Is that President Shinra in the Honeybee Inn?

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Okay, we all know the scene when Cloud peeks through the Queen's Room keyhole and sees a 'president' garbed like a king re-enacting a fantasy scene, while his two underlings make the sound effects and grumble about how they're going to be late for a meeting and how the president's wife just found out about his little hobby.

It seems to be widely believed that the 'president' is President Shinra, and this scene is usually taken as proof that he has a wife (Rufus's mother?). He certainly does look a bit like our favourite fat old cigar chomping evil bastard. But I don't think it can be, because at one point one of the underlings says "We have a luncheon with President Shinra" - and at another point they say, "We come all the way to Midgar, just for this...."

So they've come to Midgar on a business trip to meet with President Shinra.

The underlings are in a bind because they can't hurry their boss up but they'll get it in the neck if he misses his lunch date. (This scene also positions the events of Wall Market as happening in the morning. I guess Don Corneo likes morning sex? But I digress...) Their boss is apparently re-enacting some supposedly ancient legend about the Promised Land and the coming of Sephiroth, information which is helpful for the player. I assumed that it was also spoofing the plight of the lowly Japanese salaryman who has to cater to his chief's every whim.

However, if the script has been mistranslated at this point, then I'm wrong and the President in the Queen's Room might actually be President Shinra.

For your convenience, the full script of the scene is under the cut:

Spoiler: Queen's Room dialogue

(Lightning flashes... a guy in a tub... another standing... one is dressed
as a king.)

...The wind's calm now....
It's the curse of the resurrected Satan... Our beloved Queen does
not awaken...
The time is ripe...
A legend has been passed on through generations...

"Psst... (Hey, shouldn't we stop him soon?)"

"...whisper... whisper... (We have a luncheon with President
Shinra...)"

"Psst..... (You tell him.....)"

"Psst.... (I can't tell him........)"

"Psst.... (Come on!! Oh, well....)"

A legend has been passed on through generations....
.....the sought after Promised Land....

"Psst.... (I'm so disgusted with the President.)"

....One with Blue Eyes....

"Psst....(It's like this every time we have a business trip to
Midgar.)"

.....and a Great White Sword on his back.....

"(We come all the way to Midgar, just for this....)"

.... Will not lead to the Promised Land.....

"Psst.... (What're you complaining about. You're just holding the
lights. I've gotta wear this heavy armor!)"

"Psst.... (I know, I know... but it's all part of the job.)"
"Psst.... (Oh yeah, did you hear? The President's wife found out
about this little hobby of his.)"

"Psst... (Ha, ha.... No way, that's the first I've heard of it.)"

"Psst... (Oh, looks like he's done. Man, I'm glad!!)"

"Geez!! Mr. Prseident!! I mean, Your Majesty..."

(Smacking sounds.)

"Ohhh... I'm sorry. Please remove the ancient curse!"

I think it's quite funny that nothing remotely sexy is happening in either the Lover's Room or the Queen's Room. But why did Reeve book his parents into a brothel? Does he not realise it's a brothel?

 

[Shademp]

I don't know Japanese so I can't answer this question, but it sits ill with me that President Shinra would be in the Honey Bee Inn at that point, when shortly after we have the scene at Shinra HQ when he exposits the plan to crush Sector 7. Not beyond suspension of disbelief, sure, but I just don't like it.

Spoiler: Japanese Script for convenience of the scholars

「ひそひそ……
　（おい、そろそろ止めないと
　まずいんじゃないのかい？）」

「ひそひそ……
　（プレジデント神羅と
　会食の約束だろ…）」

「ひそひそ……
　（おまえ言えよ……）」

「ひそひそ……
　（言えるわけないだろ……）」

「ひそひそ……
　（チェッ！！ま、いいか……）」

「ひそひそ……
　（まったくうちの社長にもあきれるよ）」

「ひそひそ……
　（ミッドガルに出張のときは毎度だぜ。
　ゴールドソーサーからはるばる来てよ…）」

「ひそひそ……
　（おまえはまだいいよ、照明係なんだから。
　俺なんてこのヨロイ！すげえ重いんだぞぅ）」

「ひそひそ……
　（ハイハイ……これも仕事ですから）」

「ひそひそ……
　（そういや、聞いたかい？
　社長の王様道楽が奥さんにばれたって話）」

「ひそひそ……
　（クックッ……うそ、それ初耳）」

「ひそひそ……
　（あ、終わったみたいだぞ。
　ああ～助かった！！）」

「ゲッ！！社長！！
　じゃ、なかった王様……」

「うわ～、すいましぇ～ん。
　古代の呪いはゆるしてぇ～」

「ひそひそ……
　（おいおい、またかよ！！）」

「ひそひそ……
　（もうこれで、何回目だ？）」

「ひそひそ……
　（知らねぇよ……。
　ハァ…王様、すぐ調子にのるからなあ）」

My intuition tells me that the King in the room is not the President. Just another superior and that the Japanese word for superior might be translated as "President". Would certainly make a lot more sense.


