Forum - View topicTranslating anime titles?
|
|
| Author | Message | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
domino
 Posts: 373 |
|
|||
|
I was wondering how ANN feels about unofficial literal translations for anime titles being submitted as an English alternate title.
Is it acceptable only until an official English title is available? Or even after one is available, is it acceptable if the literal English translation of the title is way off from the official English title? Just thought it would be nice to have translations available for readers who see a long string of kanji and wonder "what does it all MEAN?", but I was wondering what ANN thinks about it. Thanks. |
||||
|
||||
Dessa
 Posts: 4438 |
|
|||
|
I think it would be nice, in cases where the official English title is not a literal translation, to retain the translation.
Two examples I can think of: Harukanaru Toki no Naka de (Manga) 遙かなる時空の中で (Japanese) In a Distant Time (Literal English) Haruka ~ Beyond the Stream of Time (English) Case Closed (TV) 名探偵コナン (Japanese) Meitantei Conan (Romaji) Detective Conan (Literal English) |
||||
|
||||
|
dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
|
|||
It is the official English title -- outside North America. A literal translation would be "Famous/Pronounced Detective Conan." |
||||
|
||||
|
domino
Posts: 373 |
|
|||
|
I didn't know Haruka had an official full title yet (despite hounding Viz's website regularly for an official release date).
 Good to know.
And I guess since the general consensus is that a literal translation wouldn't hurt to have around, too, so I guess I'll keep adding them.  Though it would be nice if the language in parenthesis distinguished between "Official English" and "Literal Translation"... though anyone who has noticed that the official English winds up at the very top in large letters would be able to figure it out that way.
|
||||
|
||||
|
dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
|
|||
General consensus? When did you make that poll? |
||||
|
||||
|
woelfie
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 380 Location: Belgium |
|
|||
click here, fill in the kanji, then choose "Japanese to English", and you will know what it means. No need to keep an unofficial translation in the database. |
||||
|
||||
|
domino
Posts: 373 |
|
|||
I didn't, of course, so that was probably the wrong way to say it (though it would be an interesting poll to conduct). I just can't really think of a reason why people would be against an extra informative line of text. I'll make a wild assumption that most people (like Dessa) would see the addition as not NECESSARY, but a "well, I guess it would be nice to have around" sort of thing. And I'd never recommend Babel Fish's Japanese translator (or ANY automatic Japanese translator) to any one for any reason and am sort of in shock that someone did. Just look at the example anime posted earlier in the thread: "In a Distant Time" has become "遙 In the space-time which becomes" and "Detective Conan" has become "Name detective コナン", since the translator can't differentiate between "name" and "famous". |
||||
|
||||
|
woelfie
Encyclopedia Editor
Posts: 380 Location: Belgium |
|
|||
OK, I admit that it's not the best way to get a translation, although you might get an idea. There are probably better ways to translate, but I still don't see a need to keep that info in the database. As you say, some people might find it handy, but that shouldn't be the purpose of an encyclopedia. |
||||
|
||||
|
Dan42
Chief Encyclopedist
 Posts: 3785 Location: Montreal |
|
|||
|
I would rather avoid literal translations. We've had people submit literal translation of titles in several languages, and the thing is that even if the translation is technically true, it's it entirely useless. You see, names are are not used to carry meaning but to carry identity. It wouldn't matter if the english title of "Harukanaru Toki no Naka de" was "Fizzbuzz Waafoo" (although I'm sure several fans would have heart attacks). The only important thing is that different people can recognize the name as belonging to the same anime. So for english titles I would prefer by far to have the most common title in use rather than the most technically correct translation. For that same reason, if everyone refers to the anime by its Japanese/romaji name and it doesn't seem to have yet acquired a commonly used english title, it's probably better to not input any english title yet.
|
||||
|
||||
|
domino
Posts: 373 |
|
|||
|
Alrighty, then. I'll just suppress my urge to submit a literal title every time I see something like a manga called "Kimi wa Petto" listed as "Tramps Like Us". I guess official is better, but I wonder how many people out there look at the Japanese words for a title and then the official English title and then automatically assume that they mean the same thing.
But are you saying, then, that it's okay to add an unofficial English title if enough fans identify the anime with it? I can't really think of an example off the top of my head, though... but I think a lot of people use "So Long, Mr. Despair" for "Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei"? |
||||
|
||||
|
Dan42
Chief Encyclopedist
Posts: 3785 Location: Montreal |
|
|||
yes |
||||
|
||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group