User:Yume no Kishi/TMM-related
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[edit] Intro
Many Tokyo Mew Mew webpages contain a huge amount of mistakes, most of which are directly related to the translation errors made by Tokyopop and fansubbers. Some other mistakes appear constantly simply due to the lack of information from the original manga and anime. The mistakes travel from one webpage to another without being corrected, so it is hard to find reliable information. Very few people know about all these mistakes, even though Tokyopop is known for making a lot of translation errors, and finding the original sources is actually not that hard.
[edit] Ribbon or Reborn?
This is probably the most common mistake out of all.
In Tokyopop's manga, fansubs, and on Tokyo Mew Mew webpages, the first word of the Mews' attacks (リボーン) is translated as "ribbon". However, "ribbon" appears to be the first word of the anime opening song, "My Sweet Heart", and it is written in the subtitles as リボン. This fact can make one wonder if the words are really the same.
Actually, the same mistake has been made by many fans of "Sailor Moon" in Sailor Saturn's attack "Death Reborn Revolution", that is often mistranslated as "Death Ribbon Revolution". Some fans claimed that the words "ribbon" and "reborn" are written the same way in katakana; however, this is not true.
Here is a quote from Ian Miller's article "Death Reborn Revolution and Death Ribbon Revolution", taken from his site DIES GAUDII.
"Naoko Takeuchi wrote the katakana characters that approximate the English words Death Reborn Revolution デス・リボーン・レボリューション in volume ten of the Japanese BSSM manga. Compare the "reborn" with the "ribbon" in Cyprine's Ribbon Buster リボン・バスター. (...) Since Sailor Saturn attacks with ribbons, and the word "reborn" (リボーン) is similar to the word "ribbon" (リボン), the name is probably a pun. Even so, the second English word in the name of the maneuver is "reborn" (リボーン), not "ribbon" (リボン). It has been said elsewhere that the katakana characters in that name can be read as both "Death Reborn Revolution" and "Death Ribbon Revolution." However, pun or no pun, that claim is inaccurate because the words "reborn" and "ribbon" aren't spelled the same way in Japanese."
Now it's quite easy to see that this case is extremely similar to the "Tokyo Mew Mew" mistake. Since the word "ribbon" was used in the opening song, the word in the Mew Mews' attacks can probably be thought of as a pun, too. However, due to the difference between katakana for the two words, translating the word as "ribbon" is inaccurate.
(Note: more info will be added in the future.)
[edit] Ichigo's age
Yet another confusing mistake made by Tokyopop.
In the beginning of the English version of the manga, Ichigo Momomiya is described as 11-year-old (later - as 12-year-old), which led fans to thinking that the characters' ages are different in the manga and in the anime. While it does seem possible, it actually appears to be a mistake, since she is also described as a seventh grader, which means that she has to be 12-13, not 11 (unless she skipped a grade, which is unlikely). The reference to her grade is correct, since the original manga states that she is in the first year of middle school by Japanese standards, which is the equivalent of the seventh grade. Her anime introduction in episode 1 also says that she is a seventh-grader, and in her intro section in episodes 12+ she says that she is 13.
It is possible that Tokyopop purposefully changed her age, maybe to appeal to a younger audience. However, in that case they would have to change her grade, too, so that it would match Ichigo's age. Because of this, it still can be considered an error.
[edit] Chimera Anima(l)
This is a rare case of the word being translated correctly in the English manga, and being mistranslated by many fans.
The name of the "monsters-of-the-day" in "Tokyo Mew Mew" is written in the original manga as キメラアニマ Kimera Anima. This name was translated as "Kirema Anima" in "Tokyo Mew Mew" manga, and then as "Chimera Anima" in "Tokyo Mew Mew á la Mode" manga. These translations confused many fans who didn't know what the word "anima" means, so in some anime fansubs the name was translated as "Chimera Animal".
The word "Animal" does seem to make sense, since most of the monsters do resemble different animals. However, the katakana for the word "animal" is not アニマ anima, but アニマル animaru. The katakana characters アニマ anima actually represent the word "anima", which is originally Latin and has the meaning "life" or "soul". This meaning does match. The Chimera Animas are made from living creatures - this may be what the meaning "life" refers to. The Chimera Animas are made by putting jellyfish-like parasites into animals' bodies - this may be what the meaning "soul" refers to.
The word アニマ anima also can be thought of as a shortened form of the word アニマル animaru, or as a pun on the word アニマル animaru, thus keeping a reference to animals. This seems to be the same type of a pun that was used in the name of Galaxia's minions in "Sailor Moon" - Sailor AnimaMates, as they also have animal-like names and appearance. (Reference: DIES GAUDII.)
