So I’ve come across this anime https://myanimelist.net/anime/41025/Fumetsu_no_Anata_e and I was a little confused because its translation is To your eternity. Why is it 不滅のあなたへ and not あなたの不滅へ?
The literal translation, ‘To The Immortal You’, sounds awkward in English because we use modifiers on pronouns way less, so the name of the anime was changed in English somewhat.
That’s not the translation. It’s just the English name.
Same as how ぼくだけがいない街 does not literally translate to ‘Erased’.
The literal translation is odd and feels stiff in English, so they used a slightly different name with a similar idea. This happens a lot in translation, and you should never assume that *any* sentence in Japanese can be mapped directly onto the English translation piecemeal, let alone titles which rely upon poetic features (the part of language *least* capable of translation).
Which raises the point that confused me most; why are you trying to change the Japanese title based on (what you presumed to be) the English translation, and not the other way around? Surely if you have an objection to the translation, that means the *English* should be changed. Trying that first might have given you a hint as to why it turned out this way.
TL;DR: If the title is Japanese, judge the English by the Japanese title, not the other way around.
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The literal translation, ‘To The Immortal You’, sounds awkward in English because we use modifiers on pronouns way less, so the name of the anime was changed in English somewhat.
That’s not the translation. It’s just the English name.
Same as how ぼくだけがいない街 does not literally translate to ‘Erased’.
The literal translation is odd and feels stiff in English, so they used a slightly different name with a similar idea. This happens a lot in translation, and you should never assume that *any* sentence in Japanese can be mapped directly onto the English translation piecemeal, let alone titles which rely upon poetic features (the part of language *least* capable of translation).
Which raises the point that confused me most; why are you trying to change the Japanese title based on (what you presumed to be) the English translation, and not the other way around? Surely if you have an objection to the translation, that means the *English* should be changed. Trying that first might have given you a hint as to why it turned out this way.
TL;DR: If the title is Japanese, judge the English by the Japanese title, not the other way around.