There is a famous sci-fi TV series called Yínhé Fēilóng which means “Milky Way Flying Dragon.” It’s part of a group of TV series called “Xīngjiàn Qíháng Jì” which roughly means “Tales of Strange Starship Journeys.”
What’s it about? Well. there is a starship, and the captain’s name is Ràng-Lǚkè Píkǎ’ěr. In addition to the captain himself, there are other characters, such as:
Bǎikē (who is a rénxíng jīqìrén, which roughly means “human-like machine person”)
Qiáodí Lāfújí (my favorite character)
Wò’ěrfū (who is a kèlíngòng)
Wéisīlì Kēluòxià (by sheer coincidence, Wéisīlì is also the name of the most famous character from original Chinese-language science fiction),
Díānnà Tèluòyī (who is half bèitǎrén)
Bèifúlì Kēluòxià
Wēilián Ruìkè
If you don’t recognize this TV show, take a look at one of the covers of the Taiwanese DVD set:
This is a big issue when English speakers and Chinese speakers interact with each other. The English titles and Chinese titles are often so different that it can be difficult to determine if we are talking about the same movie/TV show/book/etc.
Ok, there are some cases which are quite straightforward, such as the movie Měiguó Duìzhǎng, which literally means “Captain United States.” And it wasn’t too hard for me to figure out that Fùchóuzhě Liánméng (Avengers’ Union) is The Avengers. But without a reference, such as a movie poster, it’s difficult to make the connection between Biànxíng Jīngāng (Shape-Changing Hard Metal) and Transformers.
Not that things are any easier going in the other direction. Taiwanese people always stare at me when I explain that the most common title for Shéndiāo Xiálǚ (“Divine Eagle Gallant Companion,” alternatively “The Giant Eagle and Its Companion”) in English is Return of the Condor Heroes. And then there is Tiānlóngbābù which is often called Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils because that title is practically impossible to translate into English. An alternative English title, “The Eight Levels of the Heavenly Dragon” is more literal but misses the point, and yet another English title, “Dragon Oath,” demonstrates that the translator pretty much gave up on trying to translate the original title and instead tried to create a title which was appropriate for the work being translated.
Which raises the question … how are various manga and manhwa titles translated into Chinese? The answer is, the Chinese titles for various manga and manhwa are often as close to the Japanese/Korean/English title as Yínhé Fēilóng is to Star Trek: Next Generation, or Lǜ Yě Xiān Zōng (Traces of the Wild Green Celestial) is to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
The cover of a Taiwanese manhua adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
I think some Chinese manga/manhwa titles are an improvement … and some make me groan.
So I have put together a collection of Chinese titles of various manga/manhwa with a literal English translation, and another list of the official English titles. And I’ve jumbled the order. I will post the correct correlations between the Chinese titles and the official English titles when I have time. Until then, have fun matching them up yourself.
Chinese Titles / Literal English
Huǒyǐng Rěnzhě (Fire-Shadow Ninja)
Huàn Hǎi Qí Qíng (Fantastic Sea Strange Happenings)
Wǒ de Yěmán Wángfēi (My Uncivilized Royal Consort)
Hánghǎi Wàng (Seafaring King)
Rényú Liànrén (Merman Lover)
Fàngkè hòu Bǎojiànshì (After Class Nurse’s Office)
Xiāngjù yī Kè (Together for a Moment)
Quǎnyèchà ([no translation])
Yāojing de Wěiba (Tail of the Evil Spirit)
Tōutōu Àizhe Nǐ (Secretly Loving You)
Měi Shàonǚ Zhànshì (Beautiful Maiden Warrior)
Wǒmen de Cúnzài (Our Existence)
Měiwèi Dà Tiǎozhàn (Great Delicious Challenge)
Juéduì Bǐshì (Absolute Bishi)
Sǐshén (Death Gods)
Yǐn zhī Wàng (King of Secrets)
Zhànlì Shājī (Trembling Intent to Kill)
Bǎo Mǎ Wángzǐ (Precious Horse Prince)
Huálì de Tiǎozhàn (Glamorous Challenge)
Wǒ hé Tā de XXX (My and Her XXX)
Měishí Lièrén (Gourmet Hunter)
Huā Yàng Rénshēng (Flower-style Life)
Mó Kǎ Shàonǚ Yīng (Demon Card Maiden Cherry)
Pósuōluó (I ought to put this as [no translation], but just for kicks, I will translate this as ‘Whirling Gauze’)
Official English Titles
7Seeds
Absolute Boyfriend
Afterschool Nightmare
Banana Fish
Basara
Bleach
Evyione: Ocean Fantasy
Fairy Tail
Flower of Life
Goong
Hana-Kimi
Inuyasha
Maison Ikkoku
Nabari no Ou
Naruto
Oishinbo
One Piece
Princess Knight
Sailor Moon
Skip Beat
Toriko
Your and My Secret
UPDATE: The answers are posted in the comment below.
Next Time: Spirit Sword (novel)
Sara K. thinks it is wonderful that this post is going live on her birthday.
