Ever wondered why these sound so weird? That’s why.
Have you ever wondered why anime titles are so weird? For example, the titles of light novel adaptations seem to be always incredibly long these days. In other cases, titles can be misleading or even outright incomprehensible.
Sometimes, though, this happens because the English title has nothing to do with the original one — here are some examples.
Erased
This is, to many anime fans, the worst possible title translation they can think of. It’s short and memorable, but it misses out on practically everything that made the original name so cool.
The Japanese name of Erased (Boku dake ga Inai Machi) roughly translates to “the town where only I am missing” — a far more poetic title than the official licensed one.
It seems that sometimes licensors go for titles that evoke more emotions in the viewers. Saga of Tanya the Evil (Youjo Senki) is one of these cases, and the licensed title is also very descriptive.
Tanya is the protagonist, and she’s evil. The original, though, translates to “little girl’s military chronicle.” Actually, perhaps it’s better to leave this one with the current name — the direct translation is too weird to be a title in English.
Case Closed
This is actually a somewhat unique case (pun not intended). Case Closed (Meitantei Conan) is used about as much as Detective Conan — the literal translation of the name — and is not a bad title by itself.
Even dedicated fans of the anime don’t really mind it, though the history behind that translation is somewhat silly. Apparently, the licensors didn’t want the viewers to mix up the anime with… Conan The Barbarian.
My Dress-Up Darling
It’s somewhat sad that this name caught up so much. That said, the original here is a mouthful — although manga fans often refer to My Dress-Up Darling (Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru) as KiseKoi.
“Kise” part comes from “kisekoi ningyou”, which is the actual reading of the kanji used to write “Bisque Doll.” It does mean “dress-up doll,” yes — but the full translation of the title would be “this dress-up doll fell in love,” which gives way more information about what the series is actually about.
Link Click
It can be debated whether Link Click (Shiguang Dailiren) is an anime or not, but donghua (Chinese anime) is close enough that it should count.
And in the case of Link Click, the translated title is certainly easy to remember and pronounced, but it also loses a lot of coolness when you realize what the original means. It’s along the lines of “Agents of Time,” which is way more fitting in this case.
Wagnaria!!
This is an example where the English title needlessly complicates things for virtually no reason. Wagnaria!! (Working!!) isn’t even a liberal translation — it’s not a word in the English language at all! It refers to the restaurant where things take place, so the motivation is fairly easy to understand.
However, the original title was already a word — and the translated one isn’t. No wonder many English-speaking fans refer to it by its Japanese name — in this case, the original and the translation are virtually switched.
Glitter Force
This might be the most bizarre localization idea of all time. The PreCure franchise is iconic in Japan — it has over 20 installments at this point. The licensor for the first series — Pretty Cure (Futari wa Precure) — already did a not-so-great translation job with de-acronymizing the franchise name.
That’s not even the worst part, though. Glitter Force (Smile Precure!) is an actual name for the English dub of one of the later installments, and it also heavily edits the plot and the dialogue. Oh, and there also is Glitter Force Doki Doki (Dokidoki! Precure) — and no, it’s not in the same continuity, but the licensors didn’t seem to care.
Samurai Harem
Well, it’s certainly a descriptive name, if nothing else. Samurai Harem (Asu no Yoichi!) is a fairly unremarkable harem series from the late 00s that is forgotten by many these days. Its main claim to fame these days is its translated name, which is a complete failure of a translation.
It describes the anime well (the protagonist is a samurai, and the series is a harem), but also misses out on the entire idea. The original name means “Yoichi of tomorrow” — the main guy doesn’t know what he wants to do in the future and how his life will go.
Tonikawa
Technically, the Tonikawa part of the licensed name for TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You (Tonikaku Kawaii) is a shortcut for the original name — that’s what people commonly use when referring to the manga and anime. However, the original name refers to how cute the female protagonist is (in the MC’s eyes).
The translated name makes sense, though. Moon and other topics related to space come up in the anime quite a lot, so this is a case where the translated title is actually good.
