Slightly different disclaimer:
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). (Except in rare instances. Today has one such.)
Some of my translations are rather liberal. I’ll usually make note if so.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
海岸のどうくつT | Seaside Cave | Seaside Cave |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
この 海岸のどうくつは ぼくらの 第２の家と言っても おかしくはない。 | It was natural for the four friends to call this seaside cave their second home. | It wouldn’t be wrong to call this seaside cave our second home. |
教会での授業が 終った後は たいてい ここに集まり 日がくれるまで 語り合う。 | Usually, when lessons were done at the school, | After our lessons at church ended, we usually gathered here to hang out until the sun set. |
they gathered there to talk and play games until sundown. |
Another narrator vs. Will problem in the OE. This text is yellow, so it should be in first person.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ロブ：なんだよ テム。 おそかったじゃんかっ。 | What is it, Will? It’s late. | Rob: What’s the deal, Tim? You’re pretty late, man. |
今 モリスと ブラックジャックの 勝負をしてるんだ。 ちょっと 待ってくれ。 | I’m playing cards with Seth. Wait a minute. | Right now, Morris and I are in the middle of a game of Blackjack. Wait a little bit. |
Rob speaks the way a teenager thinks a tough adult speaks. He’s kinda rude, but it comes off as childish to me.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
モリス： あははっ。 また ぼくの勝ちに決ってますよ。 | Seth: Ah ha ha. I’m going to win again for sure. | Morris: Ahaha! I’m sure to win again. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
とつぜん 血相をかえた エリックが とびこんできた！ | Suddenly Erik rushed in with a desperate look on his face. | Suddenly, Erik came flying in with a red face. |
It uses the phrase 血相をかえた (kessou o kaeta) which could be about facial expression or facial color. I’m guessing color, since Erik has been running.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
エリック： はぁ はぁ．．． ニュースっ！ 大ニュースだあっ！ | Ah! News! Big news! | Erik: *huff* *huff*News! There’s big news! |
エドワード城の 王女が 行方不明に なったんだってっ！ なんでも この町へきたらしいよ！ | The Princess of Edward Castle has run away! | The princess of Edward Castle has gone missing! They say she came to this town! |
They say she came to South Cape! |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ロブ：なんだよ。 そんなに あわてて 飛びこんで くるから もっと すごいことが 起こったのかと 思ったぜ。 | Lance: That’s all? | Rob: Dude, so what? The way you came flying in like that, I thought something much cooler had happened. |
それに 王女って あの わがまま娘の カレンだろ。 あんなヤツの どこがいいんだっ？ | You came in such a hurry that I thought something really big had happened! | I bet it’s just that selfish girl Karen. Who cares about her? |
The princess is probably that spoiled girl, Kara. The one you like so much! |
Rob doesn’t say anything about Erik liking Karen. He says “where’s good about that kind of person?” In JP, where is good about means what’s good about or what do you like about. Based on his derogatory tone, I’d see it as a rhetorical question to which the answer is nothing is good about her.
Karen became Kara in English. Hey, you know how everyone decided that the word bitch is sexist and we shouldn’t use it? Then people just started calling women Karen to mean bitch? So they’re being exactly as sexist and doing something mean to all people named Karen?
Yeah, I’m not ok with that whole trend. No jokes about Karen being a Karen, k? I think that’ll go in the disclaimers here out.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
エリック： そりゃそうだけど 王女をさがすために この町へ 兵士たちが やってくるよ。 | Erik: LIAR! Maybe the soldiers will come here looking for her! | Erik: That’s true, but soldiers will come around here looking for the princess. |
エドワード城の 兵士って かっこいいじゃない？ ぼくは それが 見たいだけだい。 | The soldiers from Edward Castle look so cool. I want a steel helmet, too. | Edward Castle soldiers look so cool, don’t they? I really want to see them. |
Dunno where LIAR! came from. そりゃそうだ (soryasouda) means that’s true or obviously.