Indeed, not a whole lot sexual goes on in the rooms with the play and Reeve's parents. Initially we weren't even going to get a glimpse into these rooms, but just see the message...

「不適切な内容がふくまれているため
　残念ながら、お見せできません」
We apologize, but the following contains material
unsuitable for the general public.

...which fits much better with Cloud's reaction “…Wooo…ow!!” before the game transports you to the "keyhole" fields. I suppose the new scenarios were rushed in there by Motomu Toriyama as he tried to think of kid-friendly, legal scenarios to move in there.


Technically Honey Bee Inn is a "bath house", not a brothel. But then again bath house is supposed to be a euphemism, so... Nvm.

As a soapland, the Honey Bee Inn is set up much like a hostess club—though instead of conversation, drinking, and karaoke you have wild amounts of sex. To avoid being called prostitution (which is of course illegal in Japan), these clubs are ostensibly bath houses where you are washed by the naked woman of your choice. And if the two of you happen to fall madly in love over the course of your very expensive bath, isn't it lucky there's a bed right there in the bathroom!

- Kotaku article

It is possible that bath houses could be acceptable as hotels, which would explain why Reeve's parents are there. I honestly don't know.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I love the Japanese. They make everything so fragrant.

"As a soapland, the Honey Bee Inn is set up much like a hostess club—though instead of conversation, drinking, and karaoke you have wild amounts of sex. To avoid being called prostitution (which is of course illegal in Japan), these clubs are ostensibly bath houses where you are washed by the naked woman of your choice. And if the two of you happen to fall madly in love over the course of your very expensive bath, isn't it lucky there's a bed right there in the bathroom!"

1. what's a soapland?
2. washed by the naked woman or man of your choice.
3. It's funny that the only really sexy scene is the group male sex in the bathtub. I guess it snuck by the censors because they thought a child would assume these guys were a club of cyclists or boxers or something, all getting platonically clean together after a workout.

I see that in the Japanese the underlings refer to President Shinra as "プレジデント神羅", reserving the word ”しゃちょう” (shachou) for their own boss. According to my dictionary, "shachou", which is what the Turks always call Rufus, means "company president" or "CEO". "Sousai" means a President Obama kind of President. I made this mistake in my japanese lesson, because of course I know the word "shachou" and I don't, or didn't, know "sousai", so I called Obama, "Obama-shachou", and my teacher very politely laughed at me behind her hand.

 

[Shademp]

Soapland (ソープランド sōpurando?) or sōpu is a Japanglish word constructed from the two English words "soap" and "land" and is part of Japan's sex industry also known as Mizu shōbai. Since sexual intercourse for money is officially prohibited by the Japanese government, many different types of brothels in Japan have been developed. In Soapland, clients engage in non-penetrative sex with prostitutes to achieve orgasm.

- Wikipedia source

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

From the wikipedia article:

"Soaplands began when explicit prostitution in Japan became illegal in 1958, as a simple form of bath where women washed men's bodies. They were originally known as toruko-buro, meaning Turkish bath. Following a 1984 campaign by Turkish scholar Nusret Sancaklı denouncing the use of this name for brothels,[2] the new name "soapland" was the winning entry in a nationwide contest to rename them."

In England they have national puppy-naming competitions on Blue Peter.
In Japan they have national competitions to rename their brothels.
In America "soapland" would be a theme park for soap operas.

I love this world.

 

[Unlucky]

I love this thread.

 

[Octo]

In England they have national puppy-naming competitions on Blue Peter.
In Japan they have national competitions to rename their brothels.
In America "soapland" would be a theme park for soap operas.

I love this world.

On This Morning they frequently refer to "soapland" as in, "whats going on in soapland?" and then they talk to their soap "correspondent" who talks about Eastenders and Coronation Street like they're the fucking UN or something.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Licorice figured it out. The "president" with "this little hobby" isn't President Shinra; just some other company or organization's president.

