Japanese on Human Target

September 17th, 2009

Let me first start out by saying that this preview for Fox’s Human Target came to my attention back in May, but I figured I should wait a bit since the actual show won’t start until fall. Upcoming disappointment? I’m not sure. I know it’s based on a comic book, but I’ve no idea how good the comic is, or if this show will even come close to replicating it anyway. If Mark Valley’s supposed to be fluent in any number of other languages, we could feel the giddy excitement that comes from watching him maul them too. If it’s just Japanese, I’ve got to say that the actors in Heroes have totally whooped his behonkus. You can watch the actual full trailer from Fox Broadcasting below.

The show looks kind of fun, sure. I’m going to watch it, if for no other reason than to listen for any other horrendous Japanese lines. Gotta love the possible connotation of the elderly Japanese dude’s words to him, though, right? 「あなたの日本語はどこで習いましたか?」and「日本語上手ですね。」OUCH. The classic response. I’m kind of thrilled a bit that it was included in a realistic way. Ha ha.

Was I justified in using katakana in the banner image?

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If anyone out there is a better listener than I am, please feel free to take a crack at the word that he said that I’ve got down as 《ふしょうねん?》in the captions. I have no clue what that was supposed to be. Admittedly, my vocabulary needs work, so if you can parse what he’s saying please leave a comment and I’ll correct the captions. I’d appreciate it. It’s gnawing away at me…and I’ve watched that clip more times than necessary…
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  • Hey! Just curious... did you end up watching the show regularly now that it is airing? I have and it's fun. Not the most gripping show on TV no, but I think it's fun to watch.

    BTW congrats on the engagement! Hoping to see you back in the states at some point for the wedding LOL.
  • Scott - yeah, I really like that show. Ha ha ha. It's kind of post-modern in
    that it's self-aware of how cornball it is, but it doesn't have any
    pretenses, so it's actually quite enjoyable. I look forward to it now. It's
    great escapist TV. And I enjoy Bear McCreary's score, too.
  • J
    《ふしょうねん?》 would be 保証人.
  • So you think it's just another pronunciation bungle? (Said "ふしょうねん" where he
    should have said "ふしょうにん"?)
  • Gigadelic
    my japanese is not perfect but when i heard his lines i was like wtf did he smash some spanish in there?

    i mean jesus that was bad
  • nanaaa
    bobby ogorin (speleld wrong probably) is fluent and he does have an accent but now i realize his accent isn't that bad. this white guy's english is really incomprehensible especially when he tries to say it fast...... so STRONG

    amusing post. thx!
  • kayne438
    wow, i had such a hard time understanding what the hell he said. so funny!
    nice to see your website, I've lived in Hakata and go back once a year or so - cool place!
  • Oh. My. God. You did a far better job catching that than me. If I hadn't have had your subs I wouldn't have caught a word of it!
  • Thanks, man! I'm still not even sure that half of my subs are accurate. I
    mean, I'm fairly sure he actually said "ryugoku" where I've got "ryugaku",
    etc. It's seriously just a best-fit guess session on my part. Ha ha ha. Any
    clues on the fushounin mystery word?
  • EbonyofOld
    Perhaps he said, "ほしょうにん."

    I think it fits the context of the dialogue. However, I was unable to see your subtitles and my skill with the language has declined somewhat.

    Hello Gakuranman, you're everywhere. I did not make it to Yakushima during my vacation to Japan this time around... going to try next time.
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