Did NISA censor the term "Maiden"? (Elaine's nickname)

[Evangela]

They changed the nickname of Elaine Auclair from "Sword Maiden" to "Beauty's Blade".

Is it because they considered the term "maiden" to be offensive toward women? Or was it because of other reason?

https://twitter.com/The_Kr3nfall/status/1675263720417632256

[Mr.Mostache]

Political Correctness most likely. The same exact reason they changed "Tomboy" to "Filly". They have been doing this since CS3.

There are quite a bit of jokes in Kuro along the lines "Isn't she old enough to be called a maiden?"

[Mr. F]

Whatever the reason for this change, it's doubtful that it's censorship. There are other characters who have "maiden" in their nickname (the Icy Maiden, the Steel Maiden), and I doubt those will be changed.

Originally posted by Mr.Mostache:

Political Correctness most likely. The same exact reason they changed "Tomboy" to "Filly". They have been doing this since CS3.

The only character who consistently uses the term "filly" in the English translation is Ashe in reference to Juna. In the original Japanese he uses ジャジャ馬, with that kanji literally being horse, so "wild filly" seems appropriate. "Tomboy" was previously used for Josette because the original "bokukko" (girl who uses the male "boku" pronoun) can't be easily translated in English.

[Sora]

Originally posted by Evangela:

They changed the nickname of Elaine Auclair from "Sword Maiden" to "Beauty's Blade".

Is it because they considered the term "maiden" to be offensive toward women? Or was it because of other reason?

https://twitter.com/The_Kr3nfall/status/1675263720417632256

The fk's is Beauty's Blade. They should at least make a better name

[Marrle]

I'm 100% against censorship and PC culture garbage, but this ain't it. Worry less about nitpicking and trying to find reasons to hate NISA and focus more on enjoying a video game.

[Jazzy]

Van literally says Sword Maiden in voice acting in Kuro, NISA will have to walk back on this one as well Reverse Babel dungeon name

[Evangela]

Originally posted by 『 』:

Originally posted by Evangela:

They changed the nickname of Elaine Auclair from "Sword Maiden" to "Beauty's Blade".

Is it because they considered the term "maiden" to be offensive toward women? Or was it because of other reason?

https://twitter.com/The_Kr3nfall/status/1675263720417632256

The fk's is Beauty's Blade. They should at least make a better name

There's no need to make a better name, since "Sword Maiden" is the official nickname of her in the original Japanese version. The nickname is in English to begin with.

The English localizers probably find the term "maiden" inappropriate, because the term suggests that virgin women (maidens) have more value than the other women.

[Dr. Rudolf von Richten]

Originally posted by Evangela:

The English localizers probably find the term "maiden" inappropriate, because the term suggests that virgin women (maidens) have more value than the other women.

Then why is Lianne Sandlot still called the Lance Maiden? Or does Duvalie use the phrase 'little swordmaiden's room' during the Ladies Night sidequest (eventide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebPIJF342bc 07:10 to 07:20)?

I mean, I don't think this change of nickname makes all that much sense either, but 'censorship' doesn't seem to be the reason here.

[Mr.Mostache]

Originally posted by Dr. Rudolf von Richten:

Originally posted by Evangela:

The English localizers probably find the term "maiden" inappropriate, because the term suggests that virgin women (maidens) have more value than the other women.

Then why is Lianne Sandlot still called the Lance Maiden? Or does Duvalie use the phrase 'little swordmaiden's room' during the Ladies Night sidequest (eventide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebPIJF342bc 07:10 to 07:20)?

I mean, I don't think this change of nickname makes all that much sense either, but 'censorship' doesn't seem to be the reason here.

Icy Maiden and Steel/Lance Maiden are established titles within the localization long before NISA obtained the copyrights to Kiseki. They simply can't change it after it has been ingrained.

[Evangela]

Originally posted by Dr. Rudolf von Richten:

Originally posted by Evangela:

The English localizers probably find the term "maiden" inappropriate, because the term suggests that virgin women (maidens) have more value than the other women.

Then why is Lianne Sandlot still called the Lance Maiden? Or does Duvalie use the phrase 'little swordmaiden's room' during the Ladies Night sidequest (eventide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebPIJF342bc 07:10 to 07:20)?

