Yuri
She's playable now!
Fighter title
| My translation | Arcade translation | Home translation |
|---|---|---|
| The Descendant of Kyokugen | The Charming Karate Princess | The Fabulous Karate Babe |
Arcade sourced from The Arcade Flyer Archive, maunal sourced from Rage Quitter 87. Thank you!
Descendant/inheritor, that sort of idea. I feel like it plays nicely with Takuma's title, but that's just me. The translation keeps going with the whole "karate royalty" thing and names Yuri the princess. It works? The one quibble is that the translation adds in calling Yuri "charming". That's not in the Japanese.
The home translation drops her from a "princess" to a "babe" and instead of being "charming" she's "fabulous". Shades of Mai, the Fabulous Ninja Babe?
It is interesting how close Yuri's English home title is to Ryo's, when they're completely different in Japanese. That feels like it was on purpose, and it's kind of cute.
Interview
What do you treasure? My friends.
Who's your rival? Hm...Ryo and Robert, probably? (laughs)
What's been on your mind recently? Lately? I want to pick up the perfect boyfriend.
Finally, give us a word about your participation in the current tournament. The kyokugen karate I learned from my father is the strongest in the world, plus it's being used by the super cute and super strong me! What I'm saying is, I'm irresistible! (laughs) Cheer for me, everyone!
Intro vs Yuri
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| What's with that outfit?! Are you trying to imitate me? Geez, how rude can you get? | What are you? My legs are not fat! How rude! |
| Aren't you the one trying to imitate me? Ha, I get it! You're one of my fans, right? | Hey, you called me pirate's dream first! |
The usual jokes about imitators/cosplayers in Japanese turn into...some sort of conversation about butts? It feels like we came in on the middle of the conversation and while that's definitely on purpose, it's a bit confusing.
"What are you?" is missing a word, and I suspect over-enthusiastic editing in this case. I wonder if it started out as "What are you wearing?", which is fairly plausible as a more literal translation that got cut apart. But no way to tell.
At first I doubted anyone had ever actually called someone else "pirate's dream", but then Kishi found this reference back to a dictionary of college slang from 1989, so maybe it's real? The most mind-blowing thing about it is that it apparently means a flat-chested woman. And here I thought a pirate's dream would be booty...
Intro vs Eiji
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| I gotta go up against this really tough-looking dude.... Ugh, scary. I wanna go home... | What a scary mask you have on. |
| Fighting a little girl...hmph. Is someone making fun of me? | All the better to slap you silly in, my dear. |
The English picks one word from the Japanese and spins it into a weird Little Red Riding Hood reference. You know what, fair.
Intro vs Jack
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Er...grk! Big and tough... I might lose this one. | Oh no. You look so strong! I may lose this time. Wink, wink. |
| Hahahahah! Don't worry little girl, I'll take real good care of you! | Don't worry little lady. I will take care of you. |
So this is...sort of straight, but loses some nuance. Yuri's line gets more jokey/sarcastic with the "wink wink" at the end, and somehow the flatness of Jack's line makes it sound less creepy. (it is 100% supposed to sound creepy)
Actually, without the "wink wink" Yuri's official line is more literal than my version.
It's weirdly unpolished, is what I'm saying here.
Intro vs Lee
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ahahahaha! What's up with that goofy mask? Even though you're old, you're still childish. | Kyah, hah hah! What a goofy looking mask! Act your age, you silly, and not your shoe size! |
| Kee! I won't let you get away with mocking my beloved mask! | Hey, this was a gift from my mother! You're meat, toots! |
Yuri's line is surprisingly straight again, but with the addition of "act your age and not your shoe size", which is a really nice bit of flavor. I struggled a lot with how I wanted to phrase the same line and I'm still not happy with it, partially because the official translation stole the really good phrasing.
Lee's line is more changed, but keeps the spirit...sort of. The English adds in the idea it was a present from his mom for some reason. It's still got the basic idea of "stop making fun of my mask". More or less.
I appreciate the factual accuracy of "you're meat".
