日本語アドベンチャー！

[Doppleganger]

I have a character named "Root" and his sword is named "Beer".

Rootbeer in Japanese is ルートビア, while just beer is ビール. If I want to preserve the pun and keep it obvious, what spelling do I go for using beer?

[Jerichi]

I think they'd probably get the pun if you did　ルート + ビール or + ビア. They're both a bit subtle though since Japanese people might not make the association right away either way.

[Talon87]

So, I just realized thanks to juxtaposition of exposure to the two that 1) the "Zvarri!" that shows up in the North American localization of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations is more than likely Capcom of NA's attempt at transliterating 2) the Japanese word ずばり zubari, meaning "(1) decisively; decidedly; boldly; once and for all; unreservedly; frankly; (2) precisely; exactly." In other words, every time Luke Atmey said "Zvarri!" in the NA script, he was probably saying "Precisely!" ("Zubari!") in the original.

[Jerichi]

That's a really interesting localization choice. xd

[Doppleganger]

So, I'm naming my middle school. The original in Smile PreCure is "Nanairogaoka Chuugakou".

七色ヶ丘中学校

I wanted to name the school 笑顔中学校 but that sounds more fake than "Rainbow Hill" even if Rainbow Hill is kind of weird.

So, I went with 七色ヶ笑顔中学校 which should have the same syllables, and in my had I can imagine a "Rainbow Smile" but I think it's too poetic and tough to say. Does anyone agree with that last sentiment?

/needs to think of something smiling

[Talon87]

Well, technically speaking 七色 is "seven colors," not "rainbow." The rainbow itself is 虹, niji. You'll find the two terms (虹色 niji'iro and 七色 nana'iro) used almost interchangeably where in English we'd be using rainbow as a modifier conferring color, but niji will be used almost exclusively when the discussion pertains to actual physical rainbows.

But putting that aside, I ... uh, I think your school name sounds very fictional ("Rainbow Smiles Middle School") but follows all the same rules of construction as the one you've referenced, amongst others in children's fiction. So like, I don't think it'd be grammatically incorrect necessarily. Admittedly not too used to fabricating proper nouns of my own with ヶ in them -- it's something I'm used to seeing in authentic place names, e.g. Sekigahara 関ヶ原 -- but from what I've just read I don't see why you can't use it in the way you're wanting to use it. (I get the impression that when used as a ga in place names that the ヶ functions similarly to の, i.e. n1のn2 where n1 is a noun modifiying a second noun n2. So in the case of 七色ヶ笑顔中学校, you would have 七色 "seven colors" as the n1 modifying 笑顔 "smiles" as the n2. Thus, "Seven-color Smiles" or "Rainbow Smiles".)

As far as difficulty to read, it's quite easy. As far as difficulty to enunciate, it feels like a bit of a tongue twister. Natural Japanese tends to eschew the stream of vowel sounds that ga'egao provides, but that's not to say that it's altogether unnatural. And in fact, I think the most common place name case of ヶ ga would be in ヶ丘 gaoka, e.g. your very own Nanairogaoka, and that's got a ga positioned right in front of an o, so, I don't think it's that much worse to elongate the vowel train by one link in egao. *shrug* I'd say you're fine, Doppel, particularly if you like the name you've come up with. Its biggest problem is how fictional it sounds, but that's a non-issue if you're happy with other fictional place names that sound similar.

To be fair, though, I think that having a school named after a geographic landmark sounds more natural than having it named after an abstract concept. Like, I could see Northside Middle School and Sunnybrook Elementary in English whereas Blue Ideas High and Fiery Competition Middle School would seem like they were made up by a child writing a piece of fiction. In that sense, I think the PreCure writers can get away with Rainbow Hill Middle School more easily than you might be able to get away with Rainbow Smiles Middle School ... simply because we can accept that someone might've named a hill in town Rainbow Hill, and then they built a school in the vicinity of it, and so the school bears the name of the hill ... whereas the idea of someone naming a school Rainbow Smiles sounds incredibly philanthtropist-ey ... I'm not saying don't do it, I'm just pointing out a possible asymmetry here. "Rainbow Smiles Middle School" sounds leagues better than my handpicked example of "Fiery Competition Middle School"!

