The usual disclaimers, for the final time:
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 translators. They had a deadline and poor resources.
Please no jokes in the comments about Karen being a Karen. I really hate that trend.
Proceeding through the Tower of Babel, you’ll come upon a skeleton:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
古ぼけた しかばねが 一つ 静かに 横たわっている．．． | One worn-out body is quietly laid down… | A weathered corpse lies quietly, alone. |
そのとき 頭の中に 聞き覚えのある声が語りかけてきた。 | In his head, a familiar voice speaks. | At that moment, a familiar voice spoke in my head. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム。 私だよ。 お前の父 オールマンだ。 | Will. It’s me, Olman, your father. | Tim. It’s me, Allman, your father. |
肉体は くち果てたが 私は こうして生き続けている．． | My body has decayed, but I live on like this… | My body has decayed, but I live on like this. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム： と とうさんっ！ どうして そんな 姿にっ！！！ | Will: Father! Why are you in that form!!! | Tim: F… Father! Why do you look like that!? |
バベルの塔は 不思議な空間。 内部は すい星の光で 満ちている。 | There’s a strange room in the Tower of Babel, filled with the light of the comet. | The Tower of Babel is a mysterious place. Its interior is filled with the light of the comet. |
空間 (kuukan) can mean room, but it can also mean space. He’s talking about the whole Tower, not a single room. This is the same thing the wisps outside were saying.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
時が 数百倍の速さで流れ 中にいる者は すさまじい速度で 進化してゆく．．． | Time goes so fast there that people evolve very quickly… | Time flows several hundred times faster. Anyone who goes in evolves at an absurd rate. |
テム： じゃあ ぼくと カレンは どうして 生きていられるのっ？！ | Will: Why are Kara and I able to live?! | Tim: Then how come Karen and I can survive here? |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テムの父： それは お前たちも 進化した人間 だからだ。 | Will’s father: Because you two are evolved humans. | Tim’s father: That’s because you two are evolved humans. |
カレン： あたしたちが．．．．？ | Kara: Us…? | Karen: We are? |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テムの父： はるかむかし すい星から 放たれる光を使った バイオ技術が あって、 | Will’s father: Long ago there existed biological technology using the light of the comet. | Tim’s father: Long ago, biological technology was made using the comet’s light. |
人々は その力を使い 自由に 動植物を 作りだしていた。 | People freely used the power to make plants and animals. | People were using that power as they liked to make plants and animals. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
例えば ラクダが 長期間 飲まず食わずで 生きていられるのは さばくを 移動する 乗り物として 作られたからだ。 | For example, they made the camel. It can go for long periods without food or water. | For example, they made the camel to act as a vehicle that could go long periods of time without food or water in the desert. |
やがて 人は この力を 兵器として 利用できることに気づき、 まものが 次々と 生みだされた。 | When people realized the power could be used as a weapon, demons were developed. | Before long, people realized they could use that power as a weapon. Monsters were created, one after another. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
まもなく 世界は はめつのききに おちいった．．． | The world was on the brink of ruin… | Soon the world was on the brink of ruin. |
そのとき 人類の存亡を かけて 作り出された 光とヤミの戦士。 それがお前たちの 先祖なのだ。 | At that time, the Knights of Darkness and Light were developed to decide the fate of humanity. | At that time, with mankind’s existence at stake, the Light and Dark Warriors were created. Those were your ancestors. |
They are your ancestors. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
そして ６つのミステリードールこそ 光とヤミの戦士を 作り出したもの。 | The six Mystic Statues were made by the Knights. | It was the 6 Mystery Dolls that created the Light and Dark Knights. |
さあ 最後の一つ 命の ミステリードールを お前に たくそう。 | The last Mystic Statue is entrusted to you. | Here. I entrust the 6th Mystery Doll to you. |
Well, that’s different. But there’s no question. The OE got it backwards. Mystery Doll modifies the word こそ (koso), which emphasize the previous word. It’s kind of like saying in particular or specifically. Light and Dark Knights is the noun phrase in front of the direct object marker を (o). The verb is 作り出した (tsukuridashita - created/developed/produced). Altogether, The Mystery Dolls in particular created the Light and Dark Knights.