Intro vs Robert
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Oh- Oh no... If I'm fighting Robert there's no way I can go all out... | Ooh,Robert, you are so handsome I can't concentrate. Not! |
| Of all the people in the tournament, I'm facing Yurikins? What the hell should I do? Dammit... | That girlish spirit will make it hard for me to cripple you. |
In Japanese, the joke is pretty straightforward. Robert and Yuri like each other, therefore they're having a hard time fighting each other.
In English...the idea is there. Sort of. Yuri talks up how handsome Robert is before bringing back the bold return of "Not!", at least. And Robert...Robert kind of mentions that he doesn't really want to fight Yuri? Sssssssssort of?
Yeah I don't even know. It is worth noting that Robert's line plays more off Yuri's line in English, as opposed to Japanese where they're both kind of talking to themselves.
Intro vs John
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Sorry, soldier, but I'm gonna be the one to claim victory here! | Come and feel my fists of steel, you beast. |
| And this cute little warrior enters the ring. Well then, I accept your challenge. | Now I'm going to enjoy this fight a lot. |
...well, this was made up.
I have no idea of what to even say here.
I had some trouble with phrasing John's "Well then, I accept your challenge". I'm still not entirely happy with it.
Intro vs King
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Mmhm! You might look pretty tough on the outside, but you still don't have what it takes to beat me where it counts! | Hmm. You look kinda strong, but you smell... To fight me you need hands of steel. |
| Wow, such incredible confidence. In that case, I won't hold back either. | Oh, come on. I don't smell that bad! Lookin' forward to the clenches, honey!!! |
...yep.
It's a very generic exchange in Japanese. There's just not a lot to say about it. Meanwhile, the English...just goes off and does its own thing. The first half of Yuri's line could be seen as a weird take on the Japanese line, but I have no idea where the second half came from. Copy paste error? It feels similar to the "feel my fists of steel" line we just saw against John.
King's line is half playing off Yuri's and half...I don't fucking know.
She's very excited about those clenches. You have no idea.
Intro vs Takuma
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Oh no! Dad! Uh, hold on a sec... Dang, if I'm fighting Dad I'll lose for sure. | Oh no. If my dad is going to fight me, I'll lose for sure! |
| What's wrong? Summon up everything you have and come at me like you mean it, Yuri. | What kind of attitude is that? What have I taught you? |
Meanwhile, this is very straight! The official translation is just a fairly simple rendition of the Japanese lines. It's cut down and loses a good bit of character (especially for Yuri), but everything is there and makes sense.
The magic of SNK.
Intro vs Temjin
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Hahaha oh wow! That hair! That hair! Ahahahaha! Oh god, it's just too goofy. | Whoa! Strange hairstyle. Cool! Who did your hair? |
| Shut up! Don't you dare make fun of my hair! | No fair! You shouldn't talk about my hair! No fair! |
This is also pretty close, though the English adds in Yuri thinking Temjin's hair is cool. No, she's making fun of it. I can see the connecting threads, though, which is a nice change.
The English also makes it sound like Temjin is mad Yuri is talking about his hair...which is kind of what he says in Japanese, but he clarifies to "don't make fun of my hair" in the next sentence. I just dropped the repetition because that sounds weird in English.
Intro vs Ryo
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| What, I'm fighting Ryo? Haha, no problem! This'll be a piece of cake! | I fight better than you do! Hah ha hah haah hah silly brother. |
| Yuri... Ever since you started practicing karate, you've changed so much. | I think you've taken too many shots to the head recently. |
SNK acknowledges that AoF2 Yuri is basically a completely different character than AoF1 Yuri, but AoF1 Yuri was barely a character so who cares. (I actually do have a 4koma collection that includes a strip from a guy who was Very Mad about AoF2 Yuri. I wonder where that guy is now.)
Yuri's English line is...sort of the same, but in a very weird way. She is wildly confident in Japanese, but uh...that's A Way to phrase it, basically. I'm interested in the various permutations of "hah" in there. It feels like someone mashing on a keyboard and not paying a lot of attention to if every bit was spelled the same. It's a bit charming.
