What's the taboo about using translated titles?

I know this sounds 'uncultured'. But I find this recent trend of using the original untranslated title for a anime and manga rather annoying.

There is a lot to be said for retaining a works cultural flavour, but not at the expense of being understandable. If you are going to translate a works content into english there is no reason to not translate the title as well.

The author's intent is not that the title is in a particular language. It's to get a particular concept across to the reader.

Take Abenobashi Mahou Shoutengai for example. It means magical shopping arcade abenobashi in the original japanese, it neatly tells you that it is about a magical shopping arcade. Yet it is almost always left untranslated as Abenobashi Mahou Shoutengai by the promotional material and fans despite being incomprehensible to the uninitiated.

What gives?

hashtagsarestupid

For me, it's whatever sounds better as a title. Usually it happens to be the original Japanese since the title was originally made in Japanese, but sometimes the translated title sounds better.

"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."

I'd rather have Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann than Heaven Piercing Crimson Face.

Some people just like using gratuitous <insert foreign language here>.

Personally the Japanese just sticks. As in, when I see an anime I know, chances are that the first thing that will come to mind is the Japanese name. I recall Rurouni Kenshin rather than Kenshin the Wanderer, I remember Ao no Exorcist instead of Blue Exorcist, etc.

Granted, that may only be because the community largely prefers using the Japanese terms, and my mind has simply adapted.

But I think it's okay if the Japanese title is short anyway.

Yeah, I'll give you the same answer that I give whoever asked whether we should or shouldn't translate whatever the protagonists shouts when doing Calling Your Attacks.

"Whichever sounds less retarded to the intended audience." And usually, this happens to be the original Japanese. Or the Japanese title is simply untranslatable since it relies on some sort of pun, or the translation doesn't result in something 'catchy' so to speak.

If it makes you feel better, I don't find many people that refer to The World God Only Knows as 'Kami No Mizo Shiru Sekai'. Probably because the English title actually sounds good.

Hmm good ponit, i guess a lot of titles sound -for want for better word- stupid when directly translated.

I was going to say Kodomo No Jikan should of be called A Child's Time. Then i rember there are some very good reasons to keep it inexplicable to joe public.

edited 3rd Sep '11 9:18:36 AM by joeyjojo

hashtagsarestupid

It mostly depends of how the fanbase come to know of the title. People tend to use the first name they got used to. If no translated name got popular quick enough, people will get too attached to the name they are already familiar to be whiling to change.

Also, if the anime/manga already gets a 'English' name even before the official translation, in addition to the Japanese name, people will be more willing to use the the name in the langue they are more familiar. Hence people using more The World God Only Knows and Detective Connan over Kami Nomi Zo Shiru Sekai and Meitantei Conan. Same thing for Neon Genesis Evangelion and Shin Seiki Evangelion ('Neon Genesis' is Greek, but it is still a more familiar language then English).

Many people accuse the fandom from being Japanese purists weaboos, but, in fact, they are mostly just doing the things they way they are more used to. It is not easy to suddenly change the way you call a series just because the official translation got released.

Oh, and, of course, if there is no official translation, it is best to use the Japanese title then a fan translated one. After all, a different group could use a different translation and the eventual official English release could use yet another one. Best to stick with the common ground.

The World God Only Knows got popular because it is the official English title even before the English release. You can see it in the official Japanese logo.

edited 3rd Sep '11 9:19:25 AM by Heatth

Ah, right. My bad.

Take On Me is another touchy topic.

I mean, not only was the title changed, one of the best lines in it was also edited when it went stateside.

It's the "...after all, you're still in middle school" line Tsuda uses on Kei.

Neither goony beard-men nor rainbow-haired she-twinks will stand in the way of my dreams!

This.

Also, it happens in all the other languages as well, but for most of you, most other things you might be familiar with were already written in english, so Anime is your only exposure to translation methods, that get blamed on weeaboos.

Based on my experience with the Mega Man fandom, it seems if there's a subpar translation, fans will avoid the translated name like the plague because they'll associate it with the poor translation. For instance, Rockman.EXE is pretty much thought of as a completely different series as Mega Man NT Warrior. Yet people use the English title of Mega Man Star Force all the time because the translation from Ryuusei no Rockman was passable.

edited 4th Sep '11 12:17:05 AM by PoochyEXE

Extra 1: Poochy Ain't Stupid

Agreed with the "subpar translation" bit, with an addendum: sometimes the title used is not so much a translation as it is a Macekre / Woolseyism, especially when cultural conventions are involved. Off the top of my head: Ikkitousen is actually an idiom which translates to "Strength Of A Thousand", which... Okay, bad example. (I'd actually read a manga titled "Strength Of A Thousand". At least it's better than "Battle Vixens".) See also: Rurouni Kenshin / Samurai X. (He's not a Samurai, and the "X" is just disingenuous.)

