海外大学字幕プロジェクト

This is the 8th Session of the GUSP program that the students of Düsseldorf’s Heinrich Heine University are taking part in. This time they are creating subtitles for a film called “Aster School Days” directed by Mone Inada. The film tells the story of high school students and their everyday life full of worries.

Before attending the seminar, the students received a video from JVTA containing all necessary instructions, and having been divided into seven groups, prepared their first drafts before the class.

At the beginning of the seminar the students said that they were touched by the unshakable attitude of the protagonist who is teased and ridiculed by everyone around, and that they were impressed by the scene where the main bully finally changes his behavior towards the protagonist. It seems that despite the language and culture being different, the core message of the film successfully reached the students’ hearts.

Some of them also said laughingly that they wish they could use emoji in subtitles. Next week the students will start working on the subtitles with all seriousness. We are looking forward to seeing what sort of subtitles they will manage to produce!

The second seminar focused on checking the submitted subtitles and sharing thoughts on which parts were the most difficult to translate.

Some students argued that it is impossible to translate the whole meaning of a subtitle without greatly exceeding the word limit. Then they received a thorough explanation on how to treat the word limit in different situations.

There was also a discussion regarding the translation of flower names that are tied to the main theme of the film. There are many scenes where the protagonist is handing flowers to other characters: the choice of a flower is always linked to the character’s personality. The students learnt how difficult subtitling work might be after trying to find the right flower names that would mirror the personalities, and choosing between names that are commonly used in English and the scientific names. It seems that this too enabled them to learn how to approach the lines that contain a lot of information.

The discussion will continue until the last seminar and as the problematic issues are cleared one by one, the subtitles will be getting better and better.

It has also been decided that the film title will be translated by the students themselves. The students deepen their understanding of the film with every session, so we are sure that a well-fitting title will be selected!

The students of the Heinrich Heine University have reached the third seminar of their course. The first thing they discussed this time was the title of the work.

It was decided not to translate the double-layered Japanese title into English as it is due to the fact that some of the meaning will be lost for the English audience. Thus the students are now suggesting other options. It has to be something that transmits the original message while intriguing the audience as well as employing a word play. The final version will be selected by the film director who will chose from the options suggested by the students, so they are working hard to come up with outstanding title ideas. Through trial and error, they are sure to reach the right answer.

After discussing the title, the participants moved on to the instructors’ comments on the work of each group and one by one they cleared all the questions and doubts. During the previous session the difficulty of adhering to the character limit has already been discussed, but it seems that the character limit is still troubling the students. How to choose the parts of the long subtitles that can be omitted? How to find the right expressions that communicate the nuances of the original lines? The students experienced the real thrill of subtitle translation through practice.

Different subtitle ideas were necessary in order to come up with a translation of a line about Japanese idols so that the meaning was fully transmitted to the viewer. The students realized that not only a deep understanding of the culture is required for a good translation, but also real commitment and hard work are necessary.

The students of the Heinrich Heine University have attended their final lecture. After comprehending the main rules of subtitling, they are now focusing on the accuracy of their translation and its refinement.

At the beginning of the lecture the director’s decision on the possible translations for the title was announced. There was an opinion that using the word "Bloom" will evoke both the flower imagery that is the key to the work and the psychological growth of the high school students. However, there was also an opinion that the English title needs to employ the word play the same way that the Japanese title does. The title is an extremely important part of the film, thus the discussion got really heated.

Also, the instructors suggested that some unification is necessary when it comes to the scenes where flowers are presented to the students or just talked about. For better legibility students decided to use italics for the flower names and the quotation marks for the flower language.

The students have also learned that in a series of subtitles, the English version doesn’t have to always constitute to the same line in Japanese. The main goal is to make the subtitles that are stress-free for the audience. The importance of different perspectives became clear.

Which title will be used after all? Bloom /Blooming heart(s), Aster school days or Petals of the Heart? The works translated by the students will be screened at the world's largest Japanese film festival - Nippon Connection.