Umm..Was this really needed?

[Rentorar]

I know that there are so many pointless renames of either Pokemon or human characters, too many to name but this one really stumps me, no scratch that. There are two that I just don't get.

1. Eureka was renamed Bonnie.
2. Bel was renamed Bianca.

Bel's name could have simply been edited to be spelled as Belle. Americans would identify with that much better, however we ended up getting a new name for her instead.

As for Eureka I can't really say much on this. It was a dumb move to rename her in my opinion.

 

[Alola]

I agree with the Bel renaming. It really bothered me initially, but Bianca soon grew on me. I accept either names, and think both fit her.

I think TCPi found it too outlandish to have a main character named EUREKA!

Oh. The whole Emolga thing was completely unnecessary. Not only is it a one letter difference, but they have kept every previous Pika-clone name the same as well as Dedenne. Emonga sounds much better and fitting imo.

 

[97SaturnSL1]

I know that there are so many pointless renames of either Pokemon or human characters, too many to name but this one really stumps me, no scratch that. There are two that I just don't get.

1. Eureka was renamed Bonnie.
2. Bel was renamed Bianca.

Bel's name could have simply been edited to be spelled as Belle. Americans would identify with that much better, however we ended up getting a new name for her instead.

As for Eureka I can't really say much on this. It was a dumb move to rename her in my opinion.

With Eureka, most things that come to most Americans minds are the phrase Eureka as in discovering something or an idea or the vacuum cleaner company

for bianca, if she was called Belle, i would have expected to have a huge beast pokemon as one of her pokemon and having another pokemon trainer named Gaston trying to win her affection. Or that she only speaks with a thick SOuthern accent

 

[garrison-san]

Bianca still fit in with the whole black and white theme, so the change honestly never bothered me.

Oh. The whole Emolga thing was completely unnecessary. Not only is it a one letter difference, but they have kept every previous Pika-clone name the same as well as Dedenne. Emonga sounds much better and fitting imo.

Not surprising - I can see why a pokemon with the word "mong" embedded in its name was going to be deemed problematic in English. Mind you, the same people did go and name a pokemon from the same generation "Cofagrigus", but at least the pronunciation managed to take the emphasis (somewhat) off it.

 

[Alola]

Bianca still fit in with the whole black and white theme, so the change honestly never bothered me.

Oh. The whole Emolga thing was completely unnecessary. Not only is it a one letter difference, but they have kept every previous Pika-clone name the same as well as Dedenne. Emonga sounds much better and fitting imo.

Not surprising - I can see why a pokemon with the word "mong" embedded in its name was going to be deemed problematic in English. Mind you, the same people did go and name a pokemon from the same generation "Cofagrigus", but at least the pronunciation managed to take the emphasis (somewhat) off it.

I didn't even know of that word until you pointed it out. I highyl doubt people would have largely noticed. Especially with your example of Cofagrigus.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Look, this is a heresy among anime fans, but I'm going to say it anyway - good translation doesn't just mean literal translation. "Eureka" will first and always remind western viewers of "I have it!" and jumping naked out of bathtubs.

EDIT: While I think about it, English does NOT equal America. It equals English speakers

 

[Dogasu]

good translation doesn't just mean literal translation

On the other hand, literal translation doesn't always mean "bad translation," either. You can have a good translation that flows well without renaming half the characters because AMURR'KA.

Especially with your example of Cofagrigus.

I noticed the slur in that one the second I saw it. I'm still kind of shocked that that name actually got approved.

 

[matt0044]

Wait... why is this in the Anime section?

 

[SlimeStack]

Yeah this isn't really an anime thing. They just use the names that the games use.

Though I will say that both Bel/Bianca and Eureka/Bonnie carry the same meanings (white and types of lemon respectively), so it's seemingly a case of just making them sound better or something. It would be a bigger offender if the meaning was dramatically changed or something.

And while we're on the subject of needless changes from Japanese... I've always been pretty annoyed that I, a non-American, have always had to suffer from everything being Americanised when it comes to Japanese products. Thank God companies like Funimation and VizMedia mostly understand that we like Japanese stuff for what it is. It doesn't need to pretend it was made in America.

 

[Dogasu]

While a lot of the name changes being talked about here are TPCI just following what the games do, unnecessarily changing names is something that happens with non-game stuff too. Langley gets changed to Georgia, Cabernet gets changed to Burgundy, Barry got changed to Sherman, Drago gets changed to Morana, Mondo gets changed to Morgan, Holly gets changed to Gemma, etc. etc. etc.

 

[Garren]

At the very least, Bonnie still keeps the "lemon" theme going like Eureka did since there's the Bonnie Brae Lemon.

 

[Alola]

On the other hand, literal translation doesn't always mean "bad translation," either. You can have a good translation that flows well without renaming half the characters because AMURR'KA.

Especially with your example of Cofagrigus.

I noticed the slur in that one the second I saw it. I'm still kind of shocked that that name actually got approved.

Oh I noticed the Cofagrigus one immediately as well.

I was referring to the the "mong" in Emonga, with my whole point being that they changed the Emonga to Emolga, but then create Cofagrigus.

 

[SlimeStack]

While a lot of the name changes being talked about here are TPCI just following what the games do, unnecessarily changing names is something that happens with non-game stuff too. Langley gets changed to Georgia, Cabernet gets changed to Burgundy, Barry got changed to Sherman, Drago gets changed to Morana, Mondo gets changed to Morgan, Holly gets changed to Gemma, etc. etc. etc.

Oh, I know that. TPCi isn't exactly better or anything, I was just saying.

 

[Bland Mango]

There's nothing wrong with Westernising the names for a western audience for Christs sake.

Some people still complain that Blue is called Blue and not Green.

 

[SlimeStack]

There's nothing wrong with Westernising the names for a western audience for Christs sake.

Some people still complain that Blue is called Blue and not Green.

Blue's name has a reason behind it though. It was changed to reflect the names of the games. Changing a Japanese name like Satoshi or Musashi to Ash or Jessie is also done in the name of westernisation. Changing Holly to Gemma (one of Dogasu's examples) on the other hand is pointless. It hasn't been westernised; both names are western. It's just pointless, which is what the original poster complained about.

 

[Dogasu]

There's nothing wrong with Westernising the names for a western audience for Christs sake.

There's nothing wrong with keeping the Japanese names as-is either.

 

[King Fissamé]

I don't mind Serena's name being changed but Eureka was a more fitting name for Bonnie since she is Clemont's sister, an inventor. Anyways I don't mind her name either

 

[Beth Pavell]

Clemont is an inventor, Bonnie isn't. My parents didn't name my brother Bookworm

 

[LavenderTownGhost]

I didn't like the Bel name change....besides, "Bianca" is the name of the girl in the fifth movie.

I just thought she looked more like a Bel. Haha.

 

[matt0044]

Clemont is an inventor, Bonnie isn't. My parents didn't name my brother Bookworm

You don't live in the Pokemon world.

Though isn't a topic like this better suited some place else since this isn't just about the Anime?