User blog comment:FaliusKonogami/NAKAMA/@comment-1595565-20121018224221

I have to agree. It is taken way too seriously by the fanbase. I will admit I used to be one of those people but have since seen the light of reason. Even still, people think it has some deeper meaning because it went untranslated. The same thing can be said for haki when the word was first used in the manga. What those two words have in common is that they have multiple definitions that all roughly equate to the same thing in the end. So, translators leave them as they are because it is easier to do that than decide on a definition that might conflict elsewhere in the fanbase. Nakama, in terms of definition and use, has faced a lot more scrutiny, much like now, than haki. Personally, I just say friend or comrade, depending on context.