The Good, The Bad, and The Censored - KNT DVD Reviews

[felineki]

Hello, glad to see another user who's interested in looking into more accurate translations. I had wondered a bit about the "Yattarou ja nee ka?" phrase myself, since he does say it enough that it could be considered a catch phrase of sorts. It's sort of a hard phrase to work with translation-wise, since not only is it a pun on his name ("Am I Yattarou or not?" gets that part across well), but there's an underlying literal meaning that's something along the lines of "Let's do it!", "Let's go get 'em!", or "Let's give 'em some!". Sort of a call to action. I suppose "Do a beautiful job" was their attempt to get across that part of the meaning, but the tone seems really off, IMO.

[Violent Violet]

Hi! ^^ Yeah, I do my best for have an accurate translation of this show, and as I said, if I can be of some help... here I am! ^^
I also consider "Yattarou ja ne ka" as a catch phrases. Yattarou says it a lot of times! ^^ Well, the real thing that really disappointed me, is the wrong translation of some parts... 
But well, I hope that working together, we can finally resolve all KNT secrets. Eheh! ^^
But maybe do you prefer if I open some topic for the episodes here -> https://www.edoropolis.org/forums/index.php?board=24.0
I really appreciated your opinion about the catch phrase! 

[Clover]

Aside from not having an army of translators to help with a fairly long show, how feasible would it be to subtitle the show without hooking it up to a video file?  People who have the boxset already have the raw episodes, would there be a way to make a file of subtitles so that if they ran the dvd they could get modified subs?  This is just a mental exercise, it would be an impossible amount of work.

[Violent Violet]

Well, for my personal translation I used the raws and with Aegisubs I made the subs referring to the Discotek's subs and the help of some friend who talk japanese...
Unluckily my English is not good enough for make perfect subs for everybody. But well, if somebody who can speak English properly wants to use my subs, I have no problems! ^^
For now, the only thing I can do, is to try to understand with the help of everybody, what are the real wrong translation... Gh, for example, just yesterday night I was watching the last episode, and Karamaru called Ko'on-no-Kami "Okama Mitsune"... and Discotek's sub translated it as "sly fox"... I can't take it! 

[Clover]

Well, for my personal translation I used the raws and with Aegisubs I made the subs referring to the Discotek's subs and the help of some friend who talk japanese...
Unluckily my English is not good enough for make perfect subs for everybody. But well, if somebody who can speak English properly wants to use my subs, I have no problems! ^^
For now, the only thing I can do, is to try to understand with the help of everybody, what are the real wrong translation... Gh, for example, just yesterday night I was watching the last episode, and Karamaru called Ko'on-no-Kami "Okama Mitsune"... and Discotek's sub translated it as "sly fox"... I can't take it! 

It's not a popular use anymore, but 'sly' can refer to someone being gay.  It would have been a good translation/innuendo if it was commonly used.  This is frustrating though.

[Violent Violet]

It's not a popular use anymore, but 'sly' can refer to someone being gay.  It would have been a good translation/innuendo if it was commonly used.  This is frustrating though.

I never heard that word before! Then, isn't Mitsune the japanese for "Female Fox"? I'd like to know all these jokes! Well, I'm pretty sure there are some other bad translations about the episode 53! I'm going to watch KNT again, and talk with you about the translations I'm not sure about!

[Violent Violet]

For example, I can't understand the translations of Otasuke Member's catch phrases!
This is Gotton's! What does "Gottonda, mo toi gattenda" means??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpOnEiymJSM&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

[felineki]

It's another pun. "Gatten da!" means something along the lines of "Roger!" or "Understood!" Basically a statement acknowledging that you're going to undertake a task that has been assigned to you. "Gotton" is the character's name, and it sounds very similar to "gatten", so he accidentally mixes the two up to humorous effect. The "motoi" part is basically "whoops, I mean..." It's where he realizes he accidentally said his name and instead goes on to say the "gatten da" phrase he meant to say.

Our Project Dream translators actually came up with a very good translation for this, it was "I'll Gotton it! I mean, I'll get on it!" Not only does the meaning come across, but the pun with his name does, too. I was really pleased with that particular translation, and would suggest we stick with it should we ever decide to do some sort of in-depth resubbing effort.

As for other things the Otasuke Members say, Rikinoshin tends to say "dosukoi!" a lot. That's a typical sumo shout, and doesn't really have a literal meaning as far as I can tell. E. Honda of Street Fighter also says this a lot.

[Violent Violet]

Felineki you're really kind!! If it hadn't been for you... eheh!!
It's really interesting to know the truth about this pun!
Yay, I really love Street Fighter! 
KNT is really full of surprises for me!
I'd like to return the favour! 

