Illusion of Gaia Translation Commentary Part 23: Mt. Ceres and Angkor Wat

Because you don't need bosses for dungeons to be fun

Prepare for another long one! 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

As usual, here’s what the Mode 7 map says in each game.

JP: SACRED MOUNTAIN
OE: TEMPLE

Religious censorship, I guess?

JP: 山の聖域
T: Mountain Sacred Grounds
OE: Mountain Temple

The Japanese word in question is 聖域 (seiiki) which has many translations. Sanctuary is listed in the dictionary, from which the original translators must have derived Temple. But the other three definitions I see are sacred precincts, consecrated ground, and holy ground. This place is obviously not a temple—there’s not a sign of any religious anything anywhere. It’s all plants, mushrooms, monsters, and treasure chests. Rather, it’s a place the locals consider sacred due to the mythology associated with it.

Presumably they wanted to change Sacred Mountain for some kind of religious censorship, but uh… temples are also religious.

JP: ケレス山の　山頂付近には 不思議な場所が　広がっていた。
ぼくの　何倍もあるキノコが　乱立し 見たこともない　植物のクキが 入り乱れて　走っている．．．
T: The summit of Mount Ceres held a marvelous place.
Mushrooms many times my size stood side by side, and the stalks of unfamiliar plants were jumbled and wrapped together.
OE: There’s a strange place at the summit of Mt.Kress.
There are mushrooms many times bigger than me, and plant stalks are scattered around.

Mount Ceres is an interesting dungeon. There’s no boss here. The goal is to get the Tearpot, which is held in a treasure chest at the end. Since Mu, Freedan has actually been a slightly weaker character than Tim. Tim’s slide, if timed and positioned right, did more than enough damage with no charge time. Now that Freedan has the Dark Flyer upgrade, he’s much stronger than Tim. You can launch a fireball into a group of enemies, press the attack button again, and watch it obliterate the whole screen.

It kills enemies in two hits at most, and each fireball is very likely to hit twice. You do have to charge it, but you can cast it from far away, keeping yourself out of any danger. Any time you’re allowed to be Freedan, which you are for most of this dungeon, everything is a joke.

Throughout the maze, you have to take detours into side maps to get a progression item:

JP: キノコのしずくを　見つけた！
T: Found Mushroom Drops!
OE: It’s the Mushroom Drops!

JP: キノコのしずく
くきの　きれめに　たらすと その　ぶぶんが　いきかえる。
T: Mushroom Drops
When dribbled on broken plant stems, restores that section.
OE: Mushroom Drop
Grows plants from ends of stalks.

When you use it in certain spots of the dungeon, it will build a bridge.

JP: キノコのしずくを　使ってみる ことにした。
クキの　とぎれた場所に キノコの　しずくを　そそいだ！
T: Tried using the Mushroom Drops.
Poured the Mushroom Drops onto the place where the plant was broken!
OE: He tries using the water from the mushroom.
He pours the mushroom water on the stems!

There’s actually a Freedan upgrade found in this dungeon. I missed it my first go-round because I had no reason to go in the Dark Space.

JP: フリーダンの力　オーラバリアは 自分のまわりに　オーラの板を 回転させることができる。
山の聖域の敵は　強い。 この力を使うことで　たたかいは だいぶ　楽になるはずだ。
T: Freedan’s power, the Aura Barrier, allows him to rotate aura barricades around his body.
The Mountain Sacred Grounds enemies are strong. Using this power will make fights considerably easier.
OE: Freedan’s power is the Aura Barrier. It puts a layer of Aura around his body.
Enemies at the mountain temple are strong. If you use this power, your battles will be easier.

JP: ヤミの力　オーラバリアが 使えるようになった！
T: Gained the dark power Aura Barrier!
OE: Aura Barrier can now be used!

JP: オーラバリアは ヤミの戦士フリーダンだけが　使える ヤミのちから。
この力は　自分の　まわりに オーラでできた　バリアをはることが できる。
T: The Aura Barrier is a Dark Power that only the Dark Knight Freedan is able to use.
This power allows you to surround yourself with a barrier made of aura energy.
OE: The Aura Barrier is a Dark Power that can only be used by the Dark Knight, Freedan.
Use the power of the Aura to put a barrier around you.

JP: こうげきボタンで　力をため LRを　こうごにおすがよい．．．
T: Store power with the Attack Button, then alternate the L and R buttons.
OE: Use the Attack and LR Buttons for power.

I don’t think the barriers actually protect you. Rather, they hurt enemies they contact. This is just plain not as good as the upgraded Dark Flyer and I’ll never use it. It does, however, have an important use for speedrunners: skipping to the end of the game.

The end of the dungeon holds a treasure chest that contains the story progression item:

JP: ティアポットを　見つけた！
T: Found the Tearpot!
OE: You found the Teapot!

I have no idea why the OE forgot that these are called tearpots rather than teapots. The word is ティアポット (tiapotto) whereas teapot would be either ティポット (tipotto) or ティーポット (tiipotto).

JP: ティアポット
カミのなみだを　うけたといわれる つぼ。
T: Tearpot
Pot that’s said to hold the tears of a god.
OE: Teapot
Jar filled with tears.

You have to walk out of this dungeon. Annoying. Since Rofsky and Erasquez are the ones who sent me on this quest, I’ll go chat them up.

JP: ロフスキー： おお　それこそ　ティアポット．．． 実在するものであったのか．．．
T: Rofsky: Good heavens! That’s unmistakably the Tearpot. So it really did exist.
OE: Rofsky: Oh, that’s the Teapot… It really does exist…

JP: エラスケス： 町の　いずこからか　まものの気配が ただよってくる．．．
わしは　まものが　町の人に すりかわっているような　気がする んじゃよ。
T: Erasquez: I feel a hint of an evil spirit from somewhere in the town.
I have a hunch that a spirit has swapped places with a townsperson.
OE: Erasquez: I feel the presence of evil from somewhere in town…
Maybe the townspeople have been changed into demons.

