Aeshuura wrote:
Quote:
Indeed, Kami-sama is a lot more natural sounding if you're familiar with Japanese phrases. This may be what was actually intended by referring to Green Rush as Mister Kami, but I erred on the side of equating Mister to the 'san' level of formality. I'm not Hiromi so I'm only speculating on choices, but had I intended the flower seller's address to be that formal I would probably have called GR "Lord Kami" instead. On the other hand, since Kami-sama seems so often to refer to large, important deities, it may be that this kami is seen as more on an equal footing with a human citizen in this fantasy universe.
Absolutely! It just struck me as strange, but perfectly fine! I didn't know if there was some subtlety that I was missing, not being a native speaker, myself.
Yes. English is generally pretty light on honorifics, so I felt that "Mister Kami" would be an appropriate way to show deference without making things overly complex or introducing confusion. Like, "Lord Kami" would inspire the question of what Green Rush is Lord of. I'm not saying that "Lord" wouldn't work — just that it (and a few other honorifics I considered) had implications that I didn't want.
Great discussion of that point, by the way.
Also along these lines, the "honored guests" at the end is the vendor saying "お客さん" (Okyaku-san), which is fairly common in businesses in Japan, but comes off as super formal in English, especially given the festive setting.