We Translated Your Favorite Anime Character’s Names Over Fifty Times, These Are the Cursed Results

Welcome, anime fans and stans. Have you ever played the Telephone Game? You might've played it on an elementary school playground during recess or as an icebreaker at some corporate company function. The purest form of the game starts when someone whispers a phrase into another person's ear. That person then whispers exactly what they heard to the person next to them, until the phrase circles back around to the original whisperer. In this game, the more is the merrier as the original phrase becomes more and more distorted with each pass until it is hilariously unrecognizable at the end. There are numerous versions of the game, including a drawing version that is even funnier when no one present has any sort of artistic ability.

Today, we play a sort of Telephone game by translating anime character names into 50 random languages at a time and then back to English. The results are varied with some words seemingly completely irrelevant to the original input. Other results follow a sort of sonic or etymological logic. And other resulting words are just way too ironic to be a coincidence. Scroll down to read them all!

01
Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece)

Via Eiichiro Oda
Advertisement
02
Nami (One Piece)

I wonder what that's referring too.

Via Eiichiro Oda
03
Usopp (One Piece)

You can definitely follow the logic with this mistranslation.

Via Eiichiro Oda
04
Sanji (One Piece)

Via Eiichiro Oda
Advertisement
05
Roronoa Zoro (One Piece)

More like Rusted Copper Color.

Via Eiichiro Oda
06
Naruto

His name is so iconic that the translation software refused to translate his name to anything unique.

Via Seishi Kishimoto
07
Itachi Uchiha (Naruto)

Via Seishi Kishimoto
Advertisement
08
Gon Freeccss (Hunter X Hunter)

This is really sinister considering Gon's transformation during the Chimera Arc.

Via Yoshihiro Togashi
09
Killua Zoldyck (Hunter X Hunter)

The Hank Schrader to Gon's Walter White.

Via Yoshihiro Togashi
10
Kurapika (Hunter X Hunter)

Via Yoshihiro Togashi
Advertisement
11
Leeorio (Hunter X Hunter)

Via Yoshihiro Togashi
12
Yuji Itadori (Jujutsu Kaisen)

My favorite Japanese MC, Italian U.G.

Via Gege Atakumi
13
Gojo Satoru (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Via Gege Atakumi
Advertisement
14
Kakashi (Naruto)

There is some foreshadowing with this translation.

Via Kishimoto
15
Megumi Fushiguro (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Via Gege Atakumi
16
Nezuko Kamado (Demon Slayer)

I mean, she does live in a box.

Via Koyoharu Gotouge
Advertisement
17
Tanjiro Kamado (Demon Slayer)

Via Koyoharu Gotouge
18
Zenitsu Agatsuma (Jujutsu Kaisen)

The irony here is deafening.

Via Koyoharu Gotouge
19
Son Goku (Dragon Ball)

Via Akira Toriyama
Advertisement
20
Gohan (Dragon Ball)

This is painfully accurate.

Via Akira Toriyama
21
Vegeta (Dragon Ball)

I guess that makes sense.

Via Akira Toriyama
22
Shinji Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Via Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
Advertisement
23
Asuka Langley (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

I mean she really never stops yapping.

Via Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
24
Light Yagami

Via Artist
25
Rei Ayanami (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

This one is really freaky given the context of the show!

Via Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
Advertisement
26
Near River

The word "Near" and "Almost" certainly have similar meanings, and Near was almost as interesting as L but ultimately missed the mark.

Via Tsugumi Ohba
27
Suguru Geto (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Via Gege Atakumi
28
Ryuk

More like people are deaf to his existence.

Via Tsugumi Ohba
Advertisement
29
Misa Amane

Via Tsugumi Ohba
30
L

"L" to "el" to "He"

Via Tsugumi Ohba