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thekusabishatQuite a superbly long list in the making, here, resulting from boredom. This is what I have thought of, mostly off the top of my head, and hopefully I'll have more once Japanese FF1 gets here and I buy Japanese FF3. Most of it is random nonsense; some might be interesting to some people. We'll see. It is by no means finished - nowhere close, in fact. Much of it I'm sure people already know, but it can't hurt to rewrite it here.
Note: Some things referring to FF3 may be iffy or incorrect, since it is mightily difficult to match up terms, especially without the game in my hands. I apologise in advance if this does happen, and I'll try to check them as soon as I can. This was copy+pasted from my Notepad document, and any random line-breaks I didn't catch are due to this.
Whole series:
瘴気 (shouki) is used to mean Malice in the first two games, Miasma in the third (making them all the same force?)
秘祭 (hisai) meaning secret festival, used to refer both to the strangling ritual (FF1) and the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual (FF2).
刻 (koku) is used to represent the numbering of each chapter/hour for games 2 & 3 (eg 一ノ刻 - chapter 1, 二ノ刻 - chapter 2 etc.), "an archaic period of time (usu. a period of approx. two hours corresponding to one of the signs of the Chinese zodiac)". FF4 uses 蝕 (shoku), meaning eclipse (also found as the second character in 月蝕 meaning lunar eclipse, the main theme of the game). With 分 added, creating 蝕分, it means "phase of an eclipse".
Three locations in the series contain 月読 (tsukuyomi, the name of the Japanese moon god) in their names - Moon Shrine/Well (FF1), Tsukuyomi Beach (FF4) and Tsukuyomi Lighthouse (FF4). The relationship between the beliefs of Rougetsu islanders and the place names is clear, but the reason for the Moon Shrine is, as yet, unexplained.
The graphic depicting game or album save file on PS2 memory cards is a representation of the same camera or album cover/colour as in the game.
Stone Mirrors are called 鏡石 in Japanese, meaning "mirror stone" (a reversal of the words), and refers to the fact that the object is a stone with the qualities of a mirror.
FF1:
Demon Tag Girls Photo - Mikoto is playing with Clock Boy, not a girl, so the title is incorrect.
This likely occurred during blind translation when, assuming that the word 少女たち (shoujo-tachi,
girls) is used, this would roughly mean "Girl & Co. Playing Tag" in English - in Japanese, similarly to aforementioned "& co.", たち (tachi) is used to pluralise a group of two or more people. It is attached to the end of the word or name of the person the speaker is referring to (in this case the girl, 少女 shoujo - Mikoto) to show that they are talking about multiple people. It can, as such, mean either "the girl and the other people with her" or a general plural meaning "multiple girls". Due to the omission, the gender of the other person(s) is never specified and an assumption must have been made, hence the mistake.
Possible error with naming - in the English version, the Xbox-only ghost Armoured Warrior is given the name "Tokitada Kyuki". It is more likely that his name is "Tokisada Kuki", and "Tokitada" doesn't even appear to be a valid reading of the kanji.
The Japanese name for the Strangling Ritual (裂縄ノ儀式) more accurately translates to "Tearing
Ritual", as 裂縄 roughly means "to tear apart with ropes". 裂/裂く (the character interpreted as
"strangle" in English) roughly means "to tear apart" or "forcibly separate".
The Japanese name for the Blinded Maiden is 目隠し鬼 (Mekakushi Oni), literally meaning "Demon with its eyes hidden".
FF2:
Erroneous "Tachibana" instead of "Tsuchihara" in all translations of Bound Diary 5.
Sae is generally made to sound more insane in her English language spirit stones, etc. than in the original Japanese.
The Japanese name for the Lost Village is Chizu Kara Kieta Mura (地図から消えた村), literally meaning "Village which vanished from the map".
The Japanese name for the Remaining twin is Kiseki (鬼隻). The first character means "demon", and the second can mean a vessel or one of a pair.
The Japanese name for the Twin Shrine Maidens is 双子巫女. Altar Twins are known as 双子御子. The two terms are read the same way (Futago Miko); 巫女 means shrine maiden, and 御子 means honourable or sacred child.
The Hellish Abyss is called Utsuro (虚) in the Japanese version. It means empty, or a cavity/hole . The boss of Survival Mode on the Xbox version is called Utsuro in all languages, as a reference to itself and its birthplace.