Ever wondered why these sound so weird? That’s why.
Have you ever wondered why anime titles are so weird? For example, the titles of light novel adaptations seem to be always incredibly long these days. In other cases, titles can be misleading or even outright incomprehensible.
Sometimes, though, this happens because the English title has nothing to do with the original one — here are some examples.
Erased
This is, to many anime fans, the worst possible title translation they can think of. It’s short and memorable, but it misses out on practically everything that made the original name so cool.
The Japanese name of Erased (Boku dake ga Inai Machi) roughly translates to “the town where only I am missing” — a far more poetic title than the official licensed one.
It seems that sometimes licensors go for titles that evoke more emotions in the viewers. Saga of Tanya the Evil (Youjo Senki) is one of these cases, and the licensed title is also very descriptive.
Tanya is the protagonist, and she’s evil. The original, though, translates to “little girl’s military chronicle.” Actually, perhaps it’s better to leave this one with the current name — the direct translation is too weird to be a title in English.
Case Closed
This is actually a somewhat unique case (pun not intended). Case Closed (Meitantei Conan) is used about as much as Detective Conan — the literal translation of the name — and is not a bad title by itself.
Even dedicated fans of the anime don’t really mind it, though the history behind that translation is somewhat silly. Apparently, the licensors didn’t want the viewers to mix up the anime with… Conan The Barbarian.
My Dress-Up Darling
It’s somewhat sad that this name caught up so much. That said, the original here is a mouthful — although manga fans often refer to My Dress-Up Darling (Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru) as KiseKoi.
“Kise” part comes from “kisekoi ningyou”, which is the actual reading of the kanji used to write “Bisque Doll.” It does mean “dress-up doll,” yes — but the full translation of the title would be “this dress-up doll fell in love,” which gives way more information about what the series is actually about.
Link Click
It can be debated whether Link Click (Shiguang Dailiren) is an anime or not, but donghua (Chinese anime) is close enough that it should count.
And in the case of Link Click, the translated title is certainly easy to remember and pronounced, but it also loses a lot of coolness when you realize what the original means. It’s along the lines of “Agents of Time,” which is way more fitting in this case.
Wagnaria!!
This is an example where the English title needlessly complicates things for virtually no reason. Wagnaria!! (Working!!) isn’t even a liberal translation — it’s not a word in the English language at all! It refers to the restaurant where things take place, so the motivation is fairly easy to understand.
However, the original title was already a word — and the translated one isn’t. No wonder many English-speaking fans refer to it by its Japanese name — in this case, the original and the translation are virtually switched.
Glitter Force
This might be the most bizarre localization idea of all time. The PreCure franchise is iconic in Japan — it has over 20 installments at this point. The licensor for the first series — Pretty Cure (Futari wa Precure) — already did a not-so-great translation job with de-acronymizing the franchise name.
That’s not even the worst part, though. Glitter Force (Smile Precure!) is an actual name for the English dub of one of the later installments, and it also heavily edits the plot and the dialogue. Oh, and there also is Glitter Force Doki Doki (Dokidoki! Precure) — and no, it’s not in the same continuity, but the licensors didn’t seem to care.
Samurai Harem
Well, it’s certainly a descriptive name, if nothing else. Samurai Harem (Asu no Yoichi!) is a fairly unremarkable harem series from the late 00s that is forgotten by many these days. Its main claim to fame these days is its translated name, which is a complete failure of a translation.
It describes the anime well (the protagonist is a samurai, and the series is a harem), but also misses out on the entire idea. The original name means “Yoichi of tomorrow” — the main guy doesn’t know what he wants to do in the future and how his life will go.
Tonikawa
Technically, the Tonikawa part of the licensed name for TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You (Tonikaku Kawaii) is a shortcut for the original name — that’s what people commonly use when referring to the manga and anime. However, the original name refers to how cute the female protagonist is (in the MC’s eyes).
The translated name makes sense, though. Moon and other topics related to space come up in the anime quite a lot, so this is a case where the translated title is actually good.