That makes sense. It ties everything back to the attract screen.
Let’s go back in time to the first post in the series.
Among [the ruins] were strange statues. They were so invariably said to be good that people thought they were effigies of gods.
What exactly did the gods mean to the ancients? The ruins, standing quietly, tell us not.
If the Mystic Statues were effigies of gods, then it’s totally random that they were created by the Knights. Like, “By the way, the Knights were really religious”?
But if the Mystic Statues really are gods, or powerful aliens, then they used their powers to create the Knights in the world’s time of need.
Anyway, we get the 6th MacGuffin, yay.
Tim’s dad continues:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
もうじき すい星が 大接近する。 お前たちは それまでに 塔の屋上へ ゆかねばならない。 さあ 静かに目を閉じなさい．．． | Soon the comet will be very close. | The comet draws very near. You must get to the top of the tower before then. Stay calm and close your eyes. |
By then, the two of you must go to the roof of the tower. Close your eyes…. |
We’re warped to a new location.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テムの父： かつて 古代人たちは すい星を 神とあがめた。 | Will’s father: The ancients worshipped the comet as a spirit. | Tim’s father: Once upon a time, the ancients revered the comet as a god. |
すい星の光を あびたものには 不思議な力が やどったからだ。 | Those who bathed in the comet’s light were given a strange power. | Anything bathed in the comet’s light receives a mysterious power. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
人の心に 悪が あるかぎり あらゆる まものが 生み出されて しまう。 | As long as people have evil hearts, demons will be born. | As long as there is evil in people’s hearts, all kinds of monsters will be born. |
さあ テム 目をこらして まわりを 見てみなさい。 | Will, open your eyes and look around. | Tim, look at your surroundings very carefully. |
目をこらす (meokorasu) means to strain one’s eyes or look closely, rather than open one’s eyes. Presumably Tim had already opened his eyes.
Karen has nothing to say in either version.
And Tim’s father won’t say much more until you’ve chatted up some wisps.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テムの父： さあ 彼らと 話しておいで。 | Will’s father: I need to talk to you. | Tim’s father: Go on, speak to them. |
Weird mistranslation. He even uses the word 彼ら (karera - they).
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ニールの母： 現実世界を ながめることはできても ふれることはできない．．． | Neil’s mother: Even if I can see the real world, I can’t touch it. | Neil’s mother: I can see the real world, but not touch it. |
ニールが どんなに困っていても もう 手をかしてあげることは できないのね．．． | No matter how difficult it may get, I can’t help you. | No matter what kind of trouble Neil gets in, I won’t be able to lend a hand. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
モリス： さあ テム ひさしぶり。 | Seth: Ah, Will. It’s been a long time. | Morris: Hey, Tim. Long time, no see. |
こんな世界が あったなんて．．． これを 学会で 発表したら ぼくは 学者になれるだろうなあ。 | Such a world. If I could talk of this at an academy I’d be a great scholar. | To think such a world existed. If I could present this at an academic conference, I’d prove to be quite the scholar. |
Uh, hey Morris, weren’t you a fish last time we talked? Did the fish version of you die too? Or are you able to split your consciousness between Fish Morris and Tower of Babel Spirit Morris?
I don’t know what he means by such a world. The spirit world? The afterlife? Or is he just talking about the great view?
