#Dennou Shoujo Mink

[kazarinn]

I'm finishing up the retranslation for Saint Tail's anime right now, so I'm at the stage where I'm thinking about my next few projects, and I've currently at least decided that I want to do something for Megumi Tachikawa's other works as well. Tachikawa is an incredibly amazing writer, and it's such a shame that her work has been so poorly represented in translation; even beyond the fact that a good chunk of her work hasn't even been translated at all, the ones that were translated seem to have been run through the translation equivalent of a meat grinder.

I prioritized Saint Tail both because it's her most famous work and because it's the one that took the most damage (it's definitely pretty disturbing to find out that around half of the plot was translated to suggest the opposite of what it was actually supposed to mean!), but I do want to call attention to Cyber Idol ☆ Mink (localized by Tokyopop as Mink), generally considered to be Saint Tail's spiritual sequel. Unlike with Saint Tail, the Tokyopop release of Mink didn't flip it horizontally, and it doesn't have incomprehensible nonsense lines like "Great Big Deal!!" that Saint Tail's release did, but...well, I think some examples would demonstrate it better.

Here's Tokyopop's version of a spread from chapter 6:

And here's the proof of concept I sent to my group when pitching this series (done very quickly, so definitely not my best work, but probably enough to get the point across), which was translated directly from the Japanese text:

...Huh? That's not even remotely similar! The original scene is meant to draw a clear parallel between Mink's view of the chocolate and her view of herself, and the progression of the scene plays on the ambiguity of whether "あたしじゃなくて" means "this isn't from me" or "this isn't me". The reason Mink is considered to be Saint Tail's spiritual sequel is that it explores similar concepts of self-identity and the feeling of inadequacy compared to an idealized, sanitized self, something Mink is even less subtle about than Saint Tail was at times, but the nuance here seems to have been lost in translation. (In fact, I'm not entirely sure what must have led to the Tokyopop version's interpretation; the Japanese text doesn't resemble what's there at all.)

Which also means that when you get to later parts of the series like this...

(Tokyopop version)

(Our proof of concept retranslation)

In this case, the Tokyopop version roughly corresponds to the Japanese text but interprets it in ways that really don't get the point of this scene very well, ranging from not catching the specific use of "small and tiny" (ちっぽけな) invoking the earlier scene with the chocolate to making too many specific assumptions about Mink and Kyo's feelings that are actually out of character. (Let alone the fact that the way they phrase Mink's lines here really just doesn't convey the sheer level of desperation and emotion at all...)

For instance, it's a very important part of Mink's character that she doesn't have self-awareness about wanting to feel needed; she says 必要としてくれるなら because she legitimately feels like she's useless or has nothing to offer without the help of the WANNA-BE program. This kind of thing is a common trait of Tachikawa protagonists, and while I know many people might think it's not that big of a deal, I think the difference between "wanting attention and thinking your alter ego is cooler" and "having insecurity from believing you'll never be good enough unless you blot out all the undesirable parts of yourself" is big enough to mean something to a lot of people who would be reading this!

In any case, once I'm done with Saint Tail, I do have some other projects I want to prioritize first, since Mink's official translation is at least somewhat readable (kind of a low bar, but...). But I did want to call attention to this for now in case anyone was interested, because while Saint Tail and Mink are far from the only shoujo or magical girl manga from this era to have such poor treatment in localization, I don't think this issue has been well-documented when it comes to Tachikawa's work, and it really does break my heart.

[hotwaterandmilk]

Series: Cyber Idol☆ Mink Artist: Tachikawa Megumi Product: Movic Clear File (2000) Source: Scanned from personal collection

[haveyoureadthismanga-poll]

[haveyoureadthiscomic-poll]

[warumin]

I think it is a great thing my school is talking more about mental health as well as physical. I just find it unfortunate that I have to talk about my depression right next to my Dennou Shoujo Mink recommendation

[classic-shoujo]

Cyber Idol Mink (1999) by Megumi Tachikawa

[magicalgirloftheday]

✧・ﾟ:*Today’s magical girl of the day is: Cyber Angel Mink from Cyber Angel Mink!✧・ﾟ:*

[mangaredditdotcom]

Cyber Idol Mink.

Alternative: サイバーアイドル・Mink ; 電脳少女☆Mink ; 電脳少女Mink ; Dennou Shoujo Mink ; Mink

Description : From Tokyopop: When Mink rushes to buy the latest CD by her favorite pop star, Illiya, she winds up instead with a software disc from the future that allows her to become whomever she wants. When she and her friends decide to program a Cyber Idol version of herself, all Mink's dreams come true. In fact, she is soon discovered as the next 'It Girl' and causes quite the pop culture sensation. However, Mink cannot reveal her true identity to anyone because using software from the future is a serious crime--and being caught could result in her 'deletion.' #MangaReddit.com, #ReadFreeMangaOnline Read Free Manga Online at MangaReddit.com: https://mangareddit.com/p/cyber-idol-mink_1584416144.html

Read more.

[animuze]

Mink & Strawberries by Hisa yoshi

[hotwaterandmilk]

Series: Cyber Idol☆ Mink Artist: Tachikawa Megumi Product: Movic Shitajiki (2000) Source: Scanned from personal collection

[henshins-blog]