Illusion of Gaia Translation Commentary Part 25: Babel and Bonus

The comet's almost here, but eh, let's take a little break

The usual 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 translators. They had a deadline and poor resources.

Please no jokes in the comments about Karen being a Karen. I really hate that trend.

Notation reminder:
JP: Original Japanese
T: My translation
OE: Original English

Neil’s plane flies us to the Tower of Babel. It moves on the Mode 7 map the same way everyone does while walking: slooooowly turning one way or another before flying straight.

But it gets us there eventually.

JP: バベル上空
T: Sky above Babel
OE: Over Babel

JP: ニール： さあ　そろそろ　着くぞ。 テム。　おやじさんに　よろしくな。
テム：　ありがとう。 ニールも　りっぱな　社長に なってよね。
T: Neil: We’ll be there soon, Tim. Give my regards to your father.
Tim: Thanks. I know you’ll make a great company president.
OE: Neil: We’ll be there soon, Will.
Say hello to your father for me.
Will: Thanks. I know you will make a great president.

JP: エリック：　あーあ。 これで　しばらく　テムと　会えなく なるんだなあ。
用がすんだら　さっさと サウスケープの町に　もどって おいでよ。
T: Erik: Ahhh. I guess this is goodbye for now, Tim.
When you’re done, please hurry back home to South Cape.
OE: Erik: Aaah. I guess I won’t see you for a long time.
When you’ve finished your business, hurry back to South Cape.

JP: テム：　サンキュ。 ぼくも　みんなと　旅ができて 楽しかった。
エリック： この旅で　みんな　何かを 見つけたよね。
T + OE: Tim/Will: Thank you. I’m glad we all made the trip together.
Erik: On this trip, everyone found something.

JP: ロブは　リリィと　出会ったし 行方不明の　父さんとも再会した。
ニールは　親の会社を　つぐことを 心に　決めたし、
T: Rob met Lily and was reunited with his lost father.
Neil decided to succeed his parents in their company,
OE: Lance met Lilly and found his lost father.
Neil decided to take over his parents’ company.

JP: カレンは　生まれてはじめて お城の外の　世界を　自分の足で 見て回ったんだよね。
ぼくも　この場をかりて　ひとつ。 何と　夜中に　一人で　おしっこに いけるように　なりましたっ！
T: For the first time in her life, Karen got to see the world outside the castle on her own.
And I’ll take this opportunity to tell you something. Believe it or not, I can now go to the bathroom in the middle of the night all by myself!
OE: Kara started to really live, and saw a world outside the castle.
I’m going to excuse myself.
Finally, I can go to the bathroom by myself at night!

JP: ニール： ははは。　エリックらしいや。
ところでカレンは　さっきから 何にも　話さないな。
T: Neil: Hahaha. That’s just like you, Erik.
Incidentally, Karen, you haven’t said anything for quite a while.
OE: Neil: Ha ha ha. Just like Erik.
Kara hasn’t said anything for a while.

JP: テムと　しばらく　会えなく なるんだぞ。 別れの　あいさつくらいしとけよ。
カレン： うん。　そうね．．．
T: You won’t be able to see Tim for a while. You really should say your goodbyes.
Karen: Yeah, I guess…
OE: I won’t see Will for a long time. I’ll say goodbye to him.
Kara: Hmmm. Right…

Yeah, speaking of, what’s their plan after they drop Tim off? Are they gonna swing on back with the airplane in a few days? How long are they going to leave him?

JP: ニール： あっと　話しているうちに バベルの塔は　すぐ　そこだ。
さあ　テム。 パラシュートの　準備はいいかっ？ いくぞっ！
T: Neil: Oh! We reached the Tower of Babel while we were talking.
Ok, Tim. Is your parachute all ready? Let’s go!
OE: Neil: We’ve reached the Tower of Babel.
OK, Will. Is your parachute ready? Let’s go.

JP: そして　ぼくは　１年半ぶりに バベルの塔へ　降り立とうと している．．．
T: And so, for the first time in a year and a half, I’m descending to the Tower of Babel.
OE: I jumped out over the Tower of Babel.
I hadn’t been there in a year and a half…

As Tim is descending, you can see that another character has jumped out after him.