Sunken Woman was actually spirited away by the village, as explained in the Japanese ghost list: "A woman who became trapped within the village long before Mio and Mayu." This sentence was omitted from the ghost list in all other languages, so that her origins were only ever explained to the Japanese players.
The Japanese name for the Repentance, Ootsugunai (大償), means "a large atonement or compensation".
FF3:
The possible original Japanese name of the Mirror of Loss (身切, migiri) literally translates to
"severing oneself" (literally cutting out oneself).
Japanese 蛇目 literally meaning "snake eyes" is used with reference to the Priestess' eyes in Japanese Mirror of Loss tome - possibly a reference to the snake in the tattoos and Tattoo legend.
A name for the Mirror of Loss is 砌ノ鏡, like the shrine of loss (砌ノ祠). The first character in each, translated to "Loss" in English, is also read "migiri", like 身切.
無目 (mume) refers to her empty eyes, literally means "nothing eyes/eyes of nothingness".
The Japanese name for the Chamber of Thorns (棘獄) literally means "Thorny/Prickly Prison" (maybe a reference to the stakes).
流す (nagasu) means to cast away both in the sense of getting rid of boy children and the priestess' emotions.
鎮女 (shizume), the Japanese name for the Handmaidens, means "pacifying/calming girl", referring to the way they soothed the priestess.
The English title for Hour II is "The Manor of Sleep", whereas the Japanese title is Hazama no Ie (挟間ノ家), literally meaning "House of the Rift".
Hour IV, The Evil Dream (Miku's first chapter), is known as 禍夢 (Magayume) in Japanese. The character meaning evil (禍) is also the first character in 禍刻, the name of the Calamity in FF1. The character can also mean wicked, dangerous or calamitous.
The English title of Hour V is "Vanishing". The Japanese title is a little more detailed, called Kamikakushi (神隠し), which of course means "spiriting away".
Hour VIII, called "The Vacant Dream" in English (one of Kei's hours), is called "Utsuroyume" (虚夢) in Japanese. Its literal meaning is "empty dream", and the word contains 虚, the Japanese name for the Hellish Abyss in FF2.
Hour XIII, called "Calling of the Tattoo", is known as Shisei no Koe (刺青ノ聲) in Japanese. Its literal meaning is "Voice of the Tattoo", and it is the Japanese title of the game.
The Japanese name for the sacrificial pillars is Imibashira (忌み柱), roughly meaning "taboo pillars". 忌み can also mean mourning, religious purification or pure/holy.
FF4:
The title of chapter 10 (残桜, zan'ou, literally translated as "remaining sakura") is a reference to the last remaining sakura to bloom in spring, before the sakura season ends.
Choushirou's arrow pointing towards Sayaka on the character chart on the official FF4 website reads 片思い (kataomoi - unrequited love). This is easy to miss, since it is only in Japanese, and is never mentioned anywhere else.
Choushiro's name also implies that he has three older brothers, though there are no references to this.
A parody of this which I love here: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=1678919
It refers to the name, and his brothers' names and heights parody the "chou" (meaning chief, or long) in his own name.
Translation: Ruka: Your name is Choushirou, with the character for "four" in it, so you're one of four brothers, aren't you?
Choushirou: Haha, not quite. I'm one of 3 brothers!
("Huh, even with the "four"?")
Choushirou: This is a photo of my brothers. From the left: Me, Nakashirou (中四郎) and Tanshirou (短四郎).
("What on earth does the "four" have to do with anything, then!?")
*Notes: Nakashirou (middle) is in the middle and the middle height, as his name implies (naka
meaning middle), and is Blooming. Tanshirou (from mijikai meaning short) is the shortest, at the
end, and has Haibara behind him.
Futaomote (双面), the title of Chapter 6, is the name of a type of performance found in Joururi
storytelling (a dramatic recitation, accompanied by a shamisen, focused more on the lyrics or words than the music). It features two identical characters, and at the end one of them is revealed to take the true form of a ghost or similar demon. (Miya reveal?)
Chapter 4's title, Utsusemi (空身) refers to the Utsuwa's soul temporarily leaving her as an "empty body" (its literal translation) during the Kiraigou. Read "karami", it can mean "one with no luggage/companions".
The title of the final chapter, Reiiki (零域) literally means "area of nothingness" and seems to
refer to the afterlife. A word read the same way, and using a similar first kanji character (霊域) means "sacred ground". (This might be another "rei" pun, since it's common in the series.)
