#at least no matter what we'll always have the japanese audio and option to have japanese subs as well 😭 we've come SO FAR

[theoneprecioustome]

So I've talked about Arena and its translations in the past, and I've also gone on and on about how Aigis' Shadow references Aigis' feelings for Makoto.

BUT I finally got to play the game for myself with the Japanese audio and let me tell you, it's somehow even more blatant there! 😭

On the right is the way it was localized, but the literal translation is: "Even if there was someone you wanted to protect, you're unable to be by [his/their] side as a human being..."

The wording deliberately uses the same key words Aigis always tells Makoto! 😭

Following that up, here the localization is perfectly accurate, but it's worth noting that as per usual, in Japanese there is no subject. So if we wanted to translate this as: "That's why you chose to protect him as a weapon. But in the end, you still lost him..." It'd be a valid choice. Specially in light of how blatant the previous line was.

And don't get me started on this bit 😭

In Japanese it's a simple "もの", which literally means "thing" but is often used to refer to people as well. For example, 大切なもの could be either "precious thing(s)" or "precious person" depending on the context. In this case, it's definitely talking about the person Aigis lost, so we could translate this as "You can get him back... the person you lost forever." Or if we wanted to keep it a little vague, we could go for a "You can get it back... that which you have lost forever."

Of course, even with the translation choosing to use plural/undefined subjects, anyone who has played P3 would immediately understand that all these lines are about Makoto.

But the first quote in particular is extremely straight-forward in Japanese, so it immediately reminded me of this:

Aigis calls Makoto her "precious person" in Japanese, and the localization team chose to go for "dear friend". However, they could have easily gone for "my beloved", which is what the Persona 4 Arena: Official Design Works translation team chose to do lol

So, I figured it was worth sharing!