JP: バベルの塔は　静まりかえっている。 まるで　この一年半の間　時の流れが 止まっていたみたいだった．．．
T: The Tower of Babel was still as death. It was like time had stood completely still for the past year and a half.
OE: The Tower of Babel was deathly quiet. Time stood still…

JP: ぼくのもっている笛は　ここで 発見　されたんだっけ。
T: This is where we discovered the flute that I use.
OE: The Flute I had was discovered here.

This altar also holds the final Red Jewel. I have all 50! But there’s a problem: Gem doesn’t set up shop in the Tower of Babel. I can’t take it to him yet. I have to complete the Tower of Babel first.

Eventually you run into a door with a forcefield blocking it. When you walk into it, Tim will get bounced back and a tiny sparkle lands on the ground.

JP: 笛から　何か　はずれて ころがった　みたいだ．．．．．
T: I think something just fell off the flute.
OE: Something seemed to fall from the Flute…

When you examine the sparkle on the ground:

JP: こ　これは　エドワード国王が こだわっていた　すいしょうの指輪！
笛のかざりかと　思っていたけど こんなところに　かくされて いたなんて．．．
T: What the… It’s the crystal ring that King Edward was so obsessed with!
I thought this was just an ornamental flourish on the flute. I had no idea the ring was hidden there.
OE: It’s King Edward’s Crystal Ring!!
I thought it was a decoration, but it had been hidden there…

It’s not King Edward’s, obviously. I think this plot point is funny. Tim has been bonking enemies left and right with that flute, for months on end. But now, finally, the ring jiggles free.

JP: すいしょうの指輪を　手に入れた！
T: Got the Crystal Ring!
OE: You have the Crystal Ring!

JP: クリスタルリング
ふえに　はまっていた　ゆびわ。
T: Crystal Ring
Ring that was hidden in the flute.
OE: Crystal Ring
Ring hidden in Flute.

If you try to use it as an item:

JP: これこそ　エドワード国王が さがしていた　すいしょうの指輪だ。
T: It’s the very same Crystal Ring that King Edward was looking for.
OE: This is the Crystal Ring that King Edward is looking for.

You have to equip the ring to get through the barrier blocking the door. So… all it does is let you into the Tower of Babel? Dunno why Edward wanted it so badly.

Apparently the ring needs to be touching your skin or it doesn’t count.

On the next floor:

JP:まって．．．．
T + OE: Wait….

JP: テム： カレン！！！？
カレン： ごめんなさい．．． 今　別れたら　なんだか　二度と 会えないような気がして．．
T: Tim: Karen!?
Karen: I’m sorry. I just have a feeling that, if we were to be apart now, we’d never see each other again.
OE: Will: Kara!!!?
Kara: I’m sorry. I just feel that, if we part now, we’ll never meet again…

JP: テム： でも　カレンは　どうして　ここへ 入って　こられたんだろう？
この　クリスタルリングが なくちゃ　ここへは　こられない はずなのに．．．
T: Tim: But how did you get up here?
I thought you couldn’t get here without this Crystal Ring.
OE: Will: But Kara, why have you come here?
You can’t come here unless you have the Crystal Ring…

OE translates どうして (doushite) as why instead of how. (Both are possible, but only one makes sense here.) Which leads to a funny exchange.
“I’m here because I’m worried I’ll never see you again.”
“Ok, but why are you here?”

JP: カレン：もしかすると この　ゆびわのせいかしら ほら　インカの黄金船で　見つけた じゃない？
T: Karen: Maybe it’s because of this ring I found on the Incan Gold Ship?
OE: Kara: Could that be the ring… Didn’t you find it in the Incan Gold Ship?

Y’know, it wasn’t clear that Karen had successfully taken that ring. In the scene where she was looting it off a corpse, the ship was immediately attacked by a leviathan. She could have dropped it, or failed to take it all the way off. They haven’t mentioned it again until just now. Anyway, this is the ring she took off of a corpse. Yay for grave robbing!

