Localising Food: Pokemon's Rice Balls

There is a reason why the term 'localisation' exists in addition to the word 'translation.' Translating involves convey a text's meaning in another language. On the other hand, localising is deeper translation process that includes changing cultural references to make the content more relatable and understandable to a target audience. This leads to localisation work often being the target for criticism among diehard fans of a particular piece of work. They argue that any content edits bastardise the source material in straying from the original creator's intentions. I discussed this matter in greater depth in a previous post. In short, I usually have few qualms with content being changed for cultural reasons, so long as there is a good and identifiable reason behind it. The majority of a product's audience will be unfamiliar with the source material, and primarily seeking an enjoyable experience. The audience are be none the wiser if the localisation process has led to content changes. Moreover, I doubt they would even care if they did find this out. However, for those interested in localisation, such as myself, it is fascinating to research these subtle edits. One aspect that has recently peaked my interest is the issue of food being localised, which often pops up given how different cultures have different diets.

This post is going to focus on some interesting examples from the American localisation of the Japanese anime, Pokemon.

Localising Food: Inside Out's Broccoli

There is a reason why the term 'localisation' exists in addition to the word 'translation.' Translating involves convey a text's meaning in another language. On the other hand, localising is deeper translation process that includes changing cultural references to make the content more relatable and understandable to a target audience. This leads to localisation work often being the target for criticism among diehard fans of a particular piece of work. They argue that any content edits bastardise the source material in straying from the original creator's intentions. I discussed this matter in greater depth in a previous post. In short, I usually have few qualms with content being changed for cultural reasons, so long as there is a good and identifiable reason behind it. The majority of a product's audience will be unfamiliar with the source material, and primarily seeking an enjoyable experience. The audience are be none the wiser if the localisation process has led to content changes. Moreover, I doubt they would even care if they did find this out. However, for those interested in localisation, such as myself, it is fascinating to research these subtle edits. One aspect that has recently peaked my interest is the issue of food being localised, which often pops up given how different cultures have different diets.

This post is going to focus on one interesting example from the Japanese localisation of the American animated film, Inside Out.

How To Japonese - Locali Links

Be it games, manga, fashion, anime, or martial arts, Japanese culture enjoys great popularity among young people around the world. I think the prominence of these cultural exports is one of the main reasons why many people have the idea of trying to learn Japanese, and why there are many sites (such as Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese, and Maggie Sensei) that cater to this desire. These sites are great for beginners and intermediates. Moreover, I am sure the continuing popularity of Japanese culture is constantly creating new people interested in learning Japanese. However, I'd wager that the majority of these people are unable to commit the time Japanese demands, and so never progress beyond an intermediate level. It thus makes sense for the aforementioned sites to give more focus to beginners, and ensure a low barrier of entry for the site's content. However, this has led to a dearth of sites with content tailored towards experienced Japanese speakers who are looking to deepen their proficient understanding of Japanese.

JapanesePod101, another popular site for learning Japanese, advertises itself with the slogan, "Learn Japanese in the fastest, easiest and most fun way." However, the kind of slogan an experienced Japanese speaker looks for in a Japanese learning site would be something more along the lines of, "Refine your Japanese in the most detailed, nuanced, and interesting way." There are precious few sites that fit such a tagline line, so it is my truly pleasure to introduce one such site...

Learning Japanese & Translation Skills With Anime

I'm a fluent Japanese speaker. I can handle novels and text-heavy videogames. When it comes to films or anime, I am just about able to enjoy them without subtitles (though having them there certainly makes things less mentally taxing). Regardless, it's a fact that the more you read and listen, the more your reading and listening skills improve. However, this week I have found myself back watching anime with English subtitles, back to a time when I could barely speak Japanese. But why?

Super Mario RPG - Localisation Review (2)

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

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	Original Japanese	Game's Translation	Literal Translation	LocaliReview Translation
Bowser	フンギャ！	Fungah! Foiled again!	Fungya!	Fungah! Foiled again!

