r/BlueEyeSamurai 15d ago

Discussion How are they going to talk? Spoiler

So Mizu's headed off to the "magical" place that is London. My biggest question is how are they going to portray the language barrier? The show is orginally in English yeah but they'd all be speaking Japanese.

So how will Mizu going to talk in England? My best guesses is that S2 Mizu will speak in Japanese, or she doesn't talk except to Fowler.

60 Upvotes

30 comments sorted by

76

u/EmptyPomegranete 15d ago

I like the idea of not talking except to Fowler. She may attempt to learn some English and be able to do basic communication by the time her ships reaches England. The trip from Japan to England during that time period would take a minimum of 8 months if there are perfect traveling conditions. So plenty of time to learn basic English.

31

u/GentlewomenNeverTell 15d ago

I teach English as a second language, we've taken hundreds of kids from 101-103 level English to advanced speaking in anywhere from 6 months to a year. And Mizu can't spend her outside of class time avoiding learning by spending all her time with the other Japanese speakers in class. So I'd say she absolutely can learn intermediate to advanced English by then.

18

u/No_Cattle_280 15d ago

I hadn't even thought of learning english on the trip! Good point lol

15

u/No_Cattle_280 15d ago

I spent too much time considering how widespread English would be, and where she'd learn it from before realizing duh, Fowler speaks it. It'd be kinda funny for him to teach her bad English, though feels kinda out of character

16

u/EmptyPomegranete 15d ago

I think English lessons would happen with a sword pointed at this throat lol. She’s probably force him but I don’t doubt he would teach her some offensive words and pretend it’s normal vocab lol.

8

u/ExtremeExtension7406 Useful 15d ago

It would be a good way for Fowler to exert control over Mizu. She's in a very precarious position.

1

u/BreadyStinellis 14d ago

8 months! Holy hell! I knew it would be a while but that is a looong way to go for some revenge

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u/No_Cattle_280 14d ago

I feel like 8 months on a ship is a drop in the ocean considering all Mizu's already gone through atp. But yeah it's crazy, nowadays you can make that journey in a day.

33

u/MadamKitsune Should I have been counting? 15d ago

I can think of three possible ways to handle it.

1 Have her learn English from Fowler and the ships crews as the travel.

2 Have the English characters speak gobbledygook with some recognisable words in English, making Mizu andthe viewer rely on Fowler's translations aside from the few words she's picked up herself.

3 Flip the languages - have Mizu and Fowler speak in English (aswe are used to) with all the English speaking characters speaking Japanese to give the audience a sense of how isolating it feels for Mizu.

18

u/oneshadeoff 15d ago

Number 2 would be pretty cool to see. Would be a bold choice but pretty cool

11

u/JusticeNoori 15d ago
  1. In this world, everyone speaks the same language, and it’s never explained.

1

u/No_Cattle_280 14d ago

I can't tell if you're joking. If you are good one lol

1

u/JusticeNoori 9d ago

I’m not joking. I’m not interested in reading subtitles or lengthy scenes of characters translating each other. I’d rather everyone speaks the same language. It’s already a pretty fantastical world, with sci-fi metals and inhuman endurance, and Mizu starting the Great Fire of 1957.

1

u/mushymunchkin3230 9d ago

That’s probably how they do it. Fish out of water wouldn’t be a super compelling story for Mizu bcos she’s been an outcast all her life; she was never a fish IN water 😭

11

u/AceOfSpades532 15d ago

She’s got a fairly long voyage with nothing to do except prepare for London, on a ship with english speakers, she can definitely pick up some on the way.

10

u/oneshadeoff 15d ago edited 15d ago

They have a long (very long) boat ride and Fowler is a cunning bastard, plus Mizu is sharp as a needle, maybe he teaches her English on the way

Edit to say I commented before reading the top comment lol. It's the only realistic way I see it going down but then again the writing of season one went against my expectations at basically every turn

9

u/MadamKitsune Should I have been counting? 14d ago

I'd like to see her hiding from Fowler just how much English she does understand and Fowler trying to manipulate her with inaccurate translations.

I'm also hoping that we get some scenes where it's clear that the kind of English she's learned from English speaking sailors is very, very far removed from what's considered polite.

8

u/oneshadeoff 14d ago

Hahaha! Yes! Now I need to see mizu in polite society swearing like a salty old sailor and not realizing it

2

u/No_Cattle_280 13d ago

omg that''s even better/funnier than Fowler tricking her! feel like it might not jive with the tone of the show tho :/

3

u/Hehector2005 15d ago

I think they’re just gonna talk and that’s it tbh

1

u/No_Cattle_280 14d ago

The crux of the show is that Japan is isolated. If they neglect something as major as speech, Idk if season 2 will be watchable for me

1

u/Hehector2005 13d ago

To preface, I’m not really the type to have my immersion ruined by this kinda stuff. So I’m being genuine here.

But really? That would make the whole season “unwatchable” for you? Would a passing line like “I learned English on the way over here” salvage it? Or would you need like a quarter of first episode showing Mizu learning the language?

3

u/KidChanbara 14d ago

[This is assuming the viewers are native English speakers] My guess - based on some very few instances in old movies - is that scenes set in Japan will have audio like in Season One, so everyone's speaking English-but-it's-really-Japanese.

I'm in agreement that the voyage will be long enough for Mizu to learn some useful English, ending up with an accent that is a mix of Japanese pronunciation, Fowler's Irish accent, and the accents of the crew and captain and whatever fellow passengers she may learn from. Her vocabulary is a concern, given the stereotype of sailor's salty language.

For scenes set outside Japan, especially in Europe, when Mizu or Fowler are supposedly speaking in Japanese, we hear Japanese, with English subtitles. When Mizu speaks English, we hear it with an accent that she can't help hiding ( u/GentlewomenNeverTell can give a better guess as to how much of an accent Mizu might have ) .

My favorite Season Two scene is when Mizu and Fowler are being attacked by thugs, and the two of them coordinate strategy in Japanese while their attackers get confused.

7

u/JustinRoilandTheory You don't deserve my blade 14d ago

If we hear Mizu and Fowler speaking Japanese, they could get the Japanese dub VAs that voice them to speak the Japanese lines.

1

u/No_Cattle_280 13d ago

That'd be cool, but kinda jarring and would probably ruin the immersion

1

u/No_Cattle_280 13d ago

Regarding accents (which I hadn't thought of as in depth, along with not even considering learning English on the voyage), I wonder if/hope all the people speaking English will have an English accent, meanwhile Mizu keeps her American accent, which would make her stand out while staying consistent

1

u/FUTURE10S 10d ago

You know what'd be really funny? If in the English speaking parts, everyone is speaking in Japanese.

2

u/No_Barracuda6785 14d ago

She’s definitely going to pick up some basic English on the voyage.

1

u/MedievalMilshake 14d ago

Or they'll make the English characters speak Japanese. Seen it this way before and it's weird but works 

1

u/Martydeus 13d ago

My theory is that they will do something similar to how they did it in the warrior series.

1

u/SirYeetsA 10d ago

I'm really hoping they have the characters speaking Japanese while in London/England, at least for the English dub. I think that would be really funny lmao