FE8 (Sacred Stones): Recreating character portraits with AI

This is a follow up to a prior post where I put the FE7 cast through an AI art generator to visualize how the sprites may look if ever remade.

So here is the same concept but with the FE8 cast instead. I hope to do the FE6 cast and end these posts with that.

Please note: This is all from Novel AI. I did not draw any of these pictures. They are all AI generated based on the original portrait sprites.

It took a bit of time, but I think worth it to kind of give FE fans a taste of what it might be like if there were ever to be some kind of remake someday?

As usual, it had the most trouble with some of the older male characters, especially those with facial hair. Any woman with prominent lips or made up lips it’d also overly doll-ify. It was certainly strange.

It wouldn’t be AI-generated without a few creepy or silly generations though. I’m posting them here for your amusement. Artur’s face is primarily in reaction to the others rather than being odd itself.

With this, there is just FE6 left to visualize. Perhaps after the next visualization, we can collectively commission true artists to remake these sprites!

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FE7 (Blazing Blade): Recreating character portraits with AI

I recently had an idea to put Lilina’s FE6 sprite through an AI art generator (NovelAI) to see what may come as a result:

For the most part, it did okay (yikes for that hand in #2). So this got me curious: What would others from the FE GBA games look like?

So I decided to go through the playable cast of FE7 and produce the following image by putting the character portrait sprites through the program and tinkering with various settings until I got a result I was either satisfied with or completely gave up on.

Take a look!

Please note: This is all from NovelAI. I did not draw any of these pictures. They are all AI generated based on the original portrait sprites.

A major problem was consistency in art style. But I did what I could as it was mostly for curiosity anyway.

It also ended up taking 4 hours and a bit of money for the AI generation power to get these up. But I think worth it to kind of give FE fans a taste of what it might be like if there were ever to be some kind of remake someday?

The generator had the most trouble with Dorcas, Hawkeye, Canas (monocle especially), and Vaida. It would often try to make even some of the scruffier characters prettier than they typically would be (Bartre?)

Below are some creepy or silly generations I had to sift through when putting the above together. I’m posting them here for your amusement.

AI is certainly fascinating, but I don’t think human artists have any worries about being replaced for a long time…

This was more exhausting than I thought it would be. But I eventually want to go through FE6 and 8’s cast too… after I sleep a bit and refill the AI by paying a bit more.

Trekking on the World of Fire Emblem – FE6-8 Ch. Header Picture Compilation

Hello! Been awhile!

Yesterday, twitter user CyanYoh posted a compilation of silly pictures that are from Trekking on the World of Fire Emblem: Blazing Blade.

These come from a strategy guide written by Enix (the same that would become Square Enix). They wrote guides for all three GBA FE games. They are guides written in a fun fashion that certainly keep the reader entertained throughout while also being informative. They have amusing little drawings at the start of each section which is what CyanYoh posted in their thread.

Fans on the thread wished to see the artworks from the Binding Blade and Sacred Stones as well. So I decided to scan those ones as I happened to own the books and make a full compilation post for the fandom’s reference.

These are all also in an imgur gallery for your convenience as WordPress isn’t the most intuitive place to read these. Please enjoy whichever is easier for you to read!

Please note that all scans of the FE7 book are from CyanYoh and have been uploaded with their permission! (Which saves me a ton of trouble of scanning those images myself, so thank you!)

Lastly, I provided translations as captions below the picture where they are needed. I did not typeset as I usually do due to time constraints. Likewise, I did not translate the chapter names. The picture often has to do with the chapter itself, so there may be some lost context. I hope I can revisit and translate all titles for you all too in the future… but hope you all can enjoy the silliness without the context for now, regardless.

Enjoy!

Binding Blade

“Galle! Don’t wait for me any longer!!”
SFX: Whoosh Gah!

SFX: Swipe swipe!

“Become a sage… now?!”
“Become a sage… at level 20?!
(Background) If sold, [I’d get] 5000G
(Item description) Guiding Ring

(Right) First time (Left) Second time
SFX: A sound of flexing muscle! A sound of being content with flab!

“The Ranking!”

(From left to right)
Boots, Maltet, Talisman, Secret Book, Energy Ring

(Left) “Prepare yourself…”
(Right) “Who even are you?”
(Bottom right) “Well…”

“Oh hey, it’s 10G!”

“My sword arm is yet again wasted on the unworthy…”
SFX: Kyaah!

“Hnph! Hnph!”

“You can do it!”
SFX: UUUWOOOGHH

“Hex…hex…hex…”
SFX: Eeeep!

(Right) “What the hell are ya doin?!”
(Left) “Ah, hello father-in-law!”
SFX: Nudge nudge

THE THUNDERING UNCLES

“Get back here! You’re to be paired with me!”
SFX: Run awayyy

SFX: The sound of awkwardness.

