Feature Shows Extravaganza

AgitΩ looks great!

But no one buys toys...

No, I can’t say that no one bought it. Overall, there are quite a lot of people buying. But compared to AgitΩ's amazing ratings, this sales volume is negligible.

Why exactly?

In order to explore the truth, Meng Lang deliberately pretended to be wearing sunglasses and a mask, and sneaked into the offline PD home to find the answer.

Jiangchuan PD Home is located in the center of a bustling urban area, and its average customer flow barely ranks among the top ten of all branches in the country.

So there is no shortage of guests!

Because the Jiangchuan branch is relatively close to the factory, it is also convenient to transfer goods. Not only new products will be delivered as soon as possible, but many out of stock products can also be purchased at the Jiangchuan branch.

Therefore, there is no shortage of supplies!

So here, why can’t AgitΩ toys be sold?

Meng Lang tried asking the clerk.

AgitΩ?

The clerk is a college student who works part-time in the store during his breaks to earn tuition. He is a model of work-study.

He told Meng Lang that many customers in the store had inquired about AgitΩ toys and figures, but few bought them.

A lot of people ask? Few people buy?

Why?

Meng Lang still didn't understand. Since he asked, it meant that the customer was interested. Why don’t you buy the product you are interested in?

Is it too expensive?

Not expensive...not expensive at all!

The clerk waved his hand, looked around and found that no one was eavesdropping, and said in a low voice: AgitΩ is a slow-selling product, and we have discounts every day! If we can't sell it anymore, Mr. Meng will cry!

I didn't cry!

Meng Lang muttered in his heart and said without changing his expression: From what you say, it's not a question of price or product design. Why can't AgitΩ toys be sold?

Well……

The clerk thought about it carefully and said, According to my observation, most people don't know how to pronounce the name [AgitΩ].

rash:……

So sloppy!

Before he came, he thought about various possibilities. But he never expected that the real reason was this.

How to pronounce AgitΩ?

Of course it’s Yajita! Recite it to me again, YA Ya ~ JI Ji ~ TUO Tuo... Hey, wait a minute!

Agito seems to be a transliteration. It comes from the Agito in the English version of AgitΩ Masked Rider Agito. When pronounced in Chinese, it is Yajituo!

But what everyone is asking is how to pronounce AgitΩ?

This...this is...

Meng Lang scratched his head and thought about it with his immature little mind. Agit was pronounced as Ajie~te and Ω was pronounced as Omega. Together they were Ajie~te! Omega!

What is this?

It’s not right to read it this way!

When others heard this, they thought, Excited Ω, what the hell is this? What is this you are talking about? We don’t understand with a primary school diploma!

Can you make it easier to understand?

When you think about it, it makes sense.

The biggest obstacle that hinders the internationalization of Kamen Rider, especially the development in the Chinese market, is definitely the name issue.

Meng Lang still remembered watching Kamen Rider when he was a child. Especially when pirated DVDs and subtitles are not properly translated, you often see some strange names.

for example!

In the past, they were all VCDs, and there were very few or even no DVDs. A VCD disc usually only has two feature films.

This leads to the fact that if you want to watch a complete TV work, you sometimes have to buy a thick stack of VCD discs.

Meng Lang likes Kong Ga very much.

The first time he was short on me, he thought the knight was called Guga. Later, after watching one or two episodes and changing the disc, I changed my name to Ku Jia...

This question is very common and is a joke caused by the lack of official translation. At the beginning, Diga was also translated as Superman Dige!

Tsuburaya discovered this problem, so they used official translation to improve Chinese audiences' recognition of Xinao. At least there won't be the embarrassing situation of not being able to pronounce the name.

And what about Toei?

Even if a problem is discovered, there is no thought of correcting it. Let’s not talk about the early Showa Knights. After all, they are too old and there is no point in pursuing them.

But what did the Heisei Knight say?

AgitΩ, Faiz, Blade, Kabuto, Kiva, Decade, W, OOO, Fourze, Wizard, Drive, Ghost, EX—Aid, Build, Zi—O…

Some of the above knights have official translations, and some do not. They all rely on common names given by fans or translators, such as Yajituo, Yueqi, King of Armor...

I have heard translated names like Yajituo and Jiadou King so many times that everyone thought this was the official translation. Actually it's not, it's just that everyone calls it that, so it's conventional.

To be honest, Toei is not responsible for this approach.

Perhaps in their view, as long as the local audience is stabilized, the Chinese audience is dispensable. Anyway, not many people read the original version, no matter what his name is.

Meng Lang just thought about this.

He likes a sentence in The Three-Body Problem very much: Weakness and ignorance are not obstacles to survival, arrogance is!

Do you think what Tsuburaya did?

Is every work given a translated title? Let’s not talk about whether the name is nice or not, at least since Tsuburaya is here, everyone won’t be in trouble because of the issue of addressing him.

It’s just a translated name, what a big deal!

Unfortunately, Toei doesn't like to do this kind of thing very much. If you're in a good mood, I'll give you one. If you're in a bad mood, I'll just slap a string of English words on your face.

Tell the truth!

In the early days of Kamen Rider, why did its development in China repeatedly suffer setbacks? On the contrary, it was Ultraman who won the love of more Chinese audiences?

You said that Chinese audiences like Giant?

That's right!

There is this layer of factors, but is this really the key? Everyone started out with pirated discs, so why do you, Kamen Rider, have to wear the shell of Ultraman Guga even if it's also a pirated disc?

Meng Lang always felt that the series of English titles of Kamen Rider TV dramas were too discouraging.

Many people are obviously interested in joining the Knights. But when I saw this series of English drama titles, a series of question marks immediately came to my mind?

The saddest thing is...

There are also Knight fans who are proud of this, saying to newcomers, If you don't understand it, don't watch it. The incomprehensible English title of the drama has become a powerful thing to be proud of.

It’s so easy to come up with a translated name!

Take a few minutes to think of a suitable Chinese/French/German drama title, what's wrong?

After realizing the problem, Meng Lang quickly returned to the company and wrote an internal email to the PD Neon branch.

Kamen Riders in the future must pay attention to the drama title.

When entering overseas markets, you must choose a suitable title for your drama. Don't be unconventional. Only by respecting the audience can you win money.

For example, the name AgitΩ will only be used in the neon market in the future, with Agito used in the European and American markets and Agito used in the Chinese market.

This makes it easier for the audience to read and write!

I can’t give my friend a new Amway Knight. I’ve been scratching my head and thinking for a long time, but I still don’t know how to say AgitΩ, right?