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ニールの父： ええい．．． ニールは 何を やっておるっ！ | Neil’s father: Neil… What are you doing!! | Neil’s father: Ugh. What is Neil doing!? |
あいつには ローレック株式会社を もっともっと 大きくしてもらわねば ならんのじゃ。 | I want him to make the Role Company grow bigger and bigger. | He’s supposed to be making the Rolek Corporation grow even bigger. |
Neil’s dad is mad that Neil is trying to end the slave trade, even if it hurts the company? I’m wondering if Neil’s parents weren’t evil before some evil spirits pretended to be them.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
肉体が なくなり 私は 不老不死の 生物となった。 すい星の光による 進化によって 永遠の命を 手に入れたのだ。 | With my body gone, I became forever young. From the comet’s light, I gained immortality. | When my body died, I became a perpetually young being. The evolution from the comet’s light gave me immortality. |
だが 果てることのない命に いったい 何の 意味があろうか。 不治の病に おびえていたころの方が よほど じゅうじつしていたな．． | But is there meaning in eternal life? I felt more alive when I had a terminal disease. | But what kind of meaning is there in a life that doesn’t end? I felt more fulfilled when I was scared of a terminal illness. |
Hey, look, it’s the guy I effectively killed by cheating in a game of death I had no good reason to play. But it’s ok, because he thinks that death gives meaning to life!
Anyway…
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ペギー： ブヒブヒッ！！ | Hamlet: Oink oink!! | Piggy: Oink oink! |
テム： そうか 体がなくなっちゃえば 人も動物も 区別なんか ないんだな．．． | Will: Of course. There’s no difference between humans and animals… | Tim: I see. Once a body dies, there’s no difference between humans and animals. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テムの父： いよいよ その時が 近づいてきた。 | Will’s father: At last the time is near. | Tim’s father: At last the time is near. |
さあ みんな。 テムに 力を かしてやってくれ！ | Everyone. Give Will your power! | Everyone. Give Tim your power! |
All of the wisps converge on Tim:
I guess they’re inside me now? Seems fine.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テムと カレンの 心が重なったとき 光とヤミが 一つになったとき そこに 大いなる力が生まれる．． | When Will and Kara joined and became one with the Light Knight, a great power was born… | When Tim and Karen’s spirits joined, and light and dark became one, a great power was born. |
光とヤミの戦士が ここに 数千年の時を越えて よみがえり、 ヤミの戦士の 究極の力 ファイアバードが やどった！！ | The Knights were brought forth. The Dark Knight’s ultimate power, the Firebird, was released! | For the first time in thousands of years, the Light and Dark Knights were resurrected, and the Dark Knight’s ultimate power, the Firebird, resides within them! |
The Mystery Dolls start spinning around Tim as he turns into Shadow.
The game still hasn’t made it clear why I needed these things. Did they unlock Firebird? Did they allow Shadow to fly in space?
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
お前たちの 戦いが 地球の運命を 変える。 | Your battle will change the fate of humanity. | This battle the two of you fight will change the fate of the earth. |
さあ いきなさい。 すい星へっ！！！ | Now you must go to the comet!! | Now, it’s time to go. Off to the comet! |
Shadow zooms out into space and flies there for a little while.
He eventually lands on the comet, which has a giant freaky face on it that you have to fight.
But it’s an extremely easy fight. After that is Dark Gaia, the final boss. It’s also an easy fight if you know what to do. If not, it’s kind of a pain.
During both of these fights, every time you a attack, a flaming bird shoots out from Shadow. You have an infinite use projectile attack for these fights only. Both of them require waiting a while for the boss to make itself vulnerable. The secret to both fights is the invincibility frames you can get from the Aura Orb. In the first fight, you don’t have to dodge a thing if you use the Orb. The invincibility frames last about as long as the boss’s only attack. In the second fight, you have to periodically block attacks, but for its strongest attack, you can just Aura Orb to safety.
Once defeated, its face melts and it explodes in a flash of light.
Neat.
And that’s it. When the flashing is done, you lose control.
The ending is mostly text boxes. The text displays on screen slowly and you can’t advance the text manually. The US version is annoying because the ending text does something that I’ve only seen once or twice in the game, previously: the text scrolls down as it appears, rather than appearing in multiple text boxes. This made capturing screenshots a pain. You’ll see what I mean.
