S/mileage's new name is ANGERME, 3rd gen members announced

[321BreakinOut]

they were mad you left the forum so long, therefore: ANGER-ME!

[Obsidian]

Lemme ask you...
if you had a japanese pop group that romanised a word from a language (pretending it's a real word in another language) that romanised to "fuckit", you would get upset too. xD
except, of course, "angerme" and "fuckit" are totally unrelated in their bad-ness. xD

Not really there's all kinds of names for products/brands in other countries that sound amusing or even sometimes offensive when you read them in English and I'm sure the same happens for lots of languages. There's even words used in the US that have different meanings when used in the UK for example 'fag' and 'fanny', I don't really see why anyone in one country has to consider all the possible words or combinations of words of their brand could sound like before deciding on it. Nintendo didn't even worry about it when they were marketing the Wii to the entire world, and it certainly didn't harm sales.

In this case maybe they're not really considering an international audience that much despite the French origins. I'd rather it was a potentially eye-catching name like this than say Sexy-zone or Kinki Kids which normally has people just rolling around laughing. So to me this isn't even that bad, there's far far worse named bigger Japanese bands with this issue.

[CaptainBerryzGiraffe]

I guess, but it's obvious that they still obviously take those things into account, especially when the names of their other groups are...
MORNING musume, C-ute (from cute), S/mileage (from smile + age), Juice=Juice (from Juice...), BERRYZ (berries)...so they obviously do take english into account... So it's just weird that they'd pull something like this. xD Even if it is from french... They know that a huge chunk of the H!P followers live abroad and most know english. They are obviously cognizant of how they choose the name.

Also with your Wii example, "Wii" was also chosen because of "we" in english.

[Sohee]

I highly doubt any of the name for any other group was chosen with a "Oh let's make it in English so that international fans can relate/find it appealing too." thought in mind. English ("English" really) just have a big part in the Japanese language in general. As does French and Spanish and many other languages that have influenced Japan and Japanese to make it look the way it is today.
And let's not forget that for some reason (completely unknown to myself) Japan admires and looks up to France and French in general. Not saying they're wrong (or right for that matter) but the romanticize the image of France and everything related a lot, which explains further why they (Kana) would have an interest in French to begin with.
And on a last note? While to Japan "Foreigner=Speaks English" is a rather common stereotype, they're very much aware of that far from everyone abroad speaks English. In a way almost more so than many native English speakers I've come across that seem to think that English is the only language out there.

As for "but in this language it means---" Honestly? Get over it. I swear every person who studies English as a second language goes through "lol" phases when they study it in elementary or middle school, but when you're grown up? Get over it already.

[erilaz]

Lemme ask you...
if you had a japanese pop group that romanised a word from a language (pretending it's a real word in another language) that romanised to "fuckit", you would get upset too. xD

This made me think of Phuket (an island in Thailand). It's not pronounced like "fuckit", but to an English speaker, it looks like it should be.

[CaptainBerryzGiraffe]

That may not be it, but that doesn't mean they aren't aware of different ways something can be seen.
I just still think it'd be better if they used アンジュルム instead.

[Zunu]

Lemme ask you...
if you had a japanese pop group that romanised a word from a language (pretending it's a real word in another language) that romanised to "fuckit", you would get upset too. xD

This made me think of Phuket (an island in Thailand). It's not pronounced like "fuckit", but to an English speaker, it looks like it should be.

I thought of exactly the same thing!

And French Connection UK. And shiitake. And na4 ge (nei4 ge). And Takeshita, fer crissakes. Y me cago ahi. Etc.

[Starra]

Shit, it even happens in Māori place names. Whakapapa is pronounced... how your dirty mind thinks it's pronounced .

[Starra]

the chants are going to sound weird. Su-mai-rē-ji is easier to say than An-ju-ru-mu.

they chant the member's names, not the group name.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7bTbMInhZo#t=1404
Maybe, but they also quite obviously say "S/mileage saikou!".

[BerryzCelebration]

the chants are going to sound weird. Su-mai-rē-ji is easier to say than An-ju-ru-mu.

they chant the member's names, not the group name.

Before the group goes on stage, don't they chant the group's name? That's what I saw from a C-ute/Berryz budokan video on Instagram. And don't they chant the group's name when they take little breaks off stage?