Differences between English and Japanese MSQ Dialogue (bit of a rant)

[Bhearil]

On ShB instead of Master Matoya in japanese we have Big Sis or Big sister Matoya which imo is far better since it shows respect AND how liked she is between the community.

[Enla]

On ShB instead of Master Matoya in japanese we have Big Sis or Big sister Matoya which imo is far better since it shows respect AND how liked she is between the community.

Sadly that's another thing that just doesn't translate well to English. Big Sister Matoya is really, REALLY awkward in English and not something most native English speakers would say to someone in that position. At least not if they were older than five years old. There's really no natural equivalent in English for it that doesn't come off as forced.

Mind 'Master' isn't a good equivalent either as while it denotes respect it's also cold. I'm not quite sure how they could have translated that better honestly, except maybe 'Miss Matoya'.

[Mahoukenshi]

Sadly that's another thing that just doesn't translate well to English. Big Sister Matoya is really, REALLY awkward in English and not something most native English speakers would say to someone in that position. At least not if they were older than five years old. There's really no natural equivalent in English for it that doesn't come off as forced.

Mind 'Master' isn't a good equivalent either as while it denotes respect it's also cold. I'm not quite sure how they could have translated that better honestly, except maybe 'Miss Matoya'.

Pretty much. In such cases, cultural notes are bound to get lost in translation. Especically in JP where there's not always a fitting equivalent correspoding to every finer nuance, like using onee-sama/nee-san or whatever after the name. I know it, for example, from countless of Visual Novels where the female role model student is called "Nee-sama" or her name + nee-sama. Where I am from, this kind of adressing someone simply doesn't exist. If we know someone by first name, we call them so, unless requested otherwise. In a professional environment or at school / university, it depends on the teachers / professors if they offer their first name to be used etc... Important persons excluded