'Extra Ordinary Attorney Woo' catches international nuance, global popularity continues even after ending

▲This photo is a screenshot from the drama 'Extra Ordinary Attorney Woo'(PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲This photo, provided by Netflix, shows the words translated for subtitles for the drama 'Extra Ordinary Attorney Woo'

▲This photo is a screenshot from the drama 'Extra Ordinary Attorney Woo'(PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲This photo, provided by channel ENA. shows the poster of the drama 'Extra Ordinary Attorney Woo'(PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, August 26 (Yonhap) -- The popularity of the channel ENA drama "Extraordinary Attorney Woo," which recently ended, continues globally. 
 
According to Netflix on Friday, the drama "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" has a subtitle service in a total of 31 languages, including English, Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese.
 
"Extraordinary Attorney Woo" was initially translated into ten languages and released on Netflix shortly after the main broadcast; as the drama grew in popularity, language subtitling services gradually expanded from Asia to Europe and South American countries.
 
The English dubbed version is in progress, and dubbed versions in other languages are planned to be produced. 
 
With the expansion of language subtitle services, the weekly stream time of the drama is also increasing accordingly. 
 
It recorded 23.95 million hours in the second week of July (4–10 days), when the first streaming time was counted, but it tripled to 77.43 million hours in the third week of August (15–21).
 
The drama "Extraordinary Attorney Woo," which was sensational in Korea with a lovable character and a heartwarming message to the world , was able to go out internationally by adapting to the local cultures and translating the lines with the same nuance. 
 
Attorney Woo Young-woo (played by Park Eun-bin), who has an autistic spectrum and is at the same time a genius, was able to create a cute and lovely tone by playing with words. "My name is Woo Young-woo, whether it is read straight or flipped. Gi-reo-gi, to-ma-to, S-wi-ss, in-do-in, byeol-ddong-byeol, yeok-sam-yeok?"
 
Woo Young-woo's self-introduction, which consists of the same words even if the flipped, was translated into words which are the same even if the flipped words are in each language.
 
It was translated into English as Kayak, deed, rotator, noon and racecar. 

In Japanese it was translated to  "キツツキ" (woodpecker), "こねこ"(Kitten), "みなみ" (south), in Spanish, "arenera"(sand box),  'somos'(we) and in French "radar" (rader), "elle" (her), "ressasser" (go over). 
 
The word "Yeoksam station" was used for the word "Yeok-sam-yeok" in the English subtitle because it was impossible to find an appropriate word, and it was said that the translator had difficulty thinking of a word.However, the word "Civic" (A Japanese car brand), is going to be used to replace "Yeoksam station." 
 
"Dad jokes" made by the hairy boss, which made the audience ridiculously laugh, were also translated perfectly, maintaining the nuance and the pun.  
 
The line "I am Kim-Min-sik-ip-ni-daramjwi," said by the hairy boss, was translated to "I'm Kim Min-sickly prickly." The words "sickly" and "prickly," which rhyme, were used to maintain the playfulness. 
The line "Jjolmyeon meokgo jjolmyeon andwe" was translated to "Eat your 'noodles', not your'strudel'. Don't 'doodle' on your 'noodles.'" If this line is translated into Korean, it means "Eat noodles instead of sturdel (a type of bread), don't doodle on your noodles."
 
The line "Banana meokumyeon nahante banhana?" was translated to "will you find me a-peeling?"
Jeong Deok-hyun, a Korean pop critic, said, "Translation is getting much more attention in global awards festivals as diverse content is being streamed on global platforms," He also added, "Scripts are supposed to be translated with adaptation to the local culture, rather than translating straight from the original, to let the audience understand the story."
 
Drama critic Gong Hee-jung also said, "There are implications and meanings in words that are commonly used in different societies," adding, "The same words don't work the same way in different cultures, therefore it is extremely important to translate the words by reflecting such details."
 
Netflix, which serves translation services in 190 countries, knows how important translation is. 
 
In order to clearly deliver the drama's features and the creators' intention, Netflix developed the "Artistic Guidelines" and shared them with their partners all over the world prior to translating. 
Instead of simply translating straight from the original lines, it focuses on reviving the atmosphere of the drama and the nuance of the lines and translating them appropriately.
 
An official from Netflix said, "In the case of the drama "Extraordinary Attorney Woo," we were aware that there are many puns and unique language plays in Korean. And in order to deliver these unique lines perfectly, we closely communicated throughout the process from the beginning. "
 
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Dowon Kim.)
 
 
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