Erasquez uses the word まもの (mamono) which can mean monster, demon, evil spirit, apparition, etc. I don’t know what’s best to use here, but given what we find later, I think evil spirit fits.

JP: それは　広場の往来の人かもしれんし お前の　友達かもしれんし わしかもしれん。
お前が　あやしいと思う人物に ティアポットを　使ってみるがよい。
T: Maybe it’s someone in the town square, or possibly one of your friends.
Try using the Tearpot on anyone you think is suspicious.
OE: It may be someone in the town square, or one of your friends.
Use the Teapot on anyone you suspect.

The hint we’ve been given about the correct suspect is that Neil’s parents were seen going into the chapel basement, and the chapel basement is full of slaves and murder. So either Neil’s parents are friggin’ evil, or they’re possessed or body swapped or something. When you use it next to Neil’s mother:

JP: ティアポットを　使ってみる ことにした。
神のなみだが　あたりに ふりそそいだ！
T: Tried using the Tearpot.
The area was drenched in a rain of the god’s tears!
OE: He tries using the Teapot.
The spirits’ tears rained down.

ふりそそいだ (furisosoida) - downpoured / rained down incessantly.

When you do this, Neil’s parents will turn into a couple of Moon Tribe shades.

Then they fly toward the doorway and leave with some comments:

JP: 月の種族：　クックククククク．．． もうじき　この世界も　ヤミに つつまれる。
さっきの体の持ち主は　礼拝堂の 地下で　骨となってねむっているよ。
T: Moon Tribe: Mwahahahahahaha. Soon this world will also be shrouded in darkness.
The bones of the previous owner of this body are buried underneath the chapel.
OE: Moon Tribe: Ku ku ku… Soon this world will be wrapped in darkness.
The previous owner of this body is now a skeleton sleeping under the shrine.

All of the Moon Tribe shades we’ve met so far have been on our side, but these two appear to be evil slave traders. Not really sure what they want to do with all this money. Nor why they were so eager to have Neil succeed them. Weird.

JP: ニール： ．．．．．．．．．．．
しばらく　家を　はなれていて やっと　親の　ありがたさが わかったというのに．．．
T: Neil: …
It wasn’t until I’d been away from home for a while that I realized how important parents are.
OE: . . . . . . .
I finally realize how important my parents are to me. I wish I could have told them…

JP: テム．．． 悪いけど　しばらく　一人に しておいてくれ．．．
ニールは　そう言うと　うつむいて しまった．．． ぼくは　こんな　ニールを見るのは 初めてだった．．．
T: Tim… Sorry, but I’d like to be alone for a little while.
When Neil said that, his eyes were cast downward. It was the first time I’d ever seen him like that.
OE: Will… Just leave me alone for a while…
I’m ashamed to hear you talk that way… I’ve never seen you like this before.

Yikes! This mistranslation makes Tim seem like a total jerk. (Y’know, aside from the gambler killing and slaver assisting and whatnot.) A few things threw the translator off. First of all, this is narration from Tim, not something he’s saying to Neil. If it were supposed to be speech, it would normally be prefaced with an indicator that Tim is speaking. (It would say テム：) Given that they thought Tim was speaking to Neil, they thought he was saying that his own eyes were cast downward. Presumably in shame. But no, Tim’s describing Neil’s demeanor.

JP: そして　翌朝。 残念な出来事が　待っていた．．．
T: Then, in the next morning, an unfortunate event was waiting.
OE: The next morning. Disappointment awaits…

JP: ニール：　おはよう。 みんなには　心配かけたな．．．
一晩中　考えたんだけど この会社は　やっぱり　ぼくが つがなきゃいけないと思うんだ。
T: Neil: Good morning. Sorry to worry everyone.
I thought about it all night and finally decided that I have to be the one to inherit this company.
OE: Neil: Good morning. Sorry about yesterday.
I thought about it all night. I’m next in line to inherit this company.

Neil says つがなきゃ (tsuganakya) which is an abbrevation of つがなければ (tsuganakereba), which means if don’t come next. Then he says いけない (ikenai) which means bad/wrong/no good. In other words, it would be bad if I’m not the next to inherit this company. OE kind of ignores all of this and gives a neutral description about his presumed place as successor that we already knew.

JP: なんとかして　ドレイ貿易を やめさせたいし、 それには　まず　ドレイ貿易を始めた 会社が　動くべきだと思う．．．
人の不幸と　ひきかえに　お金を 手に入れたって　しかたがないしね。
T: Somehow or other, the slave trade has to be stopped. I think that, first of all, the company that started the slave trade must change.
It’s unacceptable for it to make a profit off the misfortune of others.
OE: If I want to stop the labor trade, I have to change the company that started it…
They make money on human misfortune.

JP: カレン： じゃ　ニールは　社長になるわけね？ すごおおおおい！！
ニール：　えへへ。 なんだか　照れちゃうな。
T: Karen: So you’re going to be the company president? That’s absolutely wonderful!
Neil: Heh heh. You’re embarrassing me.
OE: Kara: You’re going to become the president of the company? Amazing!
Neil: Heh heh. Stop it. You’re embarrassing me.

JP: ニール：　あ　それからさ　カレン。 君を　たずねてきてる人がいるんだ。 むかしの　恋人だって話だぜ。
カレン： えっ！！！！！！！？
T: Neil: Oh yeah, Karen, something else: Someone has come here asking about you. I heard it’s an old flame of yours.
Karen: Say what!?
OE: Neil: Kara, someone’s come asking about you. Something about being an old friend.
Kara: What!!!?

Neil uses the word 恋人 which means lover, sweetheart, boyfriend, girlfriend. The pig’s sex is unspecified in the Japanese thus far.

(Oh, yeah, Neil’s talking about a pig by the way.)

If you thought Karen seemed too astounded about this revelation in the original—3 exclamation points?—it’s because Neil is supposed to be pranking her. But the prank falls through if you exchange lover with friend. While Karen has probably never had a proper boyfriend before, the pig actually is her friend.

