True Tenchi novels licensed by Seven Seas!

[Harls]

Maybe it was

Nope.

[AstroNerdBoy]

I don't know how I hadn't already read it. I don't remember it being part of Tatsumingo's stuff from way back when. Maybe it was and I never noticed.

i wouldnt get any hopes  up the only really interesting thing in the back of the book was how theyfirst tried to get it out as a radio drama called ryoohki dash...

I was interested in how the apparent plan was to have 4-5 of these True Tenchi Muyo novels.

[Eff Efferson]

I don't know how I hadn't already read it. I don't remember it being part of Tatsumingo's stuff from way back when. Maybe it was and I never noticed.

i wouldnt get any hopes  up the only really interesting thing in the back of the book was how theyfirst tried to get it out as a radio drama called ryoohki dash...

I was interested in how the apparent plan was to have 4-5 of these True Tenchi Muyo novels.

well i wouldnt be suprised now that ova 4 is done if we dont end up getting them after gxp renza ark is done..

im betting gxp renza ark ends up not only with seinas second wedding buy tenchis

[Tenbac86]

Holy crap, mine is coming in tomorrow. 

[Eff Efferson]

Holy crap, mine is coming in tomorrow. 

same im gonna do a compairison commentary and probably and hide the translation i did  for a good long while

[Harls]

I like that it's big enough to not need a magnifying glass.

[Ryo-Okay]

I hate how big western light novels are. I would much prefer if they were 5" x 7" like manga releases.

[Eff Efferson]

its great if u ask me. the actual novels are 1\4th the size its a pain i  the ass to read in japanise.

[Ricin]

I just got mine and blew through the first 3 chapters.

Good shit. I kinda hate the hand holding where he says what is going to happen in Tenchi's future but you learn to live with it.

[Eff Efferson]

I just got mine and blew through the first 3 chapters.

Good shit. I kinda hate the hand holding where he says what is going to happen in Tenchi's future but you learn to live with it.

yeah i did too why i cut it out of my adaption. but its somehow declunked here i remember it being way more jarring in japanese...

the lack of contractions peeves me..
also they changed asamis name to asumi.... its a light nitpuck

[AstroNerdBoy]

When it came to names, I was kinda at the mercy of the translator. A name I was aware of, like Airi, was easy to fix. But names I wasn't aware of, I just went with what the translator provided.

But that does raise an interesting question (and hopefully one that doesn't get me into trouble)--if the translator did a name with an apostrophe to help make sure the name is pronounced correctly, would that be OK with you all? For example, SANZENIN Nagi in Hayate the Combat Buter had the official family name spelling Sanzen'in.

[Eff Efferson]

i dunno why anyone character in true tenchi would need an apostraphe though? like who?
and you really should read my version if your giving character name cues and such cause the old versions were filled with giant holes and i filled them in  but kept the dialoge vauge . im going to be hiding the links to jurai soon though

i like how they did shuzan cause thats how its pronounced but its spelled shyuuzan in japanise which is just confusing its a hard name to pronounce honestly


overall im glad with how this came out. it could have been a huge trainwreck not because they didnt do their job right but because this book is soooooo clunky in the original language... they kept the parts that make it that way but phrased it better. 

but this is just the first novel and it really isnt the most extreme or hard to translate book... although they are really doing quite alot of soft localization in this novel... like calling it a juraian lute instead of a biwa... its negligable there are alot of things in later novels that just will give any translater a struggle if they plan to soft localize it that way.

[AstroNerdBoy]

i dunno why anyone character in true tenchi would need an apostraphe though? like who?

Kane'aki. I mentioned it to my boss at Seven Seas and for now, I've decided to leave it like this because of the pronunciation.

and you really should read my version if your giving character name cues and such cause the old versions were filled with giant holes and i filled them in  but kept the dialoge vauge . im going to be hiding the links to jurai soon though

I'll have to keep that in mind.

i like how they did shuzan cause thats how its pronounced but its spelled shyuuzan in japanise which is just confusing its a hard name to pronounce honestly

That is a name I knew well, but the translator correctly spelled it, so I didn't need to fix his name.

overall im glad with how this came out. it could have been a huge trainwreck not because they didnt do their job right but because this book is soooooo clunky in the original language... they kept the parts that make it that way but phrased it better. 

Haha! Well, that was part of our job. The translator did outstanding work as far as I'm concerned. And then anything that was still confusing, I tried to clarify as best as I could.

but this is just the first novel and it really isnt the most extreme or hard to translate book... although they are really doing quite alot of soft localization in this novel... like calling it a juraian lute instead of a biwa... its negligable there are alot of things in later novels that just will give any translater a struggle if they plan to soft localize it that way.

Yeah, I let that pass, but I'll try to pay attention for it in future.

[Eff Efferson]

oh right kanemitsu's father / kasen's butler...  hmm... I can see how that would work. hey whatever keeps people from mispronouncing... huge pet peeve of mine when it's done super super badly. Ive here airi refer to as Errri once and i was just like O_o...

Please be aware in Washu... there is a lot of strange dialog... because it's closeted lesbian innuendo and double speak... at first i wasn't sure when i was reading it but the later you get into the novel and the later novels all confirm it, like her conversation with the observatory lady, and basically anything naja says,


scenes I can recall off the top of my head like this:

"By the way Ms.genius..." said naja
"Please, I'm a genius just because of a two seconds difference? Please do not call me that ... I have a..." washu said but was cut off
"I know, It's Washu-chan, isn't it?" (4)
"uhm, referring to me that way so suddenly is a bit... ...."
"Hey, Washu-chan, do you have a boyfriend?"
"Oh ... no, uhm, that is to say..."
"So you don't? Hey, Washu-chan ... Hey, uhm aren't you?"* asked naja
( * this seems to be both, don't you have a boyfriend and hey aren't you. Aren't you. yes this is exactly what you think it is. it's a sly double question asking if she munches box.)

