I think I’ve mentioned this before, but if anyone understands both Japanese and English very well, I have a question. I have two sets of Japanese subtitles. Right now, I’m using what I believe are the original theatrical subtitles. The second set I believe is the home video translation. I suspect that the theatrical translations were rushed and not as good as the later home video translations, but I have no way to verify this on my own.
So if you happen to know both Japanese and English well enough to compare two Japanese translations and tell me which one best captures the meaning of the original English, I have a job for you! Let me know if you’re interested.
Why not put them both on Project Threepio and label them correctly?
I’ve only got about 1/3 of the new one synced and usable, and I’m not inclined to sync the rest unless it’s better in some way. Eventually the whole thing may be usable, but it’s my lowest priority.
Also, I’m generally only interested in the best translation, which at least eventually would mean one set of subs per language. For example, the theatrical Japanese subtitles said “Revenge of the Jedi” (historically interesting, but inaccurate for the final film), and our subtitles, based on the theatrical subs, have already changed that to “Return of the Jedi”. And all the Furigana is gone, re-translated a few parts, and the timing is different. So we don’t really even have the theatrical versions in Project Threepio anymore. I know there can be sentimental attachments to certain typos and inaccurate translations, but that’s not really the point of this project, which is to translate the English dialogue as best as possible. Slight exception for the burnt-in Greedo/Jabba subs in other languages, which have a 35mm option for those who want to reconstruct the theatrical experience of those films, warts and all.