FE8 (Sacred Stones): Recreating character portraits with AI

This is a follow up to a prior post where I put the FE7 cast through an AI art generator to visualize how the sprites may look if ever remade.

So here is the same concept but with the FE8 cast instead. I hope to do the FE6 cast and end these posts with that.

Please note: This is all from Novel AI. I did not draw any of these pictures. They are all AI generated based on the original portrait sprites.

It took a bit of time, but I think worth it to kind of give FE fans a taste of what it might be like if there were ever to be some kind of remake someday?

As usual, it had the most trouble with some of the older male characters, especially those with facial hair. Any woman with prominent lips or made up lips it’d also overly doll-ify. It was certainly strange.

It wouldn’t be AI-generated without a few creepy or silly generations though. I’m posting them here for your amusement. Artur’s face is primarily in reaction to the others rather than being odd itself.

With this, there is just FE6 left to visualize. Perhaps after the next visualization, we can collectively commission true artists to remake these sprites!

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FE7 (Blazing Blade): Recreating character portraits with AI

I recently had an idea to put Lilina’s FE6 sprite through an AI art generator (NovelAI) to see what may come as a result:

For the most part, it did okay (yikes for that hand in #2). So this got me curious: What would others from the FE GBA games look like?

So I decided to go through the playable cast of FE7 and produce the following image by putting the character portrait sprites through the program and tinkering with various settings until I got a result I was either satisfied with or completely gave up on.

Take a look!

Please note: This is all from NovelAI. I did not draw any of these pictures. They are all AI generated based on the original portrait sprites.

A major problem was consistency in art style. But I did what I could as it was mostly for curiosity anyway.

It also ended up taking 4 hours and a bit of money for the AI generation power to get these up. But I think worth it to kind of give FE fans a taste of what it might be like if there were ever to be some kind of remake someday?

The generator had the most trouble with Dorcas, Hawkeye, Canas (monocle especially), and Vaida. It would often try to make even some of the scruffier characters prettier than they typically would be (Bartre?)

Below are some creepy or silly generations I had to sift through when putting the above together. I’m posting them here for your amusement.

AI is certainly fascinating, but I don’t think human artists have any worries about being replaced for a long time…

This was more exhausting than I thought it would be. But I eventually want to go through FE6 and 8’s cast too… after I sleep a bit and refill the AI by paying a bit more.

Trekking on the World of Fire Emblem – FE6-8 Ch. Header Picture Compilation

Hello! Been awhile!

Yesterday, twitter user CyanYoh posted a compilation of silly pictures that are from Trekking on the World of Fire Emblem: Blazing Blade.

These come from a strategy guide written by Enix (the same that would become Square Enix). They wrote guides for all three GBA FE games. They are guides written in a fun fashion that certainly keep the reader entertained throughout while also being informative. They have amusing little drawings at the start of each section which is what CyanYoh posted in their thread.

Fans on the thread wished to see the artworks from the Binding Blade and Sacred Stones as well. So I decided to scan those ones as I happened to own the books and make a full compilation post for the fandom’s reference.

These are all also in an imgur gallery for your convenience as WordPress isn’t the most intuitive place to read these. Please enjoy whichever is easier for you to read!

Please note that all scans of the FE7 book are from CyanYoh and have been uploaded with their permission! (Which saves me a ton of trouble of scanning those images myself, so thank you!)

Lastly, I provided translations as captions below the picture where they are needed. I did not typeset as I usually do due to time constraints. Likewise, I did not translate the chapter names. The picture often has to do with the chapter itself, so there may be some lost context. I hope I can revisit and translate all titles for you all too in the future… but hope you all can enjoy the silliness without the context for now, regardless.

Enjoy!

Binding Blade

“Galle! Don’t wait for me any longer!!”
SFX: Whoosh Gah!

SFX: Swipe swipe!

“Become a sage… now?!”
“Become a sage… at level 20?!
(Background) If sold, [I’d get] 5000G
(Item description) Guiding Ring

(Right) First time (Left) Second time
SFX: A sound of flexing muscle! A sound of being content with flab!

“The Ranking!”

(From left to right)
Boots, Maltet, Talisman, Secret Book, Energy Ring

(Left) “Prepare yourself…”
(Right) “Who even are you?”
(Bottom right) “Well…”

“Oh hey, it’s 10G!”

