Written by Misty of Myu Corner

The following are errors that I found in the first printing of Volume 1 of Kodansha USA’s English release of the Codename Sailor V manga. They are divided into sections for writing errors (presented in a table), possible issues on multiple pages, honorific issues, inconsistencies/continuity errors, and miscellaneous errors (presented as bulleted lists).

Note: I am proficient in but not fluent in French, so my translations of the Glénat version may not be 100% accurate. Also, I am using the Glénat version for comparison because I initially bought it prior to the Kodansha release thinking that it was the only Western-language official release of it out there (turns out it was also released in Germany, Spain, Italy, and Poland), and also because it gives me a third version to compare lines with, similar to how I compared the Sailor Moon volume to the Mixx version and Miss Dream’s translation.

I have recently had my proficiency in French evaluated via the Test d’Évaluation de Français, an official proficiency exam administered by the Alliance Française on behalf of the French government, and am willing to provide proof of my proficiency level via the results of this test (once I receive them) if anyone doubts my proficiency.

I am not in any way affiliated with Kodansha USA, Del Rey, William Flanagan, or any other person or entity involved in the translation, production, or publication of the volume critiqued here. I also do not mean these critiques as libel in any way, shape, or form, and hope that the persons and entities involved in the translation, production, or publication of the volume critiqued here will not take it as such.

Possible Issues on Several Pages

• Minako introduces herself throughout the volume as “Minako,” but in the actual dialogue everyone calls her “Mina,” except for her teachers (her gym teacher calls her “Minako” and her night school teacher calls her “Aino”) and Motoki (who calls her “Mina-chan”).
• Throughout chapter 8, the anklets Okamoto-sensei is making and that Saito-kun wears are called “promise rings” in the Kodansha version, though they’re clearly anklets or bracelets (probably similar to the misanga that Usagi and friends made in episode 77 of the anime and which Usagi and Mamoru were wearing in the second musical). Miss Dream’s version also calls them “promise rings.” The Glénat version calls them “les bracelets de promesse” (“promise bracelets”). Yet, on page 253, Saito-kun does refer to his anklet as a “promise bracelet.”

Honorific Issues (Oddly Used, Not Needed)

• All throughout Vol./Chapter 1, the sempai term used for Higashi is never defined. The inclusion of an honorifics guide in this volume (like Del Rey’s) would’ve helped explain this.
• p. 46: There’s that “Bro” thing again with Motoki like in the Sailor Moon manga. Also appears on p. 176 as “my bro.” Minako then calls him “Big Brother Furuhata,” which is more correct (“big brother” being a more accurate translation of onii-san).
• p. 235 – “My prince-sama.” No “-sama” needed. (Also on 237)
• p. 265 – “the Dark Punisher, Sailor V-sama” – The “-sama” isn’t needed, and you definitely don’t use honorifics when talking about yourself, as V is here.
• p. 266 – “V-chan” – again, you don’t use honorifics when it’s yourself you’re talking about. Maybe Minako’s just being dramatic.

Inconsistencies/Continuity Errors

• p. 44 – “An incarnation of the Goddess of Love and Desirability, Venus.”

On page 18, Artemis referred to the goddess Venus as the “Goddess of Beauty.” And in mythology, Aphrodite/Venus is the goddess of love and beauty. Though “desirability” does make some sense, because Aphrodite/Venus had a girdle that, when worn, could make anyone fall in love with her. Even Zeus was not exempt to its power, as shown when Hera used it on him in The Iliad. Still, it’s an inconsistency.

• p. 61 – “What’s wrong with taking just one poster?”

Says Minako – but if you look closely it’s pretty clear she has two posters in her hands. The Glénat version gives this as “Allez! Ce ne sont que des affiches!” (“Come on! They’re only posters!”); the plural verb form in the text being a clear indication that Minako is holding more than one poster (in case somebody didn’t notice this in the artwork). Miss Dream’s translation: “Anyway Artemis, don’t worry! It’s just a poster I’m after,” which I guess is fine since she probably meant to take just one poster but ended up taking two.

• p. 227 – “Why is my present a Grecian rug?”

