Hikaru no Go gets Chinese drama adaptation. First episode contained a message about Hong Kong.

[GG-Duo]

As reported via Hong Kong's The Stand News.

So Hikaru no Go, the popular manga series about the game of Go by Takeshi Obata and Yumi Hotta recently got a Chinese adaptation. Its first episode just aired yesterday and it looks like this:

You can find more pictures here: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/C_Chat/M.1603439482.A.5E3.html

You can watch the first episode legally here. (It's pretty typical for Chinese companies to offer their content for free online, as advertising is usually done via product placements.)



Anyway, the first episode contained this dialogue:

"After 100 miserable years for Hong Kong, now it returns to China!"

"What day is it today?"

"A day that all Chinese should be happy for!"

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Now, as propaganda, that's relatively mild stuff, as that *is* the attitude of how mainland Chinese folks thought of Hong Kong returning to China — but it's a rather awkward plot point that feels forced. Of course, Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and some Japanese netizens are pretty upset about it.

 

[firehawk12]

Jeez. That's not even pretending to be subtle about it. lol

 

[hateradio]

Jeez. That's not even pretending to be subtle about it. lol

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It's not meant to be subtle.

They're rejoicing the unification of China. . . wtf?

 

[Deleted member 21709]

I don't see that as mild. It's highly offensive.

 

[GG-Duo]

Yeah, I meant that for China standards that's relatively minor.

but then a friend pointed out that the word that they used for "miserable" is 百年滄桑.... which is not a way that any Hong Konger would describe the UK rule.

 

[Ceerious]

100 miserable years ? Who translated this shit?

I sorry but this is a stupid translation error. " 百年滄桑" didn't mean 100 miserable years. "滄桑" means "vicissitude" or "Complex changes". It's not a negative meaning word at all.

 

[maruchan]

I love this series but did they just spoiled the whole show in the beginning preview lol

 

[el jacko]

I mean, from the perspective of the mainland, achieving reunification on their own terms is actually something to celebrate. Certainly not surprising.

Extremely shitty for anyone actually from Hongkong, or in the Chinese diaspora, though.

 

[Sanka]

As reported via Hong Kong's The Stand News.

So Hikaru no Go, the popular manga series about the game of Go by Takeshi Obata and Yumi Hotta recently got a Chinese adaptation. Its first episode just aired yesterday and it looks like this:

You can find more pictures here: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/C_Chat/M.1603439482.A.5E3.html

You can watch the first episode legally here. (It's pretty typical for Chinese companies to offer their content for free online, as advertising is usually done via product placements.)



Anyway, the first episode contained this dialogue:



Now, as propaganda, that's relatively mild stuff, as that *is* the attitude of how mainland Chinese folks thought of Hong Kong returning to China — but it's a rather awkward plot point that feels forced. Of course, Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and some Japanese netizens are pretty upset about it.

Click to shrink...

Wonder what Shueishs has to say about that. Hikaru no Go was pretty big back in the day.

 

[Neo C.]

Yeah sure, 100 miserable years... I still remember my first trip to Hong Kong back when it was still under the Brits. I dearly miss the Hong Kong of my childhood.

 

[deepFlaw]

100 miserable years ? Who translated this shit?

I sorry but this is a stupid translation error. " 百年滄桑" didn't mean 100 miserable years. "滄桑" means "vicissitude" or "Complex changes". It's not a negative meaning word at all.

Click to shrink...

The source cited in the OP isn't an English one, so this is confusing me a bit even though I'd believe it. Genuinely wondering - does that article focus on that aspect of the line still?

 

[mugwhump]

"After 100 miserable years for Hong Kong, now it returns to China!"

"What day is it today?"

"A day that all Chinese should be happy for!"

Click to shrink...

If this were a normal show I'd assume this was satire are we sure it's not satire

 

[Ceerious]

The source cited in the OP isn't an English one, so this is confusing me a bit even though I'd believe it. Genuinely wondering - does that article focus on that aspect of the line still?

Click to shrink...

The article isn't really focus on that particular line.It simply reports the fact that the character in the show mentions the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, so the article's writer quoted the actual line to prove his point.

I don't think any competent Chinese speaker would translate "滄桑" to "miserable".

 

[deepFlaw]

The article isn't really focus on that particular line.It simply reports the fact that the character in the show mentions the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, so the article's writer quoted the actual line to prove his point.

I don't think any competent Chinese speaker would translate "滄桑" to "miserable".

Click to shrink...

Aaaah, I see. Thank you for explaining!

 

[StrangeRoboMemory]

The article isn't really focus on that particular line.It simply reports the fact that the character in the show mentions the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, so the article's writer quoted the actual line to prove his point.

I don't think any competent Chinese speaker would translate "滄桑" to "miserable".

Click to shrink...

So with "vicissitude" in mind, would a better translation be something like "100 years of ups and downs" or "100 years of back and forth"?

 

[clay_ghost]

Outside of the weird Hong Kong reference and localization from Japan to China, the adaption is quite decent? It quite oblivious that the Live action is targeting long fans as the 1st 10 mins basically is basically a huge spoiler for the whole series.

 

[Ceerious]

So with "vicissitude" in mind, would a better translation be something like "100 years of ups and downs" or "100 years of back and forth"?

Click to shrink...

Yes, "100 years of ups and downs" is way more accurate.


More specifically, "滄桑" is the simplified form of a tradition Chinese idiom, "滄海桑田".


滄海 literally means sea, and 桑田 means soil. So, it combines "sea" and "soil" together to express the passage of time and the vastly changes with it.

 

[808s & Villainy]

Seems like a weird adaptation, especially as later in the series there's a lot of competition between Japanese, Chinese, and Korean go players

 

[TheWraith]

It's also pretty funny to note that Hong Kong was ruled by the British for 155 years, so what about the other 55 years do they mean they were fantastic? :D

 

[GG-Duo]

oh hey what happened to this thread

滄桑 most definitely does not just mean the passage of time or "ups and downs" unless you are only being pedantic.
It's more negative than that.

you wouldn't use it to describe someone unless you want to say that they really show their age.

so yeah, 百年滄桑 is definitely a propaganda turn of phrasing in this context