Japanese distributors of foreign films usually follow the path of least resistance in titling their products for the local market, either rendering the title in katakana or translating it more or less directly. One recently released example is the shocker "The Last Exorcism," whose katakana-ized Japanese title "Rasuto Ekusoshizumu" (「ラスト・エクソシズム」) is faithful to the original, save for the missing "the."
Quite often, though, distributors come up with new titles for films whose English monikers they feel would be baffling or off-putting to local fans. Take the new documentary "No Impact Man" about a family living in New York City that tries to reduce its carbon footprint to zero for a year. The Japanese title "Chikyu ni Yasashii Seikatsu" (「地球にやさしい生活」 or "A Lifestyle Gentle to the Earth") is arguably clearer than the original, if more prosaic.
More imaginative, but still descriptive, is the Japanese title for "Fast Five" (AKA "Fast and Furious 5: Rio Heist") the fifth installment in the "Fast and Furious" car-action series: "Wairudo Supīdo MEGA MAX" (「ワイルド・スピード MEGA Max」 or "Wild Speed MEGA MAX") could almost be the name of a Japanese pop band, but it tells the audience, with easily understood katakana English, what to generally expect in the cinema.
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