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Translator Log: Go-Busters

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 5:14 am
by takenoko
So I've been trying to consistently write translator threads to comment on series that are completed. Just to look back and talk about some of the choices that were made.

I feel like the spy thing was a red herring. We saw the toys of cameras and stuff and made the assumption, but the show really has nothing to do with spies. The Busters are more like special force units, trained to handle specific situations and run in a military hierarchy.

The other big motif of the series (which should have been more obvious) is the anti-virus motif. The Japanese word for anti-virus are Virus Busters, which is where the Go-Busters get their name. A few weeks ago I realized that "enemy eliminated" should have been "enemy deleted" or "enemy erased" to go with the computer theming, since the term sakujo is used when deleting stuff on a computer. Then I thought about it a bit more, and figured that "virus eliminated" also works, so it's still alright.

So butting heads with official spellings:
Yoko and Ryuji - Thankfully, these spellings didn't show up enough to matter. Youko and Ryuuji worked out fine in my opinion.

The Vaglass - Ultimately, I feel like this spelling makes no sense, despite using it. I think it's ultimately a portmanteau of "bug" and "virus" so it should have been Bugrus.

Metaloids, Buddyloids, Meta Viruses - Yeah, no. It's Meta + android, Buddy + android. This is just an example of Japanese people using English without knowing it. (Let's Morphin, Let's Driving)

Maybe Chida Nick would have been better as Cheeda Nick. Since the normal katakana spelling for Cheetah uses a dash and Chida doesn't, I assumed the sound was shorter, so I spelled it that way.

Buster Hercules - Despite being pronounced Herakles, since it's based on the Hercules Beetle, it has to be Hercules. There is no Herakles Beetle.

Hyper Space, Subdimension - As a scifi nerd, hyper space already means something. And this isn't it.

Problems with the Subdimension
In the end, I kind of feel like the subdimension was one futuristic thing to take too many. The theme of the series if viruses and computers. I really feel like the subdimension should have just been the Internet, and teleportation should have worked via wireless communication. The subdimension in implementation was basically the Matrix. The walls broke apart and you saw data code. Messiah thrived in it. It doesn't make any sense for it to be that way if it's another dimension.

Problems with the EMC
The EMC provided the mcguffin of the series, Energon. I'm not really sure why the EMC was so powerful and had its own military unit and were researching teleportation and making partner robots and giant megazords. Really, the EMC should have just been "the government", and the energy managers were some outside department that had nothing to do with the Busters. Since that's what it was in implementation, we never saw beyond the Special Missions Department.

Writing for Enter
I think our Enter ended up being very subdued. He was always the polite gentleman. I tried to throw in some French swears during moments where it would seem like he would be breaking out in French, but ultimately rejected by QC since they felt it would come off as distracting since people would notice it's not actually in French. It just made me wish those lines were actually in French in the original script.

Speaking of which, that was one of the biggest problems, figuring out the French. I think we did okay, but I'm sure we fudged a few of those

Writing for Escape
It's pretty hard to write for a person who's only character trait is inserting the word "good" in everything they say. If Escape is the Id, then I guess it makes sense for her to see the world in black and white. Either things are "good" or they're useless to her. On or off. It's very... binary.

Writing for old men
I tried to make Ryuuji and Jin sound out of date. There were a couple of "dittos" that got rejected. I basically tried to make Ryuuji sound a bit outdated and corny. He would also use more technical sounding terms and large vocabulary. Jin speaks in slang and slurrs a lot of his words, so a lot of his dialogue get apostrophes and was shortened.

The other Busters
Hiromu and the others were fairly straight forward. Just make Youko sound a bit uneducated or using simpler words. I kind of stole J's italic "I's" from Mag. It's just so fitting of J's "ore" personality.

Power Rangers Terms
As suspected, these ultimately served no purpose in the great Go-Buster story. But at least they stopped seeming so annoying/silly after a few episodes. I don't know if I ever really found them "cool" the way I did "Busters. Ready? Go!" I also learned that Morphin in PR has no apostrophe, so that's why we didn't use one in our subs.

Christian References
Not sure if this served a greater purpose besides being a convenient tie-in for the Christmas origin storyline.

