lunabee34

In vol. 14, Stuff Happens. Yes.

It must be so maddening to to find things wrong in manga given your profession.

Well...yes and no. I mean, yes, when I notice, but other than Fruits Basket there aren't many manga around where I'm at all familiar with the Japanese version (well, plus things I've worked on), and even in Furuba's case it's more that by the time the English version was coming out I'd usually read at least two previous versions and had become friends with the woman who did by far the best fan translations of the second half or so of the series.

My first-ever adaptation was the first of the two Fruits Basket fanbooks, which covers right up to vol. 14, and that's how I got to know double_dear. They translated the entire series--and are the only people who were involved with it from start to finish in English--and were willing to chat to me about it when we barely knew each other, which was awesome. And the thing that I HATE in the vol. 14 script isn't technically wrong, anyway; it's just a thing that can be translated two ways with equal accuracy, technically, and I think the wrong call was made, for tone reasons. (And I don't think I've ever seen anyone else comment favorably on the decision. >.<)

But! The positive news is that everyone who was involved with Furuba in English was very good! double_dear are very solid translators. And Jake Forbes was the first editor on it, and then when he stopped editing full-time at Tokyopop he did the adaptation for several volumes (he also adapted the Fullmetal Alchemist manga!), and he was very respectful of both the series and the fandom. He left Fruits Basket after vol. 14, and then my friend liannesentar (the only other adapter I actually know, and I have the most ludicrous amount of respect for her) took over for the rest of the series and did a FANTASTIC job.

(I didn't actually get to know Lianne at all until after she was finished working on Fruits Basket, and she's just...amazing. She's one of the co-founders and editors at Chromatic Press now, and I'm completely in awe of her. *g* And our preferred adaptation styles probably couldn't be more different if we'd actively set out to be as unlike each other as possible.)

(Long comment is long.)