Title: Re: BW 19: ソムリエ対決! イシズマイVSフタチマル!!/Sommelier taiketsu! Ishizu...
Quote From: SunainYeah we were kinda discussing the whole 'French' aspect the other day and it didn't seem like she was truly 'French' and the only thing we could think of is because she is a beginning Sommelier she had to learn some of the French terms associated with being a Sommelier. Though I found it more of a turn off and was probably just a way to make it seem cool the the Japanese that she was using a different language unlike Melissa who was supposed to be a French native (though they butchered her in the dub).
Yeah, I agree, she doesn't look (even remotely) French at all. Her name doesn't sound really French, though it's hard to tell, because the Japanese often come with some nice oddities when trying to imitate foreign names. It's definitely because of that sommelier thing they made her talk "Frenchishese".
And come to think of it, the very concept of Pokémon sommelier does seem a bit weird (though I kinda like it... I love Dent's comments in Pokémon battles, which are quite different from Takeshi's). I mean, a sommelier (in French), is sort of a Wine Expert, who knows which kind of wine to chose to go with certain dishes, etc... I agree this may sounds rather strange for lots of people, though I'm sure it doesn't for most of the Japanese audience (too young to know about sommeliers, anyway).
That whole sommelier thing sure is a nice example of modern 'exoticism'.
By the way, who's that Melissa character? I don't remember a character that was supposed to be a French native. (If it's in the US dub, then there's no way I could've known about it anyway).
Last edited 02 Mar 2011 05:20 AM by
Chance