What’s the Deal with That Creepy Sonic CD Secret?

84 Comments

A reader recently asked a question that has some ties to the Sonic the Hedgehog series:

I’ve been curious about this mystery message you can find in Sonic CD.

I actually bought this game on Steam just now hoping to get a screenshot of this from it... but realized too late that you can't use the code on the Windows version nooooo

Now, from my understanding, this is apparently either a pun on the similar sound between Madjin and majin (魔神) or because “Madjin” is a nickname for Masato Nishimura. Is this just some clever pun?

This question actually goes kind of deep unless you already know Japanese, so this will be a bit long.

The Secret Screen

For the uninitiated, the deal is this: there’s a secret sound test in Sonic CD, and if you select the proper combination of stuff in that sound test, a spooky screen pops up with some Japanese text.

First, for clarification, here’s how to access this spooky screen to begin with:

  • At the title screen, press Down, Down, Down, Left, Right, A. This will take you to the secret sound test screen.
  • On the sound screen test, select FM No. 46, PCM No. 12, and DA No. 25.

    WHO FIGURED THIS OUT
  • Press Start, and the game will switch to a new screen. Here, some Japanese text appears and some creepy music and sounds play:

The Text

So, what does this text say? Here’s a look at the text side-by-side with a translation:

Japanese TextEnglish Translation
たのしさ∞
セガ・エンタープライゼス
   まぢん 画
Infinite Fun
Sega Enterprises
   Image by Majin

Romanization Woes

The bottom text seems to be what’s causing a lot of confusion. This confusion is a result of different romanization methods – which is the same reason for the Yoshi/Yossy confusion that we looked at a while back.

Basically, the name まぢん is pronounced “mah-jeen”. As such, this would usually be written as “Majin” in English using the romanization method that most Japanese-to-English translators and students use. But other romanization methods might spell it as “madin” or “madzin” or “mazin”. In all cases, though, it’s still pronounced “mah-jeen” regardless of spelling.

What makes the problem a little weirder is that is rarely ever used in Japanese; instead, is normally used. It has the same pronunciation – using instead of in this case is just a stylistic choice. But sometimes they get romanized differently too, so it just adds more confusion to the fire. Regardless of all this, though, it’s still pronounced “mah-jeen”.

This “majin” word is normally written in kanji as 魔神 or 魔人 and generally refers to a powerful supernatural being with human-like or god-like qualities. There’s no singular translation into English; you’ll see everything from demon to devil to genie to djinn to warlock to magus. So if you see rumors say that this message is supposedly from the devil or something like that, this might be why.

Majin’s Identity

The truth in this particular case is that “majin” is simply an alternate way to read Masato (真人) Nishimura’s given name. And apparently this was his nickname since he was a kid – I guess the easiest way to explain it is that it’s like how I would sometimes call my friend Sean “Seen” instead of “Shawn” as a kid.

In any case, Masato Nishimura hid this child nickname in other games too, including Shenmue!

WAPPEN!

He revealed all this info in an old Japanese interview here. He says he added his nickname to stuff because he wanted it to stand out… and given gamers’ reaction to this secret Sonic screen, I’d say he succeeded at that!

Back on Track

The real question, though, was if this Majin name on the Sonic CD screen was a pun or if it was just because it was Masato Nishimura’s nickname. The answer is… that it was because it was his nickname… but he got the nickname as a kid because it was a goofy way to read his name. So it’s sort of both. And because of this and the romanization issues and everything else, it just got lots of fans confused.

Summary: This secret message isn’t from the Devil. Masato Nishimura has a childhood nickname that’s based on some wordplay with his name and a term for a supernatural being. He snuck that nickname into a few games – including Sonic CD – and it confounded players for a while.


Incidentally, if you're a Sonic fan, I've written a few other articles about the series that you'll like here!

84 Comments
  1. I think the confusion would have been lessened if the audio/visual cues weren’t inherently creepy. The question still remains why he chose that to accompany such an innocent little message.

    1. Yeah, it does fit pretty well with the supernatural vibe the name has, but then again maybe that’s exactly why he chose to make it creepy in the first place.

