What does Nobitsura Kage mean in English?

[Welene Wios]

I watch enough anime to recognize Kage as "Shadow", but what's Nobitsura?

Is it an actual Japanese word/phrase? Is there a reference? Or did the devs just completely make it up?

TY

[Kenshiro3]

other than Kage, which as you mentioned means "shadow" the rest of the names is a buch of giberish intended to sound japanese.

[PixelPusher]

It would help to see the Kanji for that, granted that they ever wrote it in Kanji, which i doubt.

Nobi is possibly derived from nobiru (伸びる), the word for 'stretch'. Nobi (野火) also means 'wildfire'.

I first thought that Sura was a different romanization (Hepburn, Nihon-shiki, Kunrei-shiki and other romanization systems handle it differently) of Shura (修羅), 'fighting' or 'a scene of carnage', but this is just assumption for now.

[ChristBorn Paladin]

Before we begin, I should point out that Japanese is a second language I am not fluent in yet.

As near as I can figure, Nobitsura Kage is supposed to mean something like "Shadows Even Burn," given the nature of the sword. Kage=shade sura=even Nobi=burning off the fields. I'm guessing the implication with using nobi is that the demons will burn as crops in a field on fire.

"Moyasu sura kage" (Shadow even burns) speaks of burning shadow as a material (like wood), from what I can gather, so the use of nobi there would imply the use of shadow differently.

I really wish the devs would have gone with something like 影さえ燃やす "Kage sae moyasu" as the name of the sword, since it means "I even burn shadow," which would add an interesting subtext to the sword, giving it an implied shadow pyromania...and personality.

It is always possible that Pixelpusher is right and it is supposed to mean something like, "This sword is a shadow that will burn the very battleground itself where you were fighting with it," but I like "Shadows Even Burn" because it's punchier.

EDIT: I just realized that from an English writer's perspective, the word-by-word translation could have been meant to be "burn away even shadows." If this game came out of Japan, at least we'd know if the name was supposed to be nonsense by its untranslatability. Though, if the game came out of Japan, the sword would likely be called the Masamune, because Japan.

[JohnnyTheWolf]

It means "Japanese Sword".

[KingyWingy]

Sword are named Masamune after the great japanesse blacksmith, renowed for making some of the best swords in Japan.

It is also a nice sounding name.

[Alucard †]

Nobitsura's Shadow

[lordfrikk]

As far as I know, there's no corresponding kanji ever mentioned anywhere, it's probably just a made-up Japanese-sounding name. One guy suggested the kanji that might retroactively fit is 伸び面影, which would mean something like Stretching Face Shadow.

It's probably for the best if we don't read much into it, especially since most of the characters and signs are barely making any sense, some of them are even upside down or reversed (in chapter 3, there's a sign saying 館育体 on one of the buildings, which should be 体育館—a gymnasium; even funnier is the fact the building is super tiny and not very gymnasium-like at all).

[Feesh]

Probably worth keeping two things in mind. First is that Shadow Warrior classically has been about taking Asian inspired action media and taking it over the top, just like Duke Nukem 3D with American inpsired action media. Second is they had the make the name of the sword sound good to say while sticking to the theme. I'm sure a lot of thought went into the name of the sword but I doubt there's any legitimate translation or meaning.

[Mr. Moyer]

"That which burns away the shadows"
Or, the "Shadow Blade" if you prefer. As in, a mystic blade with enough power to banish demons back to the shadow world, or something.

For the Tarantino fans out there, it is like in Kill Bill when the katana is made for the yellow-haired warrior. The swordsmith says "I can say with no ego that this is my finest work. It is a blade so fine that even should you encounter Almighty God on your travels, even God himself would be cut." Well, in this case, substitute "Shadows" for "God" and you'll get the drift.

[Kenshiro3]

dj_moyer a écrit :

"That which burns away the shadows"
Or, the "Shadow Blade" if you prefer. As in, a mystic blade with enough power to banish demons back to the shadow world, or something.

No it doesn't the last part is definitely shadow but the rest is just pure ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ giberish meant to sound Japanese.

[TR]

As a native Japanese speaker, I can verify what everyone's saying here: the "nobitura" part makes no sense at all.

[Dr Caligineus]

When you put 'nobitsura' into Google Translate it suggests 'growth spicy'. Hmm.

[toughNOOB]

Tsura means Surface/Mask/Face, but also Side. Nobi means Stretching/Growing/Spreading, but also wildfire. Kage means Shadow but also means other side. Tsura and Kage can also mean Yin and Yang in some perspectives like a coin: Tsura meaning Heads(Side) and Kage meaning Tails(Other Side).

So there are the following possible "translations" from my artistic interpretation:

Face of a Growing Shadow.
Spreading Yang over Yin
Growing Shadow, Dimming Light.
The Bane of Shadows.
Even Shadows Burn.
Growing Mask of Shadows.
Burning Shadow Mask.
Shadow Spreading on Surface.
Long Shadow's Face.
The Blade of the Shadow Flames.
Sword of the Igneous Shadows

But i really think that Nobitsura Kage true meaning is Shadow Warrior:
Face = Person. Growing = Getting Strong. Kage = Shadow.

[󠀡󠀡]

I agree with the final meaning you came up with Zara

[SuperShadowNinja]

In Shadow Warrior 2, you can find the story of Nobitsura Kage, and there it has been translated as "Shadow Eater" or "Shadow Devourer".