fyridis

choster on cohost (citation needed)

💖💛💙 🏳️‍⚧️

game music composer // sometimes-dev // taiko artist // linguist (ex-academia) // conlanger

日本語・英語のバイリンガルです。

@ fyridis (Viridian) on discord

iltamaar najakelaz @ exodus (ffxiv)

tumbl


fyridis
@fyridis

I've been playing the English version of TGAA due to circumstances, and one thing that's stood out to me when it comes to how language-switching is handled within the game's dialogue is how the characters address one another. I finally had some time to take a look at how this is handled in the Japanese version, so I wanted to write a "quick" post about it. this might become a longer series, who knows.

so, in the English version, instances where characters are speaking English are distinguished from those where they're using Japanese by their use of honorifics (sama, san, kun, etc.) and courtesy titles (Miss, Mr, etc.).

for example, when Susato addresses Kazuma during the first episode, she refers to him (in the English text) as Kazuma-sama. he is, as you might expect, addressed the same way in the Japanese version.

(left) ???: "Good luck...Kazuma-sama.
(right) ???「それでは、一真さま。....ご武運を。」" / ???: "Farewell, Kazuma-sama. ...I wish you good luck."

once the context of the game switches to English, however, we see the Japanese-speaking characters switch to using titles like 'Mr'. for example, Susato begins calling Ryuunosuke "Mr Naruhodo."


fyridis
@fyridis

some additional remarks on honorific use and the initial interaction with the defendant in episode 4:


one thing of interest is that, when the English version uses honorifics, they don't actually always match the ones used in Japanese. in the first example above (where Susato addresses Kazuma as Kazuma-sama), they do. but above, we also see Susato referring to Ryuunosuke as Naruhdo-sama—which isn't the case in English.

Susato: "And I am Naruhodo-san's juridical assistant, Susato Mikotoba."

this example from the dialogue with Souseki doesn't have an equivalent in Japanese (she doesn't address Ryuunosuke, just states that she's a juridical assistant), but i am fairly certain she uses "-san" elsewhere in English, despite using sama consistently in Japanese—I'll have to take a closer look at episode 2 next.

you also see this happen in how the pair addresses Souseki.

(left) Susato: Well, if what Soseki-san has just told us is true, there's something I can't explain."
(right) スサト:「漱石さまは被害者のことを知らず、現場には、他に人影はなかった....」" / Susato: "Souseki-sama didn't know the victim, and there was no one else at the scene..."

the game makes use of "-sama" at other points in the story, so it seems like it isn't just a matter of thinking "-san" would be more legible to English-speaking audiences. in the case of Susato and Ryuunosuke, it may be a deliberate means of altering their dynamic to be somewhat closer or more equal. in the case of Souseki, though, it seems like it may be because Susato uses sama while Ryuunosuke uses san:

ナルホド:「じつは....ぼく。留学生なんです。漱石さんと同じ。」"
Naruhodo: "Actually, I... I'm an exchange student. Same as you [Souseki-san]."

they thus may have felt that keeping it consistent would make more sense to English-speaking audiences.

another thing that interested me was the point where Souseki addresses Ryuunosuke as "Mr Naruhodo Esquire," and Ryuunosuke's response.

(left) Soseki: Mr Naruhodo Esquire!"
(right) ソーセキ:「ミスター・ナルホドォォォッ!」" / Souseki: "Misutaa Naruhodooo!"

in this case, Souseki's switch to English is clear, in that he literally switches to English (written out in katakana). in order to capture the 'weirdness' of this outburst alongside the switch to English, they have him tack on an additional title/honorific ("esquire") in addition to using "Mr".

in English, Ryuunosuke responds by asking him to refer to him as just "Naruhodo" (apparently sans-honorific), and also explicitly distinguishes this from addressing him in English, where he says that just "Mister" is fine. of course, later, Souseki still refers to him as "Mr Naruhodo Esquire..."

(left) Ryunosuke: "Oh, you can just call me Naruhodo. And when we're speaking English, a simple "Mister" is more than en[ough.]
(right) ナルホド:「....あの。"成歩堂くん"で大丈夫です。」" / Naruhodo: "Er, Naruhodo-kun is fine."

in the Japanese version, all he says is to call him Naruhodo-kun—no acknowledgement of English at all (and note the presence of an honorific here). i've yet to actually get further in his episode yet, so i'm looking forward to seeing how Souseki addresses him in the future, in both versions...


You must log in to comment.