Months before the November release of Pokémon Sun and Moon, controversy over the Chinese translations has popped up. It seems that The Pokémon Company’s mascot, Pikachu, will be getting a name change.
One of the biggest new features of the upcoming Pokémon Sun and Moon games is the ability to choose from one of nine languages to play the game. In addition to English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish, players will now be able to play in both Traditional and Simplified Chinese.
This is a big deal in China, where no previous Pokémon games have been released in Chinese.
The Hong Kong Free Press reported on a small rally at the Japanese consulate on May 30 about the controversy surrounding the name change.
Groups like Civic Passion and Lonely Media, a gaming-focused organization, participated in the demonstration carrying banners that read “Protect Hong Kong-translated names. No to Pei Ka Yau , give me back Bei Ka Chiu. ”
For some context on the Pikachu name change controversy, redditor GLaghima on the Pokémon subreddit, back on May 11, explained the backlash going on in China over the change in Pikachu’s name. Hong Kong uses Cantonese, while Taiwan and mainland China use Mandarin, so their translation of Pokémon are different. GLaghima gave Pikachu as an example where the yellow mouse Pokémon was always called 比卡超 or Bei Ka Chiu in Cantonese, and 皮卡丘 or Pei Ka Yau in Mandarin.
But this has become more than just a simple translation issue and more of a cultural issue. As GLanghima puts it on his Reddit post, “another factor as to why people are so angry is that Hong Kong people hate mainlanders due to economical, cultural and political reasons (Hong Kong is a democratic body inside a pseudo-communist country), and being forced to use the mainland translation is like being asserted dominance from them.”
The Hong Kong Free Press also noted that changing Hong Kong/Cantonese translations to Mandarin have become a controversial issue in recent years.
A study published by the Neo Democrats revealed how Mandarin is increasingly affecting the status of Cantonese in Hong Kong, with less than 40 percent of primary schools teaching Chinese language in Cantonese.
Both Nintendo and The Pokémon Company had no comment on the Pikachu name change.
So what do you think of the Pikachu name change? Let us know in the comments section below.
