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Gratuitous Japanese: Difference between revisions
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[[File:cit jastusa web comic 22 - rites.png|frame|[[The Worf Effect|Worf-san no warrior skills are now perfect desu.]]]]
{{quote|''Hey bitch you look [[kawaii]].''
|'''Willow''', ''[[My Immortal]]''}}
In the [[Anime]] [[Fanfic]] community, the name given to the practice of including in a story the occasional word or sentence (or paragraph!) of Japanese in place of its equivalent in the author's language of choice, [[Self-Demonstrating Article|desu]]. This also occurs in [[Fan Sub|Fansubs]] and [[Scanlation]]s.
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Naturally, opinion varies within the anime fanfic community on this subject. Most readers are united in their dislike for finding walls of Japanese text in the middle of their stories, but some do enjoy (much) smaller "flavor bits".
The form of this that just about ''everybody'', even the purists, despises is "Fangirl Japanese", where a newbie inserts big blocks of Japanese that they don't even understand every other paragraph, not just in their fanfiction (which is usually plain ol' bad) but ''in their everyday life''. The word "''kawaii''" still leaves a bad taste in many reformed fangirls' mouths. It is amusing, though, to read their flailing attempts if you know enough Japanese to realize that no, "koi" is not the verb for "love" and that they've used the word for "bow (weapon)" instead of that for "bow (hair accessory)" by mistake. This is sometimes seen in [[Fanfic]] of such things as ''[[Harry Potter]]'', which isn't Japanese, has [[Original Character|(usually)]] no Japanese characters, and hasn't been anywhere near Japan.<ref>The extent of the series' contact with Japan is a passing reference to the "Toyohashi Tengu" quidditch team in ''[[Quidditch Through the Ages]]'', which at least references a real [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyohashi,_Aichi Japanese city] and a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tengu mythical creature] that's probably real in the Potterverse.</ref>
This is also a source of much argument in the area of [[Fan Sub|fansubs]], over whether or not to include honorifics, localize idioms, translate certain special terms, or use translator notes at the top of the screen.
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Using any of these words without context [[Hypocritical Humor|makes you a]] [[Baka]].
{{examples|例 <small>(Examples)</small>}}▼
▲{{examples|例 <small>(Examples)</small>}}
== 日本のアニメ <small>(Anime)</small> ==
* A general note: If the word "[[baka]]" (a derogatory term, roughly meaning "idiot") appears in any manga or anime, you can be sure that at least some of scanlations/subs leave it untranslated. Probably because it's one of the most well-known Japanese words, even though English words like "idiot" or "fool" could be used without any problems instead.
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** Drift's toy makes it all the funnier, though, thanks to the addition of gratuitous Japanese on his totally badass plus one sword. This sword is an ancient Cybertronian weapon passed down through the mysterious third faction of Knights Of Cybertron, and the implication is that Drift basically defiled it with the kanji for "peerless" to be more gratuitously Japanese.
* In a case of back-engineered Gratuitous Japanese, Ben Dunn's ''[[Ninja High School]]'' started off a Japanese character with an almost offensively fake "Asian-like" name -- "Itchy-koo"—and eventually hamhandedly backformed a real Japanese name around it ("Ichi-kun", from "Ichinohei Hitomi") with the implied explanation that it had been mispronounced all this time. ''Even by her parents.''
* In Uncanny X-Men issue 205, Wolverine is severally injured and, while his healing factor tries to put his brain back together, he starts speaking Japanese. By the second line his speech is [[Translation Convention|in bracketed English]] even though the only other character present can't understand it. Strangely Wolverine uses "[[Japanese Pronouns|Boku]]". While correct, it comes off pretty mild given Wolverine's personality.
▲== ファン・フィクション <small>(Fanfic)</small> ==
* Parodied in [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6883898/1/ this] ''[[Death Note]]'' fanfic.
* Particularly
* The ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' fanfic ''[[Tenshi Trail]]'' takes this to ''ridiculous'' extremes, making completely unnecessary word substitutions in both the dialogue and actual writing. What makes this even more baffling is that the show does not take place in Japan and ''none of the main characters are Japanese.'' Some examples include:
{{quote|''"Dozo let me stay."''
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* ''[[Sailor Nothing]]'' does this a lot, although it may be intentional.
** As does the ''[[Slayers Trilogy]]'' series (both it and ''Sailor Nothing'' are by the same author); unlike the above story, it draws from a [[Slayers|quirky western fantasy setting]], so it's pretty unecessary. As good as the story is, the use of this trope (''Ano'''...) is one of its biggest drawbacks.
*
* ''
** ''Naruto'' fanfic authors often suffer from this, because they [[Did Not Do the Research|fail to do any research]]. '''[[You Keep Using That Word|There is no such honorific as]] '[[You Keep Using That Word|-teme]]''''[[You Keep Using That Word|!]]''' It's a pronoun!''' '''A PRONOUN!''' To quote Naruto, 'Sasuke, TEME!' means 'Sasuke, you!!' "Teme" is considered a very, very rude, insulting version of "you", and not "bastard", not "jerk", not anything else!
** Similarly, Sasuke [[Beam Me Up, Scotty|does not call Naruto "dobe" ("dead last") ''nearly'' as much as fanfic writers love to use it]]. In an odd aversion, his [[Catch Phrase|distinctive insult]] "usuratonkachi" ("useless idiot," lit. "thin hammer") is almost completely ignored (thankfully).
