Mexico Team
Half the reason KoF exists, so they get a fair amount of system acknowledgment. This would change quickly.
Story
Rugal Mid-Story
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| So that's the rumoured kyokugen karate... Interesting. I do so await their coming here...hahahahah! | I see.. That's the famed kyokugenryu karate... Interesting... Let's wait and see if they can get up here. Ha ha ha! |
The "ryu" in "kyokugenryu" just means "school" or "method", so I usually drop it. As you can see, the official translator(s) did not.
The main idea here is that Rugal has heard of kyokugen karate, but hasn't seen it himself. The main difference is in word choice, but "rumoured" and "famed" both work, I just think that Rugal would be more hearing things from the underground and "famed" sounds like it comes from official channels. Maybe that's me.
There's a minor difference in that Japanese Rugal is expecting the Mexico Team to make it, while English Rugal isn't so sure. Since KoF94 is so literal, it makes me wonder if I misread it...but I think I'm right.
Before Rugal
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Secretary: Congratulations on your victory. The tournament sponsor will certainly want to meet with you all. Please, come with me. | Secretary: Congratulations on your victory! The sponsor of the tournament welcomes you with open arms. He wishes to invite you... Please, follow me. |
| Rugal: Welcome to my gallery. I am Rugal, the organizer of this tournament. | Rugal: Welcome to my museum. My name is Rugal. I'm the host of this tournament. |
| Takuma: Wha- did you say Rugal?! I've heard that name before! If I remember right, that's the name of the arms dealer who controls the world's black market... | Takuma: What? Rugal!? Wait! I've heard of your name...I've heard Rugal is the merchant of death who dominates the black market of the world... |
| Rugal: Yes, exactly. You most certainly are a well-informed person; you must have survived countless battles... Well, it's a pity to rush, but how would you like to be added to my collection? | Rugal: That is correct. You are very knowledgeable. I guess you'v gone through many fights.... Sorry to rush you, but I want you to join my collection. |
| Robert: Huh? Collection? | Robert: What? Collection? |
| Rugal: Look around you! Those are the forms of the martial artists I have defeated up until now. Well? Aren't they lovely? | Rugal: Look at the statues around you! These are the end result of fighters that I've beaten so far. Don't you think they are wonderful? |
| Ryo: You...you're insane. | Ryo: You..you are mad! |
| Rugal: Hahahaha! I'm perfectly sane. Well then, shall we go to the battle stage? | Rugal: Ha ha ha. I'm perfectly sane. Now, let's go to the battle stage. |
The Japanese is very literally "merchant of death", which idiomatically means "arms dealer".
Most of the differences here are word choice, and me trying to make my translation sound a little better. There is a slight difference in Rugal asking if the Mexico Team wants to join his collection vs saying he wants them to join his collection, but it mostly comes down to the same thing.
There's a minor typo in Rugal's line, which I think a lot of people would have pointed to as evidence of a bad translation. But nope, this is very straight like all the story in KoF94.
It's interesting to me that Takuma's still kind of the dark, underworld character he was back in AoF1 here, or at least that part of his past is acknowledged. KoF94 is general is a weird transition point for the AoF crew, caught somewhere between what they were in AoF1, what they'd become in AoF2, and what they'd really become in KoF.
Mid-fight
Rugal ripping his shirt off is the same for all characters, so it's on his page.
After Rugal
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Rugal: I-impossible! That I should be defeated-! | Rugal: I..impossible! How could I lose a battle.....!! |
| Robert: Behold! This is the power of kyokugen karate! | Robert: You see? This is kyokugenryu karate! |
| Rugal: Hmph, kyokugen! So strength is not in techniques, but in the users... But you three will not get out of here alive! Drown in the ocean's depths! Farewell! | Rugal: Tch..... Kyokugenryu karate! So it depends on the practioner. But, I won't let you get out of here alive! A watery grave awaits you! Farewell! |
| Ryo: Careful! Let's bail! | Ryo: Watch out! Let's get out of here! |
The main thing here is clarifying what Rugal means when he's talking about how it depends on the practitioner. It's a pretty standard moral about it's not about your fancy moves it's about your heart, but that's pretty confused in the official translation. It almost sounds like Rugal uses kyokugen karate too, but of course he doesn't.
The rest is just slight phrasing differences.
Ending
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Takuma: Hm...this world still contains so many strong people. We must polish and strengthen kyokugen karate, or...! | Takuma: Ummm.... There are still many strong fighters in the world |
| Robert: Hey, Ryo. I got a bad feeling about this... | Robert: Hey, Ryo! Don't you feel something nasty in the air? |
| Ryo: You said it! We'd better boogie outta here. | Ryo: Yes, indeed. We've better get away from here. |
| Takuma: All right! Ryo, Robert, we're going back home for special training! | Takuma: Okay. Ryo, Robert, let's go home and train some more! |
| Ryo/Robert: No waaaaaaaaaaay! Give us a break already! | Ryo/Robert: Give me a break! Let us rest! |
I used "boogie". Have I become the SNK?
