Mystic Messenger: Korean Phrases/Translations Clarification
After browsing the âMystic Messengerâ tag on Tumblr, Iâve just wanted to clear some possible confusion or misunderstandings about certain phrases the characters use that arose from the translation.
1. Did you eat?
When we use this phrase in Korean (informally: ë°Ľ 먚ěě´?) we sometimes do mean the literal translation of âDid you eat?â However, most of the time we donât literally mean to ask if you ate or not nor are we usually interested in what you actually ate unless we specify. This is more of a phrase similar to the English âHow are you?â The phrase âDid you eat?â is just a way to check up on someoneâs wellbeing or how someone is doing.
2. Zenâs real name (Hyun Ryu/ëĽí)
I wasnât sure if I had to clarify this but I saw some fan-made content spelling his name as âHyunryuâ or âHyun-ryu.â Zenâs first name is just Hyun (í) while his last name is Ryu (ëĽ), so in the Western style of first name-last name, his full name would be Hyun Ryu, while in the Korean style with the family name first, it would be Ryu Hyun (ëĽí). I understand the confusion about this since his name is only one character while most Korean names are two characters. (Actually this isnât rare or anything as I have plenty of friends with one character names)
3. Zenâs âbabeâ
Haha this translation was comical and slightly awkward for me. In the game, every time Zen refers to you as babe, honey, sweetie, etc, in Korean he is actually referring to you as âjagiâ or ě기. This is actually a very fond and endearing way of referring to someone or of saying âyouâ (basically, the same thing as the Japanese âanataâ) For example, my parents call each other jagi. This expression is usually so endearing that not all non-married couples refer to each other this way. Personally, Iâve never called someone or been called jagi before but I know some friends who call their significant others jagi even though theyâre not married so in the end itâs just preference and how lovey-dovey you are. In my opinion the most accurate English translation for this word or phrase is âdearâ or âhoneyâ although there is no 100% proper English translation of this word/phrase as the English language does not have different ways of referring to people based on your relationship with them. In any case, âbabeâ is fine too but I just wanted to clarify that what he actually says has a more fonder and deeper undertone. However, even in the early phone calls in the Common Route, Zen still refers to you as âjagiâ sometimes even though youâre not in any romantic relationship yet so my initial impression of him was âWow this guy is a total flirt.â ^^;;
4. âLovely Zenâ
I started playing the game in English first because that was the default setting for my game and I didnât know you could change the language to Korean until later on, so when the option came up to call Zen âLovely Zenâ or âZenny Zenâ I was kind of flustered because it kind of sounded so awkward. You wouldnât actually call someone âLovely ______â in real life, right? But after I changed my game language to Korean, it all made sense. Every time a nickname for Zen comes up, you are actually calling him oppa or Zen-oppa (ě¤ëš /ě ě¤ëš ). Iâm sure if youâre even a little bit interested in Korean culture, you would already know that this is either a way for a female to call a male thatâs older than her, or for a younger female to call her older boyfriend. In the latter, romantic sense, this term is also pretty endearing but definitely not as deep as âjagi.â For example, my ex-boyfriend was one year older than me so technically I should have called him oppa or (his name)-oppa. However, since we both live in America, itâs not that enforced and I didnât really like calling him oppa casually since Iâm used to calling my older male cousins oppa so it was just weird for me. Still, sometimes if I wanted to cheer him up or something and I called him oppa, then I remember he would get really happy and kind of embarassed, just like how in one of the chats, Zen said he felt his heart skip a beat one of the first times you called him âLovely Zen.â
This last thing is just my opinion so I hope people donât take too much offense or see me as narrow-minded.
5. In fan-made content: ânii-sanâ or âbakaâ (í, ë°ëł´)
I love Mystic Messenger so any fanart or imagines I see, I love looking at and reading them but when I see English comics or short stories of the Choi twins and Seven says something like âListen to nii-sanâ to Saeran or of one of the RFA members calling someone else âbakaâ, itâs just a little strange for me. Remember, all the characters in this game are Korean so instead of ânii-san,â they would say âhyung (í)â and instead of âbakaâ they would say âbabo (ë°ëł´).â If the content was originally in Japanese, then I would understand using nii-san or baka but if the content is originally in English I think it would be nice if they portrayed the characters as sticking to their roots and using the proper Korean terms. Mystic Messenger is not an anime and is not related to Japan at all >.<
If you read everything, as always ę°ěŹíŠëë¤~^^