Meanwhile, Ryo goes from lamenting over no longer being able to recognize his sister to worrying about potential concussions. Similar, not quite the same. It does make a lot of sense after Yuri's English line, though.
Intro vs Mickey
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| You'll never get away with assaulting delicate young maidens on my watch, mister! | You dare to hit an innocent maid such as I? Die you pig! |
| Who the hell you calling 'mister'? You've got a big mouth for someone who came looking for a fight! | Who are you calling pig? Look, this is a fight, okay? |
Oh look, it's an "a young character objects to being called ojisan" episode. If you're not weeb enough to know already, in Japanese it's common to use family words to refer to strangers - 'brother/sister' for young folk, 'aunt/uncle' for the middle-aged, and 'grandpa/grandma' for oldsters. In this case, Yuri is calling Mickey ojisan, or uncle. Mickey thinks he's still too young to be called that. I translated it as "mister" to try and get similar connotations, the official English directly changes it to an insult.
Everything else is pretty straight! Yuri yells at Mickey about punching girls like her, Mickey points out that she's the one that wants a fight. The Japanese is a fair bit angrier than the English, making this a rare case of SNK of America punching something down. It's a lot funnier in English, though.
Intro vs Big
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| No one told me weapons were allowed! You cheater! | Hey, no one said anything about weapons! You cheating coot. |
| Well, sorry for being a cheater. Now bring it, little girl! | Don't blame me for your ignorance, toots. |
And we end the regular game with...a very straight translation. Yuri's line is nicely done, and Big's is slightly rephrased but doesn't lose anything - he's still mocking Yuri for complaining. It's good! I like it!
One minor note is that "coot" is more typically applied to old men, of which Big really isn't yet. It visually alliterates, though, and that's the important thing.
To the Police Commissioner
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Suit: Ms. Yuri Sakazaki. The commissioner has requested to meet with you. Would you please come with us? | Suit: Ms. Yuri Sakazaki? The police commissioner the police commisioner would like a word with you. Could you walk this way? |
| Yuri: Huh? Me? Well sure, that's fine, but if you try anything funny you're gonna get it, okay? | The commissioner? Why? Aw, gee? Look. I only skipped class once! |
The goon's line was translated by Kishi.
This is interesting. The suit's Japanese line is the same as usual, but in English there's an extra chunk where "commissioner" is spelled correctly! Another copy paste error? Does it mean that Yuri was done first, or last?
It at very least shows that the suit's line isn't formatted (as in, it's not stored as ${character_name}+"the police comissioner would like a word with you.") and is reproduced for every character. Which, to be honest, I already suspected given that no story-related string seems to be centrally stored. Which isn't how I'd do it but I don't know shit about programming for the Neo Geo so don't mind me.
Meanwhile, Yuri's line is completely changed, as usual. In Japanese she's threatening the strange guy who wants to take her places in his car, which...you know what, fair enough. Yuri's looking out for herself and I can't blame her. In English she's worried about the cops picking her up for skipping class. Which is also cute, but less character-driven.
Intro vs Geese
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Geese: Welcome, Miss Sakazaki. | Geese: Miss Yuri Sakazaki. |
| Yuri: Hold up, what do you want? After all, you so rudely dragged a lady here... | Yuri: Hey, let me go ya big lug. How are you treat a cutey-pie like me... |
| Geese: Please forgive me. I am Geese...Geese Howard. I have an interest in great martial artists like you... | Geese: Please, forgive me. My name is Geese Howard and I just want to say that I like your spunk, your looks, and your cute little... |
| Yuri: Nnnhh- geez! Knock it off with all the babbling about this complicated crap! If you want to understand my style, I'll teach you right now! Come on! | Yuri: Watch it, pal. I may be cute, cuddly, and one spunky little bombshell, but I'll never be hit on by a guy with a bad perm! |
Geese is literally saying "Miss Sakazaki" in katakana here, which is cute. He does the same thing to King.
This is pretty straight until we get to why Geese brought Yuri to see him. In Japanese it's his usual thing about wanting great martial artists on his side, in English it's a bit flirtier.
