Hattori Hanzo
Good thing Amakusa ressurected his son's body too, right?
Challenges
vs self
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| A fake?! Show me your true form! | Same with me! What kind of magic made you!? |
Very similar to his previous self challenge. In fact, it's pretty much identical in Japanese.
The English is surprisingly more confused than the last time. While "same with me" is similar to "a fake", it's more commenting on how 1P looks just like him instead of directly calling him a fake version. Then 2P asks what kind of magic made the doppelganger, which isn't in the Japanese at all - Japanese Hanzo just wants to see the truth. It's very odd.
The first sentence is also pretty stilted, as is normal for SamSho2. The second is pretty much fine, though.
vs others
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| I can see the shadow of death on you. | I can look your destiny of death on your face. |
These are basically the same, once you run my version through the SamSho2 stilt filter. "Look" is the wrong verb here, which makes it feel like a non-native with a dictionary, but "destiny of death" is kind of neat. It's a strange combination.
Win Quotes
vs self
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Die in martyrdom, false one. | Both you and I live as ninja. You should always be ready for death. |
I struggled with this one a bit, mostly in phrasing. Hanzo tells the fake to die in sacrifice/be a martyr, but it's a bit difficult to figure out what 2P is being sacrificed for. Is the assumption that 2P was sent against Hanzo by someone else and will be sacrificed to that cause, or as a replacement for Hanzo, or something else? And there seems to be a bit of a connection with a dutiful ninja dying for his lord/clan, but it's kind of vague. Basically, even though the line is somewhat simple, I'm not too sure about the overall context.
Meanwhile the official version is more or less just made up, but it sounds like a real line and makes a lot more sense to me than the Japanese. Ninja are always ready to die, yep, checks out. It even sounds cool, unlike some other lines. Was someone having a good day?
win with killing blow
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| My dearest wish is to walk the road of salvation, but when will that day come? Oh, Shinzo...! | To heaven or to hell, anything is decided by destiny. |
| Though I be right or wrong, I continue live through the six realms. The anger in my heart burns brighter than the flames of hell! |
These both gave me fits, because they both incorporate some complicated Buddhist concepts that I don't entirely understand, let alone can render into English. Please bear with me.
I also had to make my usual guess about which one the English line matches up to. It's one of the killing blow lines, but as you can see, neither entirely match up. I'm not convinced the English line was meant to be a real translation of any of Hanzo's line, really.
So the first line incorporates a yojijukugo (standard four-character phrase) meaning "the road to paradise is a white road between two rivers, one of water and one of fire". (Japanese can be a very compact language) I turned that into "the road of salvation" because come on, but it's worth mentioning that there's a related idea that this is a dangerous path and it's easy to fall off. But Hanzo isn't even on the path yet, he just wants to get there and doesn't know when his wish will come true. The read I'm getting on this is that he cannot escape from his destiny until he saves his son, Shinzo, and so salvation is put off until then.
The English is then a pretty generic line and doesn't bring up Shinzo at all. But like I said, not convinced it was even intended to be a real translation. It feels like it's more of a newly written line without reference to the Japanese. From that perspective, it does feel like Hanzo and his concerns with destiny and the afterlife. So...kind of props?
The second line gave both Kishi and me headaches. The second sentence is straightforward, and sounds pretty cool. The first... So it starts off talking about the four births in the six realms/paths, which is part of the Buddhist concept of Saṃsāra. The six realms are the six different places you can be born if you're still trapped on the wheel, while the four births are the four different kinds of ways you can be born across those six realms. So roughly, Hanzo is talking about all his reincarnations, and says that he continues to live through them with right and wrong...or loyalty and treason...or obedience/disobedience. So basically, despite everything, he continues to live. How does this all relate to the second sentence? I don't know! I told you this line was a problem!
win otherwise
| My translation |
|---|
| So you don't know either...Shinzo, I swear, your father will take back your soul! |
See, this one is nice and easy to understand. Since his opponent is still alive, Hanzo is asking them if they've seen his son, and promises he'll rescue Shinzo no matter what. Hanzo staying determined.
Story
Opening
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Time flowed on after the Shimabara incident, but the storm clouds once more begin to gather... | Time has passed since the last trouble. New battles are going to start, now again. |
| Hanzo: This time, Shinzo, I will-! | Hanzo: Now I shall avenge you, my dear son. |
The first line is the same for everyone. Find details on Haohmaru's page.
The second line is unique, but I'm not so sure about the official translation. The official translator seems to have assumed Hanzo is out to avenge his son, which would be reasonable, but Hanzo's win quotes suggest what he's actually trying to do is free Shinzo from Amakusa's possession, like in the first game. Why he thinks Shinzo is still alive, I don't know, but I guess it's in his backstory somewhere. Even in the opening, him saying "this time" implies he's going to succeed where he once failed, and Hanzo's objective was always to get Shinzo back.
Since the Japanese line leaves off the verb, you have to make assumptions like this or you end up with something goofy-sounding like what I wrote down. I can't blame the official translator for not doing that, but it kind of suggests they weren't looking too deep into character motivations...or even didn't go back to fix this after translating the rest of Hanzo's route.
"My dear son" reminds me of Hanzo's ending in the first game.
Stage 3
On Mizuki's page.
Stage 6
On Mizuki's page.
