Utena Fansub Ep 29 Translation Notes

Revolutionary Girl Utena Episode 29 Azure Paler Than The Sky.mkv

An overhead view of the academy’s courtyard: two green lawns surrounded by tall arched buildings, with tiny students scattered across them. The subtitle reads “Yeah, right. I bet she was just getting hysterical over nothing.”

Girl 1: でもさーるか先輩もひどいんじゃない？
Girl 2: そう？あの子が勝手に盛り上がってただけじゃない。
Girl 1: あーそういうとこある！
All: あるある。

Girl 1: Don’t you think Ruka was kinda mean though?
Girl 2: Yeah, right. I bet she was just getting hysterical over nothing.
Girl 1: Oh yeah, maybe!
All: Yeah.

I love translating these scenes with the faceless girls talking because the Japanese is so natural and real. Naturalistic speech is a fun challenge because there’s a lot that can’t be directly translated (like filler words and the absence of words), so you really need to consider what these people would be saying if they were speaking English instead. It’s a challenge of creative writing, recalling lived experiences, and using learned social scripts all in one!

For example, the “getting hysterical over nothing” part translates 勝手に盛り上がってた (lit. getting herself worked up) and the 勝手 part implies that Ruka is blameless. But “getting worked up” sounds a bit too animenglish for my tastes, and doesn’t communicate the intensity of the emotions involved. On top of that, I think these gossipy scenes are intended to be a commentary on how women also uphold patriarchal ideals and perpetuate misogyny. So with that in mind, I chose the word “hysterical” — it being a word often used to belittle or dismiss emotional outbursts of women. “Over nothing” was a way to communicate the “Ruka is blameless” piece in a natural sounding way. Altogether I think it’s a great example of the challenge of translating natural language while also factoring in your other aims in the translation like preservation of major themes.

A close-up of Juri glaring, her orange curls framing her face, against a black and grey geometric background. The subtitle reads “Fuck you! Who do you think you are?”

Ruka: だが彼女はわがままで強引で自分勝手で、おまけに嘘つきときている。申し訳ないが、誰があんな女とだ。
Juri: 貴様！何様のつもりだ！

Ruka: But she’s narcissistic, coercive, and selfish. And a liar to boot. I’m sorry, but who could put up with that bitch?
Juri: Fuck you! Who do you think you are?

This scene is so intense. I’ve never used so many swear words in a single episode before, let alone a single scene! During editing, Anya asked about how I decided where to put the swear words, given that there aren’t really equivalents in Japanese. It’s a complicated question but there are a few things that I factor in.

First of all, there are kind of equivalents, sometimes. In the example above, I translated 貴様！ as “Fuck you!” Kisama is often translated as “bastard” or “jerk” or something similar because it’s a disrespectful form of address. Japanese has lots of disrespectful ways of saying “you” but no equivalent of “fuck” or even “fuck you”. I thought “fuck you” got across the anger Juri put into her 貴様！ much better than any name calling she could have done. Having done this translation now, I really lean towards “fuck you” being a standard translation of 貴様 (content rating depending).

An extreme close-up of Juri’s furious eye, sweat beading on her face. The subtitle reads “Are you fucking kidding? I’ve never been so insulted!”

Juri: 誰が貴様なんかと！
Ruka: 本当はフェンシング部の部長である僕の事が好きだったんだろう。
Juri: ふっざけるな！侮辱するにはほどがある！

Juri: Who the fuck would want you?
Ruka: The truth is, you’ve always had a crush on your fencing captain, haven’t you?
Juri: Are you fucking kidding? I’ve never been so insulted!

The second factor is, unfortunately, based solely on vibes (and tone). Juri’s first line here literally translates to “who would … you (derogatory)”, with the verb omitted and implicit. But there’s that kisama again, adding an extremely spiteful and emotional tone. The fact the sentence is a rhetorical question also impacts the tone, and the lack of verb makes it feel even more like it’s being spat out at Ruka like an attack. All of this together makes me feel like it needs a swear word in here to properly convey the vibes being communicated in how Juri is talking.

And again, in her last line from the above example, the vibes are powerful and resentful. Even though it’s just a single word, ふざけるな (lit. don’t joke around/are you kidding/etc), the way she delivers it is so spiteful that translating as “are you fucking kidding” just feels right.

Ruka, with short blue hair, seen from behind as he faces a dark doorway. The subtitle reads “When did you become such a miserable piece of shit?”

Juri: なんといやしいやつになりさがったんだ！

Juri: When did you become such a miserable piece of shit?

I don’t have anything to say on this line that I haven’t already above, but I liked it so much that I wanted to highlight it!

Thank you as always to my amazing editor @dontbe-lasanya! This project would be impossible without you!

Follow the blog for new episodes, and for previously released episodes, check the drive:

Haru Dipthong’s Utena Fansub - Google Drive

Rose divider taken from this post.