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The English title of Demon slayerthe second season of is Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Entertainment District Arc. The Japanese word used for bow is Yuukaku (遊 廓), and this word has a much sharper meaning than “entertainment district”.
Yuukaku translates to a “Red light district”, “pleasure district” or even “A brothel.” Yoshiwara is Japan’s most famous prostitution hub and it is also the setting for the second season, leaving little doubt as to the meaning of the word. “District Entertainment”, however, is defined as “a type of arts district with a high concentration of cinemas, theaters or other entertainment venues.” These are clearly different spaces, and words with different meanings.
Popular Japanese Blog Hachima Kikou recently called the English titles “egregious” and “no good”. Commentators on the site stepped in, looking slightly baffled by the title.
One commentator pointed out that the word kanrakugai (歓 楽 街) can be translated as “entertainment district” and wondered if the English title of the second season had not been translated incorrectly. I imagine that’s not the case and something else is brewing.
Commentators came up with their own suggested titles, including “Nightlife District Arc” or even “Yoshiwara District Arc”. Others speculated that it might not be possible to correctly translate the title as “Red Light District Arc” due to the overt sexual connotations. To work around this problem, while keeping the nuance of the original title, one commentator wondered if it was not simply written as “Yuukaku Arc”. Another commenter replied, “Because kids these days know how to use Google. ” Good point.
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Controversy is nothing new for this season’s title. When the title was first revealed last February, some parents in Japan were not thrilled. According to News, some said that they felt uncomfortable with their kids watching an anime with the title and couldn’t explain to their kids what type of place yuukaku was. At the time, other fans defended the title, pointing out that these fun districts were real places, and that it was weird to pretend they never existed.
For the English release of the anime, the distributors seem to want to avoid this controversy altogether. The translation might not be correct, but, I guess, at least that won’t bother the parents.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Entertainment District Arc is broadcast on Funimation and Crisp.