JP: この　すいしょうの指輪の色は ダークブルー．．．
カレンの　持っている指輪は ライトブルー　なのか．．．
T + OE: This Crystal Ring is dark blue…
The ring you have is light blue…

I call shenanigans! They said that the ring was gold back when she stole it.

Now it’s light blue? What the heck, game?

JP: もしかすると　これが 光とヤミって　いうことなのかな。
テム：　わかったよ．．． 何がおこるか　わからないし ぼくの　そばから　はなれるなよ。
T: Maybe this is what’s meant by “light and dark.”
Tim: Ok. I don’t know what’s going to happen, so stay close to me.
OE: A light one and a dark one…
Will: I understand. No matter what happens, don’t leave me.

Tim says 光とヤミって　いうこと (hikari to yamitteiu koto) which means “thing called light and dark.” I’m not sure what he means. Obviously what’s generally meant by light and dark is… light and dark. But Gaia has been talking about his dark power the whole game. Maybe he’s connecting the rings to that? Confusing.

わかった (wakatta) literally means [unspecified actor] understood. Japanese speakers preface statements with it the same way English speakers would with ok, got it, or right. I don’t think Tim really understands what’s going on with the rings.

There are some spirit wisp thingies hanging around:

JP: あの　すい星から　放たれている 強れつな光は　生物の成長に　大きな えいきょうを　あたえる。
T: The intense light emitted from the comet has an enormous effect on the development of living things.
OE: The light released from the comet has a profound effect on the growth of living things.
When the star nears Earth’s orbit, all living things experience a dramatic evolution…

??? A second sentence in the English version, that adds nothing at all?

I double-checked to make sure I didn’t miss an extra dialogue box in the Japanese. No, it’s really just the one. And since the meanings of both lines in OE are so close, the only explanation I can see is that they translated this same line twice, in two different ways.

JP: 生き物は　長い長い　年月をかけて 進化してきた。
三葉虫から　魚が生きれ はちょう類　ほにゅう類をへて 人類がうまれた。
T: The evolution of living creatures took a long, long time.
From trilobites came fish, then reptiles, then mammals, and finally humans.
OE: The evolution of living things took a long time.
From insects to fish, from reptiles to mammals, then humans were born.

…Fish didn’t come from trilobites, little wisp thing. Fish are vertebrates. Trilobites are invertebrates. The chordate/arthropod divergence was nearly a billion years ago, and trilobites first appeared about 500 million years after that. Fish are around 10 million years older than trilobites.

In English, you can intensify words by repeating them. The tall, tall building means the very tall building. You can do this with lots of word types, but it’s especially common with adjectives. It’s called epizeuxis. You can see that Japanese has the exact same feature. 長い長い (nagai nagai) means long, long, and just as it does in English it really means very long.

JP: そして　人類は　この先　さらに 進化を　続けていくことだろう。
T: Now, mankind’s evolution will continue further.
OE: And so human beings have evolved.

It just occurred to me that, despite all the religious censorship in the game, they didn’t bother to censor anything about evolution. Even though content about evolution was probably more objectionable to a lot of 90s Christian parents than the inclusion of a church and priest would have been. I grew up in one of those families. I’d know.

JP: すい星は　太古の時代から 神の星とよばれ　また　あくまの星 とも　よばれてきた。
だが　今　地球に　近づいている すい星は　あくまの星．．．．
T: Since ancient times, comets have been called both god stars and demon stars.
But the comet approaching earth is a demon star.
OE: From ancient times comets have been called the spirits of stars,
but also the demon of stars.
The one now nearing the Earth is a demon of stars.

Have they, though?

Serious question, I have no idea which Japanese sources to read to validate this claim. I’ve never heard of this outside this game.

JP: あの星は　高度な　意識をもち 地球を　自分の　思い通りに 進化させてきたのだ．．．
T: The comet has an advanced consciousness and has evolved earth as it has pleased.
OE: The comet is the highest form of consciousness.
The Earth will evolve beyond imagination…

This might be one of those instances where you’re supposed to be imagining yourself in a future time, so the past tense should be translated as present or future. But it doesn’t seem like that to me. It seems like a normal past tense. And it’s true: the comet has evolved life on this planet multiple times before.

