Anyway, when you read the dialogue, I am sure you will see why I (and probably some others) may have wondered just what this scene looked like in Japanese. So I went and got the Japanese text to take a closer look! Please take a look below.
Surprisingly, not much had changed!
| Original Japanese | My Translation/Literal: | Official Translation |
| 教頭センセ♪
ミルホッグ はい・・・・・・！ ミルホッグ ワタシ・・・・・・ ミルホッグ ワ・・・ワ・・・ワタークシを・・・・・・ はい♪ ミルホッグ 次の 校長先生になるのは・・・・・・ ミルホッグ |
Oh Vice Principal~ ♪
Watchog: Yes…..! Watchog: I… Watchog: Yes ♪ Watchog: I can think of no one else… Watchog: |
Vice Principal Watchog. ♪
Watchog: Yes, sir! Watchog: I…I just wanted you to know how much I really admire you, Vice Principal. ♪ Watchog: Yes, I do! ♪ Watchog: There’s no doubt that the next principal… will be you and no one else, I think. ♪ Watchog: |
You can see one may have thought whether or not the original may have been a “student x teacher fantasy” that was toned down. Thankfully, it seemed it was just innocent fun in both versions!
For starters, the official translation is actually spot on, and did many things really well. For instance, in Japanese, the word デレデレ (deredere) is used at the end. This is commonly translated to mean “lovey dovey,” so making it “tee-hee” (along with the blushing portrait of the Watchog) was a very effective way to portray that same meaning without having to write “swoon” or “lovey-dovey” which would be a little awkward. It usually has “cute” rather than “sexual” implications too, so I think the scene is more innocent than not.
So not only did the translation portray the exact meaning from Japanese, they also wrote it very well in English.
Innuendo and sneaking things into games for children is nothing new, but it seems that may not be the case here.
An important note is that Espurr is referred to as “she” in English, though I am not sure if the pronouns are specific in Japanese or if it was left for the translators to assign genders based on contexts and mannerisms, though that can lead to all sorts of other issues… I should look into this another time!
Until next time!