This post is part of a series of Fire Emblem Fates localization comparison posts! I discuss anything from major to minor changes here as I play through the game. Today, we look at a scene from Chapter 20 of Conquest, which has been spreading around as sort of a meme.
Some slight story spoilers for those who may not be at Chapter 20 yet!
Please note that this post is purely informative and may share some opinion, but this does not mean the change is necessarily good or bad. A change is just a change that is being looked into, and you can be the judge of whether you like it or not!
It is all just for fun and curiosity for me. : )
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In Chapter 20, the group is seeking to pass through the neutral Wind Tribe’s village toward the Hoshido throne. Elise is flustered, and reacts in a humorous way using childish association to reach conclusions.
Take a look at the original Japanese below:
もう。あれで中立だなんて、嘘ばっかり。カミラおねえちゃんの色仕掛けにも\nなびかないなんて、きっと暗夜王国のことが相当嫌いなのよ。
Those liars! They are so not neutral! They wouldn’t even bend to Camilla’s seductive techniques! Therefore, they really must hate Nohr!
Above is my translation of the text. She basically concludes that they hate Nohr simply because they could resist Camilla’s ways.
Now the localization below:
Big ol’ liars! They’re about as neutral as…um… Oh, you know what I mean! They weren’t even remotely swayed when Camilla used her feminine wiles on them! That can only mean one thing… They hate Nohr. Or women. Or just Nohrian women.
In the localization, Elise takes the association game farther, thinking that if they are immune to her wiles, they may hate Nohr, but also may hate women. (Or just Nohrian women).
It’s subtle, and additional humor for sure! I assume they did this to give her a slightly more mature way of thinking on the subject. A child would likely do the first, and someone a bit older the second. Of course, it is still overall childish (reaching that conclusion before all else given the circumstances), but does paint a younger and older picture regardless.
Funny enough, one of my friends remarked that they would have thought it be the other way around, where the original would reference misogyny and the localization would remove it. Seems not!
Either way, that’s the line for you in case you were wondering!
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I will continue to note these little differences (and major ones apparently in the supports!) as I go through the games. Feel free to point out anything that stands out and that need looking into! I have played all three games already in Japanese, so do not worry about spoilers.
What do you think about this slight change? Did you like the humorous addition and association game? Or would you prefer the original?
kantopia 
I actually really liked some of the changes Treehouse did. It feels like they expanded and improved more on the lackluster Japanese version of Fates. I saw the fan translations and I find the translations… not as nice as the one Treehouse did.
Thanks for the insight! I agree that some changes are okay, and it certainly flows better, which is an advantage over the fan translation.
Had the fan translation had an edit-run and proper writer (as Treehouse does, the translators do not do the writing there, for instance), then I am sure it could be on par. As it stands, the fan translation is just a translation and not actually built to be completely readable.
The difference is just the content, really (literal vs liberal), which is a whole different argument in itself. xD