Forum - View topicLost in translation: anime titles.
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Unit 03.5-ish
Posts: 1540 Location: This space for rent |
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In the anime industry, there are those shows whose titles make ABSOLUTELY NO F*CKIN' SENSE. These are their stories.
It's accepted that most anime have titles that are either Engrishy or just flat-out...weird, but then there's the shows whose titles give you no indication what the content of the series is. Mech shows, often named after the focal machine, have the excuse of not needing to make sense because the names of these robots rarely do. But what about the shows that have no excuse for being either badly translated or just dumb? Two good examples are as follows: s-CRY-ed: never mind that the show is about people with psychic energy using their Alters to combat one another...the word scry apparently means to use a crystal ball to see into the future. Scry is not only not part of the common lexicon of English or most any other language, it really tells you NOTHING about the show at all. Spiral: uh...what does this have to do with a murder mystery/crime theme that the series apparently focuses on? Really, this one gives you no clue whatsoever what you're in for. |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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Neither was "lost in translation," as both were original Japanese titles (スクライド and スパイラル, respectively). |
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bonbonsrus
 Posts: 1537 Location: Michigan, USA |
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Yeah, that maybe so Dormcat, but I know what Unit 03.5-ish means.
A title that doesn't give clues to it's content. I just watched disk 7 of Kiddy Grade which I stayed away for a long time just because of its title. It isn't about little children in school, the title has always seemed very weird to me. Honestly, it seemed like a fairly sketchy title to me until I saw some, and I can't figure out why it was named this. Last edited by bonbonsrus on Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:14 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Unit 03.5-ish
Posts: 1540 Location: This space for rent |
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It doesn't always have to be a LITERAL translation error. What the other poster brought up about Kiddy Grade is a good example; would one suspect it was a space/sci-fi series from the title? It sounds more like some schoolyard-based show.
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Kimiko_0
 Posts: 1796 Location: Leiden, NL, EU |
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I love wacky Engrish titles. Some are so weird they just make me want to find out what's behind it.
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Luna Loving
 Posts: 76 Location: Norwich, United Kingdom |
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I suppose that Azumanga Daioh could be thought of as a good example of this, seeing as it has absolutely nothing to do with the actual show' s plot, or characters. (For those of you who haven' t seen it, it' s about a child protigy in high school, and her adventures with her friends.)
The title is in fact a mixture (I can' t remember the correct word for this) of Azuma (The author' s name), Manga, and Daioh (Great Prince, or something). Seriously, what a name! |
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Teriyaki Terrier
 Posts: 5689 |
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Despite watching Bleach since the series first aired on television on November 26, 2006, I never understood what the title meant.
My guess is it has to deal with cleansing or something more deep. I've read the manga (only the offical Viz Media translation) up till the current volume (volume 25 as of last year). |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7360 |
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I think one of the most misleading anime titles I've seen belongs to Perfect Blue, which you wouldn't imagine to be a psychological thriller by its title, let alone a very violent one at that. I still don't get what about the show was blue or perfect (well, it is very good), maybe it's a play on words that didn't translate to English well for all I know.
I also don't get Planetes' title, which you'd think is just a sci-fi thing about planets maybe, but it's more sci-fi and slice-of-life combined with slice-of-life taking priority. Considering that it takes place in a space station for the most part and not on a Planet, Planetes seems a bit of a misleading title. But if the word originates from another language, it might make sense, but not to me right now as is. |
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EricDent
 Posts: 997 Location: Georgetown, TX |
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Well according to an interview with Kubo in Anime Insider magazine, he said that he was going to call the series "White" cause of the uniforms that the captains wore. He thought that this would be a boring name, so he changed it to "Bleach" which is a cleaning product that makes stuff whiter.
As for the Azumanga Daioh thing. Yes it is named after the author Azuma, it was a manga, and it ran in Dengeki Daioh comic magazine. Thus Azumanga Daioh... Not sure why people are complaining about something as trivial as this. |
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_Earthwyrm_
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I know exactly what you mean when you say that you were avoiding this show because of its title - I've been doing the exact same thing. 'Kiddy Grade'? Yeah, it does sound sketchy. |
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Nonsense -- "scry" is a perfectly good word, and while it may not be in common usage, it's hardly obscure. And why would you bring "any other language" into it, since the Japanese title is clearly influenced by Engrish? However, I will agree that the title is a bit odd. On the other hand, who cares? The anime is instantly forgettable.
The word you're looking for is "portmanteau". As for the rest of it, EricDent was absolutely right:
If people didn't complain about trivial stuff like this, what else would they do for entertainment on a slow Monday night? - abunai |
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Maleficence
Posts: 44 |
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I always suspected it was something a little less sophisticated than that. After many discussions with friends, we came up with the theory that it's a reference to Ichigo's hair. I'm aware that his hair is naturally that color, but I always assumed that Tite Kubo titled the series before he decided Ichigo's hair was naturally orange. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18571 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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The title isn't misleading at all, and in fact has a specific meaning within the context of the series. It is a reference to clarity of perception equivalent to looking up at a cloudless blue sky. Since most of the movie involves the main character starting to get reality and fantasy mixed up, her finally becoming clear on, and in control of, her reality is a key moment in the movie. Not coincidentally, the only time a clear blue sky is shown in the movie is at the end when she finally has everything straight.
It's taken from the Greek spelling for the name of celestial bodies - an appropriate name, given that everything going on it deals with celestial bodies in one way or another. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6903 Location: Kazune City |
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Labbes
 Posts: 890 |
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I actually don't have problems with crude original titles, be it Kiddy Grade or Ergo Proxy (I read that was the name because it sounded cool). What I really don't like, though, is when something really gets... lost in translation. Thankfully, there are really few cases where the title gets somehow translated, in fact the only one I can say where I think the "translation" is stupid is Spirited Away - in Germany, the film is called "Chihiro's journey to wonderland" (Chihiros Reise ins Zauberland) - I mean, come on, I'm sure that could've been translated better.
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