SFX: Gettting alongggg

Pegasus Trio: “Triangle Atta–“
“–CK!” – Barth

SFX: stomp stomp stomp

SFX: The sound of silence

“Welcome!”
Sign: “Quality Assurance”

“Using ‘Rescue'”
SFX: Snore

“Hm hm!” (the kind of nod that is followed by “I see!”)

BOW SQUAD

(Left): Torch
(Right): Body Ring

Sign: “Please do not feed.”
Kid: “Gorillas!”

SFX: Fwooosh
“Was that…the finishing blow?!”

SFX: Stomp stomp stomp
(Top right): “Stooopp!”

SFX (Left): “Hiyaaahh!”
SFX (Right): “Ooooh”

Box: “Sword Master Lv. 20 equipped with a Silver Sword”
SFX (Right) “EEEEYAHH”

(Left) Life

SFX: Clang!

“Oh Marrrcussss~”
SFX (Marcus) “Sniffle…”

“Hey hey, let’s all get along huh?”

“Ohhh noooo Royyyy is deaddddd… or something!”

SFX: Swish swish
SFX (right) “EEP”

(Right): Big and Little Sister : “You’re an idiot, sis!”
(Left): Big brother and little sister : SFX pet pet

“Which are you…?”
(Red book): “Enemy list”
(Blue blook): “Ally list”
SFX: “Heya”
(Bottom left) Percival

(Top right) ”Hi darling!”
(Right) “Hears this all the time”*
From the phrase: “耳にタコができる” (lit: Ears can become octopi) – to be told or made to hear something so often that you (metaphorically) get calluses on your ears​

“Regarding the culture of the Sacae region”

“Don’t give up! You’ll definitely hit him on the next shot!”
SFX: Snore…

Right: “Iron Bow”
Bottom: “Iron Sword”

Blazing Blade

(Scans are courtesy of CyanYoh)

“This is important!”
Don’t sell yourself short.
Find a client.
Overcharge.
“Hm hm…” (the type of nod followed up by “I see!”)

“Yayyy~!”

“Waaah!”

SFX: Smack! “Gwaaahhhh…”

“Hiyah!”
“Here we come!”
(Bottom right) “The originals”

“Uh…”

“Flap flap…!”

“Winner”
SFX: Phew

Sign: Level up tour!
This is the back of the line.
Estimated 5 Hour Wait

“Ah?!”

SFX (left to right): Bulging muscle, Zoom! Squiggle squiggle

Serra: “Me! Me!”
Bartre: “Me, me!”
(Top left) Afa’s Drops
(Bottom left) Tactician

SFX: Oooh! Clap clap clap
“Hnngh!” SFX Break!
(Clipboard): Record of Physique

(Left and Right) “Support Level B”

(Right) “Can you two do this later…?”
Pent: “Hehe my darling wifey!”
Louise: “My lord husband~!”

“Three Women with Fire-Type Affinity”

“Well well we’re gonna get along just fine aren’t we?”

“Who wants some snacks???”

“That’s MY Son!”

(Left) “Hector’s design in the future!”
SFX: Fluffily Beardeddd
(Right): “Bwahahaha!”

“Wonder who I should use…”

(Right) “It’s…the same dance…again…?” SFX: Pant pant pant…
(Left) “I’m spinning even more than usual this timeee!”

Left: “…It’s all so transient…”
Middle: Sniffle
Right: “What kind of line is that…”

“People of the desert…?”

“Come buy from my shop!”

SFX: The sound of awkwardness.

Sacred Stones

Right: “You’re the only one I can rely on…!”
Left: “If I can’t do it then no one can!”

“Overthrow Grado!”

(Left) “Triangle Attack!”
(Right): “I can’t do a thing…”

(Top) “Ha!”
(Left) “Hup!”
(Bottom) “Ho!”

SFX: Slice!
(Top right): “Latest Items!”
Sign: “Please feel free to try it out!”

“You’re my special little lance allll for me aren’t youu?”
Use: 45/45
(Right) “Please use it at least a little bit?”

(Right) “WE’RE NOT USING IT YET!”
(Left) “Um… please?”
SFX: Clipped shut!

“Gahahahaha!”

(Left) “I’ll use it! It’s mine!”
(Right) “It’d be a waste for you to use it!”
(Bottom right) “They’re stilllll at it…”

“Great Shield is active”

“Beep boop!”

“Celebration! Level 20 Achieved!”
SFX: Pop pop!

