Fatal Fury Team
That's not Ukki in their background. I refuse to believe that's Ukki.
Story
Rugal Post-Stage 3
My translation | Official translation |
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Secretary: Lord Rugal... The team of Terry, Andy, and Joe has won four rounds so far. | Secretary: Monsieur Rugal. Terry, Andy, and Joe have won 4 matches! |
Rugal: Heheheh.... I knew they'd make it. As strong as always...but now, I shall bring an end to the legend. Hahahahaha! | Rugal: Hmmm. Just as I thought. But their streak will soon end. Hah, hah, hah! |
This loses two screens in English, one more than the Hero Team and the Art of Fighting Team.
It's very similar to both anyway. What gets lost is specificity about what Rugal expected, and references to the Fatal Fury team's "legend". This is a pretty obvious reference to the Japanese title, Garou Densetsu, which is also why characters are constantly making references to Terry's legend across SNK games. But here his teammates get in on the fun. Meanwhile in English they just have a "streak", meaning just this tournament. No references to other games at all.
Rugal Post-Stage 6
Since this is the same for all characters, it's on the boss page
Before Saisyu
My translation | Official translation |
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Joe: Wha?! It's-! | Joe: What the heck is this? |
Andy: Huh? Terry, gas! | Andy: It's gas. Terry! |
Terry: Damn! It's a trap... | Terry: Ugh, a trap. It's... |
Andy: Ugh...where are we...? | Andy: Where is this? |
Rugal: Good morning, gentlemen. It's been some time, hasn't it? It is my greatest honor to meet you again. | Rugal: Long time, no see, my boys. Sleep well? |
Terry: Rugal! You survived?! | Terry: Rugal! You're alive! |
Rugal: Heheheh...I'm immortal. I'm afraid it's rather short notice, but your executions are be carried out right away. The charge? Ruining my wonderful hobby, and making me taste the humiliation of defeat! | Rugal: Very much so. But you're soon to see the end. For ruining my plans, I take your pathetic lives! |
Joe: You just don't learn, do you? We already know all your moves, dumbass! | Joe: Don't flatter yourself. I read you like a book. |
Rugal: Hahahah, I'm glad to hear it. But I'm afraid you gentlemen will have to face another first. | Rugal: Predictable to the last. But first, meet my partner! |
Saisyu: Heheheh.... It's an honor to meet you. My name is Kusanagi Saisyu. Will you give me the pleasure of a match? | Saishu: Saishu Kusanagi is the name. Shall we flail away? |
Terry: Kusanagi?! You mean you're Kyo's...? | Terry: Kusanagi? Kyo's...? |
Andy: Rugal! Did you brainwash him?! | Andy: Rugal, you've brainwashed him! |
Rugal: Hahahaha! What's wrong? Isn't this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? Please, enjoy his legendary strength to its fullest! | Rugal: In a word. Now, meet the legend and his fists! |
The English handles the first few lines pretty well, much better than I did. I like how Joe asks the question and Andy answers. Andy's second line is a bit stilted, but it's fine.
Rugal is less villainous polite in English, but I like "my boys". The line is similar to, but distinct from, the line on the Art of Fighting Team's route. It's worth pointing out that Japanese Rugal seems a lot more impressed with the Fatal Fury Team than with the Art of Fighting Team. Isn't it sad, kyokugen.
Rugal's explanation of his evil plot is the same across the routes in Japanese, but each English version is unique (so far). Pretty neat. The Fatal Fury version drops the neat "just deserts" bit, but does sound nice and villainous.
Joe's line is kind of confused in English, but to be fair, there's a typo in Japanese. Basically, someone wrote the wrong kanji, so instead of 懲りねえ奴/korinee yatsu (guy who doesn't learn from experience), it's 凝りねえ奴/korinee yatsu (stiff muscles guy). I never would've noticed this if the guy I rely so much on hadn't noticed it first.
The official translator just went "screw it" and made up something based on what Rugal had just said. Can't blame 'em.
The second sentence is kind of strange. While the English is a possible localization of the Japanese line, it sounds really odd to be saying that before the fight, even if it's "reed" instead of "red" (look, I don't know IPA). It's just an easy line to misread. But technically it's not incorrect.
Japanese Rugal is fake-pleased about Joe offering a good fight, English Rugal just dismisses him. He's also less polite in English, as usual.
Saishu is also less flowery in English. "Flail away" is also a dang weird way to phrase that. In general, it doesn't read like the editor got ahold of this sequence. It feels much closer to something a fluent non-native would write, though a very good non-native. There are a lot of cute touches in here, they're just matched with some awkwardness.
Rugal's final line is another of the cute touches. Hyper-literally, he says "enjoy the fists of legend to their utmost" in Japanese. "Meet the legend and his fists!" is a pretty good way of handling it that doesn't sound too anime.
