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kaialone · 4 years ago

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Spirit Tracks Translation Comparison: Reclaiming Zelda’s Body

This will be a comparison of the original Japanese version and the US English localized version.

Specifically, this will cover the cutscene before the very final battle, during which Princess Zelda returns to her body.

You can also watch this cutscene for yourself in English and Japanese. If you want, you can check out the EU English version, too.

For the comparison, the usual points apply:

Bolded is the original Japanese text, for the reference.

Bolded and italicized is my translation.

Italicized is the official NOA translation.

A (number) indicates that I have a specific comment to make on that part in the translation notes.

As you read this, please keep in mind that with translations like these, it’s important not to focus on the exact literal wordings, since there is no single “correct answer” when it comes to translations.

Rather than that, consider the actual information that is being conveyed, in which way, and why.

Characters in this part who had their names changed between versions:

Kimaroki = Cole, Mallador = Malladus, Dego = Byrne

Before the Final Battle:

Zelda:

…リンク！リンク！！

...Link! Link!!

...Link!

Link!

Zelda:

目を覚ましてくださいリンク！！

Please open your eyes, Link!!

Please open your eyes, Link!

Zelda:

…大丈夫ですか？リンク…

...Are you alright, Link...?

Are you all right?

Zelda:

リンク！！

Link!!

Oh, no...

Cole:

ああぁ…魔王様のイケニエが…魂の器がぁ…

A-ahh... The sacrifice for His Majesty... The vessel for his soul...

Stop! That vessel belongs to His Majesty!

Cole:

はっ！魔王様！！急いでゼルダの体にお戻りを!

Oh! Your Majesty!! Return to Zelda's body, quickly!

Quickly, Your Majesty!

You must hurry back to Zelda's body!

Zelda:

あぁ…やはりわたしの体はもう…

Ahh... So my body really is already... (1)

Why...why isn't this working?

Byrne:

あきらめるな！

Don't give up!

You cannot give up now!

Byrne:

お前の体には聖なる力が宿っているのだろう？！

You have sacred power dwelling in your body, don't you?!

Your body has the sacred power of the spirits!

Byrne:

意識を集中しろ！自分の体を取り戻すのだ！！

Focus on it! Reclaim your own body!!

Now concentrate on reclaiming it!

Byrne:

お前が体を取り戻したら…

Once you get it back...

After all...

Byrne:

私にたっぷりと言いたいことがある…そうだったな？

You wanted to have some words with me... didn't you?

Didn't you say you wanted to have words with me?

Zelda:

…わたしの体に宿る聖なる力よどうかこの思いに答えて…

...Oh, sacred power dwelling within my body... Please, answer my call... (2)

If there really is a sacred power in my body...

Please let it hear me!

Zelda:

…おばあ様わたしにご加護を！

...Grandmother, please grant me your blessing!

Tetra! Please give me your blessing!

Byrne:

今だ！行け！！

Now! Go!!

Go now! Right now!

Zelda:

あっ…も戻れた？

Ah... A-am I back?

Mmmhh... Am I...back?

Cole:

イェーッ！イエェーッ！！魔王様サイコーッ！！

Yeah! Wooo!! You are the BEST, Your Majesty!!

Brave, Your Majesty! Bravo!

Cole:

さあ魔王様時間がありません

Now, Your Majesty, there is no time to waste.

But time is short, Your Majesty.

Cole:

小僧を始末しゼルダを捕らえもう一度復活を…

Dispose of the boy, and then capture Zelda to resurrect once more...

Please do away with the boy and capture Zelda.

Cole:

こ…こ…こ…

Th- Th- Th-

...Your Majesty?

Cole:

こんなバカなぁーっ！！

This can't be happening!!

Please, no!

Malladus:

…ダメダ…

…ダメダコンナ体デハ…

…コンナ体デハ我ノ魂ハスグニ消エテシマウ…

…オノレ…オノレ…

…IT'S NO USE…

…IT'S NO USE, IN A BODY LIKE THIS…

…IN A BODY LIKE THIS, MY SOUL WILL SOON VANISH…

...DAMN YOU... DAMN YOU...

This vessel…is…rejecting my spirit.

I’m…slipping from it…

I can’t hold on for long…

Malladus:

残サレタ時間デコノ世界全テヲ滅ボシテクレルワ！！

IN THE TIME I HAVE LEFT, I WILL LAY WASTE TO THE ENTIRE WORLD!!

But the world will crumble in the time I have left!

Zelda:

リンク！

Link!

Come on, Link!

Zelda:

この戦いで全てに決着をつけましょう！！

Let us settle it all with this battle!!

