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Japanese Subtitles

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Please look at the front cover of "Hotter Than Hell". You can see the KISS logo on the left side of the top. And you can see the Japanese characters under the logo. It shows the band name "KISS" and shows English pronunciation by the Japanese characters.

There are some ways to name Japanese subtitles.

1. Show English pronunciation by the Japanese characters.

Do you have "Hotter Than Hell" LP ? If so, please look at the back cover of it. There are song subtitles on each side of the middle and there is the title "HOTTER THAN HELL" upper. You can see some Japanese characters over "HOTTER" and over "HELL". Those are Japanese song subtitles and those show English pronunciation by a kind of the Japanese characters called "katakana". Katakana is mostly used for showing English ( and other foreign languages ) pronunciation.

2. Show English pronunciation by the Japanese characters.

But if a title is long, A part of it is often omitted.

It is also showed by katakana in this case. For example, "I Was Made For Lovin' You" is called "Lovin' You Baby" in Japan.

3. Show English pronunciation by the Japanese characters.

But a plural form is often omitted.

It is also showed by katakana in this case. For example, "Crazy Nights" is called "Crazy Night" in Japan.

4. Translate an English title into Japanese.

In this case, it is showed by kanji ( Chinese characters ) and/or hiragana. Please look at the front cover of "Hotter Than Hell". You can find kanji and hiragana on the right side of the top. Those are 6 characters. First 2 characters are kanji and the rest 4 are hiragana. For example, "She" is called "Kanojo" in Japan. Kanojo means she.

5. Name a Japanese subtitle peculiarly.

It is mostly showed by kanji and/or hiragana in this case. And a Japanese subtitle has no relation to an original title. For example, "Creatures Of The Night" is called "Ankoku no Shinwa" in Japan. It means myth in darkness.

When "Hotter Than Hell" was released in U.S.A., KISS didn't debut in Japan. Though "Hotter Than Hell" wasn't available in Japan, it has the Japanese subtitle called "Jigoku no Sakebi". Japanese subtitles are mostly named by staff of Japanese record company. In the case of "Hotter Than Hell", it seemed that U.S. staff named the Japanese subtitle.

It was July, 1976 that the first KISS album was available. That was "Dressed To Kill". It was named "Jigoku eno Seppun" as the Japanese subtitle. It means "kiss to hell". It has no relation to the original title "Dressed To Kill" but it has relation to the Japanese subtitle of "Hotter Than Hell". Both of them are used the word "Jigoku" ( hell ). I guess that Japanese staff knew that "Hotter Than Hell" was named "Jigoku no Sakebi" as the Japanese subtitle by U.S. staff, so when they named the Japanese subtitle to "Dressed To Kill", they used "Jigoku" like U.S. staff.

Most albums of 70's includes "hell". But there is no negative mind and no religious trouble. The 70's KISS albums are famous as "Hell series" ( Jigoku series ) in Japan. Of course, there is no negative mind.

Recent trends are case 1, 2 and 3. There were a lot of funny Japanese subtitles in 70's. "I Want You" is called "Ikasuze Anoko". It means "That girl is so cool!". I guess that you know "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith. It's called "Osekkyou" and means "preaching". But nobody calls it "Osekkyou" because it's very funny.

