How much does the mistranslation “waifu” bother you?

Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (light novel)

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Oct 16, 2024 2:26 PM

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Jul 2022

It really annoys me when translators give themselves the freedom to change the meaning of words on purpose!
What do you think?

Oct 16, 2024 2:32 PM

Burgalveist

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Oct 2018

but she is his waifu because she is not real

Oct 16, 2024 2:35 PM

Shaq_official

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Oct 2023

What was the original word

Oct 16, 2024 2:42 PM

vesamija8

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Apr 2021

Reply to Shaq_official

What was the original word

@CatChud Yome (wife), Corneas used word Hanayome (bride)

Oct 16, 2024 2:43 PM

Ghost_Davo

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Jan 2022

117

rest assured, nobody gives a fuxk

Oct 16, 2024 2:43 PM

Merve2Love

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Apr 2020

3988

Im above the age of 16 and have a Life, also.
So it doesn't.

Oct 16, 2024 2:50 PM

Kaze1214

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Nov 2022

243

Damn bothered bro so much he made two separate posts

Oct 16, 2024 2:57 PM

someone324

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Jul 2022

Reply to Kaze1214

Damn bothered bro so much he made two separate posts

@Kaze1214 I didn't make two, mal made two for some reason

Oct 16, 2024 3:38 PM

Troco72

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Jan 2021

Huh obviously I'm not like outraged or whatever. But I'm surprised at the reception to this post.

I find it just a bit too extreme of a change. It changes the nuance entirely. I watch in the original language for a reason, I'd like the story to be untouched as much as possible (obviously some localization is fine)

Waifu albeit funny and relatively in character for Subaru. Is just simply a completely different tone than wife.

And there's not even a purpose for the change besides the translator choosing to change it to what they think is best. You didn't need to localize it, western audiences wouldn't be confused at the scene if they left it as wife rather than waifu.

This just reads of arrogance "my opinion of which words would be best here is superior to the authors"

Troco72Oct 16, 2024 3:41 PM

Oct 16, 2024 3:47 PM

#10

removed-user

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Jul 2018

561862

It's not even a mistranslation. Yome isn't the normal word for a wife, as in you wouldn't call your wife yome. A more accurate translation wpuld be bride (so it has exactly the same primary meaning as hanayome) but the word is also used the same way as waifu is. In this context Subaru obviously isn't calling Emilia his bride but instead he uses it the same way an English speaker might say waifu.

Oct 16, 2024 4:12 PM

#11

vesamija8

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Apr 2021

Reply to removed-user

It is true that Yome is not a normal word for wife but it is not a bride, that Subaru in this context isn't calling Emilia his bride but instead he uses it the same way an English speaker might say waifu is wrong. If Subaru had said that out of nowhere you would have been right but it was in response to Corneas' statement. Whatever the exact meaning of Hanayome is closer to a bride than a wife due to the situation, and Subaru's use of the word Yome suggests that he is trying to say that she is already his wife and is taken (of course not literally as with Corneas)

The use of the word Yome is not that rare.

here

vesamija8Oct 16, 2024 4:53 PM

Oct 16, 2024 4:13 PM

#12

MKIkawa

The Teacher

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Jul 2022

414

someone324 said:

It really annoys me when translators give themselves the freedom to change the meaning of words on purpose!
What do you think?

As someone who speaks japanese, this looked even better imo

Oct 16, 2024 4:38 PM

#13

FutoiOtaku

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Nov 2023

1648

vesamija8 said:
@CatChud Yome (wife), Corneas used word Hanayome (bride)

Not really, Yome and hanayome are more bride, you’d say Tsuma in reference to your own wife or okusan for someone else’s. Amusingly, yome is also used for daughter in law. Strange language…

Oct 16, 2024 4:45 PM

#14

watsym

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Mar 2023

837

If he wanted to mean wife, he would of used tsuma. Yome implies wife, but not actually his literal current wife here, hence waifu was a better translation imo.. just wife misses the nuance of choosing to use yome over tsuma (wife) or hanayome (bride). There isn't a perfect English word to use here.

Oct 16, 2024 4:58 PM

#15

removed-user

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Jul 2018

561862

vesamija8 said:
It is true that Yome is not a normal word for wife but it is not a bride, that Subaru in this context isn't calling Emilia his bride but instead he uses it the same way an English speaker might say waifu is wrong. If Subaru had said that out of nowhere you would have been right but it was in response to Corneas' statement. Whatever the exact meaning of Hanayome is closer to a bride than a wife due to the situation, and Subaru's use of the word Yome suggests that he is trying to say that she is already his wife and is taken (of course not literally as with Corneas)

The use of the word Yome is not that rare.

here

If you look at Japanese sources (like this: https://life.saisoncard.co.jp/other/post/c131/) you'll notice (if you understand Japanese) that in standard Japanese it's used to mean mainly a bride or a daughter in law. It's used to mean wife mainly in Kansai dialect. It's used just like waifu in internet slang and Subaru is obviously a nerd, which is evident already in that same sentence where he refers to her as Emilia-tan. That honorific is also mainly used in internet to refer to waifus. I'd say that it's very much in character fpr him to use such nerdish slang even in a serious situation.

Oct 16, 2024 5:26 PM

#16

Anayan_Kashyap

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Oct 2020

1910

It was translated "BRIDE" 👰‍♀️ in Muse Network.

WISHED I COULD ALSO GET TRANSPORTED TO A WORLD FULL OF MAGIC And DUNGEONS, please take me there too if you could (⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

Oct 16, 2024 6:27 PM

#17

KGlock18

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Jun 2016

105

I think this on top of the actually bad translation errors in episode 1 isn’t a great look. For this specifically if this was in a silly mansion or inn scene I wouldn’t mind but this is a very serious scene and Subaru calling Emilia his “waifu” just comes off as very jokey and like he isn’t taking the whole thing seriously.

And like, I don’t really know what they were thinking because I’m pretty sure no one in the English speaking world would use the term “waifu” unironically in a real conversation with someone. I figured I’d check the LN and that translated it to him calling her his bride, which not only doesn’t sound cringe but is also him directly countering what Corneus just said.

Oct 16, 2024 6:32 PM

#18

Atls07

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Oct 2019

It makes it look like Subaru's character regressed back to Season 1 Subaru.

Oct 16, 2024 11:15 PM

#19

AltN

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Mar 2022

180

I don't think Cruncyroll's translators are paid enough to not try to have afun little at their job

Oct 16, 2024 11:26 PM

#20

rohan121

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Sep 2018

14424

Not really hot and bothered, but that is since I understood the japanese to know he actually meant she is my bride. I think they should use machine translations if the localizer can't deliver a accurate translation.

Oct 17, 2024 2:40 AM

#21

xZabuzax

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Nov 2016

4085

In this specific case, I don't mind, that's just Subaru being the usual cringelord that he is so that mistranslation actually fits his personality, I'm more worried about Regulus not understanding what the fuck waifu even means.

Oct 17, 2024 3:28 AM

#22

eightdollarwater

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Jun 2009

180

I'm not going to rage over it, but I do think it's corny and dumb. Waifu is colloquially an otaku culture term, so it just makes Subaru seem like his character regressed slightly. And it's simply not accurate, which always just makes me ask "why even do that" when it comes to translations.

Oct 17, 2024 3:29 AM

#23

eightdollarwater

Offline

Jun 2009

180

xZabuzax said:
In this specific case, I don't mind, that's just Subaru being the usual cringelord that he is so that mistranslation actually fits his personality, I'm more worried about Regulus not understanding what the fuck waifu even means.

Well, but he didn't say something cringey in Japanese. The localizers made it cringey.

Oct 17, 2024 4:25 AM

#24

Axel72

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Jan 2017

Reply to xZabuzax

@xZabuzax that's the thing he wasn't trying to act cringe there or meant to be cringe, Crunchyroll made it cringe

Oct 17, 2024 4:45 AM

#25

xZabuzax

Offline

Nov 2016

4085

eightdollarwater said:
Well, but he didn't say something cringey in Japanese. The localizers made it cringey.

Ace0902 said:
that's the thing he wasn't trying to act cringe there or meant to be cringe, Crunchyroll made it cringe

Yeah I know, Subaru was probably not meant to be cringe in that part, what I mean is that Subaru is usually a cringelord, and because of that, the waifu stuff also fits his personality even if it was a mistranslation so it wasn't too bad for me.

But we have to ask the real questions here, do Regulus even know what a waifu is? will he look it up in the dictionary?

Oct 17, 2024 8:20 AM

#26

Gator

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Apr 2013

38295

Eh, I noticed that it's wrong and moved on. Do I wish they wouldn't mistranslate stuff like that? Yes, but it's CR, what do you expect?

Oct 17, 2024 12:28 PM

#27

vesamija8

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Apr 2021

Kabaishi said:

Maybe you're right about that, but Subaru is not in Japan, but in another world in front of a crazy a witch cultist who claims that Emilia is his bride, did he say something nerdy in such a situation or was he serious, only the author knows (I think he was serious and answered in the same form as Corneias), that's why I don't think it's up to the translators to decide, the word yome would probably sound like you said in reality but this is anime, if we were to judge the things used in anime by the standards of reality most words and sentences would sound cringe or nerdy (most may be a slight exaggeration) , but even if it's really as you say, I'm 90% sure that the translator didn't do it thinking it was correct. Chrunchyroll translators are known for this sort of thing.

If you want to see the will of the author, see this:

https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=2184612

Just to tell you in case you don't know, the first picture from Twitter in this discussion comes from Ice's account, Ice is in the team of official translators of the Re zero light novel, he is very trustworthy, of course if he says this, it's probably what the author means.

vesamija8Oct 17, 2024 12:48 PM

Oct 17, 2024 3:17 PM

#28

Linky37

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Jul 2015

Im definitely annoyed because it kind of changes the whole meaning of the sentance, but it certainly won’t keep me up at night.

Oct 17, 2024 4:46 PM

#29

The_p1kachu

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May 2024

I mean it ticked me off a but I didn't watch it on CR anyways (and got a different translation) so it doesn't bother me that much.

Let the voice of love take you higher!

1999, bizarre summer!

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