@anymany

Caution!

This article contains spoilers for Chainsaw Man.

I have been studying Spanish for a long time. That's because a friend I've been interacting with is from Mexico, so I've been focusing on learning Español Latino. Before that, I was learning German for a friend from Austria, but I struggled with memorizing a huge number of nouns and verbs that probably only exist in German (What “Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung” is?!!). In comparison, Spanish vocabulary has many similarities to English, and the words I learned yesterday often appear in the text I read today. So for me, Spanish is a language where "effort pays off" for English learners.

Also, I recently came across an interesting video comparing Kobeni's performance in Japanese, English, and Español Latino. Kobeni is a character from Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto, and she is a member of the "Devil Hunters", the fictional occupation in this story. The video focuses on her performance in episode 6, in the scene where they are trapped on the 8th floor of a hotel by an unknown force.

This video is simply meant to compare the performances of the voice actresses from the three countries, but I wanted to dig a little deeper and specifically compare what "they" said. I used YouTube's transcription feature to examine the translations of the tree countries, and I made a lot of interesting discoveries. So in this article, I would like to share some of those findings.

Also, I am a native speaker of Japanese, an intermediate learner of English, and a beginner of Spanish, so there may be errors in my understanding of each language. If you notice any such errors, I would be grateful if you could point them out to me.

日本語

私たち、全員ここで死んじゃうんだ。おなかペコペコで死んじゃうんだ。

(watashi tachi, zen'in koko de shinjaun da. Onaka pekopeko de shinjaun da; We're all going to die here. (We are) going to die of hunger.)

• Japanese is a language that makes frequent use of onomatopoeia. "Peko-peko" likely derives from the verb "凹む (hekomu; to become hollow)," and it expresses the state of being empty inside. A well-known example of this expression is "onaka (stomach) peko-peko," which is an idiom used to describe the suffering caused by hunger. It’s useful to remember this expression as it stands.

English

Since they can’t get in and we can’t get out, everybody here is gonna die. We’ll slowly starve to death.

• The former part was added to fit the content of the story, but is not present in the original text. As a result, the English Kobeni gives the impression of being more capable of logical thinking compared to other languages.

Español Latino

Todos nosotros vamos a morir en este lugar. Vamos a morir de hambre.

(We are all going to die in this place. (We are) going to die of hunger.)

• When translating Japanese anime into languages other than English, such as Spanish, German, or French, some translators choose to translate from English rather than directly from Japanese due to the similarities in language structure. In this example, however, it's clear that the Spanish translator was working from the original Japanese text. This Spanish translation is quite faithful to the original, and if you translate it as it is, you'll get what the Japanese Kobeni was saying.
• Additionally, Spanish has a wide range of verb conjugations, which often leads to the omission of the subject, a feature it shares with Japanese. I’ve often mentioned this, but in many ways, Spanish is very similar to Japanese.
• However, a significant difference from Japanese is the concept of "gendered nouns" in Spanish. For example, the phrase "(we) all" changes depending on whether the group consists of males or females. If the group were all females, you’d say "todas," but since the room contains both males and females, "todos" is used.

日本語

親が、優秀な兄だけは大学に行かせたいからって私に働かせたんです。風俗かデビルハンターしか選択肢なかったんです。

(oya ga, yūshūna ani dake wa daigaku ni ikasetai karatte watashi ni hatarakasetan desu. fūzoku ka debiru hantā shika sentakushi nakattan desu; My parents made me work because they wanted my smart older brother to go to university. My only options were to work in the sex industry or become a devil hunter.)

• Japanese is a language that frequently uses loanwords from English. The fictional role of "devil hunter" that appears in this work is also rendered as "デビル・ハンター (debiru hantā)" in Japanese.

English

Older brother is the gifted one, so his educations is all that matter to my parents, which is why they made me get a job. It was either become a devil hunter or a sex worker.

• Personally, I found the English in this section to be somewhat stylish and sophisticated, based on expressions about her family and sentences using relative pronouns like "which." Perhaps because of this, the "university" element is missing from the translated text, but it's possible that Kobeni's next line makes up for this omission. In any case, the English translation is quite acrobatic and unique.

Español Latino

Mis padres me pusieron a trabajar porque solo querían mandar a mi hermano el más listo a la universidad. Mis únicas opciones eran trabajadora sexual o devil hunter.