Let's settle this, once and for all!

Translation Notes:

Since Zelda doesn’t completely finish her line in Japanese, I tried to keep my wording ambiguous, as it’s technically not certain what her full line would have been.

The section I adapted as “answer my call” is この思いに答えて/kono omoi ni kotaete in Japanese, which would more literally translate to something like “answer my feelings” or “answer my thoughts”. I adapted it the way I did so it would sound more natural in English.

Comparisons & Thoughts:

Since this is the very last cutscene before the definite final battle, there are quite a lot of things I want to talk about here, both small and big.

So let me just go over them in order.

Right at the start of the scene, Zelda ends up repeating Link’s name quite a lot in the Japanese version.

The English version dials that back a little, and I feel this was probably intentional, to make her dialogue in that section feel slightly less repetitive.

If that was the reason, I think this slight change makes sense, especially if you’re only looking at the text.

When Cole sees Zelda attempting to enter her body, and panics as a result, his lines are a bit different between version:

A-ahh… The sacrifice for His Majesty… The vessel for his soul…

Stop! That vessel belongs to His Majesty!

In the Japanese version, the ellipses make Cole sound more concerned compared to the English version, and he goes into slightly more detail.

It’s possible that the English version removed the mention of Zelda’s body being a “sacrifice” to be more child-friendly, but they have actually used this word before, so I’m not sure.

I actually think it’s more likely that these lines were rewritten in English to be shorter, so it would be easier to fit the text here.

When Zelda fails to enter her body, she has this to say:

Ahh… So my body really is already…

Why…why isn’t this working?

In the Japanese version, Zelda is likely alluding to what Anjean told her earlier in the game:

“I’m not sure what would happen to your body then… If things go badly… It might no longer be able to take in your soul…”

So, in Japanese, Zelda seemingly fears that this assumption of Anjean has come true, meaning her body is no longer able to take in her soul.

The underlying implication is that, for all they know, her body could possibly already be dead, but the game never explicitly states this.

In the English version, her line is changed, which is a bit strange, since Anjean did give Zelda the same basic warning earlier in this version, too.

There could be many reasons for this, like wanting to make the line more understandable out of context, or not wanting it to sound like it’s implying Zelda could be dead already.

But regardless of what the reason was, the callback to Anjean’s words is omitted as a result.

There is a slight difference with a huge impact in Byrne’s dialogue when he tries to encourage Zelda.

In the Japanese version, Byrne reminds Zelda that she has “sacred power“ dwelling in her body, as has been mentioned multiple times over the course of the game.

But in the English version, this was adapted as him saying that her body has “the sacred power of the spirits”.

This can only be either a huge error, or an ill-conceived alteration.

Zelda’s body does not have the power of the gods of this land, or spirits in this case. And implying that it does not only doesn’t work with the established story, it also goes against it thematically.

To elaborate, even if one only goes by what has been said in the English version, there isn’t much of a way for Zelda’s body to have obtained the power of the spirits, since they used up their power and left the land before the Hyrulean settlers arrived there.

Yes, the English version does obscure that detail a bit, but in the end it still appears to be factual in this version.

Adding to that, the power in Zelda’s body has essentially been stated to exceed the powers of the spirits of old anyway, since using her as a vessel would supposedly make Malladus so strong that even they would not be able to beat him once more.

More importantly though, one of the game’s major themes is the idea of humans learning to prevail without any divine protection.

To quote Zelda herself, after the battle with Byrne: “We have neither the power of spirits nor demons.”

Because of that, having Byrne just state that Zelda has the power of the spirits, apropos of nothing, just seems really poorly thought out, especially if it wasn’t just an oversight.

And you might recall that this isn’t the first time they did something along these lines, as they also had Anjean say “May the spirits be with you” in an earlier cutscene, even though she said nothing of the sort in Japanese.

At this point in the game, the theme of mortals carrying on without divine guidance is about to reach its conclusion, so it’s especially frustrating that the English version now suddenly starts to undermine it like that.

Continuing from the last point, I want to take this moment to talk about Byrne a bit more.

This is technically his final scene, after all.

We’ve reached the point where Byrne sacrifices himself to help Zelda and Link, which acts as a form of redemption for him, given his earlier actions.

Aside from the point I discussed above, Byrne’s dialogue in this scene was adapted quite faithfully into English, being virtually identical between versions.

And yet, because of changes that happened earlier in the story, I feel that Byrne’s switching sides makes more sense in the Japanese version.

In the Japanese version, Byrne is mainly driven by vanity, to put it simply.

