Blue Mary
She doesn't really have a consistent personality here, does she.
Fighter title
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| The Resourceful Lady Agent | The Under-the-Covers Agent! |
English manual scans from Rage Quitter 87. Thank you!
...well.
It's interesting that the English adds an exclamation point. The only other people to get one in English are Bob and Geese.
As for the actual translation, well...as you see.
Manual blurb
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| I'm a freelance agent-for-hire from a line of martial artists. My grandfather was Japanese, and the man who taught Geese kobudo. That's why I was taught in all sorts of martial arts since childhood, and above them all, commando sambo is the strongest. Now I've been hired to investigate the Jin scrolls, so I've come to Southtown. | Just call me Blue. I'm a free lance agent working for a company in Hong Kong, and my father was Japanese. His father taught that greasy Geese martial arts. I'm not too proud of that. Anyway, that guy is lunch meat compared to me. I've been trained in all martial arts and I'll be the one to retrieve that Qin scrolls from Southtown. Those pansy boys don't scare me! |
Okay, this is pretty different. The English manual tries to play off Mary's first name as Blue, though it's probably a joke. What's really interesting is that the English says right here that Mary is working for a Hong Kong company, which is kept up throughout the game (though it's generally called "the Chinese conglomerate" in-game). This isn't in the Japanese version at all, and I'm still bewildered at where it came from.
The English also says that it's Mary's father that was Japanese, not her grandfather. Conceivably her father could also be Japanese, but the way it's phrased in Japanese makes it sound more like he's mixed Japanese-American. It was still Mary's grandfather who taught Geese martial arts in English, though English Mary throws in some editorializing about it that's not in the Japanese.
Finally, while Mary was trained in every martial art since childhood in English and Japanese, English Mary doesn't establish that she prefers commando sambo over all the rest, instead dissing more on Geese. She's also directly trying to get the Jin scrolls in English, instead of just investigating them like in Japanese.
The English manual does consistently call them the "Qin" scrolls, which is technically correct, but since the games consistently call them the "Jin" brothers that's what I'm going to stick with.
Move names: M. Club Clutch becomes M. Club Crunch, probably because of R/L issues. Other than that everything is the same.
Intro vs Bob
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Welcome to Pao Pao Cafe 2! Relax and enjoy yourself! | Welcome to Pao Pao Cafe West. What can I get you, honey?! |
Pao Pao Cafe 2 -> Pao Pao Cafe West is a nice change. (though since they didn't update the announcer, it's a bit inconsistent in-game) We don't really call second locations "2" in America, and it is west of the original location. Good localization!
Win vs Bob
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| I wonder if that counts as relaxing and enjoying myself. What do you think, manager? | No one calls me honey and keeps their spleen! |
Well, that's different. They're both callbacks to Bob's line, but English Mary is, as usual, more aggressive.
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 |
|---|---|
| It's no good to just your wave your arms around. | No technique. No victory. Take a rest, Igor. |
The Japanese line sounds kind of...big sisterly. Mary speaks in a feminine manner in Japanese, though less cutesy than Mai. It's a bit tricky get across in English.
Anyway, the same basic idea (scolding Franco for relying on brute strength instead of technique like COMMANDO SAMBO) is there. I guess "Igor" is just there as a stereotypical strongman sort of name.
Intro vs Joe
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| What would a pretty girl like you want with a great guy like me? Perhaps a date? | What does this babe want from me? Why, a date, of course. Hello, cutie! |
Yep. This is pretty good!
Win vs Joe
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Sorry, but I like strong men. | Too bad, I only go for stronger men in clothes. |
The crack about Joe not wearing clothes was added in English. Other than that, this is the same.
Intro vs Mary
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| What are you doing? Aren't you ashamed of just copying people? | Who is this bimbo? |
This got shortened a lot! They completely dropped the imitation concept in English.
Win vs Mary
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| I'm not a woman who can be imitated so easily. | I'm one of a kind! |
It's basically the same, but the Japanese version has more character.
Accident Intro
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| That woman...she on my tail?! Doesn't look like a cop... | Hey, she's been following me around for too long. I wonder if she's a cop, or.... |
| Aaah, I gots it. You're someone's agent, aren't you? Too bad, I don't know anything 'bout that scary stuff. | ...That's it! She's the agent from the organization! The Chinese conglomerate! |
The first line is pretty straight.
The second is weird. It's not the last time "the Chinese conglomerate" comes up in Mary's route in English and it's added in every time. Mary's employer is never specified in Japanese, though there's a picture at the end. I guess in English they wanted to pin it down a bit more? To me it seemed like it was trying to hint that Cheng hired Mary, but then of course he's not shown at the end. Very strange.
It's interesting how Yamazaki speaks fairly normally in English for this scene. Maybe the editor didn't have time for this route? I tried to jazz it up a little.
Accident Postfight
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Yamazaki: You've got some moves. But I ain't telling you nothing. You should withdraw from this assignment. | Yamazaki: You're quite the powerful little spy, Mary. Love to hang around...Not! |
| Mary: Wh- Hold on! | Mary: Hey! Get back here, you eunuch! |
| Mary: Getting caught first isn't very professional of me. That guy's pretty good. | Mary: I knew I should have snapped his neck when I had the chance! |
Whoa Mary, settle down there.
Ultra-literally in the first line, Yamazaki says Mary's "a pretty skilled agent", which is where the English got "powerful little spy". I decided this sounded weird in English. Then Wayne's World appears once more and has nothing to do with the Japanese, as usual.
Then English Mary gets hella aggressive in a way she doesn't in Japanese. She's self-recriminating in Japanese, and then in English...
Intro vs Mai
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| You're trying to become my rival, aren't you?! | You've already lost in the beauty department. Care to continue your losing streak? |
The English line is considerably expanded and makes Mai sound a lot more confident. The same basic idea ("THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!") is there, though.
Win vs Mai
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| I don't think I'm really your "rival". | I hate losing streaks, and you aren't so beautiful anymore, toots. |
I guess you can read that Japanese as "I outclass you so much we're not rivals" or "I don't care about being your rival". The English leans on the first interpretation and again, considerably expands the line. There's aggression there that's not in the Japanese.
Intro vs Andy
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| A commando sambo user? Even if she's a girl, better take her seriously. She beat Mai, after all. | Hmm. She doesn't look that tough. Then again, there's Mai. I'll be careful. |
English Andy doesn't recognize Mary's style or think that's why he should take her seriously. He does acknowledge she beat Mai both times, though. That's kind of neat.
Win vs Andy
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| So you're Andy Bogard. You're dedicated, but commando sambo is the strongest. | So you're Andy Bogard. Call me when you've healed. Kiss, kiss, blondie. |
Japanese Mary doesn't flirt with Andy, showing she has much better taste than her English counterpart.
Intro vs Hon Fu
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Me, I'm something of the rough-and-tumble type. A Hong Kong cup. | Well, if it isn't Rambette. Hon Fu, Hong Kong police. |
Okay, so the Japanese word here is ランボー者/ranbousha. ランボー/ranbou means "violent" and that whole array of synonyms, and 者 just means "person". So a violent person, or "the rough-and-tumble type". All straight-forward enough, right?
But ランボー is also the Japanese way of writing Rambo, the action movie hero. Generally it means "violent", but written in katakana (the system for writing foreign words) like that adds some doubt. Sure, it's probably just to make the word sound rougher instead of literary like it would in kanji, but maybe...? This explains why the translator/editor went for the Rambo ref here. Or they just thought it was funny, which is very very SNK.
It is worth nothing that in Japanese Hon Fu is talking about himself, whereas in English he's talking about Mary. Well, they're both violent.
Cop/cup confusion is also limited to Japanese, even though the Japanese joke is deliberately in English...huh. Weird.
Win vs Hon Fu
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Don't you mean cop? The weirdos just keep piling up. | Nothing but weirdos. Cop or no cop. |
These lines are similar, but changing Hon Fu's line earlier means the joke is lost in English. Instead it sounds like Mary's looking down on Hon Fu or something.
Intro vs Sokaku
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| It seems you too are searching for the secret scrolls. I don't know who sent you, but you should retreat. | I don't know who you're working for, but the scrolls will never be yours, toots. |
"Toots" is pretty out of place for a guy like Sokaku, but since when did that stop anyone?
