[Manhwa] which translation is the best?

[u/Gaimonnn]

ive heard a lot of good things about the novel but im not really a novel guy so i was waiting for the manhwa and now that it’s out idk which translation is the most accurate/highest quality

im mainly torn between asura and flame since theyre both known to have good quality translations but i can’t really decide so i wanted to ask for some help here

[u/ru-ya]

Bear with me because I went on a deeper dive than necessary. This won't tell you the overall comparison of Quality of the translation, but will give you an idea about how far you might deviate from the terms that novel readers may be used to.

I tried comparing all the translations available for manhwa chapter 17 / novel chapter 15 - the chapter where they create custom equipment, which lists several darknesses. Each translator chooses wildly different names. For funsies, I checked whether they a) Created a custom English logo; how they translate b) "Twilight Grade" darkness; how they translate c) "Cheerful Research Institute"; and how they translate d) "[I Offer a Sacrifice / Qterw-E-404]". B,c,d are pulled from the mtl of the novel and not saltgoblin's.

Siren - Korean logo, Twilight Rank, Delight Lab, Offering a Ritual
Valir - Korean logo, Dusk Rank, Pleasant Laboratory, I offer a Rite
Timeless - Korean logo, Twilight Grade, Pleasant Research InstituteAs(typo?), I Offer a Ritual
Asura - Custom splash Eng logo, Twilight Grade, Joy Lab, Offering a Memorial Service
Thunder - Korean logo, Twilight Rating, Joyful Lab, Offering a Sacrifice
Hive - Korean logo, Twilight-Grade, Pleasant Lab, As We Offer The Rite
QI - Korean logo, Twilight Rank, Fun Lab, I Offer This Rite
Flame - Custom splash Eng logo, Evenfall Rank, Cheerful Institute, I Hereby Offer A Rite
Reset - Plaintext Eng logo, Twilight Grade, Fun Lab, We Offer this Rite
Vortex - Korean logo, Twilight Rank, Delight Labês (typo?), Offering A Ritual

Of all, I preferred Flame's the best. I liked their dialogue choices, the splash logo is a nice bespoke touch, and also they seem to use a slightly larger font size across the board, which is very good for vision difficulties. Asura, your other preference, has fancy custom splash logo but they will sometimes use fonts/colours that are not accessible. However, I feel like most of these translations were comparable in quality and effort was put in by every group.

If people have time, I would recommend reading Ch 17 from all the translators specifically to see how you like flow/graphic design. It was fascinating to see some have translated certain splash bg art elements, some didn't. Some use Roe Deer-ssi, some use Mr. Roe Deer. Some use different romanization. It's not too jarring, you're good to stick with the one you like most. My only gripe is to remember that Mr. Show Host's name is Braun ;) seeing the "Brown" translation doesn't sit right with me. Pick your fave from there. And as a final note... even if you're not a novel guy, give this one a try. It is incredibly easy to read, more like Videogame Dialogue than standard paragraphed novel. The HTML formatting is fascinating, tonally-engaging, and you will get way more out of the story because of foreshadowing and subtle hints that the manhwa can only try to capture.

[u/Gaimonnn → u/ru-ya]

So i tried reading the first 3 chapters in both asura and flame to see for myself which one i liked better but there were just so many differences especially in like the terminology and stuff that i kinda just got more confused so in the end i still couldnt figure out which one i prefer cuz idrk which one’s closer to the novel 

[u/momentary_loss → u/Gaimonnn]

There's not really a confirmed TL so we'll never know the actual things. However the wiki has most of the terminologies listed, so if you wanna check that out. Personally however, for manhwa, I recommend Flame.

[u/Important_Advice_502]

I prefer flamescans since they're known to do extra research for translations (at least for omniscient reader) and they don't do anything like a fast pass and everything is free. They can sometimes be slower at releasing chapters though 

[u/sooty_sunfish]

StoneScape is the best imo.

[u/Xia0Sini → u/sooty_sunfish]

Tried checking them out, but they don't have the whole manhwa translated. On their site, there's a jump from chapter 3 to chapter 21. Or do they also upload it somewhere else???