Domo Arigato!
A philosophical essay [aka rant] on the use of Japanese words in English anime
fanfiction.
>> "Yamette! Duo! WuFei! Tatakacha ikenainda! Bokutachi wa!" Quatre
>> yelled out,
DUO: I'm sure our average American friends understood not a word of
that.
TROWA: Nor did over half the rest of the world's population.
HEERO: From what I see, it roughly translates as, "Stop! Duo! Wufei!
Fighting's no good for us!" But more literally, it says "Having a
fight won't do! Us!"
QUATRE: In other words, it made little sense, overall.
WUFEI: Were you expecting it to? Even "Omae o korosu" was spelled
incorrectly.
-
Gundam Science Theatre, Episode 1
Somewhere, sometime, perhaps in a galaxy far far away, someone decided that
English anime fanfiction would be much better off if it included random
Japanese words and phrases. Who this person was and why they came to this
conclusion are things I simply cannot, and probably never will, fathom.
Unfortunately, the idea spread. Now it is hard to find anime fanfiction that
doesn't include slaughtered, misunderstood, and just plain wrong Japanese
terms.
The point of this rant is to explain why, exactly and logically, what I call fan-
Japanese should not be used in English anime fanfiction. If I insult anybody by
this, well, I really don't care. If you want to argue with me, go for it. But I think
anyone can see that my arguments are well thought out and rational. Take notes,
kids. There might be a pop-quiz later.
The Rules
1. Just Because You Watch Anime Doesn't Mean You Know Japanese
When I first started taking Japanese in college, I was shocked at how many of
my classmates thought they knew Japanese because they watched anime or read
manga or listened to Japanese music or had a Japanese friend or some such
nonsense, even to the point of arguing with the teacher, who was, in fact,
Japanese, about the meanings of words. I was so shocked by their attitudes that I
was ashamed to call myself a manga fan.
For one thing, Japanese is an incredibly complex language. Do you think you can
grasp the nuances of an entire language just from watching anime? My God, how
conceited is that? Not only is it conceited, but it's complete nonsense. There is
no way anyone could pick up any language merely from watching TV shows in
that language, or listening to music in that language, or reading books about
learning that language. Learning a language takes years of study and practice,
not years of anime-watching.
Not only that, but the version of Japanese used in most anime shows is different
from that spoken in Japanese society. While this is a generalization and I hate
making generalizations, many anime characters use less formal or polite
language, and swearing is much more commonplace than in Japanese society.
There are, of course, exceptions to this rule as there are exceptions to all rules,
but this is a moot point since you still can't learn Japanese, informal or formal,
from TV.
But teacher, you whine, I've been teaching myself Japanese. Personally, I don't
believe self-teaching a language works. Because, frankly, language is more than
just speech and writing; it involves understanding different cultures and different
ways of thinking, which cannot be efficiently communicated through textbooks
or manuals, but only through first-hand experience or direct contact with said
culture. Also, to develop an efficiency in any given language, one must have the
opportunity to converse with other students in said language, and one cannot
attain that by self-teaching.
2. Not Everyone Speaks Fan-Japanese
True story time! When first getting into the anime fanfiction scene, which was
many years ago, I had quite a bit of trouble with this fan-Japanese. Part of the
problem was that I had limited exposure to the Japanese language, as I watched
mostly dubs at the time, and honestly had no idea what most of these words
meant.
At first I was confused- I wondered why, exactly was Kurama calling Hiei [Yu
Yu Hakusho] �koi.' Wasn't koi a type of fish? Was this some sort of strange
endearment? Eventually I learned that �koi' is also a noun meaning �love,' and
�koibito,' another popular term, means �lover.' Well this is all fine and good, but
what a fic writer needs to understand is that not everyone understands the words
being used. And while some writers include small footnotes or parenthetical
references explaining what the word means, this is bordering on the pathetic. It
takes away from the story. It makes the reader stop, think �What does that
mean?' have to scroll down to the bottom or search around for a definition so
that they'll know what you're talking about.
And shouldn't the story be the most important part? Isn't that the whole point?
So why do something that will take away from your writing?
3. It's Already In Japanese
Here's where I'll exercise your brains a little and, perhaps, wax a little
philosophical. Put your logic caps on, this might be tricky.
Say I pick up a manga. Say this manga is Weiss Kreuz. For those not familiar,
Weiss takes place in Japan. The characters are Japanese. Now [and here's where
things get thoughtful] upon my reading of this manga, I make the unconscious
assumption that the characters are speaking Japanese, regardless of whether I'm
reading the original Japanese version or a translated version. Because they are
Japanese and are in Japan and Japanese would be the most likely language for
people to be speaking under these circumstances. Even when I am watching a
dub of the Weiss Kreuz anime [why, dear god, would I do that?] I know that in
reality, these people would be speaking Japanese, not English. It's called
understanding the setting. I assume that if I'm reading a novel set in historical
France and it's about French people, the characters will be speaking French even
if the novel is in English. No need for the writer to actually write dialogue in
French, since that would distract from the novel, because the assumption is that
the French is already there.