(My parents put me in a job because they only wanted to send my smartest brother to college. My only options were sex worker or devil hunter.)

• I found it interesting that the loanword "devil hunter" was used in Japanese, and it seems that the Spanish translator used "devil hunter" as it is, yet it is probably a foreign word for Spanish. This indicates that the Spanish translator is committed to staying true to the original text.

日本語

私も大学に行きたかったんです。でもここで死んじゃうんです。

(watashi mo daigaku ni ikitakattan desu. Demo koko de shinjaun desu; I wanted to go to college(/university) too, but (I'm/We’re) going to die here.)

• If you have studied Japanese, you may have heard that adding "です (desu)" at the end of a sentence makes it polite language (敬語; keigo; honorific language), which is used when speaking to a superior or someone of higher status. In the video, Kobeni is crying and shouting quite emotionally, but she stubbornly continues to use keigo. On the other hand, the other characters speak to her in casual language, so just by listening to the Japanese in this scene, you can logically infer the relationship between her and the others.

English

I, I wanted to go to college. But I’m just going to my grave!

• Is the expression "go to my grave" a common phrase in English? Because Kobeni is crying and shouting so emotionally, the YouTube transcript and I couldn't hear this part clearly. If our understanding is correct, I think the English Kobeni is using a stylish expression, as always.

Español Latino

Yo también quería ir a la universidad. ¡Pero voy a terminar muerta aquí!

(I wanted to go to college too. But I'm going to end up dead here.)

• The Spanish translation is, as always, very faithful and accurate.
• Incidentally, I noticed that in English, the word "college" was used, while in Spanish, the translation "universidad (university)" was used. In fact, the Japanese word "大学 (daigaku)" can refer to either "college" or "university," and different translators interpret it differently. To be honest, I’m also not very clear on the difference between college and university. My understanding is that college is smaller, while university is larger in scale. If anyone with more knowledge on this topic could explain in the comments, I would be grateful.

日本語

デンジ、くわせろ。

(Denji, kuwasero; Denji, let me eat.)

• In the original text, Kobeni only says the "causative second person imperative" form of "食う (kuu; to eat)," which means something like "let me eat." Therefore, it is impossible to determine from the original Japanese whether Kobeni wants to eat Denji or whether she wants to eat the food that Denji has. It's necessary to infer the meaning from the context.
• However, when the kanji (Chinese character) "喰う (also pronounced "kuu" and meaning the same as "to eat")" is used instead of "食う," it often implies a predator devouring prey. In such cases, the meaning shifts strongly toward "Kobeni wants to eat Denji," but in any case, this nuance cannot be picked up from the audio alone.

English

Denji, let me eat you.

• In the English version, the translation seems to adopt the interpretation that "Kobeni wants to eat Denji."

Español Latino

Dejen que se lo coma.

(Let (him/it) eat (him/it).)

• If our interpretation is correct, this is the first instance where a translation unique to Spanish appears. At first, I thought it was just the unique way the name "Denji" was pronounced in Spanish (as Latin script pronunciation in Spanish is quite different from what English or Japanese speakers might expect). However, I now believe the speaker is saying "Dejen," which corresponds to "let" or "allow." When translated into English, this would become "Let it eat him, (everyone)" which shows that the content of the statement is quite different from both the English and Japanese versions. Yet, interestingly, this translation still works perfectly within the story.
• I suspect that the Spanish translator suddenly changed their stance to better sync the dialogue with Kobeni's mouth movements. This anime, unusually for Japanese productions, has lip-syncing that matches the audio (whereas, in American cartoons, syncing audio with mouth movements is standard, and there's a long history of effort behind that). I believe the translator was likely motivated by a desire to match the mouth movements.
• Additionally, I imagine this Spanish translator struggled with the similarities between Spanish and Japanese. In the story, there’s a character named "Aki," but there’s also the Spanish word "aquí," meaning "here," which is used frequently. If you don’t listen carefully, it becomes unclear which one the speaker is referring to. Spanish has many words that can sound like Japanese vocabulary, which adds to the challenge.

日本語

「その魔人の力で８階から出られないんだ。絶対そうだ！」

「違うが？」

（”sono majin no chikara de 8-kai kara derare nain da. zettai sōda!” “chigau ga?”; "The genie's powers are preventing (us) from leaving the eighth floor. I'm sure of it!" "No, but?"）

• The phrase that ends with "が? (ga?)" is one of those expressions that is difficult to translate into English, but in short, it's a way of speaking that is often used by older men. Throughout the story, the girl in the white shirt speaks in a way that is typical of older men. The character of a girl who looks young but speaks like an old man is very popular in Japan, and it's interesting to see how this unique atmosphere is captured in other languages.

