Naming preference for translated works

[HellCat]

This thread is for the discussion of the Wiki's policy towards 'localised' names. Often when a show from one country (usually Japan) is brought to another, names and terminology are changed. Sometimes in subtle ways, sometimes in much bolder ways. This discussion is concerned with determing which form of names the Wiki should take preference to as the accepted standard.


I reference it alot but I'll start by referencing the original Wikipedia's standards on the matter (honestly, some of their policies are just logical. You don't always have to reinvent the wheel).
Wikipedia usually gives preference to the official localised names of the primary language. So, let's take a good example of this issue with Mr Satan of DBZ fame. For religious reasons, his official name in the English language is Hercule. So logically Hercule should be given preference....However!

This is where we enter the meat of the problem. The character's original name is Mr Satan, as deemed by the original creator. Do we ignore those facts simply because later on the name was deemed too offensive for our native countries?

[The Huntsman]

I don’t think anybody browsing the Toon Zone Animation Wiki is going to be offended by the usage of “Mr. Satan”. Really, anything that is appropriate to mention on these very forums are appropriate to mention on the Toon Zone Animation Wiki, and as far as I can tell, there haven’t been any objections when somebody mentioned the character’s name. However, in regards to names, I believe that we should probably go with whatever names are “official” in the English dubs. I’m pretty sure that the vast majority of our users are more familiar with the English dubs and it would likely make things easier for everybody. That said, their original names should be noted where applicable and individuals who search the wiki using the original names should be redirected to the correct pages.

Still… What would happen if there are more than one dub, and one is different than the other?

[HellCat]

Care to list some examples?

[The Huntsman]

Care to list some examples?

I don’t know. I thought Jacob T. Paschal mentioned something like that, but looking back, I misread his remarks. However, there have been numerous anime that have been dubbed by multiple companies, so some conflictions are bound to exist. If not, feel free to disregard what I’ve said; I was just trying to prepare for such a scenario.

[chdr]

Care to list some examples?

Maybe 4Kids and Funi One Piece?

[HellCat]

Transformers Wiki (which I should mention is far more lighthearted than others) often gives mentions of a bad official English dub of some of the Japanese only series which chose to oddly rename some characters (eg Spike becomes Sparkle, Blaster becomes Billy, Blurr becomes Wally, etc). Usually these references are only kept at the start of the article where they list alternate international names (being a toy franchise, sometimes copyright and such means names can't be used elsewhere).

A similar example- a few years ago, Bandai produced a badly translated dub of the Gundam movie trilogy. Apparently names weren't really changed but a bunch of nonsense was added to the script. It's since been quietly forgotten and replaced with accurate subtitles for the Japanese audio.

[GWOtaku]

I think what we should keep in mind is that we're basically serving an English-speaking audience that's been exposed to localized stuff, so I tend to agree with going along with localization. I don't think doing that has to be inconsistent with acknowledging the creator's intent, so long as we acknowledge the original name or title up front. Using localization is only an issue and an affront to the original Japanese if we make like 4Kids and act like it doesn't exist.

Any counter arguments?

[HellCat]

I see your point but in a way if we're going based on the localised versions, it's like we're triumphing them. I mean, does it end with names or would an article concerning Koby from One Piece legitametly refer to the awful hammer gun edit?

[J'onn J'onzz]

I believe that Wikipedia lists the original name throughout most of the article, and then uses the dub name in parentheses in the character listing when the name is first mentioned? I think that's what we should do, it's a pretty smart idea. It helps dub-viewers know who various characters are, but preserves the original show's character names.