History Main / LocalizedNameInANonLocalizedSetting

* The ''Anime/AceAttorney2016'' anime does this out of necessity. While the games the anime is based on have been fully localized, the setting was moved from Japan to California. However, the anime decided to keep the original Japanese setting for authenticity sakes. The freedom the Anime has at showing locations the visual novel cannot also likely contributes to this decision, given visual assets for an anime are far higher quality than a visual novel. This comes with the odd situation of most of the characters having a PunnyName, with Western audiences being much more familiar with the localized names than the original Japanese ones due to the games (e.g. Phoenix Wright vs. Ryuuichi Naruhodou), so the English dub uses the English names as a CulturalTranslation of sorts, but everything else remains Japanese. Due to this unique situation, there are also two different subtitle tracks included on the disc: one with Japanese names, the other with English names.

** Downplayed in the English dub to ''Anime/DigimonAdventure''. Most of the characters keep their Japanese names but are referred to by their Westernized nicknames. Sora and Mimi didn't get nicknames and instead are referred to with their original names, Jou had the spelling changed to "Joe", and Hikari was outright changed to just Kari with no mention of her Japanese name. The first two arcs (the Devimon & Etemon) arcs stays vague about where the kids are from with just references to "summer camp" and "our home town" implying they could be from anywhere. However this is dropped entirely in the Myotismon Arc when the kids are told they need to travel back to Earth and Gennai openly says this means back to Japan. This may be due to the fact that so many Japanese landmarks (the Fuji TV building, Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Big Site, Shibuya Station) are prominent in this arc that Saban just gave up trying to mask it.

* The ''Anime/AceAttorney'' anime does this out of necessity. While the games the anime is based on have been fully localized, the setting was moved from Japan to California. However, the anime decided to keep the original Japanese setting for authenticity sakes. The freedom the Anime has at showing locations the visual novel cannot also likely contributes to this decision, given visual assets for an anime are far higher quality than a visual novel. This comes with the odd situation of most of the characters having a PunnyName, with Western audiences being much more familiar with the localized names than the original Japanese ones due to the games (e.g. Phoenix Wright vs. Ryuuichi Naruhodou), so the English dub uses the English names as a CulturalTranslation of sorts, but everything else remains Japanese. Due to this unique situation, there are also two different subtitle tracks included on the disc: one with Japanese names, the other with English names.

* ''Manga/PokemonDiamondAndPearlAdventure'''s English translation makes this more noticeable than in other adaptations. The series takes place in the Hokkaido-based Sinnoh. The CanonForeigner characters keep their original Japanese names, but the game characters use their {{Dub Name Change}}s (aside from TheRival, who didn't have an English CanonName until the [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} anime]] named him "Barry").

* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'': After the [[Manga/YuGiOh original series dub]] - which was made to be set in America instead of Japan - the series never bothered with clarifying which country the various sequels take place in, and any cultural hints such as the food remain unchanged even in the dub. This does not stop the consistent and excessive {{Dub Name Change}}s in all the series.

[[folder: Comic Books]]

* In the British dub of ''Literature/PeterNoTail'' (1981), most of the characters' names are actually not changed so much as Anglicanized, such as the title cat, Pelle, which is simply the Swedish form of Peter, yet, the film still takes place in Uppsala, Sweden, and it is clearly mentioned several times. Most characters get their names changed to similar but different names, such as Maya Creamnose to Molly Silknose ("Maja" is essentially just "Maya"), and the main antagonist, Elaka Måns, to "Mean Mike". Peter/Pelle's owners Birgitta and Olle, Måns's two minions Bill and Bull, Frida, Fritz, and Fridolf keep their original names however.

** From the second book onwards, the Danish translator gives most new characters with a MeaningfulName a new Danish name. However, the story still very much takes place in the UK which means that the setting has a lot of characters with awfully non-British names walking around, like Glitterik Smørhår (Gilderoy Lockhart), Dolora Nidkjær (Dolores Umbridge), and Horatio Schnobbevom (Horace Slughorn). Some of the translated names can ''seem'' English at the first glance, but are still pronounced differently in Danish, for example Professor Sprout whose Danish name is Professor Spire (pronounced something like "spee-ruh"). It also creates an even stronger AerithAndBob effect given that almost all the characters introduced in the first book - for example, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, and Snape - keep their English names.
** The Lithuanian translator keeps most of the names, but alters them such that they follow not just the Lithuanian alphabet and pronunciation, but Lithuanian grammar rules as well, which means most male characters have their given names and surnames suffixed to end with '-s' if they don't already in the English original, while many female characters' names now end with '-a' or '-ė'. For example, the titular character is now "Haris Poteris". A few characters also have their surnames calqued into Lithuanian if the language has an equivalent--Lavender Brown in Lithuanian is "Levanda Rudė", while the Lithuanian word for 'brown' is ''ruda'' ('Rudis' is the masculine form of the surname).