My next doubt is about the episode 04.
And here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ljBJK2cbDY&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

Discotek Subs say:
Yattarou: Hey! I found one!
Yattarou: Huh?
Karamaru: You must not try to pocket somebody else's propriety, young man.
Yattarou: But I didn't mean to pocket it.
Yattarou: Look, I'll pay for it, so sell it to me, alright?

But I'm not sure it's corret because I hear 3 time the word "neko" and Yattarou calls Karamaru with a term which ends with the suffix "chan"...
Any idea?

[Violent Violet]

P.S. I forgot to say that Project Dream Team was great and amazing!!

[felineki]

Ah, that was another little pun. The term they were using was "nekobaba", which means to steal, pocket, or embezzle. But literally, kanji for kanji, it means something along the lines of "cat poop". Yattarou takes offense, saying that just because he's a cat ("neko") doesn't mean he was planning to steal ("nekobaba").

My idea for how to translate that line was something like this:

Karamaru: "Youngster, a cat burglar is not something you should aspire to be."
Yattarou: "Just because I'm a cat doesn't mean I'm a cat burglar!"

Granted, "cat burglar" has a bit of different nuance to it, but you do still get the stealing + cat pun in.

The "chan" you heard was part of "okane chanto dasu kara", or "I'll pay for it fair and square".

[Violent Violet]

Well, honestly I found a lot of other strange things about this episode...
02) Discotek didn't translate this part:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3003Nd6Zepk&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

03) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dEprAXcGa0&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
Discotek's subs say:
Yattarou: May I and Miss Omitsu (I can't hear "Miss" Omitsu"   please, say Omi-chan!   ) become a couple?
But what Yattarou really says is a bit different.

04) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGbI8dMdO5A&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
Discotek's subs say:
Ohmiya: Mr. Priest! Mr. Priest! (Well... does he really says Priest?)
Ohmiya: I'm the owner of the Ohmiya Company, and I am here to ask you for your important counsel.
Ohmiya: Please listen to me.
How can be? Ohmiya-san talks for 14 seconds... I'm afraid they subbed only a part of the question!

I really miss Project Dream's wonderful job! ç_ç

[felineki]

2: I had some trouble making out what's being said in that part due to the exaggerated, scratchy old man voice. But after listening several times and taking the context into account, I think he's saying "Washi no jinja de nante koto suru no?!" Or "What do you think you're doing at my shrine?!"

3: What he literally says is more like "May Omi-cchan and I grow more and more close", "close" being in terms of relationship. "Become a couple" isn't exactly literal, but I think it gets the point across.

4: He says "o-bou-sama" (お坊様) of which "Mr. Priest" is a good translation, IMO. Karamaru is pretending to be a priest as part of this episode's scheme, after all. The Discotek subs are actually accurate to what Ohmiya is saying here. Part of the reason it might seem like there's more being said is that he's speaking in a very polite tone that adds a lot of flowery language that doesn't really carry over to English.

[Violent Violet]

Wow! It's incredible how many things I'm learning with you!
And of course, I understand now that translate this show isn't so easy!
I think that all KNT are lucky to have Discotek DVD, and the chance to understand all the puns, thanks to you, felineki!
I continue to watch again the episodes, talking about my doubts... I hope I'm not getting under your skin! 
I really enjoyed the pun with the word "nekobaba" and to discover that Ohmiya talks in a very polite tone! ^^

The "chan" you heard was part of "okane chanto dasu kara", or "I'll pay for it fair and square".

Oh my! I feel really embarassed now, but luckily I don't have missiles inside my head! 

Episode 05: "Aidoru tanjou? Geinoukai no amai wana"

01) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7z7OqrtL0M&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

  : Omi-chan is here to see me.
  : Just stay back, Yattarou!
  : What kinda junk are you spouting, huh?

Well, now if I'm not in the wrong, a "Toraneko" is a wild cat...

02) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoOFHAxDzU0&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

Oh my, this is really to much difficult for me to understand! 
(I'm rewriting all the subs even if I'm pretty sure that most of them can be correct)
  : Oh, cut it out (Teyandee)! I'm sick of such lovey-dovey goop.
  : Look you two, hurry up and make some deliveries, alright?
  : Geez, you're so annoying.
  : Can't you say, "Yattarou-san would you be so kind as to go for a delivery, please?"
  : Right.
  : Although Omi-chan and Pururun are both females, they're as different as chalk and cheese. (I never heard something similiar before in my life! O_o)
  : Chalk and cheese!
  : She's just hopeless as a woman in all ways! (while Yattarou is writing something on a turtle).
  : Hey, Yattarou. I'm afraid you went to far.
  : Sukashii...
  : It's unfair to Pururun to compare her with Omi-chan in the first place.
  : What are you two blabbering about?
   &  : We're going out for a delivery!
  : Those two...
  : Your smile is lovely!
  : Really wonderful, huh?
  : You look amazing in that miniskirt! (This can't be correct... I mean, I hear the words "ear" and "owl", I think).
  : Who in the World are you!?
  : Oh, I'm sorry... Here's my card.
[I'm sorry if I've written to much, of course I would just know if there' s something wrong on this translations ^^)

03) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez5ycsAvTJo&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

  :Isn't there some kind of misunderstanding?
  Anyway it's possible for Omi-chan, but Pururun is one of the wildest shrews in Edoropolis. How can she possibly be an idol singer?
I wonder if that "wildest shrews" is correct... 'cause I'm pretty sure to hear the world "gyaruu".

04) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAdZAIFc4pQ&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

  Oh, good. Very good.
  Those young girls get me all thump-thump and woo-woo! Super! (I heard "Pichi pichi and purin purin)
  Ko'on-no-Kami-sama!
  Gennarisai!
  Yes?
  Which girl do you like better?
   Ko'on-no-Kami-sama!
  Oh, I'm sorry.
  I think the one on the right is more to my liking.
  Oh, my! (Okay, this is "Kon")

05) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU9OoFWz83c&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

  How dare you?
  What are you doing!? I didn't do that on purpose, you Amazon!
  What!? Amazon?
  How dare you call me like that!?
  Hey, you two! This is not the time to quarrel, alright?

06) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doajZ_-CRBk&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

  How dare you? (But I've understood that she's saying that she can't forgive him)
  I'm not upset since I know I'm actually smart, but calling Omi-chan a stupid girl is not cool!
  See? She's eide-awake when it's about her?
  Only time that's happened?
  Did you say something?
  &  Oh, nothing.

Of course I don't pretend a quick answer  I'm really enjoying understand all these things about KNT, but I'm not very satisfated abou the translation of this episode...
Then, there's another catch phrases for Rikinoshin... he often said something like "De gesu"

[felineki]

1: "Doraneko" is something like "stray cat", so you're on the right track. If I were to translate that line more literally, I might do something like:

Sukashii: "Omi-cchan came here to see me. Shoo, stray cat!"

2: We've talked a bit about this exchange before. Sukashii uses the idiom "tsuki to suppon" which is literally "the moon and a snapping turtle". It's a figure of speech that means two things are polar opposites, sort of like how we might say "like night and day" in English. "Like chalk and cheese" apparently is an existing idiom in English with a similar meaning, but like you I hadn't heard it before. It must not be very common. Up until this point, I'd say the Discotek translation works well enough. Of course, next we get into the problems because things start getting interpreted literally and more puns start get stacked on. Yattarou writes "bu" on the snapping turtle's shell to form the word "busu(ppon)", "busu" being a rude term for an ugly woman. Sukashii's following line is actually quite different from the Discotek subs, he says that it's unfair to the poor turtle(!) to be compared to someone as ugly as Pururun. Now you know why she gets so upset. This whole exchange is kind of hard to translate to to all the wordplay involved.

As far what Karamaru in disguise says when he shows up, he says "Mini-zuki no mimizuku", or literally, "An owl that loves miniskirts". It's just a silly pun, "mini-zuki" and "mimizuku" sound similar.

3: Yattarou says "jaja uma gyaru". "Wild shrew" seems like a good translation for "jaja uma" from what I can tell.

4: I'm not entirely sure, but I think the "pichi pichi, puri puri" thing tends to describe attractive female figures. Maybe sort of like how Pepe Le Pew sometimes describes girls as "so round, so firm, so fully packed".   One thing worth noting here is that as Gennarisai starts to interrupt him, Koon no kami seems to start to say "watashi tte hentai", or "I'm such a perv".

5: Yattarou says "kairiki onna", literally something like "inhumanly strong woman". Personally, I think "Amazon" works perfectly here, and was exactly how I was thinking about translating that phrase. He's clearly not trying to be flattering.

6: I myself had wondered a bit about what Sukashii and Yattarou are whispering to each other, but I can't quite make out part of Sukashii's line. Sukashii's saying "Jakkan jibun no koto wo ??? ze" to which Yattarou replies "Omee mo datte no", which is like "You do the same thing".

