Topic on User talk:Flanpucci

Dear Flanpucci,

Hello. My name is BlueCombElephant, and I want to discuss your edit in the JoJo, in a Yaoi Sort of WayーThe Truth Behind Dio!? section of the Eureka (November 2007 interview page. More specifically, about the translation of "なまじ顔が美しいばかりに" as "Because his serious face is just so beautiful".

なまじ means 〇〇ばかりに (as well as 中途半端) so the sentence would have the same meaning regardless of なまじ (顔が美しいばかりに、ディオは不幸だった). Therefore your edit is correct except for the addition of "serious". I apologize if this was caused by my edit containing the word "conflicted". I had mistakenly thought that Kaneda was using the phrase "なまじ顔" (like なまじ美人 or なまじ可愛い, both negative).

Yours sincerely,
BlueCombElephant

Hello BlueCombElephant,

You are absolutely right, I understood it as なまじ顔 too, thank you for pointing it out! I asked for confirmation from a native japanese person, but I think we should be able to make an accurate edit for this sentence's translation. :)

Have a good day, Flan

Hello, getting back to you on this. I consulted with a native japanese speaker, who told me this :

「顔が美しい」というのは、普通は人から褒められたり好かれたりする、良いことだと考えられます。 でも、「なまじ」を使うことで、 中途半端に顔が美しいことが理由で、不利益を受けたということが言えます。

「なまじ顔が美しいばかりに……。」←この、……。貧民街にいた少年期や吸血鬼になった頃に、顔が美しいことが理由でなにか悪いことがあった、という意味です。 「なまじ顔が美しいばかりに、娼家に売り飛ばされた」 とか 「なまじ顔が美しいばかりに、妬まれていじめられた」 など、人間として起きてほしくない出来事が続きます。

So I'm thinking about editing it to :

Araki: He was the object of pleasure (laughs)? Kaneda: Of course he was! Like during his boyhood in the slums, or around when he became a vampire. All of that just because his face is so beautiful...

I hope you will agree with this new phrasing, and thanks again for pointing out the issue!

Flan

Dear Flan,

Thank you for asking for confirmation. Your replies are appreciated,and I agree with the new phrasing as well. Between the two of us, whoever is available can type in your suggestion onto the interview page later.

Kind regards,
BlueCombElephant