Compare to CulturalTranslation and WeAllLiveInAmerica.

** ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'' changed Izumi's name to Zoey, Tomoki's name to Tommy, and Junpei's name to J.P., but kept their surnames and the Japanese setting, and the rest of the human cast kept their Japanese names.

** Downplayed in the English dub to ''Anime/DigimonAdventure''. Most of the characters keep their Japanese names but are referred to by their Westernized nicknames. Sora and Mimi didn't get nicknames and instead are referred to with their original names, Jou had the spelling changed to "Joe", and Hikari was outright changed to just Kari with no mention of her Japanese name.

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' and its sequels localize the characters {{Punny Name}}s while keeping the aesthetic. In this case, it works because the series is in an {{Americasia}} setting. References to real-world locations such as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Nantai Mount Nantai]] are also kept.

** The Polish translator changes many characters' given names to their Polish equivalents and cognates.

* From the second book onwards, the Danish translator of ''Literature/HarryPotter'' gives most new characters with a MeaningfulName a new Danish name. However, the story still very much takes place in the UK which means that the setting has a lot of characters with awfully non-British names walking around, like Glitterik Smørhår (Gilderoy Lockhart), Dolora Nidkjær (Dolores Umbridge), and Horatio Schnobbevom (Horace Slughorn). Some of the translated names can ''seem'' English at the first glance, but are still pronounced differently in Danish, for example Professor Sprout whose Danish name is Professor Spire (pronounced something like "spee-ruh"). It also creates an even stronger AerithAndBob effect given that almost all the characters introduced in the first book - for example Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, and Snape - keep their English names.

** There are too many recurring characters with their names changed to list them all here, but [[https://www.detectiveconanworld.com/wiki/Characters here]] is a list of some of the series' LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters that gives both their Japanese name, and, if applicable, their English name.

* The ''Anime/AceAttorney'' anime does this out of necessity. While the games the anime is based on have been fully localized, the setting was moved from Japan to California. However, the anime decided to keep the original Japanese setting as it is it's own thing, and also likely done for authenticity sakes. The freedom the Anime has at showing locations the visual novel cannot also likely contributes to this decision, given Visual assets for an anime are far higher quality than a visual novel. This comes with the odd situation of most of the characters having a PunnyName, with Western audiences being much more familiar with the localized names than the original Japanese ones due to the games (e.g. Phoenix Wright vs. Ryuuichi Naruhodou), so the English dub uses the English names as a CulturalTranslation of sorts, but everything else remains Japanese. Due to this unique situation, there are also two different subtitle tracks included on the disc: one with Japanese names, the other with English names.

* The ''Anime/AceAttorney'' anime does this almost out of necessity. While the games the anime is based on are fully localized with the setting moving from Japan to California, the anime keeps the original Japanese setting, possibly because of how much more difficult it would be to change the visual assets of an anime than a visual novel. However, due to almost every character having a PunnyName and Western audiences being much more familiar with the localized names than the original Japanese ones (e.g. Phoenix Wright vs. Ryuuichi Naruhodou), the dub uses the English names. Due to this unique situation, there are two different subtitle tracks included on the disc: one with Japanese names, the other with English names.

* In the British dub of ''Literature/PeterNoTail'' (1981), most of the characters' names are actually not changed so much as Anglicanized, such as the title cat, Pelle, which is simply the Swedish form of Peter, yet, the film still takes place in Uppsala, Sweden, and it is clearly mentioned several times. Most characters get their names changed to similar but different names, such as Maya Creamnose to Molly Silknose ("Maja" is essentially just "Maya"), and the main antagonist, Elaka Måns, to "Mean Mike". Peter/Pelle's owners Birgitta and Olle, Måns's two minions Bill and Bull, Frida, Fritz, and Fridalf keep their original names however.

* The Funimation dub of ''Anime/CrayonShinChan'' is a strange example. While everyone except Shin got Western names (for instance, Nene was changed to Penny and Kazama was changed to Georgie), the characters often talk about both Japanese and American culture, to the point where one episode actually lampshaded it:
--->'''Georgie:''' And that's why Rudy Giuliani should be America's next president.\\
'''Shin:''' Don't we live in Japan?
* When ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' was made into an anime, its first hundred-plus episodes got an English dub set it Japan. However, many character names were switched out for English ones.