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It's finally happened, HW: Age of Calamity Japanese sub title is "Apocalypse of Disaster" (Fake Zelda title made up sounding name is official)
- Thread starter Meelow
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I'm far from an expert in Japanese, but if you are going through google translation, that's no good...
this is the title of this OT by reverse translation:
The Hyrule Warriors Finally Occurred: The Age of Disasters The subtitle of Japan is disaster apocalypse (the fake Zelda title made up of the ringing name is official)
It already changed to disaster apocalypse and I am sure google translator is unable to pick references / alternative meanings.
this is the title of this OT by reverse translation:
The Hyrule Warriors Finally Occurred: The Age of Disasters The subtitle of Japan is disaster apocalypse (the fake Zelda title made up of the ringing name is official)
It already changed to disaster apocalypse and I am sure google translator is unable to pick references / alternative meanings.
seriously, Google Translate is INFAMOUS for broken English, especially in Japanese
Yeah, it's not at all strange either. 災 is an unfortunate event and 録 is a record of it, there is no confusion or humor that they are using two synonyms, because they are not.
Since everyone is shitting on Google Translate I just wanted to say that it's a really good tool and can give great translations when you give it proper sentences with context. I frequently use it in my daily life.
Because we all have context for what Calamity Gabon is and that this game is a prequel set 100 years in the past, we are able to correctly parse the titles. In general, context is key to most good translations.
Because we all have context for what Calamity Gabon is and that this game is a prequel set 100 years in the past, we are able to correctly parse the titles. In general, context is key to most good translations.
I use JP to EN Google Translate everyday for both work and entertainment reading, but I don't stop and make fun of a Japanese subtitle in an international forum by saying that its google translation is official.
Google Translate is a good tool, like a chainsaw. It's very useful when used well. OP used it to cut up a fence or something
Oh, I agree absolutely. OP was trying way too hard to find comedy where there wasn't any.
So 黙示録 is a reference to Revelations in the bible. It doesn't mean "apocalypse," it means something more along the lines of "a record of what was revealed (by God)."
キリスト教における「黙示録（もくしろく）」の「黙示」の意味は、「神が人に表し示すこと」です。「黙示」は「啓示」と同じ意味であり、「黙示録」とは、「啓示録」であると言えます。
biz.trans-suite.jp
Edit: It works because it ends with "record." In English this is the equivalent of "Record of xyz," but with a fancy spin on the word "record" that isn't covered by "Revelations."
キリスト教における「黙示録（もくしろく）」の「黙示」の意味は、「神が人に表し示すこと」です。「黙示」は「啓示」と同じ意味であり、「黙示録」とは、「啓示録」であると言えます。
「黙示録」の意味とは？災いや『ヨハネの黙示録』の獣との関係も | TRANS.Biz
「黙示録」は、これをモチーフにした映画や、書籍のタイトルなどに使われる言葉ですが、どのような意味なのかご存じで
biz.trans-suite.jp
Edit: It works because it ends with "record." In English this is the equivalent of "Record of xyz," but with a fancy spin on the word "record" that isn't covered by "Revelations."
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"Hahaha! Those silly foreigners! When we put their titles into Google Translate, they sound awkward!"
Imagine literally translating a title like "Grand Theft Auto." Not using the equivalent crime, just translating it literally word by word.
Imagine literally translating a title like "Grand Theft Auto." Not using the equivalent crime, just translating it literally word by word.
For what it's worth, Mokushiroku is the word we use in Japanese when referring to the apocalypse. If you ask someone on the street what the end of the world is called there is a strong chance they would just use the word Mokushiroku. The translation spit out by GT is not unreasonable or off. This isn't a particularly nuanced title and it does sound just as silly in Japanese as it does in English.
For context I speak Japanese fluently and have a degree in translation.
Basically this.
For context I speak Japanese fluently and have a degree in translation.
Basically this.
I suppose they might also use "Mokushi" and leave off "roku", but it literally is the term for the biblical, proper noun Apocalypse. Not that these discussions come up often on the street in Japan, but it is what it is. Not sure what there is to doubt about this.
DOUBT.JPEG
I mean... That makes even less sense, sorry.
No disagreement there. I'm just saying I can't picture Japanese people using "mokushiroku" (or "mokushi"??? what?) to say "end of the world". I mean, a simple "sekai no owari" would be much more likely.
To put it simply, "mokushiroku" is, as you said, the Japanese term for the Book of Revelation... and you wouldn't say "book of revelation" in place of "end of the world", would you?
"What is the end of the world called, random Japanese passerby?
- The Book of Revelation!"
Yeah, I don't think so. ^^;
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Wazai can also mean calamity though, not just disaster, so it seems pretty accurate to me. Or is it the use of mokushiroku instead of just mokushi that's weird?
Yeah, Calamity is the word I would have personally picked, but I don't think it's an egregious difference. "Apocalyptic Calamity" is a decent more localized translation that reads better in English while preserving the exact meaning. I personally think this sounds just as edgy and silly.
