Ryo Sakazaki
They just made him a sassmaster and it rules.
Fighter title
| My translation | Arcade translation | Home translation |
|---|---|---|
| The Stronger Invincible Dragon | The Modest Karate Prince | The Wild Karate Guy |
Arcade sourced from The Arcade Flyer Archive, maunal sourced from Rage Quitter 87. Thank you!
Ryo's Japanese copy is basically saying that he's become even stronger since AoF1. (literally: more burly/muscular) It's similar to Robert's copy of "The Nobler Strongest Tiger". New and improved Ryo, less fat, more filling, etc.
The arcade drops that completely (even though Ryo had his "Invincible Dragon" copy in English AoF1) and replaces it with a weird karate royalty thing for the Sakazakis. Huh. Weird. Plus, I dunno if "modest" is the word I'd use to describe Ryo...
Meanwhile the home port also drops the "Invincible Dragon" bit and replaces it with calling him "wild" (okay) and dropping him from a karate prince to just a karate guy. I guess it all makes sense, but it still has nothing to do with the Japanese.
Interview
What do you treasure? The bike I picked up and restored myself, and the horse that old farmer gave me (he doesn't have a name yet though).
Who's your rival? Robert Garcia.
What's been on your mind recently? Yuri's been hanging around my dad and it feels like she's up to something...I'm worried.
Finally, give us a word about your participation in the current tournament. This tournament is the perfect chance to spread the word about Kyokugen karate across the nation. Robert's gotten a lot better lately, but the only person sitting in the champion's seat is gonna be me!
Intro vs Yuri
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ryo: Wh-whaaaat? You're my opponent? You seriously have the confidence to think you can win against me, Yuri?! | Ryo: Oh, sis. You should really think this over again. |
| Yuri: Oh-ho. Well, I'll overlook that remark this time, Ryo. | Yuri: Ooh, scary. Please, let me off easy this time...not! |
So here's the thing about AoF2: everyone is sassing each other all the goddamn time. SNK really kicked up the dialog compared to AoF1, and I'll be trying to get that across in my translations.
In that light, Ryo's line gets a rather dull treatment. It doesn't match the exaggerated sprite poses at all. It's got roughly the same meaning, though it drops the bit where Ryo specifically thinks Yuri can't beat him. The English could be read like he's talking about her participating in the tournament at all.
Yuri's is better. It breaks away from the literal meaning, but gets across that Yuri is pooh-poohing Ryo's concerns and wants a real fight. The first bit is a kind of smug/self-satisifed sound that I struggled with. The official translator with with a sarcastic "Ooh, scary", which works.
And the bold return of "not!" I just want to know who loved Wayne's World so much...
Intro vs Eiji
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ryo: Wow, this is the first time I've fought a ninja. | Ryo: Wow, this is the first time to fight a ninja. Cool! |
| Eiji: So you're another kyokugen karate practitioner, huh? Then I'll end you here. | Eiji: So you are a user of kyokugen. I hate karate and people who practice it! |
Ryo's line is basically the same in both versions, but the English shows a distinct lack of editing. It's lines like this that make me wonder if the secret to SNK's translations back in the day was just one very prolific editor.
Eiji in Japanese specifically hates kyokugen karate for...some reason. (I'm sure his background gives a reason and I'm also sure it's stupid) In English he just hates karate in general, which honestly makes more sense. Ninja hate karate. Checks out.
The English also drops the implication that Eiji has met other kyokugen practicioners before. It's not super important, but it's there.
Intro vs Jack
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ryo: Hey, it's you again. Is it me or are you moving a bit easier now? | Ryo: You again? You move quite well considering your age, gramps! |
| Jack: Kid, don't say things you shouldn't. I'm gonna show you hell. Don't chicken out on me now. | Jack: You really know how to frost my cake, sonny. Eat my shoes, bug. |
I'm not entirely sure what Ryo is trying to say here. I mean, I know the meaning of the words, I'm just having trouble putting them in a context that makes sense. I think he's implying that he beat Jack so badly back in AoF1 that Jack shouldn't be able to move anymore. The official translator went with the idea that Ryo is sassing Jack for getting old.
Meanwhile I have no idea what Jack is trying to say in English. The Japanese is pretty straightforward, but what the fuck does "frost my cake mean? Is it dirty? It sounds dirty. I can absolutely believe it was supposed to be dirty, but the way it sounds dirty doesn't make a lick of sense. Mysterious...
