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Quote:

Originally Posted by Den-O

I just have a problem with it because it's not a direct translation and there isn't anything that could be used in place of it. They just force it to be the characters name because there isn't a corresponding english word. But I don't see how that's better than just using the term with an explanation of why it can't be translated. Forcing the translation is just lazy on their part.

No, lazy would be just leaving it as "Sempai."

"Masato" may not be the clearest way to go, either, in fairness, and it did annoy me when OT's translated Hina calling her brother "Onii-chan" to "Shingo" back in OOO. In that case there was a clearer direct translation, though. With Ryuuji and Masato I would personally go with something like "teach" or "prof," since Masato had kind of been Ryuuji's mentor. Or maybe just something simple like "sir." Given how Ryuuji's usually less respectful and more exasperated with Jin, though, I think "Masato" does make sense as a translation.