[edit] The Mew Mews' Weapons and Attacks
This is another translation error made by Tokyopop and fansubbers, though it is actually hard to translate this thing properly.
All of the Mew Mews' weapons' names and some of the attack names contain puns made by "fusing" two English words together. Most of these puns were omitted in translations, and in Zakuro's case Tokyopop even managed to skip one of the syllables in her attack name. Technically it is possible to keep the puns, but they're almost always not kept, probably to make the weapons'/attacks' names simplier.
[edit] WEAPONS
[edit] Mew Ichigo
Katakana: ストロベルベル sutoroberuberu
The last two syllables, ベル beru, represent the word "bell". The ストロベル sutoroberu part appears to be a combination of two words: ストロベリー sutoroberii ("strawberry") and ベル beru ("bell"). So, the closest English equivalent of this pun would be StrawBell Bell. Fansubs translated it simply as "Strawberry Bell", and Tokyopop manga even called it "Sutoro Bell Bell", romanizing ストロ and translating ベル. The reason for this may be that they didn't get the pun, so they just translated what they could.
[edit] Mew Mint
Katakana: ミントーンアロー mintounarou
Mint is probably the only Mew Mew, whose weapon's name has a pun that isn't so obvious. The katakana ミント minto represent the word "mint", which is her name, and the katakana アロー arou represent the word "arrow", which is her weapon. Why there is a ー chōon indicating a long vowel and an additional ン n between the two words is unclear. Since the other Mews' weapons contain puns made by "fusing" two English words together, this was probably done with Mint's weapon, too. The other word that is combined with "Mint" may be "tone" (トーン toun); in that case, her weapon's name can be translated as MinTone Arrow. With the pun removed, it becomes "Mint Tone Arrow", or even simply "Mint Arrow", though the last version omits the "tone" reference entirely. Once again, Tokyopop most likely didn't get the pun, so they just romanized ミントーンアロー; it is seen in volume one as "mintoon alo".
[edit] Mew Lettuce
Katakana: レタスタネット retasutanetto
The first three syllables, レタス retasu, obviously represent the word "lettuce". Then, if we take the タネット tanetto part, it seems to be made from the word カスタネット kasutanetto ("castanet") with the first two syllables removed to make it possible to combine the two words through the syllable ス su. So, the closest translation would be Lettuce-tanet, fansubs and Tokyopop translate it either to "Lettuce Tanet" or "Lettuce Castanetes".
[edit] Mew Pudding
Katakana: プリングリング puringuringu
The リング ringu part at the end represents the word "ring", which is a reference to Pudding's weapon. The first four syllables, プリング, seem to be a combination of the words プリン purin ("pudding") and リング ringu ("ring"). The name of the weapon can be translated as PuddRing Ring, or, with the pun removed, "Pudding Ring".
[edit] Mew Zakuro
Katakana: ザクロスホイップ zakurosuhoippu
Zakuro's weapon has a pun on her name and the word "cross". The katakana ホイップ hoippu represents the word "whip". The ザクロス zakurosu part is a pun similar to the one in Pudding's case, made by combining her name with her weapon's name. The closest translation is probably ZaCross Whip; with the pun removed it becomes "Zakuro Whip", though this translation removes the last syllable entirely. The ス su syllable is sometimes thought to represent "'s" (apostrophe + s); in that case, the weapon's name can be translated as "Zakuro's Whip", though it is doubtful, as using the grammatical constructions from the English language isn't seen anywhere else in the "Tokyo Mew Mew".
[edit] ATTACKS
Only Mew Pudding's and Mew Zakuro's attacks have puns similar to those in their weapon's names.
[edit] Mew Ichigo
Katakana: リボーンストロベリーチェーック riboun sutoroberii cheekku
Translation: Reborn Strawberry Check, pretty obvious. Was translated correctly, except for the word "reborn".
Katakana: リボーンストロベリーサプライズ riboun sutoroberii sapuraizu
Translation: Reborn Strawberry Surprise, pretty obvious. Was translated correctly, except for the word "reborn".
Mew Ichigo has several more attacks in the manga, and one more attack in the anime ("Reborn Aqua Drop", that was used in the manga by all five Mews). All of these attacks were also translated correctly (though the word "drop" was changed to its plural form for some reason), except for the word "reborn".
[edit] Mew Mint
Katakana: リボーンミントエコー riboun minto ekou
Translation: Reborn Mint Echo, pretty obvious. Was translated correctly, except for the word "reborn".