Meanwhile, the Japanese version is annoying because the text box is transparent so you can see the neat planet graphic in the background. It looks cool, but it makes the text hard to read. It would work if all of the characters had colored text that contrasted strongly against blue, but they don’t. I had to zoom in super close on a few screenshots.
The planet graphic is different in both games. You can see it in all the upcoming JP screenshots, but not in the US screenshots, since the text box is in the way. Here’s a screenshot without text for comparison:
The US planet is the same one used in the title screen. The moon has been taken out completely, and it’s been made bigger, greener, and cloudier.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： すい星は どうなったのかしら．．？ | Kara: What’s happened to the comet…? | Karen: What’s happened to the comet? |
あの 青くかがやいている星は いったい？ | That glowing green planet? | And what in the world is that shining blue thing? |
青い (aoi) in Japanese means blue or green. The planet’s mostly ocean and therefore mostly blue. But they added some green to the planet in the US version. I’m not sure I’d call it a mistranslation. But it’s still mostly blue.
She asks what the 星 (hoshi) is. This word can mean almost any kind of astral body, planet or star. I substituted with thing since I believe that, if Karen recognized it as a planet, she’d recognize it as her own planet. I think it’s supposed to be ambiguous.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テムの父： すい星は その力を失った。 | Will’s father: The comet’s power has disappeared. | Tim’s father: The comet has lost its power. |
あくまの星は 今 宇宙の彼方へ 飛び去ろうと しているのだ．．． | The evil star has flown off to the other side of the universe… | The devil star is now flying away to the other side of the universe. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム。 あの 暗やみに うかんでいる 青い星が 何だか わかるか？ | Will. Do you know what planet that is, glowing there in the darkness? | Tim, do you know what that blue planet is, suspended in the darkness? |
テム： あれが ぼくたちの星．．．？ | Will: Our Earth…? | Tim: Is that our planet? |
This is what I meant about the text scrolling. 4 lines of text in a dialogue box that can only hold 3 lines means I need 2 screenshots to catch everything.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テムの父： そう。 あれが 我々の星 地球だ。 | Will’s father: That’s right. Our Earth. | Tim’s father: That’s right. It’s our planet, Earth. |
さばくのオアシスのように 見える だろう？ | Doesn’t it look like a desert oasis? | Doesn’t it look like a desert oasis? |
Uh. No? No, it doesn’t look like a desert oasis at all. Can this spirit wisp thingy actually see? I mean, he doesn’t have eyes anymore.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： 地球って あんなに きれいだった のね。 | Kara: It’s never seemed so beautiful. | Karen: Earth looks so beautiful. |
でも ヤミお中にぽつんと光ってて なんだか さびしそう．．． | But it looks lonely shining in the dark… | But seeing it shining isolated in the darkness, it looks kind of lonely. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
不思議な声： そうよ。 地球は さみしかっているの。 | Strange Voice: Yes. The world is awakened. | Mysterious voice: Yes. The Earth is lonely. |
テム： かあさんっ！？ | Will: Mother?! | Tim: Mother!? |
Hard to see where they got awakened in the OE. She says the earth is さみしかっている (samishikatteiru), a conjugated form of さみしい (samishii), which itself is a variant of the word さびしい (sabishii). It means lonely, solitary, or desolate. Maybe the fact that it’s a variant threw them off? But I don’t know what word they mixed it up with.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テムの母： 地球はね。 何億人という 子供をもった お母さんなの。 | Will’s mother: The Earth. A mother with millions of children. | Tim’s mother: Think about the earth. It’s a mother who has had hundreds of millions of children. |
テムは 時々 あたしたちのことを 思い出してくれるし カレンだって ご両親を想うことがあるでしょう？ | I’m sure you think about us sometimes, and Kara often thinks about her parents. | Tim, I’m sure you think of us sometimes. And Karen, you must think about your parents too. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
