Why do some shows have untranslated kanji?

[rocklobster]

This has always bugged me, especially on s-CRY-ed .

[Nate]

Do you mean on signs and stuff?

Unfortunately, whenever the kanji on signs and/or paper is changed so that it can actually be read, "elitists" whine and complain and moan that "the original artwork is being destroyed!" or some such nonsense. Thus the translation is relegated to subtitles (and subtitles actually obscure MORE artwork than if they had translated the kanji digitally, but of course, they can't admit that). But of course, these subtitles don't get shown on TV, so...yeah. It's lame.

[rocklobster]

Do you mean on signs and stuff?

Unfortunately, whenever the kanji on signs and/or paper is changed so that it can actually be read, "elitists" whine and complain and moan that "the original artwork is being destroyed!" or some such nonsense. Thus the translation is relegated to subtitles (and subtitles actually obscure MORE artwork than if they had translated the kanji digitally, but of course, they can't admit that). But of course, these subtitles don't get shown on TV, so...yeah. It's lame.

Especially in credits.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I guess the real question is why would they want to? I guess a simple subtitle over the kanji in signs or something would be just easier (I know fansubbers do this)

[Kaori]

Also, sometimes the kanji are simply unimportant. It would stand to reason that viewers would want to know the meaning of a sign on an important building that characters actually enter, but random signs only seen in passing generally aren't as critical.

As another example, in the currently unliscenced anime Karas, there is a character who draws a kanji in the air with his sword. The effect is very nice visually, but the kanji turned out to simply mean "slash." In that particular case, I would rather not have known.

[Sami_jane]

i like it... i think it kind of keeps the authenticity in the show. thats just my opinion tho.

[Kaligraphic]

Because it's cool.

[Sweet Mercury]

This has always bugged me, especially on s-CRY-ed .

It was a huge issue when Paranoia Agent aired on Adult Swim. Quite often, the Kanji were an important part of the shows plot, yet they were being aired without any translation. People raised enough commotion on the Adult Swim message boards to get the Kanji translated for the second half of the series.

[BrandonHeat]

It does get kind of annoying when left untranslated. A really good example is His and Her Circumstances, in which they're showing stuff in Kanji about once every 10 seconds, and it would annoy and confuse many people if it were left the way it was (this one, however, does have translations; at some points, subtitles just wouldn't fit it all).

[Husse]

I love it on Furuba. It makes it look authentic, and it's funny when people get hit in the head and there's a little {wham} there for a second.

But I can see where critical stuff you can't read becomes a bother.