This is an even bigger problem for the subpages (Crowning Moment Of Awesome, Crowning Moment Of Funny, Fetish Fuel, etc.). Half of those entries have links. If I have time I'll go through and fix them later. The good news is that it should be easy to find the pages again, as the UR Ls that are there now still have the chapter and page number, so it's just a matter of finding them all again on Mangafox.

Probably just somebody being a wiseass about how you might not want your mom to catch you reading Negima...

The actual trope shows up in Chapter 174, when Professor Akashi is reading a mage world bulletin on Fate Averruncus and needs an alternate explanation when his daughter Yuuna (who doesn't know about magic) notices him hiding something when she bursts into the room.

Ah, now I kind of remember that. Thanks!

That one's moved around a bit. It started as a comment under Adaptation Decay; then someone moved it to Macekre. I think it's fine where it is, considering the problems aren't really uniform - for instance, Vol. 1 was definitely a classic Macekre (ie: with intent), but Vol. 20 seems to have been honestly botched by an overworked translator.

Volume 1 is the best example. Compare the Del Rey version of Volume 1 with the online scans or the Chuang Yi version (Singapore). The Del Rey version is basically a perverted, sardonic, badly-voiced rewrite by a well-known comic author (and his wife; she shares the credit) who apparently thought he knew what Ken Akamatsu was trying to do, and thought he could do it better. Now, Volume 1 actually had a rather delicate task - it had to set up the series without being too obvious about where it was going to go, while simultaneously balancing on a razor's edge of, uh... propriety. The Del Rey translation completely obliterates the subtle setup and foreshadowing, mischaracterizes the characters, tips the propriety issue over solidly onto the side of "sleazy", and actually creates plot holes as it blunders around trying to be funnier than the original.

I can state unequivocally that if I had read Volume 1 in the Del Rey version before reading it online, I would have dropped the series in disgust.

Here's a typical example of a rewrite, plus some comments on other stuff that's wrong with Volume 1: http://astronerdboy.blogspot.com/2007/04/negima-volume-1-del-rey-and-peter-david.html

(It's worth noting that the "Southern Master" thing has since been completely corrected. IIRC that wasn't the Davids' fault; it was a screwup on the part of the Japanese pusher translator whose work they "adapted".)

This series has a lot of text, and it matters what it is. Minor glitches (like in Vol. 14 where a mistranslation puts Chisame massively OOC, or in Vol. 19 where Al's backstory-relevant comment on Asuna's age gets a translation fail) I can deal with. Aggressively over-the-top badly-voiced dialogue (like most of Vol. 6) I can deal with, especially when the translation for that volume is technically a bit more accurate in terms of meaning than the more sedate and in-character Chuang Yi translation. But Volumes 5 and 20 are embarrasingly glitchy; I imported the Chuang Yi versions after buying the Del Rey versions, so as not to have to put up with the problems. At least the problems after the Davids left appear to all be honest mistakes... I can't comment directly on Volumes 2, 3, 4, or 21, since I don't own them in the Del Rey translation - just the Chuang Yi...

Wow, Thanks for the detailed reply. I only started reading scanlations a few years ago, when I had been reading Negima since volume ten came out at least, and only for the big three (Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach). I've never actually looked at the scans for negima because I've always thought they would be inferior to official translations. The only thing I knew was wrong was they totally screwed up the "I'm gonna screw you all night" bit.

I'll have to check up some of your examples like the OOC-ness of Chisame. I have never heard of these Chuang Yi versions, but since you say you bought them it tells me they are an actual publshing company, and I have to wonder why they would translate an already-done series. I would think briefly on checking them out but since the covers would be screwed up it would mess with my OCD-like bookshelf.

I wonder if I should compare the manga volumes (especially 5 and 20 as you said) to the scans as it might make me upset and for some reason I get way too sensitive when things I love are even the tiniest bit done better or disliked by others. I'm already in the process of reading them again for the fourth time through (currently on 11), so when I get to volumes you mention Ill keep a look out. Or maybe Ill try to forget so my ideal of the best manga Ive read isnt shattered. Honestly, thanks though.

Out of curiosity, which volume was the "I'm gonna screw you all night" thing from? I own the official translations up to volume 13, and I'm pretty sure I would have remembered that. Is it from a later volume?

"I'm gonna screw you all night"... I'm guessing is from Volume 21, Chapter 190 - the fist Chachamaru winding incident. I don't have the Del Rey version of that volume, and I don't remember the line, so I can't be sure.

