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legendfunk
 Posts: 101 Location: Sydney, Australia |
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This suddenly struck me a few months ago when I was watching Animax, but I don't know it such a topic exists. Guess it's a rule to be bold...
Anyways, I've said annoyingly often that I'm really into Jigoku Shojo. Having seen it on Animax back in 2006 and gotten really into it back then, I knew of it well before it was distributed in the US and Australia. Then I hear of this new anime called "Hell Girl"... and I realised that whatever distribution studio thought that such a title like "Jigoku Shojo" wouldn't sell. Interestingly, Animax is undecided on what anime uses what language title. It still uses the name "Jigoku Shojo" but uses "God Save Our King" to refer to "Kyo Kara Maoh". Does anyone know why Animax is like this? Do you find it annoying when anime intended to be in Japanese titles are translated? Which do you prefer? |
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PantsGoblin
 SubscriberEncyclopedia Editor  Posts: 2969 Location: L.A. |
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Oh come on. Hell Girl is pretty much a direct translation of the Japanese title. You could have gotten much worse. So you shouldn't be complaining.
I wouldn't say there are titles "intended" to be in Japanese unless there's some type of pun in the title (which doesn't translate well). Even then, I never hear the Japanese creators completely unwilling to have their titles translated into English. And no, I don't find it annoying unless the meaning of the title is completely changed. Although, things like that rarely ever happen to anime nowadays. |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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Animax has its own international distribution network independent from home video licensees. That is, a program broadcasted on Animax-[insert country name] does not necessary have the corresponding home video released in that country, and even if it does the translated titles and subtitles in local language may not be the same. |
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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You act like titles aren't changed all the time when something is translated into another language. What's the point of having a title in a language that the audience can't understand? Unless the title doesn't actually mean anything (for example, Azumanga Daioh) and can't be translated.
Titles aren't meant to be in Japanese. They are meant to be understood. They just happen to originally be in Japanese because that's what their original language. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6896 Location: Kazune City |
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(Consider this a rant against general fandom behavior, I'm not referring specifically to you.)
I have to wonder if this is getting worse...the 2003-2004 -era files I have for Fullmetal Alchemist aren't labeled "Hagane no Renkinjutsushi," after all. Although these titles were originally in Japanese, I disagree that they were "meant" to be in Japanese. They're meant to be descriptive and evocative of a show's contents, and they're meant to sell product, even to people who don't already know what the Japanese title means and everything else about the series. "Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto" has zero meaning for someone seeing it on the shelf, and literal translations like "That Which is Important to a Mage" are too wordy. But the official subtitle, "Someday's Dreamers," works just fine in conveying the magical mood of the series. In the same vein, "Sunabouzu" has zero meaning to the casual fan seeing it on the shelf, but "Desert Punk" is perfect for imparting the idea of "This guy's in the desert, and he's a punk." |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7991 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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I usually find it annoying if they don't translate the title into something understandable. (Unless the title is the name of a character, place, or mech or would sound totally stupid if translated in which case I don't care if they leave it as is.)The title is usually the first thing people see or hear and should give them some kind of indication, however slight, what the thing is about. After all that is the purpose of a title in the first place. Jigoku Shoujo doesn't mean anything to somebody who doesn't speak the language but if you're audience is English speaking, Hell Girl would. It kind of defeats the purpose if I can't understand it and have to go look up it's meaning here. Also there's the issue of not being able to pronounce them correctly when speaking or mispelling them when writing. No translations didn't stop me from watching series like Haibane Renmei, Tsukihime, or Ikki Tousen though so I'd say it's not really a big deal just....I don't know, rude maybe.
Any rate, the only negative effect not translating the title would have is possibly limiting it's popularity and wide range appeal to non-fans. Last edited by Kruszer on Wed Jun 11, 2008 5:40 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Enjeru
 Posts: 221 |
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As many others have said, most of the changes are still very similar to the original. In an attempt to reach out to as many target audiences as possible, small tweaks need to be made. Let's say someone is reading a blog or a magazine and they see a title that sounds pretty interseting; but when the time comes to buy the dvd.....they cannot recall the name of the title. So there are times that switching the name into something a little easier to remember will boost sales.
