This week's poll is very specific and was suggested by Dreverhaven from Death Toll. The question deals with SFX (sound effects) that are not inside bubbles in manga. A quick Google search gives me these examples:
Only translated
Completely redrawn

The question deals with what would you prefer scanlators do about SFX with some small relation to the speed of releases, as it does take time and effort to completely redraw the SFX.

You can submit poll ideas here
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3903

Previous Poll Results:
Question: Which do you consider yourself to be?
Choices:
In the middle - votes: 2484 (46.7%)
Optimist - votes: 956 (18%)
Pessimist - votes: 1881 (35.4%)
There were 5321 total votes.
The poll ended: September 27th 2019

I'm curious what the results would have been in the past, even say 3-4 years ago

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A just ruler amongst tyrants

I'm pretty sure this is a major question amongst official publishers too. I remember picking up a Yen Press manga for the first time and finding that, instead of the previous industry standard, they'd typeset the SFX on the margins instead of redrawing. They even included a note about why--basically exactly as the poll indicates, that the original SFX were crucial parts of the art and should be left in place for the most "authentic" experience, which I, at the time, felt was code for, "We're trying to save time and money."

Nowadays, I honestly don't care. I've seen some really great typesetting done (TSP's work on Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san and Horimiya comes to mind) that really enhances the experience. Though I've seen some frankly abysmal typesetting too, so much so that I sometimes wish the scanlators would just stick a translation on the margins instead.

So I guess my answer is, "As long as it looks good, I'm fine with anything."

(I also read so many manga that speed of translations has never bothered me. As long as the scanlators keep chugging along at translating, I don't care if it takes them five years to finish one volume, I'm just grateful they're doing it at all.)

SFX are part of the art and as such should be left in place, their translation being typeset in small size next to them or on the margins as notes. Explains itself doesn´t it. Thank Zodd that most publishers, outside of I think Jump, moved to this standard. The redrawn SFX symbols in the German version of Kenshin (they used the US pages, I think) and so on destroyed the flow of action scenes like you wouldn´t believe back in the day and actual pros did those.

I highly suggest to look up Gi Joe No. 85. The whole issue was told in the form of sound effects. Here is a sample: https://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/6039434.html

Last edited by residentgrigo at 6:13 am, Sep 28 2019

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I also read EU/US comics and am a librarian.
Manga-Masters, My ANN-Lists + Imdb

Leave as is. It annoys me that this is such as easy problem to figure out, yet you still have companies who use this as an excuse for why they "cannot" do any work when everyone else already figured it out a decade beforehand.


Thanks for the series of images, that was rather interesting to read.

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SFX are part of the art and as such should be left in place, their translation being typeset in small size next to them or on the margins as notes.

I'm okay with any of these options, really, but I definitely prefer the above. Especially when you consider that all the time and effort used for redrawing SFX is definitely better spent working on the next chapter.

Technically, all SFX (many of which aren't actually "sound" effects) should be translated ...and redrawn.
They are, indeed, "essential for scanlation to be true to the original." (and that is the option I voted for)

When I say redrawn:
Properly redrawn, in the same kind of style/font/typeface as the original.
...and I have the same opinion, in regards to the text within speech/thought-bubbles or anywhere else. It should be the same as the original. (or as close to it, as one can manage)

Much as the translated text is supposed to convey the same to an English speaker, as the original Japanese conveys to the Japanese, the same should apply, when it comes to font/typeset/typeface.
You don't like the original font? You think a different one looks better? Tough!
That's what the mangaka used, that's what you, as a scanlator, should use. There are no doubt several places where I translator might thing the mangaka/author/artist writes/draws something, where you think it could be better ...but they don't rewrite/redraw it, to reflect how you think it would be better, now do they?
They simply translate the original. As they should.
Rather than make what would, essentially, become a different work.
It certainly wouldn't really be a translation, in any meaningful sense.
I see no reason to treat fonts any differently.