JP: ニール： おーい　入っておいでっ！
カレン： ペギーっ！！！
T: Neil: Hey! Come on in!
Karen: Piggy!
OE: Neil: Hey! Come on in!
Kara: Hamlet!!

JP: ブヒブヒッ！！
どうしたのっ？！ 元気だった？！
T + OE: Oink oink!
What happened? Are you OK!?

JP: ニール：　ははは。 君を　追っかけて　はるばる 旅してきた　みたいだぜ。
リリィが　水上都市で　発見して 送って来たのさ。 ローレックの配達便を　使ってね。
T: Neil: Hahaha. Seems like it’s been chasing after you through the whole journey.
Lily discovered it in the Floating City and sent it to me. She used Rolek’s delivery service.
OE: Neil: Ha ha. He’s come all this way looking for you.
Lilly found him in Watermia and sent him by Rolek’s Delivery Service.

JP: ぼくが　旅の仲間から　ぬけても 力強い　味方が　増えたろ？
T: Even if I’m leaving my traveling companions, I guess I’m gaining powerful allies.
OE: Even if I’m losing my travelling companions, my allies are increasing!

Here you can talk to everyone. (The pig just says Oink oink as normal.)

JP: ニール： みんな　元気でな。
T + OE: Neil: Take care, everyone.

JP: エリック： 女の子って　つくづくわかんないよ。
T: Erik: I really don’t understand girls.
OE: Erik: I just don’t understand women.

I kind of expected this to be a mistranslation, but it’s not. I’m not sure what has Erik so confused. The fact that Karen is happy to see her beloved pet pig?

JP: カレン：　ここから　西に向かうと アンコールワットの　遺跡が あるらしいわ。
ちょうど　そのあたりが ドレイたちの　こきょうに　あたる みたい。
T: Karen: Seems like the ruins of Angkor Wat are to the west of here.
It’s exactly the area where the slaves all came from.
OE: Kara: To the west of here are the ruins of Ankor Wat.
That is where the laborer’s home is located.

JP: さあ　いってみましょ！！
T: Come on, let’s go!
OE: Let’s go!

Let’s see what the Mode 7 map says in English this time.

JP: SMALL VILLAGE
OE: NATIVES’ VILLAGE

The hovering text says:
JP: 原住民の村落
T: Native people’s village
OE: Natives’ Village

I include the JP text here because, unlike most places, you are not immediately greeted by a textbox of the place name when it loads in. Instead, Karen will start talking:

JP: カレン： 熱帯地方だけあって　すごい 暑さよね．．．
エリック： 世界が　ゆがんで見えるし　目も かすんできちゃったよう．．．
T: Karen: Being a tropical region, it’s extraordinarily hot.
Erik: The world looks distorted, and my eyes are getting blurry.
OE: Kara: It’s as hot as the tropics…
Erik: I see the world tilted, my eyes blurred…

Erik’s line makes sense when you see the graphical effect that’s applied to this town. Everything’s bending constantly to look like a heat haze. Karen’s line in OE, on the other hand, struck me as weird. I’d assume this is the tropics. And yeah, that’s what she’s really saying. The word in question is だけあって (dakeatte) which means being, given that, or as expected from.

JP: テム：　しかたないなあ。 今日は　この村にとめてもらおうか。
T: Tim: There’s not much we can do about it. Let’s stay in this village today.
OE: Will: There’s nothing we can do. Let’s stay in this village today.

You might wonder if anything’s changed in Euro. As far as I could tell, no. Neil is gone from his house. The chapel still has slaves in the basement. The guys in the Rolek company are still talking about how you can buy slaves. And Rofsky and Erasquez have gone back to saying the same things they did before you even went to Mount Ceres.

The party line up in front of a house. But you can only talk to Karen.

JP: カレン：　なんだか　不気味ね．．． 人っ子一人いないし　ガイコツが 転がっているし．．．
とりあえず　家の中へ　入って みましょうか？
T: Karen: This is pretty creepy. There’s not a soul around, and there are skeletons lying about.
For now, shall we go into the house?
OE: Kara: Strange. Not a soul here, and skeletons scattered around…
Should we go into the houses?

Before that, there are a couple of lines you can find by examining things. Bones are scattered around which all say the same thing:

JP: まだ　風化していない．．． 最近　白骨化した死体のようだな。
T: They’re not weathered yet. The body has just recently skeletonized.
OE: They’re not weathered yet… Only recently bleached white.

And in one of the village’s two huts, there are some stone statues:

JP: 少女の石像が　ひっそりと たたずんでいる。
T: A statue of a girl stands silent.
OE: The statue of a girl stands silently.

JP: エリック： ちょうど　いいじゃない。 勝手に　休ませてもらっちゃお。
T: Erik: This is perfect. Let’s take a load off.
Erik: That’s good. We can rest if we want.

You can talk to the party members. The pig says “oink oink” as usual.

JP: エリック：　もう　へとへとだあ。 ぼくは　きっと　１００時間くらい 起きないと思うよ。
T: Erik: I am dead tired. I think I could sleep for, like, 100 hours.
OE: Erik: I’m exhausted. I feel like sleeping for days.

JP: カレン： 今日は　もう　休みましょ。
T + OE: Karen/Kara: Let’s rest today.

The scene will fade to the outside of the building.

JP: 旅のつかれから　一行は　深い ねむりに落ちた．．．
それから　しばらくして．．．
T: Exhausted from the trip, the party fell into a deep sleep.
Not long after that…
OE: Exhausted from the trip, they fall into a deep sleep…
A long time passes…

しばらくして (shibarakushite) means after a short time or presently.

The house is surrounded by the people who actually, y’know, live there.

They go inside and there’s some offscreen action.

