The Viz Mistake
While I discussed this briefly in the FAQ (under the Manga section) I decided I'd dedicate a page to it so that those out there can understand it a little more.
If you're completely unaware, Viz is a company that has been bringing over manga now for quite awhile. Unfortunately, the quality of their work has been up for debate since the beginning and many fans, myself included, are rather upset with how bad some of their translations are. Many people brush off these "minor" mistakes though, claiming that the mistranslations don't affect the story (so why bother?). Without getting into a huge debate about why things are named the way they are (and pointing out that YES they DO, in fact, matter) I'll just say that the mistakes were minor until now.
A fan of Rurouni Kenshin has pointed this out to me and asked a question.
- VIZ: Act 85 - Half the Feeling
(General Surprise)
Hiko: After all, Shishio mustn't be left as the Only Hiten Mitsurugi Student.
"This is not what is stated by Hiko either, in both the HK and Taiwanese (could be China Chinese ... but the pronunciation sounded more like Taiwanese Mandarin to me) localisations of the anime series.
So ... has Viz made a mistake? Or did they get it right ... and countless RK fans got it wrong?"
And now for the truth...
This is the dialog in question. It's the dialog bubble on the right side of the box.
Special thanks to Kia Purity for providing the image.
In case the bubble appears a little hard to read I've transcribed the original and the romanized versions below:
Original:
Hiko: 何打かんだいって飛天御剣流の剣客として志々雄を放っておくわけにはいかんだろう
Romanji:
Hiko: nandakanda itte Hiten mitsurugi Ryuu no kenkaku toshite Shishio wo houtteoku wa keni ha ikandarou
And now here's the big question: what does it mean? This is always the hardest part of translating but after dedicating a bit of time to it I've finally reached, what I feel to be, an accurate translation.
Translation:
Hiko: What is it?* It is needless to say that as a swordsman of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu there is no way that I can ignore Shishio.
*Actually, the "what is it?" could also be "one way or another." But given the context of the previous line (him saying that he'll teach Kenshin and their surprised reaction) the "What is it?" seems to fit a little better.
So there you have it. Shishio was never a student of HMR nor a pupil of Hiko (as anyone who knows anything about Kenshin should already know). Hiko reveals a lot through his dialog here so I'm glad that this mistake was brought to my attention.
Last modified: February 26, 2005