hioki@hawaii.edu

Tracy's Yu-Gi-Oh Top 10 List - Top 10 Bad Translations

Sometimes, the translators make some really odd name changes.  I'm not talking about tranlations of the card effects - I'm talking about the actual names of the cards.  While I understand Upper Deck's desire to keep things innocent, some of the edited names just came out...bad.  I've probably missed several horrible ones, but here's 10 that have irritated me for a long, long time.

If the translations are a bit off, it's because English is my first language.

10. Hurricane - Giant Trunade, and others.  I don't see what's wrong with the original name.  It's just a plain old force of nature!

9. Sapphire/Emerald Dragon - Luster Dragon (#2) - Confused?  The Sapphire Dragon is the 1900 monster from Magician's Force.  The Emerald Dragon is the 2400 monster from Legacy of Darkness (which was relegated to #2 in the Kaiba Evolution deck).  I think there were some copyright issues which prompted the name change, but the could've gotten it right the first time.

8. Bow-shooting mermaid - Red Archery Girl.  No matter how much I stare at that card, I can't figure out where the "Red" part fits in.

7. The Compassionate Nun - The Forgiving Maiden.  Maybe the thought of a religious woman stuck in the middle of a duel scared someone.  Couldn't they have just left the "Compassionate" part in?

6. Injection Angel Lily - Injection Fairy Lily, and others.  It's one of the many angel-to-fairy conversions, and that puts a new twist on everything.  The Japanese version of the game shows us a battle between angels and devils, not fairies and fiends.  I'd say Tinkerbell with a very large needle is just as bad as an angel with a very large needle.

5. Angel's gift - Graceful Charity.  The imagery is somewhat similar, but the sematics are not.  The English version makes the duelist sound like a bum.

4. Psycho Shocker Android - Jinzo.  Did someone get the image of an insane robot running around?  Or did someone take "psycho" the wrong way?

3. Chaos Shield - Yellow Luster Shield.  Yes, the picture is yellow, but did someone think that the word "chaos" was being overused in Invasion of Chaos?

2. Critter - Sangan.  I still can't figure this one out.  What's wrong with a cute little critter that can yank something like...Yata-Garasu?

1. Chaos Soldier-Messenger of Creation - Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning.  When I saw this translation, I cried.  The Japanese name sounds MUCH better.  Besides, we already have a Black Luster Soldier!


Questions?  Comments?  Letters of adoration?  E-mail me at cherriebomber@yahoo.com.  I'm using a different address to mail this list because Yahoo! does not like my compuer at the moment.