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5th Gen Gen5 Pokemon Chinese names--LAUGH AT THEM!

j2y8n2x

Gothitelle iz naught imprezzed
89
Posts
13
Years
    • Seen May 13, 2024
    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)

    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Dear sir/ madam,[/FONT]


    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]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.[/FONT]
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]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. [/FONT]

    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]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. [/FONT]
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Moreover, many of the Pokemon Chinese names are completely irrelevant to what the Pokemon really is. Some are even misleading.[/FONT]
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]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.[/FONT]


    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Here are some examples out of the most bizzare translations:[/FONT]


    1. [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]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.[/FONT]
    2. [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The Pokemon Axew (Kibago in Japanese) was translated as "Tooth-tooth", some baby's gibberish.[/FONT]
    3. [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]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.[/FONT]
    4. [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]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.[/FONT]
    5. [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The Pokemon Ducklett (Koaruhi in Japanese) was translated as "Little Duck Goose"--so is it a duck or a goose? [/FONT]
    6. [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]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. [/FONT]
    7. [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The Pokemon Heatmor (kuitaran in Japanese), the ANTEATER Pokemon, was mistakenly translated to "Mosquito-eating monster"[/FONT]
    8. [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The Pokemon Chandelure (Shandera in Japanese), which takes form as a chandelier, was translated as "Chandelier Carnival". Now where does the "carnival" come from?[/FONT]


    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]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. [/FONT]
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]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. [/FONT]


    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]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. [/FONT]


    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]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.[/FONT]


    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]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. [/FONT]


    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Thank you for your kind attention.[/FONT]


    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Yours sincerely,[/FONT]
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Members of Hong Kong Pokemon Alliance Forum and numerous supporting Pokemon players from Taiwan. [/FONT]
     

    Taemin

    move.
    11,205
    Posts
    18
    Years
    • he / they
    • USA
    • Seen Apr 2, 2024
    ^ It would make a pretty beast name for an Ice move, not gonna lie.

    That aside, I feel really bad for Pokemon fans that live in China. D:

    Anyone who's still complaining about the English names for Gen 5 should read this thread. Really.
     

    ShinyMeowth

    Gone forever
    397
    Posts
    13
    Years
  • My god, how can a translator be that stupid? Are they trying to simply kill all sales of the games? Wow.
     

    Rizzy

    // Friendship >> Chuck Norris
    47
    Posts
    13
    Years
    • Seen Jul 19, 2011
    Whats with this world-class franchises having awful translators.
    If not go see how bad they translate Yu Gi Oh cards from English to Spanish.
     

    bobandbill

    one more time
    16,941
    Posts
    16
    Years
  • Anyone who's still complaining about the English names for Gen 5 should read this thread. Really.
    This a thousand times over. Sure, the English names have been never great (not the 'never' seeing many 1st gen names are just as 'unoriginal' as others) but they're nowhere near this bad.

    Glass Tornado would be epic if it wasn't for a grass move.
     

    King Gumball

    Haven't been here for ages...
    2,179
    Posts
    13
    Years
  • Wow... that is really bad... They are some awful, simple mistakes, well not really mistakes but errors that should have been thought through. Tooth Tooth? I wonder how Anime there will cope, I hope they do take up Taiwanese names. B/W are the best games imo, but they would probably be the worst if I was from HK.
     

    PlatinumDude

    Nyeh?
    12,964
    Posts
    13
    Years
  • This is terrible...I hate Axew's Chinese name. Glass Tornado = fail. I feel sorry for the Chinese Pokemon fans out there.
     

    Legendary Silke

    [I][B]You like dragons?[/B][/I]
    5,925
    Posts
    13
    Years
    • Seen Dec 23, 2021
    This is the reason why I always use the English names. These names just sound... too off. Especially the Glass Mixer mess.
     

    Impo

    Playhouse Pokemon
    2,458
    Posts
    14
    Years
  • ...how can a multi-million dollar company invest in such sloppy translating?

    ...i mean, like, woooowwww. Aren't there standards that are meant to be followed?
     

    Sora's Nobody

    The Official Roxas
    1,112
    Posts
    14
    Years
  • Horrible. Althought i do believe, that Vullaby's name makes pretty good sense. Vullaby is Female-only. I want to see it's counterpart Rufflet. If that name as something male-ish in the name it will make perfect sense, as Rufflet is Male-only.
     

    Sarcastic Prince

    Starting anew...
    3,003
    Posts
    16
    Years
  • ^ It would make a pretty beast name for an Ice move, not gonna lie.

    That aside, I feel really bad for Pokemon fans that live in China. D:

    Anyone who's still complaining about the English names for Gen 5 should read this thread. Really.

    I live in China (Hong Kong) and Hong Kong has provided English education for all schools, so therefore, it wouldn't be a problem for me or my HK friends.

    Anyways, author, can you write those PKMN names and move names in Chinese? I wanna laugh at the errors.
    Back to the topic, most people from HK can read English. It ain't a problem for HK citizens to play the English B/W.
     

    j2y8n2x

    Gothitelle iz naught imprezzed
    89
    Posts
    13
    Years
    • Seen May 13, 2024
    This thread belongs in the B/W forum so I'll move it there now.
    no it does not!
    There are no Chinese games!
    I'm talking about the anime!
    We all play games in Japanese or English
    My god, how can a translator be that stupid? Are they trying to simply kill all sales of the games? Wow.
    They are killing the anime!
    And the anime IS using these stupid names!

    Games aren't a problem because no Chinese Pokemon game exists.
    We all play Japanese or English versions, so we have already finished our games a long time ago.

    It's the anime that's getting us on fire.

    Also, they are airing it in the children's TV channel...against Pokemon's aims.

    I live in China (Hong Kong) and Hong Kong has provided English education for all schools, so therefore, it wouldn't be a problem for me or my HK friends.

    Anyways, author, can you write those PKMN names and move names in Chinese? I wanna laugh at the errors.
    Back to the topic, most people from HK can read English. It ain't a problem for HK citizens to play the English B/W.
    Here:
    Gen5 Pokemon Chinese names--LAUGH AT THEM!
     
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