This loses four screens in English. One of Rugal's introduction, one from his explanation, one from introducing Saisyu, and one from Saisyu's line. Nothing critical is missing, but it loses a lot of flavor, as usual.
Before Rugal
My translation | Official translation |
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Saisyu: Heh...well done. Now, at last, I whose disgraced name was made known, can... | Saishu: My fate was to lose. I'm impressed. |
Rugal: Hahahahaha! Even though I am your enemy, I must congratulate you on a job well done. But you cannot defeat me, not with the new power I have obtained! Uohhhhhhhh... | Rugal: You did well, young ones. But now, you're going to face the wrath of evil! Woooooo..... |
This is very similar to the same scene on the Art of Fighting team's route, though of course Saisyu doesn't mention "kyokugen karate" here.
What's interesting is that while Saishu's line is the same in English, Rugal's is different. It's similar, but Rugal calls them "young ones" for some reason, and a few words are switched around. I wonder if this is the original version, before the editor got to it. The editor definitely got to the AoF Team's route, and the FF Team feels a bit more stilted in general. "Now you'll face evil's wrath!" does sound more natural than "But now, you're going to face the wrath of evil!".
This loses two screens in English, one from each line.
Ending
My translation | Official translation |
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Rugal: Gh, so even with this power, I still lost...! | Rugal: Even with my new power, I lost. |
Rugal ?!....What? My body is....! | Rugal: What? My body.....????? |
Rugal: Ridiculous...that this should happen to me.... | |
Rugal: Heheh...very well. As long as this world has need of me, I shall surely be resurrected... | Rugal: No...to meet such a fate! But I'll be back...you jerks! |
Rugal: ...farewell....! | |
Joe: The hell was that all about? | Joe: What is going on here?! |
Andy: I'd guess that Rugal was unable to control the energy he had unleashed...but what was that evil shadow at the end? | Andy: He couldn't control his power. But whose evil shadow...? |
Joe: Yeah, the second I saw that thing I got the whole-body goosebumps! | Joe: It sure gave me a bad case of goose bumps. |
Terry: ...looks like there's more than just Geese, Krauser, and Rugal plotting in the shadows here... | Terry: Worse than Geese and Krauser, I fear we'll be facing it, too. |
Andy: Terry.... | Andy: Terry... |
Terry: Whatever, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it! We don't even know if it has anything to do with us. | Terry: Someday, that is. Not now. Maybe it's nothing to do with us. |
Joe: You said it! | Joe: Of course. We're not heroes. |
Andy: Then let's meet up again when the time comes! Right, Terry? Joe? | Andy: Well, when the time comes, we'll fight together. |
Terry, Joe: Yeah! At King of Fighters! | Terry, Joe: Yeah. The kings of fighters! |
Geese: So that's what happened...I knew it was too much for Billy and his team. In the end, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. | Geese: I knew Billy would fail... But next time, I'll be in charge! Later, Terry! |
Geese: Hehehe...I'm looking forward to our meeting - Terry Bogard! | Geese: Wah, hah, hah! |
I talked about Rugal exploding on the Hero Team's page.
Broadly, this is like the other FF Team cutscenes: cut down and stilted. Not strictly wrong, but awkward. But there are some cute bits.
It's minor, but Joe's first line shows what I mean. It's not wrong, but it's dull and doesn't fit Joe's character.
English Andy is more confident in what happened than Japanese Andy. "But whose evil shadow...?" is a bit more specific than I went with, but it's also not wrong. Just a bit more confidant/knowing than is quite warranted.
Joe's line is dull, again.
Terry's first line definitely feels like a non-native wrote it. It's more or less clear what he means, but it's a weird way to say it. Though it is interesting that English Terry thinks they'll be facing down the mysterious threat, while Japanese Terry brings up Rugal and doesn't talk about the FF Team having to fight.
Terry's second line gets weird. In Japanese, he's blowing off the threat for now, but keeping it around. English Terry sounds a bit more like he's trying to get out of having to do anything. Technically it's the same, but the English just sounds off.
Joe continues the theme. Japanese Joe is for thinking about this later, English Joe doesn't want to get involved. Since when are you three not heroes?
Andy's line is solid, though English Andy seems to have missed the memo that they don't care about this stuff. Still, it's a solid line.
There's a difference between Terry and Joe saying they'll all meet up again at next year's KoF and them saying they're the kings of fighters, but I think the English line is really cute so I'll allow it.
Geese is more obviously getting a report in Japanese, but the implication is still there in English. He also specifies that it was too much for the Rival Team, not just Billy alone. And I feel like the Japanese has Geese only deciding he'll go to KoF96 at that moment, while it sounds like he's already decided in English. They're all fairly minor differences, but they add up. All in all, the English is pretty cut down.
This is missing a full seven (!) screens in English. The standard two from Rugal, two screens from Andy, two from Terry, and one from Geese. Man, that's a lot!