Hikaru asks this, but in the art the rug has Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs on it. Though maybe Minako got it at a tourist shop in Greece or something…

Miscellaneous

• p. 9 – “first year of middle school”: In Japan, this would be 7th grade, which would be consistent with the idea that Codename Sailor V begins roughly a year before Sailor Moon does (at which point Minako would be in 8th grade, like the rest of the Inner Senshi). However, some American readers (and possibly other English-speaking readers) might read this as meaning Minako is in 6th grade, as that is the first year of most American middle schools. There is a translation note in the volume explaining the “class structure” of Japanese schools, but no indication is given as to what grade “first year” is meant to be here. The French Glénat version also read this as 6th grade, as they have Minako say she is in “sixième” (abbreviated “6^ème”), which is the French equivalent of sixth grade (and yet, they made an error on the front flap of volume 1, calling Minako a lycéenne, or high school student, instead of a collègienne, or junior high/middle school student; this is corrected on the front flap of volume 2, where she is correctly called a collègienne).
• p. 12 sign “For First Year-Students Class B”: This is a sign for Minako’s juku (“night school” in this translation) classroom. As I said in the previous note, the “first year” thing is pretty ambiguous. The Glénat version kept with their sixième translation and wrote “6ème Classe B” (Sixth Grade Class B) on the sign, which makes somewhat more sense.
• p. 12: The text for “27 percent” (when the teacher is telling Minako her math grade) is in a slightly different text than the rest of the text in that bubble, though this may just be for emphasis purposes. Also, there is a difference here between this version and the Glénat version; in the Glénat version her score is shown to be “4/20” (meaning she got four questions right out of 20, or 20%), whereas in the Kodansha version it says “27,” like the teacher says. This may be an art change by Naoko-san (as the Glénat version is based off the original Sailor V run) or by the people at Kodansha to make it match with the dialogue.
• Not exactly an error:  p. 12 – Artemis’s monologue: The first two panels of the monologue that appear on p. 12 in the Kodansha release are attributed to Minako in the Glénat release, not Artemis. (“Je suis très sportive. J’ai une santé de fer et un appétit d’ogre. Et je dors aussi beaucoup” – I’m very athletic. I have a health of iron and an ogre’s appetite. And I also sleep a lot) while the comment about her intelligence is given to her night-school teacher (“Et de l’intelligence, tu en as?” – And intelligence, you have some (of that)?). Only the last phrase of these initial panels in the Glénat version (“Ça m’a l’air plutôt…mal parti.” – That’s not looking rather good to me) is given to Artemis. However, I’m ok with Kodansha giving that whole part to Artemis, as it makes more sense in context.
• p. 23 – Artemis calls the planet Venus “the Goddess Venus.” That’s a BIG error (especially as the art shows a PLANET). Plus the line after it says “Your mother planet” (emphasis mine). Also, in the same word bubble – “broiling heat”? That sounds a little odd to me.
• p. 24 – Thought this was an error, but it isn’t:   Boss calls Venus the world of “incandescent heat.” At first, I thought this might be an error, but then I looked up “incandescent” and it means (among other things) “glowing or white with heat.” And since the planet Venus is very hot (its mean surface temperature is 860 degrees Fahrenheit!) and is also very bright (it’s second in brightness to the moon among night sky objects, and generally is brightest at dusk and just before dawn, hence its nicknames the “Evening Star” and the “Morning Star”), Boss’s statement actually makes sense. [Thanks to Venus on Wikipedia for the info here].
• p. 27 – In the second panel on the top row, Boss’s response and Higashi/Narcissus’s laugh are switched, so that Boss’s response of “Yes…” to Artemis is put in Higashi’s mouth and Higashi’s laugh is put in Boss’s mouth. Oops.
• p. 28 Higashi and Haneda – Higashi says “I love you too,” but Haneda hasn’t actually said “I love you” yet. So either this is an error or Higashi has ESP.
• p. 47 – Not exactly an error:   When Minako points out the Artemis game, there is extra text added to the title in the Kodansha version, making the title “Artemis falls under Dupon’s magic spell,” whereas in the Glénat version the game is simply shown to be called “Artémis.” However, Miss Dream’s translation (based, like Kodansha’s, on the shinsōban versions, unlike Glénat’s, which is based on the old print run) shows that in fact the extra text is supposed to be there.