(6)
　washu wasn't expecting this line of questioning and was taken aback
"......there isn't " is all washu could force out with a sigh.
"Oh so then you don't" (7)
"... ... why do you say that like it's a good thing." washu asked
"huh? Because... I also don't have one, were the same? Washu-chan"

(this line i personally translated manually 同じ者同士じゃない is a confusing phrase... intentionally so. broken down it's: same (thing/person)/ friend/ companion
同性 is dousei or homosexual is very close to 同士じ doushi the same ...
同じ pronounced onashi which is companion is close to onabe which is lesbian.)


And so it was quickly decided that she would be called washu-chan.
"I'm sure we'll be good friends, I think we will get along just fine ♡

"This is amazing, is this your home, Naja?"
"............" naja gazed at washu as if she was day dreaming about something and was somewhere else entirely (subtext)
　"... ... ... uhm what is it? naja-san?"
"oh uhm , yes, yes, that was a nice joke you just told. I can't believe you said it with a straight face." she said with a sly smile while tapping washu's shoulder
"It would be kind of strange if as a guide i suddenly just took a new student who wasn't from around here to my house, wouldn't it? " ( SUBTEXT)

if you aren't aware of this going in it is easy to skip over in translation, but it render's Makoto's lesbian confession to washu odd and out of place and makes the whole "and mikumo had three parent's " thing seem very very very out of place...

also to clarify, i don't know if it shows up in the books but in the last doujin that came out with all the DMM pictures Naja was confirmed as being a hermaphrodite when she met washu, and then after meeting her she soon became a full woman.

the woman was shocked. she went to the telescope and focused it on washu's house and asked washu if that's the house she was talking about. she couldn't believe washu wanted this place for that place. it was worth much less. she couldn't afford it. but washu assured her that she wanted a 1 for 1 exchange not to buy it. The woman still wouldn't sell it to her. the woman asked her why she wanted to buy the ranch that her master had given her. It reminded washu of home and of her room in roof of the orphanage with the observatory.

"oh, is that right."
"Yes!"
"Uhufu, the new philosopher has a strange hobby after all" (SUBTEXT)
"I think that I am normal, but ... ... what about you ...?"( text)
"let's just say my range of interests is wide ... Ho ho ......"(text) the woman smiled at washu. her face and laugh reminded her of her mother back on kanemitsu
"No, that's okay, it's important for an old woman to have interests."
"That's not to say so ... No... yeah."
"oh...? Even so, the machine parts of this place are in very rough condition." she says while looking at the mechanical part
　Saying while watching the mechanical part visible from the window.
"Since my husband died, there's been no technician who could do maintenance."
"Could you let me do it?"
"But ..."
"Please think of it as both a survey... and form of studying."
　The old woman who was holding back at the beginning decided to agree to washu's terms then from then on everyday washu came to the observatory an did internal maintenance.

"Why are you leaving?" washu asked naja after the wedding, naja was packing up some luggage.
"What are you talking about, I don't want to get in the way of you two newlyweds."
"Do you know how many people live here?" there were hundreds of dozens of maids and butlers living together on the ranch with them, but that had nothing to do with naja leaving
"what do you mean."
　Washu, who was watching Naja, realized that she was suffering from being deprived the pleasures of planning a wedding ceremony.

(this is again also appears to be double speak that implies more that she is mad because she wasn't able to have a wedding for her and washu)

her words about not wanting to disturb the newlyweds were half hearted.
washu hugged naja from behind and while kissing her bangs she muttered

"... ... damn. Naja, all this just because you want to show off.......? stay with me ♡"
"Well then, I guess I will just have to disturb you!"
"Yeah ♡" and at washu's request naja lived together with her and mikumo on washu's ranch.
unfortunately because of the instability of their situation they weren't able to visit neither seiniwa nor kanamitsu. (its not even subtext anymore)
And nine months later, washu gave birth.
it was a boy.
she named him "Mikumo".

obviously my dialog isn't a perfect 1 for one translation always but i was very very careful when i did this book, often dissecting sentences like that manually to be sure. so during those scenes just keep in mind there is layers to what is being talked about and it needs to be conveyed. OR ELSE MANY PARTS OF TENCHI MAKES NO SENSE and a huge part of seto's motivation to unite the galaxy is just lost...


--------------

on an unrelated note, although it takes a while to get used to it i am very glad you made them keep the surname name order, because in yosho , and this is just a minor detail,

Airi introduces herself as airi magma, and yosho introduces himself as masaki yosho, and he thinks her name is magma...until she corrects him
its an intentional culture shock moment and it only makes sense  the way you had them do it, but you should make clear to them, not every character in the tenchi series says their surname first, it depends on the culture they are from and the text will show you most of the time. but it's intentional and changing it does loose some of the context,


that's all i can think of off the top of my head... gxp had way more struggles to translate tbh

[AstroNerdBoy]

As an aside, if you guys bought the first novel from any online site, toss a review there. I'm not saying throw a 5*, "Oh, it was the greatest of the great" review. You should be honest in your * rating and in mentioning your likes and dislikes. I don't know if it will help much, but it at least shows that there is "movement" for said title on those websites (Amazon, RightStuf, etc.), if that makes sense.