Anyone fluent in Japanese? I find something odd...

[AppliCotton]

Hi.

I was wondering, can anyone fluent in Japanese language or culture answer my question:

Why do the Japanese love the word "gear" so much? Pro Gear, Guilty Gear, Xenogears... none of these games have very much to do with machinery or gears per se, they just seem to really love the word. Does it have the same kanji as another word? Does the Japanese word also mean something else? Or do they just find gears cool. I can understand that, they are... Angola was so fond of gears that they put them on their flag.

Just wondering. Thanks.

[Gunstar Green]

I don't think there's any particular reason. It's related to this: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... ousEnglish

To put it simply: Because it seems cool to them.

[AppleQueso]

It's similar to why you sometimes see random kanji on stuff here. We do it pretty much because we think that stuff looks cool, they throw in english for pretty much the same reason.

[hashiriya1]

Does it have the same kanji as another word? Does the Japanese word also mean something else?

No. You're just overthinking.

[pierrot]

If you'd like to know more about the Japanese word for "Gear":

It's 'haguruma' (歯車) and if you translated the kanji literally, it would mean 'teeth-wheel(/car).'

Hashiriya, et al are right, though: The less you try to make sense of Japanese video game nomenclature, the happier you'll be.

Case in point: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slap_Fight

[jfrost]

Similar to how people who do not know Portuguese use the word "samba", even when it doesn't have anything to do with the theme at hand (e.g. Samba de Amigo).

[Breetai]

Haha, no need to be fluent in Japanese to answer this one. Just familiar with it and Japanese culture is all. AppleQueso is pretty much right. It's just a cool word. It's probably thought of more in the context of gear you wear than machinery gear, FYI.

On the other hand, why do western people insist on getting Japanese/Chinese characters for tatoos? I've meet plenty of people in Japan (and China!) who think it's idiotic. The reason is the same reason that the word "gear" is used in these games. The difference is that it's not permanently marked on your body.

[pierrot]

It's probably thought of more in the context of gear you wear than machinery gear, FYI.

I'm not so sure about that. The games that were mentioned in the OP have a fair amount of emphasis on industrial machinery: Progear's steam punk motif; Guilty Gear's focus on metal, chains, etc; Xenogears has--mechs, I guess.
Japanese do often have enough sense to pick out some descriptors that fit a theme. It's mostly the syntax that goes out the window.

[Breetai]

It's probably thought of more in the context of gear you wear than machinery gear, FYI.

I'm not so sure about that. The games that were mentioned in the OP have a fair amount of emphasis on industrial machinery: Progear's steam punk motif; Guilty Gear's focus on metal, chains, etc; Xenogears has--mechs, I guess.
Japanese do often have enough sense to pick out some descriptors that fit a theme. It's mostly the syntax that goes out the window.

Could be.

[elmagicochrisg]

I'm not so sure about that. The games that were mentioned in the OP have a fair amount of emphasis on industrial machinery: Progear's steam punk motif; Guilty Gear's focus on metal, chains, etc; Xenogears has--mechs, I guess.
Japanese do often have enough sense to pick out some descriptors that fit a theme. It's mostly the syntax that goes out the window.

This...