lost in translation
1 Sep 2007 12:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mayoraaseiIt's times like this that I'm glad I first read it in Japanese....
It's amazing how simple words can hold so many meanings, and become the most difficult to translate.
A simple "no" in English could translate into a whole range of words in Japanese, from "iie" to "chigau" to "dame" to, even loosely, "yamete".
And either way you translate, meaning is lost.
When Fai says to Syaoran, "Please look after Sakura-chan", Syaoran grabs Fai's arm and says "dame".
The sort of wonderfully cryptic CLAMP word that means so many things.
"I can't."
"I am not capable of it."
"I refuse to."
"Don't ask it of me."
"Whatever you're planning, it won't work."
"You're not up to it."
"Don't."
I've always found the Real!Syaoran-Fai dynamic fascinating. Okay, Kuro-Fai is so obvious it's nauseating enough without KuroXFai fans squealing at every page of Fai getting vaguely angsty over Kuro's latest hissy fit. Both Syaoran and Fai are inexplicably protective of each other. Syaoran, implicated as someone who was much more aware of Fai's lies than Kurogane, is nevertheless considerate and protective whenever Fai isn't at his best.
Too much pointless talk in Tsubasa lately ==;
What the hell is going on with Watanuki anyway.
Don't die ;___;
You're like one of the very very few male main characters I like.
It's amazing how simple words can hold so many meanings, and become the most difficult to translate.
A simple "no" in English could translate into a whole range of words in Japanese, from "iie" to "chigau" to "dame" to, even loosely, "yamete".
And either way you translate, meaning is lost.
When Fai says to Syaoran, "Please look after Sakura-chan", Syaoran grabs Fai's arm and says "dame".
The sort of wonderfully cryptic CLAMP word that means so many things.
"I can't."
"I am not capable of it."
"I refuse to."
"Don't ask it of me."
"Whatever you're planning, it won't work."
"You're not up to it."
"Don't."
I've always found the Real!Syaoran-Fai dynamic fascinating. Okay, Kuro-Fai is so obvious it's nauseating enough without KuroXFai fans squealing at every page of Fai getting vaguely angsty over Kuro's latest hissy fit. Both Syaoran and Fai are inexplicably protective of each other. Syaoran, implicated as someone who was much more aware of Fai's lies than Kurogane, is nevertheless considerate and protective whenever Fai isn't at his best.
Too much pointless talk in Tsubasa lately ==;
What the hell is going on with Watanuki anyway.
Don't die ;___;
You're like one of the very very few male main characters I like.