If you try to leave:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ロブ： 何だよ。 テム。 もう かえっちまうのか？ | Lance: What, Will? Going home already? | Rob: What the heck, Tim? You want to go home already? |
どうせ 夕食の時間は まだまだ なんだから もう少し 遊んでこうぜ。 | It’s not dinner time yet. Let’s play a little while longer. | Dinner time is a ways off, so let’s stick around and have fun a little longer. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
モリス： ぼくは 女性には きょうみありませんね。 本を読んでた方が 楽しいですよ。 | Seth: I’m not interested in girls. I like adventures better. | Morris: I’m not really interested in girls. Reading books is more fun. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
エリック： ちぇっ。 みんなびっくりするかと 思ったのに．．． | Erik: And I thought everyone would be surprised… | Erik: Dang. I thought everyone was gonna be so amazed. |
Amazed, surprised, astonished—they all work.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ロブ： テムも、 そんなところに いないで エリックの となりの席に行けよ。 | Lance: Will, get over here and sit next to Erik. | Rob: Don’t just stand there, Tim. Go sit next to Erik. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
モリス： さて みんな そろったし 今日は 何をしましょうか？ | Seth: Everyone’s here. What should we do today? | Morris: Now that we’re all here, what should we do today? |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
エリック： ぼくは テムの ふしぎな力が 見たいなあ。 | Erik: I want to see Will’s mysterious power. | Erik: Hey, I wanna see Tim’s mysterious power. |
ほら いつか 見せてくれた じゃない？ 手をつかわないで 物を うごかすやつ。 | You haven’t seen it? He can move things without touching them. | Come on, didn’t you show us the other day? You can move things without using your hands. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ロブ： たしか このどうくつの すみっこにある 石像を 動かしたんだよな。 | Lance: He moved the statue that’s in the corner of the cave. | Rob: If I’m not mistaken, he moved the stone statue in the corner of the cave. |
テム。 もう一回見せてくれよっ。 | Will. Show me again. | Tim. Show us one more time. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
エリック： こないだは はなれたところから 石像を 動かしたんだよね。 | Erik: Last time you moved the statue a long way. | Erik: You moved the stone statue the other day without going near it, right? |
A minor mistranslation. He didn’t move the statue a long way, he moved the statue from a place a long way away.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ロブ： たしか 笛を バトンみたいに まわして ひきよせるんだよな。 | Lance: Draw it to you by spinning the Flute around like a baton. | Rob: You spin your flute like a baton to draw it toward you, right? |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
モリス： 石像の方をむいて LRボタンを おすんですよね。 | Seth: Face the statue and push the L/R Buttons. | Morris: Face the stone statue and press the L or R button. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ロブ： ああっ！ うごいたああああっ！！ | Lance: Oh! It moved!! | Rob: Aah! It moooooved! |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
モリス： 何回見ても すごいですねっ。 | Seth: No matter how many times I see it, I’m still amazed. | Morris: It’s amazing no matter how many times I see it. |
しかし 机とかは 動かないのに なんで その石像だけは 動くんでしょう．．． | But why can you move the statue when you can’t move anything else…? | But I wonder why you can only move things like that statue, and not something like a desk. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
エリック： いいなあ。 ぼくも そんな力が 使えたらなあ．．． | Erik: If I could only do that… | Erik: So cool. I wish I had powers like that too. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ロブ： よし。 今度は トランプ当てを やってもらおうぜ。 | Lance: Next. Pick a card, any card. | Rob: Ok. This time let’s play a game with cards. |
オレが 4枚のカードを 裏返しに おくから ダイヤのエースだと 思うものを 拾いあげてくれ。 | I’ll put four cards face down. Pick the one you think is the Ace of Diamonds. | .I’ll put 4 cards on the ground face down. Pick out the one you think is the Ace of Diamonds. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ロブ： さあ。 ダイヤのエースだと 思うものを 拾ってくれ。 | Lance: Pick the one you think is the Ace of Diamonds. | Rob: Go on. Choose the one you think is the Ace of Diamonds. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テムは カードを 拾いあげた。 | Will picks up a card. | Tim chose a card. |
それは まぎれもなく ダイヤのエースだった！！ | It is the Ace of Diamonds, of course! | Without a shadow of doubt, it was the Ace of Diamonds! |
This line bugged me as a kid. OE says of course as if this is the expected result, but then everyone acts surprised. The word まぎれもなく (magiremonaku) means unmistakably, not as expected. A small gripe, of course.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ロブ： ああっ。 あたったあっ！！ | Lance: Ahhh! Right!! | Rob: Ahh. Right on the money! |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
エリック： ふう。 言葉も出ないよ．．． | Erik: I’m speechless… | Erik: Wow. I’m speechless. |
ねえ。 モリス。 こういうのを チョウノウリョクって 言うんでしょ？ | Hey, Seth. This is some type of psychic power, right? | Hey, Morris. This kind of thing is called extrasensory perception, right? |
Erik is speechless. Dude, it was a one in four chance. Not nearly as impressive as the statue thing.
