I've seen the issue of what version of an anime title to use come up in various places and it's something I've also given a fair bit of thought to. I've settled on a fairly systematic way of dealing with it so I figured I'd share.
Basically, I separate the various options for anime titles into tiers and go with the highest one available. It's not always completely cut and dry but I think it works pretty well.
1st Choice: First Party English Translation
This would be an English title straight from the original producers, such as The Sacred Blacksmith and Eden of the East, to give some recent examples.
It's hard to argue when it's right there in the logo.
2nd Choice: English Transcription from Katakana
In the rare case where a title uses English words but is only officially written in katakana, transcribing to English instead of romaji is a no-brainer.
Calling it Sureiyaazu Evolution-R would just be dumb. The R1 distributors mucking with it and using The Slayers for the series title is also dumb.
3rd Choice: Second Party English Translation
This would be a translation by a region 1 distributor. There are some exceptions where I prefer a straight romanization but not a lot. And this obviously isn't relevant to most currently-airing fansubs.
You barely ever hear it called Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu anymore. It's always The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
4th Choice: Romanization from Kana/Kanji
Lacking any official translation, I prefer to stick with romanization for the sake of consistency. Unofficial fansub translations often vary and who's to say which is correct? Romanization is as close to official as you can get in this situation and it will always stay the same.
Gold Star Kindergarten? Hanamaru Kindergarten? Just call it Hanamaru Youchien and avoid the mess so everyone will know what show you mean.
5th Choice: Unofficial English Translation
This would be fansub translations, which I never use since there's always at least one of the above options available. However, I should note I'm not a complete weaboo; while I'd leave the title romanized, I would translate the relevant words in the dialogue subs with few exceptions.
What do you want to bet it'll be called When They Cry - Umineko if it gets licensed?
On the next page, the srs biznis of fansub translation in regard to Hanamaru Youchien.