I mean, I don't think this change of nickname makes all that much sense either, but 'censorship' doesn't seem to be the reason here.

That's why there's the idiom "give them an inch and they'll ask for a mile."

Censorship will not stop at one or two things you're fine with. They'll take more things away from you eventually.

[Mendax]

Yes, thats NISA for you. Destroying this franchise.

[ojvdh]

Originally posted by Mendax:

Yes, thats NISA for you. Destroying this franchise.

This here is not cencorship. Atleast not the way I see it. It's a name change that was unnecessary. And what name is better that's up for debate . I personally like the English localised mane a lot more. But regardless of if being better or worse it's a change that was unnecessary. But I also think people are making a wey bigger probem out of this than it should be.

In short it comes down to this. Will this game be free of mistranslations, bugs or unnecessary name changes? No every trails game has had them and this one is no exception. But will it negatively effect my enjoyment of the game? Also no. This might differ from person to person so I can't speak for everyone. But I can't speak or read japanese. And I will play with English dub. Minor changes to the localisation like the one mentioned here I wouldn't even have known about were it not for the fact that this post exists. What I will notice are spelling mistakes and sentences that don't flow naturally which is a thing that rarely happens fortunately.

[Dr. Rudolf von Richten]

Originally posted by Mr.Mostache:

Icy Maiden and Steel/Lance Maiden are established titles within the localization long before NISA obtained the copyrights to Kiseki. They simply can't change it after it has been ingrained.

Fair point.

Originally posted by Evangela:

That's why there's the idiom "give them an inch and they'll ask for a mile."

Censorship will not stop at one or two things you're fine with. They'll take more things away from you eventually.

I'm still not seeing the 'censorship' here. If anything, 'beauty's blade' is far more sexualizing than 'sword maiden', so I doubt some form of moral puritanism is at work here. It's more likely to be just a derpy localization, nothing more.

[Evangela]

Originally posted by Dr. Rudolf von Richten:

Originally posted by Mr.Mostache:

Icy Maiden and Steel/Lance Maiden are established titles within the localization long before NISA obtained the copyrights to Kiseki. They simply can't change it after it has been ingrained.

Fair point.

Originally posted by Evangela:

That's why there's the idiom "give them an inch and they'll ask for a mile."

Censorship will not stop at one or two things you're fine with. They'll take more things away from you eventually.

I'm still not seeing the 'censorship' here. If anything, 'beauty's blade' is far more sexualizing than 'sword maiden', so I doubt some form of moral puritanism is at work here. It's more likely to be just a derpy localization, nothing more.

They don't get the benefit of the doubt, due to the censorship they've done in previous games. So I assumed that it's a change made for political purpose.

[Dr. Rudolf von Richten]

Originally posted by Evangela:

They don't get the benefit of the doubt, due to the censorship they've done in previous games. So I assumed that it's a change made for political purpose.

To change something less sexualizing into something more sexualizing is to serve what 'political purpose' exactly? Surely it can't be the 'prudish western moralism' you're so upset about? If anything, it's the opposite.

Also, according to something I read on Reddit from people who've already played Kuro, the title is supposed to be cringy and embarrassing to her. If that's true, it works like a charm, because 'Beauty's Blade' is most definitely cringy as f*ck, while 'Sword Maiden' doesn't raise an eyebrow, even less after Icy Maiden, Lance Maiden etc.

[Evangela]

Originally posted by Dr. Rudolf von Richten:

Originally posted by Evangela:

They don't get the benefit of the doubt, due to the censorship they've done in previous games. So I assumed that it's a change made for political purpose.

To change something less sexualizing into something more sexualizing is to serve what 'political purpose' exactly? Surely it can't be the 'prudish western moralism' you're so upset about? If anything, it's the opposite.

Also, according to something I read on Reddit from people who've already played Kuro, the title is supposed to be cringy and embarrassing to her. If that's true, it works like a charm, because 'Beauty's Blade' is most definitely cringy as f*ck, while 'Sword Maiden' doesn't raise an eyebrow, even less after Icy Maiden, Lance Maiden etc.

I don't care. They changed it, so they're wrong.