Fall 2024 was irrefutably the season forDan Da Danfans.
Sivasubramanian:In my case, series have always been assigned to me by editors.
I wouldnt say its completely arbitrary though.
© Viz Media
Also, Im a freelancer, so theyre more offers than assignments.
I havent had any luck with this yet.
(None of the series I suggested ended up getting licensed.)
© Science Saru
(Manga spoilers from here on out.)
This topic made distributors like Crunchyroll wary of promoting it as a new series.
And my feeling is that a word like schlong is going to be funnier than something ruder.
Maybe its just me, but I find turd funnier than shit for some reason.
So there was almost no cursing in my original scripts.
But Im pretty sure it got changed.
© Science Saru
Its interesting that Yukinobu Tatsu himself steered away from the sexual material early on as well.
io9: Weekly episodes ofDan Da Danwere airing while the manga received new chapters.
Out of curiosity, were you keeping up with the anime while translating new chapters?
Momo hearing Okarun say he’s an awkward fellow. © Science Saru
Sivasubramanian:I havent seen the anime!
Sivasubramanian:The most difficult thing is references to, like, TV shows from the 70s.
Or maybe some comedians catchphrase from the 80s or 90s.
© Science Saru
Often, I have to ask friends in Japan, What is this?!
and they explain it to me.
And I can kind of translate it and include a note to the editor in my script.
© Science Saru
But theres nothing you might really do about it.
Thats linguistically and culturally lost in translation.
What can you do?
© Science Saru
io9:Dandadanis a series of references to yokai, cryptids, and Japanese and American film pop culture.
Sivasubramanian:Yes, I do have to spend some time investigating these things.
The Japanese pop culture stuff, as I mentioned, often simply dies on the page.
The urban legends are very tricky as sometimes theyre extremely regional and dont exist anywhere else.
Some references I had trouble finding out anything about.
There was a recent one about some celebrities having seen miniature people.
So weird, very little info about it.
I wonder if even Japanese readers knew what [Tatsu] was talking about.
io9:Dandadans ensemble of characters all have unique personalities and patterns of speech.
Sivasubramanian:Not really.
Because its a weekly series, Im basically in a rhythm with it.
io9: WhichDandadancharacter do you have the most fun localizing and why?
Sivasubramanian:Ooh, tough question.
Though I dont know if Ive done a good job making her sound like a foul-mouthed old lady.
Then again, maybe Yukinobu Tatsu hasnt either.
Sivasubramanian:Theres no way to predict what might be coming, especially with this series.
When the concept of empty space appeared, I translated it literally.
Its like those peak early years ofDragonBall.
Its a pure joy.
you’re able to read new chapters ofDandadanon Viz and Manga Plus.
All episodes ofDan Da Danare available on Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Hulu.
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