Capitalization Standard/Japanese Releases Clarification

Capitalization Standard Exception for Japanese Releases

• Status: This page outlines an exception to the capitalization rules for the English language when it appears on some Japanese releases. This is a ProposedStyleGuideline.

In English

For Japanese releases by Japanese artists, copy the track titles exactly as they are on the cover. This ignores CapitalizationStandardEnglish.

Rationale

This exception arises because of the StylePrinciples: both ArtistIntent and ConsistentOriginalData take priority over the CapitalizationStandards.

• -- It's not really an exception then is it? More a clarification of how the existing guidelines should be applied to japanese artists. --kuno.

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, and tend to be very consistent about it once a track is titled. These Japanese entries, will intentionally retain the eccentricities across multiple issues, on all entries on their website (and often label websites), and on compilation issues.

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: 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.