Why do the English writers of the Anime use titles based on other titles?

[matt0044]

This may seem a bit personal but I've always hated most of the dub titles of the episodes of the BF and DP arc. The previous eight seasons had dub titles that seem decent to cringe-worthy and some episode titles were based on the Japanese titles such as "Pokemon! I Choose You!".

So I have to ask why the English writers use these dub titles rather than basing the titles of the Japanese Episode titles? I don't care if it's to appeal to kids and other viewers in Americans, I just like to know why bother and what if they did adapt more of the Japanese episode titles by rewording them a bit.

Feel free to reply however you want so long as no one starts anything.

 

[Iteru]

So I have to ask why the English writers use these dub titles rather than basing the titles of the Japanese Episode titles?

Let's see...

to appeal to kids

There we go!

Also, the raw titles are quite spoilerific.

 

[Ranger Jack Walker]

Because the Japanese titles are horribly uncreative and spoil everything.

 

[Rex Kamex]

To be fair, the dub of Dragon Ball Kai, which airs on Nicktoons and 4Kids's Toonzai, keep the Japanese titles. (Sure that dub didn't come until later, but... yeah.)

Personally, I don't like the puns for the English titles, but the Japanese titles are kinda lame to me. I actually prefer them because I actually have an idea of what's going on in an episode, but I still wish they were more creative without giving into puns...

 

[Rafia]

I think it's probably because the puns are easier to remember than those long Japanese titles like"OMG! pokemon blah blah?!! blah blah appears?!!"

 

[Rex Kamex]

There's less words to remember, but for me personally (although I'm way out of the target audience), seeing a recent title I have no idea what the episode is about and when I look at its Japanese title counterpart, I almost always know.

Personally I prefer the older dub titles like "The Bridge Bike Gang" to what we have now, but oh well...

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

to appeal to kids

Please explain...What part of them is appeal to kids?

 

[Iteru]

Please explain...What part of them is appeal to kids?

They're kooky and fun.

I'd say it is the (dreadful) puns and alliteration that is meant to be appealing.

 

[Pesky Bug]

Could be because the Japanese titles are brain-numbingly stupid, basically a one-sentance summary of the episode.

Like, seriously, if you hadn't seen DP170 and I told you it's called "An Elite Coverup" would you be able to guess what it's about?
Calling it "Bertha of the Elite Four! Hippowdon vs Torterra!" is just insulting my intelligence.

 

[MizuTaipu]

I really think the dub should ditch the punny titles and use simpler ones like "The Lonely Snover" and "The Drifting Snorunt" which they have used in the past.

 

[V Faction]

What a thing to complain about...

I hate to play the English card, but in most cases episode titles for shows in the U.S. either follow a pattern, style, or a creative and often punnish label. The titles here follow suit.

But really, how is it affecting your viewing experience? You seem to be complaining about a ton of little things in the forum.

 

[pikachu200]

Argh! Similar to the titles in SMG2! HOW DOES EPISODE NAME MATTER TO ACTUAL EPISODE!? But yes its just to appeal to kids who seem to have smalle minds or something

 

[Ampharos King]

The targeted demographic is for small children. Translating the original episode titles would be way too over their heads.

There were certain cases where the title of the episode is kept for the dub (i.e. "The Lonely Snover.") However, those titles were rather simplistic compared to what is usually provided.

As for the dub, it is much easier to create a title based on a popular pun/pop culture reference/song.

Regardless of how the episode is named, it should not really affect the viewing experience.

 

[matt0044]

It's not that the episode titles ruin the viewing experience for me (there are other things that ruin it for me). I just wanted your thoughts on this matter.

 

[#Daisuke#]

I don't see how this is even worth complaining about. At least the dub titles don't spoil everything that happens in the episode.

That aside, the punny episode titles give me a good chuckle once in a while.

 

[Kamex]

They're catchier and more appealing than the horribly long and unimaginative Japanese titles. Although, the English titles these days aren't as good as they were before IMO.

That said, the title doesn't really matter to me that much. My viewing experience is based on the episode itself.

 

[Adamant]

I think it's probably because the puns are easier to remember than those long Japanese titles like"OMG! pokemon blah blah?!! blah blah appears?!!"

How is it easier to remember some random pun that could relate to a dozen different episodes than a title that actual describes what the episode is about?

I see people referring to English dub titles here all the time, and if they just namedrop a title and nothing else, it's almost impossible to know what the hell they're talking about because the title is so vague.

 

[Dogasu]

I obviously fall into the camp that prefers the more descriptive Japanese titles. When you have a franchise that's been running as long as this one has, having titles that actually tell you what the episode is crucial.

Besides, you guys act like some of the dub titles don't spoil things all the time either. "Dressed for Jess Success," for example, pretty much spoils the outcome of the Contest before it even has a chance to start.

 

[Hyatt]

I'm with Dogasu, however, the easiest way for me to identify an episode (at least in DP) is by number. Plus I can use this method for looking up episodes in Bulbapedia. Saying DP40 is easier than saying either of the episode titles.

 

[Dogasu]

See, the episode numbers mean almost nothing to me. Whenever people "number drop" an episode number, I very rarely know what the hell they're actually talking about.