[DementedDuck]

Uh, while I'm very appreciative and grateful for being able to read English scans of Cardcaptor Sakura online, I need to know, am I the only one who found many of the translators side notes to be distracting and obnoxious at best, and offensive and homophobic at worst?

Translator notes are a useful tool in explaining cultural references and expressions that may get lost in translation, but notes comparing the manga and the anime are quite unnecessary, and have no place in the scanlations. No one needs to little comments like “Eriol is mine XD”, “Yamazaki no baka,” and “In case you haven’t realized, she (or it) is after Touya’s magic” while they’re reading, especially since the last example is a spoiler. However, my biggest concerns lay in the comments she makes about Tomoyo.

In volume 2, on page 59, Tomoyo and Sakura say “I love you,” to each other. Then on the panel where Tomoyo says “but Sakura-chan’s meaning is different when she says she loves me,” there is a note that just says “EWWW.” A comment like that is completely inappropriate! On the very next page, there is a note saying “Do you realize this is incest as well?” This is incorrect, as second cousins isn’t actually considered incest in Japan, and it sounds very unsavoury, as the ‘as well’ implies that the confession Tomoyo just made about her love for Sakura is already wrong for reasons other than incest. The most disgusting and offensive comment is on page 152 of volume 7. Upon being asked by Sakura if she was going to by a bear kit, Tomoyo said “I just want my true love to be happy. That has always been my wish.” Sakura asks, “Then you don’t care about being liked in return?” Tomoyo begins to answer by saying that of course being liked back would make her happy, and right there, at the bottom of the page, is a note that says “but it’s never gonna happen so get a boyfriend, girl.” Not only does this comment interrupt one of the sweetest admissions in this series, that Sakura’s happiness is Tomoyo’s happiness, but it perpetuates a ridiculously homophobic sentiment, that lesbians should ‘give it up and find a man.’

I don’t expect complete professionalism from fan-translations; that would be ridiculous. I do expect a certain amount of class, as well as a respect for the source material, neither of which this translator has shown. Putting the other pointless and distracting comments aside, the remarks she made about Tomoyo should never have been left in, as not only are they rude and offensive, they are completely contrary to the message CLAMP was trying to convey when they wrote this series: unconditional acceptance of all forms of love. If the translator couldn’t take that to heart, she could have at least had the decency to keep her opinions out of the translation, or better yet, left the translation to someone who is more comfortable with CLAMP’s material.

Your thoughts?

[sailormoon10101]

yea that is rather rude and annoying. i like normal translations without all the added comments. i mean some comments are ok but ones like that i think shouldn't be there

[chinfo]

True, I completely agree. Those type of comments should be made in a rant page or avoided altogether. Whenever I edit or typset a scanlation I always pare down notes to the barest minimum, even if they're legitimate or necessary. I find 'em distracting at best.

[SiriusLoveGirl]

I agree! Those notes are not needed at all. They're really rude, and just jarring to see in such a sweet manga. They're also visually distracting. >_>

[HiME_Kaori]

I just got done reading vol. 2 on here and it made me angry with the translators notes. They were homophobic, atleast they came off that way. Tomoyo did love Sakura, it was another form of love. Besides, I don't know how the translator could enjoy the manga since there are moments between Yukito and Touya as well ^^
The main thing was that it was rude, and I am glad others were upset about it also! ^^

[TsubasaxWing]

Thank you! I felt the exact same way. I found them beyond offensive, and was actually going to start a topic about it until I saw this. You explained with much better detail and such, though, so thanks =D

[Jaimers]

You completely hit the nail on the head. I first read the scanlation of this series on another site quite some time ago and every time one of them came up I found myself becoming very angry. After all this time thinking about the comments the translator made still make me mad.

They where absolutely unnecessary, and with this being one of my favorite series, I was very offended by them. Especially the comments made on the couplings. I will defend Sakura and Syaoran to the death, but I am touched by the unselfish feelings and devotion of Tomoyo. She is such a wonderful friend, person and one of my favorite characters. The translator’s rude commentary about how she should "just find a boyfriend" should have never been made. It wasn't her place.

She was trying way too hard to be funny and judging by the reactions in this thread, completely failed in the process. This translator should have thought twice before putting such closed minded comments in a CLAMP manga. The creators and the fans do not appreciate it.

[seeliespright]

Hm, that's really horrible.

Look around on the Internet and see if you can find scanlations by another scanlator, and either upload them here (instructions are in the Help Desk) or give me the link and I'll get to it when I can.

If you can't find any at all, I can edit out the comments on the worst pages. I'm against homophobia, so I won't mind doing the work if there's not another scanlation. You'll have to give me time if I have to do the work though.

<3 your friendly mod

[DementedDuck]

Originally Posted by seeliespright

Hm, that's really horrible.

Look around on the Internet and see if you can find scanlations by another scanlator, and either upload them here (instructions are in the Help Desk) or give me the link and I'll get to it when I can.

If you can't find any at all, I can edit out the comments on the worst pages. I'm against homophobia, so I won't mind doing the work if there's not another scanlation. You'll have to give me time if I have to do the work though.

<3 your friendly mod

Oh wow, that would be great! I actually know someone who edited out the comments and uploaded them on mediafire. I'll send you a PM with the links.

And I'm glad to see so many others agree about the comments. Thereis no place in Cardcaptor Sakura for homophobia, least of all in the margins of the manga itself.

[kiwi479]

yea your right... its very annoying.. they should just subb whats there.. adding comments is for a blog.. not the scan gaa.. very annoying