Talk:Sorcery/@comment-34239033-20180106165053

So, there's an issue across the ENTIRE Wiki when it comes to talking about Alchemy.

While the manga translation refers to the other type of magic users as "Alchemists", the anime refers to them as "Sorcerers" – this is because of the word that's being used to describe them, and it's one that the wiki has is incorrect all over the place.

The wiki is using  錬金術 "renkinjutsu" &  錬金 術師 "renkinjutsushi" which are the terms used for the actual word "Alchemist" and it's used in series like Fullmetal Alchemist, but not in this series. " 錬金 " "renkin" refers to the technique of creating gold, which is why it's used specifically for "Alchemist" but this series doesn't take that direction with its two varieties of magic users at all.

This series differentiates its types of magic users by calling them 魔法使い "mahoutsukai" & "魔術師" "majutsushi."

The differences here are that  魔法使い "mahoutsukai" whose direct translation is "One who uses Magic" meaning that Mage is easily the most appropriate English term to use for them.

On the other hand,  "魔術師" "majutsushi" means "Master of the Technique of Magic" which is immediately understandably different in Japanese. The issue is that there's not a clear go-to term for that in English, since we tend to use a lot of terms differently depending on series or context. (For example: In Dungeons & Dragons, Wizards study magic whereas Sorcerers are natural magic users. In Harry Potter, Witches and Wizards are just gender differentiations. Outside of those series, Wizards and Sorcerers are often used interchangably, whereas Witches most often refer to users of occult or black magic).

That's why the English manga translation chose "Alchemist" to differentiate this. It's  focusing on it being about the differences in how they study the mechanics of magic, since it's emphasizing the  "術師" "jutsushi" mastery of the technique. Alchemist is more closely tied to early science, and unlike the other options, they went with a term that immediately feels more different in English and also points to the study of how something functions.

On the other hand, the anime uses "Sorcerer" instead, since that's an actual translation for the word " 魔術師 " "majutsushi" whereas "Alchemist" has its own separate term, making the manga's choice technically incorrect. There're good reasons for both choices, and they should probably both be called out in the wiki.

At the very least the terms,  錬金術 "renkinjutsu" &  錬金 術師 "renkinjutsushi" need to be removed and corrected everywhere they're currently used.

Also, in case there's need of a quick source to verify this, Mikhail Renfred's character art and bio on the official Japanese Twitter uses the correct term:  https://twitter.com/mahoyomeproject/status/888743181382164481