• p. 64 – Not really an error as much as a confusing point:   People might find it strange that it’s not explained on this page why Minako uses her transformation pen to do her homework. Other pages (like page 98) just seem to say that she uses it because the pen is magic and its magic can help with any homework problem. A little special art page at the end of the Kodansha version, however, gives the reason: her transformation pen “writes only what is true.” Thus, if she uses it for her homework, she’ll always get the right answer if she uses that pen. Lucky her!
  • Apparently the art isn’t new; it also appeared in the original run of Codename Sailor V,
    because it appears in vol. 1 page 132 of the Glénat edition.
• p. 112 – “If you keep it up, I’ll tell V on you” – Hmm, kinda giving yourself away there, eh, Minako? This error was noted by Brad/Moonkitty. Variations of this line appear in the French version and Miss Dream’s version too though, so either all three are wrong or that’s how the line is meant to be. The Glénat version says, “Si tu dis des conneries on cafetera à Sailor V!” (“If you say [such] c***/b.s., people will tell tales to Sailor V!”). [I am not making that translation up – “conneries” really does mean “c***” or “bulls***”]. Miss Dream’s version says, “If you keep doing naughty things, one day V will come and punish you!”
• p. 153 – Not technically an error:   “Ten-thousand yen?! I can’t believe it! I couldn’t afford that if I saved my allowance till I died!” – Considering that ¥10,000 is noted in a footnote as being about $100, one wonders here just how small Minako’s allowance is. We know from a few pages earlier that she wasn’t able to buy the new Dark Guys CD since she was broke, so I’m guessing it’s not very much. Either that or she just doesn’t save her allowance very well. The Glénat version lists “500 balles” as the price. Balle is a slang term for “franc” (which was still the currency of France when this volume was published in 1998; the franc became obsolete on January 1, 1999, and was replaced with the euro). According to this converter, 500 francs is $104.63 US, which is pretty close to the original total.
• p. 174 – Possibly confusing for Americans:   “I’m surprised to see a game company making enormous profits during such an economic downturn.” – Given that this was published here recently, when the U.S. is in a BIG economic downturn, this may sound like an American addition, but it isn’t. Japan had a bubble economy (baburu keiki) from 1986 to 1991, due to the government encouraging citizens to save money through the use of strict economic policies post-World War II, but the bubble then burst and the economy went way down, reaching its really low point about 2003, when the renewal manga came out [Japan Asset Bubble, Investopedia]. So it’s most likely the reference is to the bad Japanese economy at the time of both the original print run of Sailor V and the “renewal version” release. (The Japanese refer to this as the Ushinawareta Jūnen [“Lost Decade”], or sometimes as the Ushinawareta Nijūnen [“Lost Decades” or “Lost 20 Years”] if the period between 2001 and 2010 is also included, which it is sometimes). [Source]
• p. 223 – “I’m not pleased to be on this huge continent” (Hibiscusy) /” ‘Not pleased’ to be on a continent?!” (Minako) – How do I say this…GREECE IS A COUNTRY, NOT A CONTINENT. Actually, Brad/Moonkitty was the one who originally caught this error. The worst thing about it is that not only does Hibiscusy, whose ignorance might be forgivable, get it wrong, but our heroine Minako gets it wrong too (though she is just repeating Hibiscusy’s words). And anyway, Greece isn’t even considered a subcontinent the way India is. It’s just a country.
  • Miss Dream version of this: “How dare you bring me out to this horrible place to find you when the people here only carry one tenth of the energy of the tourists in Hawaii! You’ve made me very angry!” (Hibiscusy) & “Coming to a place like this makes you mad, you say?!” (Minako)
  • Glénat version: “Je suis verte! Tu m’as fait venir ici, mais il y a moins d’énergie qu’a Hawaï!” (Hibiscusy: “I’m furious! You made me come here, but there’s less energy [here] than Hawaii has!”); “Je t’ai fait venir ici?” (Minako: “I made you come here?”)

Credits: The examples given from Miss Dream’s translation belong, naturally, to Miss Dream. French Glénat version (Sailor V) © 1998-1999 Glénat, Anne Malevay. Kodansha English manga (Codename Sailor V) © 2011 Kodansha USA, Kodansha Comics and William Flanagan. Codename wa Sailor V (Japanese) © 1992-1997, 2003-2004 Naoko Takeuchi.