He intends to become a god himself, which means he would effectively be replacing the old god, who has already left this land.

He described his motivation as such: “I am one meant to obtain the power of God, meant to become the same as God.“

It comes across as Byrne seeing higher purpose for himself in this quite literally godforsaken land.

Someone has to take the old god’s place, and that someone is him. It's vain to be sure, but you can see how it’s an idea that could have formed within him as an unexpected result of the ideals he would have cultivated as a Lokomo.

It may appear contradictory, but this is why he chose to oppose his god and ally himself with a demon king,

But during their battle, Link and Zelda have revealed the "true answer" to Byrne's dilemma. The truth is, there actually is no need for a new god. The humans of this land do not need gods anymore.

And in turn, this is why Byrne eventually decides to join forces with them. They have simply proved him wrong, and after having had time to process it, he has come to accept it.

That's the point of what Byrne tells Zelda here, when he protects her from Malladus. He’s essentially reminding her of what she has already taught him. She can't give up now, because the power she needs to win is already inside her.

Humans like her are capable of fighting for themselves now.

In contrast, the English version has Byrne being mainly driven by greed, to put it simply.

His desire for power is not portrayed as him being vain and misguided, but as him wanting said power simply because obtaining it is possible.

This is how he describes his motivation: “Why would I want to serve the spirits…When I can become as powerful as they are?”

And as a result, I personally don’t quite buy as easily that this version of Byrne would decide to help out here. At least, not without a hint of a more self-centered ulterior motive, or the like.

To clarify, I don’t consider the English version of Byrne an actual bad guy anymore at this point, nor do I think he would still mean Link and Zelda any harm, I just don’t fully believe that this Byrne would have given up on this idea of gaining all that power.

In any case, Byrne encouraging Zelda now also has less of a connection to his own character arc in English, both due to the prior alterations, and him stating Zelda has the “power of the spirits” here.

...Unless the English version was using the "power of the spirits” aspect in this scene to try and imply Byrne had regained his piety to the spirits?

But if that was the case, it would still be a different kind of character development compared to the Japanese version.

Now, another factor of Byrne’s redemption that exists in both versions is the fact that Byrne appears to be touched by the mercy and kindness shown to him by Zelda, even if he never directly expresses it.

There is this idea that, by witnessing Zelda’s actions, Byrne can’t help but agree that this is a mature and honorable way to act, deserving of his respect. Especially after how shamefully Cole and Malladus had treated him by comparison.

And since the English version retains this aspect of Byrne’s story, it’s not like his deciding to help Zelda and Link comes completely out of nowhere or anything.

Though I still think the English portrayal of Byrne feels a bit less like the sort of person to be moved by something like this, but we all know that friendship is some powerful stuff.

With Byrne meeting his end here, I can only say that while I think his character development was slightly more logical and cohesive in the original Japanese version, he also wasn’t really handled badly in English.

When it comes to the actual way he talks, they nail him pretty well, and most of the issues I have with how he was localized stem more from the general issue of how the English version has chosen to approach anything divine in this game.

And even with that, I think the core of his original character still manages to shine through in the end.

This next point will be another long one, because we have a significant moment here.

When Zelda focuses on reclaiming her body, the way she calls out to her ancestor was changed between versions:

…Grandmother, please grant me your blessing!

Tetra! Please give me your blessing!

In the Japanese version, Zelda refers to Tetra as おばあ様/obaa-sama during this moment, which I adapted as “Grandmother”.

Just to make sure you’re all aware of it though, remember that Tetra is specifically the great-great-grandmother of this Princess Zelda.

You might notice that おばあ様/obaa-sama is nearly identical to ばあ様/baa-sama, which is the term Anjean uses to refer to Tetra affectionately. The only difference is the added prefix お/o- which makes it sound more respectful or formal.

The similarity here is most likely intentional.

Up until now, Zelda had only ever referred to Tetra as “my ancestor”, and from the way she spoke of her, it seemed clear that Zelda’s connection to Tetra was more of a distant one.

Of course, Zelda knew that Tetra was an important person who founded the kingdom, giving her some big shoes to fill as her descendant. At the same time though, it seems she didn’t know much about Tetra as a person.

But Anjean actually knew Tetra, and so it’s through her that Zelda indirectly gains a more personal connection with Tetra.

When they first meet, Anjean talks about how Zelda reminds her of Tetra, particularly because of her personality, her temperament and tenacity. Learning more about Tetra as a person, rather than an unreachable predecessor, is an important factor of the relationship between Zelda and Anjean.

