Ah yes, this game is very good in that it introduces the best character almost immediately. But believe you me, there are some other, real good contenders.
Ah, Ghost Trick! I've heard great things about this game, but never played it myself. Just from this first stream I can see that all the good things I heard about it were probably justified. The translation has been really interesting, too, because as you noticed (and some people in chat pointed out), there's a lot of wordplay going on. I've outlined a few of the things that stuck out to me while watching a Japanese let's play alongside yours below: 1. To start by answering your question from around 2:27:08, "Chicken Kitchen" is "キッチンチキン" (kicchin chikin/Kitchen Chicken) in Japanese. Looks like the translators caught a lucky break on this one, as the original Japanese relied on loanwords from English to make the original pun, so all they had to do was reorder the words and it works basically just as well in English. 2. In that same text box, though, "Dead End Drive" required a more creative approach. The original is "オナクナリ通り" (onakunari doori), which involves a polite expression for dying (オナクナリ) followed by the word for "street". A slightly more literal English take on this idea might be, "Passing Away Place". However, I think the added pun of "Dead End Drive" makes it a superior choice, not to mention the repetitive sounds involved that emphasize the similar wordplay in the earlier phrase "Chicken Kitchen". 3. An even more interesting choice actually involves the name of the girl you and Missile save at Lynne's apartment. In Japanese, she's called カノン (Kanon), which is incredibly close to Kannon (観音), the Japanese name for a bodhisattva who represents compassion. In English, they've changed this to "Kamila", possibly because that name has both an Arabic root that means "complete" or "perfect" and a Latin root meaning "helper to the priest". It's not a one to one change, and the Japanese sticks out a lot more to someone playing the game in the original language, but I do appreciate the effort at localization. I suspect that the Arabic meaning may be the more relevant one because of an Arabic tie to another term I noticed in this stream, but I'm not sure if I should go into that one in detail because I worry that it may involve spoilers for later elements of the plot. 4. Another reason it's relevant that the Japanese name for Kamila is Kanon has to do with the name of the apartment where Lynne and Kamila live. In the original, this is "メゾン•ド•ナムアミ" (mezon•do•namuami/Maison De Namuami). This is a pretty clear reference to one of the most well-known and widespread Buddhist chants in Japan, "Namu Amida Butsu" (I seek refuge in the Amida Buddha). In the Pure Land sect where the phrase originated, Kannon is associated with the Amida Buddha, so in Christian terms, this would be kind of like having a character named Mary living somewhere called Fullagrace Manor. The translators do seem aware of this reference, since they've translated the apartment as "Maison de Amida" to preserve that part of the reference, though since they've renamed Kamila the tie between character and place isn't as clear. This is a really tricky thing to localize, though, so I don't blame them for taking the approach they did. 5. On more of a glowingly positive note, I'm really impressed with how the English version of this game handles a pun that's fundamental to the Japanese gameplay. In the original language, the word for "to possess" like a ghost might possess something is "取り憑く" (toritsuku), though the game routinely expresses this idea using the Katakana "トリツク" (toritsuku). The reason for this spelling is that it's extremely close to トリック (torikku), the Japanese word for "trick" (borrowed from English). The only difference between the Japanese characters in these two words is the size of the second-to-last one, ツ. When written the same size as all the others (トリツク), it's pronounced "tsu" (toriTSUku), but when it's written smaller (トリック) it indicates a glottal stop (toriKKu). This means that in Japanese, all those "Trick Time" segments can just use the word "トリツク" (toritsuku) for "(ghostly) possession" with the second-to-last character in red, because the visual pun is fairly obvious. This also applies to the actions you can take that are displayed on the lower left and right of the screen. In Japanese, these are "トリツク" (toritsuku/possess) and "アヤツル" (ayatsuru/manipulate). What I think is so brilliant about the English version, though, is that as you've already seen, the translators were able to work the actual name of the game into these verbs by having the idea of going into the ghost world to possess things be represented by "ghost" and swapping in the word "trick" for the literal Japanese "manipulate". I find this incredibly clever, because rather than attempting the impossible and trying to recreate some version of the Japanese wordplay, the localizers found another way to create a pun involving the name of the game that arguably works better than the original. Anyway, those are all the points I thought were worth mentioning this time. The funny thing is, I told myself I'd try to keep things nice and short to start things off, and looking