Lunar Threads

One of Kyle's attacks (I think it's called Sonic Riser) has "Release weasel" as its description. What exactly does that mean? Is the implication that he literally launches a weasel at an enemy? Is it some kind of bad translation? Or does it have some other meaning that I just don't get? I've been playing through SSSC again recently and I've been wondering what it means.

My interpretation was that it was an example of Working Designs's occasionally off-color humor, in this case a phallic joke. I've got a dirty mind, though, so I guess I could be wrong.

I really don't have anything on the question you've got, but I just wanted to say, I like the username.

Thanks for the compliment GhaleonOne.

I've thought that it could be some kind of "off-colour humour" too, which I suppose is the most likely explanation for it as far as I know. If it is though, it's a new one to me. Anyone know a definite answer, or is this pretty much it?

To be honest, it sounds like placeholder text to me that didn't get changed.

Actually, I can shed some light on it... maybe. Here's the description in Japanese:
直線・かまいたちを放つ技
and here's what one online translator gave me: "The work which gives a straight line and a weasel's slash off." I believe the first two characters, before the dot, are the "straight line" part.

Okay, so that wasn't that much light, as someone actually familiar with the language will have to tell us what it actually means. But that certainly suggests it wasn't a dirty joke on WD's part.

Funnily enough, this could kind of go both ways.

It's literally "(Straight Line) Skill that fires the kamaitachi"

Here is a link with a picture of a kamaitachi:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... itachi.jpg

It's a folkloric monster, like a magic whirlwind-inducing weasel. KF

That would explain why the other translation I had was something like "a cut caused by whirlwind". I forgot to mention that.

The biggest mystery, to me, is what the name of Nash's spell シュペルグローム (Thunder Thrust in SSSC, Blitz in Legend) is supposed to be. I have never managed to turn it into any English that makes sense; maybe some other language? Its description is 全体・激しい雷で敵を攻撃. Another minor mystery is Ghaleon's ラウドコールネス (Nitro Dagger in SSSC), described as 全体・冷気で敵全体を攻撃. Loud Cornice is just a bit too Engrishy, unless there's some meaning of Cornice of which I'm unaware.

Wow, this is pretty funny - partly because it seems no JRPG can go without a kamaitachi attack, and partly because of the translation issues in this case. I've read that the kamaitachi monster was intended to explain the (supposed) real-life phenomenon of spontaneously formed wind vacuums injuring people, but as far as I know it's never been scientifically observed. Sickle-weasles... let no one say the Japanese aren't imaginative.

Alun, those spell names are real stumpers. They don't seem to be English-derived; シュペルグローム seems German to me, but I haven't had any luck with it. One thing I did find about ラウドコールネス - it appears again as the Blue Dragon spell in Lunar Genesis, which explains why its Lunar:DS equivalent is named Loud Call.

Shiva's hunch for Nasch's attack was the same as mine, but I had similarly bad luck looking for any results that weren't related directly to Lunar. The one Japanese thread that looked like it might be useful since it contained talk on assorted lightning attacks in games turned out to be dead. So!

Those are pretty easy. Loud Coldness and Shupel-Glome. Now, I don't know what a Glome is, or what it means to be Shupel, but I'll roll with it. コールネス = コルドネス doesn't seem like that much a stretch to me; I'll see "misspelled" katakana on occasion. KF

Kizyr wrote:Shupel-Glome. Now, I don't know what a Glome is, or what it means to be Shupel, but I'll roll with it.

Assuming it really is partly based on German (and English), the closest thing (that made any logical sense) my poor German skills could come up with was Schübe-Gloam... so something like "thrusts of twilight", I guess? Just a random guess from the japanese transliteration, of course.

I'd thought of the English word "gloam" (or "gloaming") when I first saw it too; it's the same meaning. But I couldn't reconcile that with a big ol' thunderbolt (or lightning bolt, more accurately).

Alunissage wrote:I'd thought of the English word "gloam" (or "gloaming") when I first saw it too; it's the same meaning. But I couldn't reconcile that with a big ol' thunderbolt (or lightning bolt, more accurately).

Well according to my Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, a "schupel gloame" is something like a mimsy borogrove when it's not in a wabe. KF

Kizyr wrote:

Alunissage wrote:I'd thought of the English word "gloam" (or "gloaming") when I first saw it too; it's the same meaning. But I couldn't reconcile that with a big ol' thunderbolt (or lightning bolt, more accurately).

Well according to my Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, a "schupel gloame" is something like a mimsy borogrove when it's not in a wabe. KF

But... what if the mome raths outgrabe?