Estara says
October 2, 2012 at 3:46 pmA Happy and Healthy Birthday then! And let me start off with the obvious ones
Your and My Secret = Wǒ hé Tā de XXX (My and Her XXX)
Absolute Boyfriend = Juéduì Bǐshì (Absolute Bishi)
Flower of Life = Huā Yàng Rénshēng (Flower-style Life)
Toriko = Měishí Lièrén (Gourmet Hunter)
Oishinbo = Měiwèi Dà Tiǎozhàn (Great Delicious Challenge)
now for my guesses
Evyione: Ocean Fantasy = Rényú Liànrén (Merman Lover)
Afterschool Nightmare = Fàngkè hòu Bǎojiànshì (After Class Nurse’s Office)
Skip Beat = Huálì de Tiǎozhàn (Glamorous Challenge)
Princess Knight = Bǎo Mǎ Wángzǐ (Precious Horse Prince)
Goong = Wǒ de Yěmán Wángfēi (My Uncivilized Royal Consort)
Basara = Pósuōluó
I can’t decide with One Piece
Huàn Hǎi Qí Qíng (Fantastic Sea Strange Happenings)
or
Hánghǎi Wàng (Seafaring King)
Also, it was a lot of fun trying to find out about Ràng-Lǚkè Píkǎ’ěr. And I have always wondered why a Chinese comic and anime (which is how I met that story) has Condors in the title. Eagle makes much more sense.
Sara K. says
October 5, 2012 at 3:18 amWell, all of your guesses were correct.
It’s a pity there are no Mandarin dubs of Star Trek – I think it’d be fun to hear the characters speaking in Mandarin. Of course, I could get a similar effect by watching it with Chinese subtitles and putting the sound on mute. Then again, I might not need to mute the sound – I saw part of one of the Harry Potter movies with Chinese subs, and read the subtitles instead of listening to the actors. Whenever I think of that section of the movie, I think of the characters as speaking in Mandarin, not English. Weird.
JRB says
October 2, 2012 at 4:55 pmA couple of those are closer to the original Japanese than the English title is (My and Her XXX, After Class Nurse’s Office), but some sound like a lot more fun in Chinese. I’d love to see a manga that lives up to the title “Trembling Intent to Kill” or “Demon Card Maiden Cherry”. :)
Sara K. says
October 5, 2012 at 3:19 amI would say “Trembling Intent to Kill” lives up to the title. I was always more interested in the violence than the Ash/Eiji relationship in that manga…
CJ says
October 2, 2012 at 5:11 pmLol, we should make a game out of this to see who gets the most correct! I think a few were easy, but then I just started random mass guessing. I can’t even imagine what “Merman Lover” is supposed to be.
7Seeds (Death Gods)
Absolute Boyfriend (Aboslute Bishi)
Afterschool Nightmare (After Class Nurse’s Office)
Banana Fish (I can’t even imagine, let’s say the untranslated one)
Basara (Trembling Intent to Kill)
Bleach (Whirling Gauze)
Evyione: Ocean Fantasy (Fantastic Sea Strange Happenings)
Fairy Tail (Tail of an Evil Spirit)
Flower of Life (Flower-style Life)
Goong (My Uncivilized Royal Consort)
Inuyasha (Demon Card Maiden Cherry)
Maison Ikkoku (Our Existence)
Nabari no Ou (Fire-Shadow Ninja)
Naruto (Merman Lover)
Oishinbo (Great Delicious Challenge)
One Piece (Precious Horse Prince)
Princess Knight (Beautiful Maiden Warrior)
Sailor Moon (Glamorous Challenge)
Skip Beat (Together for a Moment)
Toriko (Gourmet Hunter)
Your and My Secret (My and Her XXX)
Seriously, I can’t wait to find out the answers to these!
Sara K. says
October 5, 2012 at 3:21 amWell, you were the only person to get Fairy Tail right. And I thought that was an easy one … oh well.
Travis says
October 3, 2012 at 4:37 amHuǒyǐng Rěnzhě (Fire-Shadow Ninja) – Naruto
Huàn Hǎi Qí Qíng (Fantastic Sea Strange Happenings) – Fairy Tail
Wǒ de Yěmán Wángfēi (My Uncivilized Royal Consort) – Goong
Hánghǎi Wàng (Seafaring King) – One Piece
Rényú Liànrén (Merman Lover) – Evyione: Ocean Fantasy
Fàngkè hòu Bǎojiànshì (After Class Nurse’s Office) – Afterschool Nightmare
Xiāngjù yī Kè (Together for a Moment) – ???
