American indie game Undertale is finally getting an official Japanese release. Good for all the hardcore Japanese fans the game has! Its localization is already causing quite a stir.
Namely, the way laid-back skeleton character Sans refers to himself.
In English, we use the personal pronoun “I” to refer to ourselves. However, Japanese has an array of personal pronouns that goes well beyond “watashi.” There are multiple ways to say “I” in Japanese (you can read a list here).
The way that people refer to themselves in Japanese can reveal a lot about the context within they are speaking, how they view themselves, and even their backgrounds. Among male speakers using informal lingo, you can typically divide them into two groups: those who use “boku” (僕) for “I” and those who use “ore” (俺). The natural assumption would be that Sans would use one of those, but….
As evident in this Undertale Japanese screenshot from Dengeki, Sans refers to himself as “oira” (オイラ), which hascountry bumpkin connotations in Japan. Sophisticated urbane guys do not use “oira.” Older rural folks might.
To give an idea as to how much scrutiny loc gets in Japan, the word Sans uses to address himself in Undertale is trending right now.
— Justin Epperson (@sprsk) June 13, 2017
Fascinating for a skeleton to use “oira,” no? (Note that the pronoun is also sometimes laced with a comedic nuance.)
https://twitter.com/embed/status/874684107745361920
https://twitter.com/embed/status/874847895123623937
This interesting localization choice is being called the オイラショック or “oira shock” in Japanese, complete with a hashtag (#オイラショック) and everything.
https://twitter.com/embed/status/874526247707000832
https://twitter.com/embed/status/874597784560652289
Farmer Sans.
https://twitter.com/embed/status/874758320371884032
“Depending on the situation, Oira Suns can seem like an rural grandpa.”
https://twitter.com/embed/status/874618625306447872
This tweet says both the boku Sans (left) and the oira Sans (right) have good points. “For me, oira Sans exists in a country folk type place.
#オイラショック
これが本当の3ズってな、ﾂｸﾃｰﾝ☆ pic.twitter.com/7g49Xg3AX2— にや@UT＆DR垢 (@niyagame3) June 13, 2017
The first kanji is “boku” (僕) and the second is “ore” (俺), both of which are followed by “oira” (オイラ) in katakana.
オイラショック便乗 pic.twitter.com/4vr7NBd8OD
— ナンコウ (@nankou0411) June 14, 2017
The tweet reads “Taking advantage of the Oira Shock.”
折角なんでタグつけてみたオイラsans
#オイラショック pic.twitter.com/MIGwN7dZT1— つーこ (@MonsterRD) June 14, 2017
https://twitter.com/embed/status/874560539422212096
今日のハイライト #オイラショック
※私はどの一人称も好きです pic.twitter.com/qIOmFj6ME2— 宇佐山🐇うさ乃@西１ア14ab (@usanoxp) June 13, 2017
Two Sans that are saying “boku” and “ore” in the first panel get destroyed by the “oira!” Sans.
https://twitter.com/embed/status/874604240508821506
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