White Lotus, I recall reading Ch 1 of another translation, but then it stopped so I no longer checked in and only read Lollipop's translations thereon. I no longer checked for updates on the other translator, who I guess was you. I am so sorry that I did not recognize this. It was so long ago that I did not even remember that it was your name.
I also got the impression from messages here that people are only supposed to be doing one translation at a time. I recall Ximmich saying that one translator was asking another translator permission to do the same book. To me, this meant that translators have some sort of agreement to only have one translator do a book at a time. Thus, when it came to "My Beautiful Man" I only checked on Lollipop's updates the past 6 months. I assumed the other translator had moved on because of this agreement for only one translation at a time. But I guess I was wrong.
Frankly, now I have no idea how it works! LOL I am actually curious as to how this all works and would appreciate it if you would explain the protocol for all of this. Is it considered rude for 2 translator's to do the same book? Is it considered rude for people like me to read both? Because I got that impression that it was and, thus, have only been reading one translation of this book (ie, Lollipop's).
I have read a lot of other Asian books translated on Wattpad (most recently, Kinn/Porsche), and when I compare Lollipop's to these other books, hers are excellent. But when it comes to a translation, I always stick to one translator and don't bounce around, because I thought that this is how it should be done. But again, I do not know. . All I know is that I am genuinely impressed by translators. Especially when it comes to translating Asian to English. I am American and only know one other language (Italian), at which I am very bad, lol. And Italian has my own alphabet! Whereas you must negotiate 2 entirely different alphabets, which is amazing to me. At any rate, forgive me if I have offended you.
Maggi
I'm not a translator so maybe this isn't my place, but I hope it isn't standard for only one translator to be allowed to touch something. After all, we're all just fans participating in fanworks, brought together by a mutual love of the same art piece, and none of us own the original property. Besides, different translators bring different things to the table; I like being able to read Kiyoi in two slightly different lights. And what if the person stops translating? Are international readers doomed to never find out how it ends? I so appreciate what Lollipop's done; she's fantastic! But White Lotus has put out more chapters and I'm tremendously grateful to have been able to read further because of it. So... I hope like with fic, it's a "more the merrier" policy. :,)
Hi everyone!
I followed along a little tonight (it's nighttime where I am at least), and I didn't really mean to say anything but I want to join in here after all.
I actually just reached out to White Lotus, because I was scared of people thinking this is what is happening - I do not in any way intend to monopolize this show or book or any other content related to My Beautiful Man.
I understand where you are coming from Maggi, and I really do feel your sincere appreciation for the translations and how it comes from a really good place!
But as Yeaka just said, it really should be a "the more the merrier". It would be a whole different thing if any of us actually owned any rights - but we don't. Fan-translators are just this - fans. We just happen to have a skill that we can share, in the same way that artists share their art. But how sad would it be if one series only was allowed to receive fanart from one single artist!
There is no "secret agreement" amongst fansubbers and fan-translators (at least not that I personally know of). If it seems like only one person picks up a project, it is probably because esp. fansubbers usually just do not bother with projects that have already been done; usually people will already have watched that version, and there will be no reason nor need for anyone to translate the same thing in the same way. I have so far only met kind translators who were happy to share their RAW files with me and who would let me know if they were not intending to work on a project that I was interested in doing. We're all just little nerds who love these stories and want more people to get the chance to enjoy it too.
I realise that the way I originally went about UtsuKare in particular might have contributed to this misunderstanding - because yes, I did initially decide to translate because I felt like the provided, official translations available at the time were not up to par and did not manage to convey the story truthfully. I felt confident in my ability to do this, and therefore I picked up the show. I did try my best, however, to explain my POV and how the official translations (GagaOOlala at the time) differed from mine, and why I personally did not enjoy their way of doing things. I did and do still realize how this very likely made me look pretentious and stuck-up, even if it was not my intention. I will at any time and always be very happy to explain my thought process and my translation choices and why and what about the official translations that I did not feel did the original justice. If I have offended anyone, I really do genuinely hope they will reach out to me and let me know, and hopefully allow me to explain my actions and words.
Back to the question, book translations may be a little different, however, because the written texts leave much more room for interpretation and also take quite a lot longer to translate. It's a lot of work for one person to do in their free time when bills have to be paid too, haha!
Therefore I think it is great if more people do decide to translate the same novel - especially in my case, because I just suck and do not update nearly as frequently as I should. I honestly feel like I am doing you all a disservice by having started the translation when I am not able to update regularly. It's not fair to you all.
And now that I'm here - in regards to WattPad regulations, if I happen to have my translation removed, I have it saved privately elsewhere and will make sure to let you all know where to read it if you want.
Also, you are always more than welcome to message me directly about translations or questions if you have any!!!
Yeaka, I used to think the same as you. But then I saw on a thread here a long time ago that the translators were asking each other's permission, so I got the impression that in the translators' community, there was a sort of polite agreement to let each other know if/when they were translating the same book. I had assumed that this meant that some translators did not want to bother if somebody else had already done the job, as it would be a repeat job.
But I was not entirely sure. I wish I had asked back then, and thus I would not have offended anyone today. Because I had mistakenly thought this agreement was why one translator stopped while the other proceeded. Yet it turns out that I was mistaken and White Lotus had not stopped at all. Hence, I want to be supportive of her efforts too.
Lollipop, thank you for a thorough explanation. But to be clear, I did not mean "secret agreement" among translators to only do one translation at a time, so much as a "polite agreement." I thought it truly was polite for translators to ask each other if/when they were working on an identical title.
It actually made total sense to me that someone would not want to undertake the enormous task of translating a book if they discovered that somebody else was already doing it at the same time. Indeed, I used to work in publishing (I teach English now), and a publisher would not bother hiring a new translator for a classic such as, say, "Crime and Punishment" if the current edition with a certain publisher were still selling. It would be considered a repeat and wasted effort. Hence, I assumed there was a similar protocol with fan-translators not wanting to do "repeat" projects. Accordingly, telling each other about your projects struck me as very polite agreement (not a secret agreement, lol).
At any rate, thank you all for taking the time to clear this up. I'll just end this by saying there's one thing we can ALL agree on -- which is that it's horrendous for people to be censoring books like this on Wattpad. Ugh.
Thanks guys,
Maggi
Hopefully no one's offended with anyone tonight; it seems like we all appreciate each other and love Utsukushii Kare. :) I certainly didn't think you were pretentious, Lollipop! It's totally justified to want to provide your own take on a show and even think the "official" translation doesn't do it justice, especially since it's likely handled as a corporate project by them rather than with the TLC a fan would give it. And I don't think you did us a disservice at all! I got so much enjoyment out of reading your translation and would never want to give that up. It definitely felt fortunate that White Lotus posted more, but I still plan to read yours if more chapters come out when you're able (and no pressure! It's totally understandable that rl has to come first! This is, after all, a volunteer service.) and honestly I think both versions read differently enough that there's still merit in fans reading both.
I also get people not wanting to translate something already done in general, because there are thousands of great things out there to translate instead that maybe haven't gotten any attention yet, but it's good to hear it's a translator's choice rather than community pressure. I'm sure there are translators who get possessive of a story once they start it, which I understand comes from a place of love for what they do. But I see that attitude with fanfiction writers sometime who think once they write an idea no one else can touch it, and I always think it's kind of hypocritical. XD We're all here playing with somebody else's toys. It's good to know the Utskushii Kare fandom is playing nicely and sharing; this sandbox seems to be growing, and it's delightful to have so many others to play with!
At all of you.Christ, could he be more beautiful? The casting for that show was pure perfection. There's Kiyoi's beauty and Hira's mesmerizing way of staring at him. I cannot wait for the movie! So glad the series did well enough in Japan to get a sequel, and that all the complaints from Western viewers about its "toxicity" did not effect the Japanese audiences in the least! In fact, it was such complaints that compelled me to seek this private community with others who understood the show the way it was meant to be understood. Let's all thank Ximmich for this private community!
Ugh, I know! He's gorgeous and was played with such smooth ease, which now, thanks to Lollipop and White Lotus, I realize was perfect for the original character. And Hira also does a fantastic job of bringing that intensity when appreciating him. I really hope international audiences get a chance at a subbed version of the movie! It is sad that it's written off as toxic (and funny how some people claim Kiyoi's the problem and the others Hira) when that's such a shallow view of such a deeper, artistic story. They're flawed young people with their own baggage and the wrong tools to handle it, but they've got uniquely complimentary problems, which I find fascinating.
It's my #1 Favorite BL of all precisely because the characters are so flawed and complex. That's what makes it so smart. I did not know about the novel when I first saw the show, but when I discovered it was based on a novel it made total sense to me. Because they felt like characters from a novel insofar as they were so imperfect and the relationship so unexpected and odd. It takes a long version novel to develop that sort of complexity and to tackle themes such as obsession, lack of self awareness and insecurity. It also had the very novelistic technique of an unreliable narrator, which I adored. I truly was surprised when ep 5 came along and we got Kiyoi's point of view. What's so brilliant is that the screenwriter managed to condense such novelistic complexity into a 6 ep show. In short, this show deserved the awards and critical acclaim it got in Japan.
I know the movie is coming out in Japan in December. How long do you think it will take to be found online subbed in English? When it first came out it appeared on both Viki and Gagaloola. Do you think they'll have it by Jan/Feb? Or much longer than that?
The movie isn’t coming out until April 7! I don’t know where you heard december :o
Afraid we might have to wait quite a while if experience tells us anything… usually takes really long for Japanese movies to get released on DVD and we probably won’t see it until then. Took almost a year for Cherry Magic :( I am not entirely sure how aware they are of their international audience, and Japan is notoriously bad at considering distributing beyond their own borders….
*Cries into hands* Well, all the more reason to hope the translations continue and we get more that way. :,) (And possibly hope for a youtube leak like the Cherry Magic movie...) And Maggi64 YES. The unreliable narrator thing is what I always quote as one of the show's most brilliant strokes! That's extremely hard to pull off in TV format and they did it so well; once you learn Kiyoi's POV, rewatching the beginning is a completely different experience. It's my all time favourite BL too!
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