チョウノウリョク (chounoryoku) literally means superpowers, but it means ESP, not comic book powers. I only mention this due to what’s next.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
モリス： チョウノウリョクって いうのはですね、 | Seth: Yeah, it must be some kind of psychic power thing. | Morris: The meaning of extrasensory perception is… |
言葉のとおり 人間の能力を 超えた力．．． | If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was magic. | just as the word says: the ability to perceive things beyond normal human sense. |
The JP says just as the word says, power beyond human ability. But since we didn’t use the word superpower, we can’t translate this the same way. I modified it to be about ESP. The OE doesn’t bother with any of it and comes up with original dialogue.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
人間の感覚っていうのは 見て感じること、 | Most people have five sense… sight, | We usually identify the human senses as: sense of sight, |
聞いて感じること、 | hearing, | sense of hearing, |
味わって感じること、 | taste, | sense of taste, |
においをかいで感じること、 | smell, | sense of smell, |
さわって感じること、 の５つだって 言われています。 | and touch. | and sense of touch. These are the traditional 5. |
チョウノウリョクっていうのは ６番目の力 なんじゃないかと ぼくは 思っているんですけどね。 | I think Will’s psychic power is some kind of sixth sense. | I think that extrasensory perception is the 6th sense. |
Interesting to see that the false idea that humans have 5 senses exists in Japan as well. We have something from 9 to 30+, depending on what you count. Almost all of these separate senses traditionally get rolled into touch even though they’re not. (For example, sense of temperature, proprioception, nociception, and the sense that your bladder is full—none of these are really touch.)
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ロブ： 学者モリスの言うことは むずかしくて オレには よく わかんねーや。 | Lance: What Seth says is too complicated for me to understand. | Rob: I don’t understand the stuff Professor Morris is saying very well. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ロブ： モリス。 カード出したついでに もう ひと勝負しようぜ。 | Lance: Seth. Let’s play one more game. | Rob: Morris. While we’re at it, get out the cards and let’s have another match. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ロブ： おれは モリスと もうひと勝負 したら 帰ることにするよ。 | Lance: One more game with Seth and I’m going home. | Rob: I’ll go home after Morris and I play another round. |
The other two boys repeat previous dialogue. Time to finally go outside.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
海岸のどうくつを出ると あたりは すっかり 夕やみに 染まっていた。 | It was already dark by the time Will left the cave. | Upon leaving the cave, dusk had completely painted the area. |
Again, this is yellow text so it shouldn’t be 3rd person. And again, not a big deal here, but we’ll run into worse.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ブタが 部屋の中をあらしているっ！ | The pig’s wrecking the room! | A pig is wrecking the room! |
しかし なんで ぼくの家に ブタが．．． | But why is there a pig in my house? | But why is there a pig in my house? |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ブヒ ブヒッ | Oink oink | Oink oink |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： あらあら ペギーちゃん。 知らない人を いじめちゃダメよ。 | Hamlet! You shouldn’t snort at strangers! | Karen: Piggywiggy, you mustn’t treat strangers so roughly! |
あなた、 ここの家の子？ | Is this your house? | Are you the child who lives here? |
In JP, Hamlet is simply named piggy-chan. (Well, technically peggy-chan. Remember you can’t sound the i as in pig in Japanese.)
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム： むっ．．． そうだけど？ | Will: Yeah… so? | Tim: Uh-huh. So what? |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： なんだか さえない身なりね。 | Kara: Frankly, you look a little shabby…. | Karen: Your clothes are a little unappealing, aren’t they? |
Karen is rude here, but I don’t think she’s being frank. I think the idea is that she’s sheltered and surprised by commoner’s clothes. Later her father will say almost the exact same thing, though without softening it with なんだか (nandaka - a little/somehow/somewhat).
