Sailor Moon English Manga Re-Translation (and Codename Sailor V)

[InsaneDavid]

As I said this morning when the package arrived before I headed out the door to work, it must be the End Time since hell has frozen over. I wouldn't believe it until I held it myself but a fresh, correct, in-house translation of the Sailor Moon manga has finally been released today, as well as the first half of Codename is Sailor V. These are to be translations of the Japanese "new cover" editions that were re-released over there in 2003.



From Manga Style...

"The Sailor Moon manga was reprinted by Kodansha in new cover editions (shinsōban) from 2003-2004. More chapters are included per book, for a total of 12 books. The bonus stories were compiled into two separate volumes. The books feature retouched art, sticker sheets and restored colour pages. Naoko Takeuchi’s notes from the original tankoubon are not included. Details of the contents and changes are listed at Sailor Dream.

Above the Japanese characters for "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon" on the cover, the words "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon" appear in English. This reflects the new official English title of the Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon live action series which aired in Japan 2003-2004."

The English versions are essentially verbatim translations of the 2003 release sans the sticker inserts and translation notes have been added at the end of each book. The older release (both in Japan and here) was 18 books but no content was lost in the 2003 version, it simply packed more into each volume to bring the book count down to 14 from 18. The side stories have been moved to the end as books 13 and 14, rather than being intercut into the original 18 volumes. This again, was the same thing with the Japanese 2003 re-release.

The only thing "missing" in the 2003 New Cover Editions (which the new translation is based off) are Naoko Takeuchi’s liner notes, which weren't in the Japanese 2003 release anyway, so no loss there. Additionally some of the art was redrawn or touched up, but again, this is how the 2003 Japanese release was anyway.

The prequel series that launched Sailor Moon is Sailor V, which was originally three volumes but was also re-released in 2003, compressed into two larger volumes. This is the version that is being translated into English currently, for the first time officially.

These will be released bi-monthly.

I think this is one of the few times that the original release will be made worthless by the re-release. While Mixx did, I guess, a decent job of translating the manga given the industry of the time - they are difficult to read if you know what you're supposed to be reading. SM English manga was spiking in price for awhile there, I sold all my old books a couple years ago for $450 on eBay as a Buy It Now within a couple hours if I remember correctly. With this fresh translation and proper re-printing, the original English books essentially became worthless today.

With Vertical finishing up the Black Jack translation in November, it's a damn fine time for me to be reading manga. All I can ever hope for after this is someone to pick up Bari Bari Densetsu.

[Cloud121]

I think this is one of the few times that the original release will be made worthless by the re-release. While Mixx did, I guess, a decent job of translating the manga given the industry of the time - they are difficult to read if you know what you're supposed to be reading. SM English manga was spiking in price for awhile there, I sold all my old books a couple years ago for $450 on eBay as a Buy It Now within a couple hours if I remember correctly. With this fresh translation and proper re-printing, the original English books essentially became worthless today..

I've had these pre-ordered since the day there were announced on Amazon. Got books three and four pre-ordered as well.

I honestly do hope that the original Mixx books drop in price. I'm just missing Book 1, SuperS Vol. 4, and the three Sailor Stars books. I bought them all starting back in 1998, but got out of Sailor Moon around 2001 or so.

I've been waiting over 13 years for Sailor V, and she will finally be with me very soon.

[Cryomancer]

It's taken this damn long for this to happen, and they wonder why most people just pirate the stuff.

Great news though. I've had Japanese copies of Sailor V for ages.

[MrSmiley381]

I find it interesting that on Monday night my roommate pointed out a Sailor Pluto joke to me, then yesterday I decide to look up some data on Sailor Moon, then today I see this thread which was posted last night. Synchronicity, much? Maybe I should order these. Sometimes I like overly cute ridiculous Japanese things. Glad to hear it's getting a more accurate translation.

[ventrra]

I find it interesting that on Monday night my roommate pointed out a Sailor Pluto joke to me, then yesterday I decide to look up some data on Sailor Moon, then today I see this thread which was posted last night. Synchronicity, much? Maybe I should order these. Sometimes I like overly cute ridiculous Japanese things. Glad to hear it's getting a more accurate translation.

Must be something like that. My wife and I were talking about what it would take to fix our collection off the 48-page Mixx issues.
A new translation is this format would certainly do it.

[InsaneDavid]

Looks like sales are pretty brisk around here, nice to see.

As for what I've read so far, there are a couple hiccups here and there but for a first print of a re-translation that has been hyped and awaited for so long, it's pretty solid. Kodansha USA seems to be attempting a much less idiomatic translation than was originally done, so things don't head off in a completely different direction from the original Japanese as they once did. It'll take a few issues for the translator(s) to settle into a comfortable state and find the balance between literal translation and natural dialogue but this is a damn fine start!

