<p>In the original Tenchi Muyo OVA, the lead character - Tenchi Masaki - strikes down the franchise's first villain Kagato in a sword duel.</p>
<p>As Kagato dies he says the following phrase:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>天智、マスターキーと同じか。津波め。これでは再生も効かんか？素晴らしい、私の負けだ、少年。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Which loosely translates to:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Tenchi, the same (name) as the master key. Lady Tsunami. Against this (even I can't) restore (myself)? Splendid, I am defeated, boy.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, in the English language dub, he instead says a modified version of this phrases, leaving out the section about restoring himself, and including a section about &quot;tenchi&quot; not being able to be copied.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Tenchi, the same name as the master key?  Well done, Tsunami.  Tenchi can't be copied.  Splendid plan.  You've won, young man.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What was Kagato referring to when he said &quot;Tenchi can't be copied&quot;?</p>
<p>For example, was he referring to someone making a copy of Tenchi (the master key), a copy of Tenchi Masaki the person, or the power of one of the two aforementioned things not being a copy of the other?</p>
<p>The Japanese translation may not be exact.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-14T02:19:27.357Z
I don't know the anime and may be missing some context, but the dub seems simply a mistake (esp. if it's a fan sub)
sundowner
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-14T07:33:05.110Z
It's the official Pioneer dub. It was likely done deliberately, they had good translators and it's unlikely that they could have mistaken as the dub changes the emphasis of the sentence from one person to another, which isn't in the original. Sometimes companies change things to make it closer to the lip movements, or even for political reasons.
Aaargh Zombies
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-14T23:37:57.413Z
Then it could be referring to something outside the quote, but still my hunch is a mistranslation. 再生 (lit. *regeneration*) could be translated to *copy* and the translator misunderstood what is regenerated is Tenchi, where it actually is Kagato as you see. (Literally: 再生も効かんか is *Even regeneration won't be effective (to heal me=Kagato)*. From what I googled, 再生 is something that happens in an institution).
sundowner
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-15T12:56:14.027Z
再生 may not be the exact Kanji in the original script. I'm not fluent. I'm highly doubtful that even a half competent translator would make a mistake like that as the rest oft he sentence would be gibberish
Aaargh Zombies
<tenchi-multiverse>
What did Kagato mean when he said " Tenchi can't be copied"?
# What did Kagato mean when he said " Tenchi can't be copied"?
Posted by: username_0 on 2024-09-10
In the original Tenchi Muyo OVA, the lead character - Tenchi Masaki - strikes down the franchise's first villain Kagato in a sword duel.

As Kagato dies he says the following phrase:

> 天智、マスターキーと同じか。津波め。これでは再生も効かんか？素晴らしい、私の負けだ、少年。

Which loosely translates to:

> Tenchi, the same (name) as the master key. Lady Tsunami. Against this (even I can't) restore (myself)? Splendid, I am defeated, boy.

However, in the English language dub, he instead says a modified version of this phrases, leaving out the section about restoring himself, and including a section about "tenchi" not being able to be copied.

> Tenchi, the same name as the master key? Well done, Tsunami. Tenchi can't be copied. Splendid plan. You've won, young man.

What was Kagato referring to when he said "Tenchi can't be copied"?

For example, was he referring to someone making a copy of Tenchi (the master key), a copy of Tenchi Masaki the person, or the power of one of the two aforementioned things not being a copy of the other?

The Japanese translation may not be exact.
**Tags:** tenchi-multiverse
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I don't know the anime and may be missing some context, but the dub seems simply a mistake (esp. if it's a fan sub)  
> **username_0**: It's the official Pioneer dub. It was likely done deliberately, they had good translators and it's unlikely that they could have mistaken as the dub changes the emphasis of the sentence from one person to another, which isn't in the original. Sometimes companies change things to make it closer to the lip movements, or even for political reasons.  
> **username_1**: Then it could be referring to something outside the quote, but still my hunch is a mistranslation. 再生 (lit. *regeneration*) could be translated to *copy* and the translator misunderstood what is regenerated is Tenchi, where it actually is Kagato as you see. (Literally: 再生も効かんか is *Even regeneration won't be effective (to heal me=Kagato)*. From what I googled, 再生 is something that happens in an institution).  
> **username_0**: 再生 may not be the exact Kanji in the original script. I'm not fluent. I'm highly doubtful that even a half competent translator would make a mistake like that as the rest oft he sentence would be gibberish  
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## 0 answers
