Best and worst English translations of Asian series titles?

[Ken Cheng]

English has a very different set of idiosyncrasies from those of Asian languages. This pertains not only to grammar and structure, but also to the cultural connotations of various terms, as well as their usage. Hence, many English translations of the titles of various Asian teledramas sound awkward and even unintentionally silly, even though on a literal level, the translations might be accurate.

What are some examples you can list of Asian series that translate the titles well (i.e. fits the Asian-language title's meaning and also sounds natural in English) and that translate the titles poorly (i.e. might or might not fit the Asian-language title, but sounds "weird" in English)?

[Ghaleon]

Demi Gods and Semi Devils for TLBB sounds very awkward and off. But then again Jin Yong's title of TLBB is already off since he only ended up having 3 characters.

[sniffles]

I can't really think of many translations of Asian tv series titles into English that both suit the original meaning and also sound nice in English. There's always a sacrifice made somewhere.

My favorite Chinese series is titled Laughing in the Wind in English, which is only a very rough approximation of part of the Mandarin title, Xiao Ao Jiang Hu. But it sounds very nice in English.

On the other hand, Chinese Paladin has got nothing to do with Xian Jian Qi Xia Zhuan, and it sounds a bit silly because the concept of a paladin is something that is just not Chinese. Plus a lot of English speakers probably don't know what "paladin" means.

Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain is probably about the closest I can come up with where the translated title says what the original title says something very close to what the Mandarin title says, without sounding odd in English. But for some reason the most recent version went with the same title as the English translation of the novel, Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain, which is weird because 'volant' is a French word.

[Trinie]

Well I don't think that they actually translate the CHinese title into English at all. For example, I heard that TVB likes to give unique English names for their series. Some examples are:
-The other Side of the Horizon-the Chinese title does not even come close to being translated as that at all.
-The Black Sabre-the Chinese title is nothing like that...
-Whatever it takes-What kind of title is that? THat is nothing like the Chinese title at all.
-The Sword stained with Royal blood sounds ok and relates to the Chinese title, but I think the Flying Fox of Snowy mountain sounds good and is more accurate than most of the other English names.

[Ken Cheng]

There's apparently a (mainland) Chinese series out there called Blood Cold And Proud Hot.

Ugh...if that isn't a textbook terrible translation of a title into English, what is?

This is kind of the title that makes those familiar with English laugh.

[Trinie]

There's apparently a (mainland) Chinese series out there called Blood Cold And Proud Hot.

Ugh...if that isn't a textbook terrible translation of a title into English, what is?

This is kind of the title that makes those familiar with English laugh.

That is Xiao Ao Jiang Hu. Where did they get Blood Cold and Proud Hot from?? ONce again, it is not just TVB giving strange and unique English titles for their series....