Undertale’s Japanese Localisation Is Causing A Fan Frenzy

Undertale’s Japanese Localisation Is Causing A Fan Frenzy

American indie game Undertale is finally getting an official Japanese release. Good for all the hardcore Japanese fans the game has! Its localisation is already causing quite a stir.

[Image: nankou0411]

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…

Undertale’s Japanese Localisation Is Causing A Fan Frenzy
(Image: Dengeki)

[Image: Dengeki]

As evident in this Undertale Japanese screenshot from Dengeki, Sans refers to himself as “oira” (オイラ), which has country bumpkin connotations in Japan. Sophisticated urbane guys do not use “oira”. Older rural folks might.

Fascinating for a skeleton to use “oira”, no? (Note that the pronoun is also sometimes laced with a comedic nuance.)

This interesting localisation 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.

Farmer Sans.

The first kanji is “boku” (僕) and the second is “ore” (俺), both of which are followed by “oira” (オイラ) in katakana.

The tweet reads “Taking advantage of the Oira Shock.”

Two Sans that are saying “boku” and “ore” in the first panel get destroyed by the “oira!” Sans.


The Cheapest NBN 1000 Plans

Looking to bump up your internet connection and save a few bucks? Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Kotaku, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments


5 responses to “Undertale’s Japanese Localisation Is Causing A Fan Frenzy”