Chuang Yi is the publisher that translates MSN in Singapore. Their translations aren't perfect, and they don't use Japanese honorifics (our hero is usually called "Mr. Negi" by his students - which is actually a pretty accurate translation when you think about it; I guess スプリングフィールド is a bit of a mouthful for a Japanese), but they're pretty consistent in my experience. Not quite as good as the best Del Rey volumes, but far, far better than the worst ones.

As for the OOC Chisame bit, it's in Volume 14, Chapter 121, page 14. Third panel. Chisame has recently found out that magic is real, and has just now been told that more than half the class knows about it. She doesn't react well. She thinks she wants to transfer to another school. So far so good.

Then the translations diverge. AQS has "I wanna tsukkomi... I wanna tsukkomi the entire world". Del Rey has "Man, I want to dig deeper into this... I want to dive into this whole world..." ...So Yeah.

The quality of the Del Rey version starts out on a low note. I'm told it improves steadily through Volume 5 (which was still unacceptable to me), and Volume 6 is unnecessarily bombastic but otherwise reasonably accurate. From there, it stays pretty good until the translator left and the adapter had to make do by himself for 20 and 21. 22 onwards is fine IMO.

It has been answered in Who Would Win: Batman is currently more skilled at mind games than Negi, so for a fair fight we have to wait until Negi matures.

Maybe who knows

I'll admit I did a blanket reversion, and didn't check all of them. But a lot of them seem like they're too literal; Mei's "I love cleaning," for example, is a completely different format than all the others (its a statement by the character, rather than a descriptive subtitle). The others you noted I agree with you on—its the other 20 that I think need to stay as Animum Mutare translated them. I've never heard of that group before, but mangafox has their scan of chapter 300.

EDIT: And yes, I was wondering where those came from. Thank you for the link. EDIT (again): And somehow I missed Makie. I noticed it was weird that she didn't have a subtitle, and I still missed her.

AM (formerly Zasel) is a scanlator. Cnet128 is the TL which people uses and credits. Vetus is a resource site for MSN, and is credible, a lot of times more more accurate since it's literal than cnet128 who is more liberal. More than half of the titles Vetus have agrees with what a couple of AQS members with their own translations. Especially Cocone's. Imperial is just really off, it should be Empire. "Hellas Empire". Rights a bell, right? I won't change all of them, but will for the ones that needs it.

My exact point is that they're too literal. "Nun of Mystery" fits the idea better than "Mysterious Sister," for example. "Roaring Trucker" makes very little sense, and "Ala Alba's Resident Ghost" is better than "Ala Alba's Ghost Member." Yes, Vetis is literal, but AM's takes the effort to actually make it make sense.

Also, Cocone's retranslation is perfect. Imperial as in "of an empire." I don't know what the problem is with that.

EDIT: To make things easier, here's the list I'm trying to keep up:

• Boss Subtitles (Most of the characters get one in chapter 300)
  • Negi Springfield: "Son of the Hero," Class 3-A homeroom teacher, and staff consultant for Ala Alba
  • Cocone Fatima Rosa: "Imperial Immigration Initiative Experimental Subject #8"
  • Johnny Rydain: "Mad Truck Driver"
  • Saotome Haruna: "Divine-Speed Summon Scribe"
  • Karakuri Chachamaru: "The Lovestruck, Invincible Gun Platform"
  • Sakura Mei: "Cleaning Enthusiast"
  • Kasuga Misora: "Nun of Mystery"
  • Takane D. Goodman: "Impregnable Shadowmistress"
  • Collet Farandole: "Ariadne Battle Maiden Knight Squad Cadet"
  • Inugami Kotarou: "Kuon Shadowmaster"
  • Murakami Natsumi: "Just Your Average Girl"
  • Aisaka Sayo: "Ala Alba's Resident Ghost"
  • Asakura Kazumi: "Seeker of Truth"
  • Beatrix Monroe: "Attendant to Emily and the House of Sevensheep," Ariadne Battle Maiden Knight Squad Cadet
  • Yue Farandole: "Ariadne Battle Maiden Knight Squad Cadet"
  • Miyazaki Nodoka: "Mind Reader," Treasure Hunter
  • Konoe Konoka: "Healer Princess"
  • Sakurazaki Setsuna: "Shinmeiryuu Swordsman"
  • Nagase Kaede: "Koga Chuun"
  • Ku Fei: "Bodyguard Who Seeks the Path"
  • Hasegawa Chisame: "Negi-sensei’s Advisor"
  • Shiori: "Inner (True) Personality, Fate’s Girl"
  • Kaguarazaka Asuna: "Outer Personality"
  • Izumi Ako: "Troubled Former Slave"
  • Akashi Yuuna: "Energetic Waitress of the Oasis"
  • Sasaki Makie: "Airheaded Waitress of the Oasis"
  • Ookouchi Akira: "Kindhearted Former Slave"
  • Kaguarazaka Asuna: "President of Ala Alba"
  • Asuna Vesperina Theotanasia Entheophysia: "Twilight Imperial Princess"
  • Anna Cocolova (Anya): "Negi's Childhood Friend"

