotely relevant to this situation lmao Your example IS exaggerated. 99% of English manga does not look like that AOT page. Idk what to tell you. The stuff you listed IS incorrect. Comic sans isn't even the font used in English manga. The other points you made were in relation to that AOT page, which again, is not a good representation. Your points for dismissing English manga are invalid, and you're still sticking by them, which makes you pretentious. That's just how things work. You prefer reading in a different language because it's what you know best. Not because English manga is necessarily inferior in any way. You are used to reading things a certain way and will naturally favor them. Aka: this topic serves no purpose and is instead a projection for your hate against English/American things, which was now made obvious in your last response. |
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Reply to Stone76
Keep your prejudices to yourself bro. Really weird thing to try and flex, I'd delete that if I were you. It's embarrassing. None of what you said is remotely relevant to this situation lmao
Your example IS exaggerated. 99% of English manga does not look like that AOT page. Idk what to tell you. The stuff you listed IS incorrect. Comic sans isn't even the font used in English manga. The other points you made were in relation to that AOT page, which again, is not a good representation. Your points for dismissing English manga are invalid, and you're still sticking by them, which makes you pretentious. That's just how things work.
You prefer reading in a different language because it's what you know best. Not because English manga is necessarily inferior in any way. You are used to reading things a certain way and will naturally favor them. Aka: this topic serves no purpose and is instead a projection for your hate against English/American things, which was now made obvious in your last response.
Your example IS exaggerated. 99% of English manga does not look like that AOT page. Idk what to tell you. The stuff you listed IS incorrect. Comic sans isn't even the font used in English manga. The other points you made were in relation to that AOT page, which again, is not a good representation. Your points for dismissing English manga are invalid, and you're still sticking by them, which makes you pretentious. That's just how things work.
You prefer reading in a different language because it's what you know best. Not because English manga is necessarily inferior in any way. You are used to reading things a certain way and will naturally favor them. Aka: this topic serves no purpose and is instead a projection for your hate against English/American things, which was now made obvious in your last response.
| @Stone76 projection for your hate against English/American things LMFAO. I literally praised English and talked about the disadvantages of my native language in a couple of threads above yours. Seems like my initial assumption of "the fact that perhaps English is the only language you understand and got offended by me suggesting that there are better languages to read manga in" is correct. 99% of English manga does not look like that AOT page Doesn't take away from the typesetting issues I raised.The stuff you listed IS incorrect Can you actually tell me which is incorrect?Comic sans isn't even the font used in English manga. I think you mentioned "Wild Words", cool, I didn't know that. But I am just using Comic Sans as an example, as there are many variations of Sans font used. They usually aren't very visually appealing to me in general.The other points you made were in relation to that AOT page, which again, is not a good representation. BTW I don't even read AOT manga, it is just the first random example I come across. I DID NOT make my points based on the AOT mange. And the fact that 2 separate scanlation versions exist and both look worse than the Japanese and Chinese versions just proves my point.You are used to reading things a certain way and will naturally favor them. No, I much prefer consuming novels, news, YT, movies, and anime sub in English, despite only becoming fluent in late middle school.You are getting too offended for no reason, this thread is for bilingual or trilingual people to begin with. Perhaps read what other people have written, this topic serves do serve a purpose. |
Ri-KoRinJan 31, 12:57 PM
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| As an all-caps enjoyer, my primary issue with fitting English into Manga comes from oval text bubbles, but it's not a dealbreaker for me and I don't seek out Manga in Japanese specifically for that issue. Entirely separate to Manga but vertical text has its own unique set of issues for novels. Lines of dialogue are often not nearly long enough to reach the bottom of a vertical page, so pages with conversations in them have a mostly blank bottom half and read extremely quickly. |
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Reply to Ri-KoRin
@Stone76
You are getting too offended for no reason, this thread is for bilingual or trilingual people to begin with. Perhaps read what other people have written, this topic serves do serve a purpose.
projection for your hate against English/American things
LMFAO. I literally praised English and talked about the disadvantages of my native language in a couple of threads above yours. Seems like my initial assumption of "the fact that perhaps English is the only language you understand and got offended by me suggesting that there are better languages to read manga in" is correct. 99% of English manga does not look like that AOT page
Doesn't take away from the typesetting issues I raised.The stuff you listed IS incorrect
Can you actually tell me which is incorrect?Comic sans isn't even the font used in English manga.
I think you mentioned "Wild Words", cool, I didn't know that. But I am just using Comic Sans as an example, as there are many variations of Sans font used. They usually aren't very visually appealing to me in general.The other points you made were in relation to that AOT page, which again, is not a good representation.
BTW I don't even read AOT manga, it is just the first random example I come across. I DID NOT make my points based on the AOT mange. And the fact that 2 separate scanlation versions exist and both look worse than the Japanese and Chinese versions just proves my point.You are used to reading things a certain way and will naturally favor them.
No, I much prefer consuming novels, news, YT, movies, and anime sub in English, despite only becoming fluent in late middle school.You are getting too offended for no reason, this thread is for bilingual or trilingual people to begin with. Perhaps read what other people have written, this topic serves do serve a purpose.
| I'm not offended, but the conceited and braindead take of "American bad" is really cringe. I was just pointing that out for you in case you didn't realize it. Also the only question pointed toward bilingual or trilingual people was asking what language they prefer reading in, that was it. I'm commenting on your reasons for calling English an inferior language to read manga in, which was open for anyone. Like I said, most of what you pointed out is either subjective or incorrect. In a normal page of English manga, every single aspect that you've listed, besides it being all caps and horizontal, is false. The only way you could have came to those conclusions is if you were basing them off that exaggerated AOT page. In terms of the font, the fact of the matter is that Wild Words are the standard. The topic of comic sans shouldn't be relevant anymore. It's reflective of 1% or less of translations. Maybe it was more popular back in the day? Regardless, it's not widely used anymore. You gotta chill with the AOT panels bro lmao. I'm willing to pretend you never linked those as long as we can stop talking about it. Your argument on my end would be like if I found the most messed up Chinese manga page and pretended it held any weight in representing all of Chinese manga. That's literally what you're doing right now. Bad scans exist in any translated language. And nah dude, when you read what other people have written here, you're left with a resounding "why does this matter?" across almost everyone. Which is what I've been saying the entire time. And please don't point out the people saying they read their stuff in Japanese. They're arguing it's better because there's no chance of mistranslations with the source material. Which is a valid reason. |
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| As an english reader, the comic sans I can understand but for the life of my I can't get over the small font size. It hurts to read sm |
| Reading Manga in the Igbo language is the only right way to read it. |
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