Lost in Translation: Kaguya-Sama's English Manga Localization

This blog entry contains Kaguya-Sama spoilers.

Japanese honorifics can say a lot about social interactions, which is why it can be helpful for manga translators to leave them in, or at least have a good equivalent way of conveying the nuances of social interaction. Unfortunately, the localizers of Kaguya-Sama not only did not include honorifics, but changed the way characters addressed each other without realizing what significance their changes had on the story. Here are some examples involving the title character Kaguya Shinomiya, how her ways of addressing others sets the terms for her interpersonal relations and how the localizers fail to convey nuances.

First is Kaguya's friend Chika Fujiwara. In the original Japanese, Fujiwara calls Kaguya "Kaguya-san," while Kaguya calls Fujiwara "Fujiwara-san." The fact that Kaguya uses Fujiwara's surname when Fujiwara uses her first name implies that perhaps Kaguya is less invested in their friendship than Fujiwara is, but the manga localization changes this by having Kaguya call Fujiwara "Chika." This isn't much of a problem on its own due to how difficult it is to translate literally- it would seem strange to call one's best friend "Miss Fujiwara" in English, and simply calling her "Fujiwara" is uncharacteristically rude for Kaguya- but it causes problems later.

Consider Kaguya's interactions with Kei Shirogane, the younger sister of Miyuki Shirogane. While the two are out shopping together, Kei asks Kaguya to refer to her first name without honorifics; she rejects "Kei-san" and even "Kei-chan" before Kaguya finally agrees to call her "Kei." Kaguya is rather surprised with herself, since it's the first time she's called someone by her first name without honorifics. Obviously, having her call Fujiwara by her first name contradicts this later plot development.

Now for Kaguya's servant and long-time friend Ai Hayasaka. Since the two are fundamentally unequal as mistress and servant, the latter uses the extremely respectful "-sama" honorific on the former's first name, while the former refers to the latter by her surname without honorifics. Omitting honorifics on a person's name is extremely rude unless the person accepts it, but this goes to show that the relationship is largely unequal. When Hayasaka leaves Kaguya's service, she drops the "-sama" honorific from Kaguya's name, while Kaguya in turn calls Hayasaka the more friendly and polite "Ai-san." The manga does a slightly better job with the modes of address here, although the lack of honorifics shows that there's no difference between how Kaguya addresses Hayasaka and how she addresses some of her acquaintances at school.

Now for the biggest problem with the localization- Kaguya and Shirogane himself(whose father is the only one who calls him by his given name). While Kaguya initially called him "Shirogane-san" when they first met, she switched to "President" after he got elected, but the localization of the manga instead has her call him "Shirogane." This causes problems when, after Shirogane steps down as president, Kaguya is left  at a loss for what to call him. The manga is a bit inconsistent on this, but has Kaguya usually refer to Shirogane by his surname.

These are only a few of the more significant examples, but they go to show how personal modes of address can affect the story and how improperly translating those modes of address results in some significant social nuances and aspects of Kaguya's characterization being lost in translation.