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム： わるかったな！ | Will: Well, excuse me…!! | Tim: Well, excuse me! |
Must resist urge to translate it as well excuuuuuuse me, princess! It’s good practice to excise ellipses when translating JP text. Here the translators added one for no benefit.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： お父さまは？ お母さまは？ いないのね。 | Kara: Your father? Mother? Not here, huh? | Karen: And your father? Your mother? Are they not around? |
Despite being a little rude earlier, Karen has really respectful speech. She refers to Tim’s mother and father as お父さま (otousama) and お母さま (okaasama). お (o) is a respectful prefix, and さま (sama) is one of the most deferential honorifics. Later on this will contrast with Lily’s speech.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： この絵が ご両親？ | Kara: Is this a picture of your parents? | Karen: Is this a picture of your parents? |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム： そうだよ。 父さんは 探検に 行って．．． | Will: My father’s an explorer, he….. | Tim: That’s right. My father went on an expedition and… |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： 知ってるわよ。 オールマン探検隊でしょ、 そうなんしたのよね。 | Kara: I know. Olman, the explorer. They say he was lost. | Karen: I know. It was the Allman expedition party, and there was an accident, right? |
Tim’s father’s name might be a reference to Paul Allman Siple, the Antarctic explorer. I think I’ll go with that.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム： いつか きっと 帰ってくるさ。 | Will: He’ll come back some day. | Tim: He’ll come home some day. I know it. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： おこったの？ ．．．ちがうわね。 | Kara: Are you sad? …No? | Karen: Are you angry? No, that’s not it. |
悲しませたのね、 あたしったら．． ごめんなさい．．． | I’d be sad, if it were me. I’m sorry… | If I made you sad, I apologize. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： ところで この家 ピアノも ないのね。 | Kara: Anyway, is there a piano here? | Karen: Anyway, do you have a piano in this house? |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム： ないよっ、 そんなもの！ でも、 ローラおばあちゃんは ものすごく歌が うまいんだぞ。 | Will: No, there isn’t! But Grandma Lola is a great singer. | Tim: No, I’m afraid not. But grandma Laura can sing wonderfully. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： 歌なら 今 2階で歌ってるわよ。 二人とも声が大きいのなんの。 | Kara: They’re singing upstairs now. They have such loud voices!! | Karen: They’re singing upstairs right now. They both have really loud voices! |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ローラ： おかえり テム。 あたしったら オペラを歌ってたら 時の立つのもわすれて．．． 夕ごはん できてないのよ。 | Lola: Welcome home, Will. When I sing opera, I lose track of the time… | Laura: Welcome home, Tim. Silly me. When I sing opera, I lose track of time. Dinner isn’t ready yet. |
Dinner’s not ready yet. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ビル： いやはや。 久びさに 大声で歌ったわい。 | Bill: Oh, my! I haven’t sung like this in a long time. | Bill: Good gracious. It’s been a while since I sang so loudly. |
ローラばあさんは むかし 酒場の 歌ひめを やっとったんじゃ。 | Your grandmother Lola used to be a singer. | Long ago, your grandma Laura was a songstress in a bar, you know. |
わしは ばあさんの 美しい声と心に ほれて プロポーズ したんじゃよ。 ふぁっ ふぁっ ふぁっ。 | I fell in love with her voice. That’s why I married her. | I fell in love with her beautiful voice and heart, and proposed to her. Hahaha! |
Bill’s speech is a little less romantic in the OE. He married her because of her voice? That’s it? Nothing about her personality? Of course, the mention of a bar is censored.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ローラ： おーほっほほほーっ。 いやだねえ おまえさん！ 今ごろ そんなことを もちだして。 | Lola: Ah ha ha. Oh, you!! Bringing up a thing like that! | Laura: Ohhohohohoo! Knock it off, you. Bringing up such a thing at this time. |
そうだ！ テム。 聞いて おどろいちゃいけないよ。 | Will, you shouldn’t be surprised to hear that. | Really! Tim. Listen, don’t be surprised. |
さっきまで ここで いっしょに 歌っていた 女の子はね．．． | The girl who was singing with me a minute ago… | About that girl who was singing with us a moment ago… |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
いやーーーーーーーーーっ！！！ | No-o-o-o-o!!! | Eyaaaaaaaah! |
一階から 悲鳴が ひびきわたった！ | A scream from downstairs! | A shriek resounded from the first floor. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ビル： さっきの子の 悲鳴じゃっ！！ | Bill: It’s that girl screaming!! | Bill: That girl screamed just now! |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
兵士： おひめさま。 さがしましたよっ！ | Soldier: Princess! I’ve been looking for you! | Soldier: Your highness. We were looking for you! |
カレン： おんた達なんか 知らないわよっ。 出てってよっ！ | Kara: I don’t know you. Be gone! | Karen: I don’t know who any of you people are. Get out of here! |