    2. Yeah…I’m kind of regretting watching that clip so close to bedtime. :shiver:

      1. I don’t get it. Why is it so scary? It seems silly anyone would be scared by this.

        1. Creepy, not scary. Have you ever played Yume Nikki? Same kind of thing.

    3. Sorry if this is four years late, but the Japanese boss music is wayyy less creepy, and the screen was probably with that in mind. Take a look at this: https://youtu.be/LOnK4olyWj0?t=42s
      The image is still creepy though. 😛

    4. If you listen to the original Japanese game’s music for this screen you can tell it was clearly intended as a joke.

      1. Eh makes sense don’t balme u

    5. True.I found it and it made me switch to Mario Sunshine

    6. Apparently, for anybody that doesn’t bother to watch the video, the image is the cartoon version of Masato’s face.

      1. Oh the time u made that comment was Christmas so merry Christmas even if it’s late/early… and I am from the future where everything is majin

  2. For the unenlightened, that “creepy” music is the boss theme in the PAL/Japanese soundtrack.

    1. Even with the weird moaning/laughing sounds? If so, wow 😯

      1. Woop, my mistake. This is the US boss theme. Forgive me, it’s been a LONG time since I last played either version…

        1. For some reason, the US got an atmospheric soundtrack while Japan/Europe had an upbeat sountrack reminiscent of Shibuya-kei; either it’s done to accomodate the different opening track, or it’s just an example of US Kirby boxart syndrome. The only tracks that weren’t changed were the “Past” versions of the songs, which I’m guessing is because those are PCM audio as opposed to Redbook and thus would be more difficult to change.

          You’d better not run out of lives if you’re playing the US version: http://youtu.be/YM8qx-HdY5c

          1. I thought it was legal issues, or something of the sort…

          2. Interestingly, when the game was new, I thought the past tracks were different for artistic purposes. They had a musical style reminiscent of the cartridge-based Sonic games, so the past versions of the Sonic CD stages sounded like, well, like Sonic’s past. I actually thought it was a pretty cool touch.
            I had no idea the US soundtrack was different and that the rest of the world got screwed out of Sonic Boom.

            @David

            Naw, legal issues is why they don’t use the japanese songs in modern Japanese/European Sonic CD releases(opting instead for lyricless versions).
            The changed US soundtrack is simply because they felt it would go over better that way in the US.

            1. Yeh but captain when u buy the illegal copy and go to the past/future and getting fast enough in a few sec u will see sonic holding a disk and then 5 sec later the image of majin sonic appears and fun is infinite isn’t there but a message 4 secs later u will hear a drrrrr sound remember this is the illegal copy

      2. Nah, this is the boss music in the Japanese and European versions.

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTXR0T5mJ68

        Not nearly as creepy.

        1. i STILL Hear Those Laughs…. You Can Hear Them Faintly…. Listen Closely!

      3. I was one of them

      4. Who thought it was good to put the egg in a KIDS game unless you go to settings in the main menu to JP instead of US or don’t wanna go to sleep do the egg in US music

    2. david the music is from usa music

      1. Why did majin do that(sighs) 46 12 25

  3. I’m sure that Sonic CD screen was creepier than it was meant to be for American audiences considering the Japanese/European boss music is hip-hop influenced. Some people also translate that text as “Sega gives you infinite pleasure”, which is creepy regardless of what music is playing in the background.

    1. Does the Japanese/European version really use different music?

      1. It does. The most recent re-release however allows you to switch between soundtracks.

  4. I got a question for you, Mato. Since you are dealing with Japanese kanji in localized games (your Monado and Street Fighter articles) I got another game series to add to the list: the .hack//G.U. games. I know you are busy so I make this short- I’ve been playing the Volume 1//Rebirth and noticed a lot of Japanese writing throughout my playthrough. I’ve seen it in the “Background pictures”, on the screen when you do a special attack, and on a character’s back. I only want you to do the first game and it’s alright if you don’t translate them all. Anyway, thank you.

    1. I don’t have any of the games anymore, and I definitely don’t have time to play through them, so if you can get screenshots of any ones in particular that you wanna know about I can post a thing about ’em sometime.

