| j2y8n2x |
March 9th, 2011 11:30 AM |
Gen5 Pokemon Chinese names--LAUGH AT THEM!
Apparently, Pokemon fans from Hong Kong are so annoyed with the names that they are sending letters of complaint to The Pokemon Company
Here's the English letter (they did a Japanese one earlier too),
containing the most stupid names ever.
(read the letters in bold to save time)
Quote:
Dear sir/ madam,
We are a group of Pokemon aficionados from Hong Kong and Taiwan who were very excited by the release of the Black and White games, and so as the anime series. Many of us had been supporting your world-class franchise since 1996.
Unfortunately, our excitement and enjoyment to the franchise was totally wiped out by the abysmally horrible Chinese translations, which had sadden us deeply and even drove some of us to frustration and rage.
The Chinese translations of the generation 5 Pokemon names and moves, translated by the franchiser of Hong Kong and Taiwan—the Top-Insight International Co., Ltd , are not only full of translation errors, but also reminds us nothing more than a baby's gibberish, despite the fact that according to the leaders in Game Freak, Pokemon Black and White are meant to target an older audience, especially teens.
Moreover, many of the Pokemon Chinese names are completely irrelevant to what the Pokemon really is. Some are even misleading.
This had set us into shock, firstly to find out that not one single of our suggested translations were used, and secondly due to the quality.
Here are some examples out of the most bizzare translations:
- The move Leaf Tornado, (GRASS Mixer in Japanese), was translated as “GLASS Mixer”, a clear confusion between “grass” and “glass”. Leaf Tornado is a GRASS-typed move, and has NOTHING to do with glass.
- The Pokemon Axew (Kibago in Japanese) was translated as “Tooth-tooth”, some baby's gibberish.
- The Pokemon Minccino (Chillarmy in Japanese) was translated as “Bubble Chinchilla”, which is misleading since Minccino is neither a water typed Pokemon nor learns any moves to do with bubbles.
- The Pokemon Audino (Tabunne in Japanese) was translated as “More-or-less Dolly”. Although in Japanese, “More-or-less” is a homophone of “To be heard”, we do not think that this confusion is acceptable. Also, Audino has NOTHING to do with dolls.
- The Pokemon Ducklett (Koaruhi in Japanese) was translated as “Little Duck Goose”--so is it a duck or a goose?
- The Pokemon Vullaby (Baruchai in Japanese), and its evolve Mandibuzz (barujiina) was translated as “Vulture Princess” and “Vulture Queen” respectively. We have no idea where the “Princess” and “Queen” came from.
- The Pokemon Heatmor (kuitaran in Japanese), the ANTEATER Pokemon, was mistakenly translated to “Mosquito-eating monster”
- The Pokemon Chandelure (Shandera in Japanese), which takes form as a chandelier, was translated as “Chandelier Carnival”. Now where does the “carnival” come from?
Further more, we have noticed that the translations had only considered its pronunciation in Mandarin, and had completely ignored the Cantonese factor while translating it. This had set Hong Kong Pokemon aficionados into anger. Many of the names can not even be read aloud in Cantonese, which poses issues in upcoming anime series. Despite our numerous protests, our franchiser insists Hong Kong to use the same set of names as Taiwan does.
I personally acknowledge that the same set of Pokemon names are used in English, Spanish and Norwegian, so it may be difficult for you to understand why Cantonese speakers demand a separate set of names, yet the translation mistakes of this company should not be denied.
We write to you with the aim of changing the company completely, or if it is impossible, we at least would like a complete change on the problematic names.
Please listen to our complaints, and take action so we can be able to enjoy our Pokemon games and animations as we once did since 1996.
Besides, if the Pokemon Company wishes to promote the Pokemon franchise in Mainland China, these horrible Chinese names will not do a single help in your promotions— not only that people would not be interested, it will also create a bad impression to the Mainland Chinese population, as they will have the impression that Pokemon is for either 3 year old kids, or a bunch of retards.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Yours sincerely,
Members of Hong Kong Pokemon Alliance Forum and numerous supporting Pokemon players from Taiwan.
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