Bob Wilson
New and exciting misspellings of capoeira ahoy!
Fighter title
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Pao Pao Cafe's Anticipated Rookie | The Genius of Capoella Combat! |
English manual scans from Rage Quitter 87. Thank you!
Oddly, "capoella" is not used in FF3, but it is in Real Bout Fatal Fury. I thought it was new there, but no. So why is it "cooperia" in-game...?
Manual blurb
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| I'm the manager of Pao Pao Cafe 2; I came along here to Southtown after getting scouted by Richard in Brazil. Capoeira is the most important thing in my life and I absolutely believe it's the strongest martial art. I really look up to Richard, so in order to live up to his expectations, I'm going to beat Terry. | Yeah, I run Pao Pao Cafe West. I'm really busy opening up the place, but I'll tell you a bit about myself. I was discovered by Andy's friend, Richard, in Brazil while I was training. Capoella is very important to me, and I'm not afraid to seriously hurt anyone who thinks otherwise. Oh, there's a couple for a free drink. Later, man. |
FF3 consistently changes Pao Pao Cafe 2 to Pao Pao Cafe West when talking about the branch Bob runs, and I think it's really cute. It sounds much more natural in English. (they did, sadly, not update the in-game graphics so the stage name is unchanged. But other than that!)
The English adds that Bob is busy opening up the new location, which is another cute detail. Someone also assumed that players wouldn't necessarily have played FF1 or might not remember who Richard is, so he gets specified as "Andy's friend". The only weird thing here is that, after the prologues, wouldn't it make more sense to say "Terry's friend"?
That Bob believes capoeira is the strongest martial art is dropped in English, which makes that whole sentence confusing. He'll seriously hurt anyone who says "capoella" isn't very important to him?
That Bob is mostly just here to impress Richard by beating Terry is completely dropped. Instead we get more "cafe owner" jokes, which...well, it's not like the Japanese script didn't make those either. But it would've been nice to keep Bob's character motivation.
Intro vs Bob
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| You can't imitate real capoeira. | You can't imitate the real thing. Get ready for a taste of knuckles and toes! |
The second English sentence is added. "A taste of knuckles and toes" sounds really weird to me. Who says that? "A taste of my toes" would make slightly more sense, but is still a damn weird thing to say.
Win vs Bob
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| You're just a fake after all. You can't beat me. | Another imposter to the Cooperia crown bites the dust! |
As I was saying... While not as bad as "kapoeral", it's more inexplicable and much, much more frequent. As in, they do this every single time it comes up.
At least they're consistent?
The line itself is considerably punched up, but misspelling aside, I actually like this. "Cooperia crown" is a nice bit of alliteration, and the rest sounds pretty good. It does have the added implication that Bob has fought doppelgangers before, though.
Intro vs Franco
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Authorized people only! Or are you looking to fight me? | My fight does not concern you. Leave, or I will be forced to kill. Deal? |
Win vs Franco
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Such incredible punching power! ...but your footwork's not up to snuff. | Good punch, no footwork. |
Yep. Pretty straight, a little cut down for the English but it feels like it was on purpose and doesn't sound too bad. Huh.
Intro vs Joe
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| You're the guy Richard was so proud of? All right, time to face the legendary Muay Thai champ, Joe the Great! | Richard warned me about you. Get ready to face the legendary Muetai madman, rookie! |
There's a bit of a change in nuance here. Japanese Joe heard Richard praising Bob and is skeptical about Bob's real abilities, English Joe got a warning from Richard and expresses no skepticism. It changes the relationship between Richard and Bob a bit!
"Legendary Muetai madman" is...slightly different from "legendary Muay Thai champ", and not just because I can spell Muay Thai correctly. Within reason for this game, though.
Win vs Joe
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| So even a Muay Thai champ's this weak, huh? | Muetai champ? More like Muetai champ! |
....oh SNK.
You can tell exactly what joke they were going for, and how one typo just ruins the whole thing. FF3 has a lot of typos, but this one probably hurts the most.
The Japanese line is pretty bland, so the English line would honestly be an improvement if they had caught the typo. Alas.
