Translation: The Tale of the A/Z Mangaka, by Shimura Takako
February 15, 2015 12 Comments
From Shimura-sensei’s most recent Aldnoah.Zero post:
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| Oh, Inaho…LOL | |
NB: Both Slaine and Asseylum call Inaho ‘sensei’, but I tried to imagine what they’d probably use if they all spoke English instead… To be frank, Asseylum might already be calling him ‘Inaho’ rather than Mr. Kaiduka…but I’m still debating about that balance… Ah…rethinking ‘Miss Asseylem’ too…
Also, I’m not the biggest fan of doing typesetting…but this experience really helps me understand how difficult it can be finding phrasing that not only sounds in character, but also fits within the constraints of those darned speech bubbles!
edit: One more thing I’ve learnt since is that “koumori-gasa,” literally “bat umbrella” is the Japanese term for the huge Western style umbrella. And that’s why Slaine having one is such a huge thing for all these AU stories from the studio (e.g. the extra story 3 drama CD) and this little comic from Shimura!
About karice
HOT CHOCOLATE IN A BOWL 
No little brother can order his older sister around. I love this pair too. The princess is awake, is she going to lose memory or chaos in Moon? No chocolate in A/Z? From the last 2 episodes I think Inaho likes princess Asseylum, poor Slaine, all his hard work for nothing…
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Hehe…I loved that exchange!! It was sooo cute!
For Valentine’s Day? In the show itself? Well, I highly doubt it’s Valentine’s Day in the show! But there’s been soooo much stuff on twitter!
Er…I spent half my morning translating and typesetting this, so I still haven’t written anything about the episode!
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“Loved the little exchange between Inaho and Inko, where he apologises for not wanting to get her involved in his scheme with Mazuurek.”
Before Inaho apologies to Inko, he said: “But I can’t see what I really want to know.” Which is the princess, I think he is apologizing to her not returning her feelings. Inko said “Mo”, which in English was translated to “Jerk”. Isn’t in Asia culture when the names are very similar, usually it is a not good match?!
Slaine still puzzles me, why he turns against Earth, is he doing this for Asseylum, for himself or for other people of lower classes? No matter how noble his motives, the means does not justify, he is basically kill other people to achieve what he wants, I think he will die (reminds me of Zankyou no Terror, when Japanese government used children to justify their goal).
“Lemrina wasn’t able to kill her sister after all. Because they’re sisters?”
I think she thinks that she will never awake. Now that she is awake I think Lemrina might want to kill her because she would an obstacle for her now.
“The question of who her gun is turned on in the first opening?”
To the viewer, she was an innocent princess but now she is a bad girl with a gun. LOL
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Eep…I wasn’t expecting you to reply to comments from my LJ here!
No, I don’t think that’s right. First, I doubt Inaho has even noticed that Inko likes him, so focused is he on Asseylum and the war. Second, his second line of “I didn’t want to get you involved” makes more sense if the apology is about him not telling her about Mazuurek. I’d be pressed to think of a way for it to be connected to his not returning Inko’s feelings.
“Mou” is actually something like “Jeez.” I think “jerk” works here, but I get the impression that a lot of people find “jerk” to be a harsher insult than the “mou” that Inko used…
The ‘no similar names’ thing in Asian culture is more about surnames: you’re not meant to marry someone with the same surname because that means you’re ‘related’ to them.
One of Slaine’s major goals ever since Saazbaum told him about Vers history has been to change the Vers system that has arguably led to this horrific and destructive war. I don’t think it’s entirely clear yet what he’s trying to do, but this is obviously the major turning point.
To be honest, if she is unlikely to wake up, the kind thing to do would be to kill her. Now that Asseylum has woken up, however, would Lemrina really be willing to have her blood on her hands? It’s not actually that easy to kill someone, you know. At least, not for most people…
Nah. Aoki has always said that that shot in the opening is symbolic. But it signifies Asseylum making a decision about whose actions and goals she is going to oppose, presumably.
