Today’s post is another smaller one and looks into the Fashionable Outfit in Super Mario Odyssey. It’s part of an ongoing series of comparison from the game both by request and personal curiosity.
This outfit’s description in particular made me very curious to see what the Japanese wrote…
So let’s take a look!
| Japanese | Lit. Translation | Official Localization |
| 定番の赤い帽子を おしゃれにアレンジ
３つの柄を組み合わせた おしゃれなスタイル |
The standard red cap made stylish.
Three patterns come together to create this stylish piece. |
An upscale upgrade to an upstanding hero’s upper half.
I’m not clashing. YOU’RE clashing! |
Like previous posts have shown, localization through this game ups the straightforward Japanese description with colorful flair. In this case, even more colorful than usual.
Unlike other descriptions, the Japanese actually has two separate lines rather than repeating itself. The only repeated word here is the “stylish” adjective.
The localization decided to go for an alliteration for the cap description, not really mentioning stylishness in any way (though “Fashionable” is in the cap title so may spare them the need to mention it in the description itself).
More curious is the outfit description, though. In Japanese, it is called stylish to have those three separate pattern types come together. However, the “clashing” description is a very different way to go about it, as it implies that perhaps one may not agree that it is the most “fashionable” outfit. While it does express an opinion one may hold, it also is contrary to the Japanese description itself, maybe even at odds with it. Of course, it does express (and stay consistent with) the sort of humor the localization has used throughout this game, so is more just a question of whether it conveys the intent as much as some of the other descriptions.
Whether that is a good or bad way to go about it is up to you to decide!
That’s that!
I will continue to look at fun differences between the versions of sorts of games when I get time!
Any dialogue you’re interested in? Feel free to send in comments or via email!
