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So in the Japanese releases of Pokemon, every trainer has a Japanese name
- Thread starter Sea lion
- Start date
absolutely mental to talk about the UK as a victim of cultural appropriation
genuinely the funniest thing I've seen in a while
genuinely the funniest thing I've seen in a while
It's a good thing that's not what they're doing, then. The only differences between the original game and the localizations are the names of characters and locations, and even in the localizations, the names aren't analogous to any real-world locations, meaning there were no "images or icons" whose names could be supplanted by Japanese labels. And as far as characters go, typically, when a character belongs to a marginalized group who might actually be hurt by cultural appropriation, the name is often exactly the same (e.g. Hau and Hala), but even when they don't, the name is usually either very similar or draws upon similar etymological roots. It's not like TPC is out here attempting to trivialize or erase British culture which, by the way, is hardly marginalized.
This isn't the game to complain about it. I'm more upset about Ace Attorney pretending to be in the US when it is so obviously not based there. The law system in the game appeared to me as complete nonsense as I've had some legal training in the US and didn't really know anything about Japanese criminal law. But when I looked up info, the game is a complete parody of the Japanese legal system and many of the illogical aspects of the game are based off aspects of Japanese law such as the law of self defense is incredibly difficult to utilize in Japan so that is why it isn't used in the Ace Attorney games, how much the judge unfairly favors the prosecution and any confession is basically case closed, judge questions the witnesses in a criminal case and there is no jury for most cases, etc.. Of course the most unrealistic aspect of the Ace Attorney games is that Phoenix wins almost every case, when in reality the conviction rate is 99% in Japan so a defense attorney only wins 1-2 cases in his life time typically. The game series would be allot less jarring if they just went full out Japanese so it would reinforce why some of the tenants of common law, presumed innocence, etc aren't followed.
Holy shit, like Ive said before, changing the label of a city clearly based on London doesnt just erase the fact its clearly based on London. Imagery exists with context even without the original name being on it. You wouldn't steal the imagery of shrine gates, nor temples, nor samurais. Because even without names, those are iconic symbols from a different culture.
Sword and Shield literally have stonehenge(and a pokemon based off it), the city of london, south asian and ginger characters, and hell, most of the map lines up with UK countries.
Also, Leon counts as part of a marginalized group, as does Nessa, Olivia, and Kiawe.
Naming every character you can after your own culture when your series is KNOWN for having setting based on the real world paints a narrow picture of the world to kids playing it.
Japan isn't some smalltime niche society, they're literally one of the biggest proponents of media outside the US. They should be held to the same standards people hold for other developers and creators. This kind of blase attitude towards shitty practices is why these companies can get away with even worse shit. "It's just Japan lol"
Its not up to me to educate you on how appropriation works or how it can be used by non-white people and very often is.
But the stuff you're describing, the towns, etc they were made by a team of artists directed by a British guy.
And then given Japanese names to the Japanese audiences who is filled with children, whose only exposure to other cultures is through media, and who will then begin to think that outside Japan is just more Japan.
It's just the generic trainers that suffer from that though, and it seems to be mostly due to them just reusing a list of names for them. You've got some unique characters with Japanese names, but most don't.
User Banned (2 Weeks): Hostility Over Multiple Posts; Numerous Prior Bans for Hostility
can you, like, fuck off if youre gonna do nothing but mock people that actually care about things
ah yes so they consume no other media that would make it obvious of the huge influence the US has on Japan
Please list to me the sea of popular Japanese media that features other cultures in respectful ways
care about sensible things rather than the Japanese version of a Japanese children's game in a fictional world using Japanese names for its characters.
god can weebs, like, think critically of anything
fiction does not exist in a void and is both inspired by things around us whilst also influences our daily lives
Came for this, leaving satisfied.
This was the first thing it came to my mind after I read your post OP.
What about if they're caring way too much about crazy things?
It's a child's game for children that takes place in a fantasy land (in this case) based on the UK.
BRB, I'm going to go yell at Power Rangers and Samurai Pizza Cats.
but don't you see how bad it is when japan does it
because it's japan doing it?
please ignore that literally every localization of pokemon localizes the names
This is a subject that personally matters to me a lot and I'm...struggling to see the issue here??
I'm just glad Game Freak's actually making an effort to have characters with the same skin tone as mine, I personally couldn't care less if they gave Leon a Japanese name.
yes, and? you're concerned the worldview of children worldwide is going to be irreparably warped by having character names localized?
Man, imagine if Dora the Explorer or Ni Hao Kai Lan changed all its characters names to generic white names
Its almost like kids learn from fiction and are shaped by it more than adults, and their media should be more thought through than you people expect it to be.