That said, there is sometimes some validity to the notion that they are part of the art, in which case there can be some merit to leaving them as they are. (including a translation, obviously, being a firm requirement)
One would have to consider the impact on translation vs the impact on the art, and make a judgement on which way one should go.
Most of the time, however, they aren't really aren't a significant part of the art, in any way at all. They're just a bit of text, to indicate a sound/state/action/whatever.
Big SFXs in action scenes in Kenshin?
Sure, that's part of the art.
Stuff like the example in the OP? Or *looks around for a random example* the SFX in this page?
That's just text.
Especially the latter, which is also how SFXs are most commonly done.
Even in shounen series. (they may also have a lot of big and "arty" ones, sure, but most of the time...)

I personally like it, when they aren't redrawn (though preferably translated), due to being able to know what the original Japanese is, but...
That's not really a concern that should be catered to.
Not unless you can come up with a way of having both the original Japanese and the translation, without it being a complete mess ...which you can't. (not unless you have some software that allows you to easily switch between the languages, or something ...but that is far beyond the scope of a mere scanlation. I'd love it, though)

As for the speed of release:
Releases stay forever.
Revisions, or someone else doing the same chapter, later on, are things that rarely ever happen.
Hence I vastly prefer it, if it's done properly, rather than quickly.
I'd be fine with a quicker release, if the group always follows it up with a more thorough release.

Last edited by zarlan at 12:57 pm, Sep 28 2019

I chose the ‘they’re part of the art’ option. I don’t care about SFX and would especially not expect a scanlator to put all that work in.

I feel like most scanlators are often unable to accurately replicate the look and feel of the original SFX.
That's why, in most cases, they should be left alone and the translation typeset nearby or in the margins.

However, sometimes it's not even necessary to do that much.

In all honestly, my answer is a combination of two options:
Typeset only when necessary to understand the context of a scene, but also don't bother redrawing, and just typeset the translation in the margins.

Of course, I also don't mind if a scanlator translates all of the SFX, but that's usually not needed, and can sometimes make things a bit cluttered.

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Indeed, it's better to have a translation on the side, than bad redrawing.

No more than the original manga is ...as long as it's done properly, that is.

My answer would be a mix, some SFX should be IMO translated in the margin because sometimes it's really difficult to understand a panel without it.
In other cases I don't particularly care, I generally don't read sfx.

Scanlators should be free to do whatever they want though, as long as it's readable. I don't like to complain about their work.

Usually I don't really mind which way scanlators do it, but I still believe that they should be left alone with a translator note outside of the panels of what they mean. If many, just have one, then one underneath, etc.,

Missing an entry.
SFX are part of the art and as such should be left in place. SFX notes clutter the margins and panels and are a drag on the typesetter and even more on the redrawer. Scanlators should ignore them altogether.

I'm not looking to remove the Japanese from the manga, I just want to read the story. Sound effects in comics don't add anything except a feel and that surpasses language barriers.

...which is to say, something very important and significant.
Also, they add more than just a feel.

No it doesn't. At all. In any way.
Sound effects don't even always surpass the barrier, across fellow Western European Indo-European languages, much less between Japanese and English.

Pretty much no one reads "うきうき", "カーー", "ごごごごごごご" or "じーーーー", and gets what it means (unless they've learned what it means).
In fact, the vast majority don't even read it, at all, being unable to. Most who read manga, don't know enough Japanese, to be able to read kana. (that's very basic, sure, but most don't actually try to learn Japanese, so...)
Even those that represent an actual sound (and "sound effects" can cover a lot more than that, such as is the case with the above examples), don't make sense, even if they are transcribed into Roman/Latin letters: gohogoho, kero, kun, gan...
Neither the meaning, nor the feel, of the SFX, will be apparent to most readers.

I respectfully disagree. 😎

...but have no arguments or evidence, to back it up, I see.