I'll wait this time. Look.

Empire is exclusively used for Hellas, Imperial is used for Ostia/something royalty. The kanji even spells out to Empire, not Imperial. For Negi, "staff consultant" is fine. "Mad" paints the wrong image, and it's really trucker instead of truck driver. Semantics, but still. If not "Roaring", then "Blazing Rumbling Trucker". "Mysterious Sister" because Sister is literally in katakana. There is also another formal way to say nun, and that wasn't used. I don't even see the problem with Mysterious Sister; mysterious is an adjective and it describes Sister. And a nun is called "Sister", after all. Why "Resident" when "Member" is better? The latter implies that she's a member, not a resident of Ala Alba. "Chamberlain" is more literal, and it was Vetus' choice to go with that because "Attendant" is already used for something else in the Negima-verse, that is, mainly for a mage's partner in a pactio. So, it was to prevent confusion and to make "attendant" a more exclusively term for that. Same with Misora, "Healing Princess", with healing being an adjective that describes princess. Problem with Natsumi is that cnet forgot to translate the slave part. So, "Average Freed Slave" instead of "Just Your Average Girl". It's better to replace "Former" with "Freed", too for Akira and Ako. Ala Alba's Club President sounds nicer. Also, cnet forgot the club part. Lastly, Chisame can't be Negi's "Advisor" since that position is already held by Eva, so "Counselor".

TL;DR: These translations are better, and are more accurate. Quit fighting it with your personal opinion!

Okay, I'll go through these one at a time (some I agree with, I just hadn't looked at them that way).

Cocone I didn't understand your problem with; I've never noticed the word choice differences between Empire and Imperial, but now that you mention it that sounds right.

"Roaring Trucker" makes very little sense. Is that supposed to be like Screaming Warrior? I honestly don't know. And as you said, truck driver and trucker is just semantics; they mean the same thing.

I still say nun of mystery sounds better, but I don't have the raws; I assumed the author used the word for nun, and it was translated as sister. Either way is fine, I'm not gonna fight that one.

Sayo isn't technically a member of Ala Alba; she doesn't have a pactio, for one thing, and I doubt she's on the official school roster for the club. "Resident" implies that she's a guest, and might be upgraded to member at some point. And using "Ala Alba's Resident Ghost" is more specific than "Ala Alba's Ghost Member;" member has a few other meanings, and that sentence could be taken to mean "Ala Alba's imaginary limb." I highly doubt anyone will make that mistake, but it just doesn't sound quite as good.

We don't know a lot about Beatrix, and chamberlain might not be strictly accurate. But I had forgotten that the partners are sometimes called attendants, so I agree with you on that one. Everyone misses things.

I just think "Healer Princess" sounds more like a title than "Healing Princess," which seems strictly descriptive to me.

Natsumi's "Just Your Average Girl" is Woolseyism on the translator's part, not an error (I don't read their notes, so I can't be sure, of course). The "released slave" seems less important than the "average girl" part, which has been a recurring theme with Natsumi since her introduction. Trying to get the slave part in there makes it sound worse, and it doesn't really roll off the tongue.

The vetus titles refer to Akira and Ako as "released," the AM uses "former." Are you suggesting a compromise with "freed," or did you mean "released"? Also, I think released insinuates they were freed, while former implies they got out legally, by finishing their contract. Or maybe I'm reading into it too much.

I have no problem with Asuna's title (again, AM chose to drop the "club" part on purpose; they probably wanted to get away from the fact that in addition to a Badass Crew, its also a school club).

