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Old Oct 18, 2013, 08:33 PM
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CHz CHz is offline
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^^^ Good post. This is gonna duplicate some of that but I don't really want to throw it away now.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Hellacia View Post
The last question is exactly what I'm suggesting we do, CHz - write how the titles are pronounced.
This is exactly what Phono and I are saying. What we're trying to explain is that the author of the Fate series has decided that the weapon 約束された勝利の剣 is pronounced as エクスカリバー, not as やくそくされたしょうりのけん (or つるぎ or whatever; 剣 can go two ways and I'm not sure how you've decided what's right). エクスカリバー isn't the usual pronunciation that you'd use if you saw that phrase somewhere else, but for the game it's how Kinoko Nasu has decided it's said.

This forced pronunciation is indicated with furigana, a Japanese pronunciation guide. Usually furigana is used for clarification, but it can also be used as a type of wordplay, where what's said (furigana) is different from what's meant (the text). This kind of use is really common in battle series like Fate, where an attack has a descriptive, literal Japanese name but a cool-sounding name that's what people actually say out loud. I haven't played the game, but Phono mentioned that the servants use the furigana names in the game, not the kanji, and in the anime series Saber yells out "EX --- CALIBUR" a lot.

It's not a cultural thing at all: if a Japanese person found the phrase 約束された勝利の剣 in an unrelated book, they'd pronounce it like you're proposing. It's just that that's not the pronunciation for Fate/stay night.
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