“My sword arm is yet again wasted on the unworthy…”
SFX: Kyaah!

“Hnph! Hnph!”

“You can do it!”
SFX: UUUWOOOGHH

“Hex…hex…hex…”
SFX: Eeeep!

(Right) “What the hell are ya doin?!”
(Left) “Ah, hello father-in-law!”
SFX: Nudge nudge

THE THUNDERING UNCLES

“Get back here! You’re to be paired with me!”
SFX: Run awayyy

SFX: The sound of awkwardness.

SFX: Gettting alongggg

Pegasus Trio: “Triangle Atta–“
“–CK!” – Barth

SFX: stomp stomp stomp

SFX: The sound of silence

“Welcome!”
Sign: “Quality Assurance”

“Using ‘Rescue'”
SFX: Snore

“Hm hm!” (the kind of nod that is followed by “I see!”)

BOW SQUAD

(Left): Torch
(Right): Body Ring

Sign: “Please do not feed.”
Kid: “Gorillas!”

SFX: Fwooosh
“Was that…the finishing blow?!”

SFX: Stomp stomp stomp
(Top right): “Stooopp!”

SFX (Left): “Hiyaaahh!”
SFX (Right): “Ooooh”

Box: “Sword Master Lv. 20 equipped with a Silver Sword”
SFX (Right) “EEEEYAHH”

(Left) Life

SFX: Clang!

“Oh Marrrcussss~”
SFX (Marcus) “Sniffle…”

“Hey hey, let’s all get along huh?”

“Ohhh noooo Royyyy is deaddddd… or something!”

SFX: Swish swish
SFX (right) “EEP”

(Right): Big and Little Sister : “You’re an idiot, sis!”
(Left): Big brother and little sister : SFX pet pet

“Which are you…?”
(Red book): “Enemy list”
(Blue blook): “Ally list”
SFX: “Heya”
(Bottom left) Percival

(Top right) ”Hi darling!”
(Right) “Hears this all the time”*
From the phrase: “耳にタコができる” (lit: Ears can become octopi) – to be told or made to hear something so often that you (metaphorically) get calluses on your ears​

“Regarding the culture of the Sacae region”

“Don’t give up! You’ll definitely hit him on the next shot!”
SFX: Snore…

Right: “Iron Bow”
Bottom: “Iron Sword”

Blazing Blade

(Scans are courtesy of CyanYoh)

“This is important!”
Don’t sell yourself short.
Find a client.
Overcharge.
“Hm hm…” (the type of nod followed up by “I see!”)

“Yayyy~!”

“Waaah!”

SFX: Smack! “Gwaaahhhh…”

“Hiyah!”
“Here we come!”
(Bottom right) “The originals”

“Uh…”

“Flap flap…!”

“Winner”
SFX: Phew

Sign: Level up tour!
This is the back of the line.
Estimated 5 Hour Wait

“Ah?!”

SFX (left to right): Bulging muscle, Zoom! Squiggle squiggle

Serra: “Me! Me!”
Bartre: “Me, me!”
(Top left) Afa’s Drops
(Bottom left) Tactician

SFX: Oooh! Clap clap clap
“Hnngh!” SFX Break!
(Clipboard): Record of Physique

(Left and Right) “Support Level B”

(Right) “Can you two do this later…?”
Pent: “Hehe my darling wifey!”
Louise: “My lord husband~!”

“Three Women with Fire-Type Affinity”

“Well well we’re gonna get along just fine aren’t we?”

“Who wants some snacks???”

“That’s MY Son!”

(Left) “Hector’s design in the future!”
SFX: Fluffily Beardeddd
(Right): “Bwahahaha!”

“Wonder who I should use…”

(Right) “It’s…the same dance…again…?” SFX: Pant pant pant…
(Left) “I’m spinning even more than usual this timeee!”

Left: “…It’s all so transient…”
Middle: Sniffle
Right: “What kind of line is that…”

“People of the desert…?”

“Come buy from my shop!”

SFX: The sound of awkwardness.

Sacred Stones

Right: “You’re the only one I can rely on…!”
Left: “If I can’t do it then no one can!”

“Overthrow Grado!”

(Left) “Triangle Attack!”
(Right): “I can’t do a thing…”

(Top) “Ha!”
(Left) “Hup!”
(Bottom) “Ho!”

