海外版ライトノベル「PopFiction」話の続き
前回の記事が結構反響あったので、その続きです。調べてる内に、英語圏でのライトノベルの受容のされ方、みたいな感じになっていきましたが……なお、私自身は英語の専門家でもなんでもないので、語学力はあんまり期待しないで下さい。
PopFiction>Letter from the editor
http://www.tokyopop.com/popfiction/editor.php
「PopFicition」創刊の挨拶？これ見ると、どうもやっぱり日本の「ライトノベル」とは違う路線で行きたいみたいですね。「キノの旅」の「世界は美しくなんかない、そしてそれゆえに美しい」というフレーズはポップフィクションの根底に流れる哲学だ！こういうのをもっと思春期の子達に読ませたい！これはもう新しい物語の形だ！(超意訳)みたいな。ひょっとして「PopFiction」にはそういうラインナップを揃えて、アニメのノベライズ的な位置づけの作品も、それはそれで別の路線で出版していったりするのかな？
TOKYOPOP Message Board > Manga Lifestyle > Novels
http://messageboard.tokyopop.com/forums/archive/index.php/f-22.html
More japanese novels should be translatedでは、アニメを見て原作に興味を持った、という声がやはり多いみたいですね。しかし、それに対する返答は"We will (publish more manga novels) if you buy the ones we already have out!"……無情なり。なお、翻訳を待たれる作品として「12 Kingdoms」「kyo kara maou」「Mirage of Blaze」などが挙げられています。どうも、シリーズ物の巻数の多さがネックになる場合が多いみたいですね。当然といえば当然か。
Favorite Tokyopop Novelなどを見ると、「slayers」「.hack」「Gravitation,」「Love Hina」「FullMetal Alchemist Novels」「Vampire Hunter D」などが目に付きます。やっぱりアニメで人気の作品が多いですね……。この状況が、PopFictionの創刊でどう変わることやら。
前回の記事で話題になったPopFictionの表紙デザインは、向こうでも話題になっているみたいです。PopFictionとKino No Tabi参照。曰く「オリジナルの方がよかった」「こちらの方がよい」「つまらない」「気取ってる」「表紙で判断するな」……なんだか、既視感のあるやり取りだなあ。
Yes, the cover design changed, using one of the black and white interior art pages. (Some books will have interior art, some won't, as the article says.) Pop Fiction covers are more minimalist, less anime-cartoony, more in keeping with the YA section trends.
Exactly, exactly. Goodness knows, you and I know that Japanese light novels, manga, and anime aren't just brainless fodder for kids, but many people do judge a book by its cover and where it is placed in the bookstore. It's our hope to bring really awesome light and YA novels from around the globe to the US, and to convince teens outside the otaku demographic that, hey, the otaku are onto something cool. I hope if they read a Kino or Scrapped Princess, they'll check out the manga/anime and there will be lots of cross over appeal, and the kind of stuff welike will become even more mainstream and garner more literary respect.
We changed the cover b/c anime/manga-looking art is not what the Young Adult fiction line is all about. We know the otaku will be excited to see these books, but we also feel that these are titles which can cast a wider net, reach young adults who have maybe never picked up a manga or seen an anime--and Pop Fiction will perhaps draw these new readers into the otaku world, perhaps not. But we're trying to break into the business translated Young Adult fiction, so none of the Pop Fiction titles will have original covers--however the licensors must approve all covers before we go to print, so it's not like the original creators hate what we're doing. Pop Fiction novels come from all over the world, not just Japan. Some have comics and films, some don't. All the books in Pop will have manipulated cover art--a minimalist, 2-3 bright colors, somewhat edgy/dark theme--so that the line looks cohesive on the bookshelves. This choice was made by Nicole Monastirsky, Senior Editor and creator of the Pop Fiction line.
