#jpn server

SPOILERS FROM JPN SERVER

Ive heard that Lilia knows of the new character Swing who is apparently a fae of chaos.

The English-language adaptation of Twisted Wonderland can suffer from the occasional discrepancy, but part of what seems like a mistranslation is sometimes an accurate translation of the meaning behind the characters’ dialogue; they’re just not saying what they mean!

In order to understand the language rules that Yana is breaking, let’s have a quick rundown of what the rules actually are.

The Japanese language involves three different alphabets:  ・Kanji: Adapted from Chinese kanji, Japanese kanji have largely evolved over generations, though there is still a lot of overlap between the different writing systems ・Katakana: phonetic symbols for words adopted from other languages ・Hiragana: originally based on kanji, hiragana are also phonetic symbols

Here is a screenshot of Ruggie using all three alphabets (plus romaji, the roman alphabet) in a line of dialogue: Green for the romaji, red for the kanji, purple for the katakana and blue for the hiragana.

In video games, novels, manga, subtitles and any place where there is kanji, there will often also be small hiragana (or sometimes katakana) written alongside it to tell the reader how it is pronounced. This is called “furigana”.

Furigana’s purpose is to tell the reader how to pronounce a kanji. Here are some examples of furigana in everyday life:

From left to right: In Toboso Yana’s manga “Black Butler”, furigana are listed alongside every single kanji, no matter how simple the word may be. In the Twisted Wonderland novelization, furigana are only listed alongside more complex kanji. In Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, even simple kanji are given furigana, to make it more accessible for all ages. This sign in a park also includes furigana over all kanji used.

Now that we know what furigana is and how it’s used, here is how Yana is using it for wordplay:

When Trey uses his unique magic on JP-server, this is what we see:

The command itself is inside the 『quotation marks』, where we see a combination of kanji and hiragana. Above it are a small line of furigana that are, in this instance, written in katakana.

The kanji/hiragana phrase is read as “bara wo nurou”, which should be what the furigana above it is saying, and would be what it would be saying in a normal situation, but it isn’t.

If you have your audio on you know that Trey is saying, aloud:  “Doodle Suit”, with “suit” referring to a “suit of cards” and “doodle” being just that, as his magic is overwriting (or “doodling” over) other people’s magic.

And if you’re on the EN-server, you know that Trey’s unique magic has been translated as “paint the roses”, which doesn’t match his audio clip at all.

And that is because “Doodle Suit” is the katakana, while “bara wo nurou" is the hiragana/kanji beneath it. And "bara wo nurou" means, “let’s paint the roses."

Yana is using furigana as a literary device, telling us that “Paint the Roses” is what Trey is saying, but he is pronouncing it as “Doodle Suit”.

English doesn’t have different alphabets to play with so authors can say “this is what the character is saying aloud, but it’s not what they actually mean”, so the translation team has had to decide on which set of text to use for each person’s unique magic on a case-to-case basis.

Riddle, for example, has a voice clip that matches the English-language translation of his unique magic, “off with your head”...mostly.

When Riddle uses his unique magic on JP-server, this is what we see:

Just like Trey thereis a combination of kanji and hiragana, with a small line of katakana above it that is supposed to be telling us how it’s pronounced, but is instead introducing entirely new sounds altogether.

The actual command itself is read as “Kubi wo hanero”, but Riddle is pronouncing it as “off with your head” (which is what it says in the katakana), so in his case the words he is saying and the English-translation of his unique magic match, while Trey’s do not.

(Note: “mostly," because “kubi wo hanero” is the literal line said by the Queen of Hearts in the Japanese-language dub of Disney’s original Alice in Wonderland movie. Much like the English “Off with his/her head” said by the Queen in the English version of the movie, it is technically a command to a third, unspecified person, but the EN-server translation chose to match to Riddle’s voice clip instead of translating literally, though that meant losing the direct homage to the original line in the movie.)

Other characters with unique magics that, like Riddle, were translated according to their pronunciation rather than their meaning are Cater, Ruggie, Jack, Azul, Jade, Floyd, Kalim, Vil, Idia, Malleus and Rollo.

What we end up with is three different things happening every time someone uses their unique magic:

What the character is saying out loud (the katakana)

2. What they actually mean (the kanji/hiragana)

3. How EN-server translated it (varying by situation)

Another interesting example is Jamil’s Unique Magic, which is actually said as “Snake’s Enticement / Invitation” but pronounced as “Snake Whisper”, which EN chose to write as “Snake Charmer” (this is not the English-translation of what “snake charming” is in Japanese. Snake charming is 蛇使い, while Jamil’s unique magic command is 蛇のいざない, so "charmer" was invented for EN).

Other characters with all-new versions of their unique magics created for EN are Deuce, Rook and Epel.

And unique magic isn’t the only place where Yana takes advantage of the various possibilities offered by furigana!

Floyd says the word “legs” and “us” aloud, but what he actually means are “fins” and “mer-people”.

Jamil says “Kalim” aloud, but what he actually means is “the heir of the main house”. This is a particularly significant use of furigana, as it illustrates how much weight the word “Kalim” has in Jamil’s opinion, beyond being just Kalim’s name.

Yana is, of course, not the only mangaka ever to do this. This kind of wordplay can be found in almost every form of Japanese-language media that there is, and is often used to make puns that are wholly undetectable if you don’t know the language.

[JN] Capybara recharge event

MC has a new sweater!

(Not commenting on the CG... Because I don't know what to say...)

New Rinko Card!

Gacha • Encore Performance

Attribute • pure

Rarity • 4*

Server availability • Japanese server

Card name • Me and the piano (わたしとピアノ)

New Yukina Card!

Gacha • Encore Performance

Attribute • pure

Rarity • 4*

Server availability • Japanese server

Card name • A bouquet of gifts for friends (友へ贈る花束)