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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Xu |
サイファー、いい気になるんじゃないよ。Ｂ班が持ち場を離れた責任はあんたがとるんだからね。
|
Seifer, don't be so stuck on yourself. You'll take all responsibility for leaving the designated area.
|
| Seifer 1 |
戦況を見極め、最善の作戦をとるのが指揮官ってもんだろ？
|
Isn't the captain's duty to take the best possible action?
|
| Xu 2 |
万年SeeD候補生のサイファー君。指揮官だなんて笑っちゃうわ。
|
Seifer, you'll never be a SeeD. Calling yourself a captain is a joke.
|
1. This part is bears mentioning because the English omits a nugget of information. In Japanese Seifer literally says, "Isn't being a captain all about gauging the state of battle and then choosing the best possible strategy?" Although I agree with the change of "action" to "strategy", I am at loss for why the English doesn't mention that part about gauging/weighing up the battle condition/state before taking action. Perhaps this was just a simple oversight?
2. Xu is slightly sassier in Japanese. Her first sentence reads, "Seifer, the eternal SeeD candidate." She also affixes the suffix kun (君) to Seifer's name, which emphasis his junior status in comparison to her senior status (as a SeeD). She then literally says, "I laugh at you calling yourself a captain." I would make this palatable by straying away from such a construction (while keeping the same core meaning) with something like, "You? A captain? Don't make me laugh." This is the second count of the English localisation toning down Xu's characterisation; a previous post highlighted the removal of a mercenary edge to her character. It's a shame, as without these added elements, the Xu in the English translation is slighter duller figure.
| Japanese | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Cid 3 |
サイファー。きみは今回の件で懲罰を受けることになるでしょう。
|
Seifer. You will be disciplined for your irresponsible behavior.
|
Cid
4
|
集団の秩序の維持のためには仕方のないことです。
|
You must follow orders exactly during combat.
|
| Cid 5 |
でも、私には君の行動がわからないでもないのです。
|
But I'm not entirely without sympathy for you.
|
| Cid 6 |
君たちに単なる傭兵にはなってほしくありません。
|
I don't want you all to become machines.
|
Cid
7 |
命令に従うだけの兵士にはなって欲しくないのですねえ。私は……。
|
I want you all to be able to think and act for yourselves. I am...
|
This segment focuses entirely on Cid remarks to Seifer, which directly follows the previous dialogue between Xu and Seifer. Since each of Cid's sentences differ in varying ways to the Japanese, I have broken them down into individual segments.
3. In the Japanese, Cid is much vaguer in his reference to Seifer's behaviour. Rather than defining it as "irresponsible behaviour", he merely refers to it as "the issue this time" or, "this matter." The reason I provided two translation stems from Cid's use of the word konkai (今回), which can mean "this time" or just "this." We know that Seifer took the SeeD test many times previously but never passed, so it is entirely plausible that each time he has made a mistake and Cid is emphasising this fact, as if to say that, "For your mistake *this time.*"Alternatively, he could just be using this word to link it back to the earlier discussion (featured above) in which Seifer's behaviour was mentioned. I would lean towards the latter interpretation, but I'm not completely sure. I wonder if in such cases the translator could reach out to the original Japanese writer and ask? Either way, although the Japanese doesn't spell the out the problem with Seifer's behaviour like the English does, I imagine many Japanese players would presume such a thing as the reason for his punishment anyway, so I have no issue with the translation here.
4. While the other sentences of Cid's dialogue only differ in their phrasing or slight omission of information, this is the one part that reads entirely differently in Japanese. He says, "I have no choice. It is necessary for the preservation of group discipline." This is wildly different to the English, in which Cid unemotionally states that it is necessary to follow orders. In contrast, the Japanese shows Cid's commenting with a slightly remorseful air that in order to preserve group (i.e. Balamb Garden) discipline he has no choice but to punish Seifer for his actions. I am at a loss as to why this part of the translation wandered so far away from the Japanese. I would like to offer an alternative of, "In light of preserving Balamb Garden disciplines standards, there's no way around it." I struggled to come up this translation, and I'm not even completely satisfied with it. Perhaps this was the situation the game's translator found himself in, and thus opted to rewrite the line.
5. This is a case of the English using different wording to the Japanese and in the process losing a slight detail. The Japanese reads, "But it's not that I do not understand your actions either." The difference here is that the English refers to Seifer himself, whereas the Japanese focuses on Seifer's specific behaviour during the mission. Otherwise though, in this context, I think the idea of Cid having sympathy sounds more natural and indeed Google's dictionary offers "understanding between people" as the second definition for the word! Using the word "sympathy" also encapsulates some of pity Cid showed towards Seifer that was not conveyed in the translation of the third sentence of his dialogue. Overall, I would add in the word "actions" to make Cid's sentence read, "But I'm not entirely without sympathy for your actions."
6. The point of difference here is what exactly Cid says he doesn't want SeeDs to become. In the Japanese he says tannaru youhei (単なる傭兵), which means "simple/mere mercenaries." The English instead opts for "machines." Mercenaries are akin to robots in being more inclined to blindly follow orders than think for themselves, but their motivations for doing this vary greatly. Machines follows order blindly because that it is all they can do, they aren't programmed to think for themselves. In contrast, mercenaries only do this out of a desire for financial gain. At first I supposed that the translator chose not to use the word "mercenary" because the Cid earlier proudly referred to SeeDs as "mercenary soldiers." I thought it would seem contradictory for him to then say he didn't want them to become mercenaries. However, I double-checked the Japanese, and there too Cid refers to SeeDs as mercenaries. It could be argued that the difference between this remark and his earlier comment lies in his use of the adjective, tannaru (単なる) that means "simple" or "mere." However, I don't think this is creates a big enough distinction. In the end, although the use of "robots" has slightly different connotations, I think it was good decision as it stops Cid sounding contradictory about the role of SeeDs.
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/2015/05/final-fantasy-viii-localisation-review12.html
http://www.localireview.com/2015/05/final-fantasy-viii-localisation-review12.html
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