The Japanese language naturally has elements that are very different from Western languages, like a formalized system of polite speech called keigo and a lack of differentiation between plural and singular nouns. Another interesting area of Japanese is a category of beautiful Chinese phrases made up of four kanji characters which Japanese use to add a bit of je ne sais quoi to their speech, and to preserve the ancient wisdom of China in the form of proverbs. Some of these poetic phrases include the titles of anime series like ikki tousen (lit. “being a match for 1000 warriors”) or tenjo tenge (“the wide world, including both heaven and earth”) or Mazda’s advertising slogan jinba ittai (“man and horse, moving together as one”). Another 4-character phrase that comes up quite often is yuju-fudan (yuu-juu foo-DAHN), written with the characters for “kindness” “softness” and “indecision.” The term describes just about every male character in a romantic comedy anime series who has difficulty choosing between two or more girls who love him. In the upcoming animated visual novel School Days the main character Makoto is torn between two girls, his girlfriend Kotonoha and the energetic Sekai, and his chronic inability to make a choice brings about a lot of drama as the story unfolds.
Makoto is yuju-fudan, unable to decide which girl he loves.
