Secret of Mana Redux

Names Commentary

Lore

Names Commentary

So you’ll be a hit at your next party, here’s some trivia about the Japanese names. This section will eventually be replaced with something huge, but you’ll just have to wait for now…

Weapons

  • The Moogle Claws are Moguri, possibly a reference to Mowgli of the Jungle Book.
  • The Herald Sword is a reference to Kusanagi-no-tsurugi, the Three Imperial Regalia.
  • The Cobra Shuttle is the Bagh Nakh, which is a glove, not a throwing weapon as it is in the game.
  • Ninja’s Trump is actually a great localization of Fuma Shuriken.  The Fuma were a ninja clan of Sengoku fame, and many weapons in other games were named after them.  However, it’s also a likely reference to the Kamaiden manga, where a similarly named weapon was part of the ninja’s “hissatsu” repertoire, nicely captured by Ninja’s Trump. 
  • The Spear is called the Lance in Japanese, but the Javelin is the Spear.

Armor

  • The Spiky Suit is the Punk Suit, referring to the studded vests of punk rockers.
  • Dungeons & Dragons references: Otyugh Ring (Ivy Amulet), B-eye-lder Ring (Water Ring).  The latter’s name is corrupted as TSR was infamously protective of their Beholder Ring trademark.

Items

  • Candy is often retranslated as, Perfectly Round Candy Drop, but “manmaru” has a cutesy feel to it, and doesn’t imply round in a scientific way.
  • A similar situation with, Pakkun Chocolate—this is the sound of vigorous chewing.
  • The Medical Herb is Pui Pui Grass, which is likely a play on “pen-pen gusa”, the colloquial name for the herb, nazuna.  If you hold it up and spin the stem between your fingers, the chunky heart-shaped leaves bump against each other and make a quiet slapping sound: “pen pen.”  Here, the katakana is “pui pui” as a joke.

Enemies

  • Chobin Hood is Poron, a likely reference to Apollon, the Greek god of archery.
  • The book enemy that opens to the nude photo is a possible reference to Devilman by Go Nagai.
  • Ted Woolsey may have thought that “Jabberwock” was incorrect, and changed it to “Jabberwocky.”  But that’s the name of the Lewis Carroll poem; Jabberwock is the correct name of the monster.
  • Dungeons & Dragons references: B-eye-lder (see Armor), Blood Roper, Otyugh Face, and Mega Xorn.
  • The Wave Cannon and Diffuser Cannon attacks are references to Space Battleship Yamato.