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!

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Fire Emblem Series “Choose Your Legends” Analysis – Final Summary and Recap

Over the last week, I took an in-depth look at the Fire Emblem Heroes “Choose Your Legends” poll. It is the first time there has ever been (what is essentially) a popularity poll of the Fire Emblem series conducted worldwide across every main entry in the series. For that reason I put a lot of time toward looking at the trends, characters, and other fun data that we can derive from it.

There are limitations to it of course, which I address on each individual post. I hope as a Fire Emblem fan you gain some nice insight form all this.

A big thank you to Elieson over on serenesforest.net for having organized the original graphs of data that I could then modify and format for purposes here.

I will be resuming my usual translations from tomorrow, but if you have any other suggestions on what sort of data you want to see formatted (such as “Chart showing Jagen characters lined up), let me know! I’ll happily add it.

If you feel generous, then I’ll happily accept any donations you may have (just click the orange button on the top right of the page!)

Below I present the findings in image format, and links to the more detailed article pages! Enjoy! And thanks again for all reader comments and support. : )

FE1/11 and FE3/12 (Archanea Games) “Choose your Legends” Poll Results Analysis

Nintendo conducted a poll for Fire Emblem Heroes urging fans to pick a favorite character of theirs that they would love to see featured. Each fan could vote once a day for 13 days for almost any character from any of the main Fire Emblem series of games.

This is part of a miniseries I am doing on analyzing the vast amount of poll data available to us and what it means for the fandom and their favorites regarding characters.

Thanks to the tireless work of Elieson over on serenesforest.net, we can take a look at the break downs by game! Today we will focus on FE1/11 (which were combined on the official poll), and FE3/12 (which too were combined). The games will be referred to as Shadow Dragon and Mystery of the Emblem for simplicity. Combined, they form the Archanea Saga of games.

There are some general things to keep in mind before we get started, however.

Fire Emblem: Famitsu FE Series Reader Poll Translated (June 2015)

Last year (2015), Famitsu conducted a poll from June 11th through the 15th. In celebration of the 25th Anniversary for Fire Emblem, they polled readers on various questions about the series as a whole.

I translated the first two pages earlier on this post here. They are specifically about characters. These last two pages deal with favorite game, class, weapon, etc. A lot of fun insight from fans back in June 2015.

The raw scans are available upon request. I hope to apply these translations onto the page eventually (which is when I will provide them too)!

Note that this was conducted before Famitsu’s Fire Emblem Fates poll, which can be viewed here.

I purchased the Famitsu volume that included this poll with money received from your kind donations. : ) This is all done on my free time, and takes awhile. It can be a lot of work, but I do hope you enjoy! I am unemployed… so please consider donating by clicking on the “donate” button found on the right side of the page!

Fire Emblem: Famitsu Overall Favorite Character Poll Translated (June 2015)

Last year (2015), Famitsu conducted a poll from June 11th through the 15th. In celebration of the 25th Anniversary for Fire Emblem, they polled readers on various questions about the series as a whole.

UPDATE: Part 2 (page 3 and 4) are up! They deal with fans’ favorite games, class, etc. See it here!

There are four pages of results, two of which I translate today. The other two will be up later! Note for these translations I only translated the results and player opinions, as the rest was general information about the characters/games which fans would already know. All raw pages will be put up after I finish the last two pages! But some lower res scans of the first two pages can be found here and here.

This was conducted before their Fire Emblem Fates poll, which can be viewed here. I do not think Fates characters were included in this poll, as the game was near release.

I purchased the Famitsu volume that included this poll with money received from your kind donations. : ) This is all done on my free time, and takes awhile. It can be a lot of work, but I do hope you enjoy! I am unemployed… so please consider donating by clicking on the “donate” button found on the right side of the page!

Fire Emblem: Dark Dragon Marth Before & After

Today is a brief post and translation from the Making of Fire Emblem: 25 Years of Development Secrets . It is a brief comparison between Marth as he initially appeared on a poster for the first Fire Emblem game versus how he looked in the final product.

The scan was provided by VincentASM of serenesforest.net. 

You can find these scans and much more from this book on the compilation post here.

As you can imagine, the process of doing all this (scanning, editing, translating in some cases, etc) took a lot of time, and I am unemployed… so if you like what I did, then…

Please donate! It helps fund future projects!

ゲーム画面内のマルス。チラシのイラスト変更にともなってか、展示会版（左）と製品版（右）では髪型や
襟元元が異なる。

Marth as he appears in game. His appearance altered slightly from the poster version. His hair style and collar area are different between when he was first shown (left) and in the final product (right).

Fire Emblem: Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light Old Ad Scan

Today is a simple post and translation regarding an old ad from the Making of Fire Emblem: 25 Years of Development Secrets . It is an old poster for the first Fire Emblem game.

The scan was provided by VincentASM of serenesforest.net. 

You can find these scans and much more from this book on the compilation post here.

As you can imagine, the process of doing all this (scanning, editing, translating in some cases, etc) took a lot of time, and I am unemployed… so if you like what I did, then…

Please donate! It helps fund future projects!

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.

 

FE: 0 (Cipher) Linde Card Translated

I have decided to typeset card translations onto Fire Emblem: 0 (Cipher) from the hard working Aubergine’s compendium. I alter the translations slightly here and there to better fit onto the physical card space, and occasionally correct any minor mistakes here and there. They should get all credit for the majority of the translation though. If you want the higher quality PNG, please email me! Below is the space-saving JPEG.

Note: α = Opening Phase, S = Support Symbols: [Flip one Bond]