{"id":5729,"date":"2014-04-25T13:35:06","date_gmt":"2014-04-25T18:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ygorganization.com\/?p=5729"},"modified":"2014-04-25T14:00:53","modified_gmt":"2014-04-25T19:00:53","slug":"yugioh-puns-and-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ygorganization.com\/staging\/?p=5729","title":{"rendered":"Yugioh Has a Lot of Japanese Puns: An Intro"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey all, it\u2019s Deadborder, one of the resident translator folks for the Org. Over the past few days we\u2019ve been working on \u201clocalizing\u201d the stuff in DUEA to eventually put up on Dueling Network, and it got me thinking about one of my favorite parts of translating these things: the sheer amount of wordplay that goes into some of the cards (and seeing if we can approximate them into English).<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the point of this article, exactly? It\u2019s mostly just a way to show you guys some of the behind-the-scenes details about why some cards are named the way they are, and in other cases why we\u2019ve picked certain names for them instead.<\/p>\n

So are you ready for puns? Because there\u2019s no looking back now.
\n<\/p>\n

Okay, to start things off: one of the greatest sources of wordplay in Japanese comes from the use of kanji, literally \u201cChinese characters,\u201d which usually have one meaning but multiple methods of pronunciation. This means you can play off homophones to lend multiple meanings or connotations to a word. This isn\u2019t ALWAYS how wordplay is done, but it comes up a LOT, so I may as well start off with it.<\/p>\n

Also there is a royal expletive-ton of puns in this game, so I\u2019m not going to list all of them here. This should serve as just a taste of the amount of goofy names that come up. Of course I could just write more of these in the future but let\u2019s not get ahead of ourselves yet, shall we? On to the cards!<\/p>\n

FROGS!<\/strong>
\nThe Frog\/Toad cards are some of the oldest pun-based cards I can recall, and also some of the simplest to understand. They\u2019re mostly based off the fact that the word for frog, \u201ckaeru\/gaeru\u201d is a homonym for many other Japanese words ALSO pronounced \u201ckaeru\/gaeru.\u201d Let\u2019s get hopping! please slap me for that<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Poison Draw Frog = \u5f15\u304d\u30ac\u30a8\u30eb (Hikigaeru). This is a play on the Japanese name for the toad, \u201chikigaeru,\u201d but the \u201chiki\u201d used here comes from the word \u201chiku,\u201d which can mean \u201cto draw\u201d (a card). So it\u2019s a \u201ctoad\u201d but also a \u201cfrog that draws cards.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Treeborn Frog = \u9ec4\u6cc9\u30ac\u30a8\u30eb (Yomigaeru). The \u201cgaeru\u201d is obviously \u201cfrog\u201d, but \u201cyomigaeru\u201d means \u201cto be revived.\u201d Literally it means \u201creturn from the yellow spring\/fountain,\u201d which may be why Treeborn Frog is yellow. The English pun is somewhat similar, playing off \u201ctree frog\u201d and \u201creborn\u201d to similar effect.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\" Beelze Frog = \u60aa\u9b54\u30ac\u30a8\u30eb (Amagaeru). Normally \u201camagaeru\u201d refers to a tree frog. However, the two kanji here, read as \u201ca\u201d and \u201cma\u201d, mean \u201cevil\u201d and \u201cdemon\/magic\u201d so it becomes a \u201cdevil frog\u201d instead.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\" Swap Frog = \u9b3c\u30ac\u30a8\u30eb (Kigaeru). With different kanji, the word \u201ckigaeru\u201d means \u201cto change clothes.\u201d The \u201cki\u201d here, however, means \u201cogre\u201d or \u201coni\u201d, which is why Swap Frog can, well, swap, but also has horns and bright markings like face paint.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\" Dupe Frog = \u9b54\u77e5\u30ac\u30a8\u30eb (Machigaeru). \u201cMachigaeru\u201d means \u201cto make a mistake\u201d or \u201cto mistake for something else.\u201d The two kanji here, read as \u201cma\u201d and \u201cchi\u201d, mean \u201cdemon\/magic\u201d (as in Beelze Frog\u2019s example) and \u201cwisdom.\u201d So Dupe Frog gets a little graduation cap, but can also \u201cdupe\u201d enemies into not attacking it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\" Flip-Flop Frog = \u88cf\u30ac\u30a8\u30eb (Uragaeru). \u201cUragaeru\u201d means \u201cto be turned inside out\u201d, but \u201cura\u201d is a kanji with several different connotations, such as \u201ctails\u201d (instead of \u201cheads\u201d), \u201cback\u201d (instead of \u201cfront\u201d), and most importantly for Yugioh, \u201cface-down.\u201d This is why Flip-Flop Frog has a Flip-based effect \u2013 or is it the other way around?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\" Substitoad = \u30a4\u30ec\u30ab\u30a8\u30eb (Irekaeru). \u201cIrekaeru\u201d means \u201cto replace\u201d, \u201cto switch places\u201d, or \u201cto substitute,\u201d while \u201ckaeru\u201d\u2026you should know this by now. Incidentally, it\u2019s called a \u201ctoad\u201d in English because the \u201cFrog\u201d archetype is \u201cgaeru\u201d in Japanese, rather than \u201ckaeru\u201d. This is also why Frog the Jam is the exception for \u201cFrog\u201d cards \u2013 its Japanese name uses \u201ckaeru\u201d as well, but it was printed way before Frogs became an archetype! Now you know so will you please stop making awful frog the jam jokes<\/del><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\" Ronintoadin = \u7c8b\u30ab\u30a8\u30eb (Ikikaeru). Ikikaeru means \u201cto come back to life,\u201d but the \u201ciki\u201d used for Ronintoadin means \u201cchic,\u201d \u201cstylish,\u201d \u201crefined,\u201d or \u201csophisticated.\u201d \u2026yeah, it doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense. Maybe he\u2019s a classy samurai frog\u2026toad\u2026whatever. Just roll with it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE MONARCH SPELLS AND TRAPS!<\/strong>
\nRecently, with the advent of the Mega Monarchs, we\u2019ve also seen a few spells and traps designed to work with the new big guys, mostly based on if you have an Extra Deck or not. But there\u2019s a reason that each of these cards only features one Mega Monarch \u2013 they all contain a bit of wordplay based on the monster they feature!<\/p>\n