Intro vs Mary
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Wow, this place really is filled with rough types! | Talk about a bad neighborhood! The cats are so tough, they wear brass paws. Thank you. |
Win vs Mary
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| This is the first time I've met a woman as strong as you. Next time you want to play, please come by my cafe. | I've never met such a strong woman. I think I'm in love! |
Whoa, Bob. Moving pretty fast there.
I did my best to try and avoid innuendo in my translation because I don't think it's there in the Japanese, but it's hard. I'm pretty sure he's just inviting Mary over for another fight, though. The official translation, on the other hand, ran with it.
Accident Intro
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| You the capoeira user I've been hearing so much about lately? Tch, rumours blow everything out of proportion. | So you're the famous Cooperia rookie tough guy. Go home, and don't come my way again. |
| I ain't gonna let a snot-nosed brat like you get in my way! | Okey, goldilocks! Get in my way and you're part of the bottom of the bay! |
Yamazaki's first line keeps the first half in English, but changes the second half to Yamazaki straight telling Bob to go home instead of scoffing at him. It doesn't lead into the following English line at all, unlike the Japanese.
Second line is same as Terry. Which works about as well for Bob as it did for Joe
Accident Postfight
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Yamazaki: Huh, you're not half bad after all. Well, if you don't know anything, it's better you keep it that way. | Yamazaki: Hmm. Not a bad fighter at that. Bye, dude! |
| Bob: Hey! Wait a- | Bob: Hey! Get back here! |
| Bob: Secret scrolls? Plans? Huh? HUH? I just wanted to introduce everyone to capoeira... | Bob: Secret scrolls? Plans? Just what rerun have I landed in anyway? |
Interestingly, it looks like Yamazaki's advice got moved from here to the prefight in English. It's not necessarily a bad change, though the way it was executed leaves a bit to be desired. As a result, Yamazaki's English line is considerably cut down.
Bob's desire to spread capoeira is cut, but replaced with him wondering if he's wandered into a TV show. That's honestly pretty cute. I dig it.
Intro vs Mai
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| So you're Bob? I heard you beat Joe! Hey, hey, I wanna try fighting a capoeira user too! | Cooperia athletes have a habit of disappearing around here. Be warned, and listen good. |
I, uh, what?
So in Japanese Mai just heard Joe got his ass kicked and wants to try her hand against the newbie. In English this turns into a weird...threat?? I guess the idea is that Mai is saying she'll beat Bob? Maybe?
This is the first completely inexplicable translation on Bob's route. I'm a bit proud.
Win vs Mai
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Are you all right, Miss Mai? I'll treat you to a meal, so don't be mad, okay? | Mai! Hey, Mai! Wake up! You okay? If I treat you to dinner, promise not to get mad? |
Meanwhile, this is...good?
Bob calls Mai 'Mai-san'. She actually calls him 'Bob-san' too, I just couldn't work out a good translation for that.
Intro vs Andy
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Will you show me some real capoeira? | Show me just what Cooperia is all about, Bobby boy! |
Sure.
The only really weird thing here is "Bobby boy" popping over after AoF2 finished. Besides that it's a reasonable translation, all told.
Win vs Andy
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| I knew it, not even Andy could stand up to capoeira. | Andy, I told you, you were no match for the power of Cooperia fighting style and me! |
Bob isn't really talking to Andy in Japanese, but he is in English. He's also a bit more...rough in English. (Japanese Bob uses the same polite neutral speaking style Richard uses) "Cooperia fighting style and me" is a very odd way to phrase that.
Still, the idea is there.
Intro vs Hon Fu
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| The heck is capoeira? | What in the name of Moses does Cooperia mean? |
The only place I can find "what in the name of Moses" on the internet is the title of a video game playthrough from January 2020, and I'm going to go out on a limb and say that isn't the source for this. So I have no idea where that one came from because I have never heard it before. Anyone?
Win vs Hon Fu
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| That's capoeira. Don't forget now, all right? | Don't forget the word... C...C...Whoops, I forgot the word. Enjoy traction, bud. |
And Bob's reply turns into...this. Punched straight into another dimension.
"Enjoy traction" is so close to being a normal action-line sort of thing. So very close.
