Kirby Planet Robobot Translation Comparison: Meta Knightmare Returns
This will be a comparison of the original Japanese version and the US English localized version.
Specifically, this will cover all the cutscenes that appear in the Meta Knightmare Returns mode.
You can also watch these cutscenes for yourself in English (1, 2, 3) and Japanese (1, 2, 3).
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.
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Encountering Star Dream:
Star Dream:
……R…E…A……
……D…Y……………・>
...R...E...A...
...D...Y... ->
L...O...A...D...I...N...G...
Star Dream:
……………………。
...
.........
Star Dream:
アナタが…新しい…
ゴシュジン様…デスネ。
YOU must BE...
the new... MASter.
You must be...
the new admin.
Star Dream:
……ナルホド、とても ツヨイパワーを
お持ち のヨウデ…。
...UNDERSTOOD, it APPEARS that you possess
quite TREMENDOUS POWER...
Yes. You possess
incredible power...
Star Dream:
……………… OK>
...OK >
...OK.
Star Dream:
…デハ、ソンナ
ゴシュジン様ガ ノゾム…
...THEN, AS SUCH A MASter
WOULD DESIRE...
As a new admin, you must
supply your credentials...
Star Dream:
コノ星でも…
カナリの 強サを持つ…
YOU SHALL be given... THE OPPORTUNITY
TO CLASH with a "sword USER"...
to the strongest warriors
of this planet.
Star Dream:
「剣のツカイテ」と、
タタカワセテ…さしあげ マショウ。
WHO possesses CONSIDERABLE strenGTH...
even for THIS planet.
Executing Sword_Master.EXE.
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Before Battling Sectonia Clone:
Star Dream:
……おみごと デ、ゴザイマス。
...MasterFULLY DONE.
...Impressive.
Star Dream:
ゴシュジン様には ショウショウ
モノたり ナカッタ かも しれマセンネ。
Perhaps THIS was A LITTLE
UNsatisfactory for you, MASter.
That may have been a bit
too easy for the admin...
Star Dream:
ソレでは 次に、
美シク まうようニ 剣を アヤツる…
SO then, for THE next one,
the most powerful queen...
Next up is one whose swordplay
resembles a beautiful dance...
Star Dream:
最強の女王を、
ヨミガエ らせ マショウ。
WHO HANDles her blades liKE
A beautiFUL dance, shall BE RESURRECTED.
Let us bring back the most
powerful queen from the void.
Star Dream:
ソノ たぐいまれな
戦いのセンスと 王たる オーラ…
HER exceptional APTITUDE for battle,
and her majestic AURA...
Experience her royal presence and
unparalleled fighting skills.
Star Dream:
ドウゾ ゴたんのう クダサイませ。
PLEASE, ENjoy them thoroUGHLY.
She will be a fitting test for you.
-
Before Battling Galacta Knight:
Star Dream:
サスガ、ゴシュジン様デス。
では サイゴに…
WELL DONE AS ALWAYS, MASter.
Now, FOR THE LAST one...
You are mighty indeed.
Now for the final test...
Star Dream:
かつての ゴシュジン様にハ
キンジられて イタ…
THE "Spacetime Transfer Programm",
WHICH the previous MASter had FORBIDDEN...
This was prohibited by the
previous admin...
Star Dream:
「時空テンイ プログラム」を
アンロック シ、
SHALL BE UNLOCKED,
Preparing to boot the Space-Time
Transport program...
Star Dream:
イニシエの時代ノ 剣士ヲ、
ヨビダシ マショウ。
TO CALL FORTH A swordfighter
from ANCIENT TIMES.
Let us bring back a legendary
swordsman from a forgotten time.
Star Dream:
…カレに コノあたりノ 星ハ
ホロボされて シマウと 思イマスガ…
...IT STANDS TO reason that HE is LIKELY TO
DESTroy the SURrounding planets, BUT...
He may end up destroying a nearby
planet or two, but such is life.
Star Dream:
キット、 サイゴノタタカイを
楽シンデ イタダケル ことデショウ。
You will MOST CERTAINLY find THIS
LAST BATTLE to be enjoyABLE.