\"\" Return of the Monarchs = \u5e1d\u738b\u306e\u958b\u5ca9 (Teiou no Kaigan) The one with Granmarg! \u201cKaigan\u201d means \u201cenlightenment\u201d or \u201cspiritual awakening\u201d \u2013 the kanji used mean \u201copen\u201d and \u201ceyes.\u201d But for our sad old rock guy, the \u201cgan\u201d here means \u201crock\u201d! So it\u2019s supposed to be a play on the \u201cawakening\u201d of the Monarchs, though I guess you can say Granmarg is cracking \u201copen\u201d the \u201cstone\u201d as he arises? I dunno.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\" The Monarchs Awaken = \u5e1d\u738b\u306e\u51cd\u5fd7 (Teiou no Toushi) The one with Mobius! \u201cToushi\u201d means \u201cfighting spirit\u201d and is made up of characters meaning \u201cbattle\u201d and \u201cintention\/resolve.\u201d Since it\u2019s for Mobius though, the \u201ctou\u201d meaning \u201cbattle\u201d is replaced with the \u201ctou\u201d meaning \u201cfreezing\u201d!<\/p>\n

Incidentally, there\u2019s a possible second pun here. You can make the word \u201ctoushi\u201d using the same \u201cfreezing\u201d character, but this second \u201ctoushi\u201d means \u201cfreezing to death\u201d (the \u201cshi\u201d means \u201cdeath\u201d here). Vaguely badass or possibly suggesting Mobius is gonna die, it\u2019s up to you I guess!<\/p>\n

\"\" Ambush of the Monarchs (current Org name) = \u5e1d\u738b\u306e\u6eb6\u6483 (Teiou no Yougeki) The one with Thestalos! Hopefully you\u2019re sorta figuring out this pattern by now. \u201cYougeki\u201d, from kanji meaning \u201ckey point\u201d and \u201cattack\u201d, means \u201cambush\u201d. But the \u201cyou\u201d used for Thestalos (by the way, it\u2019s pronounced like \u201cyo\u201d with a longer \u201co\u201d) means \u201cto melt.\u201d Get it, because he\u2019s hot and stuff? Okay, maybe a lava ambush sounds like an oxymoron but I\u2019m not the one making these.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\" The Monarchs Storm Forth (current Org name) = \u5e1d\u738b\u306e\u70c8\u65cb (Teiou no Ressen) The one with Raiza! This one may be less of a pun, as there\u2019s no original word \u201cressen\u201d in Japanese. Here, it\u2019s a combination of the characters for \u201cfierce\/violent\u201d and \u201crotation.\u201d It\u2019s possible that it\u2019s a play on the similar-sounding \u201crasen\u201d, meaning \u201cspiral\u201d, but it\u2019s not as clear as the others.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NUMBERS!<\/strong>
\nA good deal of the Number monsters that appeared in Yugioh ZEXAL feature puns in their names, but these wouldn\u2019t be noticeable to English speakers; that\u2019s because they\u2019re hidden in the actual numbers themselves! Remember, there are kanji for numbers as well, so each one has multiple pronunciations. This means that there\u2019s a surprising amount of variety in the number of words you can make.<\/p>\n

