I guess it's like Dark Falz/Dark Force, where the Japanese name just sounds awkward to English speakers and loses some of the cool factor. Numan sounds more sci-fi to me but Newman fits better with the Japanese spelling (since it uses the same kana for new) and is more consistent with the rest of the series so I don't care either way.
On another note:
Thoul wrote:Well said, pitohui. It's nice to see someone recognize that language is a flexible, evolving thing. I wish that happened more often.
Pretty much every major language has loanwords, shifts in pronunciation, and exceptions. English has a weirder history compared to other languages (thanks France
![Silly :p](http://cdn.vgws.com/common/images/smilies//icon_razz.gif)
) but it's not that different in that regard.