兵士： 何を おっしゃいます。 ここで 連れて 帰らなかったら 私の 首がとびますっ。 | Soldier: What are you saying? If I don’t take you home, I’ll lose my head? | Soldier: What are you saying? If we don’t take you home from here, I’ll lose my head. |
Uh, it’s not a question. I don’t like the OE’s use of be gone. It evokes an image of royalty dismissing an inferior. It sounds haughty. But she’s still pretending she isn’t the princess, and the JP isn’t haughty. It’s a small detail, but it works in bad combination with what’s coming.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： 人ちがいでしょっ。 あたしは 花売り娘のボボンゴって いうのよ。 | Kara: What do I care if you lose your head? | Karen: I think you have the wrong person. You see, I’m a flower girl called Bobongo. |
兵士： おひめさま！ そんな 真っ赤なウソに だまされると 思ってるんですかっ。 | Soldier: Princess! | Soldier: Your highness! Do you think I can be fooled with such a bold lie? |
これは 国王の ご命令なのです。 力づくでも 連れて帰りますよ！ | Do you think I have nothing better to do than chase you down? | This is a direct order from the king. We will take you home, even if by force. |
I must take you home. It’s the King’s orders! |
On previous posts I’ve left a disclaimer that, when I point out mistranslations, I’m not judging the translators. Here I’m going to make an exception.
This? This shit right here? You do not do this.
Here’s how it works in Japanese. Karen’s text is usually pink. When she tells this lie, her text changes to dark red. The soldier then says that he can’t be fooled by such a bright red lie.
We don’t have the expression bright red lie in English, so the joke doesn’t work. But we do have the expression bold lie, and text can also be bold. So you can make almost the exact same joke. Pretty serendipitous! Though you would have to program in a bold font.
Presumably the translators couldn’t do that. So what do they choose to do instead? Change Karen into a callous, evil jerk. What do I care if you lose your head? What the f!?
This is awful. The OE’s characterization of Kara doesn’t match Japanese at all. Her character is sheltered but kind princess. And growing up, I thought she was an awful brat. Translating all this JP text, I wondered… why did I get it all wrong?
And the answer is this line. This one line is so bad, it justifies an entire romhack just to change it. It taints absolutely everything she says after this.
Just think: Later on in the game she gets mad at Tim for hitting innocent fish. How does that action fit with the characterization here, in which she’s as callous as a killer? It doesn’t.
I’ll try to point out later some of Karen’s sweetness that got lost in translation. Really, she’s a good character. I kind of love her.
What’s funny is that I had it backwards as a kid. I thought Kara was an arrogant brat, and Lily was the cool one. As we’ll see later on, Karen is the sweetheart and Lily is a bully.
Even if you don’t agree with my later analysis of Lily, there’s no doubt that the OE massively messed up Karen’s character, and it has its root in this line right here. I can’t say enough bad things about this translation decision. Ok, moving on.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： ウソついて ごめんね。 あたしは エドワード城の カレン。 | Kara: I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m King Edward’s daughter, Kara. | Karen: I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m Karen, the princess of Edward Castle. |
テムって 言ったかしら？ あなたとは 初めて会うっていう 気がしないのよね。 なんだか いいお友達になれそう。 | Will. I feel as though we’ve met before, as if we were good friends. | You said your name was Tim? I feel like this isn’t the first time we’ve met. It somehow seems like we’ll be good friends. |
Imagine how we felt as kids, with this monster saying that she feels as if we’re good friends. Ugh, sorry, I’m doing it again.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ビル： まったく じょうだんの 好きな娘じゃよ。 ふぁっ ふぁっ ふぁっ。 | Bill: So, that girl likes to play practical jokes. Heh heh heh. | Bill: There goes a real prankster. Hahaha! |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ローラ： エドワード城って言えば 地下に 広大な水路があってね。 | Lola: Edward Castle… There’s a big viaduct under the castle. | Laura: Ohhohohoho! Speaking of Edward Castle, it has a huge underground waterway. |
その迷宮の水路を 作ったのは 何をかくそうこの人なんだよ テム。 | Your grandfather designed it. | And let me tell you something: The person who designed that labyrinth? It was your grandfather, here. |
テム： ええっ！ ほんとに？ | Will: What! Really? | Tim: Huh? Really? |
A minor error in word choice in OE. They meant aqueduct, not viaduct. A viaduct is a type of bridge that’s made of a series of arches or columns.
