Final Fantasy VIII - Localisation Review (7)

This is an entry in a series of posts looking at the localisation of the beginning segment of the game, Final Fantasy VIII. You can find the first post here. Thanks for reading!

---

	Japanese	English
Zell	なっ……！！どいつもこいつも……！！オレは……チキンじゃねぇ！	What the...!!! WHY IS EVERYONE...? I am not a CHICKEN!!!
Selphie 1	チキンがいやなら大サービスでポークかなぁ～？でも、ブタ野郎っていうのもなんかやだよね～	Well... If you don't like CHICKEN, how 'bout...a PIG! Oh, but you look more like a CHICKEN, anyway.”

1. The first half of Selphie's first sentence is identical in Japanese, but from there on it differs. Continuing on from, "Well if you don't chicken...", she says, "I could be kind and call you pork." Japanese has a word for pig, (buta), but Selphie says pooku (meaning "pork"), Moreover, she emphasises that she would be being kind if she referred to Zell like that. In the second sentence she then says, "But pig-wuss is kinda weird." This would be the literal translation if I kept in line with the previous translation of yarou (野朗) as "wuss," Selphie swaps the word chicken for pig, but then comments that there's something off about it. I suppose the English does somewhat capture this sentiment that calling Zell a pig isn't as good a fit (because chicken is a better fit). Moreover, I can see why the translator opted against mentioning pork, along with Selphie's opinion that being referred to as one would be an upgrade from chicken; this dialogue are somewhat confusing. However, maybe this was to intentionally show Selphie's airy and eccentric nature (which the rest of the game shows is a big part of her characterisation). The game's English translation makes Selphie seem fairly mean, especially because the translator's decision to write the animal terms in capital letters makes it seem like she is shouting this at Zell. I would offer alternative dialogue of, "Well, if you don't like chicken, how about piglet? But hmmm... piglet-wuss just doesn't have the same ring to it as chicken-wuss, does it?" Selphie's complaint with Zell is that he is cowardly, so I felt that calling him a piglet conveys this sentiment (and also sticks to the Japanese). I think it would be a mistake to use pork (because it's unnatural sounding) or pig (because it conjures up images of greed that don't fit the context).

Final Fantasy VIII - Localisation Review (6)

This is an entry in a series of posts looking at the localisation of the beginning segment of the game, Final Fantasy VIII. You can find the first post here. Thanks for reading!

---

	Japanese	English
Seifer	おまえ、本物の戦場は初めてだろ？怖いか？	This must be your first real battle. You scared?
Squall 1	……わからない。でも……考えると怖くなりそうだ。	...I don't know. I try not to think about it.

1. The translation of the second sentence here is interesting because I think it has the potential to slightly alter the chartericasion of Squall. The full dialogue Japanese literally reads, "...I don't know. But... I'd likely get scared if I were to think about it." The English does not clearly show that Squall doesn't want to think about being scared or not because that he thinks that would probably make him scared! I think this gives him a greater degree of humanity than the English, which paints him with a much cooler attitude. As an alternative, I'd offer, "...I don't know. But... I probably would be if I stopped to think about it."

Final Fantasy VIII - Localisation Review (5)

This is an entry in a series of posts looking at the localisation of the beginning segment of the game, Final Fantasy VIII. You can find the first post here. Thanks for reading!

---

	Japanese	English
Zell 1	……なんだよ。仲がいいんじゃねえか。同類だぜ、あんたたち。あのなあ、これ、ただの戦闘じゃないんだぞ。大事な試験なんだ。勝手な行動はマイナスでかいぜ。	What the hell...I thought you guys didn't get along? You're like, all buddy-buddy now. Listen. This ain't no ordinary battle. It's an exam, an important one. I'm tellin' ya, we have to stick to orders.
Seifer 2	おまえ、ここに残れ。やる気のない奴はいらない。	Then you stay here. I don't need any boy scouts.

1. Zell's second and third English sentence is slightly different in Japanese. These two sentences are covered by one in Japanese that simply expresses Zell's questioning of the fact that Seifer and Squall are getting along with each other. He doesn't explicitly mention that he didn't think Squall and Seifer got along (although it is implied). The English also lacks Zell's comment in Japanese that he thinks Squall and Seifer are of the same sort (i.e. two peas in a pod/cut from the same cloth). As an alternative, I offer, "What the hell... You guys are getting along? Tch, you two are cut from the same cloth."

2. When I saw the term, "boy scouts" pop up, I just knew that there was no way that the Japanese could have contained this exact phrase. I was correct! In the Japanese, Seifer says he doesn't need someone who is unwilling/unmotivated/uneager. I don't intuitively associate boy scouts with these qualities, so I don't think I can support this translation. The boy scouts remarks suggests that Seifer's problem with Zell is his lack of experience, when he is actually complaining about his lack of enthusiasm. As alternative, I offer, "I don't need anyone whose heart isn't it."

Final Fantasy VIII - Localisation Review (4)

This is an entry in a series of posts looking at the localisation of the beginning segment of the game, Final Fantasy VIII. You can find the first post here. Thanks for reading!

---

	Japanese	English
Seifer 1	さて、敵さんの到着まで待機だ。待機……退屈な言葉だ。	Well then, we're on standby 'til the enemy comes. Standby... How boring...

1. In the first sentence of the Japanese, Seifer appends the honourific san (さん) to the word for enemy. I think even non-Japanese speakers are familiar with this honourific, and is commonly translated as "Mr/Ms." In this case, I think Seifer is sarcastically talking about the enemy in a respectful tone. However, how to translate that is tricky. "We're on standby 'til Mr. Enemy comes" would just be strange. How about, "We're on standby 'til the enemy decides to grace us with their presence." I think this captures a sense of sarcastic respect for the enemy. In the second sentence, Seifer literally says, "Standby... A tedious term." In the Japanese, it seems more like Seifer is expressing his disdain for the concept of standby work, whereas in the English he is expressing his disdain for the standby work in that context. The previous literal translation could be made slightly more palatable with, "Standby... What a tedious term." However, the English is perfect as it is. I just wanted to highlight the difference in phrasing.

Final Fantasy VIII - Localisation Review (3)

This is an entry in a series of posts looking at the localisation of the beginning segment of the game, Final Fantasy VIII. You can find the first post here. Thanks for reading!

---

	Japanese	English
Zell 1	…ムカつく野郎だぜ	...Bastard.

1. Slang and derogatory terms can be interesting to translate as they are often impossible to literally translate. Here, what ended up as, "Bastard" stemmed from the Japanese verb mukatsuku (むかつく), which means "to feel angry or sick", and yarou (野郎), which is a derogatory way to refer to a male. I think "bastard" is a great translation here, but what I wonder about is whether the translator had to first get clearance to use this swear word. All games have age-ratings, and I imagine this imposes a limit on the degree of foul language deemed acceptable to use. If there was a limitation on swear words, this part could easily be translated as, "...Dick." (Perhaps my British heritage shows with that choice of words...).

Final Fantasy VIII - Localisation Review (2)

This is an entry in a series of posts looking at the localisation of the beginning segment of the game, Final Fantasy VIII. You can find the first post here. Thanks for reading!

---

	Japanese	English
Seifer 1	ウザイんだよ。……チキン野郎	Stop that...It's annoying. ...Chicken-wuss.

1. When I played this game as a child, this was a line that stuck in my memory. I think this was perhaps because I'd never previously heard such a combination of chicken and wuss. All the search hits that arise from Googling this term produces results related Final Fantasy VIII, so it's fair to say that the game coined this new insult. In fact, one of the top search hits link to a forum discussing this in translation, as pictured below. I expected this insult to be a very liberal translation, but it is actually the opposite. In the Japanese, Seifer calls Zell a chicken (チキン (chikkin)) and tags on the derogatory term 野郎 (yarou), which dictionaries define as an "asshole/bastard/son of a bitch." Some online Japanese dictionaries contain a definition of these words when combined.

チキン野郎：臆病者の青二才。 この弱虫野郎、といった意味で相手を罵る表現。米国のスラングに由来する。- A cowardly and immature greenhorn. It is an expression used to deride an individual. It derives from American slang.

In this respect, chicken-wuss succeeds in accurately conveying the meaning of the Japanese. It could be seen as a failure because it doesn't seem very natural, but I like the line because it gives Seifer a unique insult and the game a standout line. Admittedly, this is not the case in the Japanese so perhaps this could be seen as straying from the writer's original intent. If it was me, I would translate the line as, "Chicken-shit," as this is an insult in common parlance that also conveys the meaning of the Japanese.

Final Fantasy VIII - Localisation Review (1)

This is the first entry in a series of posts looking at the localisation of the beginning segment of the game, Final Fantasy VIII. Thanks for reading!

---

		English
Squall 1	北ブロックの西にあるのが学生食堂だ。ここの売店のパンは競争が激しい。確実に手に入れるには並ぶしかないな	West of the North Block is the cafeteria. There's always a big rush for the hot dogs. You better get used to waiting in line.

1. The biggest issue the translator had to deal with here was how to translate "pan" (パン), the popular food in the cafeteria. A Japanese to English dictionary defines pan as "bread; pastries (e.g. croissants); pastry-based products." A Google Image search for this word confirms that accuracy of this definition, as shown below by one of the top hits. However, this is fairly difficult to translate into English. For one thing, the word encompasses multiple items, which although is a natural reference term in Japanese, I feel doesn't sit as smoothly in English as, "pastries" or "danishes." Moreover, from my years living in Japan, I think pan holds a different status in Japan than Western countries. Let's just say I can't imagine many people in the West would be have experienced a cafeteria where students run to get danishes. Conversely, a hot dog is a food item that would easily be accepted as having such status, and it stills falls into the pan category (as the picture below shows), which is why I think this is great localisation work. Of course there is the issue that Final Fantasy VIII is not specifically set in Japan or a Western country, but I feel that the use of pan is simply a bit of Japanese culture slipping into their game's writing, rather than intentional, specific world building.

Mario Party - Hip Drop

The Japanese language uses a separate syllabary known as katakana to spell loanwords from foreign languages. It is therefore often fine to literally translate these words into English. オレンジジュース (orenjijuusu) becomes orange juice, and ホットドッグ (hottodoggu) becomes hotdog. However, this is not a viable translation strategy for every katakana word. First, there are words that originate from languages other than English, such as デッサン (dessan) which comes from the French word "dessin", the word for a drawing. Second, there are Japanese words that are constructed from elements of English that would be nonsensical if translated back into English, such as マイブーム (maibuumu), a word used to describe something that you've recently got into/obsessed with. It goes without saying that it would be incredibly strange if a character in a book said, "My boom is tennis."