“Choose whichever you like!”
(Left) Falcon
Beautiful!!
Triangle Attack!!
(Right) Wyvern
Pierce!!
First appearance!!
(Bottom right) “Hmm…”

“Please don’t make me a pirateeee!!”
Book: Path of Guidance

(From left) “There’s no way I can lose!”
Energy Ring, Goddess Statue, Talisman, Speedwings, Dracoshield, Angelic Robe, Boots

SFX (left): “Eeeyahhh!”
“This too is for the sake of Lady Myrrh…! sniffle sniffle”

(left) “Don’t slip up”
(right) “You can count on me”

FORM UP! Facial Hair Club

(Left) Strength. “Hmph!”
(Middle) Skill. “Ha!”
(Right) Luck. SFX: Trip!

“Seth!” “Seth!”
Seth: “Ha…haaa” pant pant

“Coliseum? Tower? Ruins?”

Reliability UP!

“Ah, the famed archer named Zethla from long ago…”

(Left) “I want to enact vengeance on my brother’s enemies…”
(Right) “Let’s do our best together!”

“We got married!”

“The possibilities… are limitless!”

(Left): “Let’s team up again!”
(Right): “Pay your damn bar tab!”

(Left) “Heyyy lady! I’m your knight in shining armor!”
(Right) “My brother just can’t help but be like this huh…”

(Left) Wight
(Right) Bonewalker

(left) “Are you interested in purchasing a Flux tome with your Fire tome?”
(right) “No need for a set…”

“Gahaha! I’m still good!”

(Left) “Time for a strategic retreat!”
(Right) “Good luck~”

“Ah you came~! Great weather today isn’t it? By the way are you single? If so, well my kid is here you see, and…”

“Effective against monsters”

“That eyeball…”

“Titania is always such a good girl!”

---

You can tell I took some liberties with some of the SFX in places, but the original JP remains in tact for readers to enjoy hopefully without cringing.

I may take a look at some of the other silliness the books have to offer, but for now, that’s all from me!

FE: Vision Quest (Fan game)

Today is not really a translation or localization thing! More just a fandom shout out and general blog post.

I wanted to talk a little bit about this nifty FE fan game named Vision Quest. Created by Pandan! Please see details and a page over here about it. Everything you need to know about it is there.

I have slowly been making my way through this game over the last few months, and finally completed it today! It is actually the first time I have played an FE fangame. I found it when searching fangames on a whim due to wanting to play a GBA FE again yet also experience something new. I certainly got that!

Writing in a kind of stream of consciousness fashion, I wanted to write some thoughts out here just for a kind of informal post, I guess a “retrospective” of sorts. This is by no means any kind of review and has no real structure. It goes without being said, this is purely opinion on just the kind of thoughts I had.

I am not really sure where to begin, but I do highly recommend the game for fans of the GBA FE games, yet it also brings a lot to like from the Tellius games and the like. Of course, this is purely a matter of preference, but I would urge you to give a few chapters a shot and see how you feel. That’s the best way to really see if you’d like it or not, after all!

If you’d rather read my rambling thoughts on it, then read on!

7 Years of Kantopia

This blog has now been around for 7 years as of today. Can you believe it?

While I stopped doing my daily uploads awhile ago, I’m still enjoying every looking into trivial matters and comparisons as they come.

There are still some bigger projects I’m working on translating in the background (hint: more FE 4koma), so please look forward to those once they’re ready.

Thank you to everyone who reads and shares the super trivial articles from this blog! Here’s to 7 more years!

Daily Posts Resume & New Lilina Banner (Summer 2017)

This is just to post showing off a new banner for the website, and to announce continued posting through the summertime thanks to vacation (and hence more freetime)! Though it is mostly for twitter, I thought it would be fun to put around on this site too. I was happy with how the drawing came out! Lilina is a great mascot, I think.

Of course, I do not claim any ownership over her character! So please consider this fan art. : )

Daily posts should continue up until the end of August hopefully! A big thank you to anyone who is still around and looking forward to translation work!

-Kan

FE7 Blazing Blade: Did Guy become THE Sword Saint? Or LIKE the Sword Saint? [JPN/ENG]

Minor spoilers pertaining to two character endings in Fire Emblem 7 ahead!

Today’s post looks at a minor translation error that caused some confusion in the seventh Fire Emblem game, known to fans as Blazing Blade (or just Fire Emblem) in the west.

Minor translation errors (that cause big changes) are nothing new to Blazing Sword, as I cover regarding a small translation error that causes a bigger change at the end of the game here.

A young swordsman known as Guy has an epilogue that is a little confusing in the official localization of the game. Namely, for fans who played FE6 (Binding Blade, chronologically a sequel to this game), who know that the swordmaster Karel goes on to be known as the “Sword Saint.”

So did Guy become the Sword Saint? Or did Karel? Or did they both?

