Use of Gender Pronouns in Dialogue (Japanese vs. International)

[Amyt Seth]

Hello,
So, I am currently working on a paper about inclusive game design focussing on gender inclusivity for my school, and I planned on mentioning the Pokémon Series as an example.
In general I noticed that many fans are very displeased with the use of gender pronouns in scarlet/violets dialogue, which would make the exclusion of the "Are you a boy or a girl?"-question pointless, since the player is going to be gendered according to their selection anyway. So I was wondering if a comparable use of gender pronouns is to be found in the original japanese dialogue, because if not, the japanese versions would be great examples for gender inclusivity, since there is no more gender-locked customization. I've been trying to research on this for HOURS with no concrete answer so far and I hope someone here can help me out with this.

 

[silurica]

Henlo! You've raised an interesting point about the Japanese text and now I'm rather curious about it too. Unfortunately I don't have the Japanese text memorized as it's not the primary way I've experienced the games, but for starter you can check a video playthrough or a text dump such as here.

It's already too late at night for myself to do a thorough check, but I'm eager to hear and find out more about this!

 

[Nicolas721]

I have heard of the "pronouns are still used" fact, but it has been verified? Why a character would refer to you in third person? The only time that could happen would be if that character was talking with someone else about you but even there it'd be awkward.

Also, you'd probably heard of this but pronouns are not mandatory in Japanese, I assume they would not be included to make coding easier. In Spanish all female Pokemon have always been treated as male for that reason.

 

[Amyt Seth]

I've checked out the text dump comparing the japanese script to other languages (mainly german because I am german). Though I am currently learning japanese as a hobby my reading skills aren't nearly advanced enough, so I had to rely on google translate.
But what I discovered was that every language but japanese use a certain case distinction determining which words should be used according to the players gender. This was very prevalent in the german script, since german in itself is, unfortunately, gendered heavily.
So to me it seems that gendering is explicitly added in the localization process for some reason. Probably because TPC did not have gender inclusivity in mind while localizing the game to other languages, and instead decided on what would sound more "natural" in that respective language. And the original japanese dialogue is, more or less, unintentionally gender inclusive, because that's just the way how the japanese language works.
Nonetheless this does make the since Sun/Moon removed "Are you a boy or a girl?" Question kinda irrelevant in all languages except japanese.

 

[lisianthus]

Just in general too, Japanese isn't a super gendered language! A lot of gender stuff is shown in how one talks, instead of the usage of gendered verbs and that sort of thing (like o/a in Spanish).

I might not be able to explain this well but a lot of it is about pronoun usage, arguably the biggest signifier.

The range is something like: starting from masculine to feminine: 俺・僕・自分・私/わたくし・うち・あたし (ore, boku, jibun, watashi/watakushi, uchi, atashi).

Basically 'ore' and 'boku' are decidedly male pronouns (although that's subverted in a lot of Japanese media with 'boku' being used by girls sometimes), 'jibun' is... maybe neutral(?), although I think it might be used more by males (and it's rare iirc) with 'wata(ku)shi' being a slightly-feminine sounding (in casual conversation) formal pronoun, and then 'uchi' and 'atashi' being feminine, casual pronouns (I myself use 'atashi').

Then there's sentence enders too, like ぜ and ぞ (ze, zo) sounding 'rougher' and therefore more masculine, and わ (wa) being (in certain dialects) feminine, as is のよ (noyo).

And name enders, like さん、くん、ちゃん among others (-san, -kun, -chan), with 'san' being gender neutral and respectful, 'kun' being masculine (usually) and informal, and 'chan' being feminine (usually) and informal. The use of no name ender (esp with only first name) is either in VERY close relationships, or if you're 'talking down' to someone, like an adult to a kid.

But I digress.

So the only way to really ask about gender would be something like 「あなたは男性ですか？それとも女性ですか？」(anata wa dansei desuka? soretomo josei desuka?), which is a straightforward translation from 'are you a boy/girl'?

I actually have the Japanese verisons of all the games, I think, in my possession, so let me see...

First off, let's look at Pokémon Crystal for the Gameboy Color!

Spoiler

It asks, 「あなたは おとこのこ ですか？ それとも おんなのこ ですか？」(anata wa otokonoko desuka? soretomo onnanoko desuka?), which is, asking if the player is 'a boy or a girl'.

And nothing about name enders, they just called me 「リシア」 (lisia), my name.

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And let's look at Emerald now! For the Gameboy Advance!

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「ところで。。。きみは？ おとこのこ？ それともおんなのこ？」 (tokorode... kimi wa? otokonoko? soretomo onnanoko?) 'by the way... what about you? are you a boy? or are you a girl?)

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AND THIS!!! Is where it gets interesting!!!

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Soooo, as you can see from my name entry, Professor Birch says to me, 「リシアちゃん だね？」 (rishia-chan dane?), which is... 'Lisia-chan, right?'. (that's me I'm Lisia, hii!)

The 'chan' is a normal thing in this case I guess, like the player character is 10, whatevs right? But!!

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Professor Birch says (if you pick a male character), 「bulbaくん だね？」(bulba-kun dane?), which is... 'bulba-kun, right?' (yes I couldn't think of a name).

So that's one gender difference from the start!!

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And LeafGreen just says 「ふむ。。。リシア と いうんだな！」(fumu... rishia to iundana!) 'Hmm... so you're Lisia!' Nothing about gender differences or anything here.

Mooooving on... to Gen 4!!!

Here's Pokemon Platinum!

Spoiler

「きみは おとこのこ か？ それとも おんなのこ かな？」 (kimi wa otokonoko ka? soretomo onnannoko kana?) 'are you a boy? or are you a girl, then?' says Professor Wulfric or whatever his name is!

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BUT!!! The interesting thing! Is that after I put in my name, I'm addressed as 「リシアさん」(lisia-san) this time!! Which is actually basically how I'm addressed by my Japanese teacher anyways so that's... pretty normal.

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And if you pick a male character, you get: 「bulbaくん だね？」 ('bulba-kun', is it?) which isn't surprising as much as it it's interesting!! Using a neutral name ender for the female character, but not the male character... I won't look at the male character anymore because I don't really feel like it, but it's interesting to note!

And I'll look at SoulSilver too!

Spoiler

Same sort of 'are you a boy or girl?', but this time they call me 「リシアちゃん」! (lisia-chan) This could also be influenced by the demeanors of the characters, like I have a feeling I'm either going to get 'chan' or just no name ender at all from Kukui LOL..

And White!

Hello Professor Burnet!!! Female professors YES!! I have turned on kanji for this one because I.... felt like it LOL.

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Same kind of 'are you a boy or a girl', but I noticed Professor Burnet using some feminine language I wanted to point out anyways! The last part of 「女の子 なのね？」 (onnanoko nanone?) is a feminine sentence ender!!! (love to see it!!))

Spoiler

But! She just says, 「リシアさん であってる？」 (lisia-san deatteru?), basically, 'You're Lisia?'

And it's the same thing for White 2 anyways!

Let's move onto the 3DS stuff!! I'm a bit too lazy to break out my 3DS which is sitting about three feet away from me but...

Anyways!! LOL.

I got it anyways! I have savedata backups so don't worry! Let me juuuuuust...

Remember the save data deletion combo! (up+b+x if you were wondering!!)

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Alpha Sapphire is the exact same from what I can see, I get called 「リシアちゃん」(lisia-chan). Weirdly enough it doesn't ask about kanji right as I start it, maybe it's in the settings I guess?

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Professor Sycamore, hello! Uhmmmm... bonjour!!

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Same sort of 'are you a boy or a girl?', and I'm referred to as 「リシアさん」(lisia-san). As a side note, I love it when the professors compliment your name LMAO... it's fun!!

Alooooolaa, to Professor Kukui! Yeah, he speaks in casual form. But that's, probably the best way to get his character across LOL... oh neat he uses 「ぼく」 (boku) as a pronoun! Kind of would have expected 「俺」 (ore)... interesting!!

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Anyways anyways, he just says, 「どの写真が いいか 教えて くれるかな？」 (dono shashin ga iika oshiete kurerukana?), basically, 'hey, could you tell me which picture's best?' And he doesn't use any name enders, just my name as it is!

OH MY GOD you were just asking about scarlet violet weren't you...

I've spent like an hour on this so I might as well finish? LMAO...

And same thing for Ultra Moon too.

Now!! Onto the Switch games......

Let's Go Eevee! oh my god the eevee is soooo cute.. HELLO!! holy god i want to hug one right now omg omg omg

THIS GAME IS CUTE??? I actually haven't played it...

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This time it asks, 「きみは どんな 姿かな？」 (kimi wa donna sugata kana?), basically, 'what picture are you?' (it's a bit different from that but basically!!)

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Oh and it's the same as the other Kanto games, as for name stuff! Neat!

Pokémon Shield!

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It just says, 「あなたの 写真を 選んだください」 (anata no shashin o erandekudasai), 'please choose your picture'. And I don't, think that Rose mentions you by name in the opening speech so I think I'll leave it at that.

Shining Pearl!

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It's different from the original Sinnoh game in that you're asked to select a picture like before, and both masculine and feminine pictures are addressed by '(name)-san'.

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When they're introducing your rival the phrasing 「こっちの少年」 (kocchi no shounen), 'this young man right here' is used, but... I mean, I think they're an established character already? I think?

Just backed up my Arceus data, let's see!!

