I Kinda Love Him

Totally agree!

The English localization is the audible reference language for almost all the non-Japanese speaker players (and the only one besides Japanese with specific lip-sync), it's absurd even to think that a professional company could make arbitrary changes without consulting the game developers and get away with it.

What are your thoughts on final fantasy 7 remake's localization

I enjoyed it! Both the Remake and Intermission—Yuffie's VA soared and I really like how they captured her characterization.

There's a pool of people in the fandom who have contention with it (some of which comes with A LOT of misunderstandings about localization, in general, but that's a lot of other branched conversations), but if I'm just speaking on the "what" [the content]—overall how the developers handled the ENG localization was pretty good and enjoyable. Most of what comes to mind makes sense contextually, and even after comparing it to the JPN (which I enjoy too, the VAs are as great as usual since they didn't really change), you can find the differences and common ground between them. In some scenes you have your typical levels of "different branches from the same tree" or "different part of the same branch" in direction, but overall the script still captures the same tonality and excitement of the JPN version. There are some VAs I know people didn't like at first (like Zack), but he's grown on me now. Otherwise, everyone is excellent to my ears.

It was a long wait, but I'm glad we're finally in the era of the remake of this game.

We'll meet again...

˗ˏˋ 2月7日 HAPPY BIRTHDAY AERITH! ˎˊ˗

The care for details..

The Crab Warden stored in the corkscrew tunnel is the same weapon that killed Melphie during the Wutai war.

This is one of the sweetest and most heartwarming details of the whole game.

Barret wears a necklace with two tags, his and Marlene's and, thanks to the mods, now we can finally see what's written on Marlene's:

"I love you more than anything"

🥰❤️

Source!

(Source)

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I was thinking about this part of Trace of Two Pasts and its potential future implications:

There might come a day where she would no longer be 'the last descendant of the Cetra'.

No wonder that so many people got excited at the idea that perhaps this is an hint that Remake takes place in an alternate timeline where Aerith may survive and have kids.

Is she thinking to Cloud as a feasible partner? Maybe, I wouldn't exclude part of the intent here is to set up a future insight on Aerith's romantic feelings.

However I find this part extremely intersting for a different reason, and considering it into an overall view of the story, I'm guessing if the real intention of the writer wasn't to set part of the foundation of a greater theme of FFVII.

I think it's safe to assume that both Trace of Two Pasts and Picturing the Past, despite being purposedly written to enrich the narrative of Remake, are meant to expand the story and its characters as a whole. In other words, these two novels fit both the OG and the Remake, whether the latter is going to have a different ending or not (not going to discuss this here), nothing clashes with the original plot. No mentions of Whispers or glimpses of the future, just an insight and a modernization of the characters' backstories.

As regards the OG we already know what happens to Aerith:

In an extremely short span of time she endures a lot of internal struggles and development.

First of all she's torn between her human and Cetra sides. It's more my personal interpretation for now, but I think that Aerith tried for years to set aside her Cetra heritage. Being the last one, the special one, always turned out to be a negative thing. Her mother endured terrible experimentations that lead her to death, she had to live imprisoned and alone for years and even when she started living in Sector 5 with Elmyra she was constantly under surveillance, all this because of this uniqueness. Her special powers made her the strange one, who could hear voices and perceive people dying, and Aerith didn't want all this, she wanted to be as normal as any other girl. She wanted to work, to ejoy life, to be happy and free. But whenever her powers would have awaken again Shinra was ready to take her back to its labs. This unexpected journey forced her to learn about her heritage and accept the fact that her wish to be human couldn't overshadow her Cetra responsibility. And when she fully accepts herself, her powers and consciousness finally resurface.

Moreover she has to face her inner turmoir concerning her feelings. The boy she loved is dead, although she's unaware of the reason why he didn't come back to her 5 years before, and now she needs to understand what Cloud really means for her. He bears similarities with Zack yet he's not Zack and she perceives there's something different under his cold surface. And she finally resolves she wants to take a step forward and meet the real Cloud, wherever it may lead.

