Disclaimers:
I’m an amateur. My advantage over the original translation is that I have no deadline pressure, and I have the modern internet to help me. I’m assuredly wrong about some of my translations.
Translation is hard. When I point out a mistranslation, it’s not a judgment of the original translator(s). They had a deadline and poor resources.
Some of my translations are rather liberal. I’ll usually make note if so.
Please no jokes in the comments about Karen being a Karen. I really hate that trend.
The game takes us straight to Tim’s house, and things look… not so good.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
JP: テム： うわっ！ なんだよ この あれようは．．． | Will: What! What’s happened… | Tim: Aaah! What the… It looks like a storm tore through here. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： ひどい．．．．！ いったい だれがこんなことを．．． | Kara: It’s awful! Who would do such a thing… | Karen: This is terrible! Who the heck would do such a thing? |
テム： おじいちゃんと おばあちゃんは！？ | Will: My Grandparents?! | Tim: Where are grandpa and grandma? |
Once again, Tim just specifies a topic with は (wa) without finishing the thought and OE translates a little too literally. It leads to this funny exchange in OE, where it seems like Will is answering Kara’s question.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： ビルおじいさまーっ！ | Kara: Grandpa Bill! | Karen: Grandfather Biiiill! |
テム： ローラおばあちーゃん！ | Will: Grandma Lola! | Tim: Grandma Lauraaaa! |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： あたし 2階を 見てくるっ！ | Kara: I’ll look upstairs! | Karen: I’ll go look upstairs. |
If you try to leave:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム：（いや 手がかりはきっと 家の中に あるはずだ．．．） | Will: (I suspect there’s a clue in the house…) | Tim: (No, I’m sure there are still some clues in here.) |
After a short amount of time, Karen will scream:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： キャーーーーーーッ！！！ きて！ たすけて！ テム！ た、たいへん、たいへんよ！ | Kara: Ooooh!!! Will!! Come here! Quick! It’s terrible, terrible! | Karen: Kyaaaaaaaaah! Come here! Help, Tim! This is dreadful, just dreadful! |
This isn’t a note on the translation but: Christ, Karen, reassure Tim before you shriek like this! He’s going to think their bodies are upstairs or something.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム： どうしたの！？ | Will: What happened?! | Tim: What’s wrong!? |
カレン： このカベを見て！ このしるし、黒いヒョウのマーク．． ブラックパンサーが きたんだわ！ | Kara: Look at the wall! | Karen: Look at this wall! This symbol looks like a black leopard. It means the Black Panther was here! |
This mark, a jackal… The Jackal’s here! |
This threw me for a loop as a kid. Yeah, he’s not still there. Karen is speaking in past tense.
It’s no surprise at all that the Black Panther’s name was changed in the English version. It had to be done, but jaguar would have worked as well.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム： ブラックパンサーって．．．？ | Will: Jackal…? | Tim: Who’s the Black Panther? |
カレン： 最近 お母さまが やとった 殺し屋よ！ | Kara: He’s the hunter hired by my mother!! | Karen: He’s the assassin my mother hired! |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
しつっこくて 暗くて ふきつな男なの。 | An evil man who will stop at nothing! | He’s a tenacious, cheerless, sinister man. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
一度 こいつに ねらわれたら もう、おしまい．．． 人の命なんてなんとも思わない男よ！ | Once he starts after you, there’s no stopping him. | Once he’s targeted you, you’re already done for. He’s a man who doesn’t care about things like human life. |
He has no regard for human life! |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム： しゃあ おじいちゃんと おばあちゃんは．． | Will: My Grandpa and Grandma…. | Tim: Then, grandma and grandpa are… |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
リリィ： ご安心あれ、おふたりさん。 | Lilly: Don’t worry, you two. | Lily: Relax, you two. |
テム： あ。 君は さっきの．．． | Will: You’re the one who… | Tim: Ah. I met you before. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： あなた だあれ！？ | Kara: Who are you?! | Karen: Who are you!? |
