For those fluent in Japanese...

Hi, just so everyone knows (as though it's not going to be immediately obvious), this is my first post on this forum and I wanted to say that the website as a whole has provided me with a much clearer understanding of NGE's plot, as well as interesting theories about the grey areas of the series. Anyways, more on topic: did being fluent in Japanese affect your understanding of any of the plot devices in NGE (or even any anime in general)?

I doubt the number of active members here fluent in Japanese could be counted on one hand (two if we're very lucky and they just happen to be lurking).

Not sure why you specify "understanding of the plot devices" (as in, things like the Angels and Rei?); being fluent in Japanese would enhance one's understanding of the show in its totality. (And even a vestigial knowledge of Japanese puts one in a better position to poke at NGE than one that amounts to "I know that 'kawaii neko' means 'cute cat'".)

Essentially what I meant to ask was that... would being Japanese-fluent enable a person to understand some of the characters and/or plot better because they can take things from the script directly instead of hearing something that's been translated through various mediums. Lol, I thought there would be a few more Japanese speakers than that though, I'm surprised at that.

Well, to put my question in context, there's the scene of Gendo shooting Ritsuko. In the sub (and also possibly the dub, I haven't watched it), it's shown as "I truly...", but in the literal translation I've read, it says "In reality..." or "Really..." So I feel like even though all three are very similar, it reads differently in those separate ways, and so that kinda changes what he possibly could've said. In my opinion, anyway.

Yeah, I found it strange that Gendo's words aren't even hinted at (except to Ritsuko's VA, who apparently then remarked at how brilliant a director Anno is...) but it seems an interesting idea to leave it muted. Granted, I'm not inclined to suggest that this translation quirk contradicts what Gendo said would have said. It will remain a line that is probably simple enough, but will never be conclusively proven.
Okay, I probably shouldn't be posting here because I'm not fluent in Japanese, but what Reichu and Vegeta said. Native English speakers progress through life and end up with brains hard-wired with all the silly nuances of their mother tongue. It seems likely that through the lovely translation efforts of ADV and this sort of "lingual bias", the underlying meanings were lost to quite a few people. IOW, yes. I'm fluent in Chinese, at least.

I remember symbv having a different impression of Shinji's actions in Rebuild than the western folks here. Certainly knowing a contextual language such as Japanese can change your interpretations.

Removal: With the Gendo example, knowing even a little Japanese is a big help. You've got the various translations trying to render an incomplete sentence into English (a pretty impossible and thankless task), but if one knows what the components mean then much of that murky awkwardness can be bypassed. The adverb hontou ni (as in "Akagi Ritsuko-kun, hontou ni... [silence]") is modifying whatever follows it with the sense of "really" or "truly". This, along with Ritsuko's reaction (surprise, then denial), suggests that Gendo says something a bit unexpected (coming from him), i.e. makes a confession. He attempted to preempt disbelief, but it didn't work. That's all there is to it, I think.

The folks who are fluent in Japanese might have a preference for the Japanese BBSes and image boards to English fora like this. Our recently departed (?) Nihonphile symbv felt, IIRC, that the caliber of the conversation in those parts was on higher level and found the culture less abrasive. Additionally, at least two of the Japanese-savvy members have drifted away as a result of translation-related drama. (Or it seems that way.)

I just find that it is enjoyable to watch Eva in 日本語 without subtitles to practise my Japanese and utilise it for something that I like, but I suppose it may provide different outlooks of a character's statements too. I am not fluent in Japanese yet, but I understand enough. For some of the more obscure meanings behind words, even subtitles cannot provide enough insight, so being able to understand the original dialogue is very helpful. I also find it quite fun to speculate over alternate translations.

Also the simple cultural differences I feel could make a large difference too, especially seeing how NGE's use of Judeo-Christian icons and symbols were largely misinterpreted here in the US.

Cody: The idea of "approved" localized translations is a bit sticky. You say "Gainax", but precisely whom? The guy they have on staff (Michael House) to supply J-to-E conversions on an as-needed basis, presumably? What kind of correctional capacity would he have served, beyond, as the anecdotes suggest, telling ADV stuff like, "No, translate it 'Human Instrumentality Project', that's what the big guys wanted"? I really doubt this guy went over whole transcripts with a red pen. The initial ADV translations were plagued with problems, and they've been gradually revised, in nearly all cases for the better.

Hm the one thing I can think of that's sort of a pun in Japanese is Kaworu Nagisa -- the kanji for Nagisa "渚" can be separated into "shi" and "sha" - which is "messenger" and used in the title of episode 24, "saigo no shisha" - "最後のシ者" (last messenger).

I don't think it really makes a huge difference. There are a couple things that are clearer if you see it in Japanese, but it's nothing that makes you go "A-HA! OF COURSE, NOW IT ALL MAKES SENSE!"

I guess the supplementary material helps, but that's what the wiki's for, isn't it? :P

Understanding of Japanese can definitely affect your interpretation of dialogue.

'Kimochi warui,' anyone?