[Talon87]

Another night, another "let's listen to 「恋する★フローライト」 over and over again" session. This time I figured it'd be fun to go through the song lyrics since, as far as I can tell, no one's bothered to translate this charming little song into English. (Japanese source for the song lyrics is here. Requires Shift_JIS encoding to view properly.)

気付いてほら　キラキラ光る星屑のように
Kidzuite, hora! Kirakira hikaru hoshikuzu no you ni ...
C'mon, notice! Like sparkling stardust ...

アナタをおもいながら　見上げる星空
Anata wo omoinagara miageru hoshizora
The starry sky upon which I lift my gaze while thinking of you (alt. The starry sky which I look up at while thinking of you)
今ごろは何してるのかな　切ない片思い
Imagoro wa nani shiteru no kana / setsunai kataomoi
"I wonder what he's doing right now?" -- such painful unrequited love (alt. "I wonder what he's doing right now?" -- painful one-sided thoughts/feelings [such as this])
どんな願い事も叶える不思議な　流れ星見つけたら
Donna negaigoto mo kanaeru fushigina nagareboshi mitsuketara
If I find a mysterious shooting star that is able to grant any wish

そっと繰り返す
Sotto (sotto) kurikaesu
I'll softly repeat again and again,
「あしたは…昨日より輝くように」
"Ashita wa ... kinou yori kagayaku you ni ...!"
"I wish for tomorrow to sparkle more than yesterday!"

届けたい　何だって叶える『勇気』で
Todoketai, nandatte kanaeru "yuuki" de!
With a "courage" that can grant anything, I want [these feelings of mine] to reach you!
伝えたい　そのままのあなたが好きだって
Tsutaetai, sono mama no anata ga suki da tte!
I want to convey to you that I love you just the way you are!
負けそうになっても　あきらめないぜったい
Makesouni nattemo akiramenai, zettai!
Even if it seems like I'm going to lose, I mustn't give up!
小さいけれど　大切な夢だから
Chiisai keredo taisetsuna yume dakara!
Because while it may be small, it's an important dream! (alt. I may be small, but it's an important dream! And so that's why [I mustn't give up]!)

Can it be true？　一人きりでも振り返らない？
Can it be true? Hitorikiri demo furikaeranai?
Can it be true? You won't look back even when you're all alone? (alt. change out "you" for "I")
So, You are sure　今なら…踏み出せるはずだよね
So, you are sure ima nara ... fumidaseru hazu da yo ne?
So, you are sure ~ if it's now ... you should be able to take the first step, right? (alt. change out "you" in second part for "I")
気付いてほら　キラキラ光る星屑のように流れる　in my dream
Kidzuite, hora! Kirakira hikaru hoshikuzu no you ni nagareru in my dream
C'mon, notice! It flows like sparkling stardust in my dream.

This presented more challenges than I thought it would; what was planned for a 15-minute post, allowing for my perfectionism when it comes to these kinds of translations, ballooned into easily 30 minutes plus for the lyrics themselves and an additional thirty for the following paragraphs of text. A lot of the lines in the song are ambiguous with respect to the grammatical subject. This came as something of a surprise since I've always just sort of rolled with my own interpretation of the song lyrics, which in many cases I downgraded to the alternate translations provided above rather than the defaults. In all cases, I opted to render as default any translations which I felt were most likely to be a) the lyricist's intent or else b) how most listeners would interpret the lyrics. But really, in a lot of cases it's a 50-50 so far as I can tell. Hooray, non-fluency. Hooray, Japanese being terrifically ambiguous.

In a few places I opted to go for English flow over linguistic rigor. Notably, キラキラ光る星屑, which I rendered as "sparkling stardust," is literally "stardust that kirakira shines" or somewhat less literally "stardust that sparkles." Instead of maintaining the more precise grammar in translation, I opted for the fewer-words solution that I felt also sounded more natural in native English.

