Accel World: Format, Style, Names & Terminology

[Breakdown16]

I'm not too sure about the rest except for 心傷殻, based off the chinese translation I figured best translation is "Shell of Trauma."

I'll keep that in mind.

I'm nearly done with 8.4 (hype!) except for one issue. If you guys don't mind, I'll venture to use "main body" (of the ISS Kit) for ISSキットの本体.

About a certain animal...

Spoiler! :

The owl Hou is male. Should I refer to Hou as "him" or "it"? Currently, what I'm thinking of doing is using "him" when the characters mention him directly in dialogue because it sounds more endearing and using "it" for non-dialogue parts or parts that aren't the thoughts of one of the characters. The other possibilities are using "him" everywhere (also possible) or "it" everywhere (possible, but it makes the characters sound more detached from Hou).

Edit: Also about Hou: he's supposed to be a Sunda Scops-owl (オオコノハズク), but sometimes the author describes him as a Eurasian Scops-owl (コノハズク). According to the Japanese Wikipedia page for the former, the Sunda Scops-owl is similar but slightly larger. Currently, I'm thinking of one of two options: either translate both exactly as they are, or use the name Scops Owl for Eurasian Scops-owl. According to the English Wikipedia page for Eurasian Scops-owl, Scops Owl is one of its alternate names.

And the lack of consistency in the punctuation and capitalization for the owl names is driving me mad. Sunda Scops-owl? Sunda Scops Owl? Sunda Scops owl? Same issues for the Eurasian one, argh my brain.

[Xplorer30]

I am not sure where you get your Sunda or Eurasian from, but in vol 6 page 236 UI said Africa(n) Scops Owl.

[Breakdown16]

Thanks for pointing that out.

Unfortunately, that just made me more confused because アフリカオオコノハズク = Northern White-faced Owl or White-faced Scops Owl according to Wikipedia. Now we have to figure out the difference between:
アフリカオオコノハズク
オオコノハズク
コノハズク

...

As for where I got my information, I just found the relevant Japanese Wikipedia pages and looked at the English equivalent pages.

[Xplorer30]

I will probably use African Scops Owl for the full name, and just scops owl or owl for anything else.

[Breakdown16]

Duly noted.

Edit 2013 March 29: Going to switch from using "Imperial City" to "Imperial Palace" in capitals (because from my perspective it's a place name; hope that's okay) for 帝城 because the latter seems more common in reference to Japan. I'm going to edit volume 8 accordingly.

Edit again: Referring to the discussion here, I've also been debating about whether to use Divine Beasts or Sacred Beasts. From a quick Google search, both seem fairly common. After consulting Wiktionary, I'd like to go with Divine Beasts if that's okay.

Wiktionary for "divine":
1. of or pertaining to a god
2. eternal, holy, or otherwise supernatural.
3. of superhuman or surpassing excellence
4. beautiful, heavenly

I like these definitions, especially #1-3. And since the original term 四神 literally means "Four Gods," this seems perfect for the job. The definitions for "sacred" are a bit different (definitions are too long-winded to quote here, so follow the link).

[Breakdown16]

Other things:
神域 = sanctuary? Or holy precint(s)?
本殿 = main shrine, inner sanctuary?
八神の社 = Shrine of the Eight Gods?

[theUnbreakableSky]

Other things:
神域 = sanctuary? Or holy precint(s)?
本殿 = main shrine, inner sanctuary?
八神の社 = Shrine of the Eight Gods?

It's spelt "prescints" IIRC. And i'd go with that, Inner Sanctuary, and Shrine Of Eight Gods is okay.

Minor point: I thought sanctuary is rakuen, 楽園？My jap is limited to katakana and some kanji.

[Breakdown16]

Other things:
神域 = sanctuary? Or holy precint(s)?
本殿 = main shrine, inner sanctuary?
八神の社 = Shrine of the Eight Gods?

It's spelt "prescints" IIRC. And i'd go with that, Inner Sanctuary, and Shrine Of Eight Gods is okay.

Minor point: I thought sanctuary is rakuen, 楽園？My jap is limited to katakana and some kanji.

No, apparently both of us are wrong, it's precinct(s).

楽園 = paradise.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Kai Ding]

Other things:
神域 = sanctuary? Or holy precint(s)?
本殿 = main shrine, inner sanctuary?
八神の社 = Shrine of the Eight Gods?

I would translate them as:
神域 = Divine Precinct
本殿 = Inner Palace
八神の社 = Shrine of the Eight Gods

[Breakdown16]

Thanks for the feedback too.

Just wondering, where do you guys get your definitions from? I usually use Weblio and Denshi Jisho for J>E.

Another question:

Spoiler! :

According to the translation here, 神器 can be either Sacred Treasure or Divine Weapon. Sacred Treasure is closer to the literal meaning. Are we going to keep both, or what?

Why I asked about 八神の社 (spoilers):

Spoiler! :

If you have volume 8 in Japanese and have read the volume or know what happens in it, flip to page 250. Here, Trilead Tetraoxide calls the powerful enemies guarding the portal and the seventh Divine Weapon/Sacred Treasure the Eight Gods (八神). Immediately afterward, a contrast is made with the Divine Beasts/Sacred Beasts (四神, literally Four Gods). Haruyuki also speculates about a case of Sixteen Gods (十六神). Translating 四神 as the way it is now (Divine/Sacred Beasts) wouldn't clearly show the relationship in numbers to the reader. If we're going to use "Eight Gods" for 八神, should we change 四神 to Four Gods as well? It would solve this (minor) problem. I personally have nothing against using "Four Gods." If not, I'll just work my way around by somehow mentioning the number four in there, I guess.

[theUnbreakableSky]

I would agree with 四神=Four Gods, IIRC that's how it is in V7.

I have a question too, it's only revealed in V12 that the White King is a female. However from V6, Xplorer30 uses "he" to refer to White Cosmos. So should I refer to the White King as "he" in V11?

[Tap]

Try doing it without using gender-specific pronouns, I guess?

[theUnbreakableSky]

A bit more information of the context:

Spoiler! :

春雪原本还以为今天就能一睹自己唯一没有亲眼见过的第七名Lv9er了，但是不知道是白之王是这么怕羞的人呢……还是说，区区Lv5的Silver·Crow根本不入法眼呢。


Translated:Haruyuki still believed that today he would be able to get a glimpse of the one remaining Level 9 Burst Linker he has not seen personally, but he had no idea that that King was so shy...or another way of looking at it, was that he as a mere Level 5 Burst Linker was not worthy of his/her attention.

I can use "That King's attention" instead, would that be a better translation then?

Edit: copied the entire raw sentence for clarity.

[Tap]

Chapter?

[theUnbreakableSky]

Chapter 2 of V11.