Have you ever wished you could read your or your opponent’s Japanese cards without relying on printed or digital translations? Well I’m going to teach you how to read most cards by learning a very minimal amount of Japanese. This is going to require a little bit of memorization on your part as well as knowledge of some common effects seen on Weiss cards. Also, if you’ve ever learned a little bit of Japanese and know your katakana, it will be a little bit easier for you. If you haven’t, don’t worry, that just means you’ll have to memorize a little bit more. I will also give pronunciations of each word in romaji, which I find helpful personally, but is not necessary to remember. If you already know Japanese, please excuse some of this article’s inaccuracies in favor of ease of remembrance.
First I’ll give a very basic explanation of the difference between hiragana, katakana, and kanji. If you already know what these are, then you can safely skip this paragraph. Otherwise, hiragana is the main alphabet used in Japanese, katakana is a secondary alphabet often used to spell foreign words or onomatopoeias, and kanji is characters borrowed from Chinese to differentiate similar sounding words.
The first word I’ll mention is あなた which means “you”. It is read “anata”. This is referring to you, the player of the card in question. If something contains this word, it means something deals with you or something relating to you. あなたの means “your”, so if something were to say あなたの<turn>, that would mean the effect happens during your turn. あなたの is read “anata no”.
A similar one is 自分. This means “myself”, pronounced “jibun”. It refers to you the player.
The next word I’ll mention is 相手 which means “opponent”. It is read “aite”. Seeing this could mean something happens during your opponent’s turn, or deals with your opponent’s card, or could even just mean reveal a card to your opponent. 相手の would mean “opponent’s”. It is read “aite no”.
Next up is カード. This is in katakana because it’s actually an English word. It says “kaado” or “card”.
The next word is キャラ which says “kyara” or “chara” aka character.
プレイヤー says “Player”, pronounced “pureiyaa”. This could refer to you, your opponent, or both.
パワー says “pawaa” or “power”.
すべて means “all”. It is read “subete”. Used in conjunction with one of the above words, for example あなたのキャラすべて means “all of your characters”.
山札 means “Deck”, pronounced “yamafuda”.
クロック means “Clock”. (“kurokku”)
ストック means “Stock”. (“sutokku”)
ダメージ means “Damage”. (“dameeji”)
手札 means “Hand”, as in a hand of cards, not a physical hand. (“tefuda”)
控え室 means “Waiting Room”. (“hikaeshitsu”)
舞台 means “Stage”. (“butai”)
クライマックス says “Climax”. (“kuraimakkusu”)
レベル says “Level”. (“reberu”)
コスト says “Cost”, as in the cost you see in square brackets. (“kosuto”)
Next is two words. この means “this” (read “kono”) and その means “that” (read “sono”). If you see このカード, that’s referring to the card that the text is written on. If you see そのカード, that means it’s referring to a card mentioned elsewhere in the effect.
Next I’ll mention is アタック. It says “atakku” or “attack”. When you see this, you know that the card is mentioning one of three things: that something happens when the card attacks, something happens when the card is attacked, or something happens during the attack phase. The last one is easy because it will actually say アタックフェイズ which says “attack phase” (“atakku feizu”). Most effects that mention attack phase happen at the start of the attack phase, but just to be sure, if the effect has the kanji 始, then you know that it’s at the start.アタックフェイズの始めに says “At the start of the attack phase…” Building on our previous word, 相手のアタックフェイズの始めに means “At the start of your opponent’s attack phase…” which you will see on runners. アタックした時 says “When this card attacks…” (atakku shita toki). アタックされた時 says “When this card is attacked…” (atakku sareta toki).
フロント says “front”, as in front attack. (“furonto”)
サイド says “side”, as in side attack. (“saido”)
The next word is ターン. This says “taan” or “turn”. You can probably guess where you’ll see this. ターン中 means “during … turn”. For example, あなたのターン中 means “during your turn”. ターン中 is read “taan chuu”
前 means “front”, while 前の means “in front of” (“mae” and “mae no” respectively). So, to put some of these words together, このカードの前のあなたのキャラすべてに、パワーを＋500 means “all your characters in front of this card get +500 power”.
他 means “Other” (“hoka”). For example, 他のあなたの《X》のキャラ means “your other <X> character”.
以上 and 以下 means “more than” and “less than”, respectively. (“ijou” and “ika”). あなたの控え室のクライマックスが2枚以下なら、あなたの手札のこのカードのレベルを－1 says “If your waiting room has 2 or less climaxes, this card gets -1 level in hand”.
いる (or ある) and いない (or ない). These mean “is there” and “is not there” respectively. So if you see があるなら, you know it means “if _____ is there…”
公開 means “to reveal”, as in revealing a card to your opponent. (“koukai”)
見 means “to look at”, as in looking at a card in your deck. (“mi”)
引く means “to draw”, as in draw a card. (“hiku”)
集中 means “Concentration” aka Brainstorm. It will be bolded on the card. (“shuuchuu”)
応援 means “Support” aka Assist. (“ouen”)
共鳴 means “Resonance”. (“kyoumei”)
経験 means “Experience”. (“keiken”)
アンコール means “Encore”. (“ankouru”)
チェンジ means “Change”. (“chenji”)
できない means “Cannot” (“dekinai”)
よい is pronounced “yoi”. Used in conjunction with a verb, it means “you may <verb>”.
名 means “name”, usually referring to something in a card’s name. (“na”)
Phew, that was a lot of words wasn’t it? More than I was expecting to write down, anyway. However, armed with this knowledge, you should be able to make very educated guesses on probably 95% of card effects now. There are a lot more words used infrequently to reach that 100% point, but this is definitely a good starting line.
But for now, how about a few tests of your newfound knowledge? Here are some effects in Japanese with their English translation underneath. Just highlight between the angle brackets to see the answers.
［手札を1枚クロック置場に置く］ このカードが手札から舞台に置かれた時、あなたはコストを払ってよい。そうしたら、あなたは自分の山札を見て「X」を1枚まで選んで相手に見せ、手札に加え、その山札をシャッフルし、そのターン中、このカードのパワーを＋1000。
Answer – < [Place 1 card from Hand into Clock] When this card is placed on Stage from Hand, you may pay the cost. If you did, search your Deck for up to 1 「X」 and show it to your opponent, add it to Hand, shuffle your Deck afterwards, during this turn, this card gets +1000 Power. >
このカードがアタックした時、クライマックス置場に「X」があるなら、そのターン中、このカードのパワーを＋1000し、このカードは次の能力を得る。『【自】 このカードのバトル相手が【リバース】した時、あなたは自分の控え室の《Y》のキャラを1枚選び、ストック置場に置いてよい。』
Answer – < When this card attacks, if 「X」 is in your Climax Slot, during this turn, this card gets +1000 Power, gains the following Ability. 『【A】When this card’s battle opponent becomes REVERSE, you may choose 1 《Y》 Character from your Waiting Room, place it into Stock.』 >
このカードがアタックした時、あなたは自分の山札の上から1枚を公開する。そのカードがカード名に「X」を含むキャラなら、相手にＸダメージを与える。Ｘはそのキャラのレベルに等しい。（ダメージキャンセルは発生する。公開したカードは元に戻す）
Answer – < When this card attacks, reveal the top card of your Deck. If that card is a Character with 「X」 in its name, deal X Damage to opponent. X is equal to that Character’s Level. (Damage can be cancelled. Return revealed card to its original position) >
Bonus Question: What set is all three of these effects from?
As always, thanks for reading, and if you have any questions or comments (or an answer to the bonus question), let me know in the comments below.
Wild Wild Weiss 