Smash Bros. Byleth’s Reveal Trailer: Did the joke in the female Byleth reveal part change from the JP version?

Byleth recently joined Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as the latest DLC fighter. They had a reveal trailer in the style of Three Houses‘s cutscenes, featuring Sothis.

Multiple readers have reached out to me regarding said reveal trailer, often asking about one joke in it. An example question from one reader:

I saw comments on youtube and gamefaqs talking about that part where male Byleth comes back in the english trailer being different than japanese, or that a joke was removed or something. But I can’t find anyone clearly providing a source. Can you look into what the joke was that changed?

They provided some links to people discussing it, such as to a thread on gamefaqs. I could not find anyone clearly talking about the joke itself beyond hearsay, either, so decided to make this post to service as possible reference in case it is discussed in the future.

The short answer: Yes the joke plays out slightly differently in Japanese! But they both retain similarities in their double meanings and intent as well. I don’t think the joke was changed or removed entirely as one may say, but it was indeed slightly altered.

Let’s take a deeper look!

FE11: Shadow Dragon Localization: “I’d just always assumed Manaketes looked somethin’ like parakeets.” [JPN vs ENG]

This post is part of a series on reader requested (and personal curiosity) comparisons between Fire Emblem games’ Japanese and English scripts.

Today, I look into an old reader request involving some dialogue from Chapter 5 in Shadow Dragon! (Sorry it took so long!):

I’d just always assumed Manaketes looked somethin’ like parakeets. Sheesh…

I bolded the relevant part. This can’t work in Japanese, can it? Isn’t the Japanese for Manakete “Mamkute” even? Any wordplay at all in it?

Short answer: No wordplay is involved, it is a case of localization just punching up a line. It only exists in the localization.

Let’s take a closer look!

FE8: Sacred Stones Localization: Does Aias’s Death Quote Specify the Tactician’s Gender? [JPN vs ENG]

This post is part of a series on reader requested (and personal curiosity) comparisons between Fire Emblem games’ Japanese and English scripts.

Today, I look into a reader request from twitter:

“I have a quick request. If you defeat Aias in Eirika’s Ch13 (FE8), he compliments Renais’ tactician. Do you know what he says in Japanese, specifically if he says the tactician is female? Thank you in advance!”

Short answer: Aias does not specify any gender of the tactician in Japanese either.

Let’s take a closer look!

FE9 Path of Radiance Localization: Mia’s Fortune and Archrival [JPN vs ENG]

It’s been awhile! Happy New Year! Hopefully I’ll have time for more posts in 2020.

Today’s post is a personal curiosity involving Mia’s fortune in her support conversation with Rhys, as well as her “archrival” in general. The structure is a little wayward, as a forewarning.

The localization of her conversation is mostly very accurate, though the fortune itself actually differs slightly. Despite a lot of small detours from the Japanese here and there, the conversation ultimately reaches the same conclusion.

I also touch upon a few other instances of her mention of fortunes and archrivals.

Let’s take a look!

Pokemon Sword/Shield: Are Poke Kids Mia and Rhys’s names a nod to Fire Emblem?

While playing Pokemon Shield, I encountered two Poke Kids, a girl and a boy, on Route 4. They are in the same area in close proximity to each other in the northeast section of the route.

Their names? Mia and Rhys.

As an FE fan, that really stuck out, as we know these names as the pair of mercenaries from Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn. Fun!

So naturally I wondered if this was an intentional reference, or total coincidence?

Short answer: If not a coincidence, then it may be a very light localization-side reference out of opportunity. There is no JP reference however.

If interested in taking a closer look, then see below!

FE Three Houses Localization: Felix and Annette’s ENG A Support Dialogue Change in the Patch

Spoiler warning: This article involves info about a late-game A support conversation in Three Houses.

Yesterday I looked at how one of Bernadetta’s lines in her B support with Byleth changed in the 1.0.2 patch for Three Houses. The JP had remained the same, yet it was an odd situation where the English changed for some reason.

Today, u/entitq on reddit brought up how a change was made in Felix and Annette’s A support conversation as well.

This one was strange compared to yesterday, as a change was made to one of Felix’s lines that is rather inconsequential, yet completely different to the Japanese this time. Let’s take a look:

FE Three Houses Localization: Bernadetta’s ENG B Support Dialogue Change in the Patch

Spoiler warning: This article involves info about a B support conversation in Three Houses.

So there’s been news circulating around a line in Bernadetta’s English B support conversation with Byleth, and how it appears to be altered from how it originally appeared after an update.

A tweet from @Best_Lolicon stated:

So fire emblem decided it would be a great idea to censor Bernies support conversation in the last update, for seemingly no reason at all. Baffled at why they did this, the game was already rated and her character was handled really well, makes no sense. #FireEmblem pic.twitter.com/d1iArVdcwG

— Justin iZ Here (@Best_Lolicon) September 12, 2019

A thread on serenesforest by user Jedi also brought up this issue.

I was curious if the issue really was about potential “censorship,” and whether it was a case of the original Japanese having changed too (so the English changed with it), or if it was just the English that changed (to tone it down or alter it significantly).

The surprising result is… that the Japanese is the same as it was before, and that the new English ends up oddly closer to the (literal) meaning of the Japanese! Though with some subtleties lost, as may happen with literal translations.

FE Three Houses Localization: “I’m bappy too” [JPN vs ENG]

Spoiler warning: This article involves info about a late game support conversation Three Houses.

Today’s post comes from personal curiosity!

It involves a simple line in Lysithea and Cyril’s A Support conversation, so let’s take a look!

FE16 Three Houses Localization: “You have a gut, professor.” (and Petra in general) [JPN vs ENG]

Spoiler warning: This article involves light info about the Black Eagle path in Three Houses.

Today’s post comes as a request from a friend on twitter, as well as something I myself was curious about when playing!

You already mentioned you’ll look into Petra, but there is one thing she says I became conscious about. Just after you pick Black Eagles and you meet with the students, she says in English “You have a gut, Professor!” and Dorothea corrects her. What was that like in Japanese?

So this is actually an example of great localization they do for this scene. I also want to take the moment to talk about how Petra talks in Japan versus English in this article, so let’s get to it!

FE16 Three Houses Localization: Scarecrow or Man Dressed as a Woman? [JPN vs ENG]

Spoiler warning: This article involves info about Ingrid and Sylvain’s C Support.

Today’s short post comes from a reddit thread that a friend on twitter shared:

Would be interested in seeing you cover Sylvain and Ingrid’s C support. Depending on the language, it’s referenced Sylvain either hits on a (crossdressing) man or a scarecrow,

The short answer: the reddit user is correct and their thread addresses this issue nicely, so this article may be redundant! I want to post it for archival purposes though. So let’s take a quick look!