Kamidu

Poking Around Pt 97

Added 2020-08-06 13:41:14 +0000 UTC

Phew. This was a biggie, and probably one of the most personal pages I’ve produced for quite some time. I’m not 100% sure how much of this will resonate with those who came of the age in the 2010s, but as aforesaid, pre-2010 was quite a different world; to put it rather euphemistically, “This was back when being [that way] wasn’t as fun as it is today”. Though, should “fun” be replaced by “prominent”?

Quite a bit had to be cut, mostly because I didn’t have enough room and I was concerned that some references would be far too obscure (given a lot of the influences I had way back when now no longer exist or got removed).

Anyway, akin to the last page, I’ve attached the full-size faux-dōjin covers (self-published/fan manga), along with the localised titles. The actual translations are down in the TL notes, of which there are a lot, so brace yourselves. And of course, thank you so very much for reading and supporting this story.

TL Notes:

ただ今! トラブル!: Reads as ‘Tadaima (Here I Am!) Trouble!’ but it’s also a bit Japanese wordplay. トラ Tora means tiger, ブル buru is bull. It’s a portmanteau of the beta creature Raitora (more info on that on this website and in this video), a spoof on this popular in Japan franchise and also an unrelated dōjin Build Tiger.
“Hack in to…”: A reference to “Hacking to the Gate”, the opening theme of this sci-fi psychological thriller series.
弟の元夫: Reads as ‘Otōto no Motōtto’, or My Brother’s Ex-Husband. It’s a reference to My Brother’s Husband.
Admirable 大戦略: It’s a little hard to read but it reads as ‘Dai-Senryaku’, or Grand Strategy. It’s a reference to the shirt Iskandar wore in this animated tie-in with a long running franchise. Said shirt was eventually co-opted as sellable merchandise, and interestingly, may be a reference to the Japan-only 大戦略シリーズ Grand Strategy war-strategy games series.
“Welcome to downtown, kimochiī city,”: Spoofing this clip which for some reason became a meme, with 気持ちいい kimochiī, or “feeling good.”
“Such a supernatural feeling”: A song I fell in love with at the time of producing this.
“Learning English through song”: This is a reference to Dragon Zakura. In short, a failed lawyer and former biker-gang-member is challenged with trying to get an academically-challenged class into Tokyo University (the equivalent of Harvard/Yale or Oxford/Cambridge) He applies some very unorthodox teaching methods, but succeeds in getting the students to not wholly give up on academic pursuit despite some… questionable conventional methods (saw this for myself first-hand when I applied for J.E.T: English Teacher for Japanese).
Ultimagolem vs Daijira: A portmanteau of this long-established giant costumed superhero with… well, it’s obvious who the oversized lizard is spoofing. Originally, it was going to be Kuroki’s father but this idea was dropped. Fun fact: an episode of the anime series inspired the image, in reference to an in-game gimmick of the time.
Tōhjō Company Ltd: Spoofing this film company using this in-game location.
コンビニの絆: Reads as ‘Kobini no Kizuna’ or A Convenience Store Connection. Based on a dōjin I read once.
One’s purpose: The Japanese have a word for what the French call raison d'être: 生き甲斐 ikigai. A lengthy but interesting read about this issue and Japan’s ongoing work-life balance struggle is here.
Purorotō/Prologg Isle: Outset Island’s Japanese name. Visually, this is a spoof of the early episode title cards for Advanced Generation.
不登校 Futōkō: School dropout from social withdrawal. Legally speaking, one can choose to leave Japanese formal education at age 15, but this is very much frowned upon. So most stay in and graduate high school at roughly age 18.
Tenshinyuan: A portmanteau of 天津飯 tenshinhan (crab-omelette-on-rice, which is also where this character got his name) and 元 yuán, the Chinese currency. Fun fact: it’s the origin of where Japan got the name for its currency ¥ yen, meaning small round circle. The “brand new game” mentioned is in reference to this semi-controversial entry. Some people were not pleased…
Hoʻokipa iā Dyna’s: Literally “Welcome to Dyna’s” in Hawaiian.
Passaimin: A portmanteau of this lemur-monkey thing and ‘saimin’ (a Hawaiian-style noodle soup.)
Sal’Poke: This slow-paced critter and ‘poké’ (Hawaiian raw fish salad, often referred to as a poké bowl)
Pateleon: This skinny creature and ‘pasteles’, (silent first S) a Hawaiian adaptation of a rice-and-meat-in-a-wrap dish initially introduced there by Puerto Ricans.
Manapua’ee: The Prince of the Sea and ‘manapua’, a Hawaiian adaptation of Chinese-style barbecue-pork-filled buns, cha siu bao.
Ludicolo’Moco: A portmanteau of this sombrero-wearing critter and the very filling comfort food, loco moco.
Luau’a Stew: This space bat(?) and a popular Hawaiian stew.
Panchewy Sweet Toast: Referring to this tyke and Portuguese sweet-bread, an essential part of Hawaiian breakfast. It’s actually from the Portuguese pão the Japanese get their word for bread, パン pan.
Pippikaula: The Japanese name of this fairy and pipikaula (seasoned and semi-dried pieces of beef)
Galloworari-Curry: Referring to one of the latest (at the time of posting this) game mechanic.