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Changgi
(Actually I think the TCC has deviated from the original "exotic and unfamiliar Chinese that doesn't have voiced initials to be a better representative of Chinese than Mandarin and Cantonese and to imitate what the Sino-pronunciations imitate" to some sort of Middle Chinese construction thing or at least more real language-like because that's what people like more...)
Yeah, I prefer the latter myself. However, I think that a good balance can be struck between accuracy/faithfulness and ease-of-use within a modern context.
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Changgi
Just typed out an example:
火焰貓 TCC: Hwâ/ Yem~ Meu (deciding whether to write the sound as <meu> or <mau> )
Correspondence with Cantonese: hw- > f; â > o; yem/iem > im; -eu > -aau
Cantonese pronunciation: Fo2 Yim6 Maau1
Mandarin: â > o, except after non-velar consonants*, where it corr to -uo, exceptions: ai an ang; -eu > -ao
* velars + â = velars + o in original Mandarin, or just o if the velar is a velar nasal, but have shifted to e later. Wade-Giles reflects this.
Pr: Huo\/ Yan\ Mao
Jp: h > k; -m > -n; m- > Kan’on b-; -eu > Kan’on –eu
Original Jp pr : Kwayenbeu
Later shifts : loss of -w-; ye > e; eu > you
Modern Jp: Kaenbyou
Hakka: Fo Yam Miau/Meu
The /m/ coda only merged into the /n/ coda following the postwar spelling reform. In fact, Sino-xenic readings more faithfully preserve the /m/ coda than does Cantonese, since it is maintained even when the initial is labial (e.g. 品 as 'himu' vs Cantonese 'ban'); this applies to the /p/ coda as well. Therefore, I think that the original Japanese pronunciation of 火焰貓 was more like 'kwa-yemu-beu' (the prewar on-yomi of 焰 was 'emu' according to my electronic dictionary).