[kainemaxwell]

It's taken this damn long for this to happen, and they wonder why most people just pirate the stuff.

Great news though. I've had Japanese copies of Sailor V for ages.

Same, I have volumes 1 and 2 of Sailor V in Japanese. Need to start getting these now.

[Moon Jump]

I just finished Moon 1 last night. It's a lot better then the Mixx translation but it needs a little help. The translation comes off really rushed. They kept in the Japanese text for the actions with little subtitles on the bottom of them and it's odd when they use Japanese sayings like San and Sempai and they don't even explain to the readers what they mean. In the second chapter Luna says we have to find "Princess-Sama" then the "Sama" is never used again. They also messed up when Sailor Moon introduces herself as "Guardian of Beauty and Justice" then throughout the rest of the book she says the usual "Love and Justice."

Even with the translation errors and them not translating the action text, I'm happy that we're getting the re-done version that came out when Pretty Guardian came out. It looks a million times better then the old Mixx version. I re-read my old copy and the colors look washed out like they copied it from a really crappy scanner. It's not a perfect book, but I hope they will learn from the errors and punch it up in the future volumes. I hope that this will get more people interested and maybe we'll get a re-dub on the Anime.

[Aussie2B]

Those aren't errors; that's just common practice in the manga industry. Kodansha is clearly aiming at the more hardcore manga/anime crowd, which may or may not be a wise decision given the mainstream appeal that Sailor Moon can have. Then again, they probably figure that a large percentage of the purchases will be from older fans that discovered Sailor Moon in the 90s. And maybe these are guidelines that they use across the board for their manga, I don't know.

But, anyway, big manga fans are more and more leaning toward leaving sound effects untouched because they often have an artistic element to them, so that's why you're seeing them subtitled. Big manga fans are also pushing more and more for the preservation of honorifics, which is what "san", "sempai", and "sama" are. They carry meaning that would be lost if they're dropped completely, and they generally don't translate well either. But at this point, most fans are already familiar with those very common ones, so they don't see the need to explain something as basic as "san" in every manga.

So it's not an example of them rushing or making mistakes. It's an intentional approach to localization, although it's not without its controversy. There are people who think all Japanese text needs to be replaced and translated. It's just a matter of opinion, and no publisher can please everybody.

[InsaneDavid]

As Aussie2B said, the subtitled Japanese sound effects text is just what translators are leaning to since it leaves the art intact. I for one used to HATE the English word art that translators would shove into manga, leave it alone and just subtitle it, which is what's being done here.

Also as Aussie2B said, honorifics are something that manga readers are pushing for. "Princess-Sama" was a slip, it happens once and then goes away. It's early on in the series and it's the first printing, some stuff is going to slip through. I think the translation reads fine with no odd honorifics with the exception of that one.

They also messed up when Sailor Moon introduces herself as "Guardian of Beauty and Justice" then throughout the rest of the book she says the usual "Love and Justice."

That's how it was originally, the first time she says it is different from the times then on. No translation error. Kodansha is trying to be very direct with this translation and stick to the text as much as possible.

[InsaneDavid]

A bump for the release of Sailor Moon Volume 2 and Codename is Sailor V Volume 2 this past Tuesday. Get it!

[skaar]

Just ordered/pre-ordered it all.

[InsaneDavid]

Heads up if you're buying locally, Sailor Moon volume 3 released on Tuesday.

[skaar]

Mine just showed up from Amazon.

[InsaneDavid]

Mine just showed up from Amazon.

I need to do a bulk order of my second copies from Amazon when book 4 is released. I'm trying to shop local bookstores (even the huge corporate conglomerates since local people work there too) but EAS security stickers on the inside back cover suck. Especially since they're from the music department which uses a different EAS pedestal frequency than the front doors.

[Lady Jaye]

I read the Sailor Moon manga in French about a decade ago, but I don't know how accurate the translation was. However, two series that did get a new translated edition in French were DragonBall/DragonBall Z and Dragon Quest (the series was originally titled "Fly" in French, since Dragon Quest didn't arrive there till DQVIII). The DragonBall books were at last published in the Japanese style (right to left) instead of being flipped like they were in the first edition.

Leaving the sound effects untranslated with subtitles has been done for years on the French manga market. I do prefer that, to be frank.

[Sailorneorune]

Bumpjection for Sailor Moon volume 4. Loving the new translation! The Kodansha USA version beats the pants off the Tokyopop release in every way.

[InsaneDavid]

Bumpjection for Sailor Moon volume 4. Loving the new translation! The Kodansha USA version beats the pants off the Tokyopop release in every way.

Forgot to bump it myself. Haven't read the latest volume yet but I have my two copies. Been too busy reading the last few Black Jack books since it has finally all been translated.

[InsaneDavid]

Bump for Volume 5 being released yesterday. My copies are in transit. Good volume as Black Lady should be making her appearance, er, emergence in this book.