I just recently beat Breath of the Wild (not to 100% completion, though), and found myself curious about some of the dialogue I came across along the way.
The Switch is a region free system, and as such the language is easy to change between Japanese and English. So this got me thinking: why not take a look at what may have changed between games?
From location names, sidequest names, or dialogue anywhere in between, it may make for some fun articles!
I want my readers to give suggestions in the comments, on twitter, or by email, about some things for me to look into. We’ll have a lot of fun seeing what may have changed, or what may have remained the same. The game is largely untapped when it comes to comparisons due to being a recent release.
Personally, I am thinking about looking into what the Gerudo terminology is in Japanese for starters! But I welcome any and all reader comments/suggestions/requests. I recall seeing some puns and rhymes that only work in English in some areas, so that’s another curiosity to look into (that lady selling sand seals, for instance…)
As I have completed the game I do not mind suggestions that may contain spoilers, but for the sake of other readers who may not have completed the game yet, please mention if your post/suggestion will contain spoilers or not. : )
kantopia 
Pingback: Breath of the Wild: How do those sand seal puns work in Japanese? [JPN vs ENG] | kantopia
Pingback: Breath of the Wild: How do the “-son”‘s work in Japanese? [JPN vs ENG] | kantopia
I just wanted to revisit this since there are more comments now~.
Normally, I wouldn’t nitpick translations so much, but some of the EN dialogue is kind of frustrating for me. Now that my husband finished the game and we watched with the JP dub, I find that some things they tried to preserve well, and others they made weird choices for.
So far, the most glaring to me are subtle (and a couple significant) changes in Zelda’s personality, and the relationship between Link and Daruk. Urboosa also comes off a bit different, especially in reference to Zelda. I kind of wonder what inspired the changes, and can’t really chalk it up to trope/cultural differences, as I feel some things should be universal.
What are your thoughts on some of the differences? I’ve only really considered the cutscenes here, and haven’t tried to read any of the JP version. Are there weird things, or things that puzzle you with the translation differences?
I haven’t actually watched any of the cutscenes in Japanese, so need to do that to see what you mean by changes. I assume this naturally happens because some nuances don’t carry over well in English that Japanese characters may have –though sometimes they do just change things for the heck of it too. Not always a bad thing, but changes none the less!
I’ve been so busy lately but really want to continue this series, so hopefully will make a post on something related to the game later today.
Great idea! Loved this work!
I have a suggestion: what’s the Bolson’s Construction name guidelines in Japanese?? I know that Bolson is named Sakurada and I can’t think of how that -son thing worked in japanese.
Keep up the good work!
Someone else requested that too. I’ve looked into it, and just need to make a post on it. Thanks! : )
Thanks for sharing the differences so far! They’ve been fun to read!
Have you noticed any differences in the way Mipha and Zelda address Link in the JP and EN versions? Or is that a little too broad?
Hmm I think that’s specific enough, but if you ever want to specify more that’s fine too : ) I’ll add it to the list of things to look into.
Pingback: Breath of the Wild: What was the “neigh” scene like in Japanese? [JPN vs ENG] | kantopia
Pingback: Breath of the Wild: How do the Gerudo refer to boys/girls in Japanese? [JPN vs ENG] | kantopia