地球だって同じ。 子供に 忘れられたら さびしい ものよ。 | The Earth is the same way. She gets lonely if her children forget about her. | The Earth is the same way. She gets lonely if her children forget about her. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テムの父： どうした？ 二人とも？ 自分たちの 住んでいた星を 外から ながめた 気分は？ | Will’s father: How is it, you two? Looking at the world you live in from the outside? | Tim’s father: How does it feel, you two? To be looking at the planet we live on from the outside? |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： あたしたち まるで 神様に なってみたい．．． | Kara: It’s as if we’d become spirits… | It’s as if we’ve become gods. |
I know they had to do religious censorship, but it sure makes the dialogue sound weird sometimes. Spirits aren’t particularly known for looking down at all of creation. Also, we’re talking to two spirits, right in front of us.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム： ロブたちにも 見せてあげたい．．． | Will: I want to show all of our group… | Tim: I wish I could show Rob and the others. |
いや 世界中の人に この景色を 見せてあげたいよ．．． | No, I want to show everyone in the world… | No, I wish I could show this scene to everyone in the world. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テムの父： 人類は いずれ 宇宙へ行く船を 自分たちの力で 作り出す。 | Will’s father: Someday people will build ships to travel the universe. | Tim’s father: Someday, mankind will invent ships with the power to explore the cosmos. |
そして この 青い地球を 自分たちの目で 見ることになる だろう。 | Then they will see this green Earth with their own eyes. | Then they’ll finally be able to see the blue earth with their own eyes. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
その時 テムや カレンと 同じように さびしそうな顔をした 地球に 気がついてほしいものだ。 | See how lonely the Earth looks, just like the two of you. | When that time comes, I hope that they realize how lonely the earth looks, similar to how you two do right now. |
テムの父： ほら。 お前のもっている 世界地図を よく 見てごらん。 | Will’s father: Look carefully at your map of the world. | Tim’s father: Hey. Take a look at your map of the world. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム： あっ。 地図の形が 変わり始めてるっ！ | Will: Ah! The map has started to change! | Tim: Ah! The map has started to change! |
The map changes in a series of stages. Here are the US stages:
The final maps in JP and US versions look different:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ム： 陸地が なんだか 変な形に なっちゃった。 | Will: Somehow the land has taken on a strange shape. | Tim: Somehow the land has taken on a strange shape. |
テテムの父： それが 新しい世界だよ。 | Will’s father: That’s the new world. | Tim’s father: That’s the new world. |
カレン：新しい世界？ | Kara: New world? | Karen: The new world? |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テムの父： これまで 生き物は すい星の力で 誤った進化を 続けてきた。 | Will’s father: The path of evolution, changed by the comet, has continued until now. | Tim’s father: Up to now, the comet’s power has continuously led evolution astray. |
地球も ひとつの 生命。 同じように 進化し その姿が 変わっていたのさ。 | The Earth, too, has a life. It, too, has evolved and changed its shape. | The earth is also a living thing. It has evolved in a similar way and has changed its shape. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
すい星の力が およばなくなった今 世界は 本来の姿に もどったと いうわけだ。 | Now that the comet has no influence on the world, it’s returned to its original condition. | Now that the comet’s power can no longer reach it, the world has returned to its original form. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テム： 父さんも 母さんも どうして 未来のことまで 知ってるの？ | Will: Why do you two know the future? | Tim: Mom and dad, how do you know so much about the future? |
テムの父： 私は 肉体を 失ったとき すべてが見えるようになったのだ。 | Will’s father: When I lost my body, I started seeing everything. | Tim’s father: When I lost my body, I started to see everything. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
過去のことも 未来のことも そして 人類の たどる道もね。 | The past. The future. Humanity’s progress. | I could see the past, the future, the whole path humanity was treading. |
人は こういう体を 神と 呼ぶのかも しれない。 | Maybe people would call this kind of body a spirit. | People might call this kind of body a god. |
Censorship once again makes weird dialogue. Yeah, obviously it’s a spirit, who wouldn’t call it that?