As for Rikinoshin, he tends to end his sentences with "de gowasu". This is a nuance that doesn't really have a translation, but it tends to be associated with sumo wrestlers a lot n Japanese media. Again, it's something that E. Honda of Street Fighter says in the Japanese versions of the games. Similarly, Gotton uses "de gozaru", which is often associated with ninja and samurai-type characters. To give another Street Fighter example, Guy uses this same phrase. Mietoru uses "de gesu", which I don't really understand the nuance of that well. Nekkii uses "cho" which I understand even less.

As for getting under my skin, far from it! I love this show and am always happy to discuss it. And should we ever start our own fan-driven attempt at a more accurate translation for the series, discussions like this will be exactly what we need.

[Violent Violet]

As for getting under my skin, far from it! I love this show and am always happy to discuss it. Smiley And should we ever start our own fan-driven attempt at a more accurate translation for the series, discussions like this will be exactly what we need.

I understand what you're telling me, but you're really kind and I always would say you "arigatou". ^^
Eheh, so Discotek's sub wasn't so bad, after all.
I'm happy that I finally understood why Pururun was so angry! Eheh, here in Italy we also say "like night and day"... or better, we say "like day and night - Come (like) il giorno (the day) e la notte (and the night) but like "chalk and cheese"... eheh it's the first time for me!
Ooh, so Ko'on-no-Kami calls himself a perv! This guy is always a surprise  I hope to understand him better!
Poor Pururun! I always thought she's so nice with her red hair! 

Mmmh, now I'm watching the episode 06, where finally we meet Usa Hime-sama.
I noticed that she always says, for example, "Hime is" and not "I am". I've read somewhere that japanese girls talk in this way when they're really young or when they want to be nice.
01) But I don't understand the word that Wanko-no-Kami uses for Iei-Iei:
http://youtu.be/_6aF6lF3UhE
  Your Highness (Usa-Hime), so long as Lord Yetyet (????) acts like this, it concernes us retainers, so please study hard so that you might rise and follow him.

02) Then, ahah, I had fun with this Ko'on-no-Kami dance!
http://youtu.be/JYw63RxFFQ4
  Hey, bring this pizzas here! But I hear something like "Kon Koyo! Kon Koyo! Pi-za-ya-saaan!" XD
But I ignore if there's a pun, here!

03) Oh, and I found interesting this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuBUkKfkCoc&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

  He-Here're your pizzas.
  Oh, thanks! (But he says Gokurosama, and if I remember well, this word is used to say thank you to a people ... less important than you. I mean, Ko'on-no-Kami is the Roujuu and Yattarou a pizaya-san  )

04) Then, I wonder if this part is correct: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45-Vq-gXIkQ&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

  Ugh, I don't feel so good.
  Well, may I go, now?
  Why are you still there?
  Well... er... Excuse me, then. I'll come back for the carrying cases later. Heh heh... good!
  Wait! The way out is over there!
  Eheheh! I'm so sorry.
  Youngsters these days are so scatterbrained. But this pizza sure is good.

Then we have Usa Hime who starts to call Yattarou manuke ninja. ^^

05) And I don't know what to say about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08GcW5umREQ&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
Okay. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Yo! (Well, we have a similar saying in Italy, so I didn't investigate to much about it! ^^)

06) I also wonder if this is correct: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpHwVDRXJ0Y&feature=youtu.be
  I'm sure he's already dead and gone.
  Goodness! Don't croak! Poor Yattarou...

07) And here we have Mietoru! I'm not agree at all with this translation! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP4UKQzpp3A&hd=1
  Sure thing! I'll do anything for you, boss!
Mietoru says taishou (okay, I can accept it as boss) but isn't he used to use the word Taishou for Yattarou and Gesu for Otama?

08) Oh, and here we have an example of Mietoru's "de gesu" that of course it didn't appear in Discotek translation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htp2dhQjBSU&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

  Let me go ahead of you!
  Don't be so reckless, boss!

09) Then, Discotek translated the name of the Mecha as Tumblebug, but his Japanese name is "Funkorogashi" that means "dung beetle", isn't it?
And I'm pretty sure there' a little pun here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4DtcDppHmM&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
Funkorogashi N°3: They dared to make a fool of me! Now I'm really mad!

10) Finally, I had fun with Ko'on-no-Kami here... I don't know if this can be really translated! XD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnDA4MzO4kI&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
  Yep. Uh-huh. That's right!

[Violent Violet]

I also found this!
I wonder if K + L have some particular meaning! 
I always wait for you, felineki, to make my day! Eheh!!