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** Also, using hentai for porn (it actually means pervert(ed). Typically used of a person.) Ero (for erotic) is more likely to be used in Japan; for example, an H-game is an [[Eroge]], erotic game (game pronounced as gemu.) ''Also'' also, Nakama doesn't strictly mean teammates with a [[True Companions|family-like bond]]. Otaku as geek is not an affectionate term; basically, it's less 'affectionate term for enthusiastic fan' and more 'loser who will never get a girlfriend because he has no life and speaks only Klingon.' However, like many such things, it may be adopted by people it's said of and soften with time - to some. See [[N-Word Privileges]]. But ''know your Japanese friend well'' before you call him an 'otaku' for liking [[Star Trek]]. First time he heard the word, it's highly unlikely it was said with a smile.
** Basically, all this can be summed up by saying most anime fandom Japanese terms are technically accurate but are used in a very different manner than the same words are in Japan.
* Many fanfics confuses 'nee-chan' (big sister) for 'nii-chan' (big brother). Some also use them for ''younger'' siblings -- [[Japanese Sibling Terminology|which is just wrong]].
* [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Eva-fanfic]] ''[[The Second Try]]'' keeps "baka" and "hentai"... almost exclusively for Asuka insulting Shinji. It also keeps a grand total of one honorific when referring to {{spoiler|Aki}}, which is mainly used to emphasize how adorable that particular character is.
* [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2659638/1/The_Hitchhikers_Guide_To_The_Stage_of_History The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Stage of History] parodies this by having Setsuka (a caucasian woman born and raised in Japan) speak almost entirely in this {{spoiler|untill she pulls [[The Starscream|a starscream]] on Zalshamal}}.
* Mostly avoided in the ''[[Ranma ½]]/[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' crossover fic ''[[The Wild Horse Thesis]]'', but when it does appear it's at total fangirl misuse level -- around chapter 12 Ranma starts addressing the girls as "Koi", and later Toji uses it with Hikari. "Koi" is one of the Japanese words that can mean "love", but no native Japanese speaker would use it as a mode of address or term of affection, as it's used here. They would probably use "anata" instead.
== 映画 <small>(Film)</small> ==
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== 実写テレビ <small>(Live Action TV)</small> ==
* ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' parodied this brilliantly in [https://web.archive.org/web/20120606202248/http://www.hulu.com/watch/289406/saturday-night-live-j-pop-talk-show "J-Pop America Fun Time Show"], a public-access TV show run by students from a Japanese class who are, as their faculty sponsor points out, woefully uninformed about the language they're studying.
* ''[[Kamen Rider Dragon Knight]]'', a remake of ''[[Kamen Rider Ryuki]]'' intended for an American audience, kept the "Kamen" in [[Kamen Rider]] untranslated despite the fact that the English name "Masked Rider" is also used in Japan. Producer Steve Wang stated [https://web.archive.org/web/20141216221910/http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/02/22/kamen-rider-returns-to-us-television/ in an interview] that he prefers the actual Japanese moniker over the translated form, but admittedly he also wanted to distance ''Dragon Knight'' from Saban's [[Ink Stain Adaptation|early adaptation]] of ''[[Kamen Rider Black RX]]'', simply titled ''[[Masked Rider]]''.
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Nan gia na
Toko tonyaré tonyaré na? }}
** In the first act finale, the chorus drowns out Katisha by singing "O! ni bikkuri shakkuri to!" This roughly translates as "surprise, with a hiccup." But https://web.archive.org/web/20131027034523/http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/Mikado-in-Translation-290255.html declares that it's "Demon, you surprise and shock us!"
* Puccini's opera ''Madama Butterfly'' is set in Japan, and contains a whole bunch of Japanese words and names. Almost all are incorrect or used incorrectly: "Sarundasico", for example, is not a Japanese word; it is almost certainly a corruption of "[[wikipedia:Sarutahiko|Sarutahiko]]". That he is invoked by a Buddhist priest is another error. Ciocio (chōchō), at least, does in fact mean Butterfly.
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== ウェブコミック <small>(Web Comics)</small> ==
* Parodied in the webcomic ''[[Sword of Heaven]]'', wherein one of the characters bears a weapon named "Muhoushuu-Nihongo-Namae"—a subtle joke by the author, as the name means "Gratuitous-Japanese-Name."
* ''[[Ronin Galaxy]]'': There isn't too much of this surprisingly, given that the comic takes place on the equivalent of Japan-the-Planet. The examples of this trope are primarily in the titles of the chapters: Chapter One - Gaijin Girl and Chapter Two - Cho Han Hustle. Kira Moritomi also calls Leona a "stupid gaijin" on [https://web.archive.org/web/20120715004218/http://www.roningalaxy.com/comics/chapter-2/page-60/ page 60.]
** This trope is somewhat subverted in the fact that the word "gaijin" in particular doesn't seem to be used gratuitously, so much as it is succinctly. By use of the word, the reader would be able to realize that the person being called a gaijin is a foreigner, is being referenced to by a Japanese person, and also that person's possible tension towards said foreigner. (Since gaijin can sometimes be a rude expression.)
** The title itself is alternatively written in katakana.
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[[Category:Gratuitous Foreign Language]]
[[Category:Fanfic Tropes]]
[[Category:
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