Ask John: Are Purists Just Hypocrites?

Question:
There’s something that’s been confusing me about people who don’t like dubs and prefer literal subtitles when they watch anime. The people I’ve come across who prefer watching anime subtitled literally in Japanese usually watch more anime than read manga/light novels/play visual novels. My question is, if they want to appreciate a work as close to the original as possible, then why do they watch the anime instead of reading the manga/light novels/playing the visual novels? And if they want to see literal subtitles, is it hypocritical for them to want Japanese words/honorifics left in because they have special meanings, yet they don’t leave in the different pronouns for “I” because they all have special meanings too?

Answer:
I believe I can address this quandary because I am one of the arbitrary purists that this question refers to. I watch anime frequently, but in twenty years of watching anime, I’ve only watched no more than a dozen English dubbed episodes or movies. I do prefer a reasonable degree of “Japanese-ness” in subtitle translations I read very few manga titles and even fewer Japanese light novels. I don’t play visual novel games at all. I do not feel or perceive any contradiction inherent in my approach to my hobby.

In Joshiraku episode 13 the cast members debate with each other over the idea that consumers should accept things as they are. As Tetora asserts, manga should be accepted as manga; why convert manga into animation? In essence, a fundamentalist perspective may presume that an otaku who prefers faithfulness to the “original” iteration of a media should logically prefer the original iteration: a source novel or manga instead of the extrapolated anime. But such a fundamentalist observation overlooks the fact that different types of media have different characteristics and appeal. The manga or novel or game that an anime is based on may be closer to the material’s origin, but the novel or manga doesn’t have color, motion, or sound the way the anime does. A game doesn’t have the same pacing or provide the same measure of passive entertainment that anime does. Ultimately, the nature of one’s interaction with a hobby is determined entirely by arbitrary subjectivity. The point of being an otaku is enjoying manga and anime – whichever anime and manga bring the most enjoyment, and enjoying whichever media evoke the most pleasure. Wishing to watch anime anime in as close to the form it was originally released in is a legitimate desire. If taking that desire for faithfulness to its utmost end, skipping the anime adaptation to read the source manga or novel instead, brings about less enjoyment than watching the anime derivative, than the “purist” effort is counterproductive. When I want to see the “original” version of an anime, I want to see the unaltered anime, not the original manga, novel, or video game. When I want to watch animation, I don’t want prose fiction, or printed comics, or interactive video games. The anime has its own distinctive characteristics, and it’s those particular characteristics that are not found in any other medium or adaptation that I want to see.

A degree of practical arbitrary-ness also applies to dialogue translations. Subtitles and dubbing are both a form of compromise. They’re both means of expressing language to someone that doesn’t understand the native language. Subtitles are typically a smaller compromise than dubbing; subtitles are not as far removed from the original language as dubbing is. Since any form of translation is a compromise, purists arbitrarily delineate a practical cut-off point for the compromise. Including honorifics like “-chan” and “-sama” in subtitles but excluding distinctions like “Ore” compared to “Boku” or “Watashi” is a practical delineation. If subtitles render every Japanese word accurately, they’re not subtitles anymore; they’re captions, and they don’t translate dialogue for a foreign viewer. Leaving select commonly understood Japanese terminology untranslated in subtitles, like honorables and food names such as “nabe,” “oden,” “okonomiyaki,” “ramen,” and “sushi,” is a practical compromise between functionality and accessibility. Leaving select Japanese words intact in subtitles is an arbitrary compromise between expressing the nuance inherent in the Japanese language while still making the translation functional and effective for foreign viewers. Practice and experience have proven that leaving honorables and commonly recognized Japanese words intact in subtitle translations is an optimum workable compromise. Practice and experience suggest that romanizing instead of translating distinctions like “Ore,” “Boku” and “Watashi” is not a practical, functional compromise.

In effect, expecting fans that prefer subtitles to ignore anime altogether and exclusively consume original source novels, manga, or games is like asking why someone who enjoys driving isn’t a professional race car driver, or asking why someone who enjoys camping doesn’t become a professional forest ranger. Expecting a sequential chain of circumstances to continue to its ultimate potential conclusion is a logical fallacy that ignores relevant conditions and possibilities. An anime fan should not be obligated to also like novels, manga, or games. A fan who prefers subtitles to have a certain degree of “Japanese-ness” should not be perceived any differently than a person who likes hot foods but only up to a certain degree of spiciness. Personal preference is not hypocritical, nor does it require justification or have to meet anyone else’s arbitrary expectations.