Clawdragons said:
It's worth mentioning that a lot of this stuff isn't actually that different from English.

"That feels good" is a statement.
"That feels good?" is a question, using a different intonation.
"That feels good, eh?" is a rhetorical question, paralleling "ne" as described above - and conveniently sounds similar too.

it's very true, but Crocogator has already mentioned that, to a degree. I was mostly expanding on the spoilered text. For me at least, knowing that something is different is one level of understanding, but having examples really helps it click in my head. :)

Sometimes people treat the two languages as more different than they actually are.

Very true!

Not, mind you, that there aren't big differences that make translation difficult.

I'd like to elaborate on that last point though - sometimes it's not necessarily that translation is difficult, but that there isn't an agreed upon standard for how translation should occur.

here are a few priorities:

1) Sounds natural in English.
2) Reflects the literal meaning of the work.
3) Maintains the tone / intent of the work.

Ideally you could do all of these, but that's rare. More often you can do two of them, but sometimes you can't even do that.

This is a very good elaboration :) This is, in my opinion, the hardest part of any translation effort-- far more than knowing what words mean what.

Then, add onto that that people are very picky when it comes to adaptation, and their reactions aren't necessarily rational. I remember reading about the movie Inside Out and its adaption to Japanese - at one point, they changed a broccoli pizza into a green pepper pizza, because green pepper is more universally hated by kids in Japan.

Well, Broccoli is a way better tasting veggie :)

That said, I'd say that's not so much about being picky about translation, so much as shifting it to be a more understandable cultural experience. Which is somewhere between point 3 and point 4 up on your list :)

People seemed to be fine with this change. Which is odd, because of the "4kids hates riceballs" meme - admittedly, it was often their execution which was flawed, but it's weird to me that people were so against the changing of foods to fit a different culture when it was an adaptation from Japanese to English, but not the other way around.

That was kind of a different era, but it's definitely an interesting comment about how our culture has changed over the years.

Honestly, as an older person 'round these parts, I actually think it's pretty neat: I grew up in Hawaii and didn't know what a rice ball was. Now, my rural Alabamian town has 3 asian restaurants, one of which does serve onigiri. It's really cool seeing how time progresses onward. And I don't really think it's fair to hold 4 kids to the same standards of the modern day.

I just felt like elaborating on some points, but I think I've begun to ramble again.

Eh, I don't mind :) I like getting the opportunity to ramble about this sort of stuff. Maybe someone will learn something :D