Feature: Want To Learn Japanese? Retro Games Are Your Friend

Your old import games can be teaching aids, too.

Indulge me just a moment! Sometime around 2002, I’d just received my latest student loan payment. Naturally, I used some of it to purchase ADV’s release of Neon Genesis Evangelion on DVD.

At last I could switch on Japanese audio and subtitles unlike the VHS days, but I found myself having the same realisation I had trying to play Fire Emblem Monshou no Nazo for the Super Famicom earlier that year: If I really listened to the Japanese seiyuu (voice acting) cast in Evangelion — just as if I really looked at Monshou no Nazo’s written dialogue, understanding Japanese seemed an impenetrable fortress.

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