This isn't just about money (although profit is always a concern of this industry, of course.) We are trying to take light novels (some of which will have manga and anime recognition and some won't at all) that would otherwise be relegated to the comics or novelty section, and to push them out in the big bad cut-throat world of Young Adult fiction. It's an extreme risk. It's a big deal.
It might not seem like it to the average reader, but to the bookstore content buyer and the industry as a whole, this is nothing short of revolutionary. It's never been done before. Non-native speaker authors on books? Competing on the same level as the Harry Potters and the Eragons? Madness! Interior black and white art with a Pokemon look? These titles have cartoons on TV? It's for kids! It's not "real" literature! That's what we're up against--and that's just from the shelf space buyers, who knows what the readers will think.
Do you understand what it took to get these topics, artworks, translations, and trim sizes to be accepted into a Borders or a Barnes and Nobles? They've never seen something like this before. It's absolutely groundbreaking.
And in the end, you know what happens? The otaku finally get to see some kickass books in English, but more than that--the average fiction reader gets exposure to stuff which might turn them on to manga or anime or Japanese (or global, even) culture. Ten years from now, the industry will be all over translated books for teens. Just remember, TOKYOPOP did it first.
And if to do that, we had to shed the cartoony covers, well, I still sleep at night. A good story is a good story no matter what you wrap it in. But, of course, you are welcome to your opinion and your tastes--no disrespect to your stance. But I'm curious--are you really going to forgo the pleasure of reading about Kino and Hermes traveling to six different lands, fighting in the arena--getting caught up in a war game--visiting a city run entirely by machines--not to mention Kino's back story and how she got her name . . . are you truly going to miss out on that b/c you don't like orange on the cover?
That makes the penguins sad, yo.
以上は、tokyopop社の社員の方と思われるBlu_Moon氏の書き込み。ミスリーディングが怖いので転載したのですが、ちょっと長くなりすぎたかな……。理解できたところを要約すると、
「私たちも日本のライトノベルの挿絵が幼稚な/安っぽいものでないことは十分に承知している。しかし、オタク以外のより幅広い層にこの本を読んでもらうため、カバーを変えた。表紙で内容を判断されるのを避けるためだ。PopFictionの表紙で原書のものを使う予定はない。「
Kino No Tabi」や「Scrapped Princess」を読んだ人がアニメや漫画にも手を出し、また文芸的/文学的な？評価をも得ることを私たちは期待している」
こんな感じ？しかし、
but in Japan that art style has no special prejudice against it in the market
これは微妙に日本が誤解されてるような気がします。
easternstandard
http://easternstandard.pbwiki.com/
「Kino No Tabi」「Boogiepop」の英訳を担当してる人のサイト。何故かキユ先生の特集が……小説のレビューも面白いです。原書で読んでるのかファンサブで訳されたのでも読んでるのか知らないけど、結構的確。GOSICKでは日本のラノベ(というか富士見の)独特の、長編短編で時系列がごっちゃになっているシステムに戸惑ったり、Kouhei Kadonoは海外でもジョジョ好きであることを晒されてたり。あと、これはひどいと思いました。
特に興味深かったレビューは、
など。それと、「Boogiepop」英訳版が発売された当時の彼のインタビューも紹介しておきます。
http://www.gomanga.com/news/features_boogiepop_001.php
話によると、彼は日本語を勉強するために5年間日本に在住していたそうです。アニメはあまり見てない、自国の小説も読んでいなくて、漫画とライトノベルを読んでいることが多いのだとか。「Boogiepop」で好きなキャラはFortissimo。シリーズ中一番好きなのは「Boogiepop in the Mirror: Pandora 」。なんでこのシリーズが好きなのかというと、キャラクターが3次元的で面白いのと、若者が直面する様々な難問を取り扱っているから。日本の作家で好きなのはMaijo Outaro、Ono Fuyumi、Nisi Oisin、Sakuraba Kazuki……なんか、日本で感想サイトでもやってそうなラインナップですね。