Quǎnyèchà ([no translation]) – 7Seeds
Yāojing de Wěiba (Tail of the Evil Spirit) – Inuyasha
Tōutōu Àizhe Nǐ (Secretly Loving You) – Maison Ikkoku
Měi Shàonǚ Zhànshì (Beautiful Maiden Warrior) – Sailor Moon
Wǒmen de Cúnzài (Our Existence) – We Were There
Měiwèi Dà Tiǎozhàn (Great Delicious Challenge) – Oishinbo
Juéduì Bǐshì (Absolute Bishi) – Absolute Boyfriend
Sǐshén (Death Gods) – Bleach
Yǐn zhī Wàng (King of Secrets) – Nabari no Ou
Zhànlì Shājī (Trembling Intent to Kill) – Banana Fish
Bǎo Mǎ Wángzǐ (Precious Horse Prince) – Princess Knight
Huálì de Tiǎozhàn (Glamorous Challenge) – Skip Beat
Wǒ hé Tā de XXX (My and Her XXX) – Your and My Secret
Měishí Lièrén (Gourmet Hunter) – Toriko
Huā Yàng Rénshēng (Flower-style Life) – Flower of Life
Mó Kǎ Shàonǚ Yīng (Demon Card Maiden Cherry) – Card Captor Sakura
Pósuōluó (I ought to put this as [no translation], but just for kicks, I will translate this as ‘Whirling Gauze’) – Basara
You have more Chinese titles than English ones, so I took some blind guesses (though I will be extremely surprised if my guess of Card Captor Sakura is not correct). There were a couple where I was torn, like Toriko and Oishinbo, because either title seemed like it could fit. Same with Evyione, One Piece, and Fairy Tale, which are all about the sea. (Though Luffy wants to be the pirate king, so I decided seafaring king was best for him, and couldn’t imagine a shounen series being called Merman Lover, so that sorted the other two.)
Between stuff being similar to the Japanese title or obviously having some connection to the content (death gods, ninjas, etc), it was easy to match quite a few, but then I had to start guessing.
Sara K. says
October 5, 2012 at 3:23 amOverall, you did quite well. I wonder if one could make a game of matching Japanese + Literal English and Official English titles (though English-speaking manga fans are generally more familiar with Japanese titles, so it might be harder to stump people).
Melinda Beasi says
October 3, 2012 at 7:49 amI hope you had a lovely birthday, Sara! Nice to see people jumping in to make guesses. :)
Sara K. says
October 3, 2012 at 10:50 amWhoops, I somehow left Hana-Kimi off the list … fixed that (I would have done that earlier, but my internet access had been extremely restricted for the past few days).
Answers will be posted sometime on Friday (which might be Thursday in some parts of the world).
Sara K. says
October 5, 2012 at 3:13 amAnd … here are the answers:
Huǒyǐng Rěnzhě (Fire-Shadow Ninja) – NARUTO
Huàn Hǎi Qí Qíng (Fantastic Sea Strange Happenings) – 7SEEDS
Wǒ de Yěmán Wángfēi (My Uncivilized Royal Consort) – GOONG
Hánghǎi Wàng (Seafaring King) – ONE PIECE
Rényú Liànrén (Merman Lover) – EVYIONE: OCEAN FANTASY
Fàngkè hòu Bǎojiànshì (After Class Nurse’s Office) – AFTERSCHOOL NIGHTMARE
Xiāngjù yī Kè (Together for a Moment) – MAISON IKKOKU
Quǎnyèchà ([no translation]) – INUYASHA
Yāojing de Wěiba (Tail of the Evil Spirit) – FAIRY TAIL
Tōutōu Àizhe Nǐ (Secretly Loving You) – HANA-KIMI
Měi Shàonǚ Zhànshì (Beautiful Maiden Warrior) – SAILOR MOON
Wǒmen de Cúnzài (Our Existence) – WE WERE THERE
Měiwèi Dà Tiǎozhàn (Great Delicious Challenge) – OISHINBO
Juéduì Bǐshì (Absolute Bishi) – ABSOLUTE BOYFRIEND
Sǐshén (Death Gods) – BLEACH
Yǐn zhī Wàng (King of Secrets) – NABARI NO OU
Zhànlì Shājī (Trembling Intent to Kill) – BANANA FISH
Bǎo Mǎ Wángzǐ (Precious Horse Prince) – PRINCESS KNIGHT
Huálì de Tiǎozhàn (Glamorous Challenge) – SKIP BEAT
Wǒ hé Tā de XXX (My and Her XXX) – YOUR AND MY SECRET
Měishí Lièrén (Gourmet Hunter) – TORIKO
Huā Yàng Rénshēng (Flower-style Life) – FLOWER OF LIFE
Mó Kǎ Shàonǚ Yīng (Demon Card Maiden Cherry) – CARD CAPTOR SAKURA
Pósuōluó ([no translation]) – BASARA
And yes, I had a nice birthday :)
Travis says
October 5, 2012 at 3:47 amWoohoo! That was fun.
Interesting choice for 7 Seeds. I don’t really feel that it has that much to do with the sea! I mean, there is some ocean-related stuff, but that’s because Japan is an island country and so it’s kind of to be expected.
You have Hana-Kimi as the answer for two series (Secretly Loving You and Flower-style Life). Which is it?
Sara K. says
October 5, 2012 at 4:45 amWhoops … fixed that mistake. Flower-style Life is Flower of Life.
I think they picked that title for 7Seedsto get the alliteration – it allows the title to have two ‘h’ sounds and two ‘q’ sounds. Also, when the falling-rising tone is in that position, it sounds like a falling tone, so it’s almost as if the title is falling-falling-rising-rising, as far as tones go.