SFX: Slice!
(Top right): “Latest Items!”
Sign: “Please feel free to try it out!”

“You’re my special little lance allll for me aren’t youu?”
Use: 45/45
(Right) “Please use it at least a little bit?”

(Right) “WE’RE NOT USING IT YET!”
(Left) “Um… please?”
SFX: Clipped shut!

“Gahahahaha!”

(Left) “I’ll use it! It’s mine!”
(Right) “It’d be a waste for you to use it!”
(Bottom right) “They’re stilllll at it…”

“Great Shield is active”

“Beep boop!”

“Celebration! Level 20 Achieved!”
SFX: Pop pop!

“Choose whichever you like!”
(Left) Falcon
Beautiful!!
Triangle Attack!!
(Right) Wyvern
Pierce!!
First appearance!!
(Bottom right) “Hmm…”

“Please don’t make me a pirateeee!!”
Book: Path of Guidance

(From left) “There’s no way I can lose!”
Energy Ring, Goddess Statue, Talisman, Speedwings, Dracoshield, Angelic Robe, Boots

SFX (left): “Eeeyahhh!”
“This too is for the sake of Lady Myrrh…! sniffle sniffle”

(left) “Don’t slip up”
(right) “You can count on me”

FORM UP! Facial Hair Club

(Left) Strength. “Hmph!”
(Middle) Skill. “Ha!”
(Right) Luck. SFX: Trip!

“Seth!” “Seth!”
Seth: “Ha…haaa” pant pant

“Coliseum? Tower? Ruins?”

Reliability UP!

“Ah, the famed archer named Zethla from long ago…”

(Left) “I want to enact vengeance on my brother’s enemies…”
(Right) “Let’s do our best together!”

“We got married!”

“The possibilities… are limitless!”

(Left): “Let’s team up again!”
(Right): “Pay your damn bar tab!”

(Left) “Heyyy lady! I’m your knight in shining armor!”
(Right) “My brother just can’t help but be like this huh…”

(Left) Wight
(Right) Bonewalker

(left) “Are you interested in purchasing a Flux tome with your Fire tome?”
(right) “No need for a set…”

“Gahaha! I’m still good!”

(Left) “Time for a strategic retreat!”
(Right) “Good luck~”

“Ah you came~! Great weather today isn’t it? By the way are you single? If so, well my kid is here you see, and…”

“Effective against monsters”

“That eyeball…”

“Titania is always such a good girl!”

---

You can tell I took some liberties with some of the SFX in places, but the original JP remains in tact for readers to enjoy hopefully without cringing.

I may take a look at some of the other silliness the books have to offer, but for now, that’s all from me!

Happy 2022! Updates and a shout out!

Happy new year to those passing by. I hope your 2022 is filled with great times!

Updates:

I only managed to write three small comparison articles in 2021 (none of which were FE), as well as my impressions of the FE fan game, Vision Quest… so not much happening here. Yet, I still see articles being shared or referenced regularly, which fills me with great joy. It makes me feel incredibly humbled.

Unfortunately, I don’t expect to be able to get back to writing these translations as regularly, which is a shame since my passion remains for looking at the JP side of FE and comparing fun little trivia bits. Alas, life has just kept me busy. But, busy in a great way. I am happily working my dream job, so while it prevents me from following my passion here, I’m not miserable or anything! So please don’t worry (well, that’s if you were worried at all. XD)

A quick shout out…

I was also both relieved and elated to find others out there who are carrying out fun comparison work, and even going so far as to translate the FE novels! I’m talking of course about Leif of Leonster Translations, who I want to give a quick shout out to.

The novels were a project I’ve always wanted to tackle since 2017, but just could not find the time. It really gives me great relief to see Leif going at it hard, having just completed the FE8 novel with plans to begin the FE7 novelization translation next. They also do comparison articles much like I do here across all sorts of FE games, producing consistent and quality work. I want to make sure they get recognized, as I imagine many people who read my articles would be interested in what they do over there too!

Find them on twitter or tumblr! Also check out a brief interview on SerenesForest with them here.

And with that, I wish you all a happy new year!

FE7 Localization: Ursula’s “my lady Limstella” [JPN vs ENG]

Happy new year to all! Really sorry about the lack of posts lately… life has just been so busy.

A short and very trivial post today, mostly for posterity! A thread on reddit regarding gender pronouns got me curious to check a line in Ch 26 of FE7, where Ursula refers to Limstella as “my lady Limstella.”

Fans of FE7 are aware that Limstella isn’t really clearly referred to as male or female throughout the game, so this line sticks out a bit with that in mind.

The question that arises is: does the JP script also clearly define Limstella in this line to point at any intended gender?

Short answer: No, the JP uses a gender neutral title (“-sama” 様), so the gender-specific title is unique to the ENG/Localization.

You can see more details below. (Please be wary of spoilers for FE7).

FE: Vision Quest (Fan game)

Today is not really a translation or localization thing! More just a fandom shout out and general blog post.

I wanted to talk a little bit about this nifty FE fan game named Vision Quest. Created by Pandan! Please see details and a page over here about it. Everything you need to know about it is there.

I have slowly been making my way through this game over the last few months, and finally completed it today! It is actually the first time I have played an FE fangame. I found it when searching fangames on a whim due to wanting to play a GBA FE again yet also experience something new. I certainly got that!

Writing in a kind of stream of consciousness fashion, I wanted to write some thoughts out here just for a kind of informal post, I guess a “retrospective” of sorts. This is by no means any kind of review and has no real structure. It goes without being said, this is purely opinion on just the kind of thoughts I had.

I am not really sure where to begin, but I do highly recommend the game for fans of the GBA FE games, yet it also brings a lot to like from the Tellius games and the like. Of course, this is purely a matter of preference, but I would urge you to give a few chapters a shot and see how you feel. That’s the best way to really see if you’d like it or not, after all!

If you’d rather read my rambling thoughts on it, then read on!

7 Years of Kantopia

This blog has now been around for 7 years as of today. Can you believe it?

While I stopped doing my daily uploads awhile ago, I’m still enjoying every looking into trivial matters and comparisons as they come.

There are still some bigger projects I’m working on translating in the background (hint: more FE 4koma), so please look forward to those once they’re ready.

Thank you to everyone who reads and shares the super trivial articles from this blog! Here’s to 7 more years!

Pokemon Emerald: Does Camper Lawrence switch pronouns before and after battle? [JPN vs ENG]

From Koh’s playthrough.

Today’s post is a small one from a reader request:

I was on Bulbapedia, and the Hoenn Route 113 page said this:

“In the Japanese version of Pokémon Emerald, Camper Lawrence uses feminine first person pronouns after battling him, even though he uses masculine first person pronouns before battling.”

Is that true? If so, was that a mistake on their part?

This was pretty interesting to hear, and would be an oddly specific quirk for a one-time trainer to have, so I took a quick look.

Short answer: This is false. Camper Lawrence does not switch pronouns. In fact, he only uses one masculine pronoun after the battle.

Let’s take a deeper look!

XC2: Pyra, Poppi, and having a”sense of modesty!” [JPN vs ENG]

Today we have a reader request regarding a small scene in Xenoblade Chronicles 2:

…the line [on the screenshot] is from the Poppi QTpi quest when Pyra is lecturing Poppi about modest outfits… I mean really Pyra? lol was she saying this in Japanese or was this localisation maybe having some fun with irony with how Pyra herself is dressed?

I attached the screenshot of the line in question above! I thought it might be fun to look into. So what’s this like in Japanese?

Short answer: It’s mostly the same. It seems like both languages were going for a sense of irony as it revolves around Poppi wondering why Pyra is fine dressed as she is but tells Poppi to be more modest. However, English uses slightly different word choice to skirt around issues of skin exposure.

For those interested in more details, please keep reading. If not, then see you next article!

XC2: What was the “really likes being high” joke like in Japanese? [JPN vs ENG]

Today’s post is on the shorter side!

I wanted to take a look at a small line of dialogue from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (pictured above) which I came across while playing through the game recently:

Topopo, I hear, really likes being high.
…Hey, stop smirking! High up off the
ground, is what I meant!

The joke revolves around the pun between high (location, opposite of low) and high (slang for being intoxicated by drugs, etc). So naturally this will awaken the most trivial of all trivial curiosities!

So what was this like in Japanese?

Short answer: As you may expect, the joke is actually purely an invention of the localization. There was no equivalent in Japanese.

For those interested in more details, please keep reading. If not, then see you next article!