Part 109: Bonus - Tarepanda's Notes

Tarepanda's Notes

These are some notes on the game's original script and translation, written by Tarepanda.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
On Wall Market

Not to steal the OP's thunder, but long post ahead.


"Food Place" on the sign in the center, the red one in the upper-right says "Materi[a]."


The big one in the center says "Medicine."


The sign above the doorway says something like "Cave" -- it's not an actual word, but a made-up name. Earth-mouth. Cave.
The mat the guy is standing on (not visible here) says "ENTRANCE" and in small print below that, something like "all kinds of stuff in here."


The yellow writing on the tank to the left says "Water Reservoir."
The green sign with 男男男 says "MEN MEN MEN."


The red-and-blue sign at the top says "Shaved Ice." Cloud is standing next to one that says "bar."


The pink sign is hilarious -- it doesn't really mean anything, but it says "Koruneo," or if you transliterate it, "Corneo."
The red-and-white one to the right says "ramen," I love those ramen carts.


And now, what you've been waiting for...






In here... the blocky yellow-and-pink sign to the left is so blocky I can't make it out.

The sign to the right says "Number 2", so they're implying that there's another one somewhere and this is a successful franchise.

The big sign, unsurprisingly, says "Honeybee Inn." Beneath that is a typical Japanese restaurant curtain used to advertise that says "WOMEN WOMEN."

The red-and-yellow sign is all crapped up and hard to read, but it seems to say "monthly tab."

The sign below that says, again, "Honeybee Inn."

It's worth noting that these types of places do kind of look like this, with big billboard signs and little street signs. Obviously the ones on normal streets don't go overboard, but the ones in the red light district or yakuza district go nuts.

They usually operate on service levels depending on how much you pay. Hand-holding -> kissing -> touching -> fellatio. The massage places do only massage until you pay for the "king" level or whatever, and most places are staffed by Chinese/Korean girls. The Korean girls usually come over to learn Japanese and make money before they go back to go to college, or so they say.

Actual sex for money is illegal in Japan, so it's often disguised as a special additional service, like "King Service" or something. Fellatio is not a problem and there are even shops that specialize in that, where you get three girls for ten minutes each, or something along those lines. It's all pretty boldly stated on their signs on the street.

Another way they advertise sex for money is by saying, cleverly enough, that they'll allow anal sex. That isn't illegal, for whatever reason. So the assumption is that if you can do anal, they'll also probably let you do regular sex.

(Not that anyone will believe me, but I used to be really, really, really bored and I would walk around talking to the suited yakuza guys and middle-aged Chinese women running these places.)

Now you know more than you wanted to, and knowing is half the battle.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
On the Wall Market Restaurant

I've never seen that kanji used that way. "dirt" and "dirty" aren't interchangeable the same way as they are in English as far as I know.



This is a dumb translation and I hate it. It means a "yakiniku plate," which is a plate of thin-sliced grilled meat. I had Korean BBQ when I went back to America and man, it was a frustrating experience and nothing like yakiniku in size or flavor.

They should have just said "Grilled meat plate."

I also really don't like it when Japan translates "ramen" as "boiled Chinese egg noodles" or something similar. Food translations are a bit pet peeve for me.



The mat under all of the spotlights says "perform."

I don't remember any of this part of the game at all...


-----------------------------------------------------------------
On Don Corneo's Mansion



The thing in the background says "puu," or "poo." I guess it's a catchphrase or something, since the girl said it. FF7 is way too early to be mocking Hard Gay, so I'm not sure what it's a reference to, if anything.



The door to the left is labeled "punishment," the big door is labeled "large serving."　The wall scroll on the left of the door has kanji put together in a bunch of nonsense saying "shuumai," the one on the right says "gyoza." Food fetish much?



The scroll at the top has his name written upside-down, making it... Oneruco. I don't know. What a putz.



What a putz.

The big red lantern in the background, again, has his name on it.

The bedspread says "Heaven" and a smaller character on the footboard says "bowl of food." No wonder this guy is fat.

The mat has more nonsense kanji that can be read as "pit trap." Gee.

What a putz.