Attack on Titan: Manga Volume 5 Reaction & Review!
Added 2023-04-21 17:00:04 +0000 UTC**Headphone Warning**
This volume had a lot more in it than I originally expected! The Trost aftermath, THE TRIAL, and Operation: Basement beginning! Oh, and a certain Female Titan arrives onto the scene! This volume had so much going for it and it's been a joy re-living the experience with you all!
Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!
Comments
The original is "Hanji-san". Japanese terms are gendered differently, so some things that are commonly expressed gener-neutral in Japanese are typically gender-marked in English, and vice versa. (In general, there is less gender marking, and the marking that exists is less definite, but there's also things that are not gendered in English that would be in JP). Isayama has avoided gender-marked terms for/by Hange, and has asked translators to do the same if possible (it's extremely hard for most Romance languages), but that request came much later than the translation of these volumes. It's also not as obvious as it would be in English as the polite terms in common use are usually unmarked, so it would be hard for a translator to spot unless the author explicitly requested it, and I wouldn't fault Ko Ransom, the translator, for not divining that intention. Kodansha have said that they would update the translations to reflect this request, but I'm not sure those are released yet, or whether Romania has an updated version (I got them from the Hunble Bundle, and that seems to be the first printing digitized). Or, honestly, what a good option would be - the later volumes after Isayama's request seems to omit the honorific and just say "Hange" for 'Hanji-san', but I think that loses some of Eren's politeness in the earlier chapters.
cw
2023-04-23 19:13:47 +0000 UTCWill mainly talk about chapter 4 here... but i must say, didn't expect to see Hange as a damsel in distress saved from being hit by a car by a heroic titan, that sure was a surprise. Talking about Hange, did it say "miss Hange"? Was always told she was ungendered in the Manga, just this translation not following the intent of the original japanese? I guess the AoT manga was never known for having the best art around, but i find Isayamas panels very interesting, some are beautifully done and arrestingly evocative and others... not so much. I think i know why he chose to make the titans very weirdly proportioned humans, makes it much easier when drawing them, you can't really go wrong :P Chapter 4 felt the most different from the Anime thus far, and not just because of the order of things were changed up. I feel there were alot of panels/dialogue that was changed or not even present at all in the Anime. I think we got a bit more from Annie here, and while the Eren/Jean conciliatory hand slap was in the Anime, it had a very different feel and perhaps felt much more sincere here, i think it made Jean's response afterwards easier to read/understand. I do enjoy when things are more different, and while i know we won't get Neon Genesis levels of different anime vs manga, i hope to see a few more things that deviate as we move forward.
Christopher Pettersson
2023-04-22 21:21:13 +0000 UTC