Intro vs Lee
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ryo: Whoa, Grandpa Monkey's back. You'd better get out of here or you're gonna have a bad time. | Ryo: Oh, the monkey-man comes. It's banana split time, pop. |
| Lee: It's a good thing I'm in the highest of spirits today. You don't need to hold back, kid! | Lee: I'm at the top of my form, boy. I'm gonna make a monkey of you! |
Making a play on "time to split" and "banana split" simultaneously is either next-level punnery or madness, not sure which. It doesn't make a lot of sense at first glance, though. It's bit like Krauser's lines in Fatal Fury Special, now that I think about it.
Lee's line is quote good! "Top of my form" is an alternate translation for the same phrase, and "I'm gonna make a monkey out of you!" is a cute joke.
Intro vs Robert
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ryo: What the- Robert, you bought another car? God, you're so damn fickle! | Ryo: What is this? You've bought a new car again? Whoa! |
| Robert: Heh. It's sad that you can't understand the quality of a car like this, Ryo! | Robert: Hey, you can't understand the coolness of a car like this. |
Ryo's English line sounds weirdly unedited again. Same idea, just really stilted in a way that stands out.
Robert's line is also a bit stilted, but "coolness" is a good translation. I dig it.
Intro vs John
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ryo: Huh, you quit the military. That means you've gotten pretty rusty, am I right? | Ryo: Quit life in the service? You're probably a couch potato. |
| John: I'll teach you what real fighting is! | John: I'm gonna teach you never to use potato in a demeaning vein! |
I cannot look at this exchange without cracking up.
Okay, so Ryo's translation is surprisingly good. It's slangy, it's natural, it's the same insult as in Japanese.
But John... So the Japanese is more literally "hand-to-hand fighting" but that sounded awkward in English. The English carries over the basic idea of being a reply to Ryo's line...? Okay I have no idea what happened there. Punched into another dimension.
Intro vs King
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ryo: You've gotten a bit more feminine, haven't you? Looking good, King! | Ryo: Oooh, you're so feminine. I like it! |
| King: Sh-shut up! I didn't do it for you! | King: I didn't come here to listen to your pick-up lines, eunuch! |
Ryo's line is about the same, just cut down a lot for English.
King's line is also pretty close, though the English sounds a bit harsher than the Japanese. Incidentally, she specifically says she didn't do it for Ryo's compliments, which is where the "pick-up lines" comes from.
Intro vs Takuma
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ryo: Even if I'm up against my dad, I'll give it my all! It's on! | Ryo: You're my dad, and I love you. But I'm gonna knock you silly. |
| Takuma: Even if it's my son, no mercy. Come at me with all you have, Ryo! | Takuma: You should have stayed a glint in my eye. Smart guy, waah! |
It's a pretty generic exchange in Japanese. I'm pretty sure you could toss this into most fighting anime and long-time nerds could get it even without subs.
The English is weirder. Ryo's is goofier and more confident at the same time, but you can see where it's coming from. Meanwhile Takuma just...that's not even another dimension, that's just "what". I can't start to figure out where "Smart guy, waah!" came from. It's just...there?
"Twinkle" is the more common than "glint" for "glint in my eye" here. The general agreement seems to be that the twinkling is in reference to sex, so Takuma's basically saying Ryo shouldn't have been born. Way harsh, bro.
Intro vs Temjin
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ryo: This is the first time I've seen this martial art. Go easy on me, gramps! | Ryo: Oooh! Be sure not to hurt me. Ya big Mongolian madman, you. |
| Temjin: I'll show you the real power of Mongolian wrestling. C'mon! | Temjin: You're about to learn your error in teasing a Mongolian sumo! |
One thing to note here is that Temjin puts ダス/dasu at the end of all his sentences. I originally thought this might be some sort of accent, but Kishi weighed in that it might just be general roughneck speech. Maybe a bit country/hickish.
...so is it me or does Ryo sound like he's hitting on Temjin in English? It's a considerable expansion of the second part of his Japanese line, and drops the point that Ryo hasn't seen Mongolian wrestling before entirely. I'm pretty sure it's supposed to sound taunting, but it kind of...misses the mark.
Temjin's line is more or less straight. Mongolian sumo, Mongolian wrestling, different words for the same thing. The kanji are the same in Japanese, so it's perfectly possible to read "Mongolian wrestling" as "Mongolian sumo" if you don't have background in the fighting styles, which would've been much, much harder to do back in the 90s.
Intro vs Ryo
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ryo: Mr. Imitator enters the ring, huh. | Ryo: I've seen you before, stud. |
| 2P Ryo: We'll decide who the fake is right now! | 2P Ryo: Let's see who is who, funny face! |
I put both lines in one image because they're both only one line long. Makes it easier. Also, lordy this is a boring conversation.
