The final menu for Brothers (WE’RE NOT EVEN STARTED THE DAMNED GAME YET) is considerably more straightforward than the last two menus. We’re using much more simplistic kanji, a bit of katakana, and some English here. In fact most of the kanji on this the Edit Key Bindings menu actually gets a kun reading for a change. Remember, Kun readings happen when it’s just a single kanji by itself. That means there’s a couple characters here that (I believe) will get different pronunciations based on their context. So let’s get started:
兄 － あに － common – Elder Brother;
| 兄（あに） | 5 strokes. JLPT N4. Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 2. | elder brother, big brother | Kun: あに | On: ケイ、 キョウ |
弟 － おとうと － common – younger brother;
| 弟（おとうと） | 7 strokes. JLPT N4. Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 2. | younger brother; little brother; kid brother | Kun: おとうと | On: テイ、 ダイ、 デ |
For those not in the know, in Brothers you’re supposed to control two characters simultaneously. I’m a little confused why there’s no description for the controls when using a controller (I’ve since plugged one in) But obviously this menu is to adjust the controls when using a keyboard. So now we will discuss the actual actions in the game. The weird thing about these words is, they all have multiple meanings. Context is important with words… just as you wouldn’t know the definition of lead or wind without context, we can’t know the exact meaning of 上 without context. Since we know the context here is controls, that’s the only definition I’ll be worrying about. We’ll get more in-depth on the blog when I actually am studying the kanji.
上 － うえ － common – up;
| 上（うえ） | 3 strokes. JLPT N5. Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 1. | above, up | Kun: うえ、 -うえ、 うわ-、 かみ、 あ.げる、 -あ.げる、 あ.がる、 -あ.がる、 あ.がり、 -あ.がり、 のぼ.る、 のぼ.り、 のぼ.せる、 のぼ.す、 たてまつ.る | On: ジョウ、 ショウ、 シャン |
右 － みぎ － common – right
| 右（みぎ） | 5 strokes. JLPT N5. Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 1. | right, right hand side | Kun: みぎ | On: ウ、 ユウ |
下 － した － common – down;
| 下（した） | 3 strokes. JLPT N5. Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 1. | below, down, descend, give, low, inferior | Kun: した、 しも、 もと、 さ.げる、 さ.がる、 くだ.る、 くだ.り、 くだ.す、 -くだ.す、 くだ.さる、 お.ろす、 お.りる | On: カ、 ゲ |
左 － ひだり － common – left;
| 左（ひだり） | 5 strokes. JLPT N5. Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 1. | left; left hand side | Kun: ひだり | On: サ、 シャ |
so the four directions, and then we’ve got some katakana: アクション pronounced “a-ka-sho-n” – action. (I love katakana).
And then another katakana: カメラ (camera).
So knowing that this is a camera, the following kanji is simple to understand even before I look up the actual pronunciation, especially since it’s used twice, and prefaced with 左 and 右. I just wish there was a better way to identify when there’s two kanji words side by side rather than one longer word.
回転 － かいてん － common – rotation;
| 回（かい） | 6 strokes. JLPT N3. Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 2. | -times, round, game, revolve, counter for occurrences | Kun: まわ.る、 -まわ.る、 -まわ.り、 まわ.す、 -まわ.す、 まわ.し-、 -まわ.し、 もとお.る、 か.える | On: カイ、 エ |
| 転（てん） | 11 strokes. JLPT N4. Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 3. | revolve, turn around, change | Kun: ころ.がる、 ころ.げる、 ころ.がす、 ころ.ぶ、 まろ.ぶ、 うたた、 うつ.る、 くる.めく | On: テン |
That’s it for the kanji on this menu! Next is some more katakana:
– リセット – reset
– キャンセル – cancel ( I must admit, I’m not sure why they didn’t use cancel instead of 変更せずに終了 on the previous screen… )
Alright!
I think I get to actually start playing the game next time I open it!