Intro vs Sokaku
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Capoeira, is it? There's no martial art in the entire world that can surpass the Mochizuki style. | Nothing compares to the power of Mochizuki, not even Cappla, uh, Cooperia. |
Another joke about people not being able to remember how to say capoe...er, Cooperia. Other than that, this is just a straight translation, nothing interesting about it.
Win vs Sokaku
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| So, do you get which art surpasses which now? | Now you know who's top. |
The English loses the bit of nuance that Bob is specifically saying capoeira is better than the Mochizuki style, not just that he's better than Sokaku. I tried to make sure that little bit got across in my translation, even though it's somewhat awkward in English.
Intro vs Terry
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| You're Bob, the rising star of capoeira? Hey, after I win I'll buy you a hot dog. | So you're Cooperia number one rookie. If I win, I'll buy you a hot dog, kid. |
Yeah, it's literally "number one rookie" in Japanese there. So I'm once again lying about my translation, because I changed it to "rising star". Oh well?
This is a painfully straight line. Even the nuance change between my "when" and the official translation's "if" makes sense. Basically, Japanese has a grammatical form that means "If A, then B" if A is only a possibility, but "When A, then B" if A is certain. In other words, both translations are correct, we just guessed differently on how confidant Terry was feeling there.
I maintain it's both more in-character and a stronger overall conversation if Terry is taking his victory as assured, but it's not like I have access to the original devs here (and probably neither did the official translators back in the 90s).
Win vs Terry
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Sorry about that. But I'll buy you a hot dog anytime, okay? | Too bad. How about I buy you a hot dog, Terry? |
...yep.
What do I even say here? It's good! Done! Moving on!
Intro vs Geese
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ah, so you're the one Richard scouted? But ultimately, I cannot be defeated by something like capoeira. | So you're Richard's prodigy? Don't get any illusions about winning with that Cooperia. |
It's weird. So many of these are just kind of barely touched up, but still sound okay. Usually when that happens my first guess is that they were barely touched up and the editor/localizer focused their attentions elsewhere. It would make sense.
I honestly like the official translation better than mine.
Win vs Geese
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| You're not as strong as Richard said you were, huh. Your time has already passed. | So that was Geese, huh? He's just and old sack of tired bones in my book! |
This switches from Bob talking directly to Geese to Bob talking about Geese. It's an interesting reversal of the Andy line earlier.
The bit about Richard telling Bob about Geese is removed, but "old sack of tired bones" is a neat way of phrasing that line. "In my book" sounds kind of weird tacked on the end there, but I think it's cute.
Intro vs Yamazaki
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Looks like you didn't pick up on my advice. | Some kids just don't know How to take good advice. |
As you can see, typo aside, the official translation is way better than mine.
Not much else to say here.
Ending A
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| So, ya got me... But after this, there ain't no way someone of your level can win. Give it up... | To be beaten by a ball-capped weeny like yourself! To die of shame! But next round... |
Kishi got the pics. Thank you.
Since only the first line of the ending is unique, I put the other parts over here.
And this is same as Terry.
Win vs Yamazaki
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Bob: What did you mean with all that talk about "plans" and "secret scrolls" earlier? | Bob: Okay, Yamazaki, tell me about these secret scrolls and the plan I've been hearing about! |
| Yamazaki: Khh...can't believe some asshole playing dumb derailed everything like that.... | Yamazaki: Graa! I'm not going to tell you diddly. Haul your fanny over to Delta Park to find out! |
| Chonshu: Capoeira, huh? Sounds interesting. | Chonshu: Another neophyte nihilist. Let's make this quick, pal. I have a world to conquer. |
| Bob: W-What the...?! | Bob: W-what the...! |
| Bob: W-What is this place...? | Bob: Just where the blazes am I? |
The first line has a minor nuance change: Japanese Bob only ever heard about the secret scrolls from Yamazaki, and has presumably been running around trying to track him down again. English Bob has heard about them from other people.
Yamazaki is extra talkative in Japanese here, but not helpful like he is in English. The idea is that he doesn't believe Bob really has no idea what's going on, even though it's true. Meanwhile as usual English Yamazaki just tells the player where to go, as if they had a choice. "Diddly" is a heck of a word choice there, though.