So 1P Ryo's line is changed, but not in a particularly meaningful way. I think the English line is a bit better, though.
2P Ryo's lines are pretty much the same. It is kind of interesting that 1P Ryo compliments his own appearance in English while 2P insults it. Does this show the painful duality of Ryo's nature?! Or is "funny face" just another goofy insult? (yes)
Intro vs Mickey
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ryo: The underworld champ, Mickey...how's it going? Have you gotten a little stronger? | Ryo: How about it, Mr underworld champ. Have you been training hard? |
| Mickey: Heh heh, that cheeky talk of yours won't work on me! | Mickey: Heh, heh! You gotta big mouth, junior! Why not come and see! |
That exact same (wrong) use of "gotta" shows up in Fatal Fury 3 too. There's a lot of similarity in the translations between the games, and I'll try to keep looking for connections.
"Mr underworld champ" is pretty good, as well as the jab at Mickey's training. Ryo's line could use another pass for grammar, but as far as translation goes it's pretty good. He does use a '-san' with Mickey in the Japanese, which I'm going to assume is sarcastic because Ryo respects nothing.
Mickey's line...also needs another pass for grammar, but it's another solid translation. It even adds a little taunt to the end.
Intro vs Mr. Big
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ryo: It's been awhile, Big. Looks like you just can't give up your toys. | Ryo: Long time, no see, Big. Haven't yet quit using toys? |
| Big: Takuma's son, huh? A smart aleck like you's headed to an early grave! | Big: Let's say, I know which holes in which to put my pegs, pal! |
Oh my.
Well, we have clearly established by now that SNK was doing it on purpose. See Billy in Fatal Fury Special, where I made the big post.
Moving on, Ryo's line is pretty good. Maybe another editing pass, again, but that's pretty normal. I had a lot of trouble doing Big's line, and I'm still not super happy with it. He sends smart mouthed punks to an early grave...something like that. Either way it's not the English version at all. I don't really have an explanation for that one besides "innuendo", which...yeah, sure. Why not.
To the Police Commissioner
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Suit: Mr. Ryo Sakazaki. The commissioner has requested to meet with you. Would you please come with us? | Suit: Mr. Ryo Sakazaki? The police commisioner would like a word with you. Could you walk this way? |
| Ryo: Oho? A reception ceremony just for me? | Ryo: If I could walk that way...sure. I'll come along. |
Translated, once again, by Kishi!
That joke doesn't work in text, SNK. Stop it.
The suit's line is fine, though they did misspell "commissioner". Ryo's line...is, like I said, a joke that doesn't work in text. It's not the Japanese line, but I'm pretty sure everyone knew that already.
Intro vs Geese
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Geese:So you're Ryo, Takuma's son. A pleasure to meet you. | Geese: So your Takuma's little brat? A pleasure to meet you! |
| Ryo: And who the hell are you? | Ryo: You must be Duck! |
| Geese: My name is Geese... Geese Howard. | Geese: That's Geese, fool. |
| Geese: I'm the man who will one day rule all of South Town. | Geese: A sad pun. I know, but... The fowl leader of Southtown. |
| Geese: I've been searching for people like you who possess superlative power. How about it? Care to join forces with me? | Geese: That's not the point. It's you I seek. Care to join forces with me and kick some Southtown butt? |
| Ryo: So you're Geese, huh? | Ryo: You're Geese, my father's enemy. |
| Ryo: It was your organization that was putting the squeeze on Dad. Bet your ass I would NOT care to join forces! | Ryo: I know about your sick plans. They're kind of cool, but no. |
| Geese: Then we're done here. Begone! | Geese: Then face my wrath, wimp! |
Translated by Kishi! Thank you!
Oh shit spoilers Geese is in this game
So this set of lines is kind of weird and tricky for a variety of reasons. One is pretty obvious: the English adds in an extra screen entirely so Geese can make fun of his own name. Let that sink in for a bit. During an era when other games had severely limited space and had to cut down English text, SNK added in an extra line just so their villain could mock himself.
Shit like this is what keeps me going.
The other reason this set of lines is weird is more general but also insane. Some of Geese's lines (welcome, self-introduction) are basically the same across all characters in Japanese. They're different for every character in English. Let that one sink in for a bit too.