Sokaku's advice is dropped and replaced with a...threat? Something like that. There is the same basic thrust of "don't know who you're working for" and "scroll searching" that's in the Japanese line.
Win vs Sokaku
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| That man knew about the secret scrolls too... This job's got too many unknowns. | The mystery deepens. Even this guy knows of the scrolls. |
It's pretty much the same if you ignore character voice, so we'll call that a win.
Intro vs Terry
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Hee~y! This is my first time meeting a commando sambo user. Let's get started! | Well, a woman agent from the conglomerate. Feel free to interrogate me anytime. |
English Terry wants to get "interrogated", Japanese Terry just wants to fight someone who uses a new style. I still wonder whose idea Terry/Mary was because it just comes out of nowhere in the English version and then sticks around.
Mary's again identified as working for "the conglomerate" in English when the Japanese side materials repeatedly make it clear she's a freelancer. I want to know where that came from too.
Win vs Terry
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| I met your brother earlier, Terry. You both have good eyes. | You and your brother have such nice eyes. Call me when the swelling goes down. |
"Good eyes" can mean a few different things. I don't think Mary's complimenting Terry and Andy on their 20/20 vision, but it can also mean "you have good judgment" or "you have pretty eyes" or "you look like an honest/straightforward/heroic-type person". And I'm getting this all off Japanese Yahoo Answers so blame them if that's wrong. I think it's probably meant to be the last one, but I can't tell from here.
Well, "nice eyes" pretty much covers it, though it's a bit more flirty. The "call me" bit is added for the English.
Intro vs Geese
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Geese Howard. You should know that name. It's the name of the man who treated your grandfather to a feast of blood. | Come, my dear, you must know the legendary Geese Howard, the disciple of your Ancestors! |
And for once the English version is toned down. The Japanese is incredibly anime but I love it anyway.
Anyway, the English drops Geese explicitly bragging about killing Mary's grandpa, but does add in the plot point that he studied under...well, Mary's ancestors, vague as that is. Not sure how Americans would get that one otherwise (as we now know, it was in the manual, but how many people did you know with an AES?).
Win vs Geese
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| I already forgot your name. Sorry, but I'm cool like that. | Geese, shmeese. You're just a week old geezer. |
I can't decide if that's a typo or some sort of bizarre meta-pun on leftover roast goose in the English. I mean it's probably a typo but I want it to be a bizarre meta-pun.
I'm not sure if directly calling yourself cool is as lame in Japanese as it is in English, but that's what she said, so... "I already forgot your name" is a pretty cool line, though, and totally lost in English. I appreciate the very American-style "Geese, shmeese" joke, though.
Intro vs Yamazaki
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| I dunno who hired you, but they're pretty pathetic. Let's see how long you can stay cool... | I don't know who hired you, but quit now while you can. |
Guys I don't think Mary's route got a lot of editor attention.
There's the same basic thrust in both, but Yamazaki's considerably more threatening in Japanese.
Ending A
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Tch, beaten by a woman. But that level of power's only going to lead you to your death... Give it up... | Losing to a woman? Oh, I give up. |
Kishi got the pics. Thank you.
Since only the first line of the ending is unique, I put the other parts over here.
No no, the player should give up, not you, Yamazaki. It's possible someone misread the sentence here, but it's also possible this just went through a few too many edits.
What's odd to me is how cut down the English is. The entire second sentence is just gone! And it's not like they had character limits to worry about either. That's what makes me think the editor just took a bit too heavy of a hand with this one.
Win vs Yamazaki
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Mary: What's going on? You don't seem to have the scrolls...do you? | Mary: What do you mean you don't have the scrolls? |
| Yamazaki: Too bad.... | Yamazaki: Delta Park! No one listens! Jin has them at Delta Park. Pass it on to the others! |
| Chonshu: So you're looking for the secret scroll...? I don't know who asked you to, but you're such a pitiable woman. | Chonshu: Looking for the secret scrolls, my pretty? Such a waste of a babe. |
| Mary: Eek! What? | Mary: Whoa! What the... |
| Mary: Where is this? | Mary: Just what is this place? |
Jin does not have them at Delta Park. This bizarrely helpful Yamazaki is even more confusing than the others.
