Japanese purism

Alfieri

Alfieri

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    Is anyone else bothered by people who are purists when it comes to the Japanese language in manga and anime?

    I guess it just bothers me when an anime sub has an official English translation for something (ex. Warlords in One Piece) but people still insist on discussing the Warlords by calling them Shichibukai. Or calling Attack on Titan, Shingeki no Kyojin, or even calling the Spirit Bomb from DBZ, Genki Dama. It just seems very pretentious to me when a person keeps calling things by its Japanese name while they are having a conversation in English. There's an English translation for a reason, so us English speakers have an easier time discussing anime/manga without having to memorize Japanese words. Of course there are some Japanese words that don't get translated into English in an anime or manga like Zoro's Oni Giri and I am okay with that.

    It's kinda like if a person kept calling Pokemon by their Japanese name such as Dosidon instead of Rhyperior (had to look that up on Bulbapedia).
     
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    It depends on which format you watched it in. If I watch a show that is subbed, why would I use the names of (or even know about) the English translation?

    And vice versa, with Pokemon, most people in the West watch it in English that's why it's annoying if someone insists on using Japanese names that most people won't know.
     
    Gold warehouse said:
    It depends on which format you watched it in. If I watch a show that is subbed, why would I use the names of (or even know about) the English translation?

    And vice versa, with Pokemon, most people in the West watch it in English that's why it's annoying if someone insists on using Japanese names that most people won't know.
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    If you watch official subs from Viz then they should have most names in English. Of course there are some who watch fansubs so I guess that's why they're stuck using Japanese names.
     
    Gold warehouse said:
    If I watch a show that is subbed, why would I use the names of (or even know about) the English translation?
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    I agree with this. It would be annoying if they watched it dubbed and then used the Japanese names, but if they watched the show in Japanese, the English names would be unfamiliar to them. While they are in English so you could argue (as you did) that they're easier to remember, they're not if you only hear them once as opposed to hundreds of times in the show in Japanese. Then what you're asking is for them to put forth more effort and change how they naturally remember it because it might make you think a bit to remember what they're talking about.

    There are plenty of people on PC who, when games come out with new Pokemon, use the Japanese names for a long time because those were the only names released (or, they used to do this before Nintendo got good at releasing both names at the same time). It meant I had to Google every once in a while, but eventually they faded away from it just because enough people used the English names here.

    e: I know you used the example of One Piece but are you going to make this thread only about One Piece? Because I don't really watch anything where "If you watch official subs from Viz" would apply. Keep in mind that Viz is not the only company.
     
    Since I normally watch anime subbed, I tend to use the Japanese terms instead of the English translations.

    However, I'll acknowledge if someone uses the English terms instead, 'cause we don't watch/read from the same source. P:

    But yeah, purists tend to be annoying.
     
    Yes within PC you could expect that to happen in some sections. Same reason I often assume when I'm speaking to anime fans they'll know what I'm talking about if I mention a Japanese name. I don't really pay attention to where my subs come from tbh... but when I watch DBZ it subs genki dama as genki dama...

    If someone who watched it in English, then learns about the Japanese name, and insists other people who watched it in English also use the Japanese names... odds are they're a jackass, yes, but how often does that happen???
     
    If I can't remember the English term, I'll use the Japanese one instead, and vice versa. Or the one I like more.

    Most purists are just people who wants to impress others with their vast anime knowledge. Yes, it's annoying.
     
    Alfieri said:
    If you watch official subs from Viz then they should have most names in English. Of course there are some who watch fansubs so I guess that's why they're stuck using Japanese names.
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    A lot of people actually watch fansubs. Mostly because they usually come free of charge and in HD.

    (Also don't forget about us Japanese-Americans)
     
    To me it really depends on the term. Some terms are hard to translate, or their direct translation sounds awkward - it's only really those terms which id keep in japanese for a conversation.

    Even with fan subs I haven't seen a huge discrepancy between the more simple group names/places/etc. at least not enough that you'd be misunderstood.
     
    Well i've been in America for a while and have noticed that to. I have asked them before and they told me that the Japanese names sound much better than the engilish name. This especially popped up when I called Shingeki no Kyojin "Attack on Titan", they said the name was pathetic. I don't know why. I don't mind then name anyways.
     