In a few other places, I did the reverse, succumbing to my obsession for conveying to the English native speaker exactly what it is that was said originally. One example of this was 何だって叶える『勇気』, which I rendered as "a 'courage' that can grant anything." It's accurate, but it's also precise ... a bit too precise for my personal liking. ^^; Personally I'd have preferred "a 'courage' which makes anything possible." But the thing is, this deviates too much from the source in terms of rigorously precise translation. (Or so I feel, anyway.) So I ended up caving in to my other half and went with the preciser of the two translations. But meh. :\ ^^;

I think the most surprising hiccup in translating these song lyrics was the line 小さいけれど　大切な夢だから. When listening to the song, I've always mentally just ascribed the 小さい chiisai "small" to the protagonist herself since she's clearly such a tiny little girl. But when reading the sentence without respect for message, my immediate interpretation was to ascribe the 小さい to the noun 夢 yume "dream" instead since it seems like an obvious chain of adjectives: 小さいけれど大切 "small but important." The problem is, my original interpretation of the 小さい modifying the speaker rather than her dream isn't ruled out by the grammar either: you could just as easily have, {あたしが｝小さいけれど｛夢は}大切な夢だから！ "I may be small, but {the dream}'s an important dream! And because of that, I ..." So ... yeah. This gets into the whole messy business of how sometimes the best poetry is open to interpretation and how Japanese, as a language prone to omitting information, frequently leaves much to interpretation too. Putting the two together, you get Japanese poetry -- a nightmare, I should imagine, for any amateur translator taking himself seriously to try and tackle.

Still though: really not fond of the lyrical interpretation that 小さい is meant to modify 夢. It may be what's actually being sung, but man if it doesn't seem weird. What sort of girl describes her feelings towards the person she loves as being "small but important"? In what sense are they small!? Do you not care!? ^^; I don't get it. Anyway, moving on ...

Second greatest hiccup, and I all but gave up at this point because wtf 15 minutes somehow became 35 to 40, was the final stanza where we have ... an incredibly confusing case of just who the hell is doing what. "Can it be true?" the singer opens, "一人きりでも振り返らない？" The vocabulary is unambiguous in the extreme: 一人きり is "all by oneself; alone." でも is in this case "even though; although." 振り返る, the verb, is as Jim Breen kindly offers, "(v5r,vi) (1) to turn head; to look over one's shoulder; to turn around; to look back; (v5r,vt) (2) to think back (on); to reminisce; to look back (on); to reflect (on)." We can sidestep the 1 vs. 2 meanings of the word by simply going with English "to look back" since, identical to Japanese, the English verb covers both meanings. As for the verb's conjugation, it's Japanese simple present tense in the negative case ... which for English means that, here, contextually, it's simple future tense in the negative case, "will not look back." So we have, with zero ambiguity: "Can it be true? Even if all alone, won't look back?" No problems. You might even say, nailed it. But there is a problem, see ... and the problem is ... who the hell is doing the not looking back? The song lyrics do little to inspire confidence in either interpretation. The case for the subject being the male target of her affections would be: 1) she's mostly singing about/to him anyway and 2) it doesn't make much sense for her to go "Can it be true? :o" if this not looking back business is something she has decided to do for herself -- what is there to be surprised about!? " But the case for the subject being the singer herself would be 1) she sings about hoping to find courage, and refusing to look back is something often associated with finding courage; and 2) the whole "not looking back" business would seem to tie in, maybe, kinda, sorta, to the preceding stanza where she's saying that she wants to convey her feelings to the guy even if he's sure to reject her (i.e. the "even if it looks like I'll lose" part she sings about).

So yeah ... Started this post maybe around 3:00am local. It's now 4:19am local. ^^; And this is why I don't usually offer to translate anything. Putting aside the fact that I'm not fluent anyway, we have the greater problem that I care far too much about matters of cosmically far too little importance. orz

[Doppleganger]

Did the subject of my earlier post give you any ideas on translating the OP for Nanatsuiro Drops or is this pure coincidence? Regardless, for my own utility and and personal enjoyment, that post was highly appreciated!

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

Did the subject of my earlier post give you any ideas on translating the OP for Nanatsuiro Drops or is this pure coincidence? Regardless, for my own utility and and personal enjoyment, that post was highly appreciated!

Consciously, pure coincidence. Subconsciously, who knows. Quite possibly.

And thanks!

[Kindrindra]

Is 親切 an adjective? And, if it is, how in the world does it conjugate?