You guys may also notice a line after "We come all the way to Midgar, just for this......" missing from the English translation:

ゴールドソーサーからはるばる来てよ…
"We come all the way from the Gold Saucer..."

I think this performance at the Honey Bee Inn is related to those at the Gold Saucer.

 

[Shademp]

You guys may also notice a line after "We come all the way to Midgar, just for this......" missing from the English translation:

ゴールドソーサーからはるばる来てよ…
"We come all the way from the Gold Saucer..."

I think this performance at the Honey Bee Inn is related to those at the Gold Saucer.

This makes a lot of sense but I squee from the nerdgasm of having this confirmed and seeing that retranslation. <3

Reminds me of the connection that the Gold Saucer has with the Honey Bee Inn.

The tissue you win at the Battle Square advertises the Honey Bee Inn. I bet the actors get a special discount due to working at Gold Saucer.

IT'S ALL CONNECTED


Edit:
Kusabi just informed me of the following, on the topic of "sousai".

... is saying &#32207;&#35009; (sousai), which is a real word, but isn't commonly used when talking about presidents, like President Obama. It is more used for the top of a *specific branch* of the government. Like Nihon Ginkou is a part of the Japanese government, not just a private bank. The top of Nihon Ginkou is refered to as Sousai. Or the top of the Japanese version of the State Department (foreign affairs) Gaimushou, is called Sousai. I have never heard anyone refer to President Obama as Sousai, I think that is pretty weird. I asked my wife if she had heard people use that word for him, and she hasn't either and says that is weird.
Daitouryou is the correct word he is thinking of. (&#22823;&#32113;&#38936
Everyone on the Japanese news, etc, always say Obama Daitouryou.

 

[The_Kusabi_]

Shademp kindly wrote a post just now about sousai. I hate to feel like I am 'attacking' or 'nitpicking' people, so I was hesitant to make the correction myself. I didn't want it to seem like I was nitpicking at you, LicoriceAllsorts.

But, if people want advice on the right words to use in specific situations, please ask away. I think it might be confusing, as there are very different titles used for very specific situations in Japanese

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Oh no, I am so happy to have my Japanese corrected. I have no illusions; I'm still a beginner. Every time somebody puts me right, they help me understand the language better. My dictionary just gave 'sousai" as President, so I had no way of knowing its nuances. Please always feel free to nitpick any of my efforts - believe me, I will be noting everything you tell me down for future reference. My ultimate ambition is to be able to pick up a doujinshi or a manga and read it with ease in the original. So thank you for helping me. And also for saving anyone else from imitating my mistake.

It's all good.

 

[Unlucky]

Well now that this Honeybee Inn mystery is solved, this brings us to one more:

What did Mukki do to Cloud when he passed out?

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Soaped his body all over and gently massaged it with his own?

 

[Shademp]

At least we can be sure now that there was no penetration...right?

 

[Unlucky]

NO

That does explain the.. squishy sounds XD

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Poik poik. Squish squish.

 

[Octo]

Poik sounds penetrative to me.

 

[OniRaitei]

"poik...poik...
...squish."

Cloud: "Uh...OW...!!"

I think Cloud woke up just in time. He was in great danger.

 

[CameoAmalthea]

OMG this thread...

I think it's quite funny that nothing remotely sexy is happening in either the Lover's Room or the Queen's Room. But why did Reeve book his parents into a brothel? Does he not realise it's a brothel?

Maybe the Honey Bee Inn also doubles as a Love Hotel (Hotel for couples, which you could use to bring a prostitute to or for some other illicit affair, or if you live with roommates and can never get any privacy). Maybe Reeve was hoping that by booking them in a couple's hotel he could save their failing marriage by rekindling some lost spark?

It didn't work apparently, because she's alone in Case of Denzel.

And this is me basically trying to square case of Denzel with this scene in the OG. Unless the couple are Reeve's grandparents and it was Reeve's clueless father who booked the hotel.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I was wondering if maybe he was ashamed of his country bumpkin parents and so stuck them somewhere under the plate where, he hoped, no one he knew from Shinra would meet them. How naive, when the first person they bumped into at the reception desk was that nice Mr Palmer....

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I couldn't see Reeve being ashamed of them, but the question of where the hell his father is remains a lingering loose end that annoys the hell out of me.