Comparisons [JPN vs ENG]

All my articles on localization, comparing Japanese versions to English versions, much like the inspirational Legends of Localization.

Everything from things that changed between games to things that didn’t change. I often look into things by request or when something sparks my natural localization curiosity and write about them whether there were changes or not! So not everything listed is necessary a change, but many of them are.

They are organized by series, which themselves are in alphabetical order, with sub categories for the games in chronological order by release. They are mostly video games, but sometimes anime/other forms of media make an appearance, too. Some may crossover, or appear multiple times.

Ctrl + F is your friend!

Please be aware many spoilers are about, and not all of them are marked. Please read at your own risk!

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Video Game Comparisons

Fire Emblem (ファイアーエムブレム)

• 7/Blazing Blade:
  • Is Karel’s “sword” a physical blade or a technique?
  • A look at the TV Commercial
  • Support Conversations:
    • Does Hector and Eliwood’s A Support suffer from a mistranslation? (It does indeed!)
    • (Farina)’s “Ooga Booga”
  • Prologue: Batta the Beast (and Lord Batta)
  • Ch 14: Serra and Erk – “Oh, that’s so sweet! You wanted to see me again!”
  • Ch 26: Does Ursula’s “my lady Limstella” prove Limstella’s gender? (Not really)
  • Ch 31x: Did Bartre say a line meant for Karla? (Context matters for determining 1st/2nd person)
  • Final Chapter: Nergal’s Final Lines (Translation Error) How a single word makes a difference
  • Epilogue:
    • Did Guy elope with Priscilla in the JP version? (Yes)
    • Did Guy become the Sword Saint? Or like the Sword Saint? (Translation error)
    • Did Bartre die in the epilogue with Karla? (Vague wording causes issues)
    • Comparing the rest of the epilogues… (a lot of minor differences)

• 8/Sacred Stones:
  • Garcia, Dozla, & Drinking
  • Ch. 13a: Does Aias’s death quote specify Renais’s tactician’s gender?

• 9/Path of Radiance:
  • Ch. 19: Was Greil’s “harsh scolding” a “harsh beating” in Japanese?
  • Ch. 22: Schaeffer’s Death Quote (and babies)
  • Ch. 25: What does that “Eat Rock!” guy say in Japanese?
  • Marcia’s colorful dialogue (“brainless eunuch,” etc)
  • Mia’s Fortune and “white-clad” Archrival
  • The “fish out of water” idiom in JP? (Ike and Ranulf C Support)

• 10/Radiant Dawn:
  • What does that “Moldy Onions!” guy say in Japanese?
  • (Sanaki) “…is punishable by drowning in a pool of rancid butter”
  • (Micaiah) “Ike… father of Sothe’s children”
  • The Black Knight’s Fate at Nados (a significant change)
  • Naming the Goddess of Order and Chaos
  • Talrega’s Fate in Japanese?
  • What does Mia say in the “execution” cutscene in Japanese?
  • “I swear you’d hit on a tree if I dressed it in a skirt” in Japanese?

• 11/Shadow Dragon
  • “I’d just always assumed Manaketes looked somethin’ like parakeets.”

• 13/Awakening
  • Is Priam Ike’s lineal descendant?

• 14/Fates:
  • General
    • Is Hinata the only father than can die? [Error?]
    • Izana’s Character and Izumo’s Portrayal
      • Izana Death Quote & Epilogue Change
    • Soleil, cows, and “good practice”
    • “I was about to walk my cat.”
    • Charlotte and the “three choice question”
    • Macro Comparisons
      • All Chapter Titles Compared
      • All Character Titles Compared
      • All Character Profiles Compared
      • All Character Endgame Dialogue Compared
      • All Character Death Quotes Compared
        • Nyx’s Death Quote Change
        • Flora’s Death Quote Change
        • Izana Death Quote Change
  • Names
    • From Syalla to Rhajat and other localization questions
    • From Matoi to Caeldori and other things
    • From Luna to Selena
    • From Garou/Managarmr to Wolfskin/Wolfssegner
    • From Youko/Kyuubi no Kitsune to Kitsune/Nine-Tails
  • Chapter 1: Elise and the adult she “technically” is
  • Conquest
    • Conquest Ch 8: Flora & Jakob’s additional dialogue
    • Conquest Ch 11: “You and your loopholes”
    • Conquest Ch 12: Peri Intro Dialogue
    • Conquest Ch 20: “They hate Nohr. Or women. Or Nohrian women.”
    • Conquest Ch 26: Corrin’s Dialogue Tone
  • Revelation Endgame: Did Corrin reference the “I fight for my friends” meme?
  • Paralogue 7: Shiro’s scene change (writing out a slap)
  • Events:
    • Lucina’s amiibo event dialogue
    • Robin’s amiibo event dialogue
    • Ike’s amiibo event dialogue
    • Marth’s amiibo event dialogue
  • Supports:
    • Soleil’s Support Conversation Controversy
    • Beruka x Saizo’s Amusingly Different C Support
    • Caeldori x Kiragi C Support

• 15/Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
  • (Mae/Boey) “Big, Hurty Lightning” & “Roast Marshmallows”
  • (Gray/Tobin) “Shut up, Tobin.”
  • (Python) “Ginger Studs,” “Sacks of Guts,” and “Tail Feathers”
  • Is Lukas different in Japanese?
  • Celica and “pirate booty”
  • Alm and “veget-YAR-ians”
  • Alm and “urning gold”