Still, it’s possible that I’ve mistranslated and this should be future or present tense.

JP: この　バベルの塔の内部は 時間の進みかたが　ちがう．．． 通常の　何百倍もの　スピードで 時が　流れてゆく．．．．
ここで　生きていられるとは あんたら　ふつうの　人間じゃ ないね．．．
T: Time moves differently inside the Tower of Babel. It flows hundreds of times faster than normal.
You must not be normal people, to be able to survive here.
OE: The passage of time is different inside the Tower of Babel… Time races by…
You’re not normal human beings, because you can live here…

Uh. Does that mean that all of my friends and family are dead? If I left the tower, would we be years and years in the future?

JP: そこの　部屋には　進化の光を使って 作られた　化け物が　ねむっている。 上の階へいくのなら　彼らを ねむらせてやることだ．．．
T: In these rooms are monsters created from the light of evolution. If you want to ascend floors, you’ll have to defeat them.
OE: In that room are demons evolved by the light. You must put them to sleep before you go up.

The count of rooms is unspecified in Japanese, but the monsters are specifically plural. The wisp says 彼ら (karera - they). Since there’s only one monster in each room, this means the wisp is probably saying those rooms instead of that room.

ねむらせる (nemuraseru) can mean to put to sleep. But just as in English, put to sleep can be another way of saying kill. This is probably what English players assumed the spirit meant, but I think it comes off weird in English. We use put to sleep to talk about euthanizing our pets more than other kinds of killing.

The monsters are boss refights. All 5 major bosses, in order, with limited healing opportunities between them. Tim will automatically turn into Shadow before fighting them. They have different colors than when you originally fought them, which is kind of cool.

Periodically, the tower has one-way rooms. You can go up, but never back down. The first one is a magical elevator:

After a couple boss refights, Karen will be gone when Tim exits the room.

JP: おや　カレンが　いない．．． どこへ　いったんだ．．．？
T: Hey, Karen’s gone. Where the heck did she go?
OE: Kara’s not here… Where did she go…?

The next two one-way elevator rooms are funnier. You get carried up by the bosses you just defeated.

JP: お前は　この地球を　救うために よみがえった人間。 さあ　上の階へ　運んであげよう。
T: You’re a person who’s been resurrected to save this world. Come, I’ll take you to a higher floor.
OE: You were brought back to save Earth. I’ll take you to the top floor.

よみがえった人間 (yamigaetta ningen) means person/human who was resurrected/revived/restored. I’m not sure what meaning they’re going for here. Later on the game will talk about Light and Dark Warriors, and maybe it’s talking about Tim being the new Dark Warrior. Or maybe it’s saying he’s a reincarnation of some previous hero, like the guy from Soul Blazer? Idunno.

The next boss to fly you to a higher floor is a vampire.

He also has something to say:

JP: もう　まもなく　すい星が 地球の　すぐ　横を　通過する。 さあ　それまでに　バベルの塔の 頂上へ．．．
T: Very soon, the comet will pass by earth. You must get to the top of the tower before then.
OE: The comet will soon be entering Earth’s orbit. We must go to the top of the Tower of Babel.

There, you meet Karen again. I wonder if she also got carried up by boss monsters?

JP: テム： カレンっ！ どこに　いってたんだよっ！！
カレン： きゅうけつきの女の人が　やってきて 話があるって　いうから．．．
T: Tim: Karen! Where were you!?
Karen: The vampire woman came and said she wanted to talk to me.
OE: Will: Kara! Where did you go?!
Kara: There was talk that the vampire woman had come…

A confusing line in OE. There was talk? From whom? The wisps? People in Dao couldn’t have been saying that. Turns out it’s a small mistranslation.

JP: あの人　永遠に　死ぬことの できない体　なんですって．．．
すい星さえ　なくなれば やすらかな　ねむりにつけるって 言ってたわ。
T: She said she has an immortal body that can’t die.
She said that she’ll only be able to rest in peace if the comet goes away.
OE: They say that her body is eternal…
They say that once the comet is gone,
She’ll be able to rest in peace.

OE got this all right except the pronoun. The vampiress is saying all of this, not “they.”