Me changing Chisame back is mostly just being stubborn. For some reason I don't like "Counselor," don't know why. Also, I thought (haven't re-checked) that Eva was the club's counselor, which leaves the word advisor unused. Plus Eva is Negi's master, not advisor/counselor, but as stated under the "attendant" part above, its a good idea to avoid re-using the same words for different things.

Please don't get snarky and self-righteous. Let's just have a calm discussion, like we've been having, and figure out the best answer.

Empire Immigration Program Test Subject No. 18 it is.

Roaring Truck is exactly what it sounds . A trucker that makes/causes a roar, like an animal or thunder. This makes more sense than "Mad" because his last name is Raidein, which is as someone from AQS puts it: "basically is a local dialect version of "Raiden", or thunder and lighting". But if not Roaring Trucker than Blazing Rumbling Trucker is fine. Either one is fine.

It was sister, not nun. So, Mysterious Sister.

At this point, Sayo can pretty much be considered a member. Also, member is proper term in the same way each person in Ala Alba is a member. Just like with many anime/manga, "member" is a common term in Japan for well school clubs.

Sevensheep Family Chamberlain Attached to Miss Emily, Ariadne Battle Maiden Knight Squad Cadet.

Healing/Healer...either one is fine then. I'd rather Vetus since it's what he put down. Cnet's quality is on shaky ground, so it only makes me think of it as less credible.

That isn't a Woolseyism, he just simply overlooked or forgot it. I find it hard to believe he'd make a Woolseyism out out of a title that goes like "Average Person, Freed/Released Slave". The Slave part is as important as any other title, and as the average part. You simply can't dismiss it because you think it's less important.

Yes. And subtle difference between released and freed. But "Freed" would probably be the better term to convey that they got released/freed from being a slave through proper actions. Former doesn't specifically imply that, just simply that they used to be slaves.

Told you already, AM is not a translator. He uses another person's translation (cnet). And Ala Alba is a club, so club is more accurate.

Counselor sounds odd, but it fits, and won't conflict with advisor, which is being used for something else. You're right, Eva is Negi's master, not either. Eva is the advisor for Ala Alba, though.

Snarky or self-righteous? I don't even know what it means to be either those. I'm just annoyed at how this is turning into an exaggerated thing when it's really just a simple thing. One look at either titles, and most people would know that Vetus is better than cnet since the latter is of poorer quality and less accurate.

I'd go with Blazing Rumbling Trucker. It's still not clear, but it's closer to the thunder and lightning symbolism than roaring (or mad). On that note, I'll take off the Drives Like Crazy link, since there's little proof of that.

I'll give you that one. The only problem is that "ghost" doesn't fit the adjective/noun theme, and ghostly doesn't sound good...oh well.

I'm gonna go with healer, for the reasons stated above.

The entire point of Woolseyism is that it is a deliberate choice to sacrifice the letter for the sake of the spirit. In this case, you think its Translation Error, I disagree. We need to come to some sort of compromise on this.

So you want Ako to be Troubled Freed Slave, and Akira to be Kindhearted Freed Slave, right? I think the only problem I had was that released sounded odd.

I was just using AM for convenience's sake. And I agree with you, I was just outlining what their logic seemed to be.

So Chisame is Counselor—and Eva is irrelevant.

My point is that you think Vetus is obviously better quality. I think it is obviously not, due mostly to the fact they don't make enough effort to make sure it actually makes sense. Everyone has their own opinions, but with simple discussion we can come to a middle ground that makes everyone happy.

And again, that's the only cnet scan I've ever seen. Maybe every other one calls Negi Nelgu and refers to "majick powr." I'm just focusing on the one chapter, which seemed well done.

No. I don't think it's a translation error, just simply that he overlooked or forgot the slave part. An error would be to completely mistranslate/getting the meaning wrong. Average girl isn't so wrong, but it's obviously missing the slave part. Natsumi is more long the lines of: "Average Person, Freed Slave". This...should work.

Not odd sounding at all. Just imagine "The" being understood. This goes for many of the other titles, too.

Quality in general is better (due to accuracy, more literal, etc). They do make sense. I can see how a couple might grate nitpicking English majors, but that isn't such a big offense so long as the actual meaning and context is all there.

Edited the ones discussed, and fix'd some that were overlooked. Shiori and Asuna Persona should be considered as one, so it shouldn't be separated.

"Mysterious Sister" has been used by every other translation group since it first popped up during the tournament arc and "Nun"s are almost always referred to as Sister (unless you want to be rude) if you talk to or about them.

