It’s been recently announced that ADV has licensed Utawarerumono (???????) for North America, under the name Shadow Warrior Chronicles.
Okay, the closest, sensible English translation of that title is “The One Being Sung”, I think there’s something wrong with our communications with Japan. 
I imagine this is definitely not a mis-translation, because there is no way you can mistake “One Being Sung” for “Shadow Warrior Chronicles,” no way in hell. I guess it’s a pretty solid title, if not, a bit cliche, but I suppose it would do. Utawarerumono (as I will keep calling it, meh) is an excellent series, definitely worthy of license in North America. It’s due out in early 2007. I just hope they have a good English cast with excellent, if not, perfectly matched voiceovers.
Is it just me, or does anybody else think this title is a bit subpar, or hints a lack of effort on the licensing company’s part?
Edit: I just realized something — thanks to Damien, there’s a pretty high chance it’s going to be edited, like with all other licensed series. I hope it’s only the grisly scenes that do, and nothing else. I personally think many series get ruined when they get edited so much in that manner. A good example would be the US DBZ.
Tags
anime, retarded, utawarerumono
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Posted August 14, 2008
Anime licensing is convoluted. It’s very possible that they just renamed it for the US release to attract a larger audience. Wouldn’t surprise me if it was heavily edited, too…
I can’t believe the US would fall for such a cliche title.
If it does get edited, I hope it doesn’t get edited down to a children’s show. My speculation would be that most of the gore/grisly scenes would be edited out, or edited to a lesser degree.
I hear ya. Another good example of ruined animes would be Naruto. It’s a kick ass anime (until you hit the overwhelming chunks of filler), but so much of it gets ruined and left out in translation.
Oh, and don’t forget Sailor Moon! It never ceases to amaze me how much a story can change when it moves from one medium to another…
I completely agree with you. ‘Shadow Warrior Chronicles’ it’s a very bad title, completely cliche and has very little or nothing to do with the series.
For starters, the main character - Hakuoro - is more a leader than a warrior. And has very little to do with shadows… he is very gentle, generous and good, using white clothes all the time. His own name means “White Emperor” in their language.
Of course, there’s his “other self”, but i don’t think even this has something to do with shadows, too.
Utawarerumono makes a lot more sense… “The one being sung”, meaning there will be sings about his leadership and how he won many wars. Very appropriate to an anime about wars.
By the way, there’s another reason because this tittle is the best… “utawarerumono” is a phrase what can have other significance besides “The one being sung”… it can mean too “Not exactly human”.