In times of old, when men were bold, four beasts did stalk the earth. Earth and Water, Wind and Flame, the elements did give birth. To vermilion birds and snow-white cats, to chelonians dark and dragons fleet. It's mythology time in Japandemonium again. Please take a seat.
(How I wish I could have stretched the index blurb out a bit more. I was on a roll there for a moment.)
Are we spending too much time covering this game? Probably, yes.
"You're going to hell"
befriend (v.): to use mecha-class beam weaponry to inflict grievous bodily harm on a target in the process of proving the validity of your belief system.
What's funny is that the shiseijuu are actually Chinese, not Japanese. I got into a fight with the fan translator of Star Ocean because he knew the original Chinese names and wanted to use them, whereas I argued that even if it was more authentic, nobody would know what the heck he was talking about. We compromised and used English names instead.
The Role-Playing Jew - 'Tis me blog!
Why else would they be at the entrances to Chinatown?Though like many deities, they were syncretized into Japanese mysticism sometime during the Asuka or Heian periods.
According to the wiki (still looking for corroboration), the most likely point of origin for them is an area on the Chinese/Korean border during a time period where it was populated by the Korean kingdom of Chosun. They didn't get actual names until they were adopted into Daoism (from which point they spread across China and into Japan and Vietnam). So really, arguments as to their origins or names are kind of pointless. If it's a Japanese game, odds are they're intending to use the Japanese names unless it's specifically shown otherwise in the furigana.
What would the English names have been, though? Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, White Tiger, and Blue Dragon?
Only if it's populated by cute girlsOriginally Posted by Quin
"You're going to hell"
it's not and if you're going there it's not to have a good time, believe me. i spent 6 months there after grabbing a deal off expedia and i regret every second. first off they don't even put ice in your drink, ok. next thing, you need a sunscreen with 10000000 times the uv protection, alright, last thing. it's way too crowded down there.Only if it's populated by cute girls
I've also heard that the maitre d' is a bit of a jerk....
You make me a happy happy man, Gaijin, I love that sketch.
befriend (v.): to use mecha-class beam weaponry to inflict grievous bodily harm on a target in the process of proving the validity of your belief system.
Well, the techniques in question used the names in conjunction with other nouns (e.g. Suzaku Strike) so we ended up using the names Firebird, Tortoise, Tiger, and Dragon. More direct translations would have given us techniques consisting of five or six words, which everybody would have been confused by.
The Role-Playing Jew - 'Tis me blog!
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