Oiyoiyo
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About
Oiyoiyo (Japanese: オイヨイヨ, pron. Oi-Yoi-Yo) is a memorable misheard phrase among Japanese video game fans, which popped out from Final Fantasy 12[1], the twelfth title in the J-RPG series Final Fantasy.
Origin
"Oiyoiyo" is the remark by Vaan, the protagonist in the video game. And the correct pronunciation for this misheard phrase is "Tobioriro!" (飛び降りろ!, Jump Down!).
The scene including this remark appeared for the first time in the official trailer movie that was announced at Square Enix Party held on July 30th, 2005.[2]
Vaan says "Tobioriro!" (Jump Down!) to Ashe, a princess fighting at the corner of upstairs in the waterways.
The voice actor for Vaan was Kouhei Takeda (武田 航平)[3], who was a 19-year-old actor originally from a fashion model and unfortunately, his acting hadn't been trained so much yet.
Spread
At the time when the trailer was announced, people rarely paid attention to his immature acting though they had a bit uncomfortable feeling. Its reputation was established by an anonymous user comment in a thread for the video game on /ff/ (Final Fantasy & Dragon Quest) board in 2channel about a half year later.[4]
Transcript:
191 : Anonymous : 2005/12/02(Fri) 19:40:17 ID:jd3iSLWX0
Vaan's first remark can be heard as "Wainaina!" for me.
He would try saying "Tobioriro!" (Jump Down!). Right?
427 : Anonymous : 2005/12/02(Fri) 22:39:47 ID:mqf/reuO0
>>191
That can be heard as "Oiyoiyo" for me:)
A quite ridiculous and completely meaningless note of "Oiyoiyo" was loved by 2channel users so much. It began spreading quickly on 2channel as a catch phrase for Vaan. And after the game was released in March 2006 and players became to know whole of his acting and Vaan's little presence in its storyline, his immature acting began to be mocked in full scale by game fans.
Shift-JIS Arts for Oiyoiyo by 2channel users
The article for this catch phrase is submitted not only in joke sites such as Uncycolpedia[5] and Nico Nico Pedia[6], but also in Japanese Wikipedia as a redirect page to the article for the actor himself.[7]
In addition, many of his funny misheard phrases including "Oiyoiyo" have been occasionally reused in MAD videos since after the MAD video phenomena rose on Nico Nico Douga in 2007.[8]
Aftermath
- While his immature acting in this video game was so much ridiculed, Kouhei Takeda accepted the reputations positively, and made effort to improve his acting. 2 years later in 2008 when he appeared on a TV Tokusatsu series Kamen rider Kiva[9] as one of the main casts, viewers were so suprised at a tremendous improvement of his acting. At this time, "Oiyoiyo" became to a good old memory.
- In early 2011, his Twitter posts to a young actor made a headline on the Japanese web, that recommended "Tobioriro!" for a practice in pronunciation. He continued, "You would say "Oiyoiyo"".[10]
- In character selection menu in 2012 game Theatrhythm Final Fantasy[15], Vaan says "Tobioriro!" as well as other famous phrases "I'm Captain Basch" and "Hey Cosmos, how old are you?".
Various Examples
Left: Those who fight further | Right: Marisa Stole the Precious Thing
Left: Mayim Mayim | Right: Po Pi Po
Search Interest
External References
Editor’s Note: Registration is needed to browse the original videos listed in this section.
[1] Wikipedia – Final Fantasy XII
[2] Square Enix – Square Enix Party 2005 (Japanese)
[3] Wikipedia – Kouhei Takeda
[4] 2ch.net – ■FINAL FANTASY XII ～FF12スレッド～ ver.0287■ (Japanese)
[5] Nico Nico Pedia – オイヨイヨとは (Japanese)
[6] Uncyclopedia – オイヨイヨ (Japanese)
[7] Wikipedia – オイヨイヨ (Japanese)
[8] Nico Nico Douga – Search results for オイヨイヨ OR 武田航平
[9] Wikipedia – Kamen Rider Kiva
[10] Kotaku JAPAN – オイヨイヨ！ 『FF XII』ヴァン役の武田さん、滑舌トレーニング「飛び降りろ！」を推奨。 / 04-05-2011 (Japanese)
[11] Twitter – 加藤ゴム: いつも悪いけど、今日は滑舌がもの凄く悪い。噛みすぎて … / Posted on 03-27-2011 (Japanese, deleted)
[12] Twitter – 武田 航平: @katoh_gum 滑舌トレーニング一緒にしよ！ま … / Posted on 03-28-2011 (Japanese, deleted)
[13] Twitter – 加藤ゴム: @KohheiTakeda 飛び降りろ？ ｱﾒﾝﾎ … / Posted on 03-28-2011 (Japanese, deleted)
[14] Twitter – 武田 航平: @katoh_gum ヴァンの台詞だよ！多分けーちゃ … / Posted on 03-28-2011 (Japanese, deleted)
[15] Wikipedia – Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