Yuri's reply is massively changed. In Japanese she just gives up on understanding what Geese is talking about (but it's pretty clear...?) and tells him to learn about her style by getting punched a lot. In English she's telling him off for previous comments.
One question: since when does Geese have a perm, let alone a bad one?
Win vs Geese
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Yuri: What the heck? You're super-duper weak! | Yuri: Aw, gee! What a wimp! |
| Geese: Ggh, it seems I wasn't taking you seriously. | Geese: Heh, it's all over. |
| Yuri: Eeek! What's this? I'm scared! | Yuri: Kyaaaah! Oh no, what is this! |
| 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. |
| Yuri: I can't see a thing! Heeeeeeelp! | Yuri: Yaah. I can't see! Help me! |
Again, everything that's the same on Ryo's route was translated by Kishi.
I will not apologize for translating めちゃくちゃ as "super-duper".
The official translation going with "what a wimp!" isn't bad either. "Wimp", of course, is a well-worn SNK insult by now.
Yuri's line after the lights go off feels surprisingly literal, especially the unlocalized "kya!" Her other line is also very unpolished. Both of these lines feel like they got missed during the polishing phase and lack the touch of whoever was making SNK translations so....SNK.
Geese Goes to Japan
Since Geese's migration is common to all characters, I put it under Misc.
Ending
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Robert: Congratulations, Yurikins. I'm amazed you won the entire tournament. | Robert: Congrats, Yuri! I always knew you could do it! |
| Yuri: Robert! You came here just for me? | Yuri: Liar, liar, pants on fire! Robbie-boy! |
| Pals: Yuriii! | Pals: Yuri! |
| Yuri: Whoa, what's this? What are all of you doing here? | Yuri: Hey! Where did you all come from? |
| A: We heard you were in the tournament, so we all came to cheer you on! | A: We heard about this match and came to cheer for you! |
| B: But seriously, that was incredible. Seeing you win the championship makes me want to try martial arts too. | Yuri(?): Thanks. Pretty cool, huh! Yuri Sakazaki. Fighting goddess! |
| C: You're amazing, Yuri! So cool and stylish...you're my hero. | C: Great. Yuri. I admire you sooo much! |
| Yuri: Ahahaha. Is- Is that so. Aw geez, I'm blushing... | Yuri: Oh, thank you, friends. |
| Robert: Ugh-! Those girls just... This is just too much, Yuri! | Robert: Oooh! This is too much, Yuri... Ouch! |
Robert and Yuri's conversation is interesting. In Japanese, Robert is surprised Yuri won the whole tournament, and Yuri is surprised he showed up to congratulate her. In English Robert claims to have always believed in Yuri, and she calls him a liar. She also brings out "Robbie-boy", a power no one else dares to touch. It gives their relationship a bit of a different feel in English. "Congratulations" also got shortened, but that's probably character limits so I'm not super surprised.
Everything is then pretty straight until Yuri's friends start talking. In Japanese, it's fairly easy to guess which girl is talking when based on various language cues. In case my localization was insufficient, A is the blonde, B is the short-haired brunette, and C is the little kid. A's line comes across more or less the same, though there's a bit of a change between a tournament and just a match. In fact, the English script doesn't mention that Yuri won the championship at all, whereas it's all over the place in Japanese.
The part that confuses me is B's line in Japanese vs English. It's a straightforward line in Japanese, but in English we get a strange "Thanks" that makes it sound like Yuri is talking! Without that it could plausibly be a friend talking, but the addition makes it sound like Yuri is self-aggrandizing. It's very strange and I don't have a good theory for why this happened.
C's line is similar, though it drops some of the Yuri-praise. Then again, she probably won't miss it in English.
Yuri's final line also changes from embarrassment at all the praise to a more basic thanks. But Robert's line is pretty much the same, so...huh.
Win Quotes
Oooooh boy.
All right, so Yuri, alone out of the entire cast, gets special win quotes for every single character. Cripes. Splitting the difference between my sanity and the hard-hitting analysis you all crave, I'm dividing these up. First off, the quotes that don't need a lot of special attention.