Win Quotes
Terry
Edit Teams
My translation | Official translation |
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Putting your moves aside, you've got plenty of guts! Anytime you want to fight, I'm ready! | You had guts, kid. Now clean them up off the pavement! |
You did great in polishing up your skills, but I just can't afford to lose! | You've improved all right, but I still won easy! |
That was intense! I had a bit of an edge, but it was a good fight! | Even though it took only a few seconds, good fight! |
English Terry is a bit harsher than Japanese Terry, which is pretty standard. These lines feel a bit more like the editor got to them, in contrast with the story side.
The first line is fairly famous in English, and, as many of you probably guessed, isn't exactly what Terry's saying in Japanese. Though I will point out that "Putting your moves aside..." is a pretty backhanded compliment, so it's not like Japanese Terry was 100% friendly. Anyway, this is another example of a line where it was entirely rewritten around one word/concept instead of being an actual translation. It's not quite wacky enough to call it punched into another dimension, but it's not really accurate either.
The second line is more legit, but there is a difference between "I can't afford to lose" and "I still won easy". Japanese Terry is explaining his win, while English Terry pulls out a put-down. Still, a lot closer than the previous line.
A similar sort of thing is in the third line. It's somewhere in the middle of the two lines, really. It's not as wild as the first, but not as close as the second. The major difference is that in Japanese, Terry specifically uses a phrase meaning "a real/serious fight" (which I translated as "That was intense!" to sound better). In English, he kind of downplays that to "it took only a few seconds", suggesting it wasn't that much of a fight after all.
Incidentally, "it took only a few seconds" sounds a little weird. I think in English we'd usually say "it only took a few seconds". They're both grammatically correct, just the former feels more like something I'd say, and I read far too many weird old fantasy novels to talk like a normal person. Editing botch? Or editor's quirk? It's hard to tell!
Set Teams
Team | My translation |
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Hero Team | There's always someone better! You knew that already, right? |
AoF Team | What's wrong, kyokugenners? It's not like you to fight this badly! |
FF Team | You again?! But it looks like you can't imitate us so easily! |
Ikari Team | You fight just like us - brutally! No way we could lose! |
PS Team | Well? You get how strong we are now? You gotta be tough to win! |
Kim Team | Hey hey, what's up, Kim? You're acting weird all of a sudden. |
Women Team | We won again! Sorry, but the world of combat is harsh! |
Rival Team | Your hands are covered in blood! That's not what you need for a tournament! |
So first off, I apologize for "kyokugenners". In Japanese he says "kyokugen style", but it doesn't make sense to say that in English. I did my best.
I like how the Fatal Fury Team is just getting sick of meeting their imitating fanboys.
The Ikari Team line uses shura again. The primer is over in Fatal Fury 3, on Sokaku's match, in case you need it. I went for the metaphorical use this time, but it kind of feels weird. Like, I don't think the Fatal Fury Team and the Ikari Team are quite on the same level of violence, but...that's what it says.
The line against Kim Team is cute, though I'm not sure why that's coming up yet. Most of the Fatal Fury Team is worried about Kim, though.
The line against the Rival Team confused the heck out of me. Hyper-literally, Terry says that fists covered in blood aren't qualified for hand-to-hand fights...but honestly, that's the kind of fist I'd want to have in a fight. I think it's supposed to refer to the realm of sports and tournaments, not in serious, down-and-dirty fights. The word for "fight" usually does mean that and not like...battles. So ultimately, he's scolding the Rival Team for being violent pricks. Fair.
Andy
Edit Teams
My translation | Official translation |
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You have too much wasted movement! Go train some more! | You move like an elephant in a tutu. Hit the showers! |
What happened to that cocky attitude of yours?! If you just stand there you'll never win! | You can't win with just tough talk, wimp! |
The proper mentality is the key to victory! Learn that well! | You just don't have what it takes, pal, take a powder! |
There was some doubt with Terry, but the editor definitely got to Andy.
The trick is that these aren't necessarily wrong, they just have a whole lot of that SNK flavor.
The first line is the biggie. Like I said, it's not wrong...but that's a hell of a way to phrase it. It reminds me of Joe's "Both of you brothers stand out too much"/"You guys sure stick out like a gorilla at a lingerie show." from Fatal Fury Special. By the way, going back to FFS really shows off how much more confidant and polished SNK translations have been getting over the past few games. The flavor was there in FFS, but things feel a bit more smooth here. ...still wacky, but smoother.
I had some confusion over "Hit the showers!", which we've previously seen from Geese back in Real Bout. Kishi says it means "You're done!", which would match with the usage here so I will trust that interpretation. It sounds like something you need an awareness of sports to have heard, which I completely lack.
The second line is much shorter and a bit more obscure in English, but overall the same idea is there. The English does lose the idea that the opponent just stood there/turtled up, instead making it sound like there was a fight but the opponent was just outclassed.
