942
Overcomplicating things (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/whitepeopletwitter@sh.itjust.works
137 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 37 points 2 years ago (6 children)

I dunno. I would agree but there's some anime where the Japanese name just sounds better and it's easier to say.

Kimetsu no Yaiba has a silky feel to it that's lost in the English translation "Demon Slayer" which sounds a bit corny.

Same with Jujutsu Kaisen which sounds a lot better than "Sorcery Battle" or "Technique School".

Shingeki no Kyojin sounds better but I never remember it as easily as "Attack on titan" and people always shorten it to the English acronym (AoT).

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 12 child comments
    •
  • [–] 22 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    But does it really sound better, or does it just sound different because it's not your first language? It might sound just as corny to someone who grew up speaking Japanese.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I dunno. Lots of places, even, are named really dumb shit in their native language, or in old english. Places that are just named like, Johnstown, or some shit. Johannesburg. Hillsborough. Portland, land of the ports. These are really dumb names, they're kind of akin to the modern convention of naming the streets of suburbs after the trees that we cut down for the land, like Pine street, Fir street, Douglas avenue, and don't get me started on Main street, or streets that are just numbered in order.

    Basically, I guess my point is just that everything has a stupid name, I think it just sounds cooler when it's nonsense (perceived, or otherwise) because it becomes associated with the work on it's own, rather than being associated with external stuff which may or may not be descriptive of the work.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    That's the beauty of it, I didn't know that jujutsu kaisen meant such a stupid name, nearing the irrelevancy of tile as God of Highschool. If it sounds whatever but you don't know its stupid, it isn't.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago

    Attack on Titan was the editor renaming it IIRC. Then sure enough later on out comes the attack titan, the literal translation of shingeki no kyojin and presumable namesake of the series.

    There are a bunch where they just use the Japanese title or even shortened title like mushoku tensei or konosuba with English translation following it, or the full title in English in the case of konosuba.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Also there is some anime that doesn’t have distinct English title or the English title is simply a romaji translation of the Japanese one

    Oshi No Ko is come to mind when it comes to this

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    Is there an accepted good translation for oshi that works? I only read the first chapter of the mango and don't remember if/what kanji are used in the title so I might be interpreting it wrong, but "child of the celebrity that [you/I/unspecified person(s)] [are/am/is] an obsessive fan of" sounds like total shit.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    In Spanish KnY is "Guardianes de la Noche" (Guardians of the Night) and I've never heard a single person say that it was good. Most people I know just call it Kimetsu.

    I also personally use SnK, AoT means "ahead of time" for me. For so long I was confused when people expected me to know AoT as Attack on Titan.

    That said it really depends on the title. Some titles suck in other languages, some don't. I mostly pick which to use on length, how stupid the translation sounds, and if the translation is confusing for me.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent