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Let's Compare the Localization of Fire Emblem Games!


Kirokan
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Hi everyone! Some of you may know me and some may not, but I basically do a lot of FE translation stuff in the background for the fandom.

I thought it may be nice to share my FE related localization comparisons with you all. Some are minor, some are major, but they're all just as fun. I've done many for the Fire Emblem games so couldn't narrow it to any one board, so chose to post this in "general." (Though a thread does exist deep in the Fates board somewhere.)

My main reason for posting these is I see people sometimes posting the trivia or things pointed out in these articles but then being unsure of where the info actually came from or not having any kind of source to back them up. Since I've only been posting these to twitter, a lot of FE fans miss out on it too. So, this way it's in one neat place and easy for reference. I'll be doing more in the future and hopefully can come back and update this thread regularly if it isn't dead, but we'll see.

Please feel free to share these wherever you please if you find something fun. No need to ask for permission, all I ask is to link to the respective blog articles if possible! I'm attempting to sequentially post these on my reddit profile (u/kantopia) too, but if any of you see one that isn't on there, please go ahead and do so without worrying about if I lose out on karma or whatever (reddit scares me, and karma is of no concern to me).

I marked it by category and spoiler tags for each game. Please be spoiler wary as some deal with endgame stuff in their respective games.

All of these comparisons and more (for other games such as Zelda or Pokemon) can also be seen on my comparison hub page here.

If there are other lines in the Fire Emblem games you've always been curious about, please let me know! A lot of these fun things come from reader requests, so please feel free.

Without further ado, let's compare!

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linacomf3.png?w=300&h=282

7/Blazing Blade:

8/Sacred Stones:

9/Path of Radiance:

10/Radiant Dawn:

14/Fates:

15/Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

Heroes

 

Edited by Kirokan
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Huh this is neat

 

Would you mind covering some archanea/jugdral era games? Theres some dialogues translation on there that seems interesting

 

The ones that comes to mind is Leif's "Wise-King" title(far as i know this is actually official from the days of FE5 ending, with the most used translation simply calling him "Legendary King" in a non-title specifications), Murder Hollace, and the small shift in FE12 writing compared to FE3's fan translation

Edited by JSND Alter Dragon Boner
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7 minutes ago, JSND Alter Dragon Boner said:

Huh this is neat

Would you mind covering some archanea/jugdral era games? Theres some dialogues translation on there that seems interesting

The ones that comes to mind is Leif's "Wise-King" title(far as i know this is actually official from the days of FE5 ending, with the most used translation simply calling him "Legendary King" in a non-title specifications), Murder Hollace, and the small shift in FE12 writing compared to FE3's fan translation

So the reason I haven't done FE1-6 and 12 is because no official localization actually exists on those (aside from names we got now thanks to the FE Heroes poll). Though Shadow Dragon and such makes Archanea possible. Fan translations we could ask the translators directly how they arrived at the translations they did and such, like for the questions you have there.

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6 minutes ago, Kirokan said:

So the reason I haven't done FE1-6 and 12 is because no official localization actually exists on those (aside from names we got now thanks to the FE Heroes poll). Though Shadow Dragon and such makes Archanea possible. Fan translations we could ask the translators directly how they arrived at the translations they did and such, like for the questions you have there.

In that case would you mind ones from Shadow Dragon?

Theres an ongoing rumors about how Shadow Dragon Marth(NA) have a personality change compared to the original Japanese version, although theres a supposedly accurate proof about how this is actually wrong, i'm still kinda curious about it lol

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3 minutes ago, JSND Alter Dragon Boner said:

In that case would you mind ones from Shadow Dragon?

Theres an ongoing rumors about how Shadow Dragon Marth(NA) have a personality change compared to the original Japanese version, although theres a supposedly accurate proof about how this is actually wrong, i'm still kinda curious about it lol

That sounds like something I can do, yes. : ) Though since that's a more general question I'll have to narrow it down to a few specific instances that can display his personality and such. Hmm may be best to see where this proof is first to avoid redundancy if possible! I'll have to search around.

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4 minutes ago, Kirokan said:

That sounds like something I can do, yes. : ) Though since that's a more general question I'll have to narrow it down to a few specific instances that can display his personality and such. Hmm may be best to see where this proof is first to avoid redundancy if possible! I'll have to search around.

The proof wasn't exactly a dialogue of it sadly, its a post about "Japanese general perception of Fire Emblem games" and the notion about Marth's personality is made during the review of Shadow Dragon and New Mystery

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59 minutes ago, Kirokan said:

So the reason I haven't done FE1-6 and 12 is because no official localization actually exists on those (aside from names we got now thanks to the FE Heroes poll).

What about Awakening?

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2 hours ago, JSND Alter Dragon Boner said:

The proof wasn't exactly a dialogue of it sadly, its a post about "Japanese general perception of Fire Emblem games" and the notion about Marth's personality is made during the review of Shadow Dragon and New Mystery

Hmm well that is a good approach to research it from! Maybe compiling concrete replies from Japanese users (or just going to their wikia to see how they attribute his "personality") may work just as well.

2 hours ago, Jingle Jangle said:

How did characters with accents like Athena and Say'ri sounded in the in JP versions of their games?

That sounds like a fun one, I'll add it to the to do list.

1 hour ago, bethany81707 said:

If you want a follow-up to the Black Knight's altered survival, his 5* 40 conversation in Heroes in English references it.

I read that one, indeed similar lines to what he says there, though they didn't have to worry about any altered survival.

1 hour ago, NinjaMonkey said:

What about Awakening?

Yep I do Awakening! I haven't yet since a lot of it was covered by other sites, but if you have any suggestions I'll look into them. : )

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Always happy to see you Kirokan! I do find translation stuff interesting. And as always, thank you for your hard work! 

 

I pity DozlaxGarcia, from serious character backstory and bonding to alcohol-free middle-aged men doing crazy things. Such a shame, Dozla isn't the most likable of characters as is, between his shabby base stats and dwarfish (as in the mythical creatures) appearance. And that reminds me, apparently, so I heard AmeliaxEwan, the B support, had Ewan looking up her skirt in Japan. In the US, it became noticing a stain on the skirt, guess that went the way of the booze.

On the other hand, great to see that Sanaki's drowning line is in the spirit of the Japanese, I'm quite fond of that one, although so few will ever see it, given the conditions around it. I had already read your "Father of Sothe's children" translation before, but I didn't remember whether you thought it was quite in line with the Japanese, good it to hear it is in the same spirit too.

The Order and Chaos, Positive and Negative issue is quite extraordinary, since it refers to the basic nature of the Goddesses of Tellius and the world itself!

 

Now for my laundry list of requests. You can turn them down if you want to, I'm not paying you or anything and I don't want to be a burden.

What was "Balance" the thing which is used alongside "Chaos" in PoR. In English in PoR, "Order" is not really used, "Balance" is. 

Spoiler

Volke
Compared to other people, the balance within your sister is extremely strong. Your mother, it seems, was the same. That's why they could bear it safely. The medallion is like a strong poison. It takes the worst aspects of a person and magnifies them a thousandfold. Greil touched it only once, and it drove him to complete madness.

Ike
So that's what you meant when you said he went berserk?

Volke
That's right. Beorc and laguz are made up of two forces: balance and chaos. In this, there is no difference between us. It is the proportion of balance to chaos that determines how much the medallion
affects a person. In that sense, it predicts how much harm that person might do.
 

I would hazard that RD made the change for good reason, since Ashera who would be associated with this "Balance", isn't so "Balanced" after all- she is her own extreme as the heroes find out. Then again, given the Japanese for Order and Chaos, I wonder if it was perhaps just a different reading of the Japanese "Positive" from the one used in RD?

 

For Blazing Sword, the WilxRaven support, it looks to me like it involved poking at Japanese's pantheon of different ways of addressing people (or so I hear), depending on their status relative to you societally and the importance of using the right language, something that didn't transfer well into English as a joke if you ask me. Could you see if this is the case? 

And in another Blazing Sword look, just a quick one at the start of the KentxFiora A support, does it really imply the two had sex after the B support in Japan? One translator said it did, but I believe said translator also argued Soren was gay for Ike looking at his dialogue, which I take issue with (Soren is obsessed with Ike, but not romantically so for me, more as a savior and only friend). Just want a second opinion from a translator I trust. 

 

And can I ask about a scanning of Devdan's/Danved's dialogue? I remember reading an article that showed how Kyza speaks in stereotypical gay language in Japan, using the form of Japanese spoken by non-adult girls (atatashi?). In the article, the author said Devdan speaks like a coy woman in Japan, but they never followed up and did a textual examination to show this was the case. Could you confirm/deny this? When I read Devdan's Tormod support in PoR, I get the sense there that it could have been "motherly" in Japanese.

The English version of Devdan, a quirky entertainer, who at best could be called "Forrest Gumpy", an endearingly simple, possibly neurologically.... unique and thats perfectly good for the world, person (I really liked Jungo in Devil Survivor 2 by the way, and I got this very impression from him). Although in practice, he comes off more as creepy, downright bizarre, and even, if you want to read into his skin tone (which I prefer not to), as racist. A tragedy in English, would a literal translating of Japanese Devdan be just as bad?

 

One final quick request, since you did the "moldy onions" and "rancid butter" lines, and I assume the "hornet hairs" one (stated I think in 1-6 RD) is just like the "onions" one, what of Marcia's love for food-based and other non-"damn" swearing? Are "Crackers!", "You cheese-eating rat!", and Haar's counter in 2-P "apple-eating hairbag" other cases of the localizers having fun?

....That makes me want to ask about Haar's Lekain boss convo, with that "gravity" line being so lovable, and really, Haar is gold in English. Or Bastian! Is his Japanese as poetic as his English is in PoR? (And is English Bastian really iambic pentameter?) 

 

By Ashunera and Elimine, I have too many requests! I have to stop myself. Just consider me throwing points of interest at you, with not expectations of you ever following up on them. Since I do ask for too much.

Sorry. I've been reading a lot of articles off of Legends of Localization recently, and it's making me hunger for more! I can't wait until one of the guys there writes his article on the use of the title "Four Heavenly Kings" in Japanese entertainment media, which is the Japanese title of Pokemon's "Elite Four" by the way.

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For Echoes, I think Gray and Clair's A Support definitely should go there. The localization turns Gray into an asshole who doesn't change, when he finally turned around and fell in love with Clair's personality in the original text.

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@Interdimensional Observer don't worry about it! The way I do these is I compile a list of things and look into them when I get time. I won't feel pressured or anything, so please suggest away! It gives some direction otherwise I'd only look into things I'm personally curious about.

Now to address your post piece by piece:

Quote

And that reminds me, apparently, so I heard AmeliaxEwan, the B support, had Ewan looking up her skirt in Japan. In the US, it became noticing a stain on the skirt, guess that went the way of the booze.

Interesting, I'll add that to the list to look into for confirm/denying. : )

Quote

On the other hand, great to see that Sanaki's drowning line is in the spirit of the Japanese, I'm quite fond of that one, although so few will ever see it, given the conditions around it.

I'm happy someone else liked that small scene xD It's one of my favorites so I was definitely curious about it. : )

Quote

 

What was "Balance" the thing which is used alongside "Chaos" in PoR. In English in PoR, "Order" is not really used, "Balance" is. 

I would hazard that RD made the change for good reason, since Ashera who would be associated with this "Balance", isn't so "Balanced" after all- she is her own extreme as the heroes find out. Then again, given the Japanese for Order and Chaos, I wonder if it was perhaps just a different reading of the Japanese "Positive" from the one used in RD?

 

That's a good question. Thanks for providing the point in the script, will look into it. RD in general is such a mess due to all the script changes and the like that it has so much to dig through xD

Quote

For Blazing Sword, the WilxRaven support, it looks to me like it involved poking at Japanese's pantheon of different ways of addressing people (or so I hear), depending on their status relative to you societally and the importance of using the right language, something that didn't transfer well into English as a joke if you ask me. Could you see if this is the case? 

That sounds fun! The more Blazing Sword the merrier : ) Added.

Quote

And in another Blazing Sword look, just a quick one at the start of the KentxFiora A support, does it really imply the two had sex after the B support in Japan? One translator said it did, but I believe said translator also argued Soren was gay for Ike looking at his dialogue, which I take issue with (Soren is obsessed with Ike, but not romantically so for me, more as a savior and only friend). Just want a second opinion from a translator I trust. 

Does their English support imply such? I'll have to look into it later. I understand if you want a second opinion, so I'll do my best to take a look. : )

Quote

And can I ask about a scanning of Devdan's/Danved's dialogue? I remember reading an article that showed how Kyza speaks in stereotypical gay language in Japan, using the form of Japanese spoken by non-adult girls (atatashi?). In the article, the author said Devdan speaks like a coy woman in Japan, but they never followed up and did a textual examination to show this was the case. Could you confirm/deny this? When I read Devdan's Tormod support in PoR, I get the sense there that it could have been "motherly" in Japanese.

Ah yes the wonderful amielleon covered that on Kyza. I linked to it when writing his profile during the Tellius Recollection 2 project, which may be where you read it. : ) I believe from memory Devan does use "wa" at the end of his lines, but I'll look into it to double check just so we can have something in writing and a point of reference.

Quote

One final quick request, since you did the "moldy onions" and "rancid butter" lines, and I assume the "hornet hairs" one (stated I think in 1-6 RD) is just like the "onions" one, what of Marcia's love for food-based and other non-"damn" swearing? Are "Crackers!", "You cheese-eating rat!", and Haar's counter in 2-P "apple-eating hairbag" other cases of the localizers having fun?

I'm always up for more moldy onions! A big thanks for pointing out where in the script they are though since otherwise I'd have to spend the extra time researching. On a related tangent I want to see what Marcia calls Makalov in Japanese when calls him a "eunuch" in English xD

Quote

....That makes me want to ask about Haar's Lekain boss convo, with that "gravity" line being so lovable, and really, Haar is gold in English. Or Bastian! Is his Japanese as poetic as his English is in PoR? (And is English Bastian really iambic pentameter?) 

Bastian will probably have to be a page of his own huh? That Haar one sounds like fun though!

Quote

Sorry. I've been reading a lot of articles off of Legends of Localization recently, and it's making me hunger for more! I can't wait until one of the guys there writes his article on the use of the title "Four Heavenly Kings" in Japanese entertainment media, which is the Japanese title of Pokemon's "Elite Four" by the way.

I'm a big fan of Clyde (Legends of Localization) and we follow each other's work (a real honor! He even links to me on the front page of his site), so I totally understand. : ) It was his format that got me to start looking into these things after all.

As said before, please request as many things as you want. The bigger the list, the more options I have!

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2 minutes ago, SatsumaFSoysoy said:

For Echoes, I think Gray and Clair's A Support definitely should go there. The localization turns Gray into an asshole who doesn't change, when he finally turned around and fell in love with Clair's personality in the original text.

Oh really? I'll add that to the list to give a break down view of. : ) Echoes I only played in Japanese (the others like Fates I played in both hence why there's so many more articles). As a result I have to rely on what people who played Echoes tell me was up with that game. xD

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pretty neat stuff! grateful for a lot of these changes honestly, i can't imagine a version of echoes where alm doesn't make puns

for a suggestion: one thing i'm curious about is whether or not celica's sorta catchphrase of "ready for anything" was in the original text or not

in english she says it when you select her on the map in act 2 and 3, after you leave the priory, and before the final battle

the latter 2 are both the exact same phrase, "let's be ready for anything", so i wouldn't be surprised if they're the same in japanese, but the one on the map is "I'm ready for anything!", so i'm more curious about that one

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2 minutes ago, Kirokan said:

Oh really? I'll add that to the list to give a break down view of. : ) Echoes I only played in Japanese (the others like Fates I played in both hence why there's so many more articles). As a result I have to rely on what people who played Echoes tell me was up with that game. xD

I mostly play in Japanese (I played FE7 and 8 in English because I'm not very picky if a game has no voice acting), so I only found out about Clair and Gray through people complaining lol.

But another one came to mind- Faye and Silque's supports, or even Faye in general. Faye is a lot more passive aggressive to Silque in the English supports, and she comes off as crazier in her Alm support because of the tone (killing people in his name etc.).

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5 minutes ago, unique said:

pretty neat stuff! grateful for a lot of these changes honestly, i can't imagine a version of echoes where alm doesn't make puns

for a suggestion: one thing i'm curious about is whether or not celica's sorta catchphrase of "ready for anything" was in the original text or not

in english she says it when you select her on the map in act 2 and 3, after you leave the priory, and before the final battle

the latter 2 are both the exact same phrase, "let's be ready for anything", so i wouldn't be surprised if they're the same in japanese, but the one on the map is "I'm ready for anything!", so i'm more curious about that one

Indeed, a reminder that none of these are a case of which is better, but just to show us what it was originally and whether the localization conveyed the intent or not : )

That's interesting if she keeps saying it. If I can isolate it on the English script I can find the exact phrases on the Japanese script, too.

@SatsumaFSoysoy

I think Faye's passive aggressiveness in English is definitely punched up, but I recall to Silque she is still cruel enough for the developers to make notice of fan reactions to it.

Quote

 

Q: When you advance in the story, you begin to learn more about the kind of girl she is. That first support conversation with Silque made an especially powerful impact! (Laughs) It was talked about all over the net.

Kusakihara: She seems like this cute kid at first, but from that intense first support conversation, well, it left even Mr. Higuchi trembling, going like, “T-t-this girl is scary.”

Higuchi: Ah! I did say that!

 

Still it may be nice to see it side by side : )

Edited by Kirokan
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5 minutes ago, Kirokan said:

I think Faye's passive aggressiveness in English is definitely punched up, but I recall to Silque she is still cruel enough for the developers to make notice of fan reactions to it.

Interesting, never read that. Faye was definitely hard to approach, but I didn't think she was actively trying to be rude to Silque in JP; she just legitimately didn't care about Silque, and was honest about it. The "not everyone has to be friends" remark in English put some edge into the support convo. Imo, I thought that attitude tipped Faye from weird and unstable in JP to a bit uncaring and crazy. Which is somewhat similar to how Tharja changed between JP and EN, in a way?

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1 minute ago, SatsumaFSoysoy said:

Interesting, never read that. Faye was definitely hard to approach, but I didn't think she was actively trying to be rude to Silque in JP; she just legitimately didn't care about Silque, and was honest about it. The "not everyone has to be friends" remark in English put some edge into the support convo. Imo, I thought that attitude tipped Faye from weird and unstable in JP to a bit uncaring and crazy. Which is somewhat similar to how Tharja changed between JP and EN, in a way?

Indeed, for the Japanese culture that brutal honesty/apathy probably came off as especially frightening, where as it may not be so much in English/western culture, hence why they may increase it?

That's true about Tharja changes, though. Often these happen when something in one culture may not be perceived the same in another, so has to change to achieve a similar result.

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14 minutes ago, Kirokan said:

Indeed, for the Japanese culture that brutal honesty/apathy probably came off as especially frightening, where as it may not be so much in English/western culture, hence why they may increase it?

That's true about Tharja changes, though. Often these happen when something in one culture may not be perceived the same in another, so has to change to achieve a similar result.

I would say that's accurate. Brutal but polite honesty is considered cool and savage instead of rude in Western culture nowadays.

I think they changed Tharja and Faye for the worse in English, personally...

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And this isn't FE-related, nor is it so much about translation as it is about contextualization, but I really want to mention this. Pass it on the LoL guys if they'd be up for it instead, since there is that article on the Four Heavenly Kings in the works there.

Spoiler

One day I was randomly reading Zelda Wiki for fun. And then I got to the article on a certain... persona... that many Zelda fans love, being that they are so badass and mysterious. I do think it's being overused nowadays ruining the magic, but that is just me. Anyhow I happened to notice this at the bottom of the page:

Language Name
Fierce Deity Fierce Deity Link
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland EnglishUK Fierce Deity Fierce Deity Link
Japan Japanese 鬼神 (Kishin) 鬼神リンク (Kishin Rinku)

And suddenly I was enthusiastic!

Why? 

I happen to also be a fan of the RPG series known as Shin Megami Tensei. Basically a much much darker version of Pokemon (that predated it) to put it in really simplified terms.

It features mythological beings (generically called "demons"- but you have Archangels and Vishnu to say the very least, so the term is not to be taken in a strict sense) from pretty much any and every religion, and even urban folklore and conspiracy theory, which you can fuse together to make stronger ones. To make fusion mechanically workable from a game design perspective, demons are divided into "races" or "clans", depending on the game. The Fairy race features Pixie, Knocker, Jack Frost, Silky, Titania, all mythological fairies, Cerberus and Orthrus are Beasts, demons from Ars Goetia are usually Fallen.

Getting to the point, there is a Kishin race (this race, like many Eastern-specific races, has its name left always untranslated) in SMT, and it includes things like this:

Image result for shin megami tensei zouchouten

This is Zouchouten, one of the mythological Four Heavenly Kings (his original Sanskrit name is different), and in SMT, the Kishin race like it were a law of the universe, always features Zouchou and his fellow Kings, Komokuten, Jikokuten, and the leader of the four Bishamonten, as Kishin. And unlike some other mythological figures *cough Rama and Diana cough*, SMT gives the Kings a very traditional and accurate design. I

Compare Zouchouten and his comrades with Fierce Deity Link. Both have pupiless eyes, both look very angry and wrathful. And the Four Heavenly Kings, as their names would imply, are a force for justice in the world, they are just a force for the holy dharma of Buddhism that brings justice by scaring and beating the excrement out of evil. (Sort of like how the Abrahamic God did that by showing its power with the whole plagues of Egypt thing in Exodus and the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah, for examples of divine wrath in a more familiar context for Western audiences.) It isn't hard to see why SMT labels the FHK as Kishins.

This should answer the question asked, at least in English, by the pop up text when you first obtain the Fierce Deity's Mask:

"You got the Fierce Deity's Mask! Could this mask's dark powers be as bad as Majora? Try it on with (C)." 

If by "bad" you mean "evil"? No, not at all, just the opposite. If by "bad" you mean "strong"? Then hell yeah!

Note the Zelda Wiki page in question has an explanation of what Kishin means right at the top of the translation table I cited above, but I feel a little more in-depth article, even if on an obscure translation website that few will ever read, would explain this better to Zelda fans and that it'd be beneficial having the context. It is for me at least.

...Getting back to FE, I can think of a few other things.

One, I know SF has a few parts of the RD Extended Script available, you could easily make a lonnggggg article out of all the neat little additions it features. But then I noticed something in the Extended Script, which must be present in both the regular and extended versions of the Japanese script, that was clearly changed in the English. Compare Almedha in 3-F:

English:

Spoiler

(If Pelleas is dead)

Micaiah:
“Queen Almedha! Queen Almedha… What do you know about the blood pact? You know some thing, don’t you? I saw the look on your face… You noticed something even before Pelleas told us about the pact. If there’s something you know that we don’t, please tell us!”

Almedha:
“Heh heh…hmph…”

Micaiah:
“L-Lady Almedha?”

Almedha:
“Haven’t… Haven’t you done enough already? It’s done, finished. Nothing matters anymore…There’s nothing we can do. My Pelleas… My Pelleas is…”

Kurthnaga:
“Almedha! Get ahold of yourself!”

Almedha:
“Kurth?”

Kurthnaga:
“I can’t pretend that I know what you’re going through, but, for Pelleas’s sake, you must control yourself. Remember that your son made his final sacrifice in order to protect the people of Daein! Honor his memory now and help us.”

Almedha:
“…Sniff… You’re right, Kurth. I’ll try.”

....(Skip to the next relevant section)

Micaiah:
“He wasn’t cursed? How is that possible?”

(Image of Ashnard and the previous king)

Almedha:
“In order to break the curse of the blood pact, two conditions must be met. The destruction of the document itself, and the death of the one bound to it. Either condition by itself is not enough. I watched it happen. Ashnard killed his father, then tore apart the pact. And before my eyes, the mark of the pact faded from the dead king’s arm”

(Image fades)

Almedha:
“The destruction of the document, and the death of the one bound…”

Micaiah:
“How could you, Almedha? How could you not tell us? You knew all along–“

Almedha:
“Because I was terrified! I knew that once you found out the truth, you would butcher my dear son to save your doomed country! I would have done anything to save my Pelleas… That’s why I didn’t say anything… How could I? In the end, though…it wasn’t enough.”

Kurthnaga:
“Almedha, you are stronger than this. You were always the brave one when we were young.”

Almedha:
“Huh?”

Kurthnaga:
“I know you grieve, but grieving will not bring Pelleas back. Now is the time when you must be strong. To put Pelleas’s spirit to rest, help carry out his dying wish, and ensure the safety of his homeland.”

Almedha:
“But he was… He was everything to me… How can I go on without him?”

Kurthnaga:
“I am still here, dear sister. You still have family.”

Micaiah:
“Sister? Lady Almedha is your sister?”

Kurthnaga:
“I received your message, my sister, and have come to help. Please, Almedha, allow me to protect Daein for you and for Pelleas. Do not lose hope. You are not alone anymore and never shall be again.”

Almedha:
“Oh, Kurthnaga, thank you! I’m so sorry for everything I put you and Father through… I’m so sorry…”

Japanese Extended translation (which again, I believe must be true of the Japanese non-extended):

Spoiler

(If Pelleas is dead)

Tauroneo:
“Your highness!”

Micaiah:
“Queen Almedha!”

Almedha:
“Unnh…”

Kurthnaga:
“Ah… Are-are you feeling alright?”

Almedha:
“Apologies… Lend me your shoulder for a moment…”

Kurthnaga:
“Understood.”

....(Skip to the next relevant section)

Almedha:
“I speak no lies. Because… I watched it happen. Ashnard killed his father and before my eyes, the mark of the pact faded from the dead king’s arm”

(Image fades)

Micaiah:
“Yet, King Pelleas’s mark…”

Almedha:
Yes… That is something I do not understand. Why was the mark of the blood pact… transferred to you? Heh heh… Heh heh heh heh… If you were to die by somebody’s hands now… perhaps the mark might disappear still. How about it? Do you wish to give it a try? You sacrificed my dear Pelleas… It’s only fitting that you should die as well, wench! If nobody has the heart to kill you, I’ll do it myself!!

(Kurthnaga runs in front of Almedha)

Kurthnaga:
“Please stop!”

Micaiah:
“Kurth…?”

Kurthnaga:
“Please I beg of you…! Even if you kill Micaiah, it won’t bring Pelleas back! Now is the time when you must be strong. To put Pelleas’s spirit to rest, help carry out his dying wish, and ensure the safety of his homeland.”

Almedha:
“But Kurth… he was… That child meant everything to me… I already lost him once before and it was no easy task finding him again… And still, he ended up being taken from my arms… How can I go on without him?”

Kurthnaga:
“I received your message, my sister, and have come to help. Please, Almedha, allow me to protect Daein for you and for Pelleas. Do not lose hope. You are not alone anymore and never shall be again.”

Almedha:
“Oh, Kurthnaga, thank you! I’m so sorry for everything I put you and Father through… I’m so sorry…”

What the heck? Almedha threatens to kill Micaiah herself? Did the localizers think Almedha was being a little too hysterical when they toned it down? Overall, it appears Almedha is more mad and sick with grief in the Japanese than the English. Though to be fair, she did lose her one and only son well not really. Though the English does add that "Heh heh....hmph..." at the beginning which sounds like she is laughing at Micaiah's present misery, not quite threatening to murder her, but still antipathy.

 

More RD, if you're looking for funnies to check and see if they were funny in Japan, well you know those extremely barebones "Supports" RD has? Well a certain Duke Tanas uniquely when addressed by others tends to get a blurb unique to him. Some of which are rather humorous, I list just a few, you can look through the rest yourself:

Spoiler

Shinon:

Type 3: Duke Tanas, I hope you’re OK, aside from your normal litany of complaints.

Type 3: Duke, it’s like you’ve never held a tome before. Seriously…where did you learn to fight? Just…let me handle this.

