Kanji
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Harukaze
- Posts: 115
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Given that Sars knows Japanese, I am going to assume he knows the difference. I would otherwise be tempted to agree with you, as the original Japanese site for GS1 and GS2 some years back actually did use the word Crest to describe Runes [filenames and the like for webpages needing to be in romaji, of course]. But just as in English there are many words to convey the same precise meaning, so too are there in Japanese. Though I do not know specific examples of characters meaning crest, I believe Sars knowing what he is about would have recognized the specific one that is most commonly translated here as Rune.
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Shirofan
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In basic terms the words 'rune' and 'crest' can be summed up as both meaning 'symbol of power'; it isn't too much of a jump to assume that the Japanese use one word for basically that.
The idea that the source of that power should infer the meaning and consequently the relevant translation i.e. political or magical is fine when you know the context.
In general the preferred translation appears to be crest as noted above and seen in other games including Wild Arms' seemingly nonsensical Crest Graph which should have been Rune Chart.
However translators on Suikoden III were most likely given instructions that the word should be translated to rune, or someone basically did a find and replace on the entire text for consistency.
Even if it was a translator error it is highly unlikely that the person who translated that portion of text knew that the term actually referred to a heraldic device as they would have had the text but not the context given to them.
If the original Japanese text had explicitly used the term of Coat of Arms or Heraldic Shield or something similar and harder to confuse than simply crest then the translators would have had an easier job.
But that yields the point about whether western heraldic terms would have been understood in Japan.
The idea that the source of that power should infer the meaning and consequently the relevant translation i.e. political or magical is fine when you know the context.
In general the preferred translation appears to be crest as noted above and seen in other games including Wild Arms' seemingly nonsensical Crest Graph which should have been Rune Chart.
However translators on Suikoden III were most likely given instructions that the word should be translated to rune, or someone basically did a find and replace on the entire text for consistency.
Even if it was a translator error it is highly unlikely that the person who translated that portion of text knew that the term actually referred to a heraldic device as they would have had the text but not the context given to them.
If the original Japanese text had explicitly used the term of Coat of Arms or Heraldic Shield or something similar and harder to confuse than simply crest then the translators would have had an easier job.
But that yields the point about whether western heraldic terms would have been understood in Japan.
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Vextor
- Global Admin
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Yeah, in a "word for word" translation of the original Japanese, the "Zexen Rune" would end up being translated as "Zexen Rune." However, when considering the context of the term's application, "Zexen Crest" would have been the correct choice. Only a translator who knows Suikoden well enough would catch that.