Like manga, I hate it when they, for example, transliterate さん as -san, when there is an “equivalent” word for it, like Mr. but would it carry the same connotation as the source material? I cringe when I buy translated versions of Japanese literature due to this (which is why I stick to the source material), it just… does not sit well, I mean instead of writing -sensei, -senpai, or -sama there are “equivalents” in English for those but the catch is that would it work well upon translation?
-san and -sensei have pretty direct translations, but other honorifics like -chan, -kun, -senpai, and -sama either don’t have direct translations or have ones that feel really forced if you try to use them. If you’re reading Japanese texts in the original language then you’re clearly aware that the social hierarchy delineated by honorifics doesn’t really have a one-to-one mapping to Western society.
Personally, I think it’s fine to leave some distinctive parts of the language untranslated for the sake of preserving some of the flavor of the original language. This doesn’t just apply to Japanese, you could translate “quincenera” and “Autobahn” to “15th Birthday Party” and “Federal Motorway” but that doesn’t convey the significance and uniqueness of those things to Mexico and Germany, respectively. And if you’re going to be leaving a few words untranslated already its not too much to leave a few more. I don’t think anyone would balk at Sra. or Hr. instead of Mrs. and Mr. for example.
Obviously someone who’s not familiar with the conventions will have a bit of a learning curve, but in my opinion a little extra study to learn more about another culture is a good thing.