However, the changing of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien to Rumbling Hearts made no sense to me at all. Not only did I find the name change to sound more like a Pepto ad, it does not even come close to a translation to the origional. |
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Kruszer
Posts: 7991 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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They probabally thought that "The Eternity You Wish For" (or something along those lines) didn't make a whole lot of sense like I do. Rumbling Hearts is still not the greatest of titles either though, but it is a darn good series and that's all that counts.
Last edited by Kruszer on Wed Jun 11, 2008 5:50 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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fokkusuhaundo
 Posts: 346 Location: San Diego ♥ ☼ ▓ |
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This is something I've wondered about: is it Tenjho Tenge or Tenjou Tenge? I've seen it spelled either way on several different sites and the former seems to be how Geneon spells it. In English it translates to "Heaven and Earth" which might give people the wrong idea of what kind of show it is had Geneon decided to use the translated title, but for the most part I prefer titles originally in Japanese to be translated to give me a better idea about what the show is about without having to look up what it means.
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Kruszer
Posts: 7991 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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The print on my DVDs says "Tenjho Tenge", I'd consider anything else a mispelling, personally. The two languages have several discrepencies that occur durring translation because of similiar sounds or lack there of. Someone who knows more than I can explain the conversion process of the Japanese language to our form of letters which is far different from their written form. I'd just go with what was official.
Last edited by Kruszer on Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:03 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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PantsGoblin
Subscriber Encyclopedia Editor Posts: 2969 Location: L.A. |
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That wasn't supposed to be a translation or a title they just made up. "Rumbling Hearts" is actually the official English subtitle of "Kimi ga Nozomu Eien" (made by the Japanese creators). Same as how "When They Cry" is to "Higurashi no Naku Koroni". |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18371 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Few things about anime fandom irritate me more than when those who claim to be die-hard fans insist on going around calling series only by their Japanese names even long after they've been given a proper, accurate, and sensible English translation. (Unless English isn't your native language, of course.) The Library War, Hell Girl, and Burst Angel examples previously cited are particularly good examples of this. Really, do the fans who do this realize how pretentious they sound? Or are they doing it specifically to engender that effect? Granted, the translation of some names leaves a bit to be desired (see Rumbling Hearts), but those cases are usually few and far between these days.
As for names that aren't translated, I usually don't have an issue with them since there's usually a good reason for it. Ai Yori Aoshi doesn't translate terribly well, and besides, its name has a nice flow to it that's simple and easy to pronounced correctly in English. Same with Azumanga Daioh and Haibane Ranmei and Otogi Zoshi. And really, isn't Ikki Tousen fun to say as it is? |
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Zalis116
Moderator
Posts: 6896 Location: Kazune City |
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I think "Tenjho Tenge" is one of those official misspellings done by the manga author or some other entity on the Japanese side. Normally, it should be Tenjou or possibly Tenjyou. EDIT: Got distracted by something shiny, so PantsGoblin beat me on the Rumbling Hearts bit. And yeah, Ikki-Tousen is a decent title to be left in Japanese. After all, the literal translation and the manga title "Battle Vixens" don't allow for the "Camel-Toesen" parody title 
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Eruanna
 Posts: 451 Location: Canada |
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Guys, I dont think the opener was intending to open a debate about whether the licensors SHOULD translate titles or not....
The question to me sounds more like "Why does Animax sometimes go with the Japanese title and other times go with the English title?" Which I think is a fair enough question, though I have no idea on the answer. As to changing titles, the only thing that weirds me out is when the title was in English already and then they change it. How the heck did "Digimon Savers" become "Digimon: Data Squad" ?? |
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marie-antoinette
Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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That one is probably because the series is aimed at children and they wanted a more literal title. I don't particularly like it, but I understand the reasoning. |
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