Now what does this have to do with fanfiction? I'll tell you. Fanfiction operates
on these same principles. I assume, going into a Weiss Kreuz fanfiction, that
again, the characters will all be speaking Japanese unless there's some strange,
bizarre circumstance, in which case I would expect a little note and some
explanation of some sort.
Therefore, your dialogue is already in Japanese. So there is absolutely no need to
be putting in random Japanese words just so you look cool or so that the reader
gets a �feel' for the Japanese-ness of it all. Trust me, it's unnecessary.
Moving rapidly along, we come to an even bigger incongruity. I refer back to my
opening dialogue, the clip from Gundam Science Theatre. The speaker in the
actual fic is Quatre, and Quatre yells "Yamette! Duo! WuFei! Tatakacha
ikenainda! Bokutachi wa!" Now, dear readers, let me explain that Quatre is
*not* Japanese. Heero is Japanese. Duo is American, Wufei is Chinese, Quatre
is Arabic, and Trowa is whatever Trowa is [the fangirls can only wonder].
Therefore, it would not be logical for Quatre, of all people, to suddenly start
yelling in Japanese. The fact of the matter is Quatre probably can't speak
Japanese, let alone yell at Duo and Wufei in it.
Exceptions To The Rules
1. When It's Not Already In Japanese
Now say I pick up another manga. This manga is Fake. For those not familiar
with this greatest of mangas, Fake is a shounen-ai manga set in New York City.
One of the main characters, Ryo, is half-Japanese. The other, Dee, is American.
As are pretty much all of the supporting cast.
When I pick up this manga, I make the assumption that everyone, including Ryo,
is speaking constantly in English. Why? Because they're in America and are
American. This holds true even when I pick up the original Japanese versions.
Despite the fact that the text is Japanese, I still make the unconscious assumption
that these characters say things in English. Come on kids, this is review material.
Now, with Fake fanfiction, I see it as perfectly logical to include some Japanese-
with some rules. The only person who would know Japanese is Ryo. No one else
would logically speak it or understand it, unless Ryo was coming into contact
with some original characters who were Japanese. So Dee, being the crazy
American that he is, would not yell something in Japanese. Ryo, though,
probably would. But again, no one would understand him, so he'd probably have
to explain himself. Simple, right?
2. Suffixes and Titles
The other thing I'd like to address as an exception to my No Fan-Japanese rule is
the whole issue of suffixes and titles. For those not quite familiar with the
Japanese language, name suffixes are very important. I am referring to the -san, -
chan, -kun, -sama, plus others, that are commonly heard in anime and thrown
about fanfiction. There are also titles, such as oniisan, oneechan, senpai, ototou,
and imoutou, to name a few, that are amazingly popular in Japan. In order, the
ones I used for example mean older brother, older sister, someone senior in
ranking, younger brother, and younger sister. There are many, many variations
on these- I can think of several off the top of my head for older brother alone.
These things, in my opinion, simply do not translate well. Part of it is a culture
difference- I would call my brother by his name whereas as a Japanese girl
would more likely call her older brother �niisan' or �ani.' In my opinion, and
many manga translators seem to agree, these titles such as �neechan' are simply
best left untranslated. The same goes for the suffixes. You will notice that even
in my Weiss Kreuz MSTs I have Omi call the other Weiss members by their
name +kun, simply because it doesn't sound right without the -kun. There is just
no way to translate that, and to me it'd be wrong to have Omi call the others by
just their names.
It is good to mention, though, that in all manga that leave these things
untranslated, you will find a guide or rough translation for them somewhere in
the manga; if not right on the page where they are first mentioned, at least in the
back somewhere. This is always a good idea, as some people may be unaware of
the meanings behind these suffixes and titles.
Also, I must mention how a little research helps when using these words in
fanfiction. Using a reference from Weiss Kreuz again, Youji would never call
Aya �Aya-kun.' It is not in his personality, nor is their relationship that friendly.
To Youji, Aya is simply �Aya.' Make sure that your suffixes are correct. Listen
to what the characters are actually saying- don't just guess and throw suffixes
randomly about!
The same goes for titles. There are subtle differences between words like
�oniisan' and �ani,' which technically mean the same thing, older brother. Listen
to the characters you will be writing about! Figure out which titles they use. For
instance, Van from Escaflowne usually calls Folken �aniue,' which is less formal
than �oniisan' or even �niisan.' Van's preference for the word �aniue' should be
considered part of his personality, and could even be considered a sign of his
feelings for Folken. Please don't botch that up.
In conclusion: fan-Japanese bad. Don't use it, except in the cases mentioned
above. And if you use Japanese in those cases, do some research! Show some
actual care for your story by looking words up, finding out what suffixes and
titles characters actually use for each other, and make sure your use of the
Japanese language is accurate.
Have a little respect for the language and for the culture.