Let’s see!

Shouzou Kaga Blog Post (6/11) Translation

Today I translated Fire Emblem series creator Shouzou Kaga’s blog post on his upcoming game Vestaria Saga. It stands out as a game being made on an SRPG Maker rather than a professional studio.

This message was mainly translated for serenesforest.net (who made a post on it here) and is on this blog for the record, too, as it addresses fans who wanted to assist in possible translations! (How wonderful would that be?)

Please keep your expectations in check (laughs)

I’ve received a lot of e-mails from all over, filled with encouragement. Thank you very much. (A lot of them included flattery, haha.)

Though there is a lot of hope for this project, it is far from an industrial-level product.

It’s pretty much just a toy made on a simple game-making tool, and nothing more. Even if you play and like it, it will never be at that level, unfortunately.

I guess you could also say it’s like making cotton candy. If a professional craftsman was to make cotton candy, it’s still not exactly something notable to sell, right?

That’s all this is. Nothing of great importance. Please do not keep high expectations for this project!

Even though preparing the game (documents, assets, etc.) is a cooperative effort from many different people, making the game itself is a one-man effort (because the game-making tool literally prevents us from working together on it). It’s just me, punching in keys on the keyboard one-by-one. It’s why it’s taken so long! (laughs)

I’ve received several offers from abroad, saying things like “I want to help with a translation!” At the moment, with the way the game is currently written, I cannot accept such offers. I haven’t had time to even look over the text yet. Please understand that it would also mean making separate text characters, and that I am not allowed to mod or change [the tool] in any way.

For more information on Vestaria Saga, head over to serenesforest.net, or view the video below!

Fire Emblem 25th Anniversary Book on sale today!

Fire Emblem’s 25th Anniversary book went on sale today in Japan. I bought it with money I  received from donations (thanks to all who donated!) and it should arrive on December 1st or 2nd. You can buy the book yourself here. Amazon Japan offers relatively cheap international shipping, so check if it can be delivered to you if interested!

I hope to translate any parts I find interesting from the book itself. If you have requests I may take those up too!

Please feel free to donate for that coming project! It will really help me out!

For those who want to know what the amazon description says, see below where I provide the same translation I made on an older post on the matter.

UPDATE: More reviews are in, some not as positive as others, so I gave a few more to give a spectrum of opinions. Please remember these are just reviews to give you an idea of what it’s like. I may provide my own review later.

5/5 (4 of 24 found helpful)

“A Must-Have for Series’ Fans:

Full of design documents and interviews, the largest amount that have been published to date. The large amount of information on the production cycle and inside story behind the games makes this an essential part of any fan’s collection.”

2/5 (of which 5 of 5 found helpful):

“A book for those who like Awakening and Fates, but not so much for the full 25 years”

Summary: “The book seems to focus on the two more recent installments over the rest of the series, so was a bit of a let down”

3/5 (of which 15 of 18 found helpful):

“A little disappointed”

Summary: A worthwhile read, but one may be let down by what the cover advertises versus what they actually get. Some good things are interviews with the development staff (such as the director), and other interesting tidbits such as info on map design and music composition.

However, 70-80% is Awakening and Fates information, leaving long-time series’ fans a little iffy. Also it lacks in illustrations, and the unused assets mostly pertain to Awakening and Fates as expected.

Would have preferred to see more of the other series’ works and information regarding them.”

Fire Emblem 25th Anniversary Book on sale Nov. 28th. Info from amazon.jp translated!

Fire Emblem is getting a 25th Annivesary book which will go on sale on November 28th this year. I plan to import it on money I have received from donations (thanks to all who donated!) and hopefully translate any fun things that may come in there. The book itself can be pre-ordered here. Amazon Japan offers relatively cheap international shipping, so check if it can be delivered to you if interested!

Please feel free to donate for that coming project! It will really help me out!

For now, however, I translated Amazon.co.jp’s description on it, which can be seen in both text and image below!

The Making of Fire Emblem – 25th Anniversary Development Secrets, Awakening and Fates – Special Book

Release: November 28, 2015
Price: 3,888 Yen (~32 USD) [Import may add 10 USD on average]

Contents:

-Filled with developers discussing the path the series has taken and its evolution
-Approx. 300,000 characters of interviews
-100+ never before seen development materials from the beginning
-The ultimate book for understanding Awakening, Fates [if], and 25 years of series history

Summary:

Since the 1990 release of Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light, this year marks the monumental 25th anniversary of the Simulation RPG Fire Emblem.

This book mainly comprises of developer commentary from Nintendo and Intelligent Systems regarding development of the games, but has development documents and retrospectives on Awakening, Fates [if], and 25 years of Fire Emblem history as well in commemoration.