Samurai Shodown

Kyoshiro Senrou

I have to admit, "dying insane man" is a hell of a stage name.

...at least, I assume it's a stage name.

Challenges

vs self

My translation	Official translation
Thou darest make claim to my name? Then attempt my dance!	To face me is to face perfection. Act well.

Kyoshiro is one of the few characters who really does speak in an old-fashioned, Edo sort of style. Or at least how cartoons show that someone's speaking in an old-fashioned style. Since he's also an actor, the quickest way to show that is fakey "Shakepearian" dialog. I'm sorry.

In addition, kabuki is a form of dance theatre, so Kyoshiro talks about his dance a lot. I could've used "performance" or "acting" instead, but I didn't. It is a dance, after all....

With all that out of the way, we can see that the English line doesn't have a lot of relation to the Japanese one. You could make an argument that "Act well" seems to at least have an origin in "attempt my dance", but it's pretty vague. "Act well" sounds more like Kyoshiro wants a worthy opponent, not that he thinks no one else could possibly perform like him. Meanwhile, the first part is completely made up.

Get used to that, by the way.

vs others

My translation	Official translation
All the audience excitedly anticipates thy magnificent death scene!	Now in this scene, I rip open your belly.
Do not lose thyself in my dance, for that fascination leads only to death!	Whoops! So much for an encore. I killed him.

"Death scene" is more like "the way you act when you lose", but that's awkward to get across in English and SamSho's a pretty bloody series to begin with. So I went with the theatre reference. The idea is that the player will perform splendidly in defeat, and that's what the audience is looking forward to. The English has a sort of connection here, with Kyoshiro declaring that this is the scene where he'll "rip open your belly", but there's no audience and nothing about the player performing well. The tone is also considerably more modern and informal than the Japanese.

The second English line is just completely made up. In Japanese, Kyoshiro is boasting about his skill at dance, like usual. In English, he's talking about killing someone before the match even starts, which is a bit confusing. Sounds more like a win quote, really.

Win Quotes

vs self

My translation	Official translation
He who steals my name steals trash, for only I can perform this dance!	To the fires of hell with you, ham!

There's no point in saying you're Kyoshiro if you can't dance like him, after all. "He who steals my name steals trash" is possibly a little overdoing it, but none of you can stop me.

Anyway, none of this got across in English and instead we get Kyoshiro dissing his opponent by calling him a ham. Which is at least keeping the acting theme going. They went pretty hard on that in English...but it's not like the Japanese didn't go just as hard. It's just that none of these lines have anything to do with each other.

Win with killing normal

My translation	Official translation
What a petty fool! I can't make a scene like this!	Chasing away my audience!! Idiot! Face your punishment.

Kishi got this line for me!

There's an argument that Kyoshiro not being able to make a scene/stand out is like chasing away his audience, but that's a reach. "Face your punishment" also sounds more like a challenge line than a win quote.

In Japanese I guess he's not able to stand out because the opponent died too quickly. Makes sense.

Win with special move

My translation	Official translation
To bring death like a dance, and thus victory. This is the true essence of kabuki!	You fool! You...you critic! To the pits of hell, slime!

I struggled a lot with the first sentence. The idea is that Kyoshiro kills you like he's dancing, and then he wins (because you're dead). It's all very beautiful and graceful, which is the essence of kabuki. Very strictly it's the true essence of one who does kabuki, but that sounded weird.

Anyway that's not in English at all. Instead Kyoshiro insults his opponent with the harshest terms a performer can use and consigns him to the pits of hell. Rough!

Win otherwise

My translation	Official translation
That my performance should end here! Deplorable! I demand an encore!	The curtain draws near. And now, the bloody finale!

There's a connection here between the performance ending and the curtain drawing near. The trick is that in Japanese, Kyoshiro is disappointed that his performance did not end in a bloody finale - his opponent is sitting right there in the background. He got cut short, and now wants an encore to kill his opponent. Meanwhile in English it sounds more like he's about to kill his opponent now, after the match is over with no deaths.

Still, it's much closer than anything else we've seen so far. And I like the bit about the curtain drawing near, that's a good phrase. Pity the line as a whole isn't an actual translation so much as just making stuff up.