English

“Her ability is keeping us on the eighth floor. That just has to be why!!”

“Incorrect.”

• Although the English translation ultimately conveys the same meaning, the sentence structure changes quite a bit. Pinpointing exactly how and where it changes is a bit tricky, but the final result is that it expresses the same idea as the Japanese. The phrasing is very stylish, and personally, I love the phrase "That just has to be ..."—I want to start using it right away.

Español Latino

“Por culpa de esta poseída no podemos salir del octavo piso. ¡¡Eso debe ser!!”

“No es así.”

(“Because of this possessed woman we can't leave the eighth floor. That must be it!!”

“It's not like that.”)

• The Spanish translation, as always, is very faithful to the original.
• However, the Japanese word "魔人 (majin)" usually evokes the image of a "genie (like the one from the lamp)," but the Spanish translator has taken a unique approach by translating it as "poseída," meaning "the possessed (woman)."

日本語

「魔人をかばうの？私たちデビルハンターなのに。新井君は、悪魔の仲間なんだ。スパイだったんだ」

「酸っぱいじゃ」

(“majin o kabau no? watashi-tachi debiru hantā nanoni. Arai-kun wa, akuma no nakama nan da. supai dattan da” “suppai ja”; "Are you protecting a demon? We're devil hunters, right? Arai-kun, you are a friend of the devil. You are a spy." "Sour!")

• Kobeni mentions the word "スパイ (supai)," which means "spy," but because she doesn’t understand the meaning, she says "酸っぱい (suppai; sour)". Her statement is a meaningless joke, but I'm curious how this has been translated into different languages.

English

“You’re taking her side? And you call yourself a devil hunter. You’ve been spying with them all along, haven’t you? You’re Arai the spy!!”

“Oh, there’s pie?”

• In the English version, "pie" is used as a play on the word "spy". Interestingly, in the scene just before this, the "genie" girl wearing the white shirt had eaten some important food without permission, so the joke fits in quite well with the scene.

Español Latino

“¿Estás de su lado? Y te pones en contra nuestra. Arai eres aliado de los demonios. ¡Eres un espía infiltrado!”

“Y un tarado.”

(“You're on her side? And you're against us. Arai, you're an ally of the demons. You're an undercover spy!” “And a moron.”)

• The Spanish translator used "tarado", which means "stupid", as a play on "infiltrado", which means "infiltrator". However, even "stupid" seems to be a milder translation, and I had trouble finding this translation because the YouTube transcript marked it as an taboo word, like the f-word, and covered it with "[_]".

日本語

絶対スパイだ！！

(zettai supai da!!; (I’m) sure (you) must be a spy!!)

• You don't need to fully understand the finer points of grammar, but this sentence lacks both a subject and a verb, and yet it still works as a sentence. That’s how the Japanese language functions. Even though detailed grammar isn’t necessary, the expression "絶対〇〇だ (zettai ... da; I’m sure () must be ...)" is a very handy phrase to know, and it can come in useful in many situations:

1. 絶対Xだ。（(I'm) sure (it) must X.）
2. 絶対病気だ。（(I'm) sure (he/she) must be sick.）
3. 絶対女の子だ。((I’m) sure (s/he) must be a girl.)
4. 絶対メンドいから「はい」って答えてるやつだ。（(I'm) sure (s/he) answered "yes" because (s/he) didn't want to be disturbed anymore.）

English

I know what you are!!

• In the English version, they intentionally avoided using the word "spy" in the translation, but judging from the voice acting, it might have been the best translation choice. From my personal perspective, the English version of Kobeni’s performance feels crazier and cuter, which I really like. This English voice actor truly understands the concept of yandere.

Español Latino

¡¡Eres un espía!!

(You are a spy!!)

• As for the Spanish translation, it is, as always, faithful to the original Japanese text.
• Spanish has many words that are similar to English, which is helpful for Spanish learners who have already acquired some English. However, there are also words like "espía," which means "spy," where the pronunciation is similar but the spelling is quite different, making it a bit challenging.
• Another example is the word "entender". From the sound of it, I think it's the Spanish version of "understand".
• Also, do you know the Spanish translation for "explanation"? "Explanación"? Good, but "explicación" is more common. ...Why????