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Btw, pira, after watching this week’s episode, I wonder if you may have been right about Inaho knowing that Inko likes him. Because if so, then this week presents Slaine’s actions as a very interesting point of contrast… (commentary here). I still think Inaho’s apology is about not involving her in freeing Mazuurek though…
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After the ending of Season 1, I said Inaho is in love with Asseylum, if you can see that than you will understand. Inaho has 2 battles, one is Earth against Mars and other is against Slaine. The battle against Slaine, the prize is Asseylum, for Inaho, he is looking her affection and also hers dreams, the war peace.
Inaho didn’t want to get Inko involved in his second battle because it has to do with Asseylum. I personally think Inaho has a lot in common with Arata character and Slaine has a lot in common with Taichi character, LOL.
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Hm…personally, I don’t think Inaho is looking for Asseylum’s affections per se. I think he’s realistic in the sense that, under normal circumstances, he’d never be able to be with her anyway, because she’s the princess of her country. But Inaho is driven by his love for Asseylum: he wants to be her strength, he wants to help her achieve her dreams. And after episode 12, he also feels responsible for what happened to her, for not only was it his plan they were following, she was also shot trying to help him.
Inaho leaving Inko (and Yuki!) out of his plan to break Mazuurek out of prison shows that he doesn’t want to use them for his goals, even though he knows that they would support him no matter what he does. And that’s where the contrast is with Slaine, who is using Lemrina in that way.
I’m not going to compare A/Z with Chihayafuru. Even if there are some minor similarities on the surface, they’re very different stories and characters.
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umm.. If it’s not much trouble, can you please translate the other radio shows of aldnoah? And thank you for translating the one above. ^_^
I really enjoyed your translations of them.
The current episode was enjoyable. Both sides continues to advance, though I really much prefer the Vers more. I was also conflicted about the princess’ awakening. Was she really in a coma, or put to sleep by Slaine? It also seems like Inaho’s goal or mind this season is all about the princess. Poor Inko. But the one I pity the most is definitely Lemrina..
What did you think about the symbolism of the roses? And about Slaine’s talk about the ‘impossible’? Was it all about giving up hope in the princess’ awakening?
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Hi, thanks for reading and commenting!
By radio show translation, I take it you mean the one where Aoki Ei answered Amamiya and Minase’s question about the first cour of the show? The rest of the radio shows aren’t anything like it, so I’m not sure what you were hoping to see translated out of them… Most of the show consists of the two seiyuu reviewing what happened in the episode that aired that week and answering questions sent in by viewers. About 5 more minutes is spent on something fun: e.g. an “A/Z alternate universe” section, or a “tell us about Vers” section. There are some amusing bits and pieces here and there, mostly to do with the camaraderie between the seiyuu (and their love for Slaine), but that’s about it, really…
The political intrigue is all on the Vers side, which makes following them more interesting story-wise. For the most part, anyway. I personally really like the Earth side for the interactions between its characters. As this episode showed, even though the princess is what’s driving Inaho, he also tries to keep the other people dear to him (Yuki, Inko) safe. Personally, the subtle little exchange between Inaho and Inko about Mazuurek was my favourite part of episode 18. Though the Slaine-Lemrina exchange was really painful to watch as well.
Hm…Slaine decided on the meaning of “impossible” after the Tharsis kept giving him no way out. However, I feel that he took it in the sense of “there are no such things are miracles, so you can’t rely on some higher power to reach your goals. You have to create the outcome you want yourself.” I’m not sure if he took it like Eddelrittuo did, applying it to whether Asseylum would wake up or not. If he did, then it suggests that he has given up on the hope that Asseylum would wake up. What that means now that he and Lemrina have chosen to work together, and given that Asseylum has come out of her coma, is going to be interesting. I can think of a few possibilities, but the writers have always managed to surprise me. ^^
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Thank you for doing this and the summary.
Look like they took out your credit already. 🙂
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Well…the summary’s mostly for me and what I want to rant or spam about.
And that was someone else’s translation. And whilst they’re a bit too literal for my liking, I learnt something new. Puns galore! So thanks!
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