IDK if I’ve mentioned this before, but since there’s talk of how to approach an accurate/nuanced translation of the word “baka” in anime on my dash, I thought I’d share one of my other favorite bits of oft-overlooked translating-Japanese nuance and how it applies to Sailor Moon.
Basically every Sailor Moon fan knows Sailor Moon’s catchphrase, “tuski ni kawatte oshiokyo!” which translates more or less into “In the name of the moon, I’ll punish you!”
The fun part, that I learned a few years back from my half-Japanese friend who has, since high school, lived full time in Japan, is the “oshiokyo” bit.
Oshiokyo does, in a literal sense, mean “I’ll punish you”. It’s a perfectly fine translation. But what it doesn’t get across is that the main people who use the phrase are parents, especially mothers, and it’s primarily used against children.
There’s not a perfect English equivalent, but it carries a similar tone to “someone’s getting a spanking!” or “you’re going into time out!” or “you’re in big trouble, missy!”
Basically, it’s not particularly threatening, and anyone who would think it was would be pretty childish. The fact that Usagi uses it as a legitimate threat is adorable in how much is reveals her age. It’s also badass and kind of condescending in that she’s basically treating the villains as unruly children instead of legitimate threats.
So there you go. Take this information and put new joy into one of the most well-trod parts of the Sailor Moon universe.
Okay I’m pretty sure this happened on tumblr, when tumblr first implemented the little color-changing ‘t’ in the top corner of desktop mode. Someone immediately started complaining that it was ‘ableist’ and ‘dangerous’ to epileptic people. Of course, a bunch of people called them out saying how the colors didn’t change fast enough to cause a seizure and whatnot, fast forward a few days, the person gets blasted like discourse does, and instead of apologizing, they pose as their sister saying that the ‘t’ colors sent them into a seizure and ultimately a coma.
At least, this was what I thought of. Might not be the specific one op is talking about.
“Might not be the specific one op is talking about.”
Honestly the funniest and most bizarre Pokemon tcg card I’ve ever seen is the one where it seemed that an aether employee is having a causal conversation w a registeel