Ib Miscellanea
Just figured I'd talk about and clear up some random things about Ib, particularly given some of the theories and other things I've seen. Of course I'm just the translator, not kouri, but everything should be pretty factual based on what he's provided.
Massive spoilers for everything, of course.
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The game takes place at some point after the year 6235. Yes, those numbers given with the paintings are years. (There was a "year" there in Japanese, but it was awkward, and "circa" wouldn't be accurate.)
While the description for Serpent's Spirit (6248) mentions cubism being popular at the time, there's no reason that should mean it was in the early 1900s when cubism was first "invented."
Garry is not Guertena or anything of the sort. Guertena has been dead for some time according to the owners of the gallery ("the late Guertena") and one of the visitors ("If only you had been alive then, you could have been his apprentice").
Arguably he could have faked his death, but how would he come to look as devilishly handsome as Garry? Really, the only Garrytena theory that even seems possible is that Garry is his grandson or whatnot. (Probably further than that, even, if he doesn't have anything special to say about Juggling.)
The earliest date on Guertena's paintings is Marvelous Night in 6198, the latest is The Geometrical Fish in 6235, and Mary was his last (her year being given as "????"). That's at least 37 years of painting, and at least 12 years with a grandchild (given Juggling in 6223).
Garry is also not an escaped painting, unless things arbitrarily work completely differently for him compared to Mary. And even then, he presumably would've had an ordeal getting out to the real world. So I'm pretty sure he wouldn't come back to the gallery, at least not without a sure way of escaping again.
The Lady in Red is not based on a particular person. Despite what the guy in the gallery theorizes, Guertena himself denies that it depicts an actual person. The Lady is simply representative of the kinds of "ugly, haughty" women who sought his money. Painting a specific one would have been giving them what they want, in a way.
With regard to the book that states how "the women here" have a fondness for flower fortune-telling, I'm fairly sure that refers to the Ladies as well. So that one comic about the Lady in Blue just wanting Garry's love is dangerously close to canon.
Or if not that, she might still be pining for Guertena. Or it's just a threatening thing, like "these crazy painting ladies looooove picking petals ESPECIALLY ROSE PETALS MWAHAHAHA"
Many Japanese users seem to think Guertena's name is inspired by the Picasso painting Guernica, which is basically why I went with that spelling. Plus, it seemed like the most appropriate spelling given the Japanese "Gerutena" and the first name Weiss.
Given that Garry's Japanese name is spelled "Gyarii," it's probably supposed to be pronounced such that it rhymes with "starry," rather than rhyming with "marry" as is most common.
However, it's basically impossible to say kouri's intent there; "Gerii," "Garii," and "Gyarii" are apparently all valid spellings for the same name in Japanese. In that sense, you could pretty much say he has no intent for the English pronunciation, other than an "ah" sound better matching the Japanese.
It's probably all a joke about his girly screams anyway. ("My name is GYAAAAH!! ...rry.")
As far as a more convenient name for the Death of the Individual statues... I dunno. "Miss Individual," I guess. Miss Indi? Individie?