Stage 8
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Hanzo: I, who lack a soul, must go into the demon world to save my son! | I will save my son's soul at any cost! |
| Kuroko: It's all right, everything's okay! Believe in yourself and go! | Kuroko: Don't worry, believe you! |
| Hanzo: What is this, that my inner eye cannot perceive its true form?! | Hanzo: How mysterious and dubious the guy is! |
I'm not sure why Hanzo is saying he doesn't have a soul in the first line here, but that's what he says. I guess it might be related to how depressed he was in the ending of the first game because he couldn't save Shinzo? The English drops this, as well as the idea Hanzo must go into the demon world. It's something of foreshadowing in the Japanese version, but in the English Hanzo is just declaring his goal.
Kuroko's line is the same for all characters who don't have an encounter with Mizuki here. I'll put it on his page once I get that going (I will, I promise!) but for now I'll talk about it here. It's a pretty simple line, just telling the player character to believe in themselves. The English gets that across just fine, but it's stilted and sounds more like Kuroko is declaring his belief if in the player than telling the player to believe in themselves.
And every character is surprised at hearing Kuroko speak. It's kind of a joke - Kuroko is dressed as a stagehand in a kabuki play, so in the world of the play, he doesn't exist. So when the stagehand speaks up, the "actors" are surprised. There's also a bit of an implication that Kuroko is a supernatural being - here Japanese Hanzo says that his inner eye can't see through Kuroko's disguise, implying that the Kuroko form isn't his real form. This isn't explicitly stated in the English, but I suppose you can read "mysterious and dubious" as having that implication. I think it sounds more like Kuroko being a suspicious person instead of implying he's not entirely human, though.
Stage 11
On Mizuki's page.
Stage 12
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Hanzo: It was a long journey, but it all comes to this...Shinzo. | Hanzo: It's time to showdown, my son. |
| Rakiki-useless! Useless!-kikiki! Nkikira-I'll eat you all! | You, impertinent small fry, I'll eat, eat you all! |
| Hanzo: Vanish into darkness! | Hanzo: Go back into the darkness! |
It sounds like Hanzo is getting ready to fight Shinzo in English, but I think the idea is that he's saying this is the final showdown. (The....samurai showdown?) The Japanese line is just him reflecting on the journey. You know, it's kind of weird how Hanzo never uses his son's name in English until the ending. Did they think American players wouldn't get it? They'd be right, but it's still a bit weird.
Mizuki's line is the same for everyone, so check out Haohmaru's page.
The final line is pretty straight, but oddly somewhat longer in English. There's also a bit of a nuance difference between "vanish" and "go back into" but I'm willing to say that Mizuki is living in darkness, that sounds pretty accurate.
Ending
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Kanzo: The evil has vanished.... | Kanzo: Sign of evil disappeared. |
| Kaede: Kanzo, I reclaimed Shinzo's soul. Go and get your father. | Kaede: Kanzo, I got back the soul of Shinzo. Call your father. |
| Kaede: His soul is weakening... Shinzo, take my soul! | Kaede: His soul power is getting weaker. Hurry up, Shinzo! |
| Shinzo: Mother! | Shinzo: Mom! |
| Hanzo: Kaede... | Hanzo: Kaede... |
| Kaede: ...Hanzo...is...is Shinzo...? | Kaede: How is Shinzo,dear? |
| Hanzo: He's all right... | Hanzo: Don't worry, he's ok. |
| Kaede: That's....good... | Kaede: ...that's...good... |
| Shinzo: Mother!! | Shinzo: Mom! |
| Hanzo: The path of a ninja is harsh, harsher than you ever knew. Overcome your mother's death and surpass your father! Now, go! | Hanzo: Life of a ninja is much harder than you think. Get over the sadness, and be honorable ninjas! Train yourself! |
Everything in here is basically the same, just odd-sounding in the official version.
Here's Hanzo's second son, Kanzo. According to All About SNK Fighting Games 1991-2000, he was one of the ninja in Hanzo's ending in SamSho1, though he doesn't seem to have spoken. You know, it seems like kind of a dick move to kill yourself when you still have another son + a wife worried about you....
Anyway, Kanzo's first line is very similar, but ungrammatical in English. The word in Japanese, 邪気/jyaki is sort of like a sense of evil, malice, etc. "Sign of evil" feels a bit too corporal to use here, but it's not technically wrong.
Kaede's line is also accurate, just ungrammatical. I guess the idea here is that Kaede grabbed Shinzo's soul while Hanzo was facing down Mizuki, but this kind of makes it feel like Hanzo was ineffective at achieving his actual goal...
The big change is in Kaede's second line, where the idea that she's strengthening Shinzo's soul by sacrificing her own is entirely lost. Instead it just sounds like she's encouraging him. This is a big enough change in an otherwise accurate translation I wonder if it was on purpose for whatever reason. I'm not sure why they'd change it, though.
In Japanese, Shinzo uses a formal, samurai/noble-style way of saying "mother". "Mom" feels too informal here.
In Japanese, Kaede can barely get the words out. That's dropped in English, which loses a bit of the effect. She does use あなた/anata, which is a formal form of "you" that wives (used to) use for their husbands, so "dear" isn't an inaccuracy. It just sounds goofy in this context, so I made an executive decision.
Hanzo sounds a bit more casual in English, but it's a minor gripe.
Kaede does get her ellipses back for her final line!
Hanzo's final line is pretty much straight, again. Him encouraging Shinzo and Kanzo to surpass him is dropped, replaced with telling them to be "honorable ninjas". I suppose it's about the same idea, but the Japanese version connects Hanzo's line more strongly to their parents/what just happened, while the English is more general advice. The English also has him telling them to train themselves, while the Japanese is less explicit. But I suppose they are still in training if they haven't surpassed their father yet.
It's really too bad all the Nakoruru fans will destroy SNK if they go past SamSho2 in the timeline, because it would be neat to have Shinzo or Kanzo in the games.