(Same goes for 便利 and the like- I'm just a little confused since they don't end in い or な)

[Jerichi]

Many two-kanji Sino-Japanese nouns also function as な adjectives - they'll almost always be listed as nouns in dictionaries without the な after them. Both 親切 and 便利 fall into this category.

[Kindrindra]

Oh.

Thankies!

[Talon87]

Came upon this blog post just now in which a Japanese writer explores Japanese translations of various American quotes. Even if you know exactly what the Japanese says, I think you'll find it fascinating to see which particular grammar forms and/or vocabulary the writer opted for in translating these quotes from English to Japanese. For example, the Henry Ford quote is rendered more understandable / less cryptic in the Japanese version. For another example, the Walt Disney quote does things slightly differently with the back two-thirds of the quote's clausal structure but all for the sake of native intelligibility in the recipient language. It's a useful guide for students of Japanese as a second language who want some insight into how to translate for a Japanese audience (rather than translating into Japanese but while thinking as a native English speaker).

[Kindrindra]

So how exactly do you say 'or'? Is there a particle for it the same way 'and' has one (well, technically two, but you know), or...?


Talon's link makes me think it has something to do with 'もし' because

If you think you can　→　もしあなたができると思えば
or you think you can’t,　→　もしくは、あなたができないと思った
you’re right　→　どちらも正しい。

Both clauses which would be joined with 'or' have 'もし' at the start, and the last clause (yeah okay there's only two but) has 'くわ' appended onto the end of the　'もし', although the positioning of the comma makes me think that it's technically attached to the first clause, but is put there because of the second clause. Is there any truth to this, and what would a 'or' list with three or four entries look like in comparison?

[Talon87]

Different words or phrases translate to English "or." But for the basic case you're looking for N1かN2か. For example:

Yes or no, I'm fine with either.

would be written as something like:

YESかNOか、どっちでもいい。

You use two かs, where each か follows each of the two options in the rudimentary two-option or clause.

But like I said, there are different words or expressions that cover specific ground that, in English, we attribute all to the word "or". Some words or expressions that lead off certain sentences are good examples. You've identified one example in もし followed by もしく(は). Another example that comes to mind would be when the first sentence is an ordinarily constructed question (e.g. "Do you really love cats?") and the second sentence is a follow-up question (e.g. "Or are you just saying you like cats?"). The second sentence would lead off with something like それとも, "Or is it instead the case that ...?" (More literally, "Along with that [previously outlined option]".)

A Google autocomplete example illustrates this point further. I wanted to give you Professor Oak's famous "Are you a boy or a girl?" line in the original Japanese; as I began to type it out, Google suggested this autocompleted search: あなたは男脳　それとも女脳. "Are you man brain? Or are you woman brain?" on a literal read, it's better rendered as "Do you think like a man? Or do you think like a woman?" / "Do you have a man's brain? Or do you have a woman's brain?" Etc. This same それとも construction ... could've also been rendered as あなたは男脳か女脳か？ "Do you have a man's brain or a woman's brain?", one sentence.

Incidentally, the Pokémon quote is the それとも rendering: "Are you a boy? Or are you a girl?" あなたは男の子？それとも女の子？

[Talon87]

In celebration of Shenmue III, let's talk about the Four Wude!

The Four Wude (Mandarin Chinese: 武德 wǔdé; Japanese: 武徳 butoku) are four codes of Chinese martial arts which Xiuying Hong informs Shenmue protagonist Ryo Hazuki that any martial artist of true virtue should know. In order to meet with the mysterious martial arts master Lishao Tao, Ryo must discover what the Four Wude are.

功 has the following meanings:

• Japanese: achievement; merits; success; honor; credit
• Shenmue Chinese martial arts: practice every day without neglect.

功 has the following readings:

• Mandarin Chinese: gong
• Japanese onyomi: kou, ku
• Japanese kunyomi: isao

Ryo learns 功 from Jianmin, an elderly man who practices Chen-style t'ai chi ch'uan every day in Lotus Park. Jianmin's devotion to martial arts is revealed to have yielded positive results when the elderly martial artist, after teaching Ryo a palm thrust move, uses the move on a tree himself with seemingly little motion; despite the apparent lack of motion, a shower of petals rains down to the ground, the tree having received much energy from Jianmin's powerful thrust.