Chonshu's line...I don't know. I really don't.
Good alliteration, though.
Bob's last two lines are the same as Terry, for some reason.
Intro vs Chonshu
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Heh, so you beat Yamazaki? That's no small thing. | What?! You beat Yamazaki? |
| But you're going to regret coming all the way here soon enough. | You'll regret your victory soon when you begin to tangle with me! |
| Yes, because now you must fight me... | Now you face the power of the Jin, and you cannot win! No way, uh uh, buddy boy! |
| My name is Jin Chonshu. By tomorrow, your cafe, indeed, this entire town, will become mine. | My name is Jin Chon Shu. Tomorrow you, your cafe, and this town are mine! |
| It would've been better if you had stayed in Brazil, peacefully practicing capoeira...heheheh! | Maybe you should escape to Brazil now and learn about Cooperia with the Mitster! |
Chonshu's first line for Bob...is a rephrase of his line for Terry. I'm not sure if it's weirder that it's so close, or that they bothered to rephrase it.
I feel like I should say something about Chonshu's third line, all about the power of the Jin, but I honestly don't know what I can say that's not already there. It's powerful, in any case.
There's a bit added in English where Chonshu says that Bob will become his as well. That's not in Japanese, just the cafe and the town.
I have no idea what happened with the last line there. It almost feels like a mistranslation, but those are so rare I find it hard to believe. I also don't know who "the Mitster" is supposed to be - SNK went for the "-ster" suffix a few times over the years, but I'm not sure who it's supposed to be here. It feels like it should be Richard, but I can't get from there to Mitster at all.
Kishi said "the Mitster" might be Mitsuyo Maeda, a famous Brazilian martial artist. He would have been very dead by 1995, but it's all we've got.
Ending B
Ending B is also the same for all characters, so it's on a common page too.
Chonrei
Chonrei's intro is the same for everyone, so it's on a common page.
Ending C
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| The hero's blood flowing through the Jin family mutated into evil ambition over the course of ages and possessed the brothers' bodies. | The blood of the Jins is the blood of death. It could only, in the end, conclude this way. |
| July 3rd, 1995 Bob Wilson defeats the Jin brothers, returning this town to days of peace. |
May 15th, 1995 Bob Wilson saves the world from the threat of the Jins. |
| The Jin brothers regained their original souls, disposed of the secret scroll that had been passed down in their family, and returned home to China. | Hocking the secret scrolls, Bob remodels his cafe. |
Okay, this is weird. The Japanese unambiguously says Bob beat the Jins on July 3rd. Problem: every other character in the game beats the Jins on their birthday, and that's not Bob's. In fact, it's Sokaku's! The English version is actually correct here, fixing the date to Bob's given birthday of May 15th. And it's not just a flip with Sokaku either, that guy correctly beats the Jins on his birthday in Japanese. It really does seem to be a rare instance of the English version fixing a mistake in the Japanese.
...of course, then they just completely rewrite the next line. Why? Who knows? A few characters (like Mary and Hon Fu) get that line just completely changed in English and I have no idea why. Incredibly bizarre.
Japanese Bob has the same final line as Mary, Franco, and Hon Fu, where the brothers regain their souls and go home to China. English Bob has something different and completely unique. It actually plays into his ending. Huh.
Bob's Ending
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Thank you for coming to Pao Pao Cafe 2, and please come again! | Now open, Pao Pao Cafe west. Come one, come all and join the fabulous celebration now! |
Like Mary, Bob's English ending cuts off. It's probably for the same reasons, where they put a long English line in without realising the display time is matched to the spoken line. But thanks to The Cutting Room Floor which finally printed the cut-off lines in their entirety, we have the rest of the line! Bob's Japanese line is a short and sweet typical Japanese shopkeepeer line, while the English line is considerably expanded.
It does sound like a stereotypical shopkeeper line, though, so good job on that localization. And once again "Pao Pao Cafe 2" gets localized into "Pao Pao Cafe West", which I rather like. They've got their own little local chain going.
I also like how many cameos the devs crammed in there. Duck and Kim would come back for the next game, and Tung would make it into Real Bout Special, but this is the last time Axel gets an official appearance. He's passing the torch.