×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
Do you prefer English titles for listing of shows or Romaji titles?


Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next

Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Anime
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Drizzy_Dan



Joined: 11 Apr 2015
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 10:53 am Reply with quote
I know ANN uses English titles as often as possible and that actually makes it kind of hard for me to add shows to my list when I only know the Romaji titles. I've actually grown to prefer the Romaji titles myself over English titles.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Dessa



Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 4438
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 12:03 pm Reply with quote
You do know that you can search by the romaji title and it'll show up in the search results, right?

For example, Weiß Kreuz (Japanese title). Searching for "Weiß Kreuz" or "Weiss Kreuz" ("ß" can also be written as "ss") will pull up the TV series, the manga, the OAV, and the sequel TV series (Weiß Kreuz will also pull up the Side B manga. I'll need to add the "ss" version as an alternate title). The official international title for the series is "Knight Hunters," as you can see from the 2 TV series (the only ones available in English).

So if you're having problems finding titles, just do a search. It's faster than browsing the listings anyway.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23762
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 12:46 pm Reply with quote
I way prefer English titles. I love the sound of Japanese even though I don't understand the language. However, I have a weird mental block about being able to remember Japanese words and names. It literally took me a few years to be able to say Miyazaki's name out loud from memory. So if somebody says or writes the romaji title, more often than not I will have no idea what show they are referring to, which is annoying. I also find the idea of non-Japanese speakers using romaji titles a little pretentious.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Drizzy_Dan



Joined: 11 Apr 2015
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 1:27 pm Reply with quote
Dessa wrote:


So if you're having problems finding titles, just do a search. It's faster than browsing the listings anyway.


I'll use this in the future. I always try to find them through the search on the list but this is easier. Thanks.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18182
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 1:37 pm Reply with quote
Frankly, I find it annoying when people continue to insist on using the romaji titles even long after an official and widely-accepted English title has been established. I still occasionally run across people who call Neon Genesis Evangelion "Shin Shikei Evangelion," for instance.

Now, in certain cases where the English name sucks (Cat Planet Cuties, anyone?), I can understand it, but those are rare exceptions.


Last edited by Key on Thu Apr 23, 2015 4:58 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 1:56 pm Reply with quote
^
Just because there's an official English title does not mean that the original Japanese title is invalidated.

I personally use whatever title I first watched the show under. If I watch a title either dubbed or with an official sub, then I'll likely call it by the English name. If I watch an old fansub then I'll probably call the show by its Japanese name, even if an English name now exists. There is a frequent exception to that, which is if the Japanese name is really hard to say then I'll use the English name (if one is available), even if I heard the Japanese name first. For example, Attack on Titan is a really dumb title that makes no sense grammatically or contextually (a battle on the largest of Saturn's moons?). But it's a lot easier to pronounce and type than Shingeki no Kyojin so I stick with the English version.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
getchman
Space Cowboy



Joined: 07 Apr 2012
Posts: 9120
Location: Bedford, NH
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 1:56 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:

Now, in certain cases where the English name sucks (Cat Planet Cuties, anyone?)


I don't see anything wrong with that. I thin it's adorable, just like the show
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Touma



Joined: 29 Aug 2007
Posts: 2651
Location: Colorado, USA
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 3:43 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Now, in certain cases where the English name sucks (Cat Planet Cuties, anyone?),

I really hope that was supposed to be a joke.

I prefer the title that was used for the US release, if there was one, and I think that is the ANN policy.

For my own use if there has not been a US release I will use whatever title seems to be most common in the forums.

Even when there is a US title I will occasionally use something different, depending on the venue and context.
If I was in a forum thread discussing Maria Watches Over Us I might call it MariMite, because most fans of the show know that title, and it is easier to type.

My main concern is making sure that people know what show I am talking about.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 3:56 pm Reply with quote
Touma wrote:
Key wrote:
Now, in certain cases where the English name sucks (Cat Planet Cuties, anyone?),

I really hope that was supposed to be a joke.


Nope, no joke. That really is the title they went with for the English release.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Cam0



Joined: 13 Dec 2009
Posts: 4888
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 4:44 pm Reply with quote
I don't understand why they couldn't just translate the Japanese title and call it Let's go play! or something similar.

I find The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior to be worse.

I don't really have a preference myself. I just use the title I'm used to, or the one that I encountered first or the one I encounter the most.


Last edited by Cam0 on Thu Apr 23, 2015 5:05 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 5234
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 5:04 pm Reply with quote
I believe in the case of Cat Planet Cuties, that title was insisted on by the licensor.

As for me, I tend to prefer the English titles in 99% of cases unless it's something which doesn't easily translate/there isn't a word in English for that concept. I think it's kinda weeaboo-ish to say Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa when the English translation means literally the exact same thing, and people on an English language forum will understand you instantly if you use English titles.

Having said that, I don't mind cases like Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee or Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, where the English translation is a subtitle of the Japanese.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18182
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 5:11 pm Reply with quote
In fairness, even though "Let's Go Play!" is an accurate transliteration, it's damnably vague and unmemorable. One of my other least-favorite English titles, Starship Operators, is boring as hell but at least it's fairly specific about what the series is about.

I have long thought that the subtitle Bombshells from the Sky would have been a better main English title for CPC.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Yttrbio



Joined: 09 Jun 2011
Posts: 3652
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 5:22 pm Reply with quote
I would've said "We Come to Play" to tie into the alien thing, but it has the same problem of vagueness.

I do often find myself looking for a title in my alphabetized "My Anime" list and not finding it because I'm thinking of the wrong name. It gets really bad when there are light novel shows with long names, abbreviated names, English titles, English titles that use the abbreviated light novel Japanese title as a subtitle that comes first, etc.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Tony K.
Subscriber
Moderator


Joined: 18 Nov 2003
Posts: 11293
Location: Frisco, TX
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 5:47 pm Reply with quote
For me, it just depends on the context of the show. Some names sound fine in English (Fullmetal Alchemist is way easier to say than Hagane no Renkinjutsushi, whereas others (or heaven forbid, some nonsensical moniker they made up like "Fighting Spirit" or "Samurai X") should just stay Japanese (Ippo and Kenshin).
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Night fox



Joined: 01 Oct 2014
Posts: 561
Location: Sweden
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 5:57 pm Reply with quote
Personally I just use the title I like best, which in most cases is the version I first heard of; e.g. I immediately recognize the show Nagi no Asukara, but A Lull in the Sea? What's that? Laughing

I really don't worry about what the general consensus might be. If you don't immediately recognize a title, then use 20s of your precious time to do a search on ANN, or google it. Rolling Eyes

Some titles also include names that are self-explanatory like: Nausicaa, Madoka, Lain, Chaika, Railgun, Mnemosyne, Nozaki-kun etc., which saves you the trouble of typing the entire title, whether it's in english or japanese. Wink
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Anime All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next
Page 1 of 3

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group