The benefits of this final battle
outweigh the collateral damage.
Star Dream:
ソレでは………!
NOW then...!
Prepare yourself...
Star Dream:
時空テンイ プログラム… アンロック…
異空間ロード… リブート…
UNLOCKING... Space Time Transfer Program...
REBOOTING... Another Dimension Road... (1)
Executing Space-Time Transport...
Extra-dimensional road... Booting...
Star Dream:
…………3
3...
3...
Star Dream:
…………2
2...
2...
Star Dream:
…………1
1...
1...
Star Dream:
…………………GO!!
...GO!!
...BEGIN!
Translation Note:
I’ll go over it in more detail in the section below, but the term I translated as “Another Dimension Road” is called 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo in Japanese. This term previously appeared in the Japanese version of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land.
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Comparisons & Thoughts:
Since the cutscenes of Meta Knightmare Returns all occur towards the end and are pretty short, I decided to cover all of them in one post like this.
Still, just because they’re short doesn’t mean there is nothing to talk about.
-
It’s only mentioned briefly in these cutscenes, but I want to go over the term I adapted as “Another Dimension Road” in slightly more detail.
In the original Japanese version, the term is 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo, which first appeared in the Japanese version of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land.
To start off, 異空間/Ikūkan by itself could be translated as something like “different dimension", “different space”, “different realm”, or anything along those lines, 異/i meaning “different”, and 空間/kūkan meaning “space” or “dimension”, and the like.
This term has come up a few times in the Kirby series since Return to Dream Land, and the Japanese version of Star Allies actually gives it the English reading “Another Dimension”, which is why I also like to adapt it as that.
The term 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo, adding the English word “road” to it, also comes up a few times in Return to Dream Land.
Given what I explained above, I like to adapt it as “Another Dimension Road”.
Magolor mentions this term when he talks about his home, saying that it’s far away, but that it’s connected to Pop Star via 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo.
The English localization of the game adapted this as “interdimensional tunnel” in this instance.
Also, the cutscene that is called “Final Battle” in the English version is simply called 異空間ロード/Ikūkan Rōdo in Japanese.
Going by that, it seems safe to assume that this term can refer to the “road(s)” that connects different dimensions, realms, or the like.
Now, there is a lot more I could potentially talk about with these two terms and how they come up in the Kirby series, but it would be too long for this section here.
I might make a dedicated post just for that at some point, if that would interest people.
So, most relevant to Planet Robobot, is the fact that “Another Dimension Road” is a term we had seen before in Return to Dream Land.
The English version might be trying to keep the connection to Return to Dream Land by adapting the term as “Extra-dimensional road“ here, possibly referring to the Extra Mode of that game.
-
Back to Planet Robobot, here’s something potentially interesting about Star Dream in these cutscenes.
You’ll find that in both Japanese and English it uses about the same speaking style as it did during its appearance in the main story.
And the English version actually adapts it in the same way as it did back then, so I appreciate the consistency there.
Like before, the English version has it use some more computer-like sounding phrases here, like saying “admin” instead of “master”.
Most notable as a change is probably the phrase “Sword_Master.EXE”, which would imply that Star Dream might have a dedicated program just for either cloning Dark Matter Blade, or sword users in general.
But what’s really interesting to me is something else.
Now, I don’t know if this is just a coincidence, but Star Dream does not refer to itself in first person at any point in these cutscenes
With the way the Japanese language works, this isn’t all too uncommon, but it still stands out a bit, because Star Dream referring to itself in first person during the main story was a notable trait it had.
A machine wouldn’t normally refer to itself like that, so Star Dream doing that seemed like a result of it gaining a sense of self during those events.
And keep in mind that those events, namely Star Dream fusing with Hatlmann’s spirit, don’t actually occur during the story of Meta Knightmare, meaning Star Dream actually should not have a sense of self in this scenario.
So, Star Dream not referring to itself in first person during these cutscenes could be meant to reflect that? But that’s just my guess.
In any case, because of the above, I decided to adapt its dialogue in these cutscenes without using any first person either.
