Japanese | Original English |
|---|---|
フム……科学者にむいているのかもしれないな | Hmm…actually, you might be cut out to be a scientist. |
This always seemed like a total non sequitur to me. I guess it’s because Cloud keeps asking questions? In any case, the English is accurate etc. etc.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
チッ、けったクソの悪い……！ | %$#&$*&^%^ | Tch, take that you evil piece of shit. |
This is Cid’s response to Hojo’s defeat, which is a bunch of random swearing. Normally, random expletives would be used as a surprised response to something. I don’t know why they chose not to give Cid at least some of his dialogue and just censor the swear.
Japanese | Original English |
|---|---|
クラウド……。想いをつたえられるのは言葉だけじゃないよ…… | Cloud… Words aren’t the only thing that tell people what you’re thinking… |
The English is accurate and this game is romantic.
Japanese | Original English |
|---|---|
おまえのために戻ってきたわけじゃねえ！ | We didn’t come back for your spikey headed ass! |
You’re probably not surprised to hear that spikey headed ass is an invention. It says [Unspecified actor] didn’t come back for you, where you is おまえ (omae). This word used to be a term of respect for nobles, but eventually became a term for equals or inferiors. Among friends it wouldn’t be unusual. (I noticed that, in Illusion of Gaia, Will’s father calls him おまえ.) Among strangers it would be rude. There’s no need to turn it into an insult here, but I’m glad they did, because spikey headed ass rules.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
オレの大切なマリンのため。それとおんなじくらい大切なオレの……オレの気持ち……ってのか？ | We came back for Marlene. Guess it’s jes’ my……whatcha call, feelings or somethin’. | I came back for the sake of my dear Marlene. And I guess my feelings are just as important. |
Unlike in the previous sentence, here the actor isn’t left unspecified. It’s definitely I, not we. The original used whatcha call because of って (tte), which is often a quoting particle. It can also represent a rhetorical question.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
エアリスの想い……俺たちの想い……その想い伝えるために……俺たちは……来た……さあ、星よ！ 答えを見せろ！ | Aerith’s memories… Our memories… We came…to tell you…our memories… Come Planet! Show us your answer! | Aerith’s hopes, our hopes. We came to convey our hopes. Come now, planet! Show your answer! |
You can choose lots of different words for 想い (omoi). I chose hope but memories isn’t necessarily wrong. This line surprised me; it’s so ill-fitting for the moment that I thought it must be mistranslated. “We came to tell you our memories”? No, pretty sure we came to kill Sephiroth.
I should stop being surprised at this point. The English is accurate and this game is ridiculous.
That’s it for this series! I haven’t played this game in many years. I took these screenshots in 2011. Nowadays even more lines might stand out to me. Again, if you’re curious, ask about any line and I can find the Japanese text.