One thing that’s fascinated me about the anime localization process, especially now that almost every series is simulcast, is the truly awkward translation machine that results in mangled titles constructed of barely-coherent English. While the show’s actual subtitles might be grammatically competent, the officially-licensed title, the words that are supposed to attract viewers to a series, are sometimes nearly incomprehensible. Generally the Japanese license-holder is somewhat to blame for this, as they have the final say in any translation and might opt for something that’s literally acceptable but which doesn’t feel natural in English. I had my suspicions about Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove it, and thought I could absolutely come up with something less awkward… but reading the Japanese title, that’s basically what it says. I might steal a little bit from the subject matter of the series and rephrase it to be something like “When Scientists Fall in Love, They’ll Look for Proof,” but that’s not really any better. Maybe I should just leave things to the professionals and keep my 15-years-removed college Japanese skills out of the equation from now on.