There's a lot in these last scenes about the baddies not knowing who Mary is working for (and we never get a good answer so it's kind of a red herring) and calling her pathetic/pitiable for some reason. I have no idea what's up with that and had a lot of trouble translating it in a way that made sense in English. ...I didn't really succeed either.
The English turns it into "waste of a babe" which...sure, why not. It does drop the whole "who is she working for" angle, but that question was answered in English.
Intro vs Chonshu
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Even though you're a woman, you got this far. That's no small thing. | You've fought well for a woman. I'm quite impressed. |
| My name is Jin Chonshu. The secret scrolls you're looking for have been passed down from my ancestors. | I am Jin Chon Shu. The scrolls you search for are the products of my ancestors. |
| I don't know what organization you're an agent of, but I cannot allow you to inform them of my existence. | I don't know what organization you work for, but my existence will remain a secret. |
| It's regrettable that you'll have to lose your professional reputation, but there's nothing to be done about it. | It's too bad I must extinguish such a beautiful specimen, but life is not always kind. |
| Now, please show me your strength.... | Come show me your strength. Make it a memorable battle -- It will be your last. |
This is the most accurate Chonshu speech I've seen so far. Mary really got skipped over for the polish, didn't she?
It's interesting that after Yamazaki and Terry just randomly know Mary's working for the Chinese conglomerate in English, Chonshu's translation is literal enough that he doesn't know who she's working for, just like in the Japanese.
There's one real difference: Japanese Chonshu says Mary's going to lose her professional reputation, while English Chonshu compliments her looks and says she's going to lose her life. He says it multiple times, too, which is not in the Japanese.
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.
Mary's B Ending
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Why the hell did you keep quiet about Jin Chonshu? I'm fed up with your jobs! | Why didn't you tell me about the Jins?! Oh, take you job! I'm off to the sun of Greece! |
Mary's English ending cuts off early ingame. I suspect the reason behind it is that the text display is tied to the voiced line and the voice ends before the text finishes displaying, but I can't prove anything. But thanks to The Cutting Room Floor which finally printed the cut-off lines in their entirety, we have the rest of the line! Mary's off on a Greek vacation! Good for her.
Anyway, these two endings are pretty similar. The main difference is that Mary is going off to Greece in English, whereas she's just fed up in Japanese. I wonder if they wanted to go for "take your job and shove it" in English? "Take you job" doesn't really make much sense even accounting for the grammar error.
It's neat how Mary's earrings change, like this is a few days later.
Incidentally, all these men have names, according to All About SNK Fighting Games 1994-2000. The guy who hired Mary and she's threatening is James Cooper, the goon with the sunglasses is Kelly, and the other goon is Jim. Now you know!
Mary's C Ending
| 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. |
| Febuary 4, 1995 Blue Mary defeats the Jin brothers, returning this town to days of peace. |
Feb 4, 1995 Blue Mary defeats the Jins and retires with the scroll money. |
| 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. | The delusions of the Jins were just that. Immortality...the last refuge of corruption! |
| Why the hell did you keep quiet about the Jin brothers? I'm fed up with your jobs! | Why didn't you tell me about the Jins?! Oh, take you job! I'm off to the sun of Greece! |
Japanese Mary, like everyone but Geese, returns Southtown to its days of peace. English Mary retires with the scroll money, which raises a lot more questions than it answers. To start with, why change it in English? I imagine they must've just repeated the string instead of doing the sensible thing and just calling the same location for every character, because otherwise the English version would require an absurd amount of changes for a company that was dedicated to one worldwide rom.
Also, you might notice something: the last line is way different in Japanese, but not English. Yep, Mary, Bob, Franco, and Hon Fu all have this ending, where the Jins just go home. I had kind of assumed that's what they did anyway... And in a stunning reversal from the previous line, the English version does not change it according to character and instead (almost) everyone gets the Terry line.
What the fuck.
Anyway, for the character ending: Jin Chonshu -> Jin brothers. That's the only difference.
By the way, have I mentioned that I'm bad with grapplers and playing Mary requires both strategy and execution that's far beyond my meager grasp? Getting these screenshots was suffering.