But all these quick realizations break off in the worst way possible. After more or less one week Sephiroth kills her. The White Materia falls in the waters of the Forgotten City and as far as we know it loses all its powers and becomes useless.

In this case those lines would...end in nothing but just stress on Aerith's will to be a normal human girl? The usual and obnoxious "red herring" that often fans apply to Aerith's character arc, as if everything concerning her feelings and expectations for the future were just a literary device to make her death hit harder?

I think there's something more.

Let's be clear, even IF the Remake will take a different direction than the OG and leave Aerith live, I think there are no chances Meteor won't be summoned. If anything because it's...the symbol of the story itself, it may sound simplistic but it's a matter of fact.

On a deeper level I'd point out that the symbolic dualism between Aerith and Sephiroth - that later will lead to Holy vs Meteor - has already been abundantly shown in Remake part 1. Aerith and Sephiroth are the two key characters with knowledges about a post AC future, they both present features and motivations that stem from Case of Lifestream Black and White. I'd say this is also a good reason to believe Aerith's fate can't be changed because her role as Sephiroth's counterbalance is set in stone, and I think this is quite the point of this character, accepting to be the embodiment of the spirit of rebirth and preservation, the true Cetra against the fake Cetra, the son of Jenova, who symbolizes oblivion and destruction. The yin and the yang of the FFVII universe, while Cloud, a completely normal human being who happens to be both the "living legacy" of a hero related to Aerith and the perfect Sephiroth clone, is in an unsteady balance between these two forces.

But I'm getting off topic.

Contextualizing that line in the original flow of events, I think it can take a way deeper meaning and the answer is already before our very eyes.

Common human beings descend from the Cetras, yet lost all their powers. They can be considered as a bad evolution, a sort of involution due to the loss of the connection with Nature in favour of an easier materialistic life.

This lifestyle culminated with the creation of Midgar (deriving from the epic Midgard, the "realm of humankind") and the reactors that suck the lifeblood of the Planet itself in exchange of comfortable lives.

The Cetras managed to save the Planet from the Calamity from the Sky at the cost of their own lives, and now humanity is draining the Planet of its most precious element, reactors are turning the Lifestream in a tainted substance that causes the rapid growth of monsters. Even without Sephiroth and Jenova, the planet would die prematurely. Groups of dissenters joined into Avalanche to try to stop this process in an aggressive way that caused deaths and destruction as well, the salvation of the Planet often turned as a pretext to take revenge against Shinra.

Holy is the ultimate resort, whose role is not only to contrast Meteor but to cleanse the Planet of all threats. And this kind of parasiting humankind would be doomed for sure if it were not for this little group of people, each one on their own internal journey to discover and embrace the importance of preserving the Planet and the Lifestream. Aerith is the lead of this journey of rediscovery (and self-rediscovery) that she passes on all the others after her death.

No one but a delicate yet strong flower girl finally saves the Planet leading the Lifestream to support Holy and reject Meteor, and the Planet decides to give humanity a second chance.

The price is high though, during the following two years people struggle to start over. The survivors of Meteorfall are now decimated by Geostigma and Aerith alone can't stop Sephiroth's plans. Geostima affects especially children, those who didn't die because of the disease got under the control of the Remnants. The only kid who seems to be spared is Marlene, the one who more than anyone else carries on Aerith's legacy.

It has been rumored more than once that Marlene could be a Cetra. I'm starting to guess if the point could actually be that Marlene is instead a human girl who has learnt, through her special bond with Aerith, how to find that lost connection with the Planet that drew the line between humans and Cetras.

Sephiroth tried to rise again using kids, parasiting their minds to find the remains of Jenova; the same way Aerith announced Sephiroth's defeat through the kids, asking them to wait for Cloud to come back from the Lifestream. Hundreds of kids are framed enlightened by a warm light while they get to the church, Marlene and Denzel in the lead.

