"My girlfriend should be human -- not my right hand!"

[larryhammer]

Short shameful confession: I am more amused than is warranted, given the syntactic differences of Japanese and English, by translated taglines for anime and manga.

My current favorites are "Mysterious school academy cat action!!" and "Thus begins a girl-meets-monster love comedy!" -- which are probably even funnier if you DON'T know the context -- though I remain fond of "Non-stop after-school exorcist action!" Current runner-up is "Taisho cherry blossoms amidst a fanciful storm."


(Answers: Neko-Ten, Tokyo★Innocent, Ga-Rei, and Sakura Wars (tv series), resepectively.)

---L.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

"non-stop after-school exorcist action" wins my vote.

[larryhammer]

And if you know the codes, you know exactly what kind of series you'll be getting with that.

---L.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I don't quite know the codes, but I'm guessing shonen-style with lots of combat and pretty, supportive girlfriends.

Yes? No?

[larryhammer]

Close: It is shounen-style combat by high-schoolers against spirits/yokai, but while there are pretty girls, none are girlfriends nor, except for the male lead's mentor who's stronger than him, on the table as such. In fact, if anything, he's the one being supportive of her. Not to mention, the cutest bishoujo are all antagonists.

It started looking like a Bleach knock-off but has gotten a lot more interesting than that (if not quite as good as Bleach itself). And more politically twisty.

---L.

[larryhammer]

Oh hey -- I just realized the reason scans stopped coming out for this series is that it's been licensed by Tokyopop. Not a bad choice.

(Even if it isn't Yokohama Shopping Log.)

---L.

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

ALL of those are funny.

Back in the day my ex had a Spriograph he bought in Japan. The translation of the instructions was--challenging. And so damn funny.

[larryhammer]

Heh. I believe it. Engrish can be fun for the whole family.

---L.

[(Anonymous)]

Chinglish is a riot too, if the HK-subtitled PEKING OPERA BLUES is any indication.

Tho' all I remember at this point are the shinning lights and crowdy cars.

I still say, "It's crowdy in here"...CW

[larryhammer]

Heh. That's a good one.

---L.