In part, Zelda’s character arc throughout this game is about her finally freeing herself from being controlled by the likes of Cole. Thus, it’s also about her embracing the wild, unrestrained aspects of herself that she had been forced to suppress.

So, Anjean acts as a positive influence on Zelda, being someone who is not only amused and even impressed by her attitude, but also teaches her that her venerable dignified ancestor was actually just like that, in her own way.

It’s not something to dismiss as her being childish, it’s something she can take pride in.

That aspect culminates in this moment right here, where Zelda calls out to Tetra, but rather than calling her “ancestor”, she calls her the more familiar “Grandmother”, in a manner seemingly alluding to the way Anjean would refer to Tetra.

Moving on to the English version, Zelda instead calls out to Tetra by using her actual name.

Since English version doesn’t have a specific term that Anjean uses to refer to Tetra, they couldn’t do the same thing as the Japanese version did here.

Though aside from that, I’m assuming having Zelda say “Tetra” here was also done to give this moment a more immediately obvious impact, and I wouldn’t say that it failed at that.

But, there are still some problems because of prior changes.

Remember, aside from the cutscene in which Anjean first appears, any mentions of Tetra in the original Japanese version were changed to the more general “ancestors” in English, almost completely removing Tetra’s already subtle presence from the story.

As a result, the English version didn’t have the same buildup to this moment. Tetra’s name feels impactful because she is an important character in the franchise, but we have less of an idea of what she personally means to the characters of the current story.

At most, one could recall how Zelda spoke about her “grandmother” once, much earlier in the English version, and assume that this was Tetra. I do get the feeling that this might be what the English version wanted to imply back then, but it still clashes with the rest of the established story.

So in a way, the emotional connection between Zelda and Tetra in English sort of depends on the audience getting story details mixed up, and that’s a bit unfortunate.

There is also the topic of mentioning Tetra’s name at all.

Tetra’s name is actually never directly stated at any point in the Japanese version, it can only be found hidden in that one easter egg, where you need to tap ばあ様/baa-sama when Anjean says it.

Like I said before, I think one possible way to adapt this into English would be to pick out one specific moment where the name Tetra is actually said. But I personally don’t think this moment here is the best choice for that.

I still feel that the best moment for someone to say “Tetra” out loud in an adaption of this game would be during the cutscene before the battle on top of the Demon Train.

It’s a quiet, almost private moment, which fits the feeling of the name originally being hidden away, just for Anjean and the audience to see.

In this moment right here, Zelda calling out “Grandmother” in Japanese makes sense thematically, we know from the story itself why this is something she would call her now, and what it likely means to her emotionally.

Zelda calling out “Tetra” in English is more of a moment for the audience, a moment for people who are already fans of this character. In this version, there isn’t much of an in-story reason for why Zelda would use this name now, at least not one that is actually conveyed.

And just as a thought, consider how the Japanese version’s take on this moment would have an emotional impact on both old and new fans, while the English version wouldn’t have the same sort of impact on someone who was playing Spirit Tracks as one of their first Zelda games.

To conclude this point of discussion, I don’t think it was bad of the English version to literally use the name “Tetra” here.

I think Zelda calling out Tetra’s name here makes for fine alteration, but it’s slightly weakened by this version of the story lacking the buildup to back it up.

The game as a whole shouldn’t have removed so much of Tetra’s presence, so this moment could have had its full potential.

Still, I’ve seen many people who loved this moment regardless, though I think that’s more of a testament to how beloved of a character Tetra is.

Now it’s Cole’s turn.

They toned down his zany side as usual, but there aren’t many notable changes here aside from his last words:

Th- Th- Th-

This can’t be happening!!

…Your Majesty?

Please, no!

The English version opted to completely rewrite this part.

I’m guessing this was at least in part due to their general approach of making Cole more dignified, for the lack of a better term, but I also feel they might have wanted his last words to be more pitiful.

It is not a very fun way to go, after all.

I don’t think this is a bad change, it makes sense to give a slightly somber note to the moment in which your story’s most prominent antagonist meets his ironic fate.

And it fits with their take on Cole, too.

There is merit to the Japanese version’s take, but it wouldn’t really work in adaptation.

The way Cole just kind of screams “This can’t be happening!!” in Japanese fits with the personality he has in this version, and it happens to be similar to the words Byrne said when he was defeated by Zelda and Link.

That could be a coincidence, but since these characters act as counterparts to each other and were developed as a duo from the start, it could be an intentional parallel.

Also, a little fun fact.

You might have noticed that in Japanese, Cole has a habit of laughing and giggling like “ka ka ka”, “keekeekee”, or “ke ke ke”, and his voice clips reflect these, too.

