Comments on: School Rumble – Domestic Vs. Import Manga Rumble!

By: Translator

Translator — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 06:13:39 +0000

I salute you guys. Sometimes it takes me a good 15 minutes to go through a single page of japanese to authentically translate it as a professional translator.

By: Hung

Hung — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 02:51:06 +0000

Yeah, I think my college’s Japanese program is pretty crappy, though.

Mostly the vocabulary is the part that confuses me. Grammar and stuff like that isn’t a big deal, so I have to look up every word I don’t know. Plus I’m pretty bad at remembering kanji.

Maybe 5 minutes is exaggerating. Probably more like 2-3, but I’m getting better!

By: Eleutheria

Eleutheria — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 02:25:32 +0000

Not to be rude, but it took you ~5 minutes per page with 3 years of college japanese? SR has furigana as well… I have less than 3 years of college japanese and read short novels like Haruhi or Shana…

By: Morph

Morph — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 20:53:26 +0000

“Del Rey does a FABULOUS job bringing things over.

In fact, when I am looking for new titles, I tend to skip TOKYOPOP and especially Viz because they butcher things.”

Oh, for sure. They tend to leave much more of the original flavor, even if it isn’t the easy way out translation-wise, which I super-appreciate~

“[School Rumble] hasn’t made me laugh once. Maybe I’m broken?”

That could be, or perhaps you are…fixed (for lack of a better word) and everyone else is happily broken~ ^_^

By: Randall Fitzgerald

Randall Fitzgerald — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 18:14:08 +0000

I have said it time and again, and I like to use my knowledge of Japanese culture and what I know of the language as a basis for believing me when I say it… Del Rey does a FABULOUS job bringing things over.

In fact, when I am looking for new titles, I tend to skip TOKYOPOP and especially Viz because they butcher things.

But, that is why I did my interview with translator David Ury. People don’t look at who is translating their books, or what company is doing it, they just grab up whatever, but using the company, anf further, the translator, you can start to get a feel for who is putting out good, and closer-to-original manga.

As a side note, I hate School Rumble. It hasn’t made me laugh once. Maybe I’m broken?

By: Morph

Morph — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 10:19:06 +0000

I have volumes 1-2 from Del Ray and the Japanese volume 1. The first thing I noticed was that, indeed, the JP version had noticeably smaller form factor. The thing is nearly pocket-sized. The second is that the page color is different from the EN version.

The EN version is a pure white colored pages whilst the JP version is almost a faded yellow on its way to white. It’s not because it’s older, but simply because that’s the way it is, as other import title I own have the same deal.

Also, the cover is a removable glossy softcover, which hides away an orange repeating text background (SHONEN MAGAZINE COMICS over and over) and the words, “School Rumble Volume 1″, and then the age rating.

I dig how the removable cover has a little extra art on the inside folds. The copy I grabbed also had a second piece of paper with an add for School Rumble Ni Gakki on it.

But joy of joys, rubi hiragana on nearly all kanji. Perfect for those of us who don’t know many~

Also…extra points to the JP version, as it came with a bookmark. :p

By: TP

TP — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 10:13:26 +0000

I won’t debate on the merits of learning Japanese alone or with a teacher, but hey, if you want to go solo, might as well buy both manga!

(Seriously hoping to see a “moy” syndrome in you!!!)

And thanks for the comparisons. I think I’d consider the English manga in the future.

By: Nekki

Nekki — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 08:42:10 +0000

Looks like english version is worth to buy…

By: tj han

tj han — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 05:33:29 +0000

The englishv ersion looks good. I read the Chinese translated version and there are no notes at all.