Talk:Seffle particle

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Question of name translation/spelling

Was there any official source of the "Zephyr" particles' spelling? I always saw this spelling on the Internet, but never understood why it has always been this way. First of all, wether you pronounce it in English (ゼファー) or German (ツェフィア/ツェフィエ), "Zephyr" dosen't sound like the name of the particles in Japanese (ゼッフル - "Zeffuru", which would sound like "Seffel" written un German). Moreover, the creator of the particles, Karl *how-you-would-spell-it*, seems to be a Galactic Empire subject, so his name WOULD sound German. In my opinion, the spelling "Zephyr" is wrong here. I don't know how to correct it because I don't speak German, but this name has to be a transcription of ゼッフル in German spelling and pronounciation. Thank you. — Saga

Hi - you raise a good point. Anyone know? Vympel 07:46, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

I don't have access to the series right now, and might not for a while, but this is something i noticed when the particles got subtitled in the series. I'll have to go back and check to see what they say — will try to do it tonight if i get some time, otherwise i'll add it to my list. Thanks for pointing it out!  ♥ kine @ 00:47, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

OK, looked it up.

First of all, i can't find any instances of the word Zephyr (or any variations) in my (Nemesis) DVD subtitles. However, they do get German subtitles in episode 080 ('The Battle of the Corridor: Kaleidoscope'), where they are referred to as Seffle Korpuskel (see right). The same spelling is used in the LaserDiscs.

Central Anime's subtitles naturally do contain the word Zephyr, beginning with episode 005 ('The Castrop Rebellion'), about 14 minutes in, where the particles are given English name subs (see right again). These name subtitles were invented by CA and do not correspond with any name subs (English or otherwise) that i can find in the original LaserDiscs or DVDs.

As far as the name Seffle, it doesn't seem to be a 'real' word, aside from being a possible transliteration of Säffle, a town in Sweden. But in both Swedish and German the final e would be pronounced (seff-leh in Swedish, zeff-leh in German), so if that is the intention the Japanese (ゼッフル) is not strictly accurate.

I am not sure where the Karl Seffle reference comes from — i assume the Gaiden? If so, perhaps Iracundus could help us out here, because i think he has the original DVDs, which hopefully have more helpful subtitles.  ♥ kine @ 07:03, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

Seffle pretty much settles "Zephyr" as being wrong though, at the very least. I'm gonna have to go through my SDN thread and do a find and replace edit on *everything* lol :) Vympel 08:37, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

The LOGH Encyclopedia p. 130 lists as Karl Seffl and the era as some time in the Galactic Federation era. The Databook has a bit where it says by 680 UC it had been weaponized, and was used to destroy an Alliance fortress by releasing the particles to permeate the inside then triggering it with long range weapon fire (incidentally sacrificing the Imperial engineering teams). Iracundus 11:19, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! I will look that up when i get time. Meanwhile, i've posted a thread on Central Anime's forum to ask for Heibi's take on the subject  ♥ kine @ 21:41, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

Seffl (no e) incidentally does seem to be a real last name for some people out there. Iracundus 05:05, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Quite right, thanks. No etymology i can find though. :/

Heibi2 responded to my post, FYI, and seems to agree that (in the absence of any further information to the contrary) it should technically be Seffle. I suppose this is something i'll have to add to my list of things to find/replace  ♥ kine @ 08:08, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Looks like Heibi2 is going to go with the Seffle spelling for their release of the The Retriever. Guess that should help reduce the confusion viewers are likely going to experience when they see the different spelling here :) source  ♥ kine @ 23:57, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Thank you all for spotting the right spelling. I've wondered about it for at least five years! — Saga

Seven years after, an update! Though the former OVA series and US-release novels settled on the "Seffle" spelling, the 17th episode of DNT displays "SEFFEL" on an OS screen. However, on DNT, I noticed on several occasions that the team behind these on-screen FXs does not seem to standardize spellings with the rest of the series staff. For example, Reinhard's ship "Brünhild" is spelled as is on production art but "Brynhildr" on screen. One episode even displayed three different spellings for "El Facil / El-Facil / Al-Fasher"... so, regarding our "Seffel" topic, I recommend sticking to the original "Seffle"! - Saga 10:01, 28 October 2019 (UTC)