Re: Bleach Episode....

On Sat, 8 Sep 2007 09:59:07 -0600, The Eternal Lost Lurker wrote:

It looks like the names you're using come from one of the fansubs. You
may
want to check out the following threads for the background on the names
that I prefer to transliterate as Urquiola, Grimjaw, Yammy,

Um, Phil? "Grimmjow" is official. As in, that's how Kubo Tite spells it.

Grimmjow is not official nor is it the way Kubo Tite spells it. In one of
the chapter headings, it is written in stylized form as Grimm Jow but never
Grimmjow. That's why I referenced the "Bleach 138 - back to the manga
story-line - no spoilers" where the romanization of his name is discussed
in detail.

In anime and manga, English names and words are not always transliterated
correctly or consistently. Even when a mangaka is consistent with his or
her transliteration, the official English licensee is not bound by it
unless it's a condition of the license. For example, in "D.Gray-man",
Hoshino Katsura has a character アレイスター・クロウリー. If you look the katakana up
in a Japanese encyclopedia, you'll find that this spells Aleister Crowley:

http://www7.ocn.ne.jp/~elfindog/Crowley.htm

Thus, when Japanese speakers read "D.Gray-man", those who are culturally
astute think of Aleister Crowley, the British occultist. Nevertheless,
Hoshino romanizes the character's name as Arystar Krory - a spelling that
would not resonate with English speakers who are familiar with the British
occultist.

The question is does the English language licensee go with the romanization
of the mangaka or does the English language licensee follow the intent of
the mangaka - in this case, Hoshino intended Aleister Crowley to be the
character's namesake. IMHO, the English language licensee should use the
spelling that provides the allusion the mangaka intended - Aleister Crowley
- rather than the spelling of Arystar Krory. The latter not only does not
provide the cultural allusion the mangaka intended but it also looks
awkward to an English speaker. Additionally, when the anime comes out, I
would pity the poor English speaking voice actors as they struggle not to
twist their tongues over Arystar Krory.

Hoshino knows the correct spelling of Aleister Crowley but chose to write
it differently to cater to Japanese readers. Arystar Krory is close to the
Japanese katakana and close to how the average Japanese not fluent in
English would pronounce Aleister Crowley. Native speakers of English, by
and large, could care less what the katakana was. Moreover, English
speakers find it easier to say Aleister Crowley rathe than Arystar Krory.

The bottom line is that the romanization which is provided for Japanese
readers is not necessarily the best romanization for English speakers. To
get back to the topic at hand, this was my assessment in determining how to
transliterate Grimjaw's name for English speakers. I give my rationale in
the thread I referred to earlier.

Phil Yff
.

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