JP: テム： むにゃ．．．　ペギーかい．．．？ もう少し　ねかせてくれないか．．
T: Tim: *mumble* Is that you, Piggy? Let me sleep a little longer.
OE: Will: What… Hamlet… Let me sleep a while longer…

JP: カレン：　ううん．．． ちょっと　テム．．． 変なこと　さわんないでよ．．．
カレン：　ハッ！ だれっ？　あなたたちっ？！
T: *Groan* Knock it off, Tim. Don’t touch me.
AH! Who are you people!?
OE: Kara: Uhhn…. What? Will… Don’t be so noisy…
Kara: AH! Who! Who are you?!

The screen fades back to outside, where the party are all tied up and some of the villagers are dancing around a fire.

JP: 彼らは　どうやら　人食い人種の ようだった．．．
カレン：　見て。　あの子供たち。 あんな　ガリガリにやせちゃって．．
T: They seemed to be cannibals.
Karen: Look at those children. They’re absolutely emaciated.
OE: They seem to be very hungry…
Kara: Look. Those children look so upset…

Not surprising that 人食い人種 (hitokuijinshu - cannibals) was censored, even though that’s obviously what’s going on. It’s not clear whether the first text box is supposed to be something Tim says, or his narration. I wrote it as narration because the verb is past tense and there’s nothing indicating that Tim is speaking.

JP: テム：　そうか．．． 花の都で　ドレイの少年が 言ってたっけ。
こきょうでは 食料が　不足してるって．．．
T: Tim: That’s right. I remember the young slave saying that in the city of flowers.
He said there was lots of famine in his homeland.
OE: Will: That’s right… The servant boy said that in Freejia.
There’s so much famine in this country…

Tim’s presumably talking about Samus, one of the only slaves you’re required to talk to. What did he look like again?

Right. Long green hair, skin the same color as Tim’s. And every other slave in the game that we’ve encountered has looked like this:

Long green hair, green beard, skin slightly darker than Tim’s if you squint.

And when we get to the country that these people are from, everyone looks like this:

Black hair, curly afros, notably darker skin.

Why is it that only the people with green, straight hair were taken as slaves? Is it…

1. The green-haired paler people are less physically able and are easier to capture and enslave.

2. The slave traders straighten the hair of anyone they catch and dye it green to mark them as slaves. The people in this village just have really dark tans due to living in the tropics.

3. This game thinks that starving cannibals should look like Africans because it’s racist.

It’s weird, right? I mean, we’re next to Angkor Wat. Shouldn’t we be in Cambodia?

I’d rather they had made these people look like the slaves, green hair and all. But I guess I’ll just be thankful that they didn’t make all the slaves look like Africans.

JP: カレン： そのへんに　転がっていた骨は 食料になった人の亡きがらなのね。
エリック： うわーん。　やっぱり　ぼくら 食べられちゃうんだあっ！！
T: Karen: The bones lying around are the bodies of people who were eaten, aren’t they?
Erik: Waaaah! We’re going to be eaten too!
OE: Kara: Those bones are the bodies of people who’ve starved to death.
Erik: Oh, no! We’ll be next!!

In OE, Erik’s exclamation makes no sense. You’ll be next to starve to death?

At this point the pig (who is totally free to wander around because, I guess, these people are more interested in eating people than pigs?) walks up to Karen.

JP: カレン：　ペギー．．． そんな　悲しそうな目をして．．．
もうすぐ　あなたとも　みんなとも お別れなのよ．．．
T: Karen: Piggy, why the sad look in your eyes?
It’s like you’re saying goodbye to everyone.
OE: Kara: Hamlet… Why such a sad look?
It’s as if we will soon be separated.

Then the pig jumps into the fire and is roasted alive.

JP: カレン： きゃあああーーーーーーーーーっ！！ ぺぎーっ！　ぺぎーーーっ！！
T: Karen: AAAAAAAAAHHH!! PIGGY! PIGGYYYY!
OE: Kara: A-a-a-a-a-a!!!!!
Hamlet!! Hamlet!!

This is a pretty horrible way to go, pig!

JP: テム： ペギー．．．　どうして．．．
エリック：　うわーん．．． ペギー．．．　自分だけ　先に 死んじゃって　ずるいよ．．．
T: Tim: Piggy… Why?
Erik: Waaaah! Piggy… It’s not fair for only you to die.
OE: Will: Hamlet… Why?
Erik: Poor Hamlet… To eat or not to eat…?

I understand why they threw this joke in here. You named the pig Hamlet, you wanna put in a Hamlet joke. But it sure makes Erik come off as a complete jerk, huh?

JP: カレン： ペギー．．． ヒック．．　ヒック．．．．
T: Karen: Piggy… *Sob*
OE: Kara: Hamlet…! (Sob)…..

At this point, a ghost or something pops out of the pig, scaring the villagers away from the fire.

JP: 頭の中に　聞き覚えのある声が 話しかけてきた。
T: I heard a familiar voice speak inside my head.
OE: A familiar voice echoed in their heads.

We have another situation where the English translator is forced to choose a pronoun where one doesn’t exist in Japanese. It turns out that this ghost is familiar to only Tim, and the text is in his normal yellow narration, so I chose singular first person. But the next sentence makes clear that this ghost is speaking to the others as well, so OE chose plural third person.

JP: みんな　お聞きなさい。 ペギーは　自らの意志で 村人たちの　食料となったのです。
いっぴきの子ブタが　数人の村人を 救うために　行動を　起こしました。
T: Listen, everyone. It was Piggy’s desire to become food for the villagers.
One piglet interceded so it could save many villagers.
OE: Listen, everyone. It was Hamlet’s wish to be food for these people.
One baby pig could save many villagers.

JP: テム： もしかして　かあさん．．．？
テム．．． そして　この場にいる　みんな．．．
T: Tim: Could that really be… mother?
Tim, and everyone else here…
OE: Will: Mother…?
Will… and everyone in this place…

So Tim’s mom has been living in the pig, I guess? Karen did say that the pig had a mysterious power, back in Edward castle. I guess being possessed is a power.

Erm… no, not that. That’s a different kind of possession. Not the good pig/mother kind.

JP: 世界に　ヤミが　せまっています。 今度は　あなたたちが　力を合わせ この星を　救う番なのですよ。
そして　テム。 ミステリードールを　集め バベルの塔へ　むかいなさい．．．
T: Darkness approaches the world. Now it’s your turn to join forces and save the world.
And so, Tim, you must collect the Mystery Dolls and head for the Tower of Babel.
OE: Darkness is approaching the world.
You must combine your strength to save the planet.
So, Will, find the Mystic Statues and go to the Tower of Babel…

The ropes around your party will suddenly disappear and you’re free to walk around and talk.

JP: エリック：　人食い人種って 人を見つけると　食べちゃう おそろしい人たちかと　思ってた。
生きるためには　同じ親族でも とも食いする．．．　人間って やっぱり　動物なんだなあ．．．
T: Erik: I thought cannibals were dreadful people who would eat anyone that crossed their paths.
But people have to eat to stay alive, even if it’s their kin. Humans are animals, when all is said and done.
OE: Erik: This tribe is so small. They have lost so many to starvation.
Brothers, sisters… husbands, wives… How do they cope?

The censorship is super strong here. The only thing the OE has in common with the JP text is that it mentions relatives.

JP: カレン： 食べられるために　自分から 火に　飛びこむなんて．．．
ペギー．．． なんて　やさしい子なの．．．
T: Karen: Piggy willingly leapt into the fire to be eaten.
Piggy, you gentle child.
OE: Kara: He just jumped into the fire…
Hamlet, noble pig… I will miss you…

I’m going to examine Piggy, but first, a reminder of Piggy’s catchphrase:

ブヒブヒッ (buhibuhi) - oink oink.

JP: ブヒブヒッ
という声も　もう　二度と 聞くことはできない．．．
ペギーからは　こうばしい　かおりが ただよっている。
T: Oink oink.
I’ll never be able to hear you say that again.
An appetizing smell is coming from Piggy.
OE: Sniff sniff.
I’ll never hear that snort again…
The air is filled with the aroma of roasting Hamlet.

Two things to note. One, Tim actually performs Piggy’s snort in Japanese, but it was replaced with sniffling in OE. Second, I always thought this line was hilarious and out of place. I figured it was a liberty taken by the translators. But no, Tim comments on Piggy’s savory smell even in the JP.

There are 8 villagers you can talk to. The three adults up top say the exact same things as the two adults on the side and one on the bottom of the screen. The children both have unique things to say. So there are 5 dialogues to cover.

JP: 男は　おずおずと　手を さしのべた．．．
手を　にぎり返しますか？
T: The man timidly held out his hand.
Shake his hand?
OE: The man timidly held out his hand…
Take his hand?

If no:

JP: 男は　さびしそうな顔をした．．．
T: The man looked lonely.
OE: The man looks lonely…

JP: おたがい　言葉は　わからないが 何かが　通じあったような気がした。
T: We don’t understand each other’s language, but somehow I have a feeling that we understand each other.
OE: We don’t understand each other’s language, but I think we agree…

JP: 男は　テムの目を　じっと 見つめている．．．
見つめ返しますか？
T: The man is gazing into Tim’s eyes.
Stare back?
OE: The man looks deeply into Will’s eyes.
Stare back?

If no, it just says that he looked lonely, like the previous man. Oddly, though the Japanese text is exactly the same, the English translation was given a different tense:

If yes:

JP: 男は　まるで　ひとみの　おくの 自分を　見つめているようだ．．．
おたがい　言葉は　わからないが 何かが　芽生えたような気がした。
T: The man seems to be looking into the depths of my eyes.
We don’t understand each other’s language, but I think something has sprouted between us.
OE: The man seems to look right into your heart…
We don’t understand each other’s language, but a seed has sprouted…

JP: 男は　何か　ちっぽけな食べ物を さしだした．．．
食べてみますか？
T: The man held out a tiny bit of food.
Try it?
OE: The man holds out some food…
Eat some?

If no:

JP: 男は　悲しそうな顔をした．．．
T + OE: The man looked sad…

JP: 虫を　ダンゴ状にした　食べ物の ようだった．．．
胸に　こみ上げてくるものがあったが 何かが　通じあったような気がした。
T: It seemed to be some kind of insect dumpling.
It made me feel ill, but somehow I have a feeling that we understand each other.
OE: It tastes like dumplings made of insects…
My heart was filled. It seemed as if we understood each other.

This one’s tricky! 胸にこみ上げてくる (muneni komiagete kuru) can absolutely mean something was welling up in my chest/heart, and that’s what I thought it was saying at first. But context is key, because while this phrase can mean a surge of emotions like joy or anger, it can also mean a feeling of nausea or stomach acid. Tim conjoins these two sentences with が (ga - but), whereas if he were saying something positive about his emotions you’d expect them to be conjoined with and. You’d expect Tim to think that insect dumplings are gross, being so different from food he normally eats. So I’m pretty sure he’s saying that this made him feel sick, not that it made him feel joy.

JP: 少年は　テムのそでを　ひっぱった。 どこかへ　連れていきたいのだろう。
ついていきますあか？
T: The boy tugged on Tim’s sleeve. Seems like he wants to take him somewhere.
Follow him?
OE: He tugs on Will’s sleeve, as if he wants to take him somewhere.
Go with him?

If no:

JP: 少年は　さびしそうな顔をした．．．
T: The boy looked lonely.
OE: He looks lonely…

If yes:

JP: 少年は　ほほえんで　手まねきした。
T: The boy smiled and beckoned.
OE: He beckons to him…

If you follow him and talk again:

JP: 少年は　ガイ骨にむかって 目に　なみだを　ためている．．．
この　ガイ骨は　肉親だったのか？ それとも　友達だったのだろうか？
T: The boy’s looking at the skeleton with tears welling in his eyes.
Was this the skeleton of a relative? Or maybe a friend?
OE: He faces the skeleton with tears in his eyes…
Is this the skeleton of a relative? A friend?