Not causally the name of the movie is Advent Children, and not causally Crisis Core and the Remake kept linking her to children.

I think that this is what that line is hinting. Not a biological kid to whom physically give the globe of White materia, but a new generation aware of what has to be done to deserve the survival allowed by the Planet, conscious of the importance to preserve the cycle of life. People willing to find the lost connection with nature and live in harmony with it.

Aerith's living legacy.

Just my two cents.

AERITH & TIFA CG IN BRAVE EXVIUS

Truth

A question about Kingdom Hearts, but can be for other stuff too. Do you think some important context or subtext is lost in the translation process from Japanese to a second language, even if it's translated to the best of a translator's ability, and if so, do you prefer a more literal translation over an official dub?

Hello! Thanks for the ask.

To answer the first question, there's different points to be made given the case by case nature of the topic. Important or simply interesting (these are not the same thing) information absolutely can be lost in the process of translation, but there's a lot of things fans need to understand:

Per discussion, is it actually lost, whether in the specific line or that of the overall context elsewhere?

Is the meaning actually *important* or imperative for understanding context [subtext]?

If lost, is it something that could've been localized creatively within the limitations of its presentation (voice acting/lip-sync, text space, etc.)?

Was it something that couldn't even be translated literally within the corresponding localized language? And/or did it not naturally flow into the writing of the actual scene itself for the given language?

Keep in mind that some interesting nuances built within a language system is really tailored for THAT language, and doesn't have to (or can't be) be transferred to another language smoothly in the production process of localization—if it's actually important, they might have to find a way, and chances are a literal translation may not even be enough to accomplish this. So to the second question—it isn't really “literal” vs localization for me, because whether one or both of these things can get the job done is circumstantial. Ultimately, what I care about most is whether what is written makes sense and can still be seen to retain what matters contextually (and sometimes, this means you can even get MORE or something more direct from a localization as opposed to “literal”). I’m using “ “ because really, you don’t want literal, for the majority of the text, it just doesn’t work that way as smoothly as people think. But I understand sometimes literal is actually “close to definition as possible” for people. (sometimes, indeed)

Anyway, if there is an issue with what's written, I know a "literal" translation doesn't always solve the inherent factors dependent upon the specific nature of the JPN language. The "literal" definition doesn't always fully capture how the Kanji is contextually used in the writing for another language. If I ever felt something was completely missed within a localization, my instinct is to first check the nature of the JPN and how it's written contextually to see how it fairs.

Of course, if it's information that isn't really based on the nature of the Kanji and how it's used, that it's something just being misunderstood in translation, then that isn't even a matter of whether it was literal or not—it was just wrong, and could've been right in any form if the text was understood (meaning, I'd take it literal or localized as long as the information is correct). In comparison to the amount of important storytelling text actually localized in video game projects, this doesn't nearly happen that often, though.

To look at Kingdom Hearts:

There have been many, many examples, especially between #1 and #2 discussed within fandom over the last 20 years. lol The majority is very miniscule and inconsequential (if even non-existent of a difference with proper understanding)—in KH3 I tend to think of some scenes between Sora and Kairi that has been discussed. @phoenix-downer has some excellent JPN/ENG comparisons of Sora and Kairi's Paopu Fruit and Light in the Darkness scenes (plus more) that serve some examples—Phoenix might be more readily able to remember some things over the years than I. There’s also this line from Xemnas about finding the Ancient Keybladers in KH3—this one can reasonably create a misunderstanding, but at the same time we don’t exactly have all the information at this point in time anyway.

