Name...

[kozec]

Hi!

I'm just wondering if anyone knows story about this weird English name. AFAIK, Higurashi no naku koro ni can be translated quite literally to When cicadas cry (or sings or whatever sound cicada does) and it's title that was widely used as translation while anime was airing.

"Higurashi When They Cry" sounds rather nonsensical. Is there any meaning that I'm missing behind it?

[Alice]

There was a long discussion about it.

The series name is When They Cry, and consists of Higurashi, Higurashi Kai and Umineko.

[Yirba]

Originally posted by Oriental Western Magician:

There was a long discussion about it.

The series name is When They Cry, and consists of Higurashi, Higurashi Kai and Umineko.

Well, the series isn't just limited to those three that you've named. There's also Higurashi Rei, Higurashi Hou, Umineko Chiru, Umineko Tsubasa, Umineko Hane, and the list goes on…

To the OP: If it helps, just imagine there's a colon in the title. Higurashi: When They Cry. :-)

Also, it's very important to distinguish between cicadas (which are known as semi in Japanese) and higurashi, which means something different.

[Heatth]

As a mater of fact, "Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni" can't be quite literaly translated as "When the Cicadas Cry". Higurashi is an specific kind of a cicada, not a generic word for them. It is an acceptable translation, but not a literal one, anf possible not the best one. As someone else in this forum said, it would be like translating "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" to the equivalent of "Beverly Hills Dogs".

Other than that, it is as OWM said. The original name of the series as a whole is When They Cry and this name is also part of the subtitle of every When They Cry title released. So, Higurashi When They Cry is pretty much a short version of the full name of the first game.

Another thing, when the series first went officially to the USA, it was as a dub of the anime. Said version was called just "When They Cry", which made sense at the time as this was the official English name of the series and, back then, it could only refer to Higurashi (Umineko haven't been released yet).

As such. Higurashi When They Cry is a name composed from the names the series is most know for in the USA. "Higurashi" is the short name most used for casual discussion among the fans of the series, while "When They Cry" is the first official English name the series ever had.

[kozec]

Originally posted by Yirba:

Also, it's very important to distinguish between cicadas (which are known as semi in Japanese) and higurashi, which means something different.

Normal, booring life, evening and type of bug that makes annoying sound in that evening - http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%92%E3%82%B0%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B7
But only one of those things makes at least some sense in sentence involving making sounds.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I follow that colon part. Or rather, yes, it makes more sense like that, but it still doesn't explain choosing weird name when perfectly fine was already in use.
Just to be clear, I'm not criticizing, I just wonder what led to it. Is there any link to that long discussion about it?

[Yirba]

Originally posted by kozec:

Normal, booring life, evening and type of bug that makes annoying sound in that evening - http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%92%E3%82%B0%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B7
But only one of those things makes at least some sense in sentence involving making sounds.

Sorry, I didn't understand your first sentence. Or did you put the webpage through a machine translation? Basically, higurashi are a species of cicada that come out in the evening and make a different sounding noise to their day counterparts. When you read Higurashi, sometimes they'll say cicada to refer to the day cicadas, otherwise they'll say higurashi to refer to the ones that come out in the evening.

Originally posted by kozec:

Anyway, I'm not sure if I follow that colon part. Or rather, yes, it makes more sense like that, but it still doesn't explain choosing weird name when perfectly fine was already in use.
Just to be clear, I'm not criticizing, I just wonder what led to it. Is there any link to that long discussion about it?

Which part of the name do you find weird? The When They Cry part? That's just what the series is called and is a fairly literal translation of no Naku Koro ni.

The long discussion is here:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/310360/discussions/0/618459931318958483/

[kozec]

Originally posted by Yirba:

Originally posted by kozec:

Normal, booring life, evening and type of bug that makes annoying sound in that evening - http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%92%E3%82%B0%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B7
But only one of those things makes at least some sense in sentence involving making sounds.

Sorry, I didn't understand your first sentence. Or did you put the webpage through a machine translation? Basically, higurashi are a species of cicada that come out in the evening and make a different sounding noise to their day counterparts. When you read Higurashi, sometimes they'll say cicada to refer to the day cicadas, otherwise they'll say higurashi to refer to the ones that come out in the evening.

That was just list of everything what "higurashi" can mean. But only one of those meanings is something, that can make cry or "animal sound" (naku). And I never found what exact type of cicada is shrieking there that important :D

Originally posted by Yirba:

Which part of the name do you find weird? The When They Cry part? That's just what the series is called and is a fairly literal translation of no Naku Koro ni.

Maybe it's 'cos I'm not native speaker, but "when they cry" makes zero sense to me as sentence. And similarly, "no naku koro ni" without article is just random mash of words

But I checked what @Heatth said and found that anime was really called "When they cry" in USA O.o It makes my mind somehow blank, but it at least excuses VN name. By the way, I can't find how was 2nd season called. Was it "When they cry answers" or "When answers cry"? :D

Thanks for the link.

[Alice]

The second half was just called Higurashi When They Cry Kai.

[kozec]

Originally posted by Oriental Western Magician:

The second half was just called Kai.

:(

Such waste of potential...

[Heatth]

Originally posted by kozec:

Maybe it's 'cos I'm not native speaker, but "when they cry" makes zero sense to me as sentence. And similarly, "no naku koro ni" without article is just random mash of words

When They Cry make perfect sense as a sentence. Unlike "no naku koro ni", it is not not a mash of words and it is not missing anything. It is complete as it is. Sure, you might not know who the "They" are, but the sentence in itself is absolutely valid.

If you are still confused, just replace the "They" by anything else. When "The Cicadas" Cry, When "We" Cry", When "Bob" Cries... It is all the same thing.

[Proxiehunter]

Originally posted by Heatth:

When They Cry make perfect sense as a sentence. Unlike "no naku koro ni", it is not not a mash of words and it is not missing anything. It is complete as it is. Sure, you might not know who the "They" are, but the sentence in itself is absolutely valid.

They are the higurashi. And also the characters. And the readers.

[Yirba]

Yup, it's intentionally ambiguous so that all these different interpretations are possible.

[Heatth]

Originally posted by Proxiehunter:

They are the higurashi. And also the characters. And the readers.

I know. I meant the sentence on itself. On its own the sentence is still perfectly valid even if the "they" is not defined.