Ever since Mr. Imai started his blog back in June, many of you have been wondering--what do the other band members think about blogging? Would they ever start their own blogs? You're not the only ones who wondered. In the latest issue of FT, the Fish Tank staff made sure to ask the band members about their opinions on blogging, and how they felt about Imai's blog specifically. Let's see what Mr. Sakurai had to say.
FT: Mr. Imai has started a blog. Have you looked at it?
Sakurai: No...
FT: Why not!?
Sakurai: I haven't looked at it! Am I supposed to have looked at it~?
FT: Well aren't you curious?
Sakurai: Not at all! Ah ha ha ha! But, I still don't really get it. A blog is a sort of diary-thing, right?
FT: Yeah, sort of like that.
Sakurai: Then it would be sketchy of me to read Imai's diary without him knowing♥
FT: But, since he's a Buck-Tick member, he's writing about Buck-Tick.
Sakurai: Then why are other Buck-Tick members supposed to read it! (Laughs hysterically) Why should I bother? There's no reason. People should only read it if they're interested. If it's a diary about Buck-Tick being written by a Buck-Tick member, then I already know it all, right? If I feel like it, I'll read it. But I'm sure the fans are all excited that he's started a blog.
FT: So you don't want to start a blog yourself?
Sakurai: No, not at all. And I don't know how anyway. It sounds like a pain in the ass.
To be honest, I don't think Sakurai should be translated in English as saying things like "pain in the ass", unless he used those exact crude words in Japanese. Notice how Sakurai is very proper in his speech and practically never uses even the mildest curse words. Tone in interview translation makes ALL the difference.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, tone in interview translation does make all the difference, which is why I carefully chose the wording I did. In this case, Sakurai used the expression "mendo kusee" which is more or less exactly equivalent in tone and meaning to the English phrase "pain in the ass."
ReplyDeleteYou're right, 面倒くせぇ would translate as "pain in the ass". However Sakurai says, and I quote, "面倒くさがりなんだよ". We're talking about the verb 面倒くさがる, which translates as: to grudge the trouble of doing something, to be too lazy to do. It's not quite "pain in the ass". And as I stated before, Sakurai uses very proper language in most of his interviews.
ReplyDeleteUsing the word "mendo kusai" (or any of its forms) in Japanese comes across as pretty direct; and in Japan, directness is usually rude. The other reason why I used the phrase "pain in the ass" is that the whole tone of Sakurai's comment was quite blunt and dismissive. "Mattaku kyoumi ga nai," the original Japanese for what I translated as "not at all," actually means "I have absolutely no interest," and is in fact a pretty cold thing to say. "I have absolutely no interest" doesn't sound like natural English, though, so I displaced the rudeness and channeled it into the phrase "pain in the ass" later in the comment in order to preserve the overall tone while making the phrasing more conversational.
ReplyDeleteTranslating is an art, not a science, and in the end it requires a lot of personal decision making. I'm happy to explain the logic behind my translations to anyone who has questions. However, if you think you can do a better job than I can, you might spend your time better by just writing your own translations rather than arguing with me.
Do you think Mr. Sakurai was in a bad mood during the interview? Almost sounds like he was aggravated.
ReplyDeleteHe might have been a little stressed out, but probably not aggravated. Maybe he didn't want to risk being bombarded with fan requests for him to start a blog, who knows.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the translations!! And yes, I absolutely agree with you when you say that translation is an art and, it's rather subjective! Specially when it comes to Japanese. So far you're doing a great work and thank you for spending your time doing so!!!! Forever grateful.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I for one think "pain in the ass" totally sounds like something Acchan would say about blogging. X)
ReplyDeleteLoving you for translating this!