And hey, Karen. That isn’t an answer to Tim’s question at all. The vampire came to talk to you, but why did you go several floors up? If she came to talk to you, couldn’t you have stayed where you were? She didn’t say anything like, “I need you to go upstairs so I can die.”

Sometimes I don’t get this game.

Anyway, Karen starts following along again without any further conversation.

At the end of the path, there’s a Dark Space and a wisp. In the Dark Space, Gaia says:

JP: すい星が　近づいている．．． そして　最後の　たたかいの時が 近づいている．．．
そなたと　こうして　話すのも この場所が　最後になろう。
T: The comet is drawing near. And so, your final battle is drawing near as well.
This is the last time we’ll be able to speak in this place.
OE: The comet draws near. The time for your last battle approaches.
This is the last time I will talk to you like this in this place.

JP: そなたの力は　すい星ダークガイアに 戦いをいどめるまでに　よみがえり、 すばらしい　ヤミの戦士に成長した。
光の戦士と　心が　一つになったとき シャドウのもつ　ゆいいつの力 ファイアバードが　よみがえる。
T: Your powers have been restored enough to challenge the comet, Dark Gaia. You’ve grown into a magnificent Dark Warrior.
When you become one with the Light Warrior’s spirit, Shadow’s unique power, the Firebird, will be restored.
OE: With your rejuvenated power, defeat the comet, Dark Gaia and become the Dark Knight.
Shadow’s greatest power, the Firebird, will arise when you’re one with the Light Knight.

I don’t think the game gives the comet a name until this point. Gaia says すい星ダークガイア (suisei daakugaia) which means comet Dark Gaia.

JP: この星を　もとの姿に　もどせるのは そなただけ。 私は　すべての　のぞみを　そなたに たくそう．．．
T + OE: Only you can restore the Earth to its original condition. I’m putting all my faith in you…

All that’s left is one last little wisp:

JP: この先に進むと　お前は　もう 後もどりできなくなる．．．
ダオの町へ　もどりたいなら 運んであげるが　どうする？
>やめる
>ダオの町へもどる
T: If you go any further, you won’t be able to return.
If you want to return to Dao, I can take you.
>Quit
>Return to Dao
OE: If you proceed, you will not be able to turn back…
If you want to go to Dao, I’ll transport you.
>Quit
>Return to Dao village

Good thing, because I’ve got a Red Jewel to give!

Dao is exactly the same, with only 2 changes. First, Neil is gone. Second, there’s a wisp hanging out.

JP: バベルの塔へ　もどるのだな？
>やめる
>バベルの塔へもどる
T + OE: Go to Tower of Babel?
Quit
Return

JP: 50コ．．．． ついに　赤い宝石が　５０コ 集まったのか．．．
いよいよ　私の秘密を　話すときが 来たようだな。
T: 50. At last, 50 red jewels collected.
It looks like the time has come, at long last, to tell you my secret.
OE: 50… Suddenly you’ve gathered 50 Red Jewels…
The time has come to tell you some of my secrets.

ついに (tsuini) means finally or at last, rather than suddenly.

JP: さあ　ついておいでっ！！
T: Come on, follow me!
OE: Follow me!!

I like how he says this. ついておいで (tsuite oide). It has a nice flow. I don’t know how common a phrase it is.

You’ll be instantly teleported to a new place, where dungeon music is playing and a weird mist/ghost overlay is constantly moving through. It looks much darker in the JP version.

JP: 気がつくと　ぼくは　不思議な やかったの　入口に　たたずんでいた。
T + OE: When I awoke, I was standing in the entrance to a strange mansion.

This place is rough. All enemy hits do 4 damage (2 circles on Tim’s life bar). They have a lot of HP and, unless it’s timed perfectly, they can’t be killed with a single slide. You can’t turn into Freedan or Shadow. 2 of the 3 enemy types fire projectiles that you have to dodge. You get no reward for killing them all. Heck, you get no reward for doing any of this, except a single herb in a treasure chest that you’ll probably use here anyway.

When you finally work your way through, you’ll find yourself in a boss arena that probably looks familiar if you’ve played Soul Blazer.