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テムの母： とにかく テムも カレンも これで ふつうの子供に もどれるのよ。 | Will’s mother: Now you and Kara can become ordinary children again. | Tim’s mother: At any rate, you and Karen can now become ordinary children again. |
もう こわい 思いは しなくて いいの。 | Don’t be afraid. | You don’t have to be scared anymore. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： 地球に もどったら あたしたち はなればなれに なっちゃうの？ | Kara: When we return to Earth, will we be separated? | Karen: When we return to earth, are we going to be separated? |
テムの父：そうだ．．． 地球も変わるし 人も 歴史も すべてが 新しい道を歩み始める。 | Will’s father: Yes… The world is changing. Humanity and history, have started down a new path. | Tim’s father: Yes. The world is changing. People, history, everything have started to walk down a new path. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
お前たちは たとえ どこからの 街角で 出会っても おたがい 気づかないだろう．．． | You two thought nothing of it when you met each other in South Cape. | Were you two to pass on some street corner, I doubt you’d notice each other. |
だが 地球が 光とヤミの戦士を 必要としたとき お前たちは 再び めぐりあうかもしれんな。 | But when the Earth needed the Light and Dark Knights, you met again unexpectedly. | But, should the world need the Light and Dark Knights, perhaps you’d meet again by chance. |
OE changes all of this to be past tense about what just happened. Tim’s dad is talking about what may happen in the future, when these two are inhabiting a world with a radically different history. Which makes sense in the context of Karen’s question. He’s saying that the world could conspire to make them meet again.
This seems like a deliberate change—there’s nothing about South Cape at all in the JP.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
さあ すい星の力が 消えないうちに 地球へ 向かいなさい。 | Let’s look at the world before the power of the comet is extinguished. | Come on, head back to earth before the comet’s power is extinguished. |
テムの母： 二人に すてきな未来が 訪れると いいわね．．． | Will’s mother: We hope you two have a bright future… | Tim’s mother: We hope you you two have a wonderful future. |
Tim’s father asks us to 向かいなさい (mukainasai) which can mean face, but can also mean head towards. The latter is the only choice that makes sense. Shadow is made from the comet’s power, so Tim will lose the ability to transform shortly.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン：テム．．． こっちへ きて．．． そして 顔を よっく見せて．．． | Kara: Will… Come here…. Show me your face… | Karen: Tim, come closer. Show me your face. |
しっかりと 心に 焼きつけて おきたいの。 | I want to burn you into my memory. | I want to burn it firmly in my mind. |
I’m glad I’m translating something that’s already been translated, to give me hints, because I would have had a hard time figuring out that 焼 kanji in the second dialogue box. This transparent dialogue box in JP was such a bad idea.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
テムの目も 鼻も 口も カミの毛も 声も 手のぬくもりも．．． | Your eyes Your nose Your mouth Your hair Your voice The warmth of your hand…. | Your eyes, your nose, your mouth, your hair, your voice, the warmth of your hands… |
テム： 心配 しなくていいよ。 ぼくは カレンのことを 必ず さがしだすからさ。 | Will: Don’t worry. I will search you out. | Tim: Don’t worry. I am going to find you, Karen. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
たとえ 何年 かかっても、 １００年かかっても １０００年 かかっても 必ず むかえにいく。 | No matter how long it takes. Hundreds of years… Thousands of years… I will come to you. | No matter how many years it takes. If it’s 100 years or 1000 years, I am going to come to you. |
だから 安心して．．． そして 目を 閉じて．．．． | So take care… Close your eyes… | So don’t worry. Now, close your eyes. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
カレン： テム．．．．．． | Kara: Will…. | Karen: Tim… |
テム： さあ 行くよ。 地球へ．．．． | Will: Let’s go. To Earth…. | Tim: Come on, let’s go. Back to earth. |
カレン： うん．．．．． | Kara: Mmmm…. | Karen: Yeah… |
うん (un) is a super common Japanese word. It can mean mmmm or hmmm or similar sounds, but it frequently means yes or uh-huh or mmhmm. Short approvals or noises of agreement. That’s clearly what’s meant here. She’s agreeing with Tim that it’s time to go.
