Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei novels have been licensed by Yen Press

[Abysmalheart]

Originally Posted by Clutchdog

Isn't this good news? I think a lot of you are being very self-centered here. I guess in an ideal world this would have been announced after the translation of the next arc was finished but one shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
This way you'll actually get to support the author in a relevant way and Mahouka will be introduced to a wider audience. I don't actually own any Light novels, and in terms of manga I only have 4 volumes of Dragonball that I bought as a kid but I'll at least buy these as they come out.

There are pros and cons in everything I see you aren't looking at the bigger picture here.

[Clutchdog]

@IceHism
Hah, that's pretty cool. Still, I guess most people would want to be able to read the novels before committing to buy them, myself included. But I think it's great that you supported the author nonetheless.

Originally Posted by Ultragunner

^ I agree, but I also get why so many people are (somewhat) upset.

The reason is that when something (especially LN) get licensed in the West, they will start with Vol 1, and it will take a long @ss time to catch up to the recent content. That means everyone around here will have to make do with short spoilers and summaries in the years to come.

If there were a model for LN to get licensed and translated quickly, (something similar to what Crunchyroll is doing with anime and manga perhaps), then I'll gladly give the publisher my money

Sure, but you should take into account that they aren't really selling the series to established Mahouka fans that have read up until the latest volume online. It'd be odd if you went into a bookstore and started reading The song of ice and fire from book 5.

Originally Posted by Abysmalheart

There are pros and cons in everything I see you aren't looking at the bigger picture here.

So what's the bigger picture?

[TheLaG]

Originally Posted by Clutchdog

So what's the bigger picture?

We will get professional translation, and Mahouka is one of those novels, where it need's good one, yes, BT translators do a great job, but it's still guys with limited knowledge in language/terms, but professionals will do much better job with all magic explanation @ least I hope so

[Rava]

Originally Posted by Abysmalheart

There are pros and cons in everything I see you aren't looking at the bigger picture here.

The whole point of fansubs/translations was to show that there IS a market for the product outside of Japan. It's a purpose that's completely lost on people who are used to getting things "free" because of how accessible the internet is. Couple that with the sense of entitlement people put on a product that they are not even paying for, and yeah, I don't think he's wrong there.

[Abysmalheart]

Originally Posted by Clutchdog

So what's the bigger picture?

well I am not fully aware of all the reasons but so far I thought of these.

PROS
1)We support the author(though I don't know how the whole licensing thing works)
2)We read a better translation than the half done translation in the first few volumes(well this is after I read some reports on how bad the translation was on the early vol's).
3)Reading from a hard cover book better on the eyes than reading the e book.
4)Economic reasons(investment,demand etc)
5)More ppl will come top realise how good the story is and not just decide it based on the anime.

CONS
1)English readers are behind the authors work.
2)Restriction will be placed cuz some publishers are arse(eg pic will be removed from sites showing/discussing spoilers etc).
3)Other than ppl in US some may have a hard time obtaining the book cuz shipment through 3rd party(amazon) etc

Again I state these are the things I thought of for now I know there are more so feel free to think of them.
The greatest CON is the fact those who have already caught up with the author's work thanks to translators are gonna have to settle for spoilers and short summary till the publisher catches up and there are more ppl who have caught up with the author than those who haven't so it's not a perfect outcome of yen press licensing and that too with the most anticipated yotsuba inheritance this summer.Can you hear the cries of ppl that they have to wait for years or so till vol 16 is out in English legally ?

[ProxyAccount]

Originally Posted by TheLaG

We will get professional translation, and Mahouka is one of those novels, where it need's good one, yes, BT translators do a great job, but it's still guys with limited knowledge in language/terms, but professionals will do much better job with all magic explanation @ least I hope so

I haven't read a "professional translation" of a light novels, but based upon past experience doing my own translation of anime, professional translators have been known to take liberties with original material in a way that subtly (or not so subtly) changed meanings, or altered context. Professionals might be more fluent at translation, but they aren't always right.

Due the vagaries of publishing and contracts, if you want to support the original author, buy the original book and then find translations if you can (or do it yourself). If you want to support English-language licensing of light novels (or manga), then by all means buy it when it is printed domestically.

[Hell_ping]

Originally Posted by Abysmalheart

The greatest CON is the fact those who have already caught up with the author's work thanks to translators are gonna have to settle for spoilers and short summary till the publisher catches up and there are more ppl who have caught up with the author than those who haven't so it's not a perfect outcome of yen press licensing and that too with the most anticipated yotsuba inheritance this summer.Can you hear the cries of ppl that they have to wait for years or so till vol 16 is out in English legally ?

At this point, for anyone (well, the majority of the complaints), this would be the biggest reason.

However, till this point, the readers have been the one being driven about. The next question is, do they stand pat until v16 comes out, or do they take matters into their own hands? Be the one being moved, or be the one moving?

That's the main issue I have with a lot of the complaints: because they are the ones making the most noise when they did the least.