Leon doesn't even have a japanese name
his name in JP is Dandy
as in, Dandelion
No, im worried the worldview of children in a country known for its incredible xenophobia are going to get another narrow minded perspective of the world
Do you know Japanese kids do weird things like play baseball and soccer? And they follow the stars of their nation when they move to the MLB or larger European soccer leagues. American Professional baseball has toured japan in one form or another dating back to the 1920s. ManU and Liverpool are both rather popular in japan today. Look at how japan celebrates Christmas Eve. Again, no one is complaining that the US/UK had their culture appropriated here, we imposed it on them in some form of another. I don't know how a kid growing up in japan doesn't learn about the US or UK existing.
This isn't about respect, it's about the absurd notion giving some familiar names in a children's game will somehow make everything a kid learns in school irrelevant.
fwiw, if I was 6 years old, I would have no clue that Galar is supposed to be the UK, even while playing the game in English. Does it have a striking resemblance? Sure. It's clearly inspired by it. But it's not the UK. It's a fictional region called Galar with monsters you throw balls at. There isn't a city called London or Manchester. It's not like a "Liberty City" depiction of NYC either where it's identical with a similar name.
Because of a name? Like, nothing else changes, only the name is now worded in a way for the pun to make more sense for Japanese children will cause them to be xenophobic?
Dora is a name of Greek origin. WHY ISN'T SHE NAMED JUANITA?!
Why choose this particular windmill to tilt at?
imagine the sheer anguish of those poor japanese kids when they learn that UK doesn't have nearly as many Makotos as they think and a lot more Teds
I'd be pretty disappointed, myself. Fuck Ted, mate.
I'd be pretty disappointed, myself. Fuck Ted, mate.
I understand where you're coming from, I just don't think Pokemon is the hill to die on this about.
The kids young enough to actually be impressionable by something like this are probably too young to really notice the design being based on an actual place. Those old enough to recognize the design inspiration are probably old enough to not let the names in a game dictate their world view.
Like if this were not set in a fictional world and were actually set in London and they gave everyone a Japanese name, I could understand your criticism. This aint it, though.
"Leon" is a "generic white name" next to an abbreviation of Dandelion?
Normally, I'd get where you're coming from. I think name/place localizations like the Ace Attorney games use are ultimately bad in intent and form. But these Pokemon characters have names that are meant to be different according to the language of release.
It's not like Pokemon Conquest turned its incarnation of Nobunaga into Norman or some shit.
If we're going to discuss proper representation of England, honestly Sword and Shield does a lot better than most foreign media by showing England as a country that has places other than London in it. Pretty faithfully too, the bits set in the north (south?) felt really familiar.
I don't honestly care if they stuck their own names in the original version. Appropriation is more nuanced than just "don't use other peoples culture unless perfectly accurately" and there is really very little danger of british culture being erased by a non-anglosphere country.
I don't honestly care if they stuck their own names in the original version. Appropriation is more nuanced than just "don't use other peoples culture unless perfectly accurately" and there is really very little danger of british culture being erased by a non-anglosphere country.
the characters in Pokemon games are all named after plants. It wasn't until Gen 6 that the localization started reflecting this (Gens 1-5, everyone would have puns based on what their specialized type is)
Pokemon isn't "this time we'll learn about the UK".
Pokemon is "there's this weird Pokemon world that's similar to ours but quite different because there are sentient monsters everywhere and everyone won't shut up about the sentient monsters. Anyway, we needed a different theme to flavour the sequel so this one's informed by the trappings of the UK."
Also, have we ever seen any indication that people in the Pokemon world speak different languages? It could be a pre-Tower of Babel society.
I think your disappointment may be a problem on its own, if we're being touchy.
You're worried about Japanese names without understanding that they were initially chosen just as names. No one was saying "Ah, this is exquisitely Japanese. So precious and unique" in Japan. They were saying "This is a good generic trainer name for regular people".
They were appropriately localized to deliver the same effect to different regions' audiences.
You're worried about Japanese names without understanding that they were initially chosen just as names. No one was saying "Ah, this is exquisitely Japanese. So precious and unique" in Japan. They were saying "This is a good generic trainer name for regular people".
They were appropriately localized to deliver the same effect to different regions' audiences.
Most of the characters in Gen 8 reference the same plants that their JP counterparts do and a lot of them in the JP script are even english (Marnie is Mary in Japan, Bede is Beet, Hop's name is the same)
All the names are based on a type of flower or plant and use a name that is a variation of their regional common name of the plant or flower in their respective region. Or they get creative if they struggle to find one that works and take elements of the scientific name to sound and feel similar in its intent.
Example, Yarrow is the common name of a type of flower, and Yarrow is still used as his name in other EU regions too because it's a common flower and the name is of English origin. For the US version they went with Milo, taking the "millefo" from it's scientific name, Achillea millefolium, and shortening it to Milo.
Also yarrow are native to Asia, Europe, and North America.
Example, Yarrow is the common name of a type of flower, and Yarrow is still used as his name in other EU regions too because it's a common flower and the name is of English origin. For the US version they went with Milo, taking the "millefo" from it's scientific name, Achillea millefolium, and shortening it to Milo.
Also yarrow are native to Asia, Europe, and North America.