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Quote:

Originally Posted by advance

Your personal tastes are not translation. Sorry.

Translation is about narrowing the amount of interchangeable words to find the appropriate equivalent. This is why you can't use something so informal as an "equivalent" to a term that carries some respect. No "teach" or "prof" or "boi" could be used to show respect to an upperclassman. "Sempai" is a term used for upperclassman in schools, coworkers with more experience, etc. It also isn't too formal because there have been friends who are more experienced in some places who are called by such a term. "Sir" is not a direct equivalent. "Upperclassman" seems to be the closest one, but people aren't accustomed to hearing it as a title.

"Masato" never is a translation. It is a transliteration at most.

The problem is that "Sempai" is a Japanese word. The point of a translation is to replace the original language with the audience's native one. Leaving words in the original language is not translating. In your own words, "Sempai" never is a translation, either.

Basically this whole argument boils down to what you prefer: a translation that tries to literally translate everything word for word or a translation that tries to convey the exact meaning in the other language's phrasing. Neither one is technically wrong, but if given a choice I (and the professional translation industry as a whole) prefer the latter.