This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Seven Seals: There are so many trope categories that I'm leaving the categorization to the rest of the wiki. Good luck, the rest of the wiki!
Jordan: Can this count older books- like how Proust's In Search of Lost Time was translated as Remembrance of Things Passed, which alluded to Shakespeare? Also, I bet that a good chunk of translated books and movies do have different titles in English than in their original language, so this seems a pretty broad category.
Seven Seals: If something is entirely written in a foreign language, including the title, then any translation is not an instance of this trope, regardless of whether the translation is not direct (and whether it could be). That's a whole 'nother can of worms. Proust wrote À la recherche du temps perdu, which has been translated under two different English titles — one's a literal translation, the other a more poetic one. The book's title wasn't originally in English, however.
This trope is about how titles that strictly speaking don't need changing (because they're already in the target language) are changed anyway. The Final Fantasy games were originally Japanese, but the titles are English. They could have been used as-is for the translations, but they weren't, because some of them weren't released. Cue the whole title confusion.
Jordan: Sorry for that mistake. That does considerably restrict the list.
Seven Seals: Took out
- The James Bond film The Living Daylights is known in France and French-speaking Canada. as Tuer n'est pas jouer (Which Silent Hunter guesses is "Killing is not a game"), probably because the expression "The Living Daylights" wouldn't make sense in French.
because it's not an example of the trope (see above). If we were to branch out to titles that are not literally translated, we'd never stop adding examples. Translation is a separate topic altogether.
Jisu: Aw, and I had scores of cross-language examples to add.
Seven Seals: Sorry. :-) Translating a title is par for the course, and since a title is such a short, information-packed piece of an entire work, it's more likely to radically change than anything else. Doing a literal translation of the title is often just wrong, because it's either an idiom that needs translating or it refers to some translated part of the work. You're basically down to judging a translator's insight, and while that might be a trope, it's not this one.
Seven Seals: In the same vein, took out
- .hack//tasogare no udewa densetsu literally translates as "Legend of the Twilight Bracelet", this being the item that the main character uses to weaken monsters with. The word "Bracelet" was removed from the English title so as not to sound too girly.
Seven Seals: Put it back in again. I convinced myself that, despite the original title not being English, this is still a good example of a Market-Based Title.
Silent Hunter: I think we can count Jericho as an exception here. Despite there already being a show of that name (a very short-lived detective drama starring Robert Lindsay), its title remained the same in the UK.
- UFO Princess Valkyrie was translated as "UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie" because Wal-Mart refuses to carry anything with "Princess" in the title.
arromdee: I don't remember where I heard it (Googling it shows one thread, plus another which doesn't count because I was the one who mentioned it there). I believe it's limited to anime—obviously they'll sell Princess Diaries, Princess Brider, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, etc.
I can't honestly call it more than a rumor until I remember where it came from, so as of now, I'm taking it out.
HeartBurn Kid: Good call. I got my first copy of The Princess Bride (the one my ex stole from me) from a Wal-Mart, so I doubt that they wouldn't sell anything with "Princess" in the name.
Scifantasy: I'm sorry, but the idea of SJ Games trademarking "Philosopher's Stone" is ludicrous. Can we either provide some evidence or pull the line?
HeartBurn Kid: Axed for being Natter:
- Wrong, wrong, wrong! Mother 2/Earth Bound was released in the U.S. without a tagline at all; the original was titled Gyakushu no Giigu, which the original Japanese version's opening gave (in English!) as "Gyiyg Strikes Back!". The U.S. version changed this to "The Aliens Strike Back!"; it was never used as a tagline for the game, but it nonetheless appeared in the game itself. As for the spelling "Giegue" (note the spelling!), that was used in the unreleased English version of the original Mother, which would have been released as "Earth Bound" (Two Words) if Executive Meddling hadn't resulted in the game being shelved.
- No, the North American version definitely changed "Gyiyg strikes back!" to "The war against Giygas!" Super Smash Bros. Melee also changes this depending on whether the game is set to Japanese or English.
- Wrong, wrong, wrong! Mother 2/Earth Bound was released in the U.S. without a tagline at all; the original was titled Gyakushu no Giigu, which the original Japanese version's opening gave (in English!) as "Gyiyg Strikes Back!". The U.S. version changed this to "The Aliens Strike Back!"; it was never used as a tagline for the game, but it nonetheless appeared in the game itself. As for the spelling "Giegue" (note the spelling!), that was used in the unreleased English version of the original Mother, which would have been released as "Earth Bound" (Two Words) if Executive Meddling hadn't resulted in the game being shelved.
... Also, "Wrong, wrong, wrong!" yourself.
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Triassicranger: As I have removed a certain particular example for the third time I'm going to say this on the discussion page. Kamen/Masked Rider does not belong here. "Masked" is a translation of Japanese word "Kamen". The USA does not speak Japanese as a first language. Market Based Title does not deal with examples where the title is altered in translation. No, this is not an example of Completely Different Title either, as again, this is a pure translation, not a change like Philosophers Stone --> School Of Wizards. Kamen Rider Dragon Knight is not a straight dub of Kamen Rider Ryuki. Dragon Knight is an adaptation and if anything warrants a mention in Foreign Language Title as it is a programme being made with a word not in the native language of a country it is being made in. The Korean Sentai titles becoming Power Rangers warrant an entry in Completely Different Title, as they are straight dubs of Sentai, not adaptations, which is what Disney does. And the fact Kamen Rider airs under the title of Masked Rider elsewhere in Asia warrants if anything a mention in Network Decay (Kamen Rider Kabuto is presently airing on Cartoon Network in the Phillipines) and possibly Trivia (the fact Toonami still exists outside of America, but shush make sure they don't get the memo).
Broken Chaos: The following needs discussion or sourcing, as it makes no legal sense.
- Detective Conan is called Case Closed in the United States because the estate of Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan The Barbarian) vigorously protects their copyright over "Conan" as a name for anything fictional - even though the title character is actually named after Arthur Conan Doyle.
