What’s in a Title: Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina

遡る嘆き

This episode title comes from 魔女の旅々, Majo no Tabitabi, or Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina. The anime was pretty good. Episode 9 was heartbreaking. Speaking of episode 9, perhaps the title will give some of that away in this breakdown.

遡る　(さかのぼる)
This verb has two meanings:

※To go upstream (such as a river).
※To go back in time.

Since this show is about magic and we have already been introduced to time magic in a previous episode, I think the latter would be perfect.

嘆き(なげき)
This word can be derived from the verb 嘆く、なげく、which means to lament, to grieve, or to regret.

So, the translation could be something like “Going Back (in Time) to Past Regrets”

Funimation translated it as “A Deep Sorrow from the Past” so it was close. They give off the same feel, but my translation may be too literal and wordy. So I think that Funimation did a great job here.

I won’t spoil anymore than this. If you haven’t seen this episode yet (or this show yet), give it a try.

Here’s a PV: