#i got the japanese text from bamco's site while the wayback machine was down back in october

[laikaflash]

I think about these lines in Mitsurugi's Soul Edge/Blade profile from the old Soul Archive site a lot:

後に“戦国の用心棒”“孤狼剣士”の別名で戦国に勇名を馳せた若武者。だが、彼とまみえた事のある武将・剣豪からは｢鬼神｣の如くいわれていた彼も、元々は備前国(岡山)に住む農民であった。 　生まれつき体格に恵まれた彼は、その余りある腕力で農作業を誰よりも楽しんでいた。彼曰く｢おにごっこに次ぐいい運動｣だったらしいのだが、耕しても耕しても軍馬に蹂躙される田畑をみているうちに、とうとう馬鹿らしくなった。 　｢……荒らされて苦労するより、荒らし回ってた方が楽じゃねえか!｣

Translation: A young warrior who won fame in the Sengoku era under the aliases "Bodyguard of the Warring States" and "Lone Wolf Samurai". But, even though he was called a "fierce deity" by warlords and great swordsmen, he was originally a farmer who lived in Bizen Province (Okayama). Blessed with a naturally robust physique, he enjoyed farmwork more than others because of his strength. According to him it was "good exercise second to playing tag", but when he saw his fields trampled by warhorses no matter how much he plowed, in the end he felt foolish. "...It's better to destroy than to be destroyed, isn't it?"

For the record, I can't top how the English localization put the last line: "It's better to raid than to be raided." I think it really does suit Mitsurugi. However, I also think it's a pity that the ka (か) particle at the end of the original seems to have been ignored for the English localization. You see, that makes his line a question, as though maybe he had his doubts. But by that point, his parents and brothers all perished from disease (in all likelihood exacerbated by the ruined conditions after the samurai raids). He was fourteen years old when he "threw down the hoe and took up the sword", to quote English Soul Blade again. The samurai class wasn't entirely closed off to those born outside of it for most of the Sengoku era, but one must imagine Mitsurugi was in for an uphill battle when he started training, and not just in terms of swordsmanship. (Could he even read before then?)

This is as good time as any to point out that the Soul Archive profiles are a bit longer than the text intros of the game's Edge Master mode. Mitsurugi's line about playing tag (onigokko, rather) in the second paragraph is just one of those little site-only details. It's also maybe the only hint about his relationship with his siblings and it's surprisingly cute. Whatever SC5's plot thread about the swordsman claiming to be his eight brother was meant to entail, I can't help but imagine that striking a particularly visceral chord with him.