Board Thread:Wiki Discussions and Support/@comment-1207741-20150425210552/@comment-945885-20150426011939

Snapper2 wrote: So the same wiki that gets super anal about using UK English, what information goes under what heading, and keeping all translations consistent with each other, is going to capitalize something for reasons of whimsy?

Ok. Localization and translation isn't science. Choosing what terms are specific enough to be capitalized as proper nouns and which are too broad and should be treated as common nouns is ultimately somewhat subjective.

Getting more specific, ninjutsu, taijutsu, etc. are very general terms, whereas Katon and Suiton are referring to specific styles, which should therefore be capitalized. And, indeed, most official translations of the terms, not just in Naruto but in all media, will translate them as "Fire Style" or "Water Style".

Also, while we translate the kanji as "release," the actual literal translation is "escape," as the nature transformation terms all originate from a subdivision of ninjutsu called tonjutsu, or "escape techniques," which ninja would use to hide or flee from enemies using their environment. For example, Katon (Fire Escape) would perhaps involve setting a fire and infiltrating or escaping a compound amid the chaos, or Suiton (Water Escape) would involve hiding under water, or using the sound of rushing water to drown out footsteps.

Kishimoto, and many others authors before him, naturally embellished these techniques greatly, turning them into mystical offensive attacks. In many media, these terms are the special attacks, rather than categories of special attacks. Which is to say that in many anime or games, a ninja may use "Raiton" to attack their enemy with a bolt of lighting, whereas in Naruto it obviously gets more granular, and they can use different types of Raiton techniques.

At any rate, ultimately, it's a localization issue. To me, it feels like they should be capitalied as proper nouns.