Note: Some things referring to FF3 may be iffy or incorrect, since it is mightily difficult to match up terms, especially without the game in my hands. I apologise in advance if this does happen, and I'll try to check them as soon as I can. This was copy+pasted from my Notepad document, and any random line-breaks I didn't catch are due to this.
Whole series:
瘴気 (shouki) is used to mean Malice in the first two games, Miasma in the third (making them all the same force?)
秘祭 (hisai) meaning secret festival, used to refer both to the strangling ritual (FF1) and the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual (FF2).
刻 (koku) is used to represent the numbering of each chapter/hour for games 2 & 3 (eg 一ノ刻 - chapter 1, 二ノ刻 - chapter 2 etc.), "an archaic period of time (usu. a period of approx. two hours corresponding to one of the signs of the Chinese zodiac)". FF4 uses 蝕 (shoku), meaning eclipse (also found as the second character in 月蝕 meaning lunar eclipse, the main theme of the game). With 分 added, creating 蝕分, it means "phase of an eclipse".
Three locations in the series contain 月読 (tsukuyomi, the name of the Japanese moon god) in their names - Moon Shrine/Well (FF1), Tsukuyomi Beach (FF4) and Tsukuyomi Lighthouse (FF4). The relationship between the beliefs of Rougetsu islanders and the place names is clear, but the reason for the Moon Shrine is, as yet, unexplained.
The graphic depicting game or album save file on PS2 memory cards is a representation of the same camera or album cover/colour as in the game.
Stone Mirrors are called 鏡石 in Japanese, meaning "mirror stone" (a reversal of the words), and refers to the fact that the object is a stone with the qualities of a mirror.
FF1:
Demon Tag Girls Photo - Mikoto is playing with Clock Boy, not a girl, so the title is incorrect.
This likely occurred during blind translation when, assuming that the word 少女たち (shoujo-tachi,
girls) is used, this would roughly mean "Girl & Co. Playing Tag" in English - in Japanese, similarly to aforementioned "& co.", たち (tachi) is used to pluralise a group of two or more people. It is attached to the end of the word or name of the person the speaker is referring to (in this case the girl, 少女 shoujo - Mikoto) to show that they are talking about multiple people. It can, as such, mean either "the girl and the other people with her" or a general plural meaning "multiple girls". Due to the omission, the gender of the other person(s) is never specified and an assumption must have been made, hence the mistake.
Possible error with naming - in the English version, the Xbox-only ghost Armoured Warrior is given the name "Tokitada Kyuki". It is more likely that his name is "Tokisada Kuki", and "Tokitada" doesn't even appear to be a valid reading of the kanji.
The Japanese name for the Strangling Ritual (裂縄ノ儀式) more accurately translates to "Tearing
Ritual", as 裂縄 roughly means "to tear apart with ropes". 裂/裂く (the character interpreted as
"strangle" in English) roughly means "to tear apart" or "forcibly separate".
The Japanese name for the Blinded Maiden is 目隠し鬼 (Mekakushi Oni), literally meaning "Demon with its eyes hidden".
FF2:
Erroneous "Tachibana" instead of "Tsuchihara" in all translations of Bound Diary 5.
Sae is generally made to sound more insane in her English language spirit stones, etc. than in the original Japanese.
The Japanese name for the Lost Village is Chizu Kara Kieta Mura (地図から消えた村), literally meaning "Village which vanished from the map".
The Japanese name for the Remaining twin is Kiseki (鬼隻). The first character means "demon", and the second can mean a vessel or one of a pair.
The Japanese name for the Twin Shrine Maidens is 双子巫女. Altar Twins are known as 双子御子. The two terms are read the same way (Futago Miko); 巫女 means shrine maiden, and 御子 means honourable or sacred child.
The Hellish Abyss is called Utsuro (虚) in the Japanese version. It means empty, or a cavity/hole . The boss of Survival Mode on the Xbox version is called Utsuro in all languages, as a reference to itself and its birthplace.
Sunken Woman was actually spirited away by the village, as explained in the Japanese ghost list: "A woman who became trapped within the village long before Mio and Mayu." This sentence was omitted from the ghost list in all other languages, so that her origins were only ever explained to the Japanese players.
The Japanese name for the Repentance, Ootsugunai (大償), means "a large atonement or compensation".