リリィ： テムの お友達よーだ。 | Lilly: I’m Will’s friend. | Lily: I’m Tim’s friend. |
I’ll be candid. I don’t like Lily very much. In the upcoming scenes she’s going to jump down Karen’s throat multiple times, totally unprovoked. But here’s our first hint as to why: I think she’s supposed to have a crush on Tim and (rightly, it turns out) sees Karen as competition. Hence, instead of saying “Hi, I’m Lily, I helped Tim escape jail” like a normal person would, she says this, like a child trying to fight over who’s better friends with someone.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム： リリィ、きみはなにか知ってるの？ | Will: Lilly, do you know anything about this? | Tim: Lily, what is it that you know? |
リリィ： だいじょうぶ。 ビルおじいちゃんも ローラおばあちゃんも 無事だよ。 | Lilly: It’s OK. Your Grandpa and Grandma are safe. | Lily: It’s ok. Your grandpa Bill and grandma Laura are safe. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
あたしの村にかくれてる。 | They’re in my village. | They’re hiding in my village. |
カレン： あなたの村？ | Kara: Your village? | Karen: What village is that? |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
リリィ： イトリー族の村。 | Lilly: Itory Village. | Lily: The village of the Itory Clan. |
カレン： そんな村、きいたこともないわ！ | Kara: I’ve never heard of this village! | Karen: I’ve never heard of such a village! |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
リリィ： 当然よ。 あたしの村には 結界がはってあって ふつうの 人間には 見えやしないもんねっ。 | Lilly: Naturally. My village has a barrier around it. | Naturally. It’s because there’s a magic barrier around my village so there’s no way ordinary people can see it. |
Ordinary people like you can’t see it. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
リリィ： さあ 行こっ。テム！ | Lilly: Let’s go, Will! | Well then, let’s go, Tim! |
テム： うん！ | Will: OK! | Tim: Yeah! |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： あたしも ついて行く！ | Kara: I’m going, too! | Karen: I’m going too! |
リリィ： おひめさまには キケンだよっ。 | Lilly: It’s far too dangerous for a princess. | Lily: It’s too dangerous for Her Royal Highness. |
Lily’s first unprovoked attack on Karen. She uses the same title that all of the soldiers in the castle use for Karen—I’ve tried to convey that she’s adopting the more formal title to mock Karen.
Also… Karen didn’t introduce herself, but Lily already knows she’s the princess. Was she spying as a dandelion seed or something?
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： 絶対に ついて行くもん！ これで あたし ほんとに 自由になれるのねっ！ | Kara: You can’t stop royalty! I do whatever I want!! | Karen: I’m definitely coming along! This way I can truly get used to my newfound freedom. |
リリィ： これだもの おじょうさまったら。 | Lilly: Typical of a princess… | .Lily: Ugh, if that’s what “Your Majesty” really wants. |
It really is no wonder that I liked Lilly and disliked Kara as a kid. The OE inserts non-existent brattiness all over the place. In reality, Karen is not flexing that she’s unstoppable royalty, here. She’s trying to get used to being a normal person after having abdicated her throne. It’s the opposite of flexing royalty, if anything! And it’s perfectly reasonable. She can’t stay in South Cape; the soldiers would find her again, and she can’t go back to her evil parents who will imprison her. She’s homeless. She doesn’t have anywhere else to go. She needs to stay with Tim, at least for now.
Lily is the one being a jerk, here. Despite Karen’s obvious need for help, Lily expresses disgust or exasperation in 3 separate ways. だもの (damono) indicates protest. She calls her おじょうさま (ojousama), which means a pampered or naive young woman. And ったら (ttara) indicates scorn or annoyance. Literally: This (expression of protest) pampered girl (expression of exasperation). I dislike monarchy as much as the next person—depose Princess Peach! and all that—but I’d give benefit of doubt to someone who willingly abdicates their throne in protest of the royal family’s evil behavior.
