I did another comparison between the BeBeautiful and SuBLime versions, this time for the recently released 2nd omnibus, which covers volumes 3 and 4. I've cross-posted this to my personal journal for readers who aren't members of this comm. Feel free to comment either here or there.

As with the first comparison, the BB books have character profiles and summaries that appear to have been added by the publisher for the American readers, and do not appear in the new SBL version. Also as stated in the first comparison, the omnibus does not contain the "Afterthoughts" chapters that conclude the BB version and the original tankoban. The SBL version is also missing the extras that appear at the end of the BB Vol. 3: "A Visit to Iwaki-san and Katou's new home," "A Peek Inside Iwaki's Bag," and "A Peek Inside Katou's Bag." Which is a real shame, because those "interviews" with Iwaki and Katou were really cute and funny!

There don't seem to be as many differences in translation this time around. They don't always use the exact same wording, but the meaning seems to be mostly the same, with small variations in paraphrasing.

One small but notable difference is on the final page of the first chapter "Paradox Dogs" in the last 2 panels: in the BB version, Iwaki says, "He really only knows how to say 'one more time.' He really should learn to 'wait' after all." Whereas in the SBL version he says, "So far, all this puppy knows is 'both paws.' It looks like the first thing I need to teach him is, 'down boy.'" Both versions essentially get across the same meaning, but the SBL version ties in better with the image in panel 3 of Katou as a puppy. (Literally, Nitta-sensei has drawn him as a puppy!)

The BB version continues to use an odd mix of English and Japanese honorifics. In Chapter 2, "Innocent Vamp," Iwaki is referred to as "Iwaki-san" while Sawa is referred to as "Mr. Sawa" by Katou in the same sentence, which seems kind of odd. I wondered why Sawa wasn't referred to as "Sawa-san" if they were going to keep the Japanese honorific for Iwaki, but maybe it was a slightly awkward way of indicating the closer relationship between Iwaki and Katou, while emphasizing the more professional/distant relationship with Sawa by calling him "Mr."?

In Chapter 3, "Always," Sawa and Yukihito arrive at Iwaki and Katou's new house with a housewarming gift. In the BB version, Katou says to Yukihito, "You look good. How have you been, Yukihito?" And Yukihito replies, "Okay--I guess."

In the SBL version, Katou asks, "You look like you've grown, Yukihito-kun. How old are you now?" And Yukihito replies, "Seventeen." Thinking it over, I'm guessing that BB probably edited out Yukihito's age in order to avoid any mentions of underage sex (since he and Sawa are lovers, and Iwaki almost sort-of had sex with Yukihito in the previous volume in the "Flesh Flute" chapter). I actually do think it's kind of skeevy that Sawa is sleeping with a high school kid, even though it's a consensual relationship. When I first read the BB version years ago, I assumed that Yukihito looked young but was over 18.

On the first page of the next chapter, "First Cry," Katou is talking on the phone to an unnamed friend(s), who is apparently scolding Katou for moving without telling him (them?). In the BB version, Katou jokes, "No way I'm inviting a beast like you to a house with newlyweds." In the SBL version, Katou says more or less the same thing, but uses the plural "beasts"--I was just wondering in hindsight if he was talking to Miyasaka and/or Onozuka, since when we finally meet them in Vol. 8, we learn that he was reluctant to introduce Iwaki to them.

A minor difference, but also in "First Cry," in the scene where Masahiko first confronts Iwaki, in the BB version he says that Iwaki did not even have "the common sense to tell us where you were going." However, in the SBL version he says, "I thought it only common sense not to tell you what was happening" (because of Iwaki's scandalous affair with Katou). Although the wording change is very subtle, it completely changes the meaning of whom "common sense" is referring to.

At this point I'll add that while the essence of the two translations are pretty much the same for the most part, the SBL version does seem to be more detailed. In the BB version, when Katou shows up alone to see Iwaki's family, Masahiko tells him, "Your relationship with him is no more real than the ones in his porno movies!" However, in the SBL version, Masahiko says, "Kyosuke was never one to think impartially about much. I bet he couldn't understand women, so instead he promptly ran into the arms of the first man who could convince him!"

