The First Pronoun, I

[Senkusha]

The Japanese have an interested dilemma when translating manga to English. You see, they have multiple words for the English pronoun I. They have watashi, that women and children use, and they have the more masculine word boku. Keep in mind that in Japanese culture, only men will use the word boku.

I bring this up because when I was reading the manga Soul Eater, there was a subplot where some of the characters changed gender.

So, reading the English translation didn't make for much humor, however, upon re-reading the same passage in Japanese, it was absolutely hilarious! In fact, reading the English translation didn't make a whole lot of sense, and you have to consult the back of the manga for a Translation Note to understand the humor that the Japanese audience takes for granted.

 

[ZandraJoi]

That makes sense. Similar to Spanish how they have masculine & feminine words. It just doesn't sound right to them when you use the wrong ending.