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You're talking to God herself in this game at the start, anyways LOL. Pretty neat!

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She asks, 「あなたのかおを よくみせてください」 (anata no kao o yoku misete kudasai), 'please show me your face (what you look like).'

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And then, 「なんとよびましょう」 (nanto yobimashou), basically 'what shall i call you'. No name enders, although I would suppose that's more than fitting as I'm talking to God herself (who just gave me a fancy cellphone, thanks God).

I do want to see what Professor Laventon has to say to me though!

ough i love this game, my favorite pokémon game..

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UH. WHWHWHWH THEY SAID SOMETHING IN ENGLISH??????????

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AND AGAIN! he says 「ソーリー！」、which is just 'sorry!' in a Japanese way of speaking.

okay so this is something i could go a loooooooong explanation on, but oh my god it's so cool that they included that, like it's obvs that Laventon is Galarian (British), but omg omg back in the Meiji era when Hokkaido (then known as Ezo) was being explored (and colonized by the rulers of Japan sadly), there was a little British influence there!! And it's still seen to this day, like the motto of Hokkaido University is 'Boys, be ambitious!' 「少年よ大志を抱け！」 (shonen yo taishi o idake!), which was uttered by William S. Clark, am American missionary who did A LOT in Hokkaido in the Meiji era (late 1800s), schooling stuff, science, et cetera. He was even close with the Governor of Hokkaido back then, Kiyotaka Kuroda, and did a bit to influence policy decisions!!

Anyways! VERY off-topic but Hokkaido is my favorite area of Japan and I love learning about Japanese (and Ainu!!) history, so...

Spoiler

INTERESTING!!! This is an exception to the rule I was talking about!

He actually calls me, 「リシアくん」 (lisia-kun), which usually is kind of weird! I'm a girl after all! BUT!! -kun is also sometimes used in situations when the user is higher up in status, like how Laventon is a professor, and I'm just a girl that fell out of the sky. I've only seen it used for girls a handful of times, once in a visual novel, but it's a thing, even if it's a little rare. This might also be a quirk of older (150ish years ago) Japanese I'm not familiar with?

As for our newest game... Pokémon Violet!!!

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It has me 'select my image' (they use the word 「イメージ」, literally 'image' pronounced in a Japanese way), and... let's see what Claventon has to say! I didn't really feel like creating my character yet again...

...His name is Claventon right?! I kind of forgot...

Oh right, Clavell LOL... Anyways!!

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By the way, my mom (by the way she speaks quite femininely, かしら and all that!) just calls me Lisia, with no name enders. That's normal!

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And Clavell, after entering, uses -san for me. That's it!

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I kind of want to see what Nemona has to say too actually... spoiler, just no name ending, which I think is fitting for how quickly she takes to you anyways.

All in all, Pokémon seems to be heading into a more gender-neutral direction as a whole? I remember being referred to as a 'girl' once in the entire game by my mom at the start, but that's all I think. Neat!!

I hope this was somewhat relevant! I kind of misread the title... and it took me three hours to do this........ but it's neat anyways I suppose LMAO.

 

[Amyt Seth]

Thank you for your extensive answer! It was really interesting seeing the changes made over generations, so consider your time well spendt. c:

 

[Emelie]

It's interesting that Pokémon Go and the Magikarp mobile game feature non-binary characters but there is still no option for it in SV and there are no canon non-binary NPCs either. Why are they more open to the idea in the more casual games? Maybe they think non-binary and transgender fans are more casual than the cis gender fans?

Binary transgender characters have existed for a while though. An old manga called "How I became a Pokémon Card" features a transgender boy named Akari as one of the protagonists. Although this old manga was never translated officially and is kind of obscure there are still some neat references to it. In the DP anime Dawn gets attacked by a group of Ariados but is saved by Piplup which is obviously a reference to Akari and his relationship with his Pikachu. I also suspect that the party hat Pikachu in Smash Bros might be a reference to this particular Pikachu as it is a birthday themed story.

(Could be worth pointing out that Akari specifically mentions that it's unfair that his seemingly transphobic mother forces him to not use "ore" anymore which is a male pronoun.)

There are a few transgender women as well but they have smaller roles. In XY there is a transgender NPC and in BW2 there is a character who appears in the Ferris wheel dating minigame but only if you play as a boy. I think this was censored in the English version though. The anime also has a few cameos of real transgender people in the movies but they are only in the background for a few seconds.

Also the suffix -kun can be used for girls as well so it's not necessarily weird when Professor Laventon uses it. I think it would translate to something like "young Dawn" while -san would imply that he is calling her "Miss Dawn" which is very polite while Professor Birch says -chan which means something along the line of "cute little May" which can be either endearing or condescending depending on the context. I would guess that it's the former since he is kind of like a father figure.