Also "Bodyguard Who Seeks the Path" just sounds wrong compared to what she is actually learning Ki, "Spiritualist Bodyguard" is way better.

Healer Princess doesn't sound right as well Healing Princess makes a lot more sense in context.

"Ultimate Megaweapon in Love" vs "Lovestruck, Invincible Gun Platform" too is just ugh.

As the person who put them all up there in the first place I think atleast some of them should be reverted.

EDIT; on Mei (I am nowhere near close to being an expert but)

Favor Purgandi オソウジダイスキ osouji daisuki

is literally "I Love Cleaning" from the way I understand it.

osouji = "Cleanup"

daisuki = "I Love You" (duh)

"Chi", actually, has nothing to do with "spiritualists" in this series. It's mostly martial arts and physical discipline that have to do/is related to chi. Spiritualist Bodyguard is too vague (slightly off direction), and potentially too religious. The original meaning is something along the lines of "seeking the path of a true martial artist. "Bodyguard Who Seeks the Path" can have a couple of interpretations, but the general idea of that is there, especially once you take into consideration of what Kuu-Fei is as a character.

Plus 1 for Healing Princess.

"Ultimate Megaweapon" part is pretty far from what the original text is: 恋する - fallen in love, 無敵 - invincible, unmatched, 砲台 - gun platform. Though, "Invincible Gun Platform in Love" can be an alternative, but imo, "Lovestruck" (which isn't new to anime/manga meaning; see tsundere) has more flavor and carries the same close meaning.

On Mei. It is that, that is, "I Love Cleaning". Enthusiast is really too strong, but I guess it can get the idea across. Still in favor of "I Love Cleaning", though.

Edit; Also, Paru should be "Godspeed"(神速) rather than "Divine-Speed", actually. The troper who originally had it as that in the character section had hers mostly right.

On Chachamaru instead of Tsundere I really think she is more Kuudere.

Yeah fate appeared in the first anime,

Rakan's Japanese voice actor needs to be put up there though I couldn't find it.

He did need her, but he wasn't planning on running into them right that moment.

Yes, please do.

Removed/changed the main offenders (Ship Tease, Kissing Cousins, Incest Is Relative) and a few extra idle speculation ones too boot that were really just a throwaway line... Hopefully people don't get too annoyed at the ridiculous amounts of editing that went on as well as the overly long edit reasons, but incorrect examples are pretty bad.

Are you not aware? Kodansha took over the license. Starting from June, they'll be releasing them every 2 months, as opposed to Del Rey's 3 months, until we catch up to Japan.

What? Well I guess that's cool we'll get them faster, but the design of the book will probably be different, meaning my collection will be mismatched. That kind of sucks.

I'm sure they'll slowly rerelease the earlier volumes, in case you're willing to shell out several hundred dollars for aesthetic purposes.

They're doing re-translated omnibus releases of the earlier volumes, with the same translators that did volumes 22+. So they're mixing the re-release with a re-translation.

They also said the branding would remain the same, just without the Del Rey logo.

So you'll probably be fine.

Hmm. I don't like omnibuses (I really sound like a whiner huh), but that would be interesting because of what this site says there were several changes made to the dialogue in the first couple of volumes.

Not "several changes". Try "complete rewrite".

Does it make much difference at this point? After 28 volumes I think any discrepancies in the first few volumes don't matter anymore. They were still really funny. I don't know what they changed but I thought they were still good, otherwise I wouldn't have kept reading it.

Honestly, most people who've read the scanlation and compare it to the volume releases still bought the volume release just to see how much it was messed up, then never looked at it again. You'll see that this is the case if you look around.

Also, yes. I'd much rather have the entire story done right. Volumes 1-6 weren't the only ones with huge errors. Volumes 20 and 21 had stupid changes too, along with a few others.

Basically, they weren't following protocol with the translations at all until the current translators took over. So the first 21 volumes were messed up to varying degrees.

So yeah, the omnibus releases would be a nice idea.

Wait, so people just read the scanlations and then don't support the official translation? That's kind of a dick move isn't it? I mean, even if it's not what one group of scanlators translated, it still ended up as a great, funny, manga; and you would think after they got better they would start supporting the franchise.

Yeah it's still going. They just haven't released a translation in a few months.

Ah, and I guess it's considered polite among the scanlation community to not release anything before an official one is out.

Genre Shift is what your looking for. Battle Shonen currently does not exist, you can YKTTW it.