Maybe it literally is just talking about rubbing some beans or cooking a juicy dish with beans and chestnuts. Of course, this is also all a play on the mame kuribō name, so it’s up to the player to decide what exactly is being said. Taken all together, this message can be read as something like “ Rub the bean, rub the bean, rub, rub… rub! Splosh~”. Lastly, the jowa~ part is a little harder to explain and pin down in translation, but it’s usually a sound effect for liquid seeping out of something. Next, the Japanese word kuri by itself can mean several things, but its usage here suggests it means “rub” or “rubbing” in a circular fashion. Basically, the name indicates that they’re tiny kuribō. But these ones are mame kuribō – the mame part can mean “pea” or “bean”. Okay, so this one takes a bit of explanation to understand in Japanese.įirst, Goombas are known as kuribō in Japanese. My guess is that the English translator didn’t recognize the reference or understand what the Japanese phrase meant by itself. The English version of Super Mario RPG changes this line to “Look at THIS!”. And since this enemy is star-themed, it kind of makes sense that the writer would think of the Sailor Moon series.
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The Sailor Moon series was fresh and super-popular in the mid-1990s, so this unique catchphrase was naturally parodied and referenced all the time in Japan. At a glance, this enemy message might not seem like a reference when translated into English, but the message specifically quotes the unique and iconic oshioki yo phrase at the end of Sailor Moon’s Japanese catchphrase. This Japanese enemy message is a gameplay tip coupled with a light reference to Sailor Moon’s famous catchphrase, “In the name of the Moon, you will be punished!”. "Hit me and you will be punished when I go up in smoke!" I wasn’t going to list this enemy message at first, but given that almost every other reference so far has been missed in translation, it seemed noteworthy to include. The English translator recognized it and left the reference intact. This Japanese enemy message is an obvious reference to Luigi. This is why the quote was translated as “Ya trying to bug me?!” in English, but I’d be surprised if more than a handful of English-speaking players understood why this enemy was given this text. The Japanese phrase used here, ijimeru, can mean things like “bullying” or “teasing” or “harassing”. The English translator didn’t seem to catch the reference, but understood what the text was saying. Saint Tail premiered in 1995, right during Super Mario RPG’s development, so this is another example of how the Japanese game serves as a weird little pop culture time capsule from the era.Īs we can see, the Mukumuku enemy in Super Mario RPG looks a bit like Shimarisu-kun, so it seems the developers played off of that and inserted the reference as a fun gag for players to laugh at. This Japanese enemy message is a direct quote of the main character’s transformation line in the Saint Tail manga and anime series.
"O Lord, please forgive me, for I use neither gimmick nor trick." Due to text length limitations, the enemy’s legal disclaimer was dropped and replaced with something that still conveyed the joke. The English enemy was changed to “Guerilla” – as opposed to “Gorilla” – as a way to keep the original intent intact. The enemy’s message continues this joke by featuring a stock legal disclaimer.
The joke is that the name looks like a fake, bootleg version of Donkey Kong’s actual name: ドンキーコング ( Donkī Kongu). In Japanese, this Donkey Kong-esque enemy is named ドソキーユング ( Dosokī Yungu). "This character has no relation to any persons, living or dead. Actually, is this English translation even telling the truth? Can you really not run away from this enemy? Dosokī Yung / Guerilla