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Sometimes they change the title into something different, and by different I
mean it's not an English translation. An example here is _[Rurouni
Kenshin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurouni_Kenshin)_. Although it state
that:

> Rurouni Kenshin is subtitled "Wandering Samurai" in some English releases.

which makes it the closest translation, as a rough translation of the title
would be "Kenshin the Wandering Swordsman". But they also use the name
_Samurai X_ for this anime title.

> The English-language versions of the OVAs, as well as the film, were
> originally released as Samurai X in North America, although the original
> name was included on the later DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases.

But it's not only in North America, as they also mentioned

> Sony Pictures Television International created an English-language version
> of the series, titled Samurai X, that airs outside of the United States

I don't know if there's another anime that also does this, but I've never seen
something like this recently.


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anime-production anime-history rurouni-kenshin
Is it a common practice to change the title into something different?


This occurs pretty often, it is called [Cultural
streamlining](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editing_of_anime_in_American_distribution#Cultural_streamlining)

> To accommodate American viewers, anime dubbed in the United States is
> usually modified to suggest it occurs within the United States or a
> fictional country thus resembling it. This is commonly achieved by
> substituting Japanese elements in a series by elements drawn from American
> popular culture, modifying food or other products to resemble their American
> equivalents and by replacing Japanese writing with English writing.

A very simple example as was given on the wiki is Ash from the Pokemon series
carrying a sandwich in the American version while in the Japanese version he
carries a onigiri

The same counts for the titles of those kind of series, aka the wandering
samurai instead of Rurouni Kenshin. Because most of their audience would not
even know what a Rurouni is.

Changes such as Samurai X usually are done for [audience
stereotyping](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editing_of_anime_in_American_distribution#Audience_stereotyping),
a series called Wandering samurai is less likely to be watched by a female
audience. While the name Samurai X is also more attractive to the female
audience, which broadens their audience for more income of the series.

In the end all Renaming of characters/titles is mainly for marketing purposes.


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answer