Type 3: You know, I really don’t care who lives and who dies. But, Duke Tanas, I’m thinkin’ you should live. You may be a big, puffy cheeseball, but at least you’re not boring, like everyone else here.

Haar:

Type 4: Duke Tanas, if I die here… I want you to know I never liked you. Doesn’t mean I won’t help you, though.

Type 4: Duke Tanas, have you showered lately? You know, stink won’t fight ’em off altogether. Let’s team up.

Type 4: Duke Tanas, hey, you’re not so bad. Seriously, I’ll bet there’s someone out there who likes you. Try to live

Micaiah:

Type 4: Duke Tanas… I know everybody thinks you’re horrible because of what you’ve done in the past. But not me! I think you just need different hobbies! I’d be glad to model for a sculpture when this is all over.

Not so much a funny one, as it is so very strange Micaiah would be willing to do that for him (I just hope Micaiah isn't forced to pose nude *shudders at the thought*).

And speaking of Oliver, in the same chapter that Volke says that "Balance" stuff I mentioned earlier, Naesala and Reyson can (and should if you want to make things much easier for this battle, plus BEXP and the Knight Ring) speak, and Reyson has this to say of Oliver:

Oh, yes! Friends! In fact, we're such good friends that you sold me to that wretched sack of lard!
 

Wonderful language. Is the Japanese language that colorful?

Now here on SF, the wording was "fat, bloated man" but I edited that, because, as a Youtube let's play proves and my memory of that line goes, it's "wretched sack of lard". Dunno why SF has those milder, inferior words, but not a single other word in that dialogue bit listed was changed from what Youtube shows, was SF censoring itself? 

Tellius really nailed the art of one liners in a generally serious plot. From Reyson to Haar to alternative swearing, to Ike's understated responses to boisterous and or bewildered bosses throughout RD, like this one:

Spoiler

Ike vs Catalena

Catalena: Pawns of your execrable goddess, die! You are a festering wound in the flesh of the world! Die, and let it heal!
Ike: I suppose talking it over is out of the question?

Oh yes Ike, it is. You might not be the most entertaining person in the world, but a deadpan response is in your forte.

And to speak again of Haar, I did like this one little line from PoR's Chapter 11: Blood Runs Red:

Spoiler

Turn 4

Jill
Commander Haar! Awake! This is no time to be sleeping! A sub-human has been spotted! Come,
let us join in the thrill of the hunt!

Haar
Yaaaawn...Mmm...let's not. Even if we don't lift a finger, Mackoya's pups will take care of everything.

Jill
Battle glory awaits! Would you allow others to steal this chance from beneath your very nose?

Haar
Yawn. Go entertain yourself, will you? Fight a soldier or lance a peasant or...what you will.
But for the love of flying, stop interrupting my sleep!

Haar casually suggests there is nothing wrong with Jill wasting time by perforating an innocent, you know, like telling someone to check whats on TV if they're bored. And given him, I can't be sure whether he seriously means it or not. 

...But at this point, I'm just pointing out one liners I really like.

 

2 hours ago, Kirokan said:

Ah yes the wonderful amielleon covered that on Kyza. I linked to it when writing his profile during the Tellius Recollection 2 project, which may be where you read it. : ) I believe from memory Devan does use "wa" at the end of his lines, but I'll look into it to double check just so we can have something in writing and a point of reference.

That was the article, and in that context I did read it. It does have a link to the Devdan thing and was where I heard it, but the link is broken it seems, and I believe it was broken at the time you posted about the Recollection. I think that is why I was asking for a quick look at him, unless the author can fix the link. I think they were also the one who did the IkexSoren shipping I have some distrust about (and therefore also the Kent-Fiora thing).  I did appreciate their comparisons of Soren's English and Japanese dialogue, I just dispute the ultimate nature of the relation of Ike to Soren- but let's not let that get out of hand here.:>_<:

 

2 hours ago, Kirokan said:

Interesting, I'll add that to the list to look into for confirm/denying. : )

It reminds me of this LoL article on a misbehaving robot that tickles in English, pulls up skirts in Japan. Could easily be the same deal. Though curiously, but I'd chalk it up to the female willingly doing this, Eirika flashes up her skirt in her C Forde support.

If you're looking for wacky SS supports, try Ewan-Dozla. Ewan imagines modern technology in FE, quite the visionary? 

I would like to ask if some supports that terribly bombed in English happened to have a serious translation error, but I sincerely doubt that can always be the case and I'm just being wishful. Some of the hundred+ convos per game will almost inevitably fall awfully short.

And although I don't think it needs any real explanation in translation, I do think the Ephraim-Myrrh conversation screams Japanese culture with the "big brother/oni-chan" thing. 

If you wanted to examine some more serious text in SS and see if the English stays perfectly true to the Japanese, try Knoll-Natasha and Knoll-Duessel. Or you could show how the Japanese language is structured when it wants to portray psychopathy via Valter, because oh his English is perfectly written for him and I'd assume the same for Japan, but that wouldn't really be about any specific line.

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This stuff is fascinating!

Thank you for the katakana for Aenir and Aegir. Not knowing how to more accurately pronounce them has bothered me for a few years.

Regarding Alm's "urning gold" tidbit: both versions are used in the english game. There are two different urns to inspect, and...looking at the game right now they are on the same screen. The urn with "better not break it" is in your view (which is hilarious in it's own right, considering all the pot smashing in dungeons) and the punny urn is off to the left.