Basically everything about Geese in this game is completely overdone, which means "perfect". (scenes with Geese are also noticeably less stilted and have better English than others) There's not that much to point out in the way of nuance, since a lot is just straight up changed in English and you can see that just by looking at the comparison up there. In English Ryo recognizes Geese already, Geese already rules Southtown instead of just having the ambition to do so, and Ryo thinks Geese's plans are kind of cool... (pretty sure everyone figured out that last one)
"Kick some Southtown butt" is a hell of a thing to say, though. It feels like Geese in Japanese is marginally more polite here than he usually is in Fatal Fury, which makes lines like that even better.
Win vs Geese
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ryo: Looks like all you can do is talk big. | Ryo: I'll never forgive you! |
| Geese: Ggh, it seems I wasn't taking you seriously. | Geese: Heh, it's all over. |
| Ryo: Now take this! Haou-- Yow, what the heck...? | Ryo: Eat this! Ha oh-- Waaah. What the heck...! |
| Suit: This way, Mr. Geese. | Suit: This way, Mr Geese. |
| Geese: Though I lost this time, have no doubt that I'll be back to even the score. Until then, farewell. | Geese: I have lost this time. But I will be back. For now, my farewell. |
| Ryo: Hold it! Where do you think you're going? Geese! | Ryo: Wait, where...? Geese! |
Still translated by Kishi! Thank you!
That first line's pretty different, huh? Just want to emphasize that Ryo is constantly talking shit in Japanese. Everyone is. Gameplay and story integration!
Geese is also less fatalistic in his line. Why? I dunno.
We'll get into the varying romanizations of Haoushokouken later, when I get around to all the training text. Right now we'll stick with "it's better than AoF1". Everything else in here is similar-to-same, with some minor problems another editing pass could've fixed. Ryo's last line looks like a rare-ish case of space concerns.
Geese Goes to Japan
Since Geese's migration is common to all characters, I put it under Misc.
Ending
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ryo: I won, of course. There weren't any tough guys there at all. | Ryo: Yes! I won! Whoo! Whoo! |
| Robert: You really did it, Ryo. I'm proud to have a rival like you. | Robert: Oh yeah. Ryo, I'm proud to be your buddy and rival. |
| Ryo: Thanks, Robert. | Ryo: Gosh. Thanks, Robert! |
| Robert: As of such, I took the liberty of taking your travel expenses and other debts up until now out of your winnings. This is your part. Here, 500 yen. | Robert: By the way. With travel fees, your loans, and other debts, I thought I'd take it out of your prize money. Here. Three bucks. |
| Ryo: Fi-five hundred yen? Robert, you... | Ryo: No way. Dude! |
| Robert: The money transferred without a hitch. Is there a problem? | Robert: Wanna start something? |
| Ryo: Of course there is! | Ryo: No, I'm gonna finish something! |
| Ryo: You pampered rich kid! Don't be so damn stingy! | Ryo: You rich twit! |
| Robert: Quit your bitching! You're the stingy one, Scrooge! | Robert: Shut up, peasant! |
There's a lot of pretty solid punching up in the first part, though Ryo's very first line suffers a bit from space concerns. Couldn't spare another screen for the ending, I guess. Minor note: ultra-literally, Robert says his nose is high in the air because he gets to have Ryo as a rival. I just think that's a cute image.
500 yen being about three bucks in 1994 sounds right. I kept the yen to show off how SNK did the currency conversion back then, and that apparently in Japan Geese handed out the prize in yen? What a weeb. (yes, it's for audience familiarity. Sssh.)
The "wanna start something?/I'm gonna finish something" exchange is a bit confusing to me. It's not obviously because of space concerns, it's not something that would need to be changed...it just was. Mysterious!
Then the last bit is just yelling insults about money at each other, which came across pretty well!
Win Quotes
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| vs self | |
| Imitating me like that? You really are a hopeless case. | I am the original Ryo Sakazaki! |
| vs others | |
| You still don't have what it takes to beat me. | Whew! Talk about kicking major butt. That was a chore! |
| Maybe I should hold back a little more. | It seems my Kyoku Gen Ryu karate was too much for you! |
The win quotes are tricky because quite frankly, the only set I'm sure go with each other are the ones against Ryo himself. I have no idea which of his defaults is which, so I just kind of guessed.
It's kind of interesting that Ryo's line against himself is cooler in Japanese, but his defaults are cooler in English. Or at least less boring. They also don't have a consistent way to write Kyokugen karate in English yet. Still, "talk about kicking major butt" is actually pretty impressive for 1994. It really feels like there was some sort of crossover between SNK and Working Designs, but of course I can't prove that.