Indeed, that suggestion would work too -- it'd convey the urgency of it, at least.

I honestly can't tell whether the French translations are tighter or looser, because I can't read the Japanese. I will say that they do seem more fluid than the English often is (though again, this may be the fact the French goes through my head and gets translated there). I suppose my best judgment on authenticity is that the dialogue I eventually write in English for all those series that I read in French seems to be reasonably accurate in terms of word choice, formality, speech patterns, etc. If it's managed to get through to me well enough, then the French must have been doing its job.

(Though to be fair, there is some variance between translators and manga publishers. Some of the French manga translators give names as (first name) (surname) rather than the (surname) (first name) pattern, alas. But others not only include appropriate suffixes, they even give a brief glossary at the end of the book. (GetBackers is good that way.))

Don't worry about preaching to the choir. It's reassuring to have some of my thoughts confirmed.