Request, kinda ridiculous: How do Alm and Celica react to the various cats in the Japanese version? In the English version they both kinda go gaga over them. Celica specifically really likes the cats: "Pssst! Hey, kitty! You want to come home with me?" "If the fisherman aren't careful, someone's going to steal their catch." "My, but aren't you a fat one!" She says these with a really big smile, quite cute. Alm has a good one: "Aw, a kitty! Here, kitty-kitty! Here, girl! Aw, who's a good wittle kitty?!" ...Crazy cat people! xD Oh but then Alm also has a neutral one: "The strays are eyeing the fish, ready to grab whatever's left." Oh, what about Alm's "Sir Purr" comment? It's another Alm-pun, so I'm curious how un-punny the original comment is. Sorry Alm, I don't get it... Now if it was Sir Purrsalot... /snicker ...I'M SORRY FOR TYPING SO MUCH BUT I LIKE CATS.

Also, you have got to play Echoes in English. It is fantastic.

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@Interdimensional Observer

Quote

And this isn't FE-related, nor is it so much about translation as it is about contextualization, but I really want to mention this. Pass it on the LoL guys if they'd be up for it instead, since there is that article on the Four Heavenly Kings in the works there.

I happen to be a big SMT fan actually! Though I play the spin off games (Devil Survivor 1/2) more, I did enjoy SMT IV! So I knew what you were talking about and thought the same thing with Kirin. Indeed, I wish wikias would reference a lot of their subnotes. A lot of the articles I write are made into sources for the FE wiki for instance, just so there is backing to claims that are made rather than claims one takes at face value.

Quote

One, I know SF has a few parts of the RD Extended Script available, you could easily make a lonnggggg article out of all the neat little additions it features. But then I noticed something in the Extended Script, which must be present in both the regular and extended versions of the Japanese script, that was clearly changed in the English. Compare Almedha in 3-F:

One long term project I'm still working on in the background is compiling the entire extended script. It's quite the undertaking, and I'm gathering the SF and amilleon's scripts first, seeing what remains untranslated, and focusing on translating those...

But that's interesting with Almedha! Definitely something to look into on my end for sure!

Quote

More RD, if you're looking for funnies to check and see if they were funny in Japan, well you know those extremely barebones "Supports" RD has? Well a certain Duke Tanas uniquely when addressed by others tends to get a blurb unique to him. Some of which are rather humorous, I list just a few, you can look through the rest yourself:

What the! In all my years of playing Radiant Dawn, I have never seen that before! xD Oh my I really want to look into that Micaiah one now.

Now here on SF, the wording was "fat, bloated man" but I edited that, because, as a Youtube let's play proves and my memory of that line goes, it's "wretched sack of lard". Dunno why SF

Quote

has those milder, inferior words, but not a single other word in that dialogue bit listed was changed from what Youtube shows, was SF censoring itself? 

Huh. Perhaps SF has the European game script? Some slight differences I believe. But I wonder now?

Quote

Tellius really nailed the art of one liners in a generally serious plot. From Reyson to Haar to alternative swearing, to Ike's understated responses to boisterous and or bewildered bosses throughout RD, like this one:

These small lines are always fun (and easy) to look into, so I'm looking forward to this one xD

Quote

That was the article, and in that context I did read it. It does have a link to the Devdan thing and was where I heard it, but the link is broken it seems, and I believe it was broken at the time you posted about the Recollection. I think that is why I was asking for a quick look at him, unless the author can fix the link. I think they were also the one who did the IkexSoren shipping I have some distrust about (and therefore also the Kent-Fiora thing).  I did appreciate their comparisons of Soren's English and Japanese dialogue, I just dispute the ultimate nature of the relation of Ike to Soren- but let's not let that get out of hand here.:>_<:

I'll dig through their tumblr later to find the Devdan article! I do trust them and they do have great translations and articles though, if that helps any : ) Did you give this one a read?

Ammie's interpretations may differ, but their translation skills and analyses are top notch.

Quote

If you're looking for wacky SS supports, try Ewan-Dozla. Ewan imagines modern technology in FE, quite the visionary? 

I feel like this support will be the same, actually! But I'll look into it to see!

Quote

I would like to ask if some supports that terribly bombed in English happened to have a serious translation error, but I sincerely doubt that can always be the case and I'm just being wishful. Some of the hundred+ convos per game will almost inevitably fall awfully short.

Well we can think of a few sample ones to look at, and if we see a trend, can slowly expand from there. For the most part though I feel it will be few and far between, only because I assume someone else would've spotted it by now if a large amount were not so good!

Quote

And although I don't think it needs any real explanation in translation, I do think the Ephraim-Myrrh conversation screams Japanese culture with the "big brother/oni-chan" thing. 

Indeed this is very likely.

Quote

If you wanted to examine some more serious text in SS and see if the English stays perfectly true to the Japanese, try Knoll-Natasha and Knoll-Duessel. Or you could show how the Japanese language is structured when it wants to portray psychopathy via Valter, because oh his English is perfectly written for him and I'd assume the same for Japan, but that wouldn't really be about any specific line.

The serious texts are usually accurate translations.

I know I didn't quote and reply to everything, but know that I did note everything down! Thanks as always for the discussion and input.

54 minutes ago, Sock said:

This stuff is fascinating!

Thank you for the katakana for Aenir and Aegir. Not knowing how to more accurately pronounce them has bothered me for a few years.

Regarding Alm's "urning gold" tidbit: both versions are used in the english game. There are two different urns to inspect, and...looking at the game right now they are on the same screen. The urn with "better not break it" is in your view (which is hilarious in it's own right, considering all the pot smashing in dungeons) and the punny urn is off to the left.

Request, kinda ridiculous: How do Alm and Celica react to the various cats in the Japanese version? In the English version they both kinda go gaga over them. Celica specifically really likes the cats: "Pssst! Hey, kitty! You want to come home with me?" "If the fisherman aren't careful, someone's going to steal their catch." "My, but aren't you a fat one!" She says these with a really big smile, quite cute. Alm has a good one: "Aw, a kitty! Here, kitty-kitty! Here, girl! Aw, who's a good wittle kitty?!" ...Crazy cat people! xD Oh but then Alm also has a neutral one: "The strays are eyeing the fish, ready to grab whatever's left." Oh, what about Alm's "Sir Purr" comment? It's another Alm-pun, so I'm curious how un-punny the original comment is. Sorry Alm, I don't get it... Now if it was Sir Purrsalot... /snicker ...I'M SORRY FOR TYPING SO MUCH BUT I LIKE CATS.