Sekai no Owari is for sure the only other phrase I would have suggested, which is why I said it was just a "strong" chance, haha. Unfortunately, it is not the phrase they used in the title, and Apocalypse is a fitting translation in the context of the title.
As a translator, I am sure you are aware that when doing translation you also want to cause as little friction between the original language and the language you are translating to. While Apocalypse is an accurate translation, due to how English uses apocalypse and calamity as synonyms and the connotation that apocalypse is a chronicle/forecasting of the end and not the event in and of itself, which has pretty much been lost in everyday speaking, perhaps a more nuanced word such as "Revelations" which people may still associate with the book and might cause less of all this mockery. That said, naming anything with this kind of word in any language is pretty silly.
Yes, I am aware; this is why the official English title is not just a direct translation and has a more localized title. I am just saying it isn't unfair to also look at the Japanese title and be amused by how edgy it is, because it certainly is edgy. No amount of lenient translation or nuanced approaches will make it less over the top, haha.
Trying to remember one of the fake names before Twilight Princess got it's title.. I'm sure there was about Doors? Doors of Doom? Something like that.
You might be thinking of the YA novel "Link and the Portal of Doom", which many people for some reason expected there would be an adaptation of during a brief period of time.
Edit: I suppose it isn't fair to say an adaptation, but it was a common discussion point on Zelda forums and I remember chasing theories down where people believed that a new zelda game was going to take ideas from Portal of Doom, and this was very hilarious.
You're probably thinking of "wazawai" ("災い"). The Japanese title of the game is actually "Zelda Musō Yakusai no Mokushiroku" ("ゼルダ無双 厄災の黙示録").
"Yakusai" is the Japanese word used for the (Great) Calamity from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and "mokushiroku", as explained here and there in this very thread, is the Japanese term for the Book of Revelation, aka the Apocalypse in the original meaning of the term (not the secondary "end of the world" / "catastrophe" one).
So no, it's not redudant in Japanese. It only becomes redundant if you translate "mokushiroku" into "apocalypse", and then (mis-)understand that "apocalypse" to mean "catastrophe".
Lol wtf? There absolutely is not. That categorically doesn't make any sense. Are you sure you speak Japanese?
Yep. I think this guy may not be being entirely truthful with us lol.
I guess my experience living in Japan and speaking Japanese for most of my life is just wildly out of touch, then. Even playing games and reading manga dealing with the apocalypse it isn't uncommon to see the specific phrase when referring to the end of the world. There are certainly other ways to say it, but in all of my time speaking the language it has not been controversial or weird to use the term Mokushiroku in this context, nor to translate it directly as "apocalypse".
Because the Book of Revelation is about the end of the world. That doesn't change the fact "mokushiroku" doesn't mean "end of the world".
It's just bizarre because what you're saying is actually wrong. Like, it's not even sort of debatable point that we can discuss and I can give you benefit of the doubt. The poster above explained it pretty clearly so no point going over it again, but your 'well I've lived in Japan for x amount of time, speak fluently, have a degree in translation' doesn't make the fact that other people who live in Japan or speak Japanese 'fluently' (me or the other poster) or a native Japanese person could tell you it's categorically wrong. It just makes your use of those backing it up a bit strange.
I think the main issue here is that we are debating a literal dictionary meaning against the pragmatic usage of the term; My point was not that there aren't other ways to say apocalypse, just that it is absolutely a word used when referring to the Proper Noun Apocalypse. It isn't some completely foreign and unheard of word with pages and pages of nuance. It may "literally" mean "The Biblical Revelation", but its usage is often fairly localized as Apocalypse, and implies, simply, the (lowercase a, unproper noun) apocalypse.
If I'm wrong about the average person using it, then that's absolutely fair. I am just speaking from my anecdotal experience on that one; I didn't mean to cast doubt on anyone's ability to speak Japanese, just that I don't think it's fair to drag the OP and imply heaps of nuance in an over the top video game subtitle where there isn't much. There's certainly a reason why the localized title is not "Biblical Revelation of the Great Calamity".
I'm not sure what I would be achieving by being deliberately "untruthful", I was just giving my two cents as a Japanese speaker; I thought it might be valuable, but it clearly was more complex than I was willing to give it space to be. I apologize for being incorrect.
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I don't think anybody is saying otherwise.
We disagree about your claiming the word could be used to literally mean "end of the world". It wouldn't be, because it doesn't mean that. It means "Book of Revelation".
Now, could that word be found in, say, stories that deal with global catastrophes, for instance? Sure. Because the Book of Revelation is about the end of the world. So it's in the same semantic ballpark (not a synonym though). Some examples off the top of my head: Amon Devilman Mokushiroku (a Devilman spin-off that's... more apocalyptic than the original, I guess? somehow?), Akumajō Dracula Mokushiroku (the original title of the Nintendo 64 Castlevania game... guess Dracula wasn't really trying, up until then), Giten Megami Tensei Tōkyō Mokushiroku (because of course that series would use that term... I mean, you could even argue they're showing a lot of restraint by not having it in 80% of their titles)...
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