What stands out to me is that Takuma's whole thing about having to strengthening kyokugen in order to defeat more powerful enemies in the future is completely dropped, which makes Robert's reaction a bit of a non-sequitur.
Robert's line is very literally translated, but ends up sounding good anyway. Ryo's, on the other hand, is pathetically plain.
All in all, it's KoF94. The main lines of what's going to happen with the AoF team for the next...four or so games are laid down here.
Win Quotes
Ryo
| Team | My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|---|
| America | I can't believe it, are you always like this? If so, you'd be better off giving up fighting! | You shouldn't fight anymore! |
| Brazil | This is how we three make our daily rice! If we lost, there'd be no tomorrow! | We earn our living fighting! |
| China | You ain't really hurt, so run along home! Our real power's way more than this! | Go home before you get hurt! |
| England | Quit this nonsense already! By the time you get seriously injured it'll be too late! | Stop or you'll be injured bad! |
| Italy | I've heard about your great deeds! I'm ready to fight you anytime! | This time, we won! |
| Japan | You sure got style, but you made a big mistake in picking your opponents! | You fought the wrong opponent! |
| Korea | Taekwando's good and all, but it looks like kyokugen's stronger! | No match for kyokugenryu! |
| Mexico | You sure look like us, but we're the ones who won! | We're alike? No way! |
The line vs America Team makes a lot more sense with the added context that Ryo is ragging them, like usual. Please enjoy one of the last times Ryo gets to be rude and sassy, because Kyo is going to take over that niche real, real soon.
There's a bigger difference between China and England in Japanese too. One is a brag, the other is telling Yuri to knock it off like the rest of the team.
I'm really not sure where the English Italy line came from. Very strange.
The rest are super chopped down, but generally at least get the basic idea across.
Robert
| Team | My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|---|
| America | What, you're all just a bunch of meatheads? Lame! | You are just a bunch of fool! |
| Brazil | I guess a bunch of mercenaries just can't understand the finer things in life! | You've got to enjoy life! |
| China | China's 4,000 year history can't amount to all that much if you lost to us! | 4,000-year history? Ha! |
| England | If you don't stop soon you'll get hurt, Yurikins! | You'll get hurt! Stop now! |
| Italy | You can clearly tell who's stronger now! | Now it's clear who's stronger! |
| Japan | Not too shabby! You made it fun for me! | I enjoyed that! |
| Korea | You challenged us to a fight with just that level of ability? Come on! | You need to train more! |
| Mexico | You're nothing like us! If you're going to impersonate someone, get better! | Are you trying to copy us? |
Kishi helped with the Japan win quote.
No, Robert's line against America Team isn't a bad translation, just a little awkward, with a badly placed typo.
The line against England makes it clear Robert is specifically talking to Yuri here, not Mai or King. You could probably figure that out from the English, but it's nice to have it confirmed.
The Italy line came out nearly intact! Wow.
Takuma
| Team | My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|---|
| America | You could be much stronger. How about coming to my dojo? | You can even be stronger! |
| Brazil | You look as if you've walked a considerable distance along the road to hell, but I've gone even further! | I was more skilled than you! |
| China | You're sure good at using your powers. In terms of spirit, your kempo is even better than kyokugen! | You did a good job, too... |
| England | Hurry up and go home! God, grow out of your silly "teenage rebellion" phase already! | Go home now!! |
| Italy | You need to apply yourself more! Jeff's crying in heaven! | Jeff'd be crying in heaven. |
| Japan | You'll never even reach your father's level if that's your real skill, Kusanagi! | You are still far from us! |
| Korea | In a real battle, a second is the difference between life and death. Stay sharp! | Always be on the alert! |
| Mexico | You may be able to imitate our appearances, but you can't imitate my skill! | You can't copy my fighting! |
Takuma is absolutely the member of Mexico Team who loses the most in translation. Pretty much all his lines lose something, if it's context or flavor. Poor guy.
For instance, against America he's not just encouraging them, he's trying to convince three sports stars to come to his dojo (possibly because they will pay a lot of money). Against England he's again more obviously talking directly to Yuri, and the bit about "teenage rebellion" is cute. And against Korea he's more obviously just dispensing advice.
The line against Brazil is interesting. The Japanese line does literally say he has more experience, which I guess the translator decided to emphaize because ha ha good luck getting all that line into the character limits. But what he means is that he's seen more in the underworld than they've seen in the army.
Against China he's directly praising their psychic powers, saying they're even better at using their ki than kyokugen karate - pretty high praise! This is completely obscured in English.
And against Japan, he's specifically saying that Kyo is lagging behind his father, because all old guys know each other. This just gets turned into a generic taunt in English, and doesn't mention Saisyu at all.