home for birdgeekery

[jinian]

oyceter and rachelmanija have been talking about this manga and anime called Bleach, which I now totally want to watch, but there is a small bird in the ointment. Specifically, a bird in episode 4 (and 5?) is called inko in the episode title and possibly in the dialogue. Inko has been translated as "parakeet" but the drawing is definitely a cockatiel. (Wikipedia and others agree, though they do not visibly obsess as I do.) Here are salient points from my investigation into the matter:

• My preliminary analysis of terms chez the gracious rilina


• OMG cute crocheted inko -- and aha, specifically "parakeet" seems to be sekiseiinko


• Overall you get extreme bird cuteness if you search Google images for okameinko or sekiseiinko, though in the latter case it wants to know if you mean the Biteycat


• Others have noticed the issue, and "The episode title for episode 4 is: 第4話　「呪いのインコ」."


• Lovebirds are botan'inko, and galahs are momoiroinko (momoiro is pink like peach blossoms, of course)


• Okay, it looks like inko is a general term for parrotlike birds, and cockatoos are oumu-- cockatiels came down in a "like parrots" category rather than English's "like cockatoos" category, which I actually agree with as they are HYPER


• Cockatoos are also sometimes batan and hey, is that hagoromo the same as celestial-maiden robes? I have got to take a real Japanese class.

Since bed would be a good idea, I shall conclude by saying that ideally translators would know inko was being used generally and also know that English doesn't really have a parallel term (and that it'd be awkward as well as imperfectly correct to have the characters talk about this "psittacine"). This strengthens my case that official translators should watch all available fansubs before finalizing their release; apparently at least some fansubbers translated inko as "cockatiel" in this case.

Comments

[oyceter]

I think I need a new icon saying something about: "Parakeet of DOOM! or... Cockatiel? Parakeet? Cockatiel? Help!"

[tiassa]

Heh. I spent that entire episode/manga chapter muttering, "that is so a cockatiel" under my breath every time someone called it a parakeet.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Hee!

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I think "hagoromo" means "feather robe"-- at least, I vaguely recall that was how it was translated in Ceres Celestial Legend.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

By the way, Bleach anime # 20 or so has a shout-out to the parakeet cockatiel of DOOM. Needless to say, I hit the floor.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I now want rabid vampire bat parakeet cockatiel of DOOM.

[oyceter]

The rabid vampire bat mating with attacking the horses was the weirdest thing ever!

[cheesepuppet.livejournal.com]

I thought you should know that I had a dream about this post today. My throat has been ore, and Greg made me take a nap, and when I did I had a dream that was part World of Warcraft and part this post. In it I was trying to level up my skill with birds, and I was tasked to tame a cockatiel that kept telling me it was a parakeet!

I have no idea why your post sprung up in my dreams like that. Silly.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

That is so funny I can hardly type. Thank you for telling me.

[oyceter]

So weird! I got this comment in email the second after I had reread my Bleach posts on the parakeet cockatiel of DOOM.