FF3:
The possible original Japanese name of the Mirror of Loss (身切, migiri) literally translates to
"severing oneself" (literally cutting out oneself).
Japanese 蛇目 literally meaning "snake eyes" is used with reference to the Priestess' eyes in Japanese Mirror of Loss tome - possibly a reference to the snake in the tattoos and Tattoo legend.
A name for the Mirror of Loss is 砌ノ鏡, like the shrine of loss (砌ノ祠). The first character in each, translated to "Loss" in English, is also read "migiri", like 身切.
無目 (mume) refers to her empty eyes, literally means "nothing eyes/eyes of nothingness".
The Japanese name for the Chamber of Thorns (棘獄) literally means "Thorny/Prickly Prison" (maybe a reference to the stakes).
流す (nagasu) means to cast away both in the sense of getting rid of boy children and the priestess' emotions.
鎮女 (shizume), the Japanese name for the Handmaidens, means "pacifying/calming girl", referring to the way they soothed the priestess.
The English title for Hour II is "The Manor of Sleep", whereas the Japanese title is Hazama no Ie (挟間ノ家), literally meaning "House of the Rift".
Hour IV, The Evil Dream (Miku's first chapter), is known as 禍夢 (Magayume) in Japanese. The character meaning evil (禍) is also the first character in 禍刻, the name of the Calamity in FF1. The character can also mean wicked, dangerous or calamitous.
The English title of Hour V is "Vanishing". The Japanese title is a little more detailed, called Kamikakushi (神隠し), which of course means "spiriting away".
Hour VIII, called "The Vacant Dream" in English (one of Kei's hours), is called "Utsuroyume" (虚夢) in Japanese. Its literal meaning is "empty dream", and the word contains 虚, the Japanese name for the Hellish Abyss in FF2.
Hour XIII, called "Calling of the Tattoo", is known as Shisei no Koe (刺青ノ聲) in Japanese. Its literal meaning is "Voice of the Tattoo", and it is the Japanese title of the game.
The Japanese name for the sacrificial pillars is Imibashira (忌み柱), roughly meaning "taboo pillars". 忌み can also mean mourning, religious purification or pure/holy.
FF4:
The title of chapter 10 (残桜, zan'ou, literally translated as "remaining sakura") is a reference to the last remaining sakura to bloom in spring, before the sakura season ends.
Choushirou's arrow pointing towards Sayaka on the character chart on the official FF4 website reads 片思い (kataomoi - unrequited love). This is easy to miss, since it is only in Japanese, and is never mentioned anywhere else.
Choushiro's name also implies that he has three older brothers, though there are no references to this.
A parody of this which I love here: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=1678919
It refers to the name, and his brothers' names and heights parody the "chou" (meaning chief, or long) in his own name.
Translation: Ruka: Your name is Choushirou, with the character for "four" in it, so you're one of four brothers, aren't you?
Choushirou: Haha, not quite. I'm one of 3 brothers!
("Huh, even with the "four"?")
Choushirou: This is a photo of my brothers. From the left: Me, Nakashirou (中四郎) and Tanshirou (短四郎).
("What on earth does the "four" have to do with anything, then!?")
*Notes: Nakashirou (middle) is in the middle and the middle height, as his name implies (naka
meaning middle), and is Blooming. Tanshirou (from mijikai meaning short) is the shortest, at the
end, and has Haibara behind him.
Futaomote (双面), the title of Chapter 6, is the name of a type of performance found in Joururi
storytelling (a dramatic recitation, accompanied by a shamisen, focused more on the lyrics or words than the music). It features two identical characters, and at the end one of them is revealed to take the true form of a ghost or similar demon. (Miya reveal?)
Chapter 4's title, Utsusemi (空身) refers to the Utsuwa's soul temporarily leaving her as an "empty body" (its literal translation) during the Kiraigou. Read "karami", it can mean "one with no luggage/companions".
The title of the final chapter, Reiiki (零域) literally means "area of nothingness" and seems to
refer to the afterlife. A word read the same way, and using a similar first kanji character (霊域) means "sacred ground". (This might be another "rei" pun, since it's common in the series.)
no subject
Date: 2011-08-30 10:09 pm (UTC)I maintain that all translated materials should be forced to include big long appendices in which the translators explain every pun and hidden reference that they haven't been able to carry over into English, because I hate feeling like I'm missing stuff.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-30 10:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-31 03:13 am (UTC)