“弹”向你的脑门儿：弹幕到底为何物？

自从有了小伙伴们的弹幕，妈妈再也不用担心我一个人刷剧啦……作为二次元的经典产物，那些遮住了我们屏幕的字幕到底是何物？

Sitting in a dark movie theater， leaning forward with your eyes fixed on the screen and hands clenching the edge of the seat， you hear the couple behind you “whisper”.

坐在漆黑的电影院里，身子前倾，双眼紧紧盯着银幕，双手紧握座椅的把手，你听到你身后的一对情侣在“窃窃私语”：

“Is that Matt Damon？”

“那是马特·达蒙吗？”

“Who is Matt Damon？”

“马特·达蒙是哪只？”

“The guy who played in the Bourne series！”

“《谍影重重》里的那只啊！”

Most of the time you roll your eyes， hating them for ruining your experience. But somewhat bizarrely， these interruptions have themselves become a form of entertainment—though at least， the creators of these “interruptions” have the good grace to do them in text form.

大多数时候你会白他们几眼，讨厌他们毁了你的观影过程。但是有点奇特的是，这些打断观影的现象成为一种娱乐形式——虽然至少，这些“打断的字眼”的创始人以文字的形式把它们玩得乐此不疲。

Video streaming websites in China have proven to be fertile ground for a giant community of “subtitles shooters” who revel in the creation and spread of “memes”， slang terms， and pop culture references， which find their way onto screens during movies， in subtitle form.

中国的视频网站对于广大“发弹幕狂人”来说可是片广阔的沃土，他们着迷于在电影银幕上以字幕的形式创造和扩散“么么哒”这种文化词、俚语和流行文化。

The “Bullet Subtitle” feature has been adopted by the biggest video websites in China such as Tudou and iQiyi. It even made its way into classes when a professor at a university in Wuhan allowed students to create live subtitles during class presentations. This function also became possible during a live concert by Chinese pop duet Yu Quan.

“弹幕”已被中国最大的视频网站，比如土豆和爱奇艺采用。它甚至被一位武汉的大学教授运用到课堂上，他允许学生在做课堂展示期间实时发弹幕。中国流行音乐二人组羽泉的演唱会也用上了这种功能。

The service， or phenomenon， is called “dàn mù”， which literally be translated into “bullet subtitles”. The word refers to the commentaries shooting across the screen， in the style of an arcade shooting game. Originally from Japan， “bullet subtitles” are said to have come to China thanks to anime lovers and followers of what would commonly be considered otaku culture.

这种服务或现象，被称为“弹幕（dàn mù）”，翻译成“bullet subtitles”。这个名词指的是在屏幕上以一种街机射击游戏的方式发射出的评论。最先起源于日本，据说“弹幕”传到中国多亏了动漫爱好者和通常被看作御宅族文化的追随者。

Although initially “bullet subtitles” were offered for forms of animation that are often referred to as two-dimensional （2D） works， three dimensional （3D） works—those that involve real people such as films and TV shows—began following the trend.

虽然一开始“弹幕”只是动漫的一种吐槽形式，动漫通常指的是二次元作品，而如今三次元作品——那些由真人出演的电影和电视节目——也赶上这股潮流。

Websites such as AcFun and Bilibili themselves became the subjects of affection and admiration.

诸如A站（AcFun）和B站（哔哩哔哩）的网站成为了弹幕爱好者们喜爱和崇拜的圣地。

To cinephiles， “bullet subtitles” sound like a blasphemous intrusion. But for “bullet subtitle” aficionados， they makes viewing more enjoyable， fulfilling， and worth repeating.

对于影迷来说，“弹幕”听上去就是种不知好歹地打断观影的行为。但是对于“弹幕”狂热爱好者来说，弹幕让观影更有意思、更开心，并值得一遍遍重温。

Here are several main types of bullet commentaries：

以下是几种主要的弹幕评论：

Snarky remarks： directed towards the Chinese subtitles， actors， characters in the video， or plot progression.

吐槽：针对中文字幕、演员、剧中角色或是情节进展。

General comments： such as “the lighting is excellent”， “her acting in this scene is mindblowing”， and “hahahas”.

普通评论：比如“灯光美翻了”，“她这个场景的表演好让人亢奋”，以及“哈哈哈”。

Helpful explanations for understanding the video： These are the most useful comments because they usually help explain the plot， the background story， the significance of lines lost in translation， references， and visual elements easily overlooked.

帮助理解视频的注解：这些是最有用的评论了，因为它们通常帮助向观众解释情节、故事背景、翻译中遗漏的重要台词、参考资料，还有容易被忽视的视觉要素。

Interactions among users： there are often discussions among viewers， such as if cheating is justified. Sometimes there can be a QA regarding other viewers’ comments， e.g. why Benedict Cumberbatch is called the “Curly Fu”， why Watson is the “peanut”， and why Kristen Stewart is the “facial paralysis girl”.

用户间的互动：观众通常都会讨论，比如作弊是否正当。有时候也可能是有关其他观众评论的问答，比如：为什么本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇叫作“卷福”，为什么华生是“花生”，还有为什么克里斯汀·斯图尔特是“面瘫女”。

Inside jokes： For instance， the opening sequence of every Person of Interest episode begins with viewers filling the screen with “You/We are being made into a watch”. The joke first began when the opening line “we are being watched” was translated into a literal “we are made into a watch” early in the series， and viewers turned the mistranslation into a tradition.

圈内笑话：举个例子，每集《疑犯追踪》的开场，观众都在屏幕上打满了“你们/我们正在被做成表”。这个笑话最初源于这部电视剧早期的开场白“我们正被监视着”被直译成了“我们正被做成表”，观众把这种翻译错误当成了传统。

Vocabulary

clench v. 抓紧，握紧

bizarrely adv. 古怪地；怪诞地

interruption n. 打断；中断

fertile adj. （土地、土壤）肥沃的，丰腴的

revel v. 陶醉于；沉湎于

adopt v. 采取；采纳；采用

literally adv. 照字面地；逐字地

commentary n. 讨论；评论

arcade n. 街机；街机模式

initially adv. 最初；开始

affection n. 喜爱；喜欢

cinephile n. 影迷；电影爱好者

blasphemous adj. 亵渎神明/宗教的

intrusion n. 打扰；侵扰

aficionado n. 狂热爱好者；迷

mindblowing adj. 让人兴奋的

reference n. 参考；参考书

visual adj. 视觉的；视力的

element n. 要素；基本部分

overlook v. 忽略；忽视

justify v. 证明（决定、行为或想法）正当

sequence n. （电影中描述某一组动作的）连续镜头，片段

episode n. （广播剧或电视剧的）一集