Ookiku’s Name Change Winds Me Up

June 17, 2008 in Licenses by Tom Langston (calaggie) | 12 comments

Funimation announced their license of Ookiku Furikabutte today but they changed the name to ‘Big Windup!’ WHAT!?! I can understand changing an anime’s name to make it more accessible to American audiences as ADV did with The Ugly and Beautiful World (Kono Minikuku mo Utsukushii Sekai) and even Rumbling Hearts (instead of The Eternity You Desire/Wish For) is something fans would be able to get used to over time. But renaming can also make things confusing, like what I thought happened with Shattered Angels (instead of Kyoshiro and the Eternal Sky), which actually isn’t as bad as I first thought. I credit part of my frustration to being a baseball fan and when I see ‘Big Windup!’, I think of an announcer saying the title of a baseball video game marketed toward kids that could have broader appeal (e.g. MLB Power Pros, very good game but not so good announcer) or a in-game powerup that also sounds cheesy when spoken. I am NOT looking for the trailer Funimation puts together whenever this gets released in late 2009 (self-speculation) but am sort of anticipating its actual release.

In the meantime, I will be watching fansubs of the show to see if it’s good. (I saw the first episode a few weeks back and, though it was slow, I saw some potential in it so, like a minor league scout, I’m going to give it a chance and hope it improves.)

*sigh* OK, I did find it clever that they parodied the MLB logo to make the series’ logo but I’m still not pleased about the name. I would have been fine with Pitch Like You Mean It! or a less cheesy name I can’t think of right now.

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Impz on June 17, 2008 at 8:54 pm

BIG WINDUP? What in the world???????

I mean, I do watch MLB despite not being in USA, and I can understand that they are trying to appeal to baseball fans (even though this series is more of a slice of life). Nonetheless, it’s hardly A BIG WINDUP.

God, the sick names they have.

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blissmo on June 17, 2008 at 11:47 pm

This looks good! Reminds me of ROOKIES

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issa-sa on June 18, 2008 at 12:27 am

BLISSMO WATCH THIS AND WE WILL BE BFFS FOR LIFE.
*coughs* Sorry, about going into rabid fan mode. Seriously though, Big Windup? Way to go alienating more non-baseball fans who may have liked/loved this show nonetheless (holds up a big ME sign).
LOL at “Pitch It Like You Mean It”

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*shrug* on June 18, 2008 at 12:42 am

I don’t suppose any of you have stopped to ponder what the original Japanese title means…?

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Pingback from Swing Big! (And other news Issa-sa stole from everyone else) » Incredible Nothing! on June 18, 2008 at 2:55 am
A Day Without Me on June 18, 2008 at 6:50 am

So… having it named ‘Big Windup’ in Japanese isn’t cheesey, but having it named as such in English is? Because that’s what Ookiku Furikabutte means in Japanese. Yeah, maybe it sounds a bit cheesey, but when people always scream when their favorite show undergoes a name change in the English release, a company is gonna assume this means they want an accurate translation – which is what Funi is doing for this.

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usagijen on June 18, 2008 at 8:09 am

I couldn’t really care any less about the title they chose for this… I mean, Oofuri is LICENSED ppl! That should make fans all the more happier. A sucky title won’t affect the quality of a great anime series, that’s all.

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CalAggie on June 18, 2008 at 3:12 pm

Based on many people calling Oofuri underrated, I’ll definitely try to finish it whenever I can. I also feel a little less irritated by the new name, although I do want to find out what other names they thought of.

@*shrug*, @A Day Without Me: I was aware of the original title’s meaning but very close literal translation can lead to awkward results such as syllable-focused pronunciations and clunky phrasing. There aren’t a lot of ways Funi could have gone with the name change aside from keeping the original so they were in a pickle of sorts.

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Author on June 18, 2008 at 7:08 pm

Literal translation _could_ lead to awkward results, but it _did not_ in this case. So what are you complaining about? Sounds like an excellent translation to me.

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blissmo on June 22, 2008 at 1:13 am

@issa-sa:

Anything to be BFF with you! *cough cough*

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ojisan on June 22, 2008 at 2:08 am

Don’t care what they name the kid, It’s alive and has ten fingers! Yaaaayyyyy!
And now we want…

SECOND SEASON!
SECOND SEASON!
SECOND SEASON!
SECOND SEASON!

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ma-chan on September 12, 2008 at 5:54 am

U~~~Mihashi cute!!!!
Abe,…. COOL!!!!!

I want this anime continue!

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