Final Fantasy Tactics creator Yasumi Matsuno was among those who weighed in on a debate around Unicorn Overlord's localization, with Matsuno sharing his thoughts on the age-old argument and sharing stories of his own.
His work on Vagrant Story was phenomenal. Japanese scripts tend to be really boring and samey. Without the work of a good localizer, you’d hear the same twenty anime one-liners interspersed throughout the entire game.
I used to see it all the time when I read unofficial transliterations of manga and the translator tried to make the pun work, they’d include a note explaining the joke. Personally I prefer localisation which keeps the spirit of what was meant but the text/lines flows in a much more natural way to a native English speaker.
It’s a common fan translation technique, and–as far as the criticism sourced in good faith goes–I wonder if it’s the genesis of a lot of the grumbling. Back when fans had to rely on independent, amateur translating to have access to more material.
Maybe some of them would just prefer the “literal with footnotes” approach.
There are exceptionally few puns that can be translated literally. One that comes to mind is from a Lipton Limone advert, where Miranda Kerr says 「おいチイ」, when I first heard it I thought it was just an accent thing, but the second time I realised it’s a pun; Tealicious.
I don’t think anyone would’ve complained if the localization’s quality was on-par with AA or Vagrant Story, but it looks to me like that isn’t the case.
The complaints are largely, as she says, “sacrificed accuracy for flowery prose.” Japanese games in this setting still often follow in the footsteps of early Dragon Quest and the Final Fantasy games set in Ivalice by not strictly using contemporary English.
I think it’s an interesting conversation when it can be divorced from “removing insensitive language is censorship” crowd.
Wasn’t FFTA a good translation and earlier than the PSP version? I loved that.
Yeah, FFTA was one of Alexander O. Smith’s scripts. He has had some landmark games in English localization, and Matsuno liked working with him.
His work on Vagrant Story was phenomenal. Japanese scripts tend to be really boring and samey. Without the work of a good localizer, you’d hear the same twenty anime one-liners interspersed throughout the entire game.
Or in the case of his work on Ace Attorney, you wouldn’t understand any of the puns if they were translated literally!
I used to see it all the time when I read unofficial transliterations of manga and the translator tried to make the pun work, they’d include a note explaining the joke. Personally I prefer localisation which keeps the spirit of what was meant but the text/lines flows in a much more natural way to a native English speaker.
It’s a common fan translation technique, and–as far as the criticism sourced in good faith goes–I wonder if it’s the genesis of a lot of the grumbling. Back when fans had to rely on independent, amateur translating to have access to more material.
Maybe some of them would just prefer the “literal with footnotes” approach.
I’m one of these people. Translations/dubs can change the entire tone of the scene if localized incorrect.
Now if there isn’t a direct English equivalent to the Japanese, changes should only be done as absolutely necessary.
Just according to keikaku*
*TL: keikaku means plan
There are exceptionally few puns that can be translated literally. One that comes to mind is from a Lipton Limone advert, where Miranda Kerr says 「おいチイ」, when I first heard it I thought it was just an accent thing, but the second time I realised it’s a pun; Tealicious.
Hah, love it. I’m sure there’s also one or two with 軍人 .
Haha, when I realised I got nuts about it. Tealicious is such a great pun. No one I knew got it, and it was so disappointing.
I don’t think anyone would’ve complained if the localization’s quality was on-par with AA or Vagrant Story, but it looks to me like that isn’t the case.
I still can’t find what people are taking issue with here. The article doesn’t really explain.
The complaints are largely, as she says, “sacrificed accuracy for flowery prose.” Japanese games in this setting still often follow in the footsteps of early Dragon Quest and the Final Fantasy games set in Ivalice by not strictly using contemporary English.
I think it’s an interesting conversation when it can be divorced from “removing insensitive language is censorship” crowd.
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