Forum - View topicAnswerman - I've Got A Blank Space Baby
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samuelp
Industry Insider
Posts: 2231 Location: San Antonio, USA |
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This one really annoyed me... The translation was already fixed as I'm pretty sure the english was used even on the original Japanese editions, but the translation is far too literal... The original Japanese title is "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?" is a pun of sorts with the phrase "Gochuumon wa ikaga desu ka?" (May I take your order?), the polite way a waitress asks your order in a restaurant. Rabbit is a noun, and thus the only noun to replace in the proper english translation of the phrase is, in fact "order". So in my opinion the series should have been translated to "May I take your rabbit?" That's the best and only translation of the title and I'm sticking to my guns on this one. 
Also I find it a bit ironic that the two titles singled out for "great" english translations in the question, Kids on the Slope and Sundays Without God... the first was created by the manga author for the very first Japanese edition (it's always had that english title, the manga-ka in fact speaks english fairly well), and the second is a direct, literal translation of the Japanese. I still think the best english title of an untranslatable Japanese title is "The Tatami Galaxy". This english title was also the product by the author of the original novel and not a native english speaker. I'd maybe give an honorable mention to "Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl" for being way better than anything I tried to come up with (even if it's still far from coming close to capturing the full meaning of the original) |
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jymmy
 Posts: 1244 |
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But it's not the Titans that are being attacked in Shingeki no Kyoijin; it's the reverse. The attack comprises Titans. "no" is a genitive particle. This is why the correct translation is The Eotena Onslaught. |
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SnaphappyFMA
Posts: 216 Location: California |
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I think my favorite recent strange English title is "Encouragement of Climb."
And good catch on Attack on Titan. That one lingered in my brain for a while when I first heard it and I didn't know why, until finally it registered that it was weird/wrong English. I assume Isayama meant "Attack on the Titans" or maybe "Attack of the Titans." I think I didn't get this at first because I didn't want to accept that such a huge important series from Japan would have a big misstep in its title. ... Yeah.
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CrownKlown
 Posts: 1762 |
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Personally unless really bizarre, I just prefer the original Japanese title. I am not fond of English versions because as this column and response section point out they rarely capture the meaning.
But the ones that really irk me are things like Cat Planet Cuties, I am pretty sure the title for the show translates as "lets play/lets go play", so why couldn't that be the title? The one title that I do like that I think is kind of off from the original meaning but does fit with the show is Garden of Sinners. |
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TJ_Kat
Posts: 363 Location: Saskatoon, Canada |
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How does that one not make sense? It's about a Mobile Suit called Gundam. Gosick has always bugged me. Surely I'm not the only one who thinks it should be Gothic every time I see it? |
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Galap
Moderator
 Posts: 2354 |
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The thing about the Tezuka name is interesting. I noticed a similar problem with the animator 小川 完, who's listed in our encyclopedia as Kan Ogawa, but is called Tamotsu Ogawa elsewhere. I'm pretty sure that Kan is correct, but I'm not certain.
I think the kanji system is really funny since these complex characters all have these different reaadings. It's all really esoteric. |
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kazenoyume
Posts: 425 |
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A great movie with a lot of heart that's every bit on the level of the smaller studio releases. 
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unready
 Posts: 400 Location: Illinois, USA |
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The issue isn't the story. It's the phrase "Shingeki no Kyoujin." "Shingeki" is more like "march" or "advance" than "attack," so the translation of "shingeki no" could indeed be the genitive (possessive) "of the advance." "Kyoujin" is "giant" or "titan," so "Giants of the Advance," which as I said before is even worse than "Attack on Titan." However, Attack on Titan is the story of humans fighting back. The title is appropriate, although it may Engrish, because the titans are getting attacked. |
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CrowLia
 Posts: 5505 Location: Mexico |
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It's kind of crazy that there are so many crazy theories about the title BLEACH (Ichigo's 'bleached' hair, the Shinigamis cleansing the souls, the Nirvana album etcetera etcetera) and that people keep spreading them around when Kubo himself explained it in an interview like five years ago. He drew the shinigamis with black kimonos, that was his original concept (along the snipers that have already been mentioned). To mark the contrast with and accentuate the blackness of the kimonos, he wanted a title that made you think of white. So he went with Bleach. It's a simple and kind of ridiculous explanation, but Kubo's reasoning has always been very simplistic.
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vanfanel
 Posts: 1242 |
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Another name transcription issue I remember is of the guy who directed "Ocean Waves" at Ghibli, "Kimagure Orange Road: I Want to Return to that Day," "Fancy Lala," and a whole slew of 1980s magical girl shows. In various credit sequences, I'm sure I've seen his name written as Tomomi Mochizuki, Tomomichi Mochizuki, and Tomomitsu Mochizuki. Somebody just ask him already!
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nargun
Posts: 925 |
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Haganai. 僕は友達が少ない -> は が ない, see. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Actually, the titans are doing all the attacking - even the elite recon corps and their huge expedition are nothing more than cannon fodder for spoiler[the female titan] - and therefore the title should be "Attack of the Titans". |
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samuelp
Industry Insider
Posts: 2231 Location: San Antonio, USA |
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Look, for all we know it'll be revealed that the entire show takes place on a far future terraformed moon of Saturn! So let's not be hasty here
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13556 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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At times, I feel like the Japanese come up with these long titles just so they give English translators a challenge.
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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I still think the most accurate/grammatically correct translation of Shingeki no Kyojin would be The Advancing Titans. Titans "of the advance" sounds odd in English, but no isn't just a possessive particle, it also can turn nouns into adjective-equivalents. "Of the advance" can be turned into the adjective "advancing," hence Advancing Titans.
For weirdest Engrish title, I think Saint Young Men still wins the prize with me. Sei Onii-san is the title in Japanese, and yes, sei can mean "saint" and onii-san, in addition to "older brother," can mean "young man." But "Saint Young Men" sounds like word salad. Given that Sei is the fake family name that Jesus and the Buddha use while on vacation in Japan, I think The Brothers Saint (ala The Brothers Grimm or The Brothers Karamazov) would be a far more natural title. But clearly the author just plugged his title into a dictionary or Google translate and used the first result he found. Paranoia Agent also gets an honorable mention for confusing people terribly with its name. Yes, mousou can mean "paranoia" (sometimes) and dairinin can be translated as "agent," which led at least a few reviewers to try to figure out who or what is the "agent" causing "paranoia." Unfortunately dairinin doesn't mean "agent" as "active and efficient cause" but "one authorized to act for or in place of another." If you saw Ergo Proxy, the same word is translated "proxy" there. Mousou is also probably better translated as "delusion." Hence a much, much more accurate title would be A Stand-In for Delusion or Delusion's Proxy or something like that. At which point the answer to what it refers to becomes, by the end, obviously spoiler[Shounen Bat.] |
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