In China, there was one thing about 'Fate/Zero' that surprised Kamiyā Yuu.
Judging from the statistics after five aired episodes, Lancer Zhao Yun's popularity was quite a bit higher than Saber's. The comment sections were filled with viewers supporting Zhao Yun. After thinking about it, he understood. At this time, Japan's moe culture had not yet become popular in China. Without the support of her original popularity, Saber felt more like a supporting character in the Fourth Holy Grail War.
The King of Conquerors, Iskandar, the King of Heroes Gilgamesh, and the Tiger Might General Zhao Yun were all distinct characters. Even the sole villain, Bluebeard, had his perverse interests to support his presence.
The 'Fate/Zero' novel had not spread in China, so most viewers still did not know Saber was the famous King Arthur.
Who seemed more like the protagonist of the Fourth Holy Grail War?
The "Princess," Waver Velvet.
He rejected the old system, was mocked by his magecraft teacher, Director Kayneth, and summoned a Heroic Spirit who looked obviously powerful. He carried a textbook male protagonist template. From Kamiyā Yuu's perspective, he was also another kind of winner of the Holy Grail War, a future winner in life. Many Chinese viewers watched 'Fate/Zero' through his perspective.
As for Zhao Yun, his popularity was boosted by being a Heroic Spirit from China. Add his silver-haired handsome man design, and it was impossible for him not to be popular.
Kamiyā Yuu was very interested in the Chinese translation of the novel 'Twilight of the Knight' mentioned in the comments. He had written 'Twilight of the Knight' less than two months ago, yet someone had already taken up the translation?
That efficiency was far beyond the fan translation groups of his previous world.
'Twilight of the Knight' had more than three hundred thousand characters. Calculating it out, this translation group had to be translating over ten thousand characters almost every day. That workload was more than even full-time professional translators could usually handle.
Following the link in the anime comment section, Kamiyā Yuu quickly found the download address for the Chinese translation of 'Twilight of the Knight.' With the experience of an old driver from his previous world, he opened the compressed novel file and, as expected, saw a recruitment notice from the translation group.
The general content stated that because they intended to translate all seven 'Fate/Zero' side-story novels, totaling two million characters, the translation group was urgently recruiting translators proficient in Japanese.
"The official side has only translated about half of 'Twilight of the Knight' so far. I didn't expect a fan translation group to finish the first character side story instead."
Kamiyā Yuu sighed to himself.
He double-clicked the novel file and began reading carefully. Before long, he frowned in surprise.
It was not because the translation was poor.
On the contrary, the quality was unexpectedly high.
Aside from a few obscure Japanese terms and original coined words, this fan translation handled everything extremely well. Some sentences that sounded rather awkward in Japanese had been transformed into smooth Chinese. They had not translated stiffly or blindly, but had achieved accurate meaning-based translation with distinctive literary polishing.
After all, Kamiyā Yuu had written the novel in Japanese. Many parts could not be translated into Chinese perfectly smoothly without adaptation.
"This translation level is comparable to a first-rate Japanese translator."
Kamiyā Yuu was inexplicably astonished.
After thinking for a moment, he opened his email account and found a sample translation Lin Ye had sent him earlier. This was the work of the official 'Fate/Zero' translation group he had asked Lin Ye to establish.
After comparing the two, he felt that the fan translation was better than the official translation group Lin Ye had formed in nearly every aspect.
Kamiyā Yuu smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"Lin Ye probably hired orthodox Japanese translators. I really don't know what to say about this situation."
Fan translations being better than official translations had been common in his previous world, too.
Official translations are usually made by proper professional translators. However, those translators often had little exposure to the elements of the work, making it difficult for them to accurately convey the meaning of the lines. At the same time, Japanese translation skills varied greatly, and official teams had limited options and fewer people than some fan groups. Once an official translator concluded, it was often treated as the final result.
Fan translation groups were made up of enthusiasts. Setting aside pure hobbyists, many members translated works because they liked them and wanted to share them. Their attitude was often more responsible. When they encountered difficult passages, they could ask other members for opinions until they reached a consensus.
Originally, Kamiyā Yuu had planned to find time to polish the official translation after Lin Ye's side finished.
Now that he had seen a better option, he couldn't simply ignore it.
After thinking for a while, Kamiyā Yuu registered an account on a popular Chinese chat app. Using the name "Distant Sky," he followed the recruitment ad and found this amateur translation group's chat group, then applied to join.
"Hello, is this the Blue Sea translation group? I am an anime fan who saw your recruitment notice. After reading your translated work, I have a few questions and hope I can receive some answers."
Kamiyā Yuu clicked confirm and submitted his reason for joining. He thought to himself,
"I'll observe for now. I should have Lin Ye push the official translation side harder. It's supposed to be the official translation, so why are both speed and quality worse than a fan translation group? I can't spare time to handle the Chinese translation of the novels right now, but the first impression a work gives is also very important."
Kamiyā Yuu did not mind pirated versions of his work spreading in China.
The China of his previous world had already handled copyright protection very well. When he had been short on money but desperate to see a certain work, he had secretly downloaded pirated versions too. Once he had more money, he bought the official versions. At the same time, as a creator, he naturally hoped piracy would not be so widespread.
What he cared about was unqualified translations lowering the overall quality of his work.
Although it was already past one in the morning, his application was approved in less than a minute.
"Dear user Distant Sky, you have been approved to enter the Blue Sea chat group. From now on, you may speak freely in this chat group."
...
Blue Sea. Total members: 248. Currently online: 134.
["Newcomer? — Cold Cold Wind"]
["The Japanese version of 'Lament of the Knight' is so hard to chew through! — Love's Overthrow"]
["Welcome, newcomer! — Meilan"]
["Haha, sure enough, in the anime, Lancelot gets insanely agitated the moment he sees King Arthur. In the novel, he's a sacrifice to King Arthur's kingship, and in the end, he dies in resentment and depression! — Hero Who Drinks from Big Bowls and Eats Big Chunks of Meat"]
["Holy crap, you actually spoiled me! — Love's Overthrow"]
Opening the chat group, the familiar atmosphere almost made Kamiyā Yuu think he had returned to a Q group from his previous world.
After thinking for a moment, he typed,
"Hello. I am also an amateur Japanese translator. After seeing your translation group's work, I felt it was very good. I personally like 'Fate/Zero' very much, but I feel that several parts of your translation differ slightly from my own understanding."
Kamiyā Yuu did not use Japanese-style respectful greetings. He felt that calling them "your esteemed group" at a time like this would make him sound more like someone coming to pick a fight.
["Our translation group will humbly accept any guidance. — Meilan"]
["Oooh! A Japanese expert finally came! — Fantasy Starry Dream"]
["A newly registered alt? — Love's Overthrow"]
["Scared... — Preparing to Place Plants"]
Kamiyā Yuu planned to keep observing while the quality of the official translation remained uncertain. Seeing the Blue Sea members question him, he grew slightly interested and typed,
"Because I don't often use this kind of chat software. I registered specifically after seeing your translation recruitment notice."
["Then tell us which part of the translation is wrong first. — Love's Overthrow"]
Kamiyā Yuu shook his head with amusement. He felt Blue Sea's attitude was a little poor.
What he did not know was that Blue Sea was the most famous light novel translation group in China. Its members were all experienced Japanese translators, and quite a few of them were overseas students in Japan. Naturally, those students were also the ones responsible for providing source materials.
Such an outstanding translation group inevitably had some pride.
When a stranger suddenly entered the group and questioned the work they were so proud of, it would have been strange for their attitude to be too friendly.