back at what I wrote, the result isn't even close😅 Hopefully it's at least interesting. Thanks for the stream! References: Japanese Let's Play featuring the terms "Chicken Kitchen" and "Dead End Drive": ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MxPiQiZ7fN0.html Japanese Let's Play featuring Kamila's name as "Kanon": ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MxPiQiZ7fN0.html (This is the same Let's Play as above, only at a different time.) Wikipedia entry for Guanyin (Kannon in Japanese): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanyin Origns and Meanings of the name "Kamila": www.momjunction.com/baby-names/kamila/ (I found a bunch of different sites with different information on this topic, but this is the one that had the most complete summary of my findings.) Japanese Let's Play featuring the original text for "Maison de Amida": ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MxPiQiZ7fN0.html (This is the same Let's Play as above, only at a different time.) English-language explanation of the phrase "Namu Amida Butsu" (aka the nembutsu): www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/N/13 Article on Kannon and her relationship to the Amida Buddha: bschawaii.org/shindharmanet/studies/kannon/ (Of particular relevance is the following passage: In the Pure Land tradition, Kannon [Compassion] and her counterpart Seishi [Wisdom] are embodiments of the nature or attributes of Amida [Amitabha] Buddha. Amida Buddha is the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life, the Buddha who extends universal and unconditional Compassion and Wisdom in his offer of salvation for all beings. As the Infinite that embraces all being, as Reality itself, Amida and his attendants Kannon and Seishi, express the deep faith that the heart and essence of Reality is Compassion and Wisdom.) Reference for the Christian example I used above: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary (I wanted to pick something that referenced a common saying associated with an important religious figure, but I realize not everyone is familiar with the Christian tradition.) JP to EN Dictionary entry for "取り憑く": jisho.org/search/%E5%8F%96%E3%82%8A%E6%86%91%E3%81%8F JP Let's Play with the equivalent "Trick Time" banner: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MxPiQiZ7fN0.html (This is the same Let's Play as above, only at a different time.) JP Let's Play with "トリツク" and "アヤツル" as options: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MxPiQiZ7fN0.html (This is the same Let's Play as above, only at a different time.) Site with confirmed JP wordplay from various online sources (JP): www.ne.jp/asahi/game/gyakusai/gt/k/gt-k-08.html (While only partially relevant to the points listed above, this Japanese-language resource is great for seeing in one place things the director has said about the wordplay/character names either on Twitter or in interviews. If you can read Japanese but haven't finished the game, though, beware of spoilers. While I can't say for sure whether there are plot-relevant meanings involved because I haven't played the game, some of this information seems like it could at the very least be suggestive of story elements. Still, it's an interesting and useful resource that confirms some of the meanings listed above, so I thought it worth including here.)
Yay! Very happy to see this playthrough. I don't know why this game from my childhood has gotten so much internet attention lately (5 youtubers I like to watch played it last year) but I can already tell this is going to be a very enjoyable playthrough.
I think it got ported to Steam last year, so that would probably explain why a bunch of people started playing it then? It's been on my list for years, and then the port has made it *much* easier for me to stream it (yay!), but I just had to have an opening in my schedule for it. I'm really looking forward to the rest of it because it is a SUPER fun game so far.
Ghost Trick!!! This game is super creative and charming with really interesting puzzles and aesthetics to boot! Very excited you’re playing this game, and I think you’ll really enjoy it!
Thank you! I feel like we're still early in this game so I don't have as many pieces to work with yet, and I admit I the game is pretty engrossing so I was more like "I want to see what they do next!" - but there will probably be some wacky speculation shenanigans before too long :)
The animation still looks unbelievably fluid, even on DS. There was an interview about the animation that I read. It said something about the Japanese really caring about subtle movements, so they made sure to put loads of effort into the character movements.
You're RIGHT, we can TOTALLY blame Ray for the camera arm! Should I just blame him for any hauntings that seem to be happening in the vicinity of my computer right now? 😂
Lauren i support you! i missed watching you. i haven't watched you since ff7 remake. i first started watching you in late 2020 for wandersong and i have been avoiding your streams for a while but i've been interested in watching you again scince you are playing this game i first watched a playthrough by the youtuber NicoB and thoroughly enjoyed it. i hope you do too! enjoy Lauren!
