Mai Shiranui
And so the FF3 outfit disappears forever...thanks, KoF.
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Absolute Freedom - That's How I Live!
Ending
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Mai: All right! Our vacation begins now, Andy! | Mai: Time for a little trip ,eh Andy? |
| Andy: Huh? W-what? ...nothing to do with me! | Andy: With me? W ,why? |
| Mai: No grumbling! Got it? | Mai: Stop that whining and follow me , fooi! |
| Andy: Y-yes, ma'am! | Andy: Yes ,mam! |
There are some typos in the English, but overall it's fairly similar. "[A] little trip" makes it sound like Mai and Andy are going somewhere, while "vacation" seems more like they could just be relaxing in Southtown after the tournament.
Andy doesn't protest in the English version, though Mai still reacts like he does. She's harsher in English, though it still sounds a bit like she's scolding him in Japanese. Still, if there's one line the editor definitely got to in here, it's this one.
Win Quotes
vs Terry
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Unbelievable! Are you seriously Andy's brother? | For a Bogard , you're pathetic! |
I suspect space concerns led to "a Bogard" instead of "Andy's brother". It does lose the idea that Mai is directly comparing Terry to Andy instead of, say, their dad, but since it is Mai I think everyone got it anyway.
vs Andy
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| You're so cold to me these days, Andy! | Andy, you're not yourself recently! |
Mai's less specific in English, leading to the implication that Andy's difference is lack of fighting ability, not in his relationship with Mai. But the Japanese is specific: Mai's complaining that he's not being a good boyfriend. In fact, the Japanese almost implies that she's upset he fought back too hard, instead of not hard enough.
vs Joe
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| You perv! Don't grab my chest in the middle of a fight! | Grope me again and you're history! |
Mai is less openly threatening in Japanese, and it sounds more like the grabbing could've been an accident. The English sounds more like it was on purpose. In general the English is just a lot shorter, which could account for it.
vs Mai
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Yep! I'm cuter! | And I'm loads cuter than you! |
Yep. I like the official translation better here, I think they did a good job with this one.
In general, I like Mai's English quotes here. It feels like someone put some effort into her.
vs Duck
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ex-CUSE me! No pick-up lines during a match! | Shame on you! Always flirting! |
The idea that Duck was specifically flirting during the match is lost in English, but all in all, this is good. I like it.
vs Tung Fu Rue
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Wow! You sure can get big, gramps! | Gee , you're one tough geezer! |
The joke here, near as I can tell, is that Mai is astounded at Tung's ability to explode into muscles. This is entirely lost in English, with a generic comment about how tough Tung is. There's a relationship there, but it's less specific. "Geezer" also feels a little more rude than necessary, but, well, SNK.
vs Sokaku
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Mochizuki style is sooooo lame! | Mochizuki-style has no style! |
Ahahahahahaha.
I actually like the official translation better than mine here. It's great.
vs Billy
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| No way I'd be scared of a piddly little fire like that! | If that's all you got , give up now. |
Okay, I can see how they got from the Japanese to the English...but the central point, that Billy can't bring the literal heat, is lost. It's also just kind of dull and generic. It's not out of place for the game, but it's kind of a bummer.
vs Geese
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Give up yet? This is because you bullied Andy! | And that's for roughing up Andy! |
Pretty similar, the English is just cut down. This is also a good line, I like it.
vs Krauser
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Go a teensy-weensy bit easier on me, please! | Hey , take it easy there! |
Again, RBS had some brutal character limits. Tons of presentational style, but it made localization hard. Still, this is basically the same, and mine could probably stand to be cut down too.
vs Laurence
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| What a scary face! | Yaaah! You're a scary beast , you! |
And over here the English line is somewhat expanded. The Japanese line is super short, I wonder if someone just wanted to jazz it up a bit? It's not necessarily unwarranted, since some of the tone gets lost when you're translating, but why here...?
vs the Jin brothers
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Big Sis sure is awesome, isn't she? | I am one fabulous babe! |
This felt like a continuation of Mai's Real Bout line against Chonshu, so I translated it like that. In Japanese she sounds a bit like she's trying to get the Jins to repeat after her or something.
Without context, I can see how the official translators ended up with the English line. Plus a more accurate translation would sound pretty odd in arcades in the 90s, so it might also be a legitimate localization. It's not like the English line sounds particularly out of place or anything - if anything, it's a good win quote.
All in all...success?
vs Yamazaki
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Whoa, scary! Your eyes are still bloodshot! | What! I'm still shaking! |
I'm not 100% on this, but I couldn't think of anything else it could be.
I'm not sure how the official translators got the English from the Japanese, though. It's not wild enough to be the editor, but there's no obvious relation either. I feel like I'm missing something obvious. "Bloodshot" in Japanese is made up of "blood" and "rush/run", so maybe the translator misread it somehow...but it also specifies that the eyes are bloodshot and that's completely dropped in English.
The English line makes more sense than the Japanese anyway (I guess the idea is that Yamazaki is on drugs?) so maybe they just rewrote it completely.
vs Mary
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| You really have that big sister vibe! | Yes , I'm simply tough and cute! |
I don't know what's up with this one either. Was it another line they just rewrote completely for whatever reason? Usually that's because of the editor, but again this doesn't feel like the editor at all. Very odd.
It does change from Mai complimenting Mary to a more generic win quote, which is a bit of a shame.
vs Cheng
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Go on a diet! D-I-E-T! | Take off some tons , porker! |
See, this feels like the editor. It also feels appropriate for the 90s, though Mai is a bit harsher in English. But the meaning is all there and it sounds right in English. Good work all around.
vs EX Andy
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| You're nowhere near Andy's level. | You're no Andy Bogard ,silly! |
Screenshot thanks to Rage Quitter 87. Thank you!
This is a good translation, and I like how the translators/editor rephrased a very anime line into something that sounds right in English. "Silly" is a pretty mild SNK insult, all told.
vs others
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Whew! Nothing feels better than this! | Oooh , too much! I love victory! |
The English specifies that it's victory that feels good, but that could be assumed. Other than that...yeah, this is pretty much the same, just rephrased to sound good.
Someone put a lot of effort into Mai.