The Millau Viaduct in southern France. Picture from Wikipedia.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ビル： わしは むかし 建築家しゃったからな。 | Bill: I used to be an architect. | Bill: Long ago I used to be an architect. |
あの城の 地下には ろうやがあってな。 | There’s a prison under the castle. | There’s a prison built under the castle. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
しゅうじんが かんたんに ぬけ出せないよう 複雑なしくみに なって おるのじゃよ。 | It’s built like a maze to keep the prisoners from escaping. | It was designed as a complex maze, so that prisoners couldn’t escape easily. |
しかし わしの作った ろうやで 日々 人が さばかれていくのは 複雑な心境じゃな．．． | I feel bad that I built a prison where people disappear and are never heard from again. | But every day, I feel guilty that people are being sent to the jail that I made. |
Bill actually says that he has mixed feelings about it. I think the idea is that he’s proud of his work but sad about how it’s used.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ローラ： さて。 かた苦しい話はやめて そろそろ 夕ごはんにしましょ。 | Lola: Enough serious talk. Let’s eat dinner. | Laura: Ok, enough with the depressing talk. Dinner’s about ready. Let’s eat. |
おいしい パイを やいたからね。 さあ 二人とも 二階で テーブルに ついていておくれ。 | I’ve made a delicious pie. Let’s sit at the table upstairs. | I baked a delicious pie. Come along, both of you, to the table upstairs. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ビル： なあ テム。 近ごろ ローラばあさんの料理って おかしなものばかりだと 思わんか？ | Bill: Will, do you think Lola’s meals have been a little strange lately? | Bill: Hey, Tim. Don’t you think Laura’s meals have been kind of odd lately? |
夕べは ミソごはん。 その前は サシミのカレーあえじゃ。 食べるほうは たまらんわい．．． | Last night, licorice and rice. Before that, mouse fritters. I can’t stand it anymore! | Last night, miso rice? And the night before that, sashimi curry. This stuff is unbearable. |
OE does a great job here. You can’t keep miso rice and sashimi curry because western audiences won’t get it. You have to translate to bizarre meals that westerners might understand.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
人は 年老いて どうにもならん問題が 身のまわりに あると ボケ始めると言うが、 | Sometimes old people, if they’re surrounded by problems, get a little forgetful. | People say that when you get old and there are problems you can’t fix, you lose focus. |
ばあさんは 何か わしらに言えない なやみを かかえとるんじゃ なかろうか．．． | Maybe there’s something bothering her that she can’t talk about… | Maybe she’s anxious about something she can’t tell us about? |
Later we find out that Laura has premonitions because of her magic powers from being a native of Itory Village. I guess the idea is that these premonitions are distracting her?
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム： 結局 夕ごはんは ホイップクリームの たっぷりのった ミートパイだった．．． | Will: We sat down to a feast of snail pie… with whipped cream! | Tim: In the end, dinner was a meat pie that was absolutely loaded with whipped cream. |
ボクは 一切れしか食べなかったけど ビルおじいちゃんは がんばって 三切れも 食べていた。 | I only got one piece, but Grandpa Bill ate half the pie. | I could only eat a small piece, but grandpa Bill powered through and ate three slices. |
While the OE did a great job making Lola’s meals sound disgusting, it didn’t do so well in keeping up the idea that Bill and Will hate them. In OE Will sounds delighted to have this disgusting pie—he calls it a feast. And it sounds like Bill ate half the pie because he liked it, but JP says がんばって (ganbatte) which means to persevere, do one’s best, hang on, etc. He persevered and ate more, even though it was awful.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
そして その夜 ボクは 夢を見た カレンと いっしょに 世界中を 旅している夢だった．． | That night Will dreamed that Kara and he took a trip around the world… | That night, I had a dream. In it, Karen and I were traveling around the world together. |
I’ve noted when the OE misunderstands when Will is speaking vs the narrator. Often, without text color, it’s not clear. But here it seems deliberate since the text actually includes the personal pronoun ボク (boku - a boyish way to say I).