      1. Alright, sure. I’ll try to get some interesting screen shots during this week.

      2. See the egg again and tell me how it went

  5. On a slightly related note, I wonder who thought up the name “Creepypasta” anyway… It’s so random.

    1. it’s a play on on “copypasta” which means exactly what it sounds like, something that is copied and pasted.

      1. But paste and pasta don’t sound alike. Copypasta sounds like someone spilled their spaghetti in a Xerox machine(which is an image I choose to conjure every time I see the term).

        1. They don’t sound alike, but they’re *spelled* alike. It’s easy to see how you could get someone going ‘delicious copy pasta’ in response to someone copypasting something, and then it catches on from there.

  6. Only the Mega CD version of all the European releases use the Japanese soundtrack. the Windows 95 and the GameCube/PS2 releases use the American version of the soundtrack even in Europe…which annoyed me because the original Japanese soundtrack just seems like it fits with the game better. It certainly fits with itself better because at least the themes for the Past match the Present and Future themes… (for whatever technical reason, Past themes are the same song in every version, which Present, Good Future and Bad Future was changed to entirely different music for America).

    Though nowadays all is well in the world, because the “new” version of Sonic CD for iOS, XLA, PC etc. (the ‘Christian Whitehead’ version) has the option to select between the two soundtracks, which pleases everybody. 😀

    1. *with
      *XBLA
      darn typoes

    2. The Past music is the same because it runs off the Genesis soundchip instead of CD audio. Redoing the rest of the soundtrack was a matter of swapping out some MP3 files, redoing the Past themes would have required messing with the sound engine.

  7. By the way, I just tried this on the Sonic Gems Collection version of the game (The GameCube disc). It’s very interesting; the FM NO. option doesn’t exist in this one, but by setting the other two to the correct options, I was still transported straight to this screen. I wonder if it would work even if FM NO. wasn’t set to 46?

    1. The version of Sonic CD you played in Gems Collection was actually a lousy port of the equally lousy PC port of the Sega CD game. The PC port didn’t use any FM sounds and instead used .WAV-like rips for the sound effects. Oh, and it released with the USA soundtrack worldwide even in Japan. =P

  8. @^ In the original Mega CD version, you do indeed need to set all three numbers for the secret messages to appear.

  9. There was a Dragon Ball villain called Majin Buu. In the VIZ manga release, the Majin part of Buu’s name was changed to Djinn. That made Buu a genie instead of a demon.

  10. Also, obligatory request: I’ve been playing some NES games I’m familiar with in the original Japanese to help learn the language (I’m taking my JAP 101 class), but for whatever reason Hitler no Fukkatsu Top Secret (Bionic Commando) uses kanji in its dialogue! Any idea why this relatively plotless NES action-platformer uses kanji? (If you would provide translations of the kanji included for my own purposes that would be nice, since there can’t be that /many/, that would be nice, but I understand if that’s impractical.)

    1. Ah shit, my brain fucked up during that last sentence and now I look like a moron. Didn’t mean to say “that would be nice” twice!

  11. Score man, thanks for explaining this! My friend will be stoked when he reads this. = D

  12. I hope my son, Sean, doesn’t have to deal with being called “Seen” 😉

  13. Some other differences between Sonic CD versions:
    In the Gems collection (and only this version), water in Tidal Tempest zone is completely clear and does not change the colour of things seen underwater.

    In the Christian Whitehead version. you can select between the weird spindash this game used or the proper spindash common to the other Mega Drive games.

    Also in this version, the level select was changed to actually function properly. In the original, you would be sent back to the title screen any time the game would normally have to load a new map (either by changing time zone or by clearing an act). In the Christian Whitehead version, level select will work as it does in other Sonics.

    Also they added Tails as a playable character, complete with his flying ability and new sprites to match this game’s unique animations (such as spinning upwards from springs rather than bouncing while facing straight upwards). Though Tails cannot earn achievements.

    Hmm. What else? There’s a new secret sound test image in this version, showing off a small portion of an unused desert zone with the initials “C.W.”

  14. I did alittle research myself and apparently the text from the hidden message says “Fun is Infinite, Sega Enterprises; Majin. But I translated myself and it came up to be “Happiness ∞
       Sega enterprises, Ltd.

