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We prefer English names unless there's no consistent or definitive localization available.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
So, would Beyblade characters be called by their English dub names?
Well, Sailor Moon Main Cast, the folders have them as their Original names. Even if there was a dub that change their name. They do have their English name next to their Japanese name though.
Edited by WhirlRX
^ All Sailor Moon examples I've see seen use the Japanese names, unless they're specifically talking about the 90s dub.
Couldn't they just use both names? I mean when a character name comes up it can say 'character name (Japanese), Character name (English)' That way people who only watch the dub won't get mixed up by people who use the original Japanese and vice-versa. Sounds like a simple fix to me.
^ But what about in examples, not character pages?
It's always seemed to me macekres are an odd gray area on enforcement of the "official English" rule. They're generally disliked enough that nobody wants to use the English names. I know nobody ever refers to Roronoa Zolo in One Piece articles, though that one has the "most recent translation" rule to justify it since the Funimation dub is the most recent.
I've also never once considered trying to convert Detective Conan to Case Closed. I feel there's a potential fight there I am not prepared to wage.
The only place I see it really enforced is Dragon Ball Z.
The precedence order is as follows, as I understand things:
- Most recent official (licensed) localization
- Most generally accepted unofficial, professional localization
- Most popular fan localization
- Original language version
Pokémon also uses the English names. Especially for the Mons themselves.
^^ A large number of series use the English names. Pokemon (though I have no clue what to call Green Oak from Pokémon Adventures), Beyblade, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yo-kai Watch, Digimon etc.
^ Our policy for the Green/Blue debacle is that the boy is Blue and the girl is Green, following the official localization of both the games (in all his subsequent game appearances, the boy has the Canon Name of Blue) and the manga.
In general, the rules are really more like guidelines, and we'll take any excuse to avoid an obviously poorly-translated dub.
Also, most recent translation/localization DOES NOT mean most recent release, and in cases where two concurrent translations conflict, both names may be acceptable.
In the specific case of Detective Conan, we use that name because it's the official Japanese and European English name and would be the American name if not for legal reasons, so the majority of fans use that name.
When is it okay to use the English names for characters instead of the Japanese names? I know with series like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! its the norm, but what about other series?
For example, I've only read the macekre version of Miracle Girls. So can I use their English names? What about with Beyblade?
Edited by Pichu-kun