JP: 少年は　北東の方角を 指さしている．．．
地図を　見せてみますか？
T: The boy is pointing to the northeast.
Show him the map?
OE: The boy points to the northeast…
Show him the map?

If no, it says the same thing as the previous boy. If yes:

JP: 少年は　地図に　寺院の絵を 書きこんだ！
言葉は　わからないが 少年は　この寺院へ　行ってほしい のだろう．．．
T: The boy filled out an image of a temple on the map!
I don’t understand what he’s saying, but I think he wants me to go to this temple.
OE: He drew a picture of the temple on the map!
I think he’s saying he wants to go to the temple…

ほしい (hoshii) following the te-form of a verb means want someone to do rather than want to do.

This dialogue is required to progress the story. Now we can go to the next dungeon.

Before that, if you like, you can leave and come back to see that Karen and Erik have changed positions. Karen has new dialogue.

JP: カレン：　子供たちに 言葉を　一つ　教わっちゃった。
ラマポー　っていうのが この地域で　こんにちはっていう 意味みたい。
T: Karen: The children taught me a word.
“Ramapo” is how you say “Hello” in this region.
OE: Kara: I learned a word from the children.
It seems that (Ramapoe) means (Hello) in this region.

Ok, dungeon time.

On the Mode 7 map, in JP it’s spelled ANGKOR VAT, but in US was spelled ANKOR WAT. The traditional spelling that I’ve always seen is Angkor Wat, a mix of the two.

Angkor Wat is a temple in Cambodia, originally constructed as a Hindu temple in 1122-1150 CE. It gradually became a Buddhist temple, which it still is today. I’ve not been there, though I probably will some day, because I think Angkor Wat is the most beautiful (still extant) thing humans have built.

To be fair, a lot of its beauty derives from natural things not specifically intended by the builders. The huge tree roots growing into it are particularly amazing. Do yourself a favor and look up images online.

This game was actually the first I’d ever heard of it. As a kid, I didn’t know it was a real place, but when I found out and saw the pictures, I was pretty awestruck.

But this is an old Super Nintendo game, so we’re not gonna see anything particularly pretty here.

JP: アンコールワット入口
T: Angkor Wat Entrance
OE: Door to Ankor Wat

JP: 原住民の村落から　3日ほど ジャングルを　分け入ると　そこには きょ大な寺院が　たたずんでいた。
T: For 3 days from the native people’s village, I pushed through the jungle. There, an enormous temple stood.
OE: Through the jungle, three days journey from the native village, there is a huge temple.

Angkor Wat is divided into interior and exterior parts as you work your way up. When you get to the final building, it has several floors. This is clearly inspired by the real building. The real Angkor Wat has an exterior wall, an interior wall, and a main temple in the center with several tall towers.

The enemies here hit really hard. In the JP version, it’s a great time to clear the inventory of some of those herbs. There are a lot of rooms and a lot of powerups, though, so by the end of the dungeon everything is really easy.

JP: 外周の通路
T: Outer passage
OE: Passage - Outside

JP: 中庭
T: Courtyard
OE: Garden

庭 (niwa) on its own means garden, but 中庭 (nakaniwa) means courtyard.

Inside the courtyard, there’s a skeleton.

JP: 失われた時の　みりょくに とりつかれた　探検家の　なれの果て だろうか．．．？
おや？　何か　手帳のようなものが にぎられているようだ．．．
>読んでみる
>やめておく
T: Are these the remains of an explorer who was obsessed with the lost age?
Oh? It’s grasping a notebook or something.
>Try to read it
>Leave it alone
OE: The bones of a lost explorer fascinated by something…?
There’s some kind of journal hidden there…
>Read
>Quit

やめて (yamete) means quit but やめておく (yameteoku) means to pass on something. This isn’t the first time the game has mistranslated this word:

T: Tim: I’ll pass on this glass.

The other issue is that it’s not a lost explorer fascinated by something. Tim says 失われた時の　みりょくに とりつかれた (ushinawaretatokino miryokuni toritsukareta) which means was obsessed with fascination of lost age. The phrase modifies explorer, so it’s an explorer who was…

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this phrase, either. It’s in the attract screen. It’s hard to read, so I’ve copied the JP transcription again:

JP: 失われた時の　みりょくに とりつかれた　人々は 遺跡へと　足をふみ入れ 帰らぬ人に　なってゆく。
T: People who were obsessed with the lost age set foot into the ruins and into their doom.

And what do you see behind that text? It’s Angkor Wat! The attract screen was talking about lots of explorers, but this is a deliberate reference.

JP: 我々は　ジャングルを　分けいり 原住民の村落へ　たどりついた。 言葉は通じないが　親切な　村人は とまっていけと手招きしてくれる。
よく朝　目覚めてみると 私と　隊長のフリーゼルしか いないではないか．．．
T: Pushing through the jungle, we finally arrived at the native people’s village. Though we didn’t speak the same language, the kind villagers used gestures to invite us to stay the night.
The next morning, I awoke to find only Captain Friesel and I remained.
OE: We crossed the jungle to the native village.
We didn’t understand the language, but they beckoned for us to stay.
When I awoke in the morning, only Captain Friezer and I remained.

…So the cannibal villagers tricked them into staying. Piggy should not have died for these monsters.

JP: そこは　何と　人食い人種の村で あったのだ！
骨になった　仲間を　横目に にげだした　隊長と　私は、 ジャングルを　さまよい続け　そして アンコールワットを　発見した。
T: It turned out to be a village of cannibals!
Seeing the bodies of our comrades, the captain and I fled into the jungle. As we wandered through, we discovered Angkor Wat.
OE: Hunger had destroyed many people during the night. Even our friends.
We saw the bodies of our comrades and ran into the jungle. That’s when we discovered Ankor Wat.

In OE’s attempt to censor the cannibalism, it writes some straight gibberish here. It makes it out as if their friends starved to death in the middle of the night.

I guess hunger did claim their lives, in a certain grim sense.

