#ffix2024jp

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what the heck is W Black Magic

「黒魔法ｗｗｗ」？？？

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Zidane calls Steiner おっさん (ossan) in Japanese, which is kind of akin to calling him an old fart... which tbh I like more than him calling him "Rusty" in English lol

I have also so far noticed: Ruby speaks with Kansai dialect, Garnet is very formal and stiff in her speech, and Zorn & Thorn have a rhyming scheme going on

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So I've started on playing FF9 in Japanese

and Vivi's counterfeit ticket is for a show called "I Want To Be Your Kitten" lol

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Playing an old game in a wide(r) resolution is really funny sometimes.

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This scene is rather different between English and Japanese.

In English, Brahne talks about how she led Alexandria down the path of ruin, and the people will be happier with Garnet on the throne.

But in Japanese, she says that both she and Garnet are free now from her greed, and without her here Garnet can live her life however she wishes.

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Also I didn't mention this before but Vivi calls Garnet oneechan which is just. so cute. I love Vivi he's so precious

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Freya (or Fraia as she's called in Japanese for some reason) speaks in roujingo???? which is "elderly person lingo"

it's so weird omg Freya you are 21?????

?????????????

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Dagger: "That is Uncle's mustache, is it not?"

I've always loved that Garnet recognizes Regent Cid as an oglop/burimushi by his ridiculous stache.

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It seems like the Japanese version of "gwok" is ブリ ("buri"), which I assume comes from the JP name of oglops, ブリ虫 (burimushi, "buri bug").

I'm not 100% sure what buri is meant to be, since it's in katakana... There is an actual species of fish in real life called ブリ which in English is called Japanese amberjack, but I'm unsure if ブリ itself has any actual translation. And I'm not sure if they would use the name of a fish for a fantasy insect, or why.

So it's a mystery! But interesting nonetheless.

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Here's a pretty minor and easy-to-explain example of Steiner's speech.

What he's saying here is かたじけない (katajikenai) which in modern speech actually means something like "cannot handle it"... but in archaic Japanese, which Steiner uses, it's an expression of gratitude/a thank you.

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obligatory chocobo screenshot

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Dagger learning to speak less formally is something I was really excited to see in Japanese, because the difference in English was not really all that visible. I remember when I was younger I was very confused because Zidane would comment on her speech changing and it sounded the same to me.

Japanese has some very obvious differences. For example, in the bottom two screenshots she's saying "Moushiwake arimasen is 'gomennasai'" and "Watakushi is 'watashi', anata is....." In the first screenshot she's just saying nothing happened and she's fine but in a very casual way, akin to "nah I'm all good"

These things are difficult to localize of course because there's a lack of especially distinct formality in English, especially with personal pronouns, but I feel like they could have represented it a bit better somehow.

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I've always loved that this game included little signs and advertisements in the inns and businesses, even though you cannot purchase the things they advertise. It's just for worldbuilding.

This one says:

* Dali Inn Breakfast Service * Delicious full breakfast for only 20 gil! *Cold well water *Fresh medamayaki *Freshly harvested vegetables - This menu is a sample -

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.....................ok apparently the Qu are "Chinese". They speak like broken Japanese and end everything in "aru", which is a stereotypical representation of Chinese accented speech.

The Qu are also entirely about eating and food, that's Quina's entire motivation for going on this journey with Zidane... which is another stereotype of Chinese in Japan. They tend to stereotype them as restaurant owners or chefs.

I should have realized this by looking at Quan

but I guess I just never really thought about it. I just thought that the Qu are supposed to be Weird Fantasy Dudes.

The fact also that the Qu are kind of unintelligent and dumpy, with big tongues that are always out........ Man all of this is Problematic. It's like an equivalent to what characters like Mr Popo is to black people.

This has changed my perception of the Qu and Quina, and not in a good way. I don't know how I feel about this.

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Kuja's monologue here is a bit different in Japanese. I think in English they wanted it to be a rhyming poem so they fiddled with it. It has a similar meaning I guess, but it is interesting.

Japanese (translated): "People sleep at night praying for a happy tomorrow... To forget all the sadness of yesterday... So they can have dreams of hope... And forget the pain of reality."

English: "Peace is but a shadow of death, desperate to forget its painful past... Though we hope for promising years, after shedding a thousand tears, yesterday's sorrow constantly nears."

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That time that Amarant (or Salamander I guess) royally effed up and took a Solution 9 to the face.