At first I was suspicious of the game's original translation because it replicates the sound Bowser makes in Japanese, albeit finessed from fungya to fungah to include the word gah, a common noise of dismay in English. Many Japanese noises, if exactly replicated, do not translate well. For example, the animal sound, gero gero. I doubt any native English speakers would imagine that this is the sound of a frog. This is because in English, we write the sound frogs make as ribbit ribbit. 

In this case, fungah has no meaning in English and is not a common term. However, to my surprise, I found that the same can be said about the term in Japanese! Googling the term revealed only a very sparse usage. In this way, I've come to appreciate the game's translation! I also like the addition of foiled again. I initially thought this might have been added because the translator was concerned about whether the meaning of fungah would carry across in English. However, upon reviewing the game footage, Bowser utters this line right after Mario stomps on his head and is sent plummeting to his doom. A single fungah would seem rather lacking, so I think adding foiled again is a much more natural way for Bowser to bow out.

Final Fantasy XIV - Midgardsomr's Dragon Speak

This blog is home to my thoughts on game localisation. I sometimes write thought pieces, but most of my posts involve comparing the script of a Japanese game with its localised English. I dig down into the minutia of the text to reveal some nuggets of information that were lost in translation, or just highlight some particularly impressive translations. The internet is a big place, especially in this age of user-generated content, yet analysis or discussions about the localisation of games is notably sparse. This is one of the reasons why I decided to make this blog! However (as this blog never gets any comments) it occasionally feels like I am alone in having this interest.

I was therefore overjoyed when my friend linked me to a message board discussion about Final Fantasy XIV's localisation. Though it concerned just a tiny aspect of the game's localisation, it was debated with deep care and consideration! 'There are other people in the world like me,' I thought. I found it incredibly enjoyable to read through the nine pages of discussion about this one localisation aspect. That's why, for this post, I want to share with you some of the highlights of this heated discussion.

Super Mario RPG - Localisation Review (1)

This is an entry in a series of posts looking at the localisation of the beginning segment of the game, Super Mario RPG. Thanks for reading!

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	Original Japanese	Game's Translation	Literal Translation	LocaliReview Translation
Peach	クッパにきをつけてマリオ！！	Don't let Bowser bruise you, Mario!	Pay attention to Bowser, Mario!	Be careful, Mario!

The phrase Peach uses, ki wo tsukeru, is a common everyday Japanese expression. The JMDict definitions of, "to be careful; to pay attention; to take care," perfectly summarise its usage. It's a simple sentence to translate, yet the game's translation is fairly quirky. The Japanese is closer to specific advice than the official English translation, but both comments have the same function; Peach is warning Mario so that he will be less likely to be hurt by Bowser. There's no denying that the word bruise can function as a verb, but I don't think this usage is particularly widespread. It's hard to imagine a fight occurring and either participants or bystanders using the word bruise as a verb. Given that this is a Mario game, set in the fantasy world of the Mushroom Kingdom, it will always be possible to argue that quirky sounding dialogue is always passable. While I acknowledge this point, there is no such quirkiness in the Japanese. Unless the translator was given the directive to make the dialogue more quirky, I don't think it was necessary here to deviate from a more straight forward translation. In this case, the difference isn't particularly pronounced, but it is a matter that become more noticeable further down the line. (Just look at the next paragraph I discuss).

As an aside, it's worth noting that in Japanese, the villain Western players know as Bowser is called kuppa (Koopa). According to MarioWiki, "Bowser was created by Shigeru Miyamoto as the villain of Super Mario Bros. Miyamoto stated that they considered naming him either Kuppa (국밥), Yukke (육회), or Bibinba (비빔밥), which are all Korean dishes as they are known in Japanese. In the end, 'Kuppa' was chosen. For the later North American release of the game, which also introduced the anglicized spelling Koopa, the character was named 'Bowser.'" As for how this translation came about, an article on 11points,com states, 'During the import process, there was a concern that the American crowd wouldn't understand how the little turtles and big bad guy could both be called Koopa. So a marketing team put together dozens of choices for a name, they liked Bowser the best, and slapped it on him.' I'd be surprised it really was a marketing team that had the final say over this decision, but I couldn't find any other sources related to this matter.