我是我柿的

2006-01-24

I was aware of China's long tradition of internationalized pirate crews (so that the Chinese can curse "Japanese pirates", the Japanese can curse "Chinese pirates", and the Koreans can... uh... invent the world's best writing system), but I was not expecting to see this in Shounen Saiyuuki (freely, "Kid Monkey"):

Popeye! What are you doing working for Gold Horn and Silver Horn (pictured, far left)?!

But wait -- is that really Popeye? Maybe it's just a coincide--

No, I guess that's him all right. (And that's Gold Horn behind him.)

Shounen Saiyuuki (『少年西遊記』), by the way, was a 1950s kid-targeting manga version of Journey to the West by SUGIURA Shigeru (杉浦茂), now available as a three-volume Kawade Bunko reprint.

(P.S. Re the title of this post -- I know a persimmon isn't the same thing as a yam, but I did my best with what I had.)

Popularity factor: 8

Gaijin Biker:

And to the right of Popeye in the upper panel, I think I see Swee' Pea.

Suihanki:

I have no idea what the character sounds like in cantonese or mandarin, but I bet it doesn't have the same ring of "yam"! You've failed me... T_T I expect titles that rhyme simultaneously in Chinese AND English, and nothing less!!! hehe

IbaDaiRon:

You're right, that is Swee' Pea!

Now where're Oribu & Bruto?

A sclubba-dabu-dabu!

Matt:

Huh, I didn't even notice that! Crazy.

SHK: I only started learning it properly like two weeks ago! Time, time, I need time...

amida:

"wo3 shi4 wo3 shi4 de"--Hey, that kind of works in Chinese!

More scans, please! I am a big Saiyuuki fan.

Mark S.:

Popeye does indeed have an odd history in Asia. After the cartoons started appearing in Taiwan, the translator, Bo Yang, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for some of Popeye's lines that the dictator of the country didn't like too much. (Sorry, that link won't work for everyone.)

Matt:

Amida -- that was the idea! ;) I have more scans planned, don't worry...

Mark S. -- the link didn't work for me, but it's mentioned in his wikipedia entry too:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Yang

It seems a bit extreme to consider the line "I will be king of that island and you will be my darling prince" in a comic strip evidence of subversion, but I suppose the context would have made it clearer. (Not that I support locking up cartoon translators for lampooning public figures in either case, of course.)

Also, I learnt that Popeye is known as 大力水手.

amida:

Matt: Just providing some pinyin there... Two weeks in and already making puns, nice work!

A dictator, his son, and an island--I think people could get how the cartoon could be interpreted, and in the bad old days of the White Terror, that was enough to cause somebody to disappear in the middle of the night.

2006-01-24