Well, in this cutscene, as he’s stammering in fear, it actually reads as こ…こ…こ…/ko... ko... ko... in Japanese.

And if you listen closely, you can tell his voice clip at that point in the cutscene is literally him saying that, too.

I don’t know, that’s just a small detail I enjoy.

Lastly, we have the second (and final) moment during which Malladus gets to speak words.

Like I mentioned the previous time, the Japanese version has Malladus only use カタカナ/katakana and 漢字/kanji when he speaks.

I chose to adapt this by having him talk in all caps, which the English version did too during that first instance, but they drop it here for some unknown reason.

Maybe this was an oversight, or maybe they thought it didn’t look good with more words like that?

In any case, I think it would have been nice if they kept it. Malladus doesn’t get a lot of time to speak, so his speech looking unusual like that gives him just a little bit more of an identity.

Aside from that, there were also changes made to the content of what he says here.

In the Japanese version, Malladus notes that a body like Cole’s is no good, and that his soul will soon vanish.

This is something which was foreshadowed in two previous cutscenes.

First, during Anjean’s debut cutscene, she mentions that only Zelda’s body could take in Malladus’ mighty soul.

Second, after Malladus’ resurrection, Anjean also explains that in his current state, being only a soul, Malladus can’t last for much longer without a proper body.

With that in mind, it’s obvious that Cole’s body could not withstand Malladus’ soul, hence it transforming in such an extreme way, and that Malladus is in the process of running out of time.

The way Malladus talks here makes it seem like he tried to possess Cole in the vain hope that it might work somehow, but it didn’t.

In the English version, Malladus instead states that Cole’s body is rejecting his spirit, though it’s unclear if that would be because they’re not compatible, or if maybe Cole is actively resisting this possession somehow.

Either way, Malladus says he is slowly slipping from the body and can’t hold on for much longer.

Because of that, the English version lacks direct callbacks to details that were established earlier, and it also doesn’t seem like Malladus is in danger of dying soon here, just in danger of losing a physical body to use.

I’m guessing the callbacks not being featured in English was an oversight, they probably just didn’t realize this very thing happening had been set up earlier. Especially since they seemingly mistranslated one of those earlier moments.

But for all I know, it could have been an intentional change as well, in which case I can only speculate on the reason.

Perhaps it was to make Malladus seem more intimidating by not having him be on death’s door already. And maybe the implication of Cole still fighting back was intentional, to give him one last hurrah?

We don’t really have a way of knowing for sure, but I’m leaning towards a combination of both - oversights and intentional changes.

Oh, they also don’t have Malladus cursing in anger in the English version, but note that he says オノレ/onore in the Japanese version, which can be adapted as “DAMN YOU” like I did, but isn’t considered a curse unsuitable for children’s media in Japanese.

In fact, the English version of Ocarina of Time adapted it as “CURSE YOU”, when Ganondorf says it during the ending, so I’m not sure why they didn’t go for something similar in English here.

But yes, this is not really them censoring a swear, or at least it shouldn’t be?

It’s just them reducing Malladus’ already preciously short dialogue.

Looking at this cutscene as a whole, this is another one with its ups and downs in the localization.

The character’s dialogue is well-written as usual here, I’d even say it’s probably one of the best ones in that regard, as you’d want for your penultimate cutscene.

And a few flubs aside, the general adaptation of the text is faithful. Outside of Byrne saying “power of the spirits”, none of the changes in this scene really have a huge negative impact on it.

But that’s just looking at the cutscene by itself, and like many times before, there are a lot more problems when you consider it in the context of the story so far.

In the original version, this cutscene features pay-off after pay-off to various things that have been set up over the course of the game’s story.

Several plot threads understandably reach their conclusion at this point, and almost all of them don’t work in English.

Some because their earlier set-up wasn’t translated properly, and some because their conclusion was glossed over here.

Each individual one of these plot threads might seem minor and expendable on their own, but when you lose out on almost all of them collectively, it does hurt the story in some form.

If you just go by the English version, it can feel a bit like things just happen because they have to happen now, since there is not as much of a connection between the game’s separate cutscenes.

Less details mentioned at one point that then return later, less direct continuity between individual events that happen, less things leading from point A to point B as the story goes on.

And I know this is more than likely because the localizers probably had to work with the text out of context, possibly out of order, and even with different people having to handle different parts, too.

So please don’t think that I believe the translators were bad or anything, I know they almost certainly did the best they could under the circumstances.

Again, I think this game’s localization is good, actually.

On that note, this is the end of this part. Feel free to check out the next one!

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