Ask John: Should Honorifics Appear in Commercial Subtitles?

Question:
Do you feel it’s necessary to include honorific titles in professional subtitles? Most honorifics can easily be translated or worked around. Why does FUNimation insist on doing this? I feel insulted as a fan and Japanese scholar because I feel like I’m being slapped in the face and forced to put up with them catering to the niche “hard-core” market.

Answer:
I must apologize in advance for being part of the niche “hard-core” market that FUNimation targets its subtitle translations at. I can’t claim to be a Japanese language scholar, but I do have some familiarity with the language and the nuances of translation. While I’ve heard the argument that Japanese honorifics can be translated or otherwise “worked around,” I don’t believe that’s the case. I believe that Japanese honorifics and personal pronouns often imply meanings and social relationships that cannot be accurately translated or replicated in English. An excellent example is when classmates stop addressing each other with honorifics. There is no English language equivalent for that situation. Having equal classmates refer to each other as “Mister” or “Miss” is unnatural in English. Having characters of similar age and status refer to each other by last name, then switch to first name doesn’t make sense in English either. Having characters of similar age and status refer to each other by full given name then switch to nicknames is not an accurate translation and may betray an accurate reflection of the speaking character’s personality. Simply dropping honorifics entirely fails to acknowledge this significant change in social relationship.

A similar example is the use of personal pronouns like “oniichan.” The literal use of these pronouns draws attention to the polite and personal familial attitude of Japanese society; however, typical American commercial subtitle translations often ignore this characteristic of Japanese culture because it may be confusing to native English speakers if it’s literally translated. Likewise, subtle differences like “ojousama” and “jousan” can’t be accurately distinguished in English subtitles because there aren’t two different English words for “heiress” that have different degrees of formality. Literally translating, or completely ignoring personal pronouns like “ojousama” and “jousan” in English subtitles fails to convey the difference between the two words inherent in the original Japanese. I’ve personally supervised the composition of the English subtitles on all of AN Entertainment’s DVDs, and I’ve intentionally Romanized Japanese honorifics and select personal pronouns instead of dropping or colloquializing them because I want viewers to experience as much of the original cultural context of anime as possible.

I don’t wish to insult you or anyone who feels offended by translations that are not heavily localized. I respect your right to prefer a subtitle translation that reads like common English, but I urge you to recognize that anime characters don’t speak common English. They speak Japanese and obey the social and linguistic customs of Japanese culture. I’m personally of the school that prefers that subtitles make anime and its culture comprehensible to non-Japanese speakers without dumbing it down. I don’t like to see subtitles that simply exclude respect for cultural context. Eliminating elements of Japanese culture for the sake of more colloquial or more convenient subtitle translations is arguably the purpose of translation, but I consider such translations condescending. I prefer a subtitle translation that educates viewers about the nuances of Japanese culture by remaining faithful to the spirit of the original dialogue, relationships, and circumstances in the anime, rather than a subtitle translation that waters down or excludes subtle nuances for the sake of convenience. Obviously, translation is necessary, but translation doesn’t need to be an all or nothing endeavor. I believe that subtitle translations that selectively Romanize honorifics, personal pronouns, and other Japanese terms which don’t have literal English equivalents is an ideal compromise between the need for translation and a desire to accurately convey subtleties of Japanese culture.