Basic
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| vs Eiji | |
| Whoa, ninja really are as strong as they say. I didn't believe it. | Gee!Ninjas sure are strong. I'm impressed! |
| vs Lee | |
| You lost because of that mask, you know. | You lost because of that silly mask! Understand? |
| vs Mickey | |
| Whaaaaaaat? Are boxers seriously this weak? | Gee. Boxers really are cream puffs. |
These are all pretty straight. That's not to say they're bad - the line against Eiji has some good character voice, and we see the return of cream puff, but they're just...straight. Either they didn't get a lot of polish or the editor took a light touch.
Notes Required
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| vs Jack | |
| Wow, you're a real tough guy. But your technique needs work. A lot of work. | You're tough, but you really should think of bathing! |
| vs Robert | |
| Even Robert folded so easily... What a let down. | Oh, Robert. I thought you were tougher. We're through! |
| vs Takuma | |
| Heh heh. Well? I'm pretty good too, huh, Dad? | How did I do, Papa. Can I be a pro? Wuh? Can I? Please! |
| vs Ryo | |
| How about it, Ryo? Having to re-evaluate your opinion of me? | Well, no more calling me "Screamy Mimi." Eh, big brother! |
| vs Big | |
| Using weapons is no good! A true battle is a contest of skill! | Hah hah. Even with weapons you were only a bald guy sans class! |
Meanwhile, these lines generally have some connection to the Japanese line, but they need some extra analysis. Let's begin.
Jack's still tough in English, but instead of technique he's lacking, it's hygiene. This feels like a pretty typical SNK punching up.
Yuri goes from being disappointed in Robert to straight breaking up with him. This is really interesting because most of the side material around Yuri in AoF2 implies she doesn't consider Robert her boyfriend yet. Translating it as directly talking to Robert vs talking to herself is more of a translator's choice thing than anything else.
The line against Takuma just changes in feel, from a confidant rubbing it in Takuma's face to begging him to be allowed to go pro. Huh. I can see the connecting line, but it is a little more obscure than the rest of these.
In the line against Ryo, "Screamy Mimi" could refer to two things: either a comic strip from the 50s that was a back-up strip for Dennis the Menace, or a children's book from the 80s by Robert Kraus. The 50s comic is a hella deep cut for an arcade game from the 90s, so I'm tempted to go with the 80s children's book instead. On the other hand, weird 50s-feeling references and phrases have showed up in SNK translations before, so who knows? Either way, as part of the line...it kind of works? Yuri's saying Ryo can't make fun of her anymore now she's punched his face in, exactly what the Japanese was saying with the addition of some sort of cultural reference.
If only I was sure what the reference was referring to.
The line against Big is another "grab one word and make a new line around it" special, but at least Yuri's still sassing on him for bringing in weapons and losing anyway. Yuri mocking a guy for being bald is remarkably in-character for the English, to the point where I wonder if this is where it came from.
What
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| vs self | |
| You might look like me, but you can't do my job. You just can't! | I like your outfit. Too much make up, though. |
| vs John | |
| Now teach me that move, soldier! | Wow, you were pretty weak. I guess it isn't shoreleave, huh. |
| vs King | |
| See? This is why I told you that fighting me is useless! | Uh...are you okay? I didn't mean to push your face in. |
| vs Temjin | |
| Your moves are as weird as your hair style! | You're weak, but you're kind of cute! Busy? |
And none of these really have anything to do with the Japanese line, whoever got the final call just made some stuff up.
Yuri carries on the theme of ragging on her duplicate's looks from the matchup lines, though this time it's about clothes and make up instead of booty. I'm honestly not entirely sure about my translation of the Japanese line, but it's probably not the official translation.
John gets another slightly strange line in Japanese, which gets turned into another strange line in English. It took me awhile to parse out that Yuri implying he retired from the army because he's weak and therefore he's not just on shoreleave. I guess.
The generic line against King in Japanese gets replaced with a different but equally generic line in English. Whelp.
There was a Yuri/Temjin shipper on staff and while I don't understand them, I respect them.