View source for Capitalization Standard/Japanese Releases Clarification

=Capitalization Clarification for Japanese Releases=

<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">'''Status:''' This is not a guideline, it merely explains how the [[Style Principle|StylePrinciple]] should usually be applied to Japanese releases. 
</ul>

==In English==

For Japanese releases by Japanese artists, [[Capitalization Standard English|CapitalizationStandardEnglish]] is not strongly followed.  Japanese releases are more likely to have odd capitalization, so keep an open mind that it may be a deliberate choice by the artist.  If you are unsure definitely copy the album cover as closely as possible. 

==Rationale==

This practice arises because of the [[Style Principle|StylePrinciple]]s: both [[Artist Intent|ArtistIntent]] and [[Consistent Original Data|ConsistentOriginalData]] take priority over the [[Capitalization Standard|CapitalizationStandard]]s. 

For Western artists capitalization is not usually considered part of the title. They often use eccentric capitalization on covers, but revert to standardized capitalization and punctuation in discographies and on re-releases of the songs.  In contrast, Japanese artists have a tendency to choose track titles and punctuation for aesthetic reasons, perhaps because native Kanji & Kana don't have case.  They also tend to be very consistent about it once a track is titled.  These titles will intentionally retain the eccentricities across multiple issues, on all entries on their website (and often label websites), and on compilation issues. 

==Soundtracks==

A separate issue deals with the [[Soundtrack Title Style|SoundtrackTitleStyle]], which states that you should exclude secondary information such as "Original Soundtrack".  However, for many popular animé and video game series please take care that you also follow the following exceptions to that rule: 
* it '''is clearly part of the title''' of the soundtrack ''and'' 
* it '''is required to distinguish the release from other variations of the soundtrack.''' 

Many anime series will not just have an Original Soundtrack, but also an Original Soundtrack 2, or various image albums.  Certain video game series have many soundtracks for a particular game of the series, such as orchestrated or re-arranged versions, piano versions, vocal editions, etc...  To distinguish between all these possible variations, it is often better to copy the title verbatim. 

==To Do==

* Insert a couple of good examples, here. Something from the Escaflowne soundtracks or Gits:SAC maybe, that have been edited a million times and are about as accurate as we'll ever manage) 

* A decent example to use: [http://musicbrainz.org/release/57b0b5a9-1e1c-4d02-b989-635c9afd069d.html Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 2] 
** I don't think we need this in Japanese, do we? 
** Figure out if we need to mention other languages than English and Japanese. 

* Suggest changing the "In English" sentence to begin, "For Japan-market releases which have [[Release Title|ReleaseTitle]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s or [[Track Title|TrackTitle]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s in English (wholly or in part), ....". This answers my question about which "Japanese" you mean. —[[User:JimDeLaHunt|JimDeLaHunt]] 2008-02-27 

[[Category:To Be Reviewed]]