Re: Translator Log: Go-Busters

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 6:58 am
by butyoumight
This is a really fun thread, take, thanks!

I agree 1000% about 'hyperspace'. In every sci-fi ever hyperspace implies increased speed/faster than light travel. That is not what is happening here, at all.

I don't mind the subdimension as a general rule, though, if I consider it sort of a... Ah, the word escapes me, but just a metaphorical term, I guess? It feels sometimes like the internet is a different dimension to me, an alternate/mirror type-reality. The thing that bothered me about the subdimension is that they established that it was harsh, increased gravity, hard to breathe, etc. and then they just handwaved that away with a program that we only ever saw them activate the once, but they never really implied that it only NEEDED to be implied once? Like it was some kind of vaccine against the basic make-up of the subdimension. I thought that was kind of sloppy, they could have done something with that, I think.

Of course I have to comment on the Enter dialogue. Only to say that I loved it. He has, from the beginning straight through to the end he has been, in my opinion and above all POLITE. Even when he was so obviously losing it and seemed at times to be slipping into all of the violent hubris that marks most Sentai Big Bads, but then he'd drop another oh so polite "Merci". He doesn't die cursing the Busters or screaming about how impossible it is that they defeated them, he says 'farewell' in the most permanent and respectful manner possible in French.

I was a proponent for leaving the French curses intact, though I suppose I understand the reasoning for why they were left out. The French was definitely rough to pick out in some places, but I have a feeling that has plenty to do with the fact that French words and Japanese accent don't really go terribly well together. I think Jinnai Sho did an admirable job, considering there was doubtful and kind of coach on hand for that, but he definitely had a few words that he just couldn't wrangle his mouth around ('monsieur' comes to mind, also early instances of 'trois', which he figured out by the time they recorded Ma Puce Requiem).

All in all, DAMN what a good season. I am so glad to have come on board staff for this season, I wish I'd thought to join sooner.

Re: Translator Log: Go-Busters

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 8:22 pm
by Quetzalcoatl
Want to say something since you mention the word Binary and Escape in the same section. lol

Well technically wouldn't that make more sense for the character? After all, Escape is pretty much made up of 1's and 0's
Computer can only read 1 and 0.
Using C++ and Java to write a code, then the program compiles that coding into 1 and 0 for the computer to read and execute it.
That's really how I see it.

Re: Translator Log: Go-Busters

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 8:24 pm
by takenoko
Yup, that's the joke I was going for. Good to see someone gets it.

Re: Translator Log: Go-Busters

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:05 pm
by PolarPhantom
This is my first time posting, but I have come to the sight quite a bit in the past. I just wanna bring up some thoughts I have on this series in relation to PR, namely in regards to the sub-dimension, as well as other subjects. Yes, Tak, for the most part the references were window dressing, but all this talk of data made me realise something.

So, within PR canon, The Morphin Grid is what allows the Rangers to, well, morph. But it also serves as a repository on all the data about the Rangers, every battle, every member and every event. It’s like if you combined the internet with the Force. But, since the Morphin Grid has all this data, does that also mean that the Ranger suits, weapons etc. are also data prior to being transported? While I doubt whatever it is in Go Busters is the same Morphin Grid as in PR, nevertheless, there is a force that serves the same purpose, letting them transform and teleport and what have you, and it is this same force that served as Messiah’s prison. In this regard, the sub-dimension is basically what would happen if, say, in RPM they forced Venjix into a small section of the Grid to keep him trapped. Maybe a better term for the Vaglass’ prison would be ”Pocket Dimension”; that, at least, has less otherworldly connotations, though it’s still problematic. Maybe sub-space would be better? I agree with the sentiment that “sub-dimension” is more of a metaphorical term than anything.
On the subject of the whole harsh environment of sub-space being hand-waved, I think that was partly due to the Retool. A shame, though I just came up with a theory that fixing sub-space’s gravity may have been part of the reason it ultimately became more unstable. Maybe. Before I just figured the EMC improved the Buster’s equipment so that they weren’t negatively affected any more. Come to think of it, after #30, there is only one instance where I think sub-space invaded the human world, and that was in #32, though I don’t think that counts.

