Illusion of Gaia Translation Commentary Part 2: Introduction
More censorship, and our first unambiguous mistranslation!
I think a disclaimer belongs at the top of each of these posts.
I’m an amateur. The only reasons to trust my translation are that I have no deadline pressure, and I have the modern internet to help me. (I will explain the grammar as I understand it for some of the mistranslations.) I will almost certainly be wrong in some of these due to my ignorance of JP culture, idioms, etc.
Translation is hard. When I point out a mistranslation, it’s not a criticism of the original translator(s). They had a deadline and poor resources. This was an era when insufficient resources were spent on localization, but that is not usually the fault of the localizers.
Literal translations suck. You should translate the gist of the original and the tone if possible. Otherwise, it’s more important to craft a natural English sentence. Some of my translations are liberal. I’ll usually make note if so.
Notation reminder:
JP: Original Japanese
T: My translation
OE: Original English
JP: 教会
T: Church
OE: School
More censorship of religion. Church is changed to School, and the cross in the background is changed into an angel statue. However, the sprite of the priest, who is super definitely a priest, was not changed.
JP: ぼくの名前は テム。
T: My name is Tim.
OE: My Name is Will.
Most characters underwent name changes. These are rather senseless and I have no idea why they were changed.
Tim’s Japanese name is kind of interesting. It’s not possible to pronounce the name Tim or Timothy using the sounds of the Japanese language. (As someone who shares this name, this fact kind of sucks.) There are really only 5 vowel sounds in Japanese, usually Romanized as:
A: As in “father”
I: As in “meet”
E: As in “wet”
O: As in “hose”
U: As in “boot”
These can be combined to form diphthong-ish sounds. For example, A + I makes the sound in “kite”. But ultimately, this is all there is. Many English vowel sounds are completely unavailable. Among them:
The mid central vowel, the most common English vowel sound, known as the schwa, ə. (As in the first vowel of about)
The near-close near-front unrounded vowel (as in Tim)
The near-open front unrounded vowel (as in pat)
The open-mid back unrounded vowel (as in jump)
The near-close near-back rounded vowel (as in book)
And several more. Anyway, Tim (and Will, for that matter) is impossible to say in Japanese. Whenever this happens, Japanese tries to get close enough. For Tim, there would be two options:
テム (temu): like hem
ティム (timu): like team
But if a game names a character “Tem”, does it really mean “Tim”? There’s no way to know for sure. Since every other character in South Cape has a Generic American Name (like Erik, Rob, or Bill), you’d assume Tim does as well. I’m going to call him Tim. You can call him Tem if you really want.
JP: 父さんと バベルの塔へ 探険に行ってから ちょうど 1年の 月日が流れた。
T: I went with my father on an expedition to the Tower of Babel exactly 1 year ago today.
OE: A year has passed since I went to the Tower of Babel with my father.
OE is fine, but it leaves out the minor detail that this is the exact day, the anniversary.
JP: 父さんと 隊員たちは そうなんし この町へ 無事に もどったのは ぼくだけ．．．
T: Disaster befell my father and his team, and only I returned to this town safely.
OE: My father and his party met with disaster. Somehow, I made it back to South Cape…
Something odd about the original JP is that it uses そうなんし (sounanshi), which means accidental death. But the next sentence establishes that Tim doesn’t believe his father is dead. I used disaster, as did the OE.
JP: 父さんが 死んだなんて 今だに 信じられない。 いや 信じるつもりもない．．．
T: Even now, I can’t believe that my father died. No, I refuse to believe it.
OE: I still can’t believe my father is gone. I’ll never believe it…
JP: ぼくは 大きくなったら 探険家に なって 世界中を かけめぐる つもりだ。
T: When I grow up, I plan to become an explorer and travel around the world.
OE: When I grow up, I’ll be an explorer and see the world.
JP: そうすれば どこかで 父さんに 会えるような 気がするんだ．．．
T: If that happens, I have a hunch that I’ll meet my father somewhere.
OE: Somewhere, I will meet my father…
JP: 神父： 今日の 授業は ここまでに しましょう
T: Reverend: Let’s end today’s lesson here.
OE: Teacher: That’s all for today’s lesson.
JP: ４人とも 今度は 残されないように がんばるのですよ。
T: You four keep at it, so that you’re not left behind in the next lesson.
OE: You four do your best not to fall behind.
JP: それから 近ごろ 町の外に 化物が 姿を 見せるようになりました。 遠出するときは 親と いっしょに 行くようにしなさい。
T: As of recently, monsters have shown up outside of town. Whenever you’re going far, don’t go without your parents.
OE: Demons have appeared outside of town. If you go very far, you must go with your parents.
The only thing of interest here is that, despite all the religious censorship elsewhere, they translated 化物 (bakemono) as demon rather than one of the numerous other available words. At least in the US, demon tends to be related to fallen angels in Christianity, rather than the any supernatural creature that is evil meaning that you see elsewhere.
JP: モリス： じゃ 今日も いつもの ところでっ！
T: Morris: So, the usual place today!
OE: Seth: I’ll see you guys at the usual place!
Our next name change: Morris became Seth. This is the only name change that makes sense to me, as Seth strikes me as a more common American name than Morris. Not that I’ve checked.
JP: エリック： ボクは いったん 家に帰ってから 行くよ。
T: Erik: I need to go back home for a little bit.
OE: Erik: I have to go home first. I’ll see you guys there later.
Erik did not get a name change. They added a sentence here for some reason?
