A question I've been thinking of for a while. I know that some things are very difficult to translate and I wonder if japanese porn comic dialogue is one of them ,and is actually erotic in japanese, or if it's just as cringy. Or does Japan simply have a cringe-fetish :P

MyNameIsOver20charac said:
A question I've been thinking of for a while. I know that some things are very difficult to translate and I wonder if japanese porn comic dialogue is one of them ,and is actually erotic in japanese, or if it's just as cringy. Or does Japan simply have a cringe-fetish :P

I have the feeling that it's a rule in hentai to point out what's happening on screen.
Every.Single.Action.

MyNameIsOver20charac said:
A question I've been thinking of for a while. I know that some things are very difficult to translate and I wonder if japanese porn comic dialogue is one of them ,and is actually erotic in japanese, or if it's just as cringy. Or does Japan simply have a cringe-fetish :P

Japanese can sometimes be difficult to translate into English due to the language, culture, and tropes often being very different. Literal translations are part of the reason you might see certain phrases more overused ("Don't say such strange things!", Sonna hen na koto o iu na!). And sometimes there's cultural things like the Japanese being compulsed to exclaim "itadakimasu!" before they eat or the fact that Japanese doesn't really have any true swear words (granted translators are usually good about putting swear words where appropriate). But any cringey tropes you see ("Brother, hey brother, I want to fuck you brother, because you're my brother", "ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah Can't hold out, gonna cum, I'm cummming! ah!", [trying to speak with a mouth full of dick but it's too muffled], are just the tropes of Japanese porn for some reason.

D4rk said:
I have the feeling that it's a rule in hentai to point out what's happening on screen.
Every.Single.Action.

Ah right, very true, I’ve noticed this and wondered why too. Same with doing the “peace sign” during sexy times

Let's be real, almost all porn dialogue is pretty terrible.

I'm no master at it, but it feels like most porn dialogue seems to exist just because the writer felt like the character should be saying something, but couldn't think of anything for them to say, so relied on either narrating exactly what's going on, or relied on cliches that they've seen a hundred times before.

Sometimes people are a bit more creative, and that can go really well at times, but can also give rise to the worst examples of corny dialogue.

I'm getting a bit off topic here. This is just a topic I've thought about a little bit. So I guess I'll end off with a bit of advice to anyone reading this who might want to write some dialogue at some point.

As otehrs have said, yes and no. Porn dialog's pretty awful, the biggest problem for us with Japanese-translated dialog is that we don't talk that way.

For example.. Here's a phrase you hear in porn a lot. "kimochi" or "kimochi ii"

Kimochi refers to having a feeling or sensation, and Kimochi ii means "I have a feeling that is good." or more specifically "I"m feeling a good thing.."

the 'american' porn equivalent is "fuck yeah.. yeah.. yeah.. yeah.."

but when translating.. well, it doesn't really make sense for sweet innocent Hisa-chan to yell "OH YEAH FUCK ME"... So it tends to be translated as "it feel so good... my body feels amazing.. I feel good.. it's so good! it's so good!"

and it's such a small simple phrase. Ki-mo-chi .. it's easy to say, it's easy to sigh out and moan out.. a lot of japanese words and phrasesa are a lot shorter than the english equivalent.. "Nakadashi" for example, means that dude is cumming inside his partner's body. it's .. 4 syllables. One word. That's all that's needed to say all that. while we'd need "I'm coming inside your pussy" or something that just sounds.... awkward and cumbersome. because who really says that? It's a mouthful, but there's no way to do it in english.

There;s also a lot of difference in how the two cultures expect females to act and speak in porn. a very passive female is traditionally attractive in Japan, while in america we want 'oh yeah fuck me.. uh huh.. fuck my little pussy" .. rahter than "ah.. it feels nice... wow.."

“Cringey”? Ugh keep that word back in 2016.

BlackLicorice said:
“Cringey”? Ugh keep that word back in 2016.

But did you cringe when you read that?