The OE translation of the ending has been pretty good. I’ve only caught a handful of mistranslations, and they’re minor. None of them have stopped the important points from getting through. This one is the same; it’s not important.
But I do think it’s funny that this, the last line of (non-narration) dialogue spoken by any of this game’s characters, is mistranslated.
Anyway, the two heroes get close to each other, transform into Shadow again, and fly back to earth.
Earth looks pretty different now!
This time the dialogue box is transparent in both games, but it’s fine. The background is dark enough that everything’s visible.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
地球は その よそおいを 大きく 変えたが あかね色にそまった世界は あいかわらず 美しかった。 | The Earth’s look had changed, but, glowing in the sky, it was as beautiful as ever. | The earth’s guise had changed massively, but the crimson tinted world was as beautiful as before. |
森が ビルの群れになり 川が 車の流れに 変わっても 町の中は人々の笑顔であふれている。 | Buildings replaced the forests, rivers became roads, but the villages held only smiling faces. | Even though forests became clusters of buildings and rivers became streams of cars, towns were still filled with smiling faces. |
This is a reference to what the dreamer told Tim in Angkor Wat. Flashback:
It’s merely that trees were replaced by towering buildings, and flowing rivers replaced by a flow of cars.
No matter what kind of world people are in, if they think they are happy, then they are happy.
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
ただ 地球だけが 一人ぼっちで さびしそうに見えた。 | But the Earth was the only one that looked sad. | The earth is the only one who looked isolated and lonely. |
明日の朝 目覚めたときには ぼくや カレンの 新しい生活が はじまる。 | Tomorrow morning Kara and I will start our new lives. | Tomorrow morning, when we wake up, Karen and I will start our new lives. |
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
これからの 地球の未来を すべて 知っているかのように １９９３年の バベルの塔は 空高く そびえていた．．． | The Tower of Babel stands tall, as if it knows the whole future of the Earth… | The Tower of Babel in 1993 rose high in the sky, as if knowing the entire future of the earth. |
Roll credits!
The credits are entirely in English in both games. At the end, there’s a cute scene in which Karen scoots in a little closer to Tim.
But we’re not quite done. There’s a brief epilogue. Tim is seen wearing different clothes and a backpack, standing in a school:
Japanese | Original English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
今日の 授業は ここまでに しましょう。 | Class is over. | Let’s end today’s lessons here. |
近ごろ 交通じこが ふえています。 みんな 車に 気をつけて かえるのですよ。 | Please be careful crossing the street. | There have been a lot of traffic accidents recently. Everyone, please be wary of cars. |
We have had a lot of traffic accidents lately. |
I think it’s cool that the OE used all that negative space at the bottom instead of a dialogue box. Great idea.
And from the left, some of Tim’s friends come running up as the screen fades to sepia and the music that plays in most of the game’s towns starts up.
Hey, Morris is there! He’s alive! That means when we changed earth’s history, we also changed all the horrible stuff that Tim has done, or that has been done indirectly because of Tim. No grave robbing! No getting his friend killed! No turning in an escaped slave and possibly killing the guy who helped the slave! No cheating at a life-or-death gambling game using psychic powers against an opponent who wouldn’t have died that night if Tim hadn’t played! No taking a bunch of valuable animals from his widow! Hooray!
I doubt Tim’s parents are alive, since they ascended to godhood and all. But I choose to believe that little Piggy is doing just fine and was definitely not raised, tortured, and slaughtered in a factory farm.
…
Ahem. Sorry to end on such a grim note. Over 22,000 English words and over 2500 screenshots per game version later, this Illusion of Gaia retranslation is complete. The next post will contain some of the biggest highlights.