Using Japanese honorifics, etc.

[Camille]

So my other game I'm working on takes place in Japan. It was previously a fiction project that I worked on with a group of friends, which I'm now basically turning into a VN that takes place in an alternate universe. While writing for it in the past, we kept in all the honorifics because they generally have a lot of significance. For example, Natsume is the oldest brother in his family and his siblings all call him by a different name (onii-chan vs nii-san vs ani-ue).

We also tended to leave in a lot of Japanese words like "goukon" and whatnot. Those are easily translated, I think, like changing "goukon" to "group date", but the honorifics are a bit more troublesome. I mean, how many different ways are there in English to refer to your brother where they have as much significance as they do in Japanese? Plus there is the whole first name vs last name thing in Japanese (calling someone by their first name implies a closeness?), whereas in most English-speaking countries, it's quite common to refer to people by their first name unless they're A) much older than you or B) in a position of power over you. Among a lot of other things, haha.

So I guess my question is... When trying to stay true to the culture of a setting, how much is too much? Would people be bothered if I left in honorifics and the odd vernacular word or phrase? Should I define them in the game? (perhaps with a sort of in-game dictionary/encyclopedia?) Doing my research and being true to a setting/culture/time period is important to me, but not if it makes the game difficult to read through...

[Taleweaver]

Well, that depends. Most people who know and play VNs are at least a little knowledgable about Japan and the Japanese culture and know what honorifics like -san, -sama, -kun, -chan and even -dono mean. In a Japanese setting, it wouldn't be unusual to see them, if you know what you're doing. ^_^

If you want the game to appeal to people who aren't that familiar with the Japanese culture, however, it might be a good idea to translate the honorifics into different nuances of formal/informal speech. For example, addressing Robert:

Robert-san = Robert
Robert-kun = Rob
Robert-chan = Robbie
Robert-sama = Sir
Robert = Bob (no honorific is usually a good sign of very informal speech)

[EzzyAlpha]

I enjoy seeing honorifics being used, since it is something the English language lacks. Taleweaver is right with the equivalency, but that wouldn't be applied to family members, I believe.

[redcat]

@Camille--> I prefer to have the honorifics in the game. Just add small encyclopedia or something to help players who are not yet familiar with the terms.
In my country (Indonesia), many people also use honorifics in daily conversation (though not as significant as in Japan), so I know how awkward it is when you suddenly remove it completely.

[yummy]

I think honorifics are not suited to english. To be true, any professional translator would say that the text would look like a half translated text.
I remember about a fansub one day where they left the honorifics or terms in japanese and then added a small explanation. It sounded lame.

Please note that I'm not against honorifics as essence, in daily life in South east Asia, they are a great mean to convey your respect.
But it just doesn't work with most european languages, where this form is expressed quite differently.

It's sad that it's nearly impossible to translate these notions, particularly from japanese, but there are means to convey these feelings even so.

[papillon]

Most people will agree that using tons of gratuitous Japanese is confusing and limiting your audience. Even a lot of serious anime fans will have no clue what "goukon" means. A few specially-chosen words can help add flavor, but you will need to be sure you get their meaning across, and don't overdo it. Don't use a foreign word for some minor thing that only happens once. (But if arranging marriages is an important element of the story, there's a good case for using the word "omiai" to help set the stage for the reader.)

Honorifics do not have consensus on what's best and depending on where you ask, you'll get something along the lines of the dub/sub flamewars started.

Really, it works either way. Most people who are Japanese fans are familiar with the basics of honorifics and even those who aren't can work a handful of things out from context (anyone who reads, say, science-fiction is used to having to decipher a few weird words). It is not likely to ruin the experience for people.

And at the same time, they're out of place in English, they clutter up the dialog, and most professional translators leave them out IIRC.

Do what you personally feel is best and expect someone to be angry about it whichever you choose

[HikkiPanda]

I love japanese honorifics ^^

my game will has them

[OtomeWeekend]

:0 I'm having the honorifics on my game. Living here in Japan just make me feel uncomfortable to address people straightly with their names(especially the japanese names!)

[Greeny]

I lived in Japan. Where I was living, honorifics weren't really all that important.
I called everyone by their first name all the time, and they did the same to me.

Also, as a language purist, I'm against it.

[Camille]

Ok so after thinking about it and reading through all the responses, I think I'm going to keep the Japanese "brother titles" because they're more like terms of endearment and my story is very centered on that family. Everything else will be "translated". I wasn't planning on using the -kun, -chan, etc honorifics in the first place, haha. Anyway, thanks for your responses! :3 They were really enlightening.

[Kuh-Couch]

Everything else will be "translated". I wasn't planning on using the -kun, -chan, etc honorifics in the first place, haha.

Why? Without them but with "family-honorifics" it looks/feels just silly.
Completely or not at all, you know?

[Camille]

A personal preference? Almost like terms of endearment. Regular honorifics can be translated/approximated, but Asian family ranks/titles/etc are harder because they don't have good/non-awkward-sounding English equivalents. I frequently see people in real life referring to their relatives in their foreign language, but otherwise speaking in English (happens a lot in my own family), so it's not that much of a stretch, I think.

[Greeny]

To be honest, I've lived in a pretty large Japanese family and they didn't have any special words for each other.
The younger ones were adressed by their name and the older ones by their name, cut in half with -nii added to it.
So nothing particularily notable.

[Soychan]

I also used honorifics in the otome game i'm working on- and I was worried that people might find it... for lack of a better word 'cheesy'
you know how people get funny sometimes about it, and go on a massive rant about ' blah blah blah, you think you know japanese blah lah blah, go away you japanophile!"

but really i think its much nicer, when i play game either set in asia, or in a manga style i imagine very stereotypical voices when reading, so when i read ' teacher' over 'sensei' or 'big brotherrr!' i get annoyed!haha
i think it'd make it more fun to include them, and also gives it a bit of mystery if you dont understand it -hahah!
I look forward to seeing the finished peice
xxx