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The currently running series, Kado: The Right Answer, has short, untranslated, episode titles. I can only understand some of them. What do they mean in Japanese, if anything? (Names taken from Wikipedia article.)

0: "Ninovo" (ニノヴォ)
1: "Yaha-kui zaShunina" (ヤハクィザシュニナ) -- name of protagonist alien/god/whatever
2: "Novo" (ノヴォ)
3: "Wam" "Wamu" (ワム) -- name of infinite energy source
4: "Rotowa" (ロトワ)
5: "Nanoka" (ナノカ)
6: "Tetrok" "Tetoroku" (テトロク)
6.5: "Ekwari" "Ekuwari" (エクワリ)
7: "Sansa" (サンサ) -- name of device that removes need to sleep
8: "Talnel" "Taruneru" (タルネル)

I also don't understand why some of the titles have two Romanized forms.

RichF
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  • I haven't seen any of _Kado_ other than the "prequel" episode, but the reason that some of the titles seem to have two romanised forms is probably because of limits to how words can be written with katakana. A short version, based on my extremely limited understanding of Japanese phonology: other than the final _N_, Japanese requires that syllables end with vowels, although the sounds /u/ and /i/ can be "dropped" in certain circumstances. Similarly, katakana transcriptions of syllables with the L sound will use katakana that gets romanised with an R (hence the ep. 8 romanisation). – Maroon May 28 '17 at 02:59
  • Yaha-kui mentioned the word "Novo" early on (in episode 2 or 3), though I don't believe we've gotten a full explanation of what it actually is. None of them mean anything in Japanese; I assume they are all anisotropic concepts that Yaha-kui is going to explain at some point. – senshin May 28 '17 at 03:52
  • @senshin I was thinking that was a possibility, and you are likely correct. What made me consider it less likely was that the recap episode 6.5 also has such a name. Would a recap have a new concept? I guess for a series designed to make us think, it's working. – RichF May 28 '17 at 04:22

1 Answers1

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Most of the titles are words native to the Anisotropic Language. Often you can infer their meanings from the contexts of the episodes, though this is speculation for any unconfirmed.

But this also means there is no translation of the Japanese. One is the "official english" style title, and the romanized form comes from the fact that they are written with Kana - which is often used for borrowed language AKA words that aren't inherently Japanese, so that the Japanese know how to say them. Borrowed language isn't translated, only romanized as the kana tells the japanese how to say something in the language it's written. (Such as when kana reads "SUTORI" it's them using the English word "Story".)

There is only one episode where you could actually use the Kana, write it in hiragana/kanji and it would have meaning. And that was Episode 10's towanosakiwa (written in Japanese you would get 永久の先は which is actually rather abstract still, meaning either Eternity's Future, OR, Eternity's Past). This could also be a sign of zaShunina's progressively becoming more human state, that the choice of word though still written as though borrowed from the anisotropic still holds meaning in Japanese.

Not all episodes were given direct definitions.

Episode 2 zaShunina explains "Novo" is the name of where he comes from (but he translates it to iho/Anisotropic for the Japanese to understand).

Episode 4's Rotowa is assumed to be the "resolve" that zaShunina needed from the Japanese populous and Prime Minister.

Episode 12's Yukika title is, like Episode 1, the name of a character.

I'm hoping a more definitive explanation for each Anisotropic word will be given, perhaps in an interview or official merchandise/information in the future. But for now all that can be taken from them is the suspected meanings.

  • Episode 0: Ninovo - From Novo
  • Episode 1: Yaha-kui zaShunina - Name of a character
  • Episode 2: Novo - the anisotropic word for the anisotropic
  • Episode 3: Wam - a device from the anisotropic
  • Episode 4: Rotowa - resolve
  • Episode 5: Nanoka - could be related to the beginning of the "revolution"
  • Episode 6: Tetrok - related to Kado's movement/placement/location
  • Episode 6.5: Ekwari - related to recall/recap/memory
  • Episode 7: Sansa - a device from the anisotropic
  • Episode 8: Talnel - perhaps evolution-related
  • Episode 9: Nanomis-hein - a device from the anisotropic
  • Episode 10: Towanosakiwa - Eternity's Past / Eternity's Future
  • Episode 11: Wanoraru - Wandering (in a figuratively lost sense)
  • Episode 12: Yukika - Name of a character
zaShunina
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