In modern Japanese, 功 is a character which shows up in words in which it lends the meaning of "merit" or "accomplishment." For example:

• 成功 【せいこう】 (n,vs) success; hit
• 有功 【ゆうこう】 (adj-na,n) merit
• 偉功 【いこう】 (n) great deed
• 軍功 【ぐんこう】 (n) meritorious war service
• 功罪 【こうざい】 (n) both good and bad; merits and demerits

The first of these words, along with its sister 大成功, is one of the more common words in modern Japanese and should be learned by all students seriously studying the language.

戒 has the following meanings:

• Japanese: commandment; (Buddh.) sila
• Shenmue Chinese martial arts: judge yourself without conceit and do not show or use moves thoughtlessly.

戒 has the following readings:

• Mandarin Chinese: jie
• Japanese onyomi: kai
• Japanese kunyomi: imashi(meru)

Ryo learns 戒 from Master Zhoushan, the master of the Guang Martial Arts School. Zhoushan had a pupil, Zongquan, who he kicked out of the school. Zongquan subsequently became a street performer. In choosing to show off martial arts moves that were meant to be passed on from master to pupil through the generations and used only when strictly necessary, not showcased for the cheap entertainment of pedestrians, Zongquan has violated jie.

In modern Japanese, 戒 is a character which shows up in many words having to do with Buddhism, either directly or indirectly. For example:

• 五戒 【ごかい】 (n) {Buddh} the five precepts (prohibitions against killing, theft, sexual misconduct, lying and intemperance)
• 警戒 【けいかい】 (n,adj-no) (1) vigilance; precaution; watch; lookout; alertness; (vs) (2) to be vigilant; to be cautious; to guard (against)
• 斎戒 【さいかい】 (n,vs) purification
• 一罰百戒 【いちばつひゃっかい】 (n) (yoji) punishing a crime to make an example for others
• 破戒 【はかい】 (n) breaking a commandment (usually religious); offense against the Buddhist commandments (offence)
• 戒める(P); 誡める; 警める 【いましめる】 (v1,vt) (1) to admonish; to warn; to remonstrate; (2) to prohibit; to forbid; (3) (arch) to be cautious; (4) (arch) to punish

胆 has the following meanings:

• Japanese: gall bladder; courage; pluck; nerve
• Shenmue Chinese martial arts: be brave and stay calm to make the right decision.

胆 has the following readings:

• Mandarin Chinese: dan
• Japanese onyomi: tan
• Japanese kunyomi: kimo

Ryo learns 胆 from Zhangyu, a barber on Three Blades Street. Zhangyu beckons Ryo to take a seat, sharpening his blade as he explains that those who stray from the path outlined by the Four Wude are often hated by other martial artists, even killed when off guard. Zhangyu then informs Ryo to remain perfectly still no matter what happens next. He swiftly draws the razor to Ryo's neck as if to slit his throat. Despite this, Ryo remains calm, not flinching or budging even once. Zhangyu pulls the blade away and explains that Ryo has just demonstrated 胆.

In modern Japanese, 胆 appears in words either connoting its medical meaning of gall bladder or else its symbolic meaning of pluck or courage. For example:

• 肝胆 【かんたん】 (n) the liver and gall bladder; one's inner being
• 胆汁 【たんじゅう】 (n,adj-no) bile; gall
• 胆石 【たんせき】 (n) gallstones
• 魂胆 【こんたん】 (n,vs) (1) soul; (2) ulterior motive; secret design; plot; intrigue; scheme
• 大胆 【だいたん】 (adj-na,n) bold; daring; audacious
• 胆大心小 【たんだいしんしょう】 (exp) (yoji) being bold and courageous, but also careful and meticulous

義 has the following meanings:

• Japanese: righteousness; justice; morality; honor; loyalty; meaning
• Shenmue Chinese martial arts: do not hesitate to do the right thing.

義 has the following readings:

• Mandarin Chinese: yi
• Japanese onyomi: gi
• Japanese kunyomi: --

Ryo learns 義 from Guixhang, an elderly tenant of the Yan Tin Apartments. Guixhang has been receiving threats from land sharks for quite some time; on this particular occasion, Ryo witnesses a group of them circling around the old woman, threatening physical violence if she does not give in to their demands. Ryo doesn't hesitate to run to her aid. The land sharks turn their sights on Ryo, but he uses his martial arts knowledge to send them packing. Guixhang explains that Ryo has just demonstrated 義, the fourth Wude.