MyNameIsOver20charac said:
A question I've been thinking of for a while. I know that some things are very difficult to translate and I wonder if japanese porn comic dialogue is one of them ,and is actually erotic in japanese, or if it's just as cringy. Or does Japan simply have a cringe-fetish :P

As a rule of thumb, most cases of "it's difficult to translate" would be better said as "I've reached the limit of skill/imagination/drive to translate this today".

As others have said that others have said, there is moutain of culture difference that can be pretty cringy when translated into anything near the literal. On the other hand, cringy porn dialogue is both universal and relative.

MyNameIsOver20charac said:
Is japanese porn dialogue as cringy in japanese?

Yes

The same as English porn dialogue is cringy in English

huh, always remembered “kimochi“ being used in situations where the female would ask the male if it “feels good,” or vice versa; in erotic thought as well

masterwave said:
huh, always remembered “kimochi“ being used in situations where the female would ask the male if it “feels good,” or vice versa; in erotic thought as well

Casual Japanese can use intonation to turn a statement into a question like English.

Kimochi ii! = It feels good!
Kimochi ii? = Does it feel good?

Baka!

CrocoGator said:
Casual Japanese can use intonation to turn a statement into a question like English.

Kimochi ii! = It feels good!
Kimochi ii? = Does it feel good?

Especially with the latter though, you might expect to see one of many variants based on nuance: Kimochi ii? Kimochi ii no? Kimochi ii darou? Kimochi ii desu ka? Kimochi ii ka? Kimochi ii nda na? Kimochi ii ne? Kimochi ii yo ne? Kimochi ii kana? etc. "Kimochi ii?" is fairly common though.

Yeah, the former does indeed sound like what many are puzzled by when used in any form of japanese pornagraphy. 🤔

masterwave said:
huh, always remembered “kimochi“ being used in situations where the female would ask the male if it “feels good,” or vice versa; in erotic thought as well

CrocoGator said:
Casual Japanese can use intonation to turn a statement into a question like English.

Kimochi ii! = It feels good!
Kimochi ii? = Does it feel good?

Especially with the latter though, you might expect to see one of many variants based on nuance: Kimochi ii? Kimochi ii no? Kimochi ii darou? Kimochi ii desu ka? Kimochi ii ka? Kimochi ii nda na? Kimochi ii ne? Kimochi ii yo ne? Kimochi ii kana? etc. "Kimochi ii?" is fairly common though.

For clarification/elaboration on Crocogator's statement since he doesn't *quit* go into same amount of depth I would :)

Not only can you ask a question with your tone of voice in japanese, Japanese also has a lot of sentence particles that can be added to change the meaning of a sentence.

(Keeping in mind that my japanese is very old and rusty, I may do some sentences that are grammatically incorrect, but conceptually should be right.)

the 'yo' particle at the end of a sentence can make it sound emphatic. Like you're telling them something new, or otherwise emphasize. It can also be used to kind of make a semi0rhetodrical question:

Kimochi ii yo! - "It really feels good!"

the 'ne' particle at the end of a sentence also turns it into a semi rhetorical question that might be looking for a reply/response. (That sounds weird, but in english it'd be like "and you know what I said to him?" or " y'know?" it's not really a place to RESPOND< but to indicate that you're still listening.)

Kimochii ii yo ne? - That feels good, doesn't it?

the 'ka' particle is pretty simple: it's asking a question.

Kimochii ii ka? - Does that feel good?

They also have particles for a lot of other specific things.. for example, there's a suffix used mostly when talking to yourself, and another one that basicaly means "I've asked this before, but I've forgotten" ... and most of these don't translate well to english which is why you get weird english translations, because they detail a lot of 'meta information' into how you say something.

Plus, especially in manga/anime, the words a character uses says a lot about their personality, as adding or removing a syllable or two can mean you're being rude... or polite. All i nall, it's quite hard to translate.

SnowWolf said:
Japanese Stuff

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.

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

There 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.

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.

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.

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

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