[felineki]

1: Wanko no kami says "ue-sama" (上様), which my dictionary defines as "emperor, shogun, honored person, honoured person". "His highness" might be a good translation.
2: It's "Koko yo! Koko yo! Piza ya-saaan!", basically "Over here! Over here! Pizza delivery boooy!" So the Discotek subtitles more or less get the basic meaning right, but the Koon no Kami-esque goofiness/creepiness is sort of lost. Koon no kami does tend to use a lot of "kon" puns, but to my ears it doesn't sound like he is doing so in this particular case.
3: I don't know much about the nuances of "gokurousama", so I can't really comment.
4: It seems more or less right. But Koon no kami's "kimochi warukatta" is in reference to his previous accidental kiss with Yattarou, so to make things a bit clearer I'd probably go with "That was disgusting" rather than "I don't feel so good".
5: Sounds like he's saying "In that case, I'll have to break through!" So yeah, pretty different from the subtitles.
6: Sukashii's line is pretty much right. But Pururun is saying "Engi de mo nai koto iun ja nai!" After doing some research, it looks like that basically amounts to "You shouldn't say that, it's bad luck/it's a bad omen/it'll jinx him!", or something along those lines. Maybe a natural but not too literal translation would be something like "Don't even joke about something like that!" After that she just says "Yattarou..." in a worried tone.
7: You are correct in that taishou/boss refers to Yattarou, Mietoru almost always calls him that. Whoever translated that line simply misinterpreted it and assumed he was referring to Otama.
8: These two lines seem pretty correct to me. Of course that "de gesu" thing is a hard nuance to translate. We might have to do some more research into that.
9: "Tumblebug" is apparently another name for a dung beetle, so it's technically correct. I personally probably would have gone with "dung beetle" since that seem to be the more common term. And yes, there is a pun there, "funkorogoshi" (dung beetle) and "fungeki" (furious). Wonder if there's some creative writing we could do to get that across.
10: Yeah, seems like just a nervous laugh to me. But I think the "Yep. Uh-huh. That's right!" actually works pretty well given the context, he is desperately trying to convince everyone of this flimsy cover-up story he just cooked up after all.

And the box in the hallway is labelled "tenchi muyou" (no relation to the anime of the same name), basically "this end up" like you often see written on boxes containing fragile materials. Don't know if the "K-L" has any significance or not.

[Violent Violet]

Awww!! Thank you very much, felineki!
I'm still thinking about a way to return the favor!  
Now I'll ask about a friend if he has some ideas about Otasuke Member's catch phrases!
BDW, while I was watching again the episode with your guide, I heard this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpPQD5HVkbs&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
  Okay. I'll give you special permission. But you have to pay for it!
The fact is that I hear the word "Okame" (Tortoise) and I wonder if this is another pun...

[Violent Violet]

And with this, we finished to talk about the first DVD! ^^
I don't have a lot of doubts about the episode 07.
01) I wonder if Karamaru really said CHARRED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWlPWK3ygqY&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
  (Kuso). Those stupid Nyanki charred me again.

02) And I've got some doubts about this part of translation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhCpcMd2RGQ&hd=1
  I'll be true to myself from now on!
  Just wait and see what I do, Nyanki! I'll destroy you this time.
  You shall never escape my wrath. I'll beat you to a pulp.

03) Here I'm not sure if there's a pun in Ko'on-no-Kami first phrases and about Karamaru's last words
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGAbb0f1Iuc&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
  You can bet on it!
  Now, Gennarisai, call in Karamaru, will you?
  I've been standing by, Lord.
  Oh, Karamaru!
  I will secure the secret robot by all means necessary, Lord!
  If I successfully acquire the secret robot, I'll surely be a hero again...
  I'm ready for you, Nyanki. If I get you creatures too, it really will be like killing two birds with one stone.

04) Oh, and here there's a little mistake!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eaQoSf2FcM&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
The subs says: Oh, look at all the valuable goods! I've got dibs on this! But the kaeasu ninja is clearly saying Otama's phrase: "Wind velocity... Direction... Here goes!"

05) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bemXna4PEw&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
  Here I am! (Oh really?)

06) And finally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfaDOemnFXw&feature=youtu.be
  Oh! It's ready to eat! As long I have this, I can cook any kind of food!
  I can warm rice or anything else, see?
  Indeed, the electronic oven does an excellent job. It is truly an invention of heroic proportion.
  Oh! It's terrible! Can't I be an hero after all?

PLUS: We discovered that the real name of the "Karakara Village" Is "Karakara no sato".
And I think that "Giyaman N°0" is better than "Gyaman N°0".

And I also found this little pic: