Yes...it's been awhile since I had a good one of these, and alas, my time is short since work is ending soon, but that's okay. I have a bit of time to kill.
Otaku are everywhere...They're stupid. They're annoying. They're...well, you get the idea. I don't like them.
So, today, while I was wasting time at work, I went to Gamefaqs.com to check out the Star Ocean board to see if I could find some links for screen caps of Albel Nox. Anyway I ran across THIS thread. It's a full blown elitist war...Honestly, I've seen some dumb arguments breakout among anime fans and gamers, but this one takes the cake. I'll admit, I got about six or seven pages into it and stopped reading, but I really didn't need to go much further. People crying over name changes in the NA release vs JP release is what it boils down to. Of course, what got me irked was the stupid otaku who insist on bitching about Albel's name not being Arberu and Fayt's not being Feito and so on.
And of course you have the genius who comes in and tries to explain the katakana spelling and translation. Firstly, since I've been translating, I'll give credit where it's due...the changes from R-L can be tricky...but if you say the word outloud and use a bit of common sense, it becomes fairly easy...Aruberu...OMG...sounds like Albel ( if you're saying it correctly)...Holy crap, could they be the same name? Kirara (from Inu Yasha or Samurai 7) sounds like...Kilala...You know what my name is in romanji? Shareni...guess what, it sounds like Shalaney! I don't spell it Shareni either...just for you otaku who are wondering...Wow, what a friggen concept. As for Fayt...it's just a "cooler" spelling than Fate...Feito looks dumb to me (Looks fine in Katakana, but dumb in romanji). Katakana words are usually used for "loan words", which means words you don't find naturally in the Japanese language. They can also be used for emphasis of certain word as well...Zero uses TONS of katakana, and it gives me friggin fits...some are loan words others are emphasised words...*tears hair out*
Let's look at some more romanji words...
Gurasu: Glass
Sumisu: Smith
purojekuto: Project
deta: data
deto: date
uon pisu: one piece (dress)
uon puro: word processor
terebi: TV
heri: helicoptor
shimyurashon: simulation
konkurito: concrete ( I love this one for some reason)
(I've left out long sound indications, since I'm not at home. I'd give the kakataka spellings so everyone could see them)
So, as you can see, just because something reads Feito or Aruberu in katakana, doesn't mean that's the spelling you should go with. Of course, otaku have it in their heads that it MUST be that way since it translates to romanji as such. If you think that, your fooling yourself. Pick up some books on Japanese and learn something before you run around telling everyone else they suck...
Katakana is hard, at least for me. I much prefer kanji over katakana, but not because translation is tricky (it can be, believe me), but memorizing the stupid kana is damn near impossible. They all look alike! Shi, tsu, ji, zi are a nightmare...so are so, no, and n. If I remember, I'll post some examples when I get home just to illustrate my point...(If I remember...I've been up since 1am and I'm pretty damn tired...)