[edit] Mew Lettuce
Katakana: リボーンレタスラッシュ riboun retasu rasshu
Translation: Reborn Lettuce Rush. In the earlier volumes of Tokyopop's manga it was mistranslated as "Ribbon Lettuce Rash" and "Ribbon Lettuce Flash". Aside from the "ribbon" mistake, the attack had one more word incorrectly romanized, ラッシュ rasshu ("rush"), which was probably because of how the word is written in katakana.
[edit] Mew Pudding
Katakana: リボーンプリンぐリングインフェルノ riboun puringu ringu inferuno
Translation: Pudding's attack contains the same pun as in her weapon's name, so it can be translated as Reborn PuddRing Ring Inferno, or, with the pun removed, "Reborn Pudding Ring Inferno". The pun was omitted in both the English manga and the fansubs, and "reborn" was mistranslated to "ribbon" as usual.
[edit] Mew Zakuro
Katakana: リボーンザクロスピュア riboun zakurosupyua
Translation: needs a special explanation.
- Assuming that Zakuro's attack's name also contains the same pun as in her weapon's name (since this is what was done in Pudding's case), we can separate the ザクロス zakurosu part, and the remaining katakana ピュア pyua at the end can be translated as "pure". The word "pure" actually does make sence when combined with the word "cross", as it may be a reference to Christianity. In the anime, Zakuro is shown in a church at some point, which seems to imply that she is Christian. Her weapon, ZaCross Whip, also resembles a cross. So, her attack's name may be translated as Reborn ZaCross Pure.
- Tokyopop gave several different translations of this attack: "Ribbon, Zakuros Pure", "Ribbon, Zakuro's Pure", and "Ribbon, Zakuro Pure". "Reborn" became "ribbon" again, and in the last case, the ス su syllable was omitted, making the translation even more incorrect. The first two versions are more or less acceptable, though the using of the apostrophe is still doubtful, as such grammatical construction wasn't used in any other attack.
- In the fansubs, Zakuro's attack was translated as "Ribbon Zakuro Spear". The "spear" part is obviously derived from the katakana スピュア supyua at the end of the attack; the only problem is that the katakana for the word "spear" is not スピュア supyua, but スピア supia. Though, スピュア supyua may be thought of as a combination of スピア supia ("spear") and ピュア pyua ("pure"), keeping a reference to both words; in this case, no English equivalent of the pun can probably be found.
[edit] Wrong Kanji = Spoiler
This is one of the mistakes that aren't directly related to Tokyopop's translation and are made just because of the lack of sources.
In the original manga and anime, the kanji "ao" in the Blue Knight's name (蒼の騎士 Ao no Kishi) is not the same as in Aoyama's name (青山雅也 Aoyama Masaya). Though both kanji read "ao" and mean "blue", they are different. The reason for using different kanji was more likely to make the Blue Knight's identity more shrouded in mystery. It is especially important for the manga, where the names appear in written form.
However, not all people have the original manga, and in the anime the Blue Knight's name is rarely shown - in the titles of Episode 17 and Episode 45, and sometimes in the ending credits. The kanji that is used in his name (蒼 ao) is less known by non-Japanese people than the one in Aoyama's name (青 ao). Since both kanji have the same reading, it is easy to use the wrong kanji if all you have is the romanization of the Japanese name (which is mentioned on almost every Tokyo Mew Mew webpage). Because of this, some of the Tokyo Mew Mew sites show the Blue Knight's name written with the same kanji as Aoyama's (i.e. 青の騎士), completely turning it into a spoiler, as it's hard not to notice the same kanji in both names.
[edit] Confusion of Deep Blue's origin
There appears to be a lot of confusion about Deep Blue's origin.
[edit] Rumors
- Deep Blue IS Masaya.
- Deep Blue posessed Masaya in episode 49.
- Deep Blue is the evil alter-ego of Masaya.
All of these rumors conflict with each other, so any one fan who has heard of these 3 (and maybe more) rumors, would be confused which one is true.
"Deep Blue-sama's spirit lives within the DNA of this planet's humans, and humans inherited the long dormant spirit. And then when that spirit tried to wake up, there was no medium in which he could awaken. Until now, only the closest to human of Deep Blue-sama's three spiritual body parts, Aoyama and the Blue Knight, have appeared. Meanwhile, Deep Blue-sama's true spirit existed in an alternate dimension and called us here from our far off home planet. But now Deep Blue has awakened. Now the other two spirits are no longer useful to Deep Blue and have been erased forever."
This is how a fan translated Pie's speech about the origin of Deep Blue.
The first two sentences basically say that Masaya is only a medium. He is not Deep Blue himself, so the 1st rumor is not true.