Also, you have got to play Echoes in English. It is fantastic.

No problem! The katakana was vital in showing the difference of intent there.

Oh are they? I'll have to amend that then. I was only working with game script so didn't have any contextual clues for which is used and which isn't. I'll add a slight update note to the article. Thanks!

Wow I had no idea they were so catty for cats. I feel like that is definitely punched up since I don't recall them being too wild for it in Japanese!

I ordered the game in English but haven't got to play it due to, well, doing things like these projects and comparison threads xD Thanks for the recommendation though!

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I'm probably going to tweeze Tellius to the point there is nothing left, and I think I might be approaching that. But is this 2-2 Base Conversation with Nephenee, Lucia, Heather and Brom, simply country bumpkins being not very intelligent, or was there some actual wordplay at work in the Japanese? Because I can't think of any disease/infection in English that sounds/looks anything like "espionage". Although it could be along the lines of the "Sothe's children" or "Rancid butter" lines- NoA just added some color in line with the spirit of the Japanese.

Spoiler

Brom: Hmm. Naw, that won’t be a problem. You goin’ ta catch the duke?
Lucia: Something a little more… preliminary. I guess you could call it espionage.
Brom: Espio-what? Sounds serious! Nephenee, you ever hearda that?
Nephenee: Oh, sure. When I was just a sprout, I caught a real bad case’a that. I got this awful rash all over my back, too!
Lucia: Uh… That’s… a very nice story. Maybe I’d better explain what I mean.
Heather: Don’t you know anything!? Espionage is all about stealing secrets and not getting caught. It’s one of my many strong points!

 

Idioms tend to lack perfect equivalents in other languages, so what of Ranulf's use of "fish out of water" in his Ike support in PoR? 

Spoiler

Ranulf: Then again, worrying about a beorc like this is definitely not normal laguz behavior. I guess I’m a fish out of water myself… Wait, did I just call myself a fish?
Ike: Wha–? Ha ha! You’re a cat, remember!? I thought you ate fish. Ha ha ha!

And on the topic of idioms, ever heard of Bravely Default? The Swordmaster job's various skills all employ idioms and the like in Japanese, and also in English, the trivia section here compares the Japanese and the English. Just as a little something to feed your mind, without you having to analyze it yourself.

 

Also, scrap the Ewan and Knoll things for good, call it my bark, in this case trying to be helpful by providing you potential leads, exceeding my bite, something of an issue of mine. I really shouldn't have said anything about them, they probably should be normal text. Though I do recall Selena's battle quip:

Selena:
“Fluorspar… His Majesty gave me this name. Therefore, I…”

I recall Legends of Localization mentioning that Japanese sometimes likes leaving statements unfinished, but with a clear ending implied. This quip now that I look at this again, was probably such an instance. Translators, so the article said, are faced with a dilemma here of whether to fill in the blank and choose what to fill it in with, or leave it open. SS's translators clearly picked the latter option. And to be fair, I like it. Since no one choice of wording or meaning would suffice I think, leaving it open makes it pregnant with all possible answers all at once. "Therefore, I... will serve him unto death" or "will terminate his enemies", something either combative or emphasizing Selena's loyalty, whatever you could say, I think it would fall short of ambiguity's potency here.

 

On 5/21/2018 at 5:05 AM, Kirokan said:

What the! In all my years of playing Radiant Dawn, I have never seen that before! xD Oh my I really want to look into that Micaiah one now.

Just to point this out, characters can form supports at different rates with different people. Ike and Soren can support at an accelerated rate, Ike and Shinon however have a below average support speed, being that Shinon hates Ike, although Shinon actually hates Soren more and supports him at the slowest rate, type 04 (02 is average). Oliver, understandably, has the most 04 supports by a landslide, although surprisingly it isn't anywhere near everybody, just a bunch of Laguz , not even all of them, and Tanith and Tormod. This help can explain the hesitancy, downright disliking, and or surprised to come to like Oliver many characters with unique lines with him have.

 

And to round out RD funnies, there is Shinon dismayed that Gatrie he thinks would flirt with a "tree in a skirt":

Spoiler

Gatrie: Don’t mock me, Shinon! This is serious. I feel it. It’s destiny! That girl and I are fated to be together!
Shinon: You’re chasing after a laguz now? Gatrie, I swear you’d hit on a tree if I dressed it in a skirt. Tell me I’m wrong!

 

I've more or less read over all the PoR, Blazing and SS supports in the past and skimmed over them again. Barring a massive rewrite ala the Garcia-Dozla A, a not-so outstanding English phrasing of things (like pretty much all of the RD funnies being pointed out) differing from the Japanese to the same degree of those outstanding lines. Or some subtle loss of nuance in meaning from the Japanese (all of these cases would require reading the Japanese to determine, and rising sun runes aren't in my capacities obviously, I envy that they are for you), I'm unable to detect anything else that really stands out. If there are and someone else can point them out, good, but I cannot.

 

And as you should be aware, Vestaria Saga is expected to have an officially translated version come out this summer. We know nothing about who is translating it, and whether it'll be a machine translated typo terror that turns the end of the world into a marsupial, or whether it'll be a slow cooked masterpiece. It should be wordy though, apparently there was this Chapter 12x in the game, no battle, just reams upon reams of dialogue. If we see anything of interest, can we bring it to your attention?

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