Talking to Karen after this conversation:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
この先 何か すてきなことが 待っているような 気がするわ。 | I think something good is going to happen. | I feel like something great is waiting for us in the future. |
Talking to Lily gives this dialogue:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
リリィ： あたしの村へ 行くまえに 町のみんなに 会ってきたら？ | Lilly: Before we go to my village, should we meet the townspeople? | Lily: Before we go to my village, why don’t you go see everyone in town? |
しばらく ここへは もどって こられないかも しれないわよ。 | We might not be back here for a long time. | It might be a while before we can come back here. |
If you talk again, she’ll continue to exhort you to talk around:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
リリィ： えっ？ もういいの？ ちょっとは 町のようすを ながめてきたら？ | Lilly: Is that OK? We should see how things are in the village. | Lily: Huh? You can’t be done already. Go check out the town for a little while. |
I (not we) will indeed talk around. But there are only 3 new lines of dialogue that I know of. Rob:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ロブ： どうしたんだ？ テム。 うかない顔して。 | Lance: What happened, Will? You look so gloomy. | Rob: What’s the matter, Tim? Why the long face? |
何か おれたちに言えない なやみでも あるのか？ | Something you can’t tell us about? | Is there some kind of problem that you can’t tell us about? |
Erik:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
エリック： どうしたの？ 何か いつものテムとちがうよ。 | Erik: What’s the matter? You’re not acting like the same old Will. | Erik: What’s wrong? You seem different from normal. |
The final new dialogue doesn’t come from Morris, who just continues to brag about how he’s sure to win again. Instead, it comes from the priest:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
なんですか。 テム。 人の顔を しげしげと見て．．． | What is it, Will? Looking at your face, I wonder if you’re plotting something again…. | What is it, Tim? By the look on your face… |
また 何か たくらんでるんじゃ ないでしょうね．．． | You’re not plotting something again, are you? |
When we return to Lily, she asks if we’re ready to go. I’ll say No, first:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
リリィ： 旅立つ 決心は できたわけね？ | Lilly: Are you ready to go? | Lily: Are you ready to head out? |
リリィ：えそうね。 じゃ 旅立つ 心がまえができたら ここへ もどってきて。 | Lilly: All right. If you decide to go, come back here when you’re through. | Lily: Ok. Whenever you’re ready to go, come back here. |
When you finally affirm, Karen will repeat her line about the future being bright:
Lily wastes no time contradicting her:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
リリィ： いいえ これからが 苦労の連続だわ きっと．．．。 ふうぅっ．．．。 | Lilly: No. From here on there will be many hardships…. Hmmmmm. | Lily: No, most likely, we’ve got a bunch of hardships ahead. Hmph. |
Karen notices a trend and calls Lily out:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： いちいち たてつくわねえ。 | Kara: You’re nitpicking. | Karen: Are you going to contradict every last thing I say? |
A predictable and annoying fight ensues:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
リリィ： そっちこそ お城の外へ 出たことがあるの？ | Lilly: That’s what I expected. Have you ever been outside the castle? | Lily: What about you? Have you ever even been out of your castle? |
そっちこそ (socchikoso) is idiomatic, used when you’re accused of something but you think the other person is guilty of something too.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： なによ フーテン娘！ | Kara: Crazy girl! | Karen: What? You’re insane! |
リリィ： なんですって、世間知らずっ！ | Lilly: Are you totally ignorant of the world!? | Lily: What did you say, you sheltered…! |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
リリィ： テムは あたしの おともだち。 わかったわね？ | Lilly: Will is my friend. Understand? | Lily: Tim is my friend. Understand? |
Lily hints again what this dumb fight is really about. He’s my friend, not yours!
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： あら、 テムは あたしの おともだちよね？！ | Kara: Hey, Will, aren’t you my friend, too!? | Karen: Oh, Tim, we’re friends, aren’t we? |
>Yes, of course. |
Funny dialogue choice in the JP, as Tim knows Karen better than he does Lily, if only a little bit. As a kid I chose to be mean here, because I didn’t like Kara. Let’s choose the mean option first:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
リリィ： じゃあ、あたしと いっしょに 行きましょ。 行きましょ。 | Lilly: I’m going with you. Let’s go. | Lily: Ok then, let’s go together. Come on. |
And if you say that you are Karen’s friend:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： うれしいわ、テム。 さあさ、手をつないで行きましょ。 | Kara: I’m glad, Will. Let’s go hand in hand. | Karen: I’m so glad, Tim. Come on, let’s hold hands as we go. |
Oh my god, she’s so precious.
Either way, we get this narration box:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
こうして 3人は リリィの村へと 向かうのであった。 | Together, the three set off for Lilly’s village. | And so the 3 of them headed towards Lily’s village. |
A shorter entry than last time, but this is a good stopping point. Our next destination is Itory Village. There are some amusing mistranslations there, but the most interesting thing about Itory to me is the direct references to Soul Blazer (that I didn’t get when I was younger).