In modern Japanese, 義 serves several linguistic roles. One role is the core meanings it carries: 義 very much connotes "righteousness," "morality," etc. in many of the words it's in. For example:

• 義務 【ぎむ】 (n,adj-no) duty; obligation; responsibility
• 義務感 【ぎむかん】 (n) sense of duty (obligation)
• 義理 【ぎり】 (n,adj-no) (1) duty; sense of duty; honor; honour; decency; courtesy; debt of gratitude; social obligation; (adj-no) (2) in-law; relation by marriage
• 義人 【ぎじん】 (n) selfless (pious, righteous) man
• 義戦 【ぎせん】 (n) a crusade; holy war
• 義捐; 義援 【ぎえん】 (n,vs) alms; donation (esp. disaster relief or charity); contribution

A second role 義 serves is as part of a suffix: 主義 shugi is the equivalent of the English suffix -ism in philosophical or political uses of the suffix. For example:

• 愛国主義 【あいこくしゅぎ】 (n) nationalism; patriotism
• 愛他主義 【あいたしゅぎ】 (n) altruism
• 共産主義 【きょうさんしゅぎ】 (n,adj-no) communism; collectivism
• 資本主義 【しほんしゅぎ】 (n,adj-no) capitalism
• 悪魔主義 【あくましゅぎ】 (n) satanism; devil worship

A third, common use of 義 in modern Japanese is as a prefix: in family terms, 義 is used to designate family members who are not related to you by blood. For example:

• 義父 【ぎふ】 (n) (1) father-in-law; (2) foster father; (3) stepfather
• 義母 【ぎぼ】 (n) (1) mother-in-law; (2) foster mother; (3) step mother
• 義兄 【ぎけい(P); あに(ik)】 (n) (See 兄・あに) brother-in-law
• 義姉 【ぎし(P); あね(ik)】 (n) (See 姉・あね) sister-in-law (elder); stepsister (elder)
• 義弟 【ぎてい(P); おとうと(ik)】 (n) (See 弟) younger brother-in-law
• 義妹 【ぎまい(P); いもうと(ik)】 (n) (See 妹) sister-in-law (younger); stepsister
• 義子 【ぎし】 (n) adopted child

A fourth meaning that 義 brings to the table is that of a prosthesis. For example:

• 義眼 【ぎがん】 (n) artificial eye
• 義歯 【ぎし】 (n) artificial tooth
• 義手 【ぎしゅ】 (n) artificial arm (hand)
• 義体 【ぎたい】 (n) artificial body; cyborg

As you can see, 義 is an incredibly important character in modern Japanese. Last but not least: it forms the yoshi in Yoshitsune! Minamoto no Yoshitsune, or 源義経. So you see, 義 is everywhere, from family words like "mother-in-law" to history texts to Buddhist teachings to medical literature. A beautiful character that is worth adding to your arsenal if you haven't already!

[Doppleganger]

忠義!

Interesting post, thanks Talon! In fact it was odd to me that 胆 refers to both the liver/gall bladder and courage. I always thought "guts" as a metaphor was a uniquely English colloquialism. Like, you don't see cowardly chickens in Japanese!

...

A bit unrelated, but what sounds better as a name for a ghostly monster?

Taihenna, from taihen or big trouble
Goukigennyo from gokigenyo, or farewell/hello

The monster would scream its name like a Pokemon, so BBB liked the latter, thinking it funny. I could always spell the latter out as 豪鬼幻妖 or 豪鬼幻夜.

[Doppleganger]

Something that washed-up on the shores of heck itself.



My expectation was superbad Japanese. I read this as Daigyakusatsugami no Kinzokuryuu.

Genocide God of Metal Dragon. Jibber-ish, although it sounded alright at the time when compared against "Osiris no Tenkuuryuu". Also, I was intending for some mistranslation liberalities for style points.

Today I wouldn't use such silly terminology. But if I were to write that cheese out...

金属竜が神を殺す?