This room looks the same in the US and JP versions. Only the previous room is dimmed in JP. Anyway, this guy is the first boss from Soul Blazer. This is what he looked like there:

Looks about the same, except for some color changes.

JP: 私の　やしきへ　ようこそ。
宝石商ジェムは　カリの姿。 この正体は　ソリッドアームと いうわけだ。
T: Welcome to my estate.
Gem the Jeweler is a temporary form. This, my true form, is called Solid Arm.
OE: Welcome to my home.
The Jeweler Gem is a temporary form. The true form is called Solid Arm.

JP: そのむかし　天空から降りたった ソウルブレイダーに　うちのめされ 長い長い　ねむりについた．．．
私の力は　赤い宝石に　ふうじられ 世界中に　分散していたのだ。
T: Many years ago, the Soul Blader descended from the sky and defeated me. I was sent into a long, long sleep.
My power was sealed away in red jewels that were scattered around the world.
OE: Long ago the Blazer came down from the sky, and I was put to sleep for a long, long time…
My power is contained in Red Jewels scattered around the world

If you weren’t aware, the Japanese version is called Soul Blader. It was released internationally as Soul Blazer, for whatever reason. Anyway, this game correctly localized it. I kept the original just to show the JP, but I’d change it to Blazer too, in a rom hack.

JP: そして　私は　復活のために さまざまな　手をつくした。
ドレイ貿易を　うらで　あやつって いたのも　この私。
T: I tried many things to bring about my revival.
It was I who was controlling the slave trade from the shadows.
OE: I’ve tried many things to bring about my own resurrection.
It is I who manipulated the labor trade.

JP: ドレイの　労働力を使い 宝石を　さがして求めていたのだが これほど　はやく　力を とりもどせるとはな．．．
君には　かんしゃするとともに 永遠のねむりに　ついてもらおうか！
T: I was using slave labor to search for the jewels, but I was shocked how quickly I got my power back.
Now I give you my gratitude… along with an eternal rest!
OE: I tried using forced labor to find them, but it didn’t restore my power fast enough.
I’m sorry, but I will have to defeat you too!

Minor mistranslations in the OE cause a narratively strange exposition. In OE, his story isn’t done. After him saying that the slaves couldn’t find jewels fast enough, you’d expect him to continue into how lucky he was to find you. In JP, that’s basically what he’s saying, so his story is over. Then in OE, he’s weirdly apologetic about having to kill you. He’s thanking you for reviving him, not apologizing for killing you.

He’s among the hardest bosses in the game, especially if you’re reckless. If you’re careful, he’s not too hard, but he’s tedious. Go up on either the left or right side, wait for him to come over, retreat, get a few hits in, repeat. You have to repeat a lot, because Tim does 1 damage per hit no matter what move you use, and Solid Arm has (I think) 40 HP.

Meanwhile, back in Soul Blazer, he’s the easiest boss in the game and you can practically bum rush him.

My favorite thing about the fight is that, when he’s defeated, he doesn’t get a special multiple-explosion animation like most bosses do. He vanishes in a single small explosion like any regular enemy.

He has a little more exposition after you’ve bonked him with a flute 40 times:

JP: かぼそい声が　聞こえる．．．
またしても　やられてしまうとは．．
T: A fragile voice can be heard.
I can’t believe I was defeated again.
OE: A quiet voice is heard.
I was defeated again…

JP: ソウルブレイダーも　強かったが おまえは　さらに　強いな．．．．
この星に　危険が　せまっている。 さあ　バベルの塔へもどり 先を　急ぐがいい．．．
T: The Soul Blader was strong, but you’re even stronger.
This planet is in imminent danger. Come, you’d best hurry back to the Tower of Babel.
OE: Blazer was strong, but you are stronger…
Danger approaches this planet. You should hurry to the Tower of Babel…

Solid Arm very nicely warps you directly back to the Tower of Babel, without having to stop in Dao. What a swell guy. I do wonder, though, why he warped me to his mansion to fight in the first place.

One post remains! I expect it will be a long one. There’s a bunch of talkin’ before the final boss, and a bunch of talkin’ after.