    Hustle’s paintings”

    I might be wrong but if I am then feel free to respond back.

    1. Mato’s translation seems accurate to me. たのしさ can be read as “happiness”, but does have a focus on the “having fun” kind of happiness, which is why that was translated the way it was.

      As for “hustle”… Uh, where’d you get that from? I can’t relate “majin” to that in any way, myself… Well, the interview Mato linked to made it abundantly clear it’ supposed to be just “Majin” (no further translation needed), anyway, as it’s a nickname.

  15. Hi I was wondering if this hidden message shows up on the mobile phone version (windows phone,Xbox. Right now I have the demo of Sonic Cd on my phone but I don’t think the sound test settings appears on the demo and maybe if I purchase the full version for my phone I could get the sound settings opened. But before I make any purchases I would just like to know if i could get that setting or not for mobile.
    Please reply! Thank you.

    1. Sadly I don’t have the mobile version, but I do know that on the Steam version you have to unlock the sound test by playing the game, you can’t just input a secret code.

  16. I hate you so much. Say sorry to your friend.

    1. I haven’t seen him in 25 years, I dunno how!

  17. Lol creepy sonic cd fun is infinity sega interprises

    1. I was born on 13 12 25 I’m like majin watch don’t play Sonic CD at 3AM

  18. Deep voiced laughing in the song

  19. HAHAHA please, do you think we are kids?.. c’mon, We know the satanic sects, they are actually pretty normal and common in the media, entertainment etc… Sonic satanic, why not?— the only succesful product of sega was Sonic, we know that

  20. There was another hidden image in Sonic CD (and was much more pleasant to look at, btw) with Japanese text.

    http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/019/0/d/sonic_cd_hidden_picture_2_by_elias1986-d37kdkd.jpg

    I’ve always wondered what that text says.

  21. Obviously “Mato”, a PR person from funimation,sega etc. would say that its the producer and NOT Majin. Ye I bet the producer put that creepy music and creepy sonic AND the OHM chanting just for the LULZ.

  22. The Sonics on the background are sopposed to be sonic with Marios face

    1. Rly? it looks worse than Jason with no hockey-mask .

    2. And the laugh is intended to be creepy . It’s in both versions … not a mistake ….

  23. Speaking of Sonic CD… it would be really interesting to see what Japanese Sonic fans think of the changed soundtrack in the US version of the game.

  24. I think there’s more to the picture..

  25. Don’t blame me but I’m kinda like majin sonic I’m trying to try it myself

    1. You have seen the Sonic CD’s secret message youtube video if yes then you remember the kid who first got the game if I recall correctly beat the game in one day and some kids in his class he told them all about then a kid told him enter this code at midnight 46 12 25 so he did it he waited for midnight then he put in the code then he saw a disturbing Sonic image in Japanese translate into English fun is infinite signed by majin it wasn’t long until he can not sleep his classmate pranked him. Poor kid

  26. Hey I’m a kid ya know I’m not afraid but I am afraid of the music, You have to hear it.

  27. Just a random observation I think he used the infinity symbol because when sonic runs fast in Sonic cd his legs form that symbol

  28. I hope my comment gets a best comment anyway listen to the laugh in the beginning of the song then take sonic .EXE’S laugh the take the majin one make it faster and more high pitch and they should sound alike This is a fact about 99.9% did not know so there’s a fact for u all.

  29. I meant great comment pls give it great comment plz

  30. After all these years since this article came out, I found another connection that may reveal some more context. Looking at some catalog cover scans on Sega Retro, I noticed the same phrase “たのしさ∞” on the bottom. I found this on the covers from 1987 to 1993.

    https://segaretro.org/images/9/95/87SummerCatalogue.jpg
    https://segaretro.org/images/0/00/91SummerCatalogue.jpg
    https://segaretro.org/File:92SummerCatalogue.jpg
    https://segaretro.org/images/3/3d/93SummerCatalogue.jpg

    Thus, the “Infinite Fun” wasn’t a phrase that Masato Nishimura made, but something Sega themselves used as a slogan.