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Royal Siblings Addressing: Why do they address each other like this?


Uchu~
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Hello.

Warning there are minor spoilers in this topic. If you are still trying to remain unspoiled, congrats if you've managed that, then please exit this poll <!>IMMEDIATELY<!> Without further ado lets start our topic.

You know those many siblings of Kamui's that seem like they are really sophisticated and ready for war? Well maybe. In the English patched version of the Japanese version of the game, every time a sibling is addressed by another sibling it's always:

"Big Brother/Sister <insert name>!"

or

"Little Brother/Sister <insert name>!"

The first is used much more than the latter, but I have seen the latter used. Keep in mind that every single time they want to say their siblings name it starts with that, no matter the context. EVERY TIME. EVERY SINGLE TIME. I've watched quite a bit of the English patched version and this does get quite annoying IMO. I really hope they change this in the official localization, if not then that would be a big bummer of the game. I could see how occasionally the little brothers/sisters would address the elder ones as Big Brother/Sister, but not every single time! Who calls their elder sibling Big Brother/Sister <name> all the time?! I personally think it gets quite annoying with how much they say it.

What are your thoughts on this topic? I know this rant probably was not worthy of a thread, but I wanted to see what you guys thought as well. Thanks for taking your time to read this and I hope to see all your replies below!

-Uchu~

\_(^-^)_/

Edited by Uchu~
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It's the norm in the culture. In Chinese we also do this. It's more common to address your older siblings (or hell, sometimes not even siblings, but a closeish-in-age person) by older brother/sister as a sign of respect in east asian cultures.

I believe Korean also has equivalents, though I'm not an expert there as I am fluent in Chinese.

There's nothing weird about it in the language it's actually written in.

Edited by Thor Odinson
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I'm positive it will be take out of the localization because it's a cultural thing. I can't say for sure if everyone is like that but at least in my family, we use "brother/sister" to each other more often than their name.

Edit: Oh I got beaten to it lol.

Edited by Hatsuoki
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It's the norm in the culture. In Chinese we also do this. It's more common to address your older siblings (or hell, sometimes not even siblings, but a closeish-in-age person) by older brother/sister as a sign of respect in east asian cultures.

I believe Korean also has equivalents, though I'm not an expert there as I am fluent in Chinese.

There's nothing weird about it in the language it's actually written in.

Oh. I did not know that. Then yeah they should definitely change it in the localization, since it is, after all, a cultural thing.

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Obviously it won't stay that way in the localization. This is a very usual habit in Japanese, as well as some other Asian languages, including my own. It sounds more natural to them than to foreigners. And the fact that there's no way to translate literally without sounding eerie doesn't help.

Edit: Ninja'd

Edited by Ryo
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Oh. I did not know that. Then yeah they should definitely change it in the localization, since it is, after all, a cultural thing.

It will be. Lissa also addresses Chrom as such, I believe, and that's not anywhere in the English version.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yeah, it's definitely a thing in at least China, Japan, and Korea. I wish there was some way to translate and keep this in English without sounding awkward, because I always feels like I'm not being respectful enough towards my older siblings if I don't use such titles, but sadly it just won't happen...

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As the others have said, it's a cultural thing. There's probably no one in my country that calls their elder sibling without a "big brother/sister", it's supposedly disrespectful although I think most people just do it because that's how we were taught. Fun fact: If you only have 1 elder sibling, it's common to never ever even say their name, and instead just call them "big brother/sister". I've never called my brother's name in my life.

Although, I don't think many elder siblings address their younger siblings with "little brother/sister"? At least, it doesn't happen where I live, and I don't really recall them saying it when I played. So much onee-chan/sama and onii-chan/sama

I wonder how the localisation will change the voice clip, though? For example, the younger siblings each have short voice clips saying "big brother" and "big sister" whenever their siblings show up. Would it be taken out in the English version, or what would they change it to... I imagine for Awakening for Lissa it was changed from "big brother" to something like "Chrom"? (did not play English version)

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As mentioned, it's totally common in Asian cultures. The main reason it's in the unofficial translation patch is probably for translation accuracy.

This form of addressing is in practically every Fire Emblem game, but you never notice because by the time you play the game, it's already been "localised". This is true in the other translation patches too (that I've played).

For instance, in Shadow Dragon, Tiki calls Marth "Mar-Mar"; in Japanese, it was "big brother Marth".

I wonder how the localisation will change the voice clip, though? For example, the younger siblings each have short voice clips saying "big brother" and "big sister" whenever their siblings show up. Would it be taken out in the English version, or what would they change it to... I imagine for Awakening for Lissa it was changed from "big brother" to something like "Chrom"? (did not play English version)

I think "big brother" etc. will stay in the cutscenes, if the Smash reveal trailer was any indication.

There's no other way for it to work, since the Avatar doesn't have a fixed name like Chrom.

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Indeed, this is a thing in Asian countries -- including Korea. Actually, honorifics for older siblings in Korea are gendered:

"Oppa": younger girl -> older boy

"Noona": younger boy -> older girl

"Uhnee": younger girl -> older girl

"Hyung": younger boy -> older boy

Not sure if this applies in Japan or China, but in Korea at least these terms aren't used exclusively for older siblings either. They can be used to refer to close family friends as well. So it's definitely a cultural thing.

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Indeed, this is a thing in Asian countries -- including Korea. Actually, honorifics for older siblings in Korea are gendered:

"Oppa": younger girl -> older boy

"Noona": younger boy -> older girl

"Uhnee": younger girl -> older girl

"Hyung": younger boy -> older boy

Not sure if this applies in Japan or China, but in Korea at least these terms aren't used exclusively for older siblings either. They can be used to refer to close family friends as well. So it's definitely a cultural thing.

I can at least confirm that in China, the family member terms can apply to anyone whom you're acquainted with, including terms like aunt, uncle, grandpa, and grandma. Actually, you don't even have to be acquainted with them; you greet them as such when someone introduces you to them for the first time (so like, "Hello, grandma.") So yeah, I'm really used to calling my parents' friends' children who are older than me as "older brother/sister."

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  • 2 weeks later...

Indeed, this is a thing in Asian countries -- including Korea. Actually, honorifics for older siblings in Korea are gendered:

"Oppa": younger girl -> older boy

"Noona": younger boy -> older girl

"Uhnee": younger girl -> older girl

"Hyung": younger boy -> older boy

Not sure if this applies in Japan or China, but in Korea at least these terms aren't used exclusively for older siblings either. They can be used to refer to close family friends as well. So it's definitely a cultural thing.

It's the same for Japan, although it's generally used from younger to older. Older brother/sister can be used for older individuals of the approximate same generation, uncle/aunt for one generation higher and grandpa/grandma for two generations higher, regardless of your actual blood ties. From older to younger, people will generally be addressed by name, sometimes with an honorific to denote their lower station.

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