One thing I do tend to think of is the scene between Aqua/Terra/Ven and the Disney Passes—where the term hogosha 保護者 (guardian, protector, patron, parent) is used in JPN, while in ENG it was written as "grown ups". There's a subtext here that has been missed by some ENG speakers. Similar to #4 (about literal translations), this is one of those cases where contextually speaking, the ENG went with what made sense for the scene and all factors corresponding to it, while still retaining something similar to the concept context-wise. As you can see based on the definition, the term hogosha is very flexible in use due to its span of multiple different words, but in its usage, it always has the connotation of something "parental". But, translating it as straight up "parent(s)" doesn't always work because of the nuances of the word. e.g. From FFXIII, Lightning is a hogosha to Serah, but this isn't to say that Lightning is literally her parent/mom—the contextual nature of hogosha tells more than this but with the same connotation. Sometimes it can be directly "parents/legal guardians", like how it's used to refer to what is essentially PTA school meetings (hogoshakai 保護者会). There's a reason why hogosha is distinct from just more direct words for parent (like oya 親 or ryoushin 両親).

This flexible nuance isn't readily and neatly packaged in a single word in ENG, however, and while, say, “guardian” [parental] can fit in some situations on its own, the connotation of parental isn’t so readily available like it is for hogosha alone. (A good example is this post I made) So, contextually there are other ways to capture it, and that may have to be with a non-literal translation. But, its meaning was missed by some ENG speaking fans, so when they hear "Aqua and Terra are like parents to Ven", they have no idea where that's coming from. Of course, some people were able to understand how this is carried contextually by the word "grown ups" and the situation of the Disney Passes—otherwise, some people completely missed that parental nuance, which would be significant of representing the relationship between Aqua/Terra to Ven.

Sometimes it isn't a localization issue, but a perception one.

With that being said, if in the case of other fandoms/series? It's all over the place. I've seen it all, between something being lost (important or just interesting [unimportant]), something being a mistranslation, or something being retained and people are honestly just trippin' because of misunderstanding things. Straight up. #4 (literal translation/context issues) happens a lot, in that case.

For example, recently I made this post and a follow up post about functionalities of JPN pronouns for (I, me) and the differences that lay there—there's also an extra layer I think I didn't include, which is that between using a specific pronoun in the form of hiragana/kanji/katakana, sometimes it's a stylistic choice as well. (Don't worry about this if you're confused lol). Point is, in this situation I also talked about how this was something that only applies for the JPN language and not necessarily others (especially ENG).

But again, a lot of this is case by case and we'd have to consider the #1-4 above, and for me, I know that to get the job done, it doesn't even have to be literal in order for this to happen.

As an extra note, fans REALLY need to understand localization, if even for SE specifically, to really talk about it efficiently. A lot don’t, and don’t care to. There is a sea of information to gather to form a perspective, and if they had this information, it’d change what they think about the “changes” a localization will make. One of the most blunt translators I can think of (Tom Slattery) gave this thought towards this very topic, and it’s just the tip of the iceberg. So I’ll leave it with this:

Vocal fans on the internet often complain about translators "changing" things in the English versions of games. This always amuses me, as we're very often working alongside the team to help name those things in the first place. For example, on Final Fantasy XIII, we were asked to help with the naming of the roles--Medic, Synergist, Ravager, and so on. We were intending to use different names in Japan and the US/EU from the start, and we (the English translators) brainstormed and proposed both sets. For the Japanese version, they needed English words that (A) sounded cool when rendered into Japanese, and (B) would be understood by non-English-speaking Japanese players, so we worked with the writers to come up with a set of consistent-sounding terms that met those criteria. For the localized version, our focus was on creating names that would have a more sci-fi feel to a native speaker's ear, and also abbreviate to three letters in a way that looked natural and made the short forms quickly and easily distinguishable from one another. We didn't "change" anything; we just generated two different sets of names for two different audiences.

Retroactive integration of the English translation into the Japanese version happens on projects quite often as well. For example, we were asked to come up with a translation for the names of the transporters in the Nautilus theme park. The Japanese name at the time was not something that really worked for us, so we went with "Nautilift." A few weeks later, that started popping up in the Japanese script. That kind of thing is always a huge compliment. It's a collaborative process. No one is going out stomping all over each other's work just for the heck of it.