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.
| Japanese | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Seifer
2
| おい！ガルバディア兵！何を手こずってるんだ！早く俺のところへ来い！ |
Hey! Galbadian Soldiers! What are you waiting for!? Come show me what you got!
|
| Squall 3 |
……来ないな。
|
...Nothing.
|
2. Once again, Seifer's angry remarks tend to be treated with a greater degree of freedom. In the penultimate sentence, Seifer uses the verb, tekozuru (手こずる) which means, "to have trouble dealing with something." He literally shouts, "What are you having trouble with?" i.e. what are they doing instead of showing themselves to Seifer. In this way, the English translation makes perfect sense. Indeed, I struggle to come up with a better translation. Perhaps, "What's the deal!?" or "What are you doing!?" However I think, "What are you waiting for!?" is the best translation here. As for the second sentence, in the Japanese, Seifer demands the soldiers quickly come to where he is. Although the English's prior reference to waiting covers Seifer's demand for quickness, overall the meaning of the sentence is pretty different from the Japanese. I would suggest an alternative of, "Come face me!" It comes closer to the Japanese, and contains an appropriate degree of antagonism towards the Galbadian soldiers.
| Japanese | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Zell 4 |
どこ行くんだ、あいつら。なんだ？あの山頂の施設は？ | Where the hell they goin’? Hey? What is that up there? |
4. The translation of the final sentence does a disservice to Zell's eyesight. The Japanese reads, "What's that? That facility on top of the mountain." However, after consulting the gameplay footage that matches this text (see below), the English seems a more natural fit than the Japanese. Given how far away they are, it might be somewhat strange to specifically identify the thing on the mountain as a sort of facility. In fact, what Zell says in English is exactly what I imagine I would say in such a situation!
| Japanese | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Seifer
5
| 何が班長の判断だ。おまえだって暴れたいんだろうが。 |
...Captain's decision? You want to wreak some havoc too, don't you?
|
| Squall 6 |
あんたとの訓練の成果を試すチャンスだからな。あんたのおかげでどんな卑怯な相手にも負ける気がしない。
|
It's a good opportunity to test out my training. Thanks to you, I feel like I can take on anyone. Even if they do fight dirty, like you.
|
5. This point is merely to highlight my fondness for the translation of the Japanese verb abareru (暴れる) as "wreak some havoc." Japanese to English dictionaries throw up "to act violently; to rage; to struggle; to be riotous" as sample translations, but "wreak some havoc" captures both the sentiment of the verb, and Seifer's slightly unhinged nature. Great work!
6. The Japanese differs because Squall specifically refers to it being a chance to test out the training he did with Seifer. The phrasing of his second sentence is slightly different too, and doesn't directly call Seifer a dirty fighter (although it is implied). Literally it reads, "Thanks to you, I feel like I won't lose to even the most underhanded of opponents." The game's translation captures the overall feeling of the Japanese, and the translation of the adjective hikyou (卑怯) (meaning "cowardice; meanness; unfairness") as "fighting dirty" is nice, especially as it is a callback to the beginning of the game. However, I offer an alternative translation of, "Thanks to you, I feel like I can beat anyone, no matter how dirty they fight."
Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts on the above points or Final Fantasy VIII's localisation as a whole, so please comment if you've got something to say.
If you enjoyed this post, I bet you'll like the next post in this series:
http://www.localireview.com/2015/04/final-fantasy-viii-localisation-review-4.html
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