Clear

My translation	Official translation
As I knew all along, my dance is the true essence of kabuki!	This is how a real kabuki dances! Woogie woogie wee!

And this is an actual translation! ...sort of. I don't know what's up with the "woogie woogie wee" there, that's all the editor. But the first part is a perfectly good translation, the tone's just a bit off. There's a bit lost in that English Kyoshiro didn't know he was the best all along, but I think by now we're familiar with egotistical actors.

One out of seven ain't bad!

Story

Stage 4

My translation	Official translation
Kyoshiro: A splendid death scene.	Kyoshiro: You lose well.
Kyoshiro: !	Kyoshiro: !
Kyoshiro: What is this?	Kyoshiro: No autographs, son.
Amakusa: Kukuku... Behold, I am the vengeful spirit of Amakusa. Now, cry and plead unto the dark god!	Amakusa: Call me Amakusa, Amakusa!
Kyoshiro: Amakusa? How can this be?!	Kyoshiro: What? Ama kusa
Amakusa: Kukuku...a magnificent dance. How would you like to dance before my dark god until death?	Amakusa: Heh, heh, that's right, my critic's punching bag. Join the dark guy, now!
Kyoshiro: Are you enchanted enough to steal me away, Amakusa?	Kyoshiro: You can't scare me, Amakusa.
Amakusa: Heheheh...then prepare yourself for death!	Amakusa: Then die,you crazy funster!
Kyoshiro: A terrifying spirit...Amakusa...	Kyoshiro: Yikes!!!

The first line is the same bit about "way of losing" as I went over in Kyoshiro's first challenge line. Note that it's correctly translated here, unlike the previous.

Then Kyoshiro's next real line is just completely different. In Japanese it's the standard "what's going on" response to Amakusa's power, but in English it's...denying Amakusa an autograph? Very strange.

Amakusa's intro line is covered over on Haohmaru's page.

In Japanese it sounds like Kyoshiro has at least heard of Amakusa and is surprised to find someone dead in front of him. In English...I don't know what happened in English. It looks like a half edited line, especially with the weird space in the middle of "Amakusa" and the lack of punctuation. Did someone run out of time?

Amakusa's offer is completely lost in English. In Japanese he offers to let Kyoshiro perform in front of Ambrosia for the rest of his life, but in English he just insults Kyoshiro and straight-up demands that Kyoshiro join him for no reason. "My critic's punching bag" is a very SNK thing to say, though.

Japanese Kyoshiro's reply is basically him saying that he won't come willingly, just in a very poetic fashion. "You'll have to make me" is the spirit. In English this is considerably genericized, though it does more or less follow from the English line. That's something.

"Die you crazy funster" is covered on Tam Tam's page.

And then the final line is once again, completely different in English. Kyoshiro goes from being intimidated by Amakusa's power to sounding like Shaggy from Scooby-doo. it is interesting how the last few lines in English are completely different from the Japanese, but they do all follow from each other. There was that level of effort.

Ending

My translation	Official translation
Kyoshiro: Now you must understand the true beauty of kabuki, my lord.	Kyoshiro: Having been trounced, I think you now realize the sublimity of kabuki.
Kyoshiro: Hm? How foolish of me not to notice this superb scenery before now!	Kyoshiro: What a great place! Why, of course...
Kyoshiro: Gather now, ladies and gentlemen! Come, come!	Kyoshiro: Lords and ladies, come hither.

These lines are all remarkably straight translations for a character that so far has had maybe...two lines that have any relation to the Japanese. Did the editor just not have the time?

For the first line, Kyoshiro is using a respectful/archaic form of "you", so I went with "my lord" as a sort of English equivalent. "Having been trounced" is a bit of an SNK-ism, but it's remarkably mild. It's only implied in Japanese, but English is a lot more blunt than Japanese. You have to just say things outright sometimes.

The second line drops Kyoshiro chiding himself for not noticing the scenery before now, which was probably a sacrifice to character limits.

The last line is, surprisingly, in a higher register than any of the rest of Kyoshiro's lines. I suppose the idea is that he's more respectful to an audience, but it still stands out. In that respect, it really is a good translation.