When subtitles go wrong: misunderstanding from inaccurate subtitles on international media

illust by Weibo@-Ask-- Anyone who is interested in Japanese anime should not miss Eva . Neon Genesis Evangelion ( Eva ) is regarded as a phenomenal masterwork of Japanese anime. It tells a dark and extremely complicated story that touches on a diversity of themes , including spiritual development , romantic relationships , social values of that age , culture, and religion. Among these , one of the most popular subjects of fan discussion is the delicate relationship between two of its characters , Shinji and Kaworu. And our story starts here. Eva was first broadcast in 1995 in Japan and was then released on many streaming platforms after it earned its reputation in the following years. In 2019 , Netflix ’ s re-release of a new version of this anime aroused heated discussion about several changes in the English translation from the original one. Shinji and Kaworu.  Retrieved from  https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/6/24/18701179/netflix-neon-genesis-evangelion-kaworu...

English translation and Chinese script Chinese and English subtitles retrieved from https://yts-subs.com/movie-imdb/tt7605074 From the Chinese movie The Wandering Earth Liu Qi , the teenager protagonist of the Chinese sci-fi movie The Wandering Earth , aspired to see the “ outside world ” . When he came to the gang leader of the underground city Yi Ge to exchange things for some necessary equipment , Yi Ge was absorbed in his video game and ignored the visitor. Liu Qi then took out a bag of skewers bought on the way and said to Yi Ge: “还给您带了串，趁热吃”( And I got you [ honorific ] skewers too. Eat while they ’ re still hot ) . In the subtitles , the sentence , “趁热吃” ( Eat while they ’ re still hot ), is translated into “ freshly made ” . So it goes like “ And I got you [ honorific ] skewers too , freshly made. ” Well , this piece of translation sounds fairly natural and understandable , since it does address the meaning that the skewers are still hot and fresh and edible. But so...