JP: 早く帰んないと 補習で 残されたことが 母ちゃんに ばれちゃう．．．テへへ。
T: If I don’t go home early, mommy will find out that I had to stay behind to do makeup work. Heh heh heh.
OE: If you don’t hurry home, your mother will think that you were kept after school…. Heh heh heh.
The first sentence in the game I’m confident calling a mistranslation.
Japanese frequently elides pronouns when English would require them. So how would you know whether Erik is talking about himself rather than about Tim? You have to use context. First, Erik just finished saying that he had to go home right away in the previous sentence. Second, the mother in question is referred to as 母ちゃん (kaachan). 母 means mother, and the diminutive suffix chan would be much more likely to be used for his own mother. I translated it as mommy to indicate that it’s familiar and maybe a tad childish.
Oh, also Tim’s mother is dead and he lives with his grandparents. Can’t forget that.
JP: ロブ： じゃ 今日も いつもの 海岸のどうくつでなっ！
T: Rob: As always, let’s meet at the cave by the beach today!
OE: Lance: Like always, the cave at the seashore!
Rob was renamed as Lance. I again have no idea why.
JP: さあ テム。 お前も いっしょに いのりなさい。
T: Come now, Tim. Please pray with me.
OE: Oh, Will. Please recite with me.
Pray becomes recite. It’s a pretty good choice, considering how weird the next sentence would be if it weren’t a recitation of some kind.
JP: おお 神よ。 世界が 永遠に かがやきつづけ ますように．．．
T: Oh, God. May the world continue to shine forevermore.
OE: The world shines on brightly through eternity….
I think if I had to censor all this as the original localizers did, I’d scrap it and come up with original dialogue. Something unobjectionable for a teacher to say, like “remember to read chapters 4-7”. This stuff about the world shining is just odd.
JP: サウスケープ
T: South Cape
OE: South Cape
JP: ヤミの空間
T: Dark Space
OE: Dark Space
Dark Room would also be fine. I think Space is cooler.
JP: 私は 生命のみなもと ガイア。 今後 そなたの旅を 手助け するもの。
T: I am the source of life, Gaia. Hereafter, I’ll help you with your journey.
OE: I am Gaia, the source of all life. I will help you on your journey.
I was always surprised that this withstood censorship. “The source of all life”? Gaia all but says that it’s God.
JP: この 空間が 見えるのは ヤミの力が 宿った者だけ。 そなたは えらばれた 人間なのだ。
T: This space can only be seen by someone inhabited by the Power of Darkness. You were the person thus chosen.
OE: Only one with the Dark Power can see this space. You are the chosen one.
Don’t take the difference between my translation and the original too seriously. I’m just trying to convey the way Gaia speaks, which is archaic. For example, Gaia calls Tim そなた (sonata), an outdated second person pronoun. You could translate it as thou.
Obviously the original game is character limited, but I prefer Power of Darkness to Dark Power. Just nitpicky personal preference, Idunno.
JP: ヤミの空間では 冒険の記録を 行うことができる。 旅先では 必ず たちよるがいい。
T: Here in the Dark Space, you can make a record of your adventure. Be sure to stop by during your travels.
OE: In the dark space you can record a travel journal. Stop there before you depart.
A minor mistranslation. There implies it’s somewhere other than the place you’re currently standing. The original literally says “As for in your travels, always stop by is good.”
JP: そろそろ 今までの 冒険を 記録して おいては どうだね？
>記録する
>きろくしない
T: Now, how about making a record of your journey up to this point?
>Record
>Don’t record
OE: Record what’s happened so far?
>Record
>Don’t record
If you choose Record:
JP: 記録は おわった．．．
T: It is done.
OE: Finished recording…
The original is literally correct. I’d change it just as personal preference.
JP: まだ 旅を つづけるのかね？
＞はい
＞いいえ
T: Now then, do you want to continue your journey?
>Yes
>No
OE: Continue your journey?
>Yes
>No
The original translation’s character limitations make Gaia sound robotic to me.
If you choose Yes:
JP: では ゆくがよい。
T: Then go.
OE: Then go.
This is also what it says if you select that you don’t want to record your journey.
If you choose No:
JP: では ゆっくり 休むがよい。
T: Then rest well.
OE: Then rest a while.
JP: こらっ テムっ。 あれほど ここへ 上っちゃ いけないと．．．
T: Hey, Tim. Haven’t I told you not to come up here?
OE: Hey, Will. How many times have I told you not to come up here…
JP: お前は いろんなところから 飛び降りるクセが あるからなぁ。 心配で しかたないよ。 トホホ。
T: It’s because you have such a bad habit of jumping off random ledges. I can’t help but worry. Boohoohoo.
OE: You have a habit of jumping down from places. Well, I guess I can’t really stop you.
JP doesn’t actually say random ledges, I just think that’s an appropriate choice for the situation. As you can tell from his boohooing, this guy is kind of goofy.
JP: なかなか 速そうな 足をしてるな。 走るときは 進行方向の ボタンを グッ グーっと 2回 おすんだぜ。
T: Hey, it seems you’ve got some seriously fast legs. To run, tap the d-pad twice in quick succession. Like, “one twoooooo!”
OE: You look like a fast runner. To run, push the Control Pad twice.
My translation is liberal, and I’m not super confident in it anyway. I think グッグーっ (gugguu) is supposed to be a transformation of the onomatopoeic word ぐいぐい (guigui) which means doing something forcefully and continuously.
That’s enough for now. Next time, we get to meet Gem the Jeweler. His dialogue in English is dull, but in Japanese he’s… much more interesting. (He’s a total weirdo.)