JP: ここには　神がすみ　永遠の命が 手に入るという　うわさだったが 目に　うつったのは　まものの姿 だけであった．．．
そして今　私も　仲間のもとへ 旅立とうとしている．．． 私が　この世から　いなくなって 悲しむ人は　いるのだろうか．．？
T: There were rumors that you could gain eternal life here, where god lives. But all I saw were monsters.
Now I, too, am about to join my companions in the hereafter. I wonder if there’s anyone in the world who will mourn me?
OE: Rumor says that you can gain immortality here where the spirits live,
but all I saw were demons…
I’m going back to my friends… If I don’t survive, who would mourn?

OE handled this journal pretty accurately, except for the cannibal censorship, pretending that he believes there’s any chance he’ll survive, and overall lightening the tone.

JP: 内周の通路
T: Inner Passage
OE: Passage - Inside

Eventually we’ll run into a situation where an invincible enemy is blocking a passage. It has to be frozen with a new Freedan move before you can hurt it:

JP: ヤミの力　アースクエイカーが 使えるようになった！
アースクエイカーは ヤミの戦士フリーダンだけが　使える ヤミのちから。
T: Gained the dark power Earthquaker!
Earthquaker is a Dark Power that only the Dark Knight Freedan is able to use.
OE: Earthquaker can now be used!
The Earthquaker is a Dark Power that can only be used by Freedan, the Dark Knight.

JP: これは　じしんを　おこして 敵を　しばらくの間　動けなく することできる。
飛びおりている最中に こうげきボタンをおすがよい．．．
T: This allows you to cause an earthquake that will freeze enemies in place for a short time.
Press the Attack Button when jumping down.
OE: This causes earthquakes. The enemy won’t be able to move for a long time.
Push the Attack Button when jumping down.

JP: フリーダンの力　アースクエイカーは じしんをおこし　あたりの敵を しばらくの間　動けなくすることが できるのだ。
T: Freedan’s power, Earthquaker, allows him to cause an earthquake that freezes enemies within the area for a short time.
OE: Freedan’s Power is the Earthquaker.
When he uses it, his enemy can’t move for a long time.

JP: 本堂へ向かう参道
T: Pathway to Main Temple
OE: Road to Main Hall

本堂 (hondou) means main temple building. 参道 (sandou) means road approaching a shrine. So this is something like shrine road to main temple. Path, pathway, or approach all work as well.

JP: 本堂　１F
T: Main Temple 1F
OE: Main Hall 1F

There are 4 floors to the temple. I won’t bother showing you the entrance message for each floor. They’re all 本堂 xF.

If you go to the second floor, there will be some narration from Tim:

JP: この階に　足を　一歩ふみいれると 空中をふゆうしている　クリスタルが 発光しはじめたっ！！
T: As soon as I set foot on this floor, floating crystals started emitting light.
OE: Setting one foot inside, the floating crystal started to glow!

There are crystals that float over this floor. They make it so bright that you can’t see anything. You need to backtrack and find a special item lying on the ground under a bush monster.

JP: 地面に　何か　光る物が うもれている。
黒すいしょうのめがねを　見つけた！
T: Something shiny lies hidden on the ground.
Found the Black Crystal Glasses!
OE: There’s something shiny on the ground.
You’ve found the Black Crystal Glasses!

JP: くろいメガネ
くろい　すいしょうでできたメガネ。 これなら　かなりの　ひかりも しゃだん　できそうだ．．．
T: Black Glasses
Glasses made from a black crystal. Seems like they can block bright lights.
OE: Black Glasses
Black glasses. Protects from bright light.

If you try to use the glasses as an item:

JP: 黒い　すいしょうで　作られた めがねだ。 これなら　かなりの光も　しゃだん できそうだな．．．
T: These are glasses made from a black crystal. Looks to me like they can block bright lights.
OE: These are glasses made of black crystal. They can cut out a lot of light…

Yeah, it’s almost the exact same message as the menu description. Just a few tiny differences.

You have to revert to Tim to proceed, because you need his slide move. In the nearby dark space that lets you do so, Gaia has some unusual dialogue. Usually Gaia only has something special to say near the beginning of a dungeon or when you pick up a new move.

JP: ここ　アンコールワットは さまよえる寺院。
ジャングルの中に　ひっそりと たたずみ　人が近づくと　その姿を かくすと　言われる．．．
T: This is the wandering temple of Angkor Wat.
It’s said that it lies quietly in the jungle and conceals its form when people get near.
OE: This is the temple at Ankor Wat.
It stands quietly in the jungle and hides its form when people come near…

JP: そして　この　最上階で　そなたは 自分が　なぜ　旅をしているのか 知ることになるだろう。
T: And on the top floor, you will find out why you journeyed here.
OE: On this top floor you will understand why you made the journey.

Gaia does say this top floor even though the Dark Space isn’t on the top floor. I’m not sure if it’s a mistake, or if it’s some weird usage I’m not aware of, but I changed it.

There are two more floors, and when you reach the top, you find… a little spirit thingy hanging out.

Which, of course, you’re supposed to speak to. This is the end of the dungeon.

JP: テム．．． 私は　そなたが　くるのを 何千年もの間　まっていたのだよ。
テム： 君は．．？　だれだい．．．？
T: Tim, I’ve been awaiting your arrival for many thousands of years.
Tim: Who are you?
OE: Will.. I’ve been waiting for you to come for thousands of years…
Will: What?! Who are you…

JP: 私は　夢を　見ているのさ。 夢を　続けているうちに　時が流れ やがて　こんな体になったんだよ。
これから　そなたに　不思議な映像を 見せようと　思う。 目を　とじなさい。
T: I am dreaming. While the dream continued on, time passed. Before long, my body had turned into this form.
I’m about to show you an astonishing image. Close your eyes.
OE: I am dreaming. Time has passed since the dream began, and my body became what you see.
I’m going to show you a strange image. Close your eyes.

The game cuts to an image of a modern city and does some panning over it in Mode 7.

After showing that for a bit, the conversation continues.