Speaking of the EMC, I’m guessing they’re a Government organisation that is in charge of not only obtaining and processing Energon, but developing it for scientific and military applications. In fact, Energon seems to have been the reason the Go Buster world has teleportation.

A part of me’s glad they didn’t use a lot more French. As fun as it would be, they’d probably screw up somewhere. And knowing Japan and foreign languages, it’d be often. Besides, the show’s for kids anyway. Too much French and they wouldn’t know what’s going on! Enter was easily my favourite character, closely followed by Jin and J. Enter may one the most, if not the most competent Sentai villains of all time. His one mistake was Jin’s own data, and if he had known more about the state of Jin’s body (he had only known, IRC, that it was lacking data and was degrading, lacking information on how it could be used against him), he would have deleted what he had a long time ago. As it was, Enter’s own back-up plan backfired spectacularly on him.

Escape… I really didn’t like her at first. She was boring and took focus off of Enter. I mean, Enter’s smart, and Escape only cared about fighting and causing chaos. But, after #30, her development and conflicts made her a much more rounded and interesting character. And then there are her clones. It was almost heart breaking to see Escape reduced to such a state. Well played, Go Busters. Well played.
All in all, a good series. I do wonder exactly how different the show would have been without the retool, though it’s difficult to imagine how it could have been much better. I think the main trio are appropriate, given the themes of the show, though I wonder if the show itself should have been more deconstructive. Maybe have the three of them more traumatised? Nah, it’s probably better this way. The point is the world’s pretty good, it’s just the Vaglass trying to corrupt everything. And besides, it shows that, even after tragedy, the Busters can move past their pain, which is a good thing to tell kids, especially after the quake.

And I apologise if I forgot or screwed up anything.

Re: Translator Log: Go-Busters

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:14 pm
by takenoko
Well, that's a lot of stuff to digest. I don't know how it works in Go-Busters, but it is kind of inconsistently done. Remember how Youko couldn't transform when trapped in the dimension created by the giant train? But they are able to transform in the subdimension? Either you need a connection or you don't, you can't have it both ways. Not sure if that was just a mistake in the writing or not.

Re: Translator Log: Go-Busters

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:27 pm
by PolarPhantom
I figured the giant train blocked the transfer of data from the Go Buster equivalent of the Morphin Grid, and since the sub-dimension is within the Grid, there is no such way to block the data. But all this is just a massive amount of fan-wank, based on what influences I'm guessing PR had on Go Busters, and I've only watched most episodes once, so I'm probably forgetting other inconsistencies.
Wait, what about Makuu Space? With that Rhino dude, and how they had trouble getting their weapons there? Ow, my brain...I curse that Gavan crossover... mostly...

Edit: Also, I apologise if I gushed too much about Enter. I simply admire him, 'tis all. I-it's nothing more than that!

Edit 2: Got to more thinking about how transportation works. So, the Busters summon weapons at will right? Do they have to be sent them by the EMC (as seems to be the case with Ace's swords) or do they have their own in built transportation mechanism? The latter seems to be the case with the LiOh blaster, since there is at least one occasion when it has been summoned after a Mech battle has concluded to finish the MotW. If this is the case with all the weapons, then heading into the subdimension, which hampers communication with the EMC, should enable them to transport weapons within subspace. If they left the weapons in the human world it probably wouldn't work. Jin would probably be able to do it, but he's been in subspace for longer and built all his tech there, giving him a major advantage over the EMC. Hell, he routinely has J summon their Mechs from the subdimension!

Re: Translator Log: Go-Busters

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 7:18 am
by archer9234
takenoko wrote:Well, that's a lot of stuff to digest. I don't know how it works in Go-Busters, but it is kind of inconsistently done. Remember how Youko couldn't transform when trapped in the dimension created by the giant train? But they are able to transform in the subdimension? Either you need a connection or you don't, you can't have it both ways. Not sure if that was just a mistake in the writing or not.
My guess with Yoko's changing issue was caused by the morphin brace being disconnected to the base. Without the bases signal. Her suit can't be activated. And with the sub-dimension. A signal still gets through. How would J's marker system work. Or when Jin and Enter send their avatars. But it probably just ends up being plot logic. "This universe rule doesn't make this episode work. Screw the rule. Just do the episode."