History Main / TooLongDidntDub

* Similarly, ''Literature/{{TheMagicMountain}}'' is written in German but includes one chapter in French. The chapter is left in French in the standard English translation; in the standard French translation it is printed in italics.

* Similarly, ''Literature/{{TheMagicMountain}'' is written in German but includes one chapter in French. The chapter is left in French in the standard English translation; in the standard French translation it is printed in italics.

* Monokuma remains Monokuma in [[Creator/NipponIchi NIS America's]] official translation of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', instead of using the fan preferred-and used in the first translation-Monobear ("kuma" translating literally to "bear"). This was [[ExecutiveMeddling at the request]] of Creator/SpikeChunsoft, since it's also a pun on "monochrome".

* Most foreign dubs of the ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'' movies leave the word "minion" in English, with the result that the term is thought to be a species name, rather than a generic word meaning "henchman". This worked out surprisingly well in hindsight, since [[{{WesternAnimation/Minions}} the spinoff]] revealed it really ''is'' their species name.

* In ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'', Natsuki is surprised that Monika doesn't like squid, because it's in her name (Mon-ika). The fact that the joke doesn't make sense in
"translation" is lampshaded. (The game was written in English, but the characters are [[TranslationConvention presumably speaking Japanese]].)

* In ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'', Natsuki is surprised that Monika doesn't like squid, because it's in her name (Mon-ika). The fact that the joke doesn't make sense in translation is lampshaded.

*** The same problem pops up in ''Shinkenger'', but rather than failing to translate [[CallingYourAttacks attack names]], here they fail to translate the first part of the morph phrases, apparently because they rhyme. They value this fact over actually being able to understand what the characters talking about.

* The localizations of the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series, other than the infamous CulturalTranslation of [[VideoGame/Persona1 the first game]], leave most specific Japanese cultural references untranslated. ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' even keep the UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics, albeit sometimes inconsistently. The main reason is that it gives the games a distinctly Japanese cultural flavor, particularly with its use of SenpaiKohai to illustrate the relationships between students. Conveniently, calling the player character "senpai" also allows the voice actors to avoid having to [[HelloInsertNameHere use his name]]. ''Persona 4'''s English manual included a brief glossary of Japanese cultural aspects that players might be unfamiliar with (such as several honorifics, differences in high school structure and schedule, etc.), but there is otherwise very little explanation in the games themselves.

* Parodied in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvNxgHTWIlo This]] Creator/ProZD sketch:

It can also be a [[PragmaticAdaptation useful escape]] if a concept is considered to be too touchy to escape [[ExecutiveMeddling censorship]]; a BilingualBonus may be enough to [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar sneak past the radar]], and the fandom will just treat it as jargon (and sometimes consider it a unique, untranslatable concept). Sometimes it can also just be that, given the context of the work, leaving it untranslated just ''sounds'' more right--shows about martial arts have a particular tendency to not translate the names of techniques, because it lends them a sense of mystique where a literal translation would just sound dorky.

* In April 2014, foreign translations of Creator/GamesWorkshop products stopped translating the names of factions and units in other languages, leaving them in English. For the first two years, ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'' left untranslated multiple keywords (such as Hero, Wizard, Monster and the names of the Grand Alliances), all statline terms (such as Wounds, Save, Bravery, Movement and Rend) and all weapon names. This was rectified in 2018 with the release of the second edition rulebook, and has been averted since.

* ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'' left the term ''hinomaru'', referencing the Japanese flag. Given the franchise's love of {{Woolseyism}}s, it's strange that they left this alone specifically.

* Representative dialogue from ''VisualNovel/AoiShiro'': "Momo-chan sure is [[GenkiGirl genki...]]"

* This trope is frequent in many English {{Fan Translation}}s of [[VisualNovel visual novels]]; not many are professionally translated, and those that aren't tend to not want to do a lot of work. The most notorious is ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}''; most of the characters there are Westerners, but fans insisted on translating it as if it were Japan-centric.

* Monokuma remains Monokuma in [[Creator/NipponIchi NIS America's]] official translation of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', instead of using the fan preferred-and used in the first translation-Monobear ("kuma" translating literally to "bear"). This was [[ExecutiveMeddling at the request]] of Creator/SpikeChunsoft, since it's also a pun on "monochrome".

* In ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'', Natsuki is surprised that Monika doesn't like squid, because it's in her name (Mon-ika). The fact that the joke doesn't make sense in translation is lampshaded.

** The Psalms have notes for words (''e.g.'' "Selah") which are left in the original language because that word appears only in the Psalms and its meaning is unclear.

** There is technically no such thing as a translated Quran. The belief is that the text of the Quran was directly transcribed from the word of God, and any translation from the original Classical Arabic would necessarily alter the text and thus be inauthentic. While Muslims tolerate translations of the Quran in an effort to spread the word to other languages, Muslims are often strongly encouraged to learn Classical Arabic and study the Quran in its original language. And yes, that's ''Classical'' Arabic; Modern Standard Arabic (let alone vernacular dialects), although a close descendant, is not enough.

* Both the Latin American Spanish dub and sub of the Tamil film ''Kabali'' suffers from this regarding Indian honorifics, as "anna", an Indian honorific for respect towards elders, is kept in both instances. No one's sure why they would do this, and [[UsefulNotes/TheOtherwoods Kollywood]] is a very niche thing in Latin America, so no one should be expected to know what "anna" means, and there's no attempt to explain it to the audience. The eponymous Kabali is a criminal boss, so they could just use "boss" or "chief" with no problems.