But part of it definitely depends on what looks better when spoken or in print. On a personal note, I can't think of Battle Angel Alita as Gunnm, even if I do know the main character is supposed to be named Gally, mainly because I can't pronounce the original title.

edited 4th Sep '11 12:48:11 AM by Pyrite

Not a substitute for a formal medical consultation.

The only thing more annoying than people insisting on using Japanese titles are other people who whine about it.

Personally, I only use translations because I have to, and as a general rule don't give a flying fuck what its "official" English anything is. By the time its going to matter, I've seen the show, possibly imported the JP B Ds, and moved on.

I tend to use whichever title I come across first, unless I can't remember it. Usually.

Samurai X is an odd case where I'll say Saumrai X, yet think Rourinin Kenshin (or however it's spelled). This difference is due to how hard it is to spell that first word.

The Raildex series are also exceptions, in that I first encountered their translated titles, yet find their Japanese titles much more... fluid. The English versions' grammar phrasings are weird... "A Certain Magical Index" sounds worse to me than "Toaru Majutsu no Index" does, and the same goes for Toaru Kagaku no Railgun (Although I won't call it Toaru Kagaku no Choudenjibou unless making a direct reference to the awkwardness of that title)

.

Oh, and on a kinda related point but kinda not, "Suzumiya Haruhi No Yuutsu" is another odd case in that I almost never use the full title for the series regardless. This is partly because the title is different for each book, and partly because while the anime keeps the same title, I'm conflicted about whether to spell it Yuutsu or Yuuutsu. (The later is more consistent with how I usually romanize Japanese, but looks weird with three "U"s.)

Railgun is an odd case because as far as I'm aware To Aru Kagaku no Railgun is the official Japanese title of the anime and Choudenjinbou is only used for the manga.

No, the title uses the Kanji "Choudenjibou", but with Furigana giving the reading as "Railgun"

Yes, the Japanese titles are generally more popular in most cases for whatever reason, but sometimes they don't stick. Would you know which anime Ookami To Koushinryou is if somebody didn't tell you? *

And most of Hayao Miyazaki's movies are known more by their English names too, probably because they have a wider audience than most anime do. The same goes, to a lesser degree, with Satoshi Kon, Mamoru Hosada and Makoto Shinkai movies.

My standard Anime Theme song game variant rules: [Censored by ACTA]

Yupyup.

Well considering that I already know what ookami means...

Most of the time I just stick with whatever the filenames are called *shrug*

"No, the Singularity will not happen. Computation is hard." -Happy Ent

Any fan of anything can have a Serious Business mindset. In my years as an anime-manga fan, I've noticed that a good number of fellow fans believe that "English localization" should mean "change as little as humanly possible." And yes, this often includes titles of works. I suspect some of this is due to the fact that fansubs are available for a huge number of shows, so fans can compare and contrast with the legit releases. And some fans will use any excuse to save money...

One site that encouraged the "don't change a thing" belief was the No Editing Zone at http://animeprime.burntoutcomic.com/edit/index.shtml The site stopped updating a few years ago, but you can still find fans who won't buy a product if they believe it was censored or rewritten.

For me, proper nouns = can be translated, if it's a kanji then it can be translated. I'm also a firm believer of "honorifics are translatable; you just need to learn how to use context", and "nee-san etc. are translatable; yes, you are an idiot for being unable to translate them".

Like I'm fine with Rekka Daizantou, but I'd rather Lion Origami than Shishi Origami.

edited 5th Sep '11 7:11:27 PM by Ookamikun

I'm more of the opinion that when you are translating something ongoing, and, to say the least, can't ask the people making it for tips on how to make sure you don't muck it up, its best to be as conservative as possible in your translation.

Also, I only need the translation because I don't speak Japanese, and I'm not interested in learning just how gosh darn clever the translator thinks they are. I want to know what the people on screen are saying, with minimal mucking about by third parties.

See the CR translation of Hana Saku Iroha for a translator who thinks they are far more clever than they actually are.

@OP It's YMMV. I cannot remember Choudenjinbou, so Railgun will have to do. Basically, I go for the "easier to remember stance" than follow the majority blindly.

...a little brother should belong to his older sister, right? - Orimura Chifuyu

But wouldn't the "hah, we know this obscure Japanese word!" also give that vibe?

And nah. It's fine to do that on ongoing shows. When you work things in context, you don't make up stuff - you just build something on the words and such given. Besides, if ever that was the case, it's the case of poor writing in the show.

uuuhh...no. Not at all. The fact that you even suggest it shows that you completely missed my point

They'd damn well fucking better know the goddamn words!