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Demon Slayer Season 2 English Title Causes Confusion in Japan
By Yung Namahage • 2 years ago


Demon Slayer returned in style with its highly-anticipated second season . The hour-long special ended with Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke setting off for the infamous historical red-light district Yoshiwara in search of Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui's three wives. The official English subtitle for season 2 is the Entertainment District Arc, which works on one level as a slightly ambiguous alternative for red-light district. But some Japanese fans have a different opinion. 


Popular anime blog Hachima Kikou said the title was "no good," and a bad translation of the original Japanese word yuukaku (遊廓). In any other context, an entertainment district sounds like a place you'd go for shopping, dinner and a movie, while yuukaku specifically refers to a locale where brothels were legally recognized by the Japanese government until the mid-20th century. Not exactly the same thing.


Users in the comments agreed, with one pointing out that entertainment district in Japan is kanrakugai (歓楽街) and the official title may be a mistranslation. One example of a kanrakugai is Tokyo's Kabukicho district, which is known for its many arcades, stores, nightclubs and hostess bars but no (legal) brothels. Others believe that simply calling it the Red-Light District Arc would've made things easier, but that would make the season sound hornier than it is, even if this arc revolves around sex workers. On the other hand, Japanese parents were concerned with the Japanese name for the season because they'd probably have to explain to their kids what yuukaku means, so maybe Entertainment District isn't so bad after all.


What do you guys think? Does Entertainment District Arc work or would you call it something else? Have you checked out the new Demon Slayer yet? Let us know below!