    The fansubs of Pokémon, subtitled in English who use the Japanese names are the most obnoxious types of purists. Like, if you're going to subtitle it in a certain language, why not use the Pokémon and characters' names in THAT language? Any English-speaking fans are going to know Ash as Ash, not damned Satoshi. But whatever.

    To me, it just depends on how you watch it. My favorite anime is Blue Spring Ride/Ao Haru Ride but I think of it in the Japanese name because I watched it with subs on Crunchyroll, and it read as Ao Haru Ride like everywhere in the show. If I watched it in English, I would probably think of it as Blue Spring Ride before Ao Haru Ride.
     
    Because saying Oreimo is a lot faster than saying "There's no way my little sister can be this cute!" and shortening it to TNWMLSCBTC or calling it "My Sis" would not work. Oreimo is easy to recognize, "My Sis" would be harder to distinguish as the anime.

    Because people call series by their Japanese names, those Japanese names more widely known than the english translations of those names. That and people just got used to the Japanese names. Many One Piece fans who don't watch the dub, or carried on from the dub all the way to the current ep for the sub would be used to hearing Shichibukai, and therefore when they talk about it they're more likely to use Shichibukai. Shichibukai sounds cooler too imo so I guess the 'cool factor' is there too. I don't really think it is a big deal.

    I sometimes call AoT Shingeki no Kyojin because thats what I was used to calling it when it came out. Things just stick with people. More often than not I forget the English translations of certain series titles unless I can translate it myself lol.

    People use Nakama because it means so much more than just simply "friend" at least in the world of One Piece. It can mean friend, comrade, team-mate and so on. I'm not sure how Viz translated it, but to me it seems a little harder to describe in English as it has many meanings.

    Mochi said:
    The fansubs of Pokémon, subtitled in English who use the Japanese names are the most obnoxious types of purists. Like, if you're going to subtitle it in a certain language, why not use the Pokémon and characters' names in THAT language? Any English-speaking fans are going to know Ash as Ash, not damned Satoshi. But whatever.
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    To me, it's just annoying hearing Satoshi and then reading Ash in the subtitle. You're watching the Japanese version, not the English version. Just because it is subtitled in English doesn't mean the names of the main characters have to correspond to the English dub's names. Having the Pokemon names the English version is understandable, but using the dub's character names is annoying. At least to me. Also I guess it's just interesting learning the Japanese names of Pokemon and the meanings of those names. My Japanese friend had to learn the English names to talk to myself and my other friends when X and Y came out, I think it's fair I learn the Japanese ones lol
     
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    I'm one of those Japanese name-using people, but it's not like I force it on others like "Dude, don't say Tailed Beast Bomb, it's called damn bijuudama." I read more manga than watch anime, and the Shounens tend not to translate move names/nouns, so as a result I use those Japanese. If someone else watches the anime and uses the English names, it's like, Whatever. Names are names, people, and if you get across what you're trying to say it doesn't matter if you're saying shichibukai or Seven Warlords.
     
    Honestly, I don't much care whether people use the Japanese names or English names. Sure, it can get annoying with shows that I've watched in English first (like Pokemon, One Piece, Sailor Moon, etc) but I can pretty much figure it out. Heck, when Gen. 5/6 of Pokemon came out I was stuck using the Japanese names for a while because that was the only names for them at the time. I personally use the English names for anime I saw dubbed first, and Japanese for anime I saw subbed first. I think the majority of anime fans are like that.

    It's only when people push or force people to use the Japanese names that it gets frustrating. People who insist on throwing Japanese words like "OMG SUGOI KAWAII-DESU" into every freaking conversation are the seriously annoying ones. Or claim that Japan is superior to everything and hate on people that watch dubs.

    So, tl;dr, I think people are free to use whatever terms they wish when describing anime or characters, but they should respect others who are different from them.
     
    Satoshi Ookami said:
    English sux, Japanese FTW, I guess.
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    Even though I defended people using Japanese names I find this attitude kind of troubling. It's a language just like English, not some magical fairy language that belongs to a perfect culture. If people look at two cultures and say one is "better" than the other, excepting human rights violations, then there tends to be a troubling amount of fetishism in it.
     
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