Transformers: New Dub Sparks Debate Over Nightshade’s Apparent Misgendering

Transformers: EarthSpark is back in the news. The adorable animated series went live in 2022, and Paramount+ has a second season on the way. Since its launch, the Hasbro project has shed new light on the Autobotsboth new and old. Characters like Nightshade drew close attention when it was revealed they were nonbinary, but now, a new dub of the show seems to have misgendered the bot.

So let’s break it down. The whole controversy hit the Transformers fandom this week after a fan pointed out the Japanese dub of Transformers: EarthSpark. It was there fans learned Nightshade’s nonbinary identity is overlooked by the dub. Of course, this prompted cries of malicious censorship, but there is more to this story.

Just ask any multilingual person and they’ll tell you: translating is hard. With so many languages in the world, it is difficult to find one-for-one matches whenever translation is needed. For decades, localization has been used by translators to help get meaning across when direct translations don’t work. After all, all languages are different, and that is true for Japanese. The language does have some gendered pronouns, but they aren’t used in the same way English does.

For instance, first-person pronouns like “I” are gendered in Japanese, but they can be omitted in many cases while speaking. They also shift in the context of conversation depending on who is talking to whom. For the most part, the pronoun “Watashi” and “Jibun” are used as pronouns in Japanese which are gender neutral. Reportedly, Transformers: EarthSpark uses the pronoun “Boku” when referring to Nightshade, and this pronoun is considered masculine traditionally.

When it comes to language and translations, things are easy to mix up, and Japanese pronouns are very different from English ones. The majority of Japanese conversations omit pronoun use entirely and lean on neutral terms when they are called for. In English, especially for LGBTQ members, pronouns are incredibly important to get right. So as you can see, this localization difference has struck a nerve stateside. Representation matters, after all. 

What do you make of this localization issue with Transformers: EarthSpark? Let us know what you think in the comments below!