KISS

KISS
Subtitle	( Jigoku karano Shisha / Kiss First )
Case	Case 5 It means "Messenger(s) from Hell".
HOTTER THAN HELL
Subtitle	( Jigoku no Sakebi / Kiss Second )
Case	Case 5 It means "Shout from Hell".
DRESSED TO KILL
Subtitle	( Jigoku eno Seppun )
Case	Case 5 It means "Kiss to Hell".
ALIVE !
Subtitle	( Jigoku no Kyoujuu / Kiss Live )
Case	Case 5 It means "Monster(s) of Hell".
DESTROYER
Subtitle	( Jigoku no Gundan )
Case	Case 5 It means "Army of Hell".
THE ORIGINALS
Subtitle	( Jigoku no Zenbou )
Case	Case 5 It means "Everything about Hell".
ROCK AND ROLL OVER
Subtitle	( Jigoku no Rock Fire )
Case	Case 5 It means "Rock Fire of Hell".
LOVE GUN
Subtitle	( Love Gun )
Case	Case 1
ALIVE II
Subtitle	( Kiss Alive II )
Case	Case 1
THE ORIGINALS II
Subtitle	( Zoku Jigoku no Zenbou )
Case	Case 5 It means "Sequel of Everything about Hell".
DOUBLE PLATINUM
Subtitle	( Double Platinum )
Case	Case 1
PAUL STANLEY
Subtitle	( Kiss - Paul Stanley )
Case	Case 1
GENE SIMMONS
Subtitle	( Kiss - Gene Simmons )
Case	Case 1
ACE FREHLEY
Subtitle	( Kiss - Ace Frehley )
Case	Case 1
PETER CRISS
Subtitle	( Kiss - Peter Criss )
Case	Case 1
DYNASTY
Subtitle	( Jigoku karano Dasshutsu )
Case	Case 5 It means "Escape from Hell".
UNMASKED
Subtitle	( Kamen no Shoutai )
Case	Case 4 It means "Beneath the Masks".
MUSIC FROM "THE ELDER"
Subtitle	( Makai Dai-Kessen )
Case	Case 5 It means "War of the Netherworld". But it has been simply called "Elder" since 1993.
KILLERS
Subtitle	( Kiss Killers )
Case	Case 1
CREATURES OF THE NIGHT
Subtitle	( Ankoku no Shinwa )
Case	Case 5 It means "Myth in Darkness". But it has been called "Creatures of the Night" since 1993.
LICK IT UP
Subtitle	( Jigoku no Kaisou )
Case	Case 5 It means "Recollection in Hell". But it has been called "Lick It Up" since 1993.
ANIMALIZE
Subtitle	( Animalize )
Case	Case 1
ASYLUM
Subtitle	( Asylum )
Case	Case 1
CRAZY NIGHTS
Subtitle	( Crazy Night )
Case	Case 3
CHIKARA
Subtitle	( Power )
Case	Case 4 "Chikara" means "Power". You may think it's strange that it has the Japanese subtitle although "Chikara" was released in Japan only. Even if it is released in Japan only, it mostly has an original title and a Japanese subtitle itself like "The Originals II".
SMASHES, THRASHES & HITS
Subtitle	( Greatest Kiss )
Case	Case 5
HOT IN THE SHADE
Subtitle	( Hot In The Shade )
Case	Case 1
REVENGE
Subtitle	( Revenge )
Case	Case 1
ALIVE III
Subtitle	( Alive III )
Case	Case 1
MTV UNPLUGGED
Subtitle	( Kiss Unplugged / Jigoku no Saikai )
Case	Case 5 It means "Hell's Reunion". At first, it was announced that the Japanese subtitle became "Jigoku no Teiden". "Teiden" means "power cut". "Power cut"... because of unplugged !? I thought it was terrible at that time. After that, it was changed into "Hell's Reunion". I thought that it was better than "power cut".
YOU WANTED THE BEST, YOU GOT THE BEST !!
Subtitle	( Best Of Best - Kiss Alive )
Case	Case 5
GREATEST KISS
Subtitle	( Greatest Kiss - Remaster Greatest Hits )
Case	Case 1 But "Remaster Greatest Hits" was added to the subtitle because the Japanese subtitle of "Smashes, Thrashes & Hits" had already been "Greatest Kiss".
CARNIVAL OF SOULS
Subtitle	( Carnival Of Souls )
Case	Case 1
PSYCHO CIRCUS
Subtitle	( Psycho Circus )
Case	Case 1

Ace Frehley

FREHLEY'S COMET ( ACE FREHLEY )
Subtitle	( Frehley's Comet )
Case	Case 1
LIVE + 1 ( FREHLEY'S COMET )
Subtitle	( Live Plus One )
Case	Case 1
SECOND SIGHTING ( FREHLEY'S COMET )
Subtitle	( Second Sighting )
Case	Case 1
TROUBLE WALKIN' ( ACE FREHLEY )
Subtitle	( Trouble Walkin' )
Case	Case 1
12 PICKS ( ACE FREHLEY )
Subtitle	( 12 Picks )
Case	Case 1
LOADED DECK ( ACE FREHLEY )
Subtitle	( Loaded Deck )
Case	Case 1

Peter Criss

OUT OF CONTROL ( PETER CRISS )
Subtitle	( Out Of Control )
Case	Case 1
LET ME ROCK YOU ( PETER CRISS )
Subtitle	( Let Me Rock You )
Case	Case 1

Vinnie Vincent

VINNIE VINCENT INVASION ( VINNIE VINCENT INVASION )
Subtitle	( Vinnie Vincent Invasion )
Case	Case 1
ALL SYSTEMS GO ( VINNIE VINCENT INVASION )
Subtitle	( All Systems Go )
Case	Case 1

Bruce Kulick

BLACKJACK ( BLACKJACK )
Subtitle	( Blackjack )
Case	Case 1
WORLD'S APART ( BLACKJACK )
Subtitle	( World's Apart )
Case	Case 1
UNION ( UNION )
Subtitle	( Union )
Case	Case 1

Eric Singer

SEVENTH STAR ( BLACK SABBATH )
Subtitle	( Seventh Star )
Case	Case 1
BADLANDS ( BADLANDS )
Subtitle	( Badlands )
Case	Case 1
LOST AND SPACED ( ESP )
Subtitle	( Lost And Spaced )
Case	Case 1

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Copyright - (C) 1997-2003 Masa Takeda Ver.1.000.010