I first got into otome game translation because I was hired to FIX a translation that had been done by a group of 40-something men who touted themselves as professionals.
It was so bad I basically had to re-translate it from scratch, because that was quicker. 🧵
It was so bad I basically had to re-translate it from scratch, because that was quicker. 🧵
And I don't mean "bad" in the sense of "full of typos/mistakes" or "crappy English".
I mean the translators didn't respect the game or the audience and it SHOWED.
They thought romance for women was dumb, and it SHOWED.
They thought WOMEN were dumb, and boy, did it show. 2/11
I mean the translators didn't respect the game or the audience and it SHOWED.
They thought romance for women was dumb, and it SHOWED.
They thought WOMEN were dumb, and boy, did it show. 2/11
They made the men even MORE sexist in the EN, if you can believe it.
Friendly banter turned into mansplaining, or mocking, or ugly sniping.
They had the men call the heroine all sorts of insulting diminutives.
The romance scenes were NOT ROMANTIC. In a romance game! 3/11
Friendly banter turned into mansplaining, or mocking, or ugly sniping.
They had the men call the heroine all sorts of insulting diminutives.
The romance scenes were NOT ROMANTIC. In a romance game! 3/11
The heroine's personality changed wildly from scene to scene because they kept deciding she was "too boring", but not being consistent in how they wanted to "improve" her.
(my PM noted how she'd sound like a grandma in one scene, and then a linebacker in the next. 😅) 4/11
(my PM noted how she'd sound like a grandma in one scene, and then a linebacker in the next. 😅) 4/11
And that's not to mention all the changes they made without asking, like randomly making 3 suitors Russian and having them speak broken English and occasional Russian words. They even changed all the Ws to Vs, making it unreadable! (they didn't have accents in the JA, btw!) 5/11
Another suitor got a (bad) Cockney accent, and one spoke "like Austin Powers", to quote my PM.
They defended this by claiming "how else can we differentiate between them?"
(pro-tip: lots of ways! if you need thick accents to show personality, you're a bad writer!) 6/11
They defended this by claiming "how else can we differentiate between them?"
(pro-tip: lots of ways! if you need thick accents to show personality, you're a bad writer!) 6/11
They also renamed multiple characters without asking first, and changed 2 of the 3 kingdoms in the game to be an Empire and a Tsardom because "having 3 kingdoms/kings is too confusing for the women playing". (?! it's not, btw, unless you think all women are idiots......) 7/11
On top of that, the file I worked on had comments from them defending their decisions, and they were as condescending towards THEIR CLIENT as they were towards the game. This company paid them very well, yet it was all passive-aggressive bullshit and mansplaining and... ugh. 8/11
My PM asked them to hire at least one woman on their team to work on this game, and they flat-out REFUSED.
Never mind that they didn't understand women at all... they still thought they were doing a great job and that they knew their client's game better than their client. 9/11
Never mind that they didn't understand women at all... they still thought they were doing a great job and that they knew their client's game better than their client. 9/11
The only reason this game was successful was because of the hard work put in by the women (like myself) hired to fix the mess they'd made, in the short time available before the game's release. If it had been released with their translation, it would have flopped. 10/11
There are so many things I could say here, but my main point is: don't work on a game if you don't respect it.
Work on things you like, and let those who love otome translate it.
You're doing EVERYONE a disservice when you disrespect these games and their audience. 11/11
Work on things you like, and let those who love otome translate it.
You're doing EVERYONE a disservice when you disrespect these games and their audience. 11/11
Addendum: since this thread is getting around a bit, just thought I'd add: you can also hear me talking about this job on a podcast I did with Jennifer late last year. (this tweet links to a clip of that segment; the whole podcast is linked in the reply!)
2nd addendum: I just realised this wasn't clear, so...
These were not random guys. This was a pro game localization agency. They're still active. They get paid far more than most translators I know could ever dream of. And you've probably played a game they translated.
😔
These were not random guys. This was a pro game localization agency. They're still active. They get paid far more than most translators I know could ever dream of. And you've probably played a game they translated.
😔