Originally Posted by ProxyAccount

I've read a "professional translation" of any light novels, but based upon past experience doing my own translation of anime, professional translators have been known to take liberties with original material in a way that subtly (or not so subtly) changed meanings, or altered context. Professionals might be more fluent at translation, but they aren't always right.

Well, you're right in that professional translators are more known for taking liberties and such. The idea here is 'to convey the text in a way that the locals can understand', not 'to do a resemblance that a few will only get'. Ultimately, this is the price of the border known as language conventions.

[NAJ P. Jackson]

Originally Posted by TheLaG

We will get professional translation, and Mahouka is one of those novels, where it need's good one, yes, BT translators do a great job, but it's still guys with limited knowledge in language/terms, but professionals will do much better job with all magic explanation @ least I hope so

Professional translation doesn't always equate to good translation.

The greatest CON is the fact those who have already caught up with the author's work thanks to translators are gonna have to settle for spoilers and short summary till the publisher catches up and there are more ppl who have caught up with the author than those who haven't so it's not a perfect outcome of yen press licensing and that too with the most anticipated yotsuba inheritance this summer.Can you hear the cries of ppl that they have to wait for years or so till vol 16 is out in English legally ?

Quite right. Who knows how long we have to wait for the offical translation to catch up to the current volume. By then I probably lost interest in this LN

[Abysmalheart]

Quite true Proxy if a professional doctor or chef can give a hazardous medication or food what makes translators different are they perfect beings with no mistakes ?
I think the question should be will Yen press make a good publication of mahouka compared to the translators work ?

[ProxyAccount]

Fan-translation often aims towards the literal translation done with some refinement if there's time (and volunteers). Presumably, a domestic licensee will make a reasonable commitment to technical accuracy and readability.

Personally, I'm willing to sacrifice some fluency in order to get accuracy. I can always sort out grammatical issues given a less-than-fluent rendering, but I probably can't determine what the correct term is if the technical translation is botched because the kanji/hiragana/katakana isn't there.

[Ophis]

Meh, the wait is actually the least of the problems. My major grip with licenses is that they utterly screw up the work with their localization, removal and "translation" of honorifics, I seriously can't stand that. I would rather buy 10 times the same book, in Japanese, just to support the author than waste my money in those crappy "professionally translated" books.

I read Japanese books precisely because they're Japanese books. If I wanted to read a Western book, I would buy one.

[IceHism]

Oh, god. Yen press doesn't use honorifics.

I wonder what they will replace Onii-sama with. Dearest Brother? Exhalted Brother?
Either way, it sounds really weird when you put it in english... ahh language conventions. Can't really do anything about them.

[kusabireika]

Originally Posted by IceHism

Oh, god. Yen press doesn't use honorifics.

I wonder what they will replace Onii-sama with. Dearest Brother? Exhalted Brother?
Either way, it sounds really weird when you put it in english... ahh language conventions. Can't really do anything about them.

ugh worst news for me .... better to buy japanese version to support the author ....

[Ultragunner]

oh dear, so even Miyuki's infamous "Onii-sama" will not be featured in the Yen Press' releases? That's gonna make her tone and behaviour towards Tatsuya VASTLY different from the truth

[Abysmalheart]

Originally Posted by Ultragunner

oh dear, so even Miyuki's infamous "Onii-sama" will not be featured in the Yen Press' releases? That's gonna make her tone and behaviour towards Tatsuya VASTLY different from the truth

If Yen press actually does that many would prefer printing the translators version than buying the book from them.


I wonder if we can ask if they could stick to the honorifics or riot.

[CatRules]

Originally Posted by IceHism

Oh, god. Yen press doesn't use honorifics.

I wonder what they will replace Onii-sama with. Dearest Brother? Exhalted Brother?
Either way, it sounds really weird when you put it in english... ahh language conventions. Can't really do anything about them.

Miyuki: He shall be called "Divine Brother". The One and Only, O Nii-sama.
O Lord Brother, please guide us to thy sacred path.

[LKK]

Originally Posted by amtro

Can you answer me the following, which I am sure a lot of would like to know?
What about long winded volume summaries, will they get taken down too?

The long-winded volume summaries will not be taken down.

[Abysmalheart]

Originally Posted by LKK

The long-winded volume summaries will not be taken down.

what about illustrations and such ?

[Ultragunner]

Originally Posted by CatRules

Miyuki: He shall be called "Divine Brother". The One and Only, O Nii-sama.
O Lord Brother, please guide us to thy sacred path.

Oh yeah, that reminds me. You guys know Campione? The translator of that LN actually uses words like "Exhalted Sister", "Honourable Uncle",...etc... especially when the characters have their conservation.....hm....I dunno, have never read anything published by Yen Press yet

[Chris38]

Originally Posted by Abysmalheart

what about illustrations and such ?

Official illustrations from the LN, won't be tolerated in here, since they are a part of the copyrighted work.

At least that's what I think