Talk:Translation errors

Stag

This has been bothering me for a while. Am I correct to assume that Stag Cutralli is a mistranslation, and not a deliberate change? I checked the JP wiki, which lists スタッグカットラリ (SUTAGGUKATTORARI), but I know no Japanese, so that looks to me like it could be either Cutlery or Cutralli (or Cutrary, or Cutreri, etc.). I do see that the JP name has no space in it, though, since there's no interpunct. Anyway, could either Espio or Mewn or another moonrunes reader indulge my curiosity on this? Thanks. --Qwerty 14:35, 12 May 2008 (CDT)

• I'm kind of on the fence about this one. As far as the Japanese name goes, it's the same for both PSU and PSO. By that, the Cutralli could be grouped together with things like Jigo Booma and Shato in that they're not technically wrong, but just inconsistent with previous localizations. However, since "cutlery" is a real word (unlike "Shato" and "Jigo Booma"), I'm more inclined to say it's a mistranslation. - EspioKaos 14:45, 12 May 2008 (CDT)
• I think it's a mistranslation, it's been done too literally. I definately think that カットラリ is a rendering of the English word 'cutlery.' Oh, and from what I can tell, Japanese is weird about using the interpunct, I'm not sure if there's set rules for it but just because one isn't there, doesn't mean that there shouldn't be a space in the transliteration. - Mewn 16:27, 12 May 2008 (CDT)

Re: Anti/Reverser

In the Japanese version, Reverser is known as Regene (レジェネ) while Antimates are known as Antimates. - EspioKaos 09:47, 12 May 2008 (CDT)

Dark Falz

• It's not a mistranslation. The kana is ダーク・ファルス (DAAKU FARUSU) which does not transliterate to Dark Force at all, that would probably be ダーク・フォース (DAAKU FOOSU). The Japanese Phantasy Star games have always used this name and Dark Force only appears in the US versions of 2-4, I believe. I assume it's not a mistranslation in those games but rather a deliberate change by the translation team of those games for a western audience. Regardless, Dark Falz is the accepted name by now. - Mewn 04:14, 11 May 2008 (CDT)
  • I've always heard that Dark Falz is supposed to be Dark Force. Fan translations of the original PS name him Dark Force. PS also had some other mistranslations (some due to a lack of room), such as Alis = Alisa and Lassic = LaShiec. Not to mention the fact that Dark Force makes a lot more sense than Dark Falz. Jeff Paine 21:00, 11 May 2008 (CDT)
  • I don't think making sense comes into it - this is a game series developed and written by Japanese people whose English (or Engrish, if you prefer) isn't exactly going to be on the level of ours - not to mention that the name does not have to make sense. You say that fan translations of the original game name him Dark Force, but they're not official translations, and they too are not above error. I have already explained above the differences between rendering Dark Falz and Dark Force in kana. Another thing to note is that the Japanese data files for AoI refer to 'dark_fals' - so it doesn't appear that even the developers consider the name to be Force. As for other mistranslations/changes in the original Phantasy Star... well, the entire Phantasy Star classic series is a testimony to the terrible state of game localization at that time. Names were regularly changed in all four games, planet names were inconsistent, and let's not forget 'Paradin Blow' in PSIV. I stand by my point that Falz is not a mistranslation at all, and that Force is an invention of the US games. Both names are arguably valid in the classic PS context, but PSO Dark Falz and PSU Dark Falz are both seperate from the Phantasy Star Falz/Force. - Mewn 07:54, 12 May 2008 (CDT)
  • Blah blah double edit, but I'd like to get Espio's opinion on all this, since his Japanese is far better than my own. - Mewn 07:56, 12 May 2008 (CDT)
  • Considering the correction notes for Go Bajilla, Jigo Booma, Shato, Yasminakov 0002, Agtaride and Defbