1

Probably a combination of both (more laziness than difficult language, though.)  The 3rd line of the 2nd set of quotes; is there really a word that translates simultaneously as "unimportant" and "boring" and "undesirable"?

The compact nature of the Japanese language causes problems, too.  Entire conversations without mentioning the subject, 4-kanji idioms; the sort of stuff that Mr. JList puts on his store blog every few days.

2 Though I watch far less anime than you, I have started to pick up a few Japanese words and phrases.  It was interesting at work the other day when I said "Hai!" in a meeting, and not everyone was confused...

3 The FFFpeeps translation is pretty liberal, while the Japanese BD seems much more literal.  Ayako seems to hold closer to the literal side of things.

On Eclair's injury, I'd probably roll with the BD's take, just because the implication from "honorable" is one of those harder things for a non-native to really grasp in context.  It's obviously about wounded pride, so that's one of those subtle ones.

On the second set, I'd probably roll with FFF's text.  Aside from being an easier read (which should be the benefit of a liberal translation), the text feels like it gets the scene better.  I especially liked the "best yet mediocre efforts" construct.

As for what Godwin said... the VA was in scene-stealing-camp mode in every scene he was in.  It was his Hayate Narrator voice, taken up a notch.  That anyone understood it means the TL should get a metal.  Haha.

4 is there really a word that translates simultaneously as "unimportant" and "boring" and "undesirable"?

Packers.

5

As for what Godwin said... the VA was in scene-stealing-camp mode in every scene he was in.

These days Wakamoto is nearly always in that mode. He's the Japanese poster-boy for the TVTropes "Large Ham" entry.

It's not totally his fault. To some extent he's been getting typecast into those kinds of roles (see e.g. Ninja Nonsense). But when they announced DBK and said they were going to redo all the voices, I was a little afraid that he'd screw up Cell this time around by camping it up. Fortunately, he didn't. So it's still possible for him to play a role straight. It's just that no one wants him to anymore.

6 Having listened to him narrate the first season (52 episodes) of Hayate, I can get why everyone would want him to ham it up.  In the right context, it's a complete riot.  But there is taking it a tad too far.

At least they didn't Godwin the series, haha.

7 Satomi Arai is his female equivalent basically, these days. Last time I remember when she got to play it straight was in Railgun.

8

I don't think I would agree that she was completely straight even in Railgun. There are certainly a lot of scenes where Kuroko is serious, but she's also played for laughs a hell of a lot. And the affected upper class accent isn't "straight" in any way.

By the way, I think Kuroko was the best performance in that series (even though she wasn't my favorite character).

9 Kuroko was played "straight" in Railgun?  In a chunk of it, she did.  But a lot of the rest called for "Ham 5000".  I'll never hear "Oneeeeeeeee-samaaaaaaaaaa" in the same way.  She pretty much owned the phrase.

Yeah, Kuroko was definitely performed the best of all of the characters in Railgun.  Very memorable.  Though Saten & Misaka were much better characters given their progression and depth.

On a side note: I ended up watching Railgun first, on suggestion.  Then I went and watched Index 1 & 2.  Can I just say how insanely better Railgun is compared to the Index series?  I was actually hoping Index 2 was going to become "Accelerator & Last Order" for the duration.  Was a much more enjoyable watch, hehe.

Though that entire universe takes a bit to accept that characters are powerful as armies just walk around town all of the time without supervision.  Once you accept that, then you're good.  haha

10 Please try to avoid topic drift. This thread is not about the Index/Railgun universe.

11 There is such a term, though I can't check it from Vegas. It can mean anything from "trivial" to "boring" to "no fun". Varies quite a bit by context...

12 The line is "tsumannee yakumawari"; tsumannee = tsumaranai (詰らない; boring, insignificant, foolish, pointless, disappointing, etc). The Goo J-E dictionary entry for yakumawari uses "tsumaranai yakumawari" in the example sentence, translated as "an insignificant role".

-j

13 I've been noticing pretty radical differences in the translations of the series I'm reviewing.  Usually the meaning is pretty similar, but the subtleties are wildly different.

Although sometimes it's really not that important that "Tsuboshi!" get translated as "Bingo!" or "Bullseye!"

The one that always gets my attention is when the characters' names are used but don't appear in the subtitles.