And from what I can tell, it looks like the English localization may have thought the same thing, since they also don’t use any (singular) first person for Star Dream here.
I realize this means there isn’t any difference between versions when it comes to this aspect, but I still wanted to mention it, because it’s easy to miss.
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In the Japanese version, Star Dream’s dialogue here contains more direct references to Milky Way Wishes, with it using several of the same phrases that Galactic Nova used.
Most notably, this includes it counting down from 3 and finishing the counter with the words “Go!!”, which is also referenced during its boss battles.
In the English version, these phrases are slightly rewritten and don’t match Galactic Nova’s dialogue from either English version of Milky Way Wishes, with the countdown in particular ending with “Begin!” instead.
As a result, that final line also no longer matches the visuals of Star Dream’s final boss battle.
If you only look at the text in this game right here, it does make sense to rewrite these phrases slightly, “Begin!” certainly sounds more appropriate than “Go!!” out of context.
But this, combined with the fact that any other subtle reference to Milky Way Wishes in the text so far has been glossed over in English makes me think that the English localizers either didn’t realize that these were references, or ended up ignoring them for some reason.
Whatever said reason may be, I still think it’s a shame, because when you add all of them up, there is a great deal of connections to Milky Way Wishes in this game’s text that are lost in the English version, leaving it only with the visual and musical references.
And those are still nice, don’t get me wrong, but it still feels like you’re missing out just a little.
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Somewhat related to the above, Star Dream’s reasoning for its actions in these cutscenes is quite different between versions, changing a lot about the context of what is happening.
In the Japanese version, Star Dream seemingly comes to the conclusion that Meta Knight wishes to fight strong opponents. So, the reason why it proceeds to summon several powerful warriors is specifically because it is attempting to comply with that desire.
And that really seems to be all there is to it in the Japanese version, no apparent additional motivation other than to satisfy its new master Meta Knight.
At most you can speculate whether or not Meta Knight really was actively wishing for this to happen, or if Star Dream was misinterpreting him, but...
Considering this is a direct parallel to Meta Knightmare Ultra, and Meta Knight did wish for something exactly like that over there, I’d wager it’s safe to bet Star Dream’s assessment of him was at least partially accurate.
And of course, this also gives Star Dream another direct parallel to Galactic Nova.
In the English version, Star Dream instead states that Meta Knight has to supply his credentials, and thus all the battles that follow are portrayed as “tests” for Meta Knight.
This also implies that Star Dream would probably test any potential new admin in such a manner, in contrast to the Japanese version, where Star Dream seems to accept Meta Knight right away without question.
I know that this particular change has caused English-speaking fans to speculate what sort of test Haltmann may have had to pass, which can be interesting of course.
But for the reference, no such tests seem to exist in the Japanese version.
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And still related to the above, in the English version, Star Dream states that Meta Knight must supply his credentials “to the strongest warriors of this planet”, which might even be a small translation error?
Because in the Japanese version, Star Dream only states that Meta Knight will have the opportunity to “CLASH with a sword USER… WHO possesses CONSIDERABLE strenGTH… even for THIS planet”, so that latter part is only referring to the clone of Dark Matter Blade.
There is no clear plural in Japanese, so one could interpret the Japanese line as referring to all three warriors that Star Dream ends up summoning, but since it gives a little introduction for Sectonia Clone and Galacta Knight, I think it’s more likely this line right here was just its introduction for Dark Matter Clone.
The English phrasing also makes you wonder why Star Dream would even summon Galacta Knight, who’s not taken from this planet, or even this era for that matter.
It just kinda doesn’t add up when you think about it more.
-
And that’s about it for these cutscenes.
The most notable change is the completely different reasoning behind Star Dream’s action here.
I personally feel it gives this entire ending scenario a different vibe, and potentially the implication of what Meta Knight’s role in it is, considering the parallels to Meta Knightmare Ultra.
With that, we have covered all of the cutscenes of Kirby: Planet Robobot, but we are not done quite yet.
There is still more story to this game, so for the next part, we will start tackling the pause screen descriptions of the boss fights!
Feel free to check it out!
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