Also, there\u2019s a lot of Numbers, so I won\u2019t be covering all of them here \u2013 just a few whose wordplay is known. I may post more of these in the future, so let us know if you want to see it here!<\/p>\n

\"\" Number 16: Shock Master = \uff2e\uff4f\uff0e\uff11\uff16\u3000\u8272\u306e\u652f\u914d\u8005\u30b7\u30e7\u30c3\u30af\u30fb\u30eb\u30fc\u30e9\u30fc (Iro no Shihaisha Shock Ruler\/Ruler of Color, Shock Ruler) There\u2019s two puns going on in this guy\u2019s name. The first is that the word for \u201ccolor\u201d can be read as both \u201ciro\u201d and \u201cshoku\u201d \u2013 this is why he\u2019s got \u201cShock\u201d in his name. The second is in the number: 1 can be read as \u201ci\u201d and 6 as \u201cro\u201d \u2013 put them together and you get \u201ciro\u201d, the other reading for \u201ccolor.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\" Number 39: Utopia = \uff2e\uff4f\uff0e\uff13\uff19\u5e0c\u671b\u7687\u30db\u30fc\u30d7 (Kibouou Hope\/King of Wishes, Hope)
\n3 can be read as \u201cmi\u201d and 9 as \u201cku.\u201d Put them together and you get \u201cmiku,\u201d meaning \u201cfuture.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\" Number 43: Soul Marionetter (current Org name) = \uff2e\uff4f\uff0e\uff14\uff13\u3000\u9b42\u9b44\u5080\u5121\u9b3c\u30bd\u30a6\u30eb\u30fb\u30de\u30ea\u30aa\u30cd\u30c3\u30bf\u30fc (Konpaku Kugutsuki Soul Marionetter\/Soul Puppeteer, Soul Marionetter)
\n4 can be read as \u201cyo\u201d and 3 as \u201cmi\u201d \u2013 the word \u201cyomi\u201d refers to the underworld, perfect for a monster that manipulates souls.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\" Number 53: Heart-eartH =\uff2e\uff4f\uff0e\uff15\uff13\u507d\u9ab8\u795e\uff28\uff45\uff41\uff52\uff54\uff0d\uff45\uff41\uff52\uff54\uff28 (Gigaishin Heart-eartH\/False Corpse God, Heart-eartH)
\n5 is read as \u201cgo\u201d and 3 as \u201cmi\u201d; together they make \u201cgomi,\u201d meaning \u201ctrash,\u201d fitting in nicely with Dr. Faker\u2019s Garbage deck.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\" Number 96: Dark Mist =\uff2e\uff4f\uff0e\uff19\uff16 \u30d6\u30e9\u30c3\u30af\u30fb\u30df\u30b9\u30c8 (Black Mist)
\n9 becomes \u201cku\u201d and 6 becomes \u201cro\u201d \u2013 \u201ckuro\u201d is Japanese for the color black. Yyyyyep.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is just a brief taste of the huge amount of wordplay that goes on within Yugioh \u2013 there\u2019s much, much more, and I hope you enjoyed seeing what it was like! If there are any other cards you\u2019d like to know about, write about them in the comments below and maybe I\u2019ll answer them in the future!<\/p>\n

Also I should end this with a pun, but I can\u2019t think of one right now, so good night, folks!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey all, it\u2019s Deadborder, one of the resident translator folks for the Org. Over the past few days we\u2019ve been working on \u201clocalizing\u201d the stuff in DUEA to eventually put up on Dueling Network, and it got me thinking about one of my favorite parts of translating these things: the sheer amount of wordplay that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,27],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5729","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-articles","7":"category-lore"},"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ygorganization.com\/staging\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ygorganization.com\/staging\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ygorganization.com\/staging\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ygorganization.com\/staging\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ygorganization.com\/staging\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ygorganization.com\/staging\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5729\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ygorganization.com\/staging\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ygorganization.com\/staging\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ygorganization.com\/staging\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}