Quote:
Originally Posted by ScR3WiEuS
We struggled with that word too. "Choujin" can be translated as superman, superhuman, etc. While 'chou' can be tled as enhanced, super, etc.
In fact, "choujin" appears to be the japanese translation of ubermensch.
However, we felt it wasn't the correct word to use in this specific case. Whilst we can only speculate on Soma's true nature, ubermensch didn't seem like the right word to use, chiefly because of the connotations that word carries and the deeper symbolism. Whilst Soma will probably turn out to be an artificially enhanced human, or some newtypish next step in evolution, ubermensch are not quite like that. An ubermensch, in the way Friedrich Nietzsche describes it, is a person that overcomes, or rather, overcomes himself, his own limitations and weaknesses, etc ( as you can read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubermensch )
We came very close to using it, and God knows what them Nips meant it to be, but in the end, we didn't. |
oh well, I think it's actually alright to leave them as "Choujin" and "Chouhei", or translate them into "superhuman" and "super soldier", but Ubermensch? Personally it makes it sound like something from AEU, not HRL.
And personally I really don't think "choujin" here has much to do with Nietzsche's idea of ubermensch, it'd be more related to Rurouni Kenshin's Kyojin vs. Choujin if you ask me