The last line is the most confusing. In Japanese Andy seems to be getting at an "attitude is everything"/"you have to focus to win" sort of moral, but in English it's a generic "you don't have what it takes". There's no reference to concentration or mentality at all. It makes the line much more vague. "Take a powder" is a legit phrase, apparently meaning "to depart without notifying anyone". I always figured it meant "take a break" myself.
Set Teams
Team | My translation |
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Hero Team | Your techniques have improved a lot, but you've still got a long way to go! |
AoF Team | You've eliminated all wasted movement. You really polished your skills after the previous tournament! |
FF Team | Sure you put in the practice, but an imitation will never let you surpass the real thing! |
Ikari Team | Absolute self-confidence is fatal, huh? |
PS Team | There's lots of room for improvement in Chinese martial arts too, huh? Keep it up! |
Kim Team | The results of your training speak for themselves! But we're not playing around either! |
Women Team | You're doing great! Bring that attitude to your training and you'll go far! |
Rival Team | You'll have to start controlling your own thoughts if you want to beat us! |
Yep, Andy's another "really into training and nothing else" guy. As a result, there's not much to say for a lot of these.
I struggled a bit with how to phrase the Ikari Team line, but the basic idea is pretty obvious. Don't get ahead of yourself, don't get a swelled head. There's probably a more idiomatic say to say it, but you get the idea.
Andy says there's room for research in Chinese martial arts, which I guess would be an improvement. A weird thing to say, but not incorrect, I suppose.
What I translated as "controlling your own thoughts" is more like "struggling for self-possession", but that sounded really weird in English. The idea seems to be that the Rival Team needs to stop going wild and focus on winning. I guess you could also read it as specifically telling Iori to not give into the Orochi blood, but no one's supposed to know about Orochi yet.
Joe
Edit Teams
My translation | Official translation |
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Sorry 'bout that! But you'll be a contender yet! Let's fight again! | Sorry about your nose; I can recommend a good doctor! |
All riiiiiiiight! If I keep going like this, I'll be the champ! | At this pace, I can win before lunch. Yo-shaaaa! |
You know who I am if you're a real fighter! I'm the great Muay Thai champion, Joe Higashi! | You never had a chance against the kick-boxing king! |
Kishi helped out with the first line.
These are...similar across languages, but not the same.
The first line has Joe apologizing in both languages, but that's the only similarity. Japanese Joe is more encouraging and tells the opponent they should fight again, while in English we see a repeated joke. It just keeps popping up...
The second line replaces being the champ with a generic win, but at least he can do it before lunch. The word I translated as "all riiiiiiiight" previously appeared in Real Bout Fatal Fury, though here it's the more standard "yossha" instead of "osshaa". Same diff, though. It is interesting that SNK keeps just literally romanizing this, though. It's not quite what I'd expect from them.
The third line loses the most. Joe's self-aggrandizing in English, but he doesn't assume all real fighters know who he is. It's kind of funny how "Muay Thai" gets genericized to "kick-boxing" here, but I guess it's better than another round of "Muetai". "The kick-boxing king" is some cute alliteration, but I still prefer "the king of kick".
Set Teams
Team | My translation |
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Hero Team | If I was in Japan, you losers never would've been chosen as reps! |
AoF Team | That's that kyokugen karate, huh? No wonder I found it tough! |
FF Team | What's with all these hopeless losers we keep running into?! It ain't funny anymore! |
Ikari Team | Hell yeah! Don't worry, I'll keep busting heads in your place! |
PS Team | Sorry guys, but you're just here to job to us! |
Kim Team | Ah, the fruit of training! You got a lot more team spirit, too! You put up a fight! |
Women Team | You got a lot of guts as usual, but thinking that's enough to win's a rookie mistake! |
Rival Team | You're strong all right, but you act like a bunch of punks! |
Kishi helped out with the AoF Team and Kim Team lines.
The Hero Team line is about what you'd expect, but Joe...everyone representing a country was last year. It doesn't seem to be a thing this time, or from now on.
The FF Team line has the exact same mistake as Joe had back in the Rugal conversion: 懲りねえ奴/korinee yatsu vs 凝りねえ奴/korinee yatsu. Just to remind you, the first one means "guy who doesn't learn from experience" and the second means "stiff muscles guy". I went with "hopeless losers" this time, but there are a few ways of handling the phrase. "Every single time, we run into another set of stubborn idiots!", maybe.
The "hell yeah" in the Ikari Team line is another "yossha!". I thought it fit a bit better here, even if it's breaking consistency.
Against the Psycho Soldier Team, that's "job" as in the wrestling term. Basically, they only exist to lose and make the FF Team look good.
Against the Rival Team, the idea is that they just get into fights like delinquents/punks/low-level thugs.