(Btw, this made me think that while Masahiko was wrong about how and why Iwaki got together with Katou, it is true that Iwaki has a tendency to run away from his problems, which Masahiko had pointed out earlier during his argument with Iwaki.)

Another minor but significant word change: when Iwaki shows up to take Katou home, Katou protests in the BB version, "I don't want the man I love to be hated by his family...!" But in the SBL version he says, "I don't want to feel like I have to hate my lover's family!" Once again, the meaning of who is doing the hating has changed.

There's one more similar change/mix-up when Iwaki tell his father in the BB version, "I always thought I'd only be known to you as the younger brother of the son you were proud of!" While in the SBL version, he says, "I've always wanted to be a son and brother you all could be proud of!"

As mentioned in my previous comparison, it can sometimes be tricky figuring out who is being talked about, because often in Japanese, the subject of a sentence isn't explicitly stated and is supposed to be inferred from the context. Although this is just my speculation, since I don't have the Japanese language text for these volumes.

I really loved this chapter, because I love Iwaki's family, and the complexity of his relationship with them. Iwaki told Katou that when he told his family he wanted to be an actor, his mother and brother argued against it, and his father ignored him. He interpreted his father's silence as being uncaring, yet we learn later from Iwaki's father that he chose not to oppose Iwaki because he felt that Iwaki had the right to do as he wanted, so he was actually being supportive in his own way, although Iwaki saw it as the opposite. One of the things I love about Iwaki's family is that they love each other very much, although they are very bad at expressing it. In spite of all the angst, I did have to smile during the scene where Iwaki and Masahiko protest in unison that they are nothing at all alike--thereby proving Katou's point that they really are alike. ^_^

And Masahiko's reaction to Iwaki and Katou's relationship being "Disgusting!" reminds me of Matt Thorn's essay from the Wandering Son manga, which I discussed here. In it, Thorn says, "But it is also true that in Japan, perhaps more so than in other developed nations, deviation from the norm generates social friction. The closer that deviation is to home (say, under one's own roof), the more intense that friction is likely to be. It's all right for a stranger--someone "out there"--to be a "queen," but not my son. Not my daughter. Not my grandchild or sibling. Not my friend."

Masahiko's reaction does seem to be in keeping with what Thorn says, although I also think that he's lashing out because he feels hurt by what he sees as Iwaki's betrayal (of leaving the family), so he's deliberately saying hurtful things to his brother in return.

Moving on to the second half of the omnibus (Vol. 4), at the end of the chapter "Cross Game" in which Asano is introduced, in the final 2 panels of the BB versions Iwaki says, "No matter how much I laughed off the phone business as my imagination...I really didn't remember having turned it off." But in the SLB version, it's Katou thinking, "No matter how much Iwaki-san laughed at me for thinking there was something to that phone being shut off...I still couldn't help thinking someone was trying to split us apart."

In "Mother's Rouge" (the origin story about Sawa), it's stated in the SBL version (but not the BB version) that Sawa's uncle-in-law who murdered his wife was a police officer, which probably makes the crime an even bigger scandal and a bigger stain on Sawa's family reputation. And again, the BB version leaves out any reference to Yukihito's age, but SBL says that he was 15 at the time of the murder. Which means, incidentally, that Sawa went from police detective to best-selling author/film director in the space of only two years, which seems pretty incredible. It also means that Sawa is only 25 as of Vol. 3, since the "Mother's Rouge" chapter states that he is 23.

One other change that makes a pretty big difference: in the BB version, after Sawa accepts his feminine side, he says, "My parents rejected me and I left home..." However, in the SBL version, he says, "My parents opposed it at first, but I stood my ground and moved out of their house..." The latter version makes it more ambiguous as to whether his family was able to accept his true self. I rather doubt it, or at best, they don't approve but haven't outright disowned him, but it does sound less harsh than "they rejected me."

So that's it for the comparison! I had a lot of fun reading these old volumes again, and being a big fan of detective dramas, I particularly enjoyed the final chapter about Sawa. Someday I have to write a story about him getting involved in a police investigation again!

It was also fun to see the beginning of Asano's scheming, although we won't get to see the fallout till the next volume comes out. And I'm just dying to get to the volumes where Miyasaka and Onozuka appear, but unfortunately, that won't be until the fourth omnibus, since they first appeared in Vol. 8 of the original series.