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English comments on Hello!Station's episode with the Yuugure MV preview
Posted by Juandalyn,
27 March 2015
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635 views
I thought I'd take a look at the YouTube comments because that's where I think 2ch is getting most foreign reactions from. I guess they know about H!O, but they rarely actually go here. YT is just easier and makes more sense since H!S can be interesting for them, too.
There were two things about that 2ch thread that kind of puzzled me:
Some make it look like the foreign fans are super mad about Kanon:
Things like this and a #JusticeForSuzuki2k15 post (that I forgot to save) probably confuse the hell out of Japanese wota.
Then, there were those posts that were talking about "fairness", but with some parts that can be interpreted as negative towards Karin:
The last one became "famous" in the 2ch thread. This kind and the first post I showed are the majority of English comments on that video. I can see where the 2ch commentors are coming from. But there is actually even more negativity:
(It can be that this is directed towards the J=J MV, Karin was pretty prominent in this episode. Personally I can't agree with it at all because Karin is known as a very energetic dancer.)
It could be that none of these comments is actually meant as hate towards Karin, but from a Japanese point of view, maybe with limited English abilities, it can be interpreted as such.
Of course, there are others saying that they liked Karin with MM, some standard "Kanon is fat Karin looks better" comments and every now and then a voice of reason that explains things calmly and objectively. But in the overview, while I from my international viewpoint don't see much actual negativity towards Karin, I can see what 2ch might have understood.
That's the problem with YouTube, right. It does kind of have a reputation for bad comments.
There were two things about that 2ch thread that kind of puzzled me:
- Why do they think it's only about Kanon that caused the uproar?
- Why do they think foreigners hate Karin?
Some make it look like the foreign fans are super mad about Kanon:
Things like this and a #JusticeForSuzuki2k15 post (that I forgot to save) probably confuse the hell out of Japanese wota.
Then, there were those posts that were talking about "fairness", but with some parts that can be interpreted as negative towards Karin:
The last one became "famous" in the 2ch thread. This kind and the first post I showed are the majority of English comments on that video. I can see where the 2ch commentors are coming from. But there is actually even more negativity:
(It can be that this is directed towards the J=J MV, Karin was pretty prominent in this episode. Personally I can't agree with it at all because Karin is known as a very energetic dancer.)
It could be that none of these comments is actually meant as hate towards Karin, but from a Japanese point of view, maybe with limited English abilities, it can be interpreted as such.
Of course, there are others saying that they liked Karin with MM, some standard "Kanon is fat Karin looks better" comments and every now and then a voice of reason that explains things calmly and objectively. But in the overview, while I from my international viewpoint don't see much actual negativity towards Karin, I can see what 2ch might have understood.
That's the problem with YouTube, right. It does kind of have a reputation for bad comments.
So my point is, there is little point to try to shed some light cause it might just make more problems imo.
It seems Japanese wota tend to read the youtube and other social media platforms more than fan forums when it comes to getting an idea about foreign fans. The problem there is that those other places have the most out-there and poisonous voices and deviate greatly from how we regular fans are and think.
Similarly, we foreign fans often look to 2ch for J-wota thoughts and discussion. Krusha had a good post about 2ch, and while there are many normal threads there with reasonable people, you also have many trolls and find the same kinds of poisonous voices.
It's times like this I wish someone with far more fluency in Japanese would make a post on behalf of the foreign fans to try cleaning up these kinds of misunderstandings. There really is a lot that gets lost in translation because of the language and cultural differences. Just like some people here get carried away over things that were translated poorly, I feel like this is a case where they trusted what someone else said and rolled with it without bothering to try translating our opinions for themselves.