Translating the Silent Hill novels: A Debate

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JKristine35
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Post by JKristine35 »

If you translate the movie one, I'd be incredibly interested in seeing what it says. :wink:
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DamienPales
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Post by DamienPales »

That one would be last.

From what I can tell, this is most definitely a case of the book being better than the movie.
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Yuki
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Post by Yuki »

I would definitely appreciate a translation of the novels. So far the mods don't seem to have a problem with it; did I see you mention that you would not post even the translation here?

(I should think that Konami, if they decide to get pissed about it, would send out a Cease and Desist before anything else, in which case you would be able to take it down without legal action... I think.)

Are the novels canon? Or do they contradict anything?

Man, I want to fast-forward through my Japanese education. -_-;;
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Post by DamienPales »

I don't interpret the silence of the mods as approval. I want a definite yes-or-no. But this is going to take a while before it gets started, so there's no rush.

If Konami has such a huge problem with translations of their literature, they're doing an awful job of enforcing it, seeing as how Translated Memories is still up and running, and it's one of the biggest Silent Hill-related sites on the Internet.

As for the canonicity of the novels, I want to say "yes" based on what I gather from them. But that debate will have to wait until everyone can read them.
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Yuki
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Post by Yuki »

Yeah, that definitely makes sense. Hopefully they won't say no. (And I highly doubt, say, Tomm Hulett would really care; we know he reads the forum!)

I agree that they don't seem to be doing it well. They did nothing about the original script being leaked, nor did they do anything about the partial Play Novel translation or Translated Memories...

With any luck they'll be canonical. I really do want to read them...
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simeonalo
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Post by simeonalo »

There's already been an unofficial English translation for PC. I have it.
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Post by Burning Man »

DamienPales wrote:If Konami has such a huge problem with translations of their literature, they're doing an awful job of enforcing it, seeing as how Translated Memories is still up and running, and it's one of the biggest Silent Hill-related sites on the Internet.
Konami's not exactly the threatening kind. They're not Nintendo, that's for sure. It's worth noting, though, that Translated Memories is probably the major reason Konami decided to change their notices on media usage. Like I said, translations themselves were never a problem, but with Translated Memories, you're talking about high-resolution scans and such.

http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/silenthill/
Copyright notice at the bottom. It's fairly new with the announcement of The Arcade. You won't find this kind of notice on any of Konami's other products. Only Silent Hill. The notice makes it clear what you cannot do regarding its websites, and it surprisingly coincides with what Translated Memories did for that guidebook.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't translate the novels altogether. It should even be a good learning experience for you. However, this site's owner has ties with Konami (UK mostly, I think). Certain members here get invited to their press conference or demo-showing all in good faith. So, needless to say, this is something that you need to keep in mind.

Just as you're not interpreting mods' silence as approval, you shouldn't interpret Konami's lack of Cease and Desist as implication that everything's A-okay.

That said, Vixx will probably have to have the final say on this matter.
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Post by DamienPales »

Well, if Vixx knows Konami execs, then perhaps she can set up a way for me to professionally request these translations on behalf of Western fans. I'd prefer it that way, to be honest. I'm confident that some kind of agreement can be worked out.
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Post by Burning Man »

The novels are owned by Konami Japan and Sadamu Yamashita, though... And I'm not sure Vixx has that kind of connection.
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Post by DamienPales »

I doubt Yamashita has the copyrights. He was probably just commissioned by Konami Japan to write them, and they hold the actual copyrights.
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Post by Burning Man »

Copyright notice is on the last page. Check it out.
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Post by Yuki »

I honestly fail to see why Konami would care, provided you don't intend to sell them. I'm not saying you should definitely go for it or anything, but it makes little sense to me for them to enforce copyrights on a non-profit fan translation when they clearly have no intention of bringing the material over here to Western shores.

Also... I agree with not interpreting the mods' silence as permission, but I disagree with lack of Cease and Desist. Most fan projects do not ask permission; for the most part, companies would say no. However, some fan projects that do not ask permission but continue going would not necessarily get a cease and desist; I cite the Final Fantasy fan translations for that. A cease and desist seems to be simply, "Stop doing that or we will take legal action" rather than "LEGAL ACTION RIGHT NOW". (Er, to clarify... translating it for yourself would be fine, but if Konami decides to tell you to stop doing it publicly... then stop doing it publicly. Does that make sense?)
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Post by DamienPales »

Burning Man wrote:Copyright notice is on the last page. Check it out.
And the winner is...Konami.
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Post by Burning Man »

Where in the book are you looking? Mine says ©2006 Sadamu Yamashita ©1999 2006 Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.
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Post by ginjajacob »

I translated a bit of the website some time ago, I posted it and it here and it didnt get taken off. DamianPales have you ever passed any of the JLPT tests? any chance someone could post some screens up, I'd like to have a little look at how hard the Japanese actually is, I'm pretty sure it's above my level of Japanese.
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Post by Burning Man »

ginjajacob wrote:I translated a bit of the website some time ago, I posted it and it here and it didnt get taken off.
Because you translated "a bit." DamienPales is talking about translating whole novels.
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Post by DamienPales »

Burning Man wrote:Where in the book are you looking? Mine says ©2006 Sadamu Yamashita ©1999 2006 Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.
I must have an older copy, since mine doesn't have the first part.

EDIT: Oh nevermind. I see it now. I selectively misread the kanji as words, not as proper names. I get so used to reading names as katakana sometimes...sheesh.
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Post by ginjajacob »

Burning Man wrote:
ginjajacob wrote:I translated a bit of the website some time ago, I posted it and it here and it didnt get taken off.
Because you translated "a bit." DamienPales is talking about translating whole novels.
Just post it in parts then. Considering all the piracy flying around the internet I doubt they will give a fuck. if somebody puts screens up or tells me where I can get hold of it I will do it, I passed 2kyuu last year and as I work in a Japanese office with nothing but time on my hands my piers can fill in where I go wrong.
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Post by Burning Man »

If you just want to take a quick look at some samples, there's a way to do that without piracy.

http://www.konami.jp/book/tachiyomi/nm0815.html

These are sample pages for the first book.

I'm not sure why you're asking where you can get hold of the novels. You live in Japan, right? I'd imagine you can walk into any bookstore and either find them or at least order them there. Worst case, there's always Amazon Japan.
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ginjajacob
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Post by ginjajacob »

Burning Man wrote:If you just want to take a quick look at some samples, there's a way to do that without piracy.

http://www.konami.jp/book/tachiyomi/nm0815.html

These are sample pages for the first book.

I'm not sure why you're asking where you can get hold of the novels. You live in Japan, right? I'd imagine you can walk into any bookstore and either find them or at least order them there. Worst case, there's always Amazon Japan.
Ive never seen them in book stores here, I live in the centre of Osaka so you would expect to see them. Tbh I havent really looked that hard and in any case Silent Hill is not that popular anymore.
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