• 16/Three Houses
  • Three Houses (EN title) vs 風花雪月 (JP Title)
  • Was that “Scarecrow” Sylvain flirted with a “man dressed as a woman” in Japanese?
  • “You have a gut, Professor.” (and Petra in general)
  • “I’m bappy too” (Lysithea and Cyril A Support)
  • Bernadetta’s B Support Change in the Patch (not really censorship?)
  • Felix and Annette’s very minor but strange A Support Change
  • The Two-Toned Whetstone Quest and references to older FE games

• Heroes
  • Loki’s Gender Pronouns?
  • “Farfetched Heroes” Banner Name
  • Does Dorcas acknowledge the poison mutton meme in Japanese?
  • Sakura’s Kitty Paddle
  • Bridal Tharja and her innuendo with the “three choice question”
  • “Do my best!” Compared

Legend of Zelda (ゼルダの伝説)

• A Link to the Past:
  • Does Ganondorf have a surname in the Japanese manual too?
  • Super Smash Brothers Ultimate: Which Zelda?

• Ocarina of Time:
  • How does Ruto refer to Sheik in Japanese?

• Majora’s Mask:
  • Cremia and Romani’s “Adulthood” Dialogue

• Windwaker:
  • Ganon’s “Wind” Speech
  • What are the island names in Japanese?
  • Is the Hero’s New Clothes an Emperor’s New Clothes reference?
  • The “Complimentary ID” in Japanese?

• Tri-Force Heroes:
  • “Isn’t it adorbs?” NoA vs NoE

• Breath of the Wild
  • How do the “-son’s” work in Japanese?
  • What was this “neigh” scene like in Japanese?
  • How do the Gerudo refer to boys/girls in Japanese?
  • How do the sand seal puns work in Japanese?

Mario (マリオ)

• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
  • “The Mustard of Doom”

• Mario Odyssey
  • “Fuggedaboutit!”
  • “You just want to yank it, don’t you?”
  • “Are they [Goombas] mushrooms, or what?
  • Outfit Descriptions
    • Luigi
    • Wario
    • Waluigi
    • Classic
    • Scientist
    • Golf
    • Snow
    • Samurai
    • Fashionable
    • Skeleton
    • Mario’s Tuxedo
    • Bridal

Pokémon (ポケットモンスター)

• Red/Blue/Yellow:
  • Old Man in Viridian City Dialogue (and how he was actually a drunkard)

• Gold/Silver
  • Earl’s speech mannerisms and “winner is you” reference

• Emerald
  • Route 113: Does Camper Lawrence switch gender pronouns before and after battle?

• Black 2/White 2:
  • Is Nursery Aide June really a man?

• X/Y:
  • Kiseki Song Lyrics
  • “My Body is Ready!” meme reference?
  • “Hey, Listen!” Navi reference?
  • “Over 9000!” meme reference?
  • That grumpy Nurse at the Battle Maison
  • Battle Chateau
    • “Monsieur, Monsieur!”
    • Julia the Robo-Maid
    • Is Arran a hitman?
  • That sassy “Owned, suckah!” old man

• Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
  • That grumpy Nurse at the Battle Maison
  • “I was teaching this girl how hard it is to be a trainer!”

• Sun/Moon:
  • Cafe dialogue: “It’ll make you wish your mother was a miltank”
  • [Another] “My body is ready!” meme reference?
  • IGN’s infamous “7.8/10 too much water” reference?

• Sword/Shield
  • Are Poke Kids Mia and Rhys a nod to the characters in FE’s Tellius games?

• Super Mystery Dungeon
  • What does Espurr say to the Vice Principal in Chapter 6?
  • How does Mawile spot the imposter in Chapter 18?
  • How does Dark Matter talk in Japanese?
  • Evolution – Maturing quickly or sex?

• General:
  • The Nurse’s “We hope to see you again!”
  • “Night Slash” vs “Tsujigiri”
  • “Splash” vs “Haneru”
  • “Thunderbolt” vs “Jyuumanboruto”

Octopath Traveler

• How is Helgenish in Japanese?

Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ)

• Adventure 2:
  • “Actually I’m the Chao Doctor” (What?)

Super Smash Brothers (大乱闘 スマッシュ ブラザーズ)

• For Wii U/3DS:
  • Lucina’s Victory Lines/Taunts
• Ultimate
  • All the “Joins the Battle!” Lines (includes 3DS/Wii U)
  • Byleth’s Reveal Trailer: Was a joke changed?

Valkyria Chronicles (戦場のヴァルキュリア)

• 1:
  • A Love Passed On / Succeeded Wish Lyrics

WarioWare (メイド イン ワリオ)

• Touched!
  • Ashley’s Song Lyrics

Xenoblade Chronicles (ゼノブレイド)

• 2:
  • DLC Sidequest: “…really likes being high” in JP?
  • “Powered-Up Poppi” sidequest: Pyra, Poppi, and a “sense of modesty”

Misc

• How did they present the Bowser gag at Nintendo’s E3 2019 presentation?

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Animations/Other Media Comparisons:

Aladdin (Disney) (アラジン)

• A Whole New World Song Lyrics

Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮・ハルヒ)

• God Knows Lyrics
• Lost My Music Lyrics

Sonic X (ソニックX)

• 1969 Chateau Latour vs Salami

Your Name (君の名は)

• How did Mitsuha (as Taki) talk to his friends in the English dub?

Yu Yu Hakusho (幽☆遊☆白書)

• Smiling Bomb Lyrics

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