It’s a commonly known fact that not everything can be translated to match the meaning or intent. Often this happens because of the vocabulary of the original language, the structure, and even the culture associated with it.
NISIOISIN’s Cipher Academy manga is the latest example of the above.
On Sunday, Kumar Sivasubramanian, the translator of the manga shared on Twitter that the upcoming chapter 13 will be his last. He also shared an article from Screen Rant, which explains the reason behind his resignation.
The article in the tweet refers to a part from Chapter 10, where the main character Iroha Irohazaka engages in a ‘lipogram’ battle with Tayu Yugata. Lipograms are sentences or paragraphs which convey the message while not using one or a set of letters (in the case of Japanese, syllables).
In this case, the English translation transliterates the words and then provides the meaning in English. While the mangaka NISIOISIN is notorious for his verbose writing and complex wordplay, this was certainly a point where an English translation would be seemingly impossible.
The note in the picture above mentions that the translations are rough as these lipograms don’t work in English due to phonetic differences.
Sivasubramanian’s tweet was received with appreciation from fans, thanking him for his work and sympathizing with the challenges a translator faces. He also mentioned that a replacement had been arranged. Viz Media has also not announced any delays.
Japanese and English are different from the ground up. A regular conversation is certainly translatable, but for a riddle that heavily focuses on grammar and puns, one has to understand the language himself to glean its beauty.
About Cipher Academy
Cipher Academy (Ango Gakuen no Iroha) is a mystery manga series by NISIOISIN and illustrated by Yuji Iwasaki. It was first launched on November 21, 2022, in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine.
Iroha Irohazaka gets enrolled in Cipher Academy, a Spartan school that focuses on endless code-breaking activities. Kogoe Horagatoge, a mysterious person gives Iroha a unique pair of glasses that have a secret of their own.
Source: Twitter
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