[Talon87]

In N1のN2, the way の works is that N1 modifies N2. Examples:

• 雪のフクロウ Yuki no fukurou Yuki's owl
• 愛の力 ai no chikara the power of love
• 隣のトトロ Tonari no Totoro Totoro the Neighbor

The three examples provided represent English possessive, English "the noun of noun," and what is called the appositive.

First, your mistranslation with の. The order is N1のN2, but when written as English "the noun of noun" it becomes "the N2 of N1," i.e. the noun order reverses. 愛の力 is the power of love, not the love of power. Similarly, ___神の___竜 would be the ___dragon of ___god(s), not the ___god of ___dragon. The order you've written it in makes it sound like we're discussing the god(s) when in fact our focus is on the dragon.

Second, the appositive. That may be what is going on here. The metal dragon isn't the metal dragon of some genocide god's: he is the genocide god. Totoro the Neighbor (隣のトトロ Tonari no Totoro), Kana the Succubus (サキュバスの加奈 Succubus no Kana), My Wife, The Witch (魔女の妻 Majo no Tsuma). In all cases, the Japanese construction N1のN2 has N1 modifying N2. And so in the appositive, what we have is that N2 is the base word that is being modified by the appositive. For instance, it isn't "Succubus the Kana," which makes no sense and were it an appositive case would have to be written as 加奈のサキュバス Kana no Succubus, but is instead "Kana the Succubus," or サキュバスの加奈, with N1 succubus modifying N2 Kana.

With your YGO card, we had at least three choices for interpretation:

1. genocide god's metal dragon
2. (the) metal dragon of (the) genocide god
3. metal dragon, the genocide god

2 is nonsensical without the the's. Alternatively, it can be re-rendered in such a way as to make it functionally equivalent to 1. (See above.) That leaves us with 1+2 (which mirrors The Winged Dragon of Ra and The Sky Dragon of Osiris) and 3. My default with YGO would be to read it as 1+2, but I'm 50/50 otherwise in the absence of more information.

Closing note: Obelisk the Tormentor is another example of English apposition. However! The translation team fucked up. If he were really Obelisk the Tormentor, then his name would've been something like 苦しめ神のオベリスク Kurushimegami no Obelisk "Obelisk, the God of Torment." Instead we have 巨神兵, a made-up word as far as I can tell that has been used in Ghibli films and Type-Moon tales to represent colossi or titans. (So it doesn't even mean "tormentor." -.-) And we have the construction オベリスクの巨神兵, not 巨神兵のオベリスク. Consequently, Obelisk modifies Colossus, not the other way around, and so we have:

1. Obelisk's Colossus
2. the Colossus of Obelisk
3. Colossus the Obelisk

Because 3 is nonsense, we rule out the appositive and go with 1 or 2. (And 2 sounds better for a title.) And yet Konami went with a bungled 3. -.-

[Talon87]

白い目で見る 【しろいめでみる】 (exp,v1) to look coldly at; to turn a cold shoulder

Hadn't come across this figure of speech until now. Figured I'd share! I don't think it's 100% the same as the common "white eyes of shock" look you often see in anime, but I do wonder if the two are related by a cultural understanding of what it means to have "white eyes" or some such.

[Jerichi]

I follow this girl on YouTube and she just made a cute (sponsored) video about using Japanese credit cards in Hawaii. It's aimed at Japanese speakers learning English but I thought it was fun enough to share.

[Kindrindra]

Okay wow it's been a while since I posted in here whoopsies
Out of curiosity, what would the following read as to you?

墓地から特殊召喚された相手フィールドのモンスターの効果と相手墓地にカードの効果は無効化ら れた。

Spoiler: show

I was going for "Monsters summoned from the Graveyard on your opponent's field and cards in your opponent's Graveyard have their effects negated", but I'm not sure I did it right, especially since it's my first time using the 「と」 particle and I'm not sure I understood it properly.

[Jerichi]

That's about the jist of it.

[Kindrindra]

YEAAAAAAAH GRAMMAR RANKU UPUUUU

Thanks!

[Kindrindra]

So I'm still terrible at postpositions. ;w;

Which of the following would be the most accurate, and are there any other glaring errors that they have?
君へ吾の力を見せる
君に吾の力を見せる