JP: テム： 今のは？　いったい何？
新しい　世界だよ．．．
T: Tim: Huh? What the heck was that?
That is the new world.
OE: Will: Huh? What was that?
That is the new world…

The JP version suddenly decides that this thing’s text should be a very light blue instead of white. OE has been consistent with the colors the whole time.

JP: テム： あの　世界は　灰色ばっかりじゃ ないか．．．
世界っていうのは　青い水があって 緑の山があって　茶色の大地が 広がっている　もんじゃないの？
T: Tim: That world has nothing but gray in it.
Isn’t the world filled with blue water, green mountains, and brown land?
OE: Will: That world is all grey…
This world has blue water, green mountains, brown earth all over.

JP: あの世界は　これから　そなたが もたらすのだ．．．
テム：　ぼくが？ あんな　ぶきみな　世界を？！
T: You will bring about that world.
Tim: Me? Such an eerie world!?
OE: You will usher in that world…
Will: Me? Such a strange world?!

JP: 木々が　そびえたつ　ビルの群れに 川の流れが　車の流れに　かわった だけのこと．．．
人は　どんな世界にいても　自分が 幸せだと　思えば　幸せなのだよ。
T: 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.
OE: Tall trees replaced by buildings, rivers replaced by roads…
No matter what kind of world people have, if they think they’re happy, they’ll be happy.

JP: さあ　原住民の村落へもどり 石に　変わってしまった人を　もとに もどしてあげなさい。
灰色に　そまった人たちを 自然のままに　解放してあげなさい。
T: Now, go back to the native people’s village and return the people turned to stone to their original condition.
Release those who have been turned gray back to their natural state.
OE: Go to the village and restore those turned to stone to their original condition.
Release those who have been turned grey back to their natural state.

This thing has been waiting here for me for THOUSANDS of years to tell me that the future is going to have tall buildings, and that I should rescue 3 whole people? People who, to Tim’s knowledge, are cannibals who murder and eat visiting strangers?

What the ever-loving f is this game’s writing?

Anyway, the screen goes white and the spirit thing disappears.

JP: まばゆい光がやむと　ぼくは 何ごとも　なかったかのように たたずんでいた。
そして　手には　ゴーゴンの花が しっかりと　にぎられているの だった．．．
T: When the dazzling light ceased, I stood still a while, as if nothing had happened.
Then I found my hand was tightly grasping a Gorgon flower.
OE: When the blinding light stopped, I stood quietly, as if nothing had happened.
Then I found the Gorgon Flower held tightly within my hand…

JP: ゴーゴンの花を　手に入れた！
T: Got the Gorgon Flower!
OE: You have the Gorgon Flower!

JP: ゴーゴンのはな
いしになったものを　もとにもどす。
T + OE: Gorgon Flower
Restores things turned to stone.

Then you have to walk all the way out of here, just like the last dungeon.

A small curiosity: Back in the village, in the JP version, the natives are still dancing around Piggy. In the US version, the pig is no longer in the fire.

You can take the Gorgon Flower to the 3 stone women and use it on them, one by one.

JP: ゴーゴンの花びらを　一枚 石像の口に　入れた！
T: Put a Gorgon Flower petal in the statue’s mouth!
OE: He puts one petal of the Gorgon Flower into the statue’s mouth.

The first and third woman both say the same thing when you talk to them.

JP: 言葉が　通じないようだ．．．
T: You don’t understand what she’s saying.
OE: You don’t understand…

But the middle one says something else.

JP: 少女は　だまって　赤い宝石を さしだした。 おれいの　つもりなのだろう．．
テムは　赤い宝石を　手に入れた！
T: The girl silently holds out a red jewel. It must be a way of saying thanks.
Tim got a red jewel!
OE: The girl silently offers a Red Jewel as a reward…
Will gets a Red Jewel!

When you release the 3rd woman, Karen will automatically come in.

JP: カレン： 今さっき　この村の人たちと 身ぶり手ぶりで　お話してたのね。
そしたらね。 森に　動物がもどってきたみたい。 これで　みんな　共食い　することも なくなるわよね。
T: Karen: Just now I was talking to the villagers using gestures.
It seems like animals have returned to the forest. Now the villagers won’t have to resort to cannibalism anymore.
OE: Kara: I used sign language to talk to the villagers.
The animals have returned to the forest. They no longer prey on each other.

They censored the cannibalism thing hard. The result is some really confusing dialogue in the OE.

JP: エリック： この村が　食料不足なのにつけこんだ ドレイ商人たちは　子供たちを 連れ去ったんだって。
ひどい話だよね。
T: Erik: The slave traders exploited the fact that there was no food here to abduct children.
What an awful story.
OE: Erik: The traders knew there was no food here, and led the children away.
A terrible story.

JP: ドレイ商人たちは　北西の町から やってきて　村人を　連れていく みたいなの。
食べ物がなくて　困っているところに つけこんで　子供たちを 買っていくなんて　ゆるせない！
T: Apparently the slave traders came from a town in the northwest and abducted several villagers.
We can’t let them get away with taking advantage a famine-stricken village and treating children as property!
OE: Labor traders came from a town in the northwest. They took many villagers.
I can’t believe they would take advantage of people stricken with famine!

JP: ねえ　そのドレイ商人の町へ いってみない？
>うん　行こう！
>ちょっとまって
T: So then, why don’t we go to the town of the slave traders?
>Yeah, let’s go!
>Wait a moment.
OE: Travel to the labor trader’s village?
>Yes, let’s go!
>Wait a while.

If you tell her you want to wait:

JP: じゃあ　行く　準備ができたら ここへ　もどってきてね。
T: Ok, come back here when you’re ready to go.
OE: Then make preparations and come back.

There’s not much else to do here, but I noticed one small thing. In the JP version, the roasting pig will finally be gone after you’ve revived the women.

Ok, time to go!

JP: さあ　しゅっぱあつ！
T: All right, leeeet’s go!
OE: Let’s get going!

Next time: We’re going to Egypt, more or less.