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
そして よく朝。 たいへんな 出来事が 起ころうと していた．．． | And the next morning something began to happen… | The next morning, something terrible was in the making. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ビル： おはよう。 今朝も ローラばあさんの パイを 食べさせられたよ．．．トホホ | Bill: I had more snail pie for breakfast. I left you a slice. | Bill: Good morning. I had to eat more of grandma Laura’s pie this morning. Boohoohoo! |
Again, the whole idea that Laura’s cooking is awful was dropped.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ローラ： おはよう テム。 お前に エドワード国王から 手紙が 届いているよ。 | Lola: Good morning, Will. A letter has come for you from King Edward. | Laura: Good morning, Tim. A letter from King Edward came for you. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
手紙には こんなことが 書かれていた。 | This is what is written in the letter. | This is what the letter said. |
オールマンの 所持品である 水しょうの指輪を エドワード城まで 持参されたし。 | Bring the Crystal Ring from Olman’s things to Edward Castle. | Bring the crystal ring that was found in Allman’s belongings to Edward Castle. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ローラ： この手紙を 見たときから なんだか 悪い虫が さわぐんだよ。 | Lola: I’ve been in a bad mood ever since I saw this letter. | Laura: I’ve had a temper stirring ever since I saw this letter. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
そうだ。 テム。 おまじないを 一つ 教えておくわ。 困ったときに このメロディーを ふけば きっと のりきれるからね。 | Oh, Will. I’ll teach you a spell. When I’m upset, humming this tune makes me feel better. | Oh yeah, Tim! I’ve got something for luck. Whenever you’re in a bind, if you play this melody, I’m sure you’ll make it through. |
ローラは 不思議なメロディーを 口ずさんだ。 | Lola hummed a strange melody. | Laura hummed a mysterious melody. |
If you’re wondering how OE got the word spell, it’s probably from おまじない (omajinai) which means good luck charm. I translated it differently because to me that implies a trinket, rather than an action or a song. The word charm can mean a spell (as in placed a charm on), but I don’t think it’s appropriate to call the song a spell.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
それは すてきな メロディだった。 | That’s pretty. | That melody was wonderful. |
はじめて 聞いたはずなのに なんだか とっても なつかしい 感じがした。 | Even though Will had never heard it before, it seemed oddly familiar. | Even though this was the first time I heard it, for some reason it gave me a deep longing. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ローラの メロディをおぼえた！ | You’ve learned Lola’s melody! | Learned Laura’s melody! |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ローラ： 気を付けて いくんだよ。 | Lola: Be careful. | Laura: Be careful. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ビル： 水しょうの指輪．．． うーむ 聞いたことも ないな。 | Bill: A crystal ring…? Never heard of it. | Bill: A crystal ring? Hmm. I haven’t heard of it either. |
お前の父 オールマンの 残した 荷物にも そんなものは なかったし．．． | There was nothing like that in the luggage your father, Olman, left behind. | There wasn’t anything like that in the baggage your father Allman left behind. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
とにかく エドワード城へ 行ってみたら どうじゃ？ 昨日の おひめ様にも会えるしの。 ふぁっ ふぁっ ふぁっ。 | Maybe we could go to Edward Castle. We could see the princess. Heh heh. | At any rate, why not go to Edward Castle? You may be able to meet the princess from yesterday again as well. Hahaha! |
As is so often the case, JP leaves out pronouns and you have to infer which ones to use. Bill is not saying that he wants to go to the castle and see the princess. He’s hoping for Tim to see her.
You can talk around town, but to my knowledge there’s only one new line of dialogue. It’s from Rob/Lance:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ロブ： 今日は 教会の勉強も 休みだし．． 何か 面白いことねえかなあ。 | Lance: It’s a day off from school. Let’s have some fun. | Rob: We get a break from church lessons today. I wonder if there’s anything interesting to do. |
Finally, when we leave, the guard gives us the last lines of dialogue from South Cape (for now).
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
えっ？ エドワード国王に 呼び出されて 城へ行くって？ じゃ 気を付けていくんだよ。 | King Edward has summoned you to the castle? Well, just be careful. | Eh? The king wants you to hurry to the castle? Then be careful on your way. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
気をつけてな。 | Be careful. | Be careful. |
This was a long entry, but it’s a text heavy game and I’ve occasionally got lots to say about it. From here we head out to Edward Castle and the first dungeon of the game. (Thanks a lot, Bill the architect.)