While the framework of his post is very much gaming related, this post by throughhim413 explores a concept that is integral to the anime community:  that of translation.  Even if you have no interest in starting to translate on your own, I think you’ll find it enlightening to get inside the head of a translator and think about the process behind one of these projects.  They definitely don’t have an easy job.  Not only do they have to convert all the text from Japanese to English, or whatever language, but they also have to do it in a way that we will approve of and within a time-table that appeases our desire for instant gratification.  Sometimes they make decisions that we don’t understand, but you have to realize that there’s always a reason for changes or wording or what have you.  By and large, no translator worth his salt wants to put out a product that people don’t like on purpose.  This is especially true because their choices in rendering can decide how people will think about a series that they care enough about to translate.

Buckle up, because you're approaching a serious wall of text at high speeds.

I won’t go into the concepts of translation, because the aforementioned post does it so well.  But, perhaps the most pertinent part of his post for you is the section about playing the game, or in our case, watching the anime.  He presents the idea that our responsibility is to push translators to strive for excellence.  There shouldn’t be a free pass for someone just because they can convert text between languages, they also need to do a good job of things.  To do that job, they need feedback from us, the viewer.  We need to tell them what we like and don’t like, point out the mistakes they made, and in general offer our opinion of their work.  Think about it, how can someone get better at their job if no one points out a way to make improvements?  Yet, it is so easy for us as the viewer to just take what they give us, sit back, and let things continue to play out as they will, and it’s probably the route most people select.  Instead, we privately make blanket complaints about the translations, official or otherwise, without actually pointing out the problems we have with it.

Even then, what we give importance to requires careful selection.  On occasion, someone will point out major errors in a translation.  I think it was the Gundam 00 projects from last year that had a major problem with a group injecting a character’s sexual orientation when it wasn’t made explicit.  More often though, we come up with minor errors, like small continuity issues or little problems with grammar and word choice.  Finding these errors is just as important, because fixing these mistakes allows a translator to become more proficient in his or her craft.

Yet, what people tend to get caught up on at times simply boggles my mind.  Case in point, honorifics, which in some ways could demand a whole forum of its own.  Does it really matter if a translation maintains “sensei” or changes it to “teacher”?  Conducting this debate is about as beneficial to translators as it is to wonder if Sasuke will kiss Naruto.  While the actual word changes, you know what the words mean in both languages and that they indicate the same thing.  It’s simply a matter of the signifier versus the signified.  Some translators will keep the honorifics, some will discard them, and some will decide on a word-by-word basis.  I think group consistency is more important than the rendering decision.

On the other end of the spectrum is the debate over translation groups.  The one thing we can probably all agree on is that 4kids has messed up more than its fair share of anime.  Beyond that though, I find the idea that people can constantly praise one group’s efforts while raining on everyone else, or even a particular group, patently ridiculous.  First of all, there is no “right” translation in most cases.  Every translator is going to see things differently, and while they may all convey the same meaning, the way they go about doing it can differ.  Second, no perfect translation group exists, which you can see very easily by most groups releasing “Version X” patches.  If you want to point out when Group X makes a mistake, you’d better have as much willingness, if not more so, to point it out when Group Y makes a mistake.  In short, if you have a favorite translator, great, but it doesn’t make them gods nor invalidate the efforts of others.

Please note that I don’t claim that this or any other problems are fully pervasive in the viewership, they are simply examples of things you can easily see.

The bottom line here is that translators and viewers both play an important role in the anime industry.  The translators have a duty to put out the best script possible, and we have the duty to not only demand that, but provide the drive and incentive to provide it.  The likelihood that some outside group will magically grace us with a solution to all our problems is nonexistent.  Therefore, it’s up to us to not only improve the state of the industry for everyone, but to do it with a minimum of bickering over incredibly subjective and mundane matters.  Yes, this applies to fansub groups just as much as it applies to high-profile dubbing studios.  I hope that both this post and the links have given you something to think about, whether you apply it to past works or those yet to come.