日本語

死んで！

（shinde!; Die!）

• It's not a very polite word, but this is an example sentence where you can learn the curse word "Die!" However, the Japanese phrase "死んで (shinde)!" is more commonly used by a delicate girl like Kobeni. If you are a man, it would feel more natural to use "死ね (shine)" instead. Also, I just want to make sure that this is not an English word, but a Japanese word, so you have to pronounce it Japanese style.

English:

DIE!!

• I don't have much to say about the English version.
• But in terms of performance, the voice acting in the English version is absolutely phenomenal. I really recommend listening to it, even just once. As expected from the land of Disney!

Español Latino

¡Muere!

(Die!)

• The Spanish "¡Muere!" is the second person imperative form of "morir (to die)". There are two types of imperative forms in Spanish: the "tú" form and the "vos" form. In this video, the Spanish Kobeni uses the "tú" form all the time because she is speaking Mexican Spanish. On the other hand, the most famous example of a country that uses the "vos" form is Argentina, and if it were translated there, it would probably be "¡Morí!" When I encounter languages like English or Spanish that have native speakers in many countries, I feel a strong urge to study them to the point where I can distinguish the variations in each country. Since Japanese is spoken only in Japan, such languages feel quite fresh to me.

日本語

私のせいじゃない！あなた、あなたのせいだから。あなたがおとなしく食べられてたら解決したのに。

(watashi no sei janai! Anata, anata no seidakara. Anata ga otonashiku taberarete tara kaiketsu shita no ni; It's not my fault! It's your fault. If you had just been quiet and eaten, the problem would have been solved.)

• This passage contains the phrase "It's not my fault," which seems like a useful phrase to remember in different languages.
• In fact, I personally find the original Japanese text a little strange. In the 18th century, the Japanese language underwent rapid globalization, and many new words were created through the forced translation of Western academic terms, and the word "解決 (kaiketsu; solution)" was also born at that time. However, it seems a bit strange that a girl who lost her temper and stabbed her colleague with a knife would use such an academic term. However, in modern times, it's possible that "解決" has become a word deeply rooted in everyday language, making it more natural to use in everyday life. This is just a personal feeling as a Japanese speaker.

English

It’s not my fault, okay? None of this would have happened if it were for him. You should have been good, and let it eat you. And everything would be fine!

• Surprisingly, the English version does not use the word "solve" at all. Her lines are all simple words, which I think makes the English translation better suited to the tone of the story.
• But from a linguistic point of view, the difficulty of the English "subjunctive" has long troubled English learners like me. Even in this example, trying to understand a sentence with "would/should have -ed if ..." from a grammatical point of view can be maddeningly difficult. Similar to the Japanese version, it feels strange that a mentally unstable girl can use such complex grammar so easily.

Español Latino

No, esto no fue mi culpa. ¡No! Todo esto es tu culpa. Todo se habría solucionado si ya hubieras dejado que te comiera.

(No, this wasn't my fault. No! This is all your fault. Everything would have been solved if you had just let (it) eat you.)

• The Spanish translation, known for its fidelity to the Japanese original, uses the word "solucionar."
• Also, bad news for me, the complexity of the subjunctive is also present in Spanish, as if "conjugating verbs" wasn't the first and biggest challenge for Spanish learners. I could catch a glimpse of it in the words "habría" and "hubieras", but I am not ready to deal with it. So I won't go into it too much for now.

This concludes the content of this article. Thank you very much for reading all the way through.

From what I can tell from this scene, the English Kobeni seems to be portrayed as a more intelligent but nervous woman (she reminds me of Wendy Torrance from The Shining) compared to the Japanese version, while the Spanish Kobeni is portrayed as a more childish and powerless girl. Of course, I'm not trying to argue that one country's translation is better than another's, or that it's a problem if a character differs from the original. Rather, I want to point out how the interpretation of a character in each country can significantly influence the translator's script and the voice actors' performances. This is why I consider translation to be one of the creative professions. I can guess that a deep understanding of the work and a unique interpretation are, in my opinion, the most challenging and important issues that a professional translator must face. From this perspective, I think that the translations of the creators of the English and Spanish versions are both professional works that I could never hope to achieve, let alone imagine.