Follow-Up: 2 More Times Aisha and Nex’s Love Got Watered Down in “La Prova di Nex” Translation
Yes, I’m critiquing Winx Club Comics’ English translation of “La Prova di Nex” (Nex’s Test) again. Like I said last time, English-speaking Winx fans trust their scanlations as if they’re official, so readers probably won’t look for the original version and compare. That means the translations should be as accurate as possible. At least, that’s what I think.
I don’t wanna believe Winx Club Comics intentionally watered down Aisha and Nex’s romance in this comic, but I found another word choice and another omission that did just that. This time, the changes are on the same page.
Asking For a Little Respect?
After Aisha pleads with Nex not to accept her father’s test — Winx Club Comics weakened that line, too — Nex says he wants to prove he’s ready to do anything for her. Here’s how his next line was translated:
Only then will I gain his respect!
King Teredor’s respect? Is that really what Nex wants? Not exactly.
The problem with this translation is that once again, it seems like Nex takes the test to make himself look good. That’s true, but it’s not for his own glory. He just wants Aisha’s father to like him! Makes sense, doesn’t it? No one wants their in-laws to hate them! ?
Here’s the original Italian page, taken from the same source WinxClubComics used:
Nex says:
Solo così mi guadagnerò la sua fiducia!
If we run this through DeepL Translator, we get:
That’s the only way I’ll earn his trust!
“Fiducia” means “trust”, not “respect”. We have an English word, “fiduciary”, that comes from the same Latin root. This word shows up most often when it comes to finances. For example, we have fiduciary relationships with our banks; we trust them to protect our money. (Maybe we shouldn’t.) But “fiduciary” can apply to any situation where you put your faith in someone.
At the beginning of the comic, King Teredor doesn’t think Nex is strong enough to “protect [Aisha] when necessary”. That’s not a lack of respect for Nex; it’s a lack of confidence in him. So Nex accepts the test because he wants the king to entrust Aisha to him.
Does Teredor gain respect for him in the end? Yes, but only because he knows Nex loves Aisha and trusts that he’ll keep her safe.
Someone to Return To
After Nex leaves, Bloom and Flora try to convince Aisha he’ll probably give up before he gets into danger. (They’re wrong, of course.) Here’s how Winx Club Comics translated Flora’s line:
It won’t be long before he’ll come back, you’ll see!
Like the scene with Aisha and her father that I mentioned in the last post, this is a case where the translation isn’t wrong. It’s just incomplete. Winx Club Comics left out two words. That’s not much, but they make the line more beautiful.
Here’s the Italian page:
Flora’s line is:
Tra non molto tornerà da te, vedrai!
With the help of DeepL Translator, we get:
He’ll come back to you soon enough, you’ll see!
Did you catch that? “He’ll come back to you.” To Aisha.
I think this is self-explanatory.
Final Thoughts
“La Prova di Nex” is about Nex proving his love for Aisha to her parents. In fact, the German name of this comic is called “Der Liebesbeweis”, which literally means “The Proof of Love”! In Italy, Rainbow released it in February. And finally, this is Aisha and Nex’s only couple comic, so it’s the confirmation of their love in the comic canon.
Too bad English-speaking Winx fans had to read this less-romantic version instead of the real thing.
Here’s a fun idea, how about instead of criticising a fan-translation, something the translator does for free, in their own spare time, and with very little appreciation from the fandom, you just keep your opinions to yourself next time? If you’re so worried about fan-translators “intentionally” watering down Aisha and Nex’s “relationship”, how about you translate them yourself instead of attacking other people who are just trying to contribute something positive to the fandom? Because what you’re doing in this article? There isn’t anything positive about that.
First of all, I translated this comic years before Winx Club Comics put their version up. I even offered to give them my translation, but I never heard back from them. You’ll find some links here: “La Prova di Nex Translation”
Second, as I said, the fandom trusts these translations as if they’re official. So if there are mistakes in them — especially if the mistakes may have been made intentionally to change the flavor of the comic — it’s not wrong to point that out. People should be able to read the comic as Rainbow intended it, not the version the translators want them to read.
Third, hardly anyone reads this blog, anyway. You’re probably aware of that. I’m not causing some big ruckus by pointing something like this out. Besides, I don’t consider myself part of the Winx fandom anymore, anyway.
EDIT: I just now saw the “relationship” thing. That tells me all I need to know. Maybe this isn’t about Winx Club Comics, after all. “Who cares if the translation may be wrong if it’s in a comic about a couple who doesn’t matter.” I think that’s the real message here.
Leave them alone and work on your own translations. No likes people who just point out problems without solutions.
It’s funny you should say that because I actually translated the comic years before Winx Club Comics put their version up. I even reached out to them and offered to give them my translation if they wanted it, but I never heard back from them. But you’re right — perhaps I should continue my translation of the comic, since I actually started on that a while ago: “La Prova di Nex Translation”
EDIT: Come to think of it, why do I have to provide a solution here? If the translation is wrong, can’t they just fix it? ?♀️
And it’s not like I went through every single comic and pointed out their mistakes. I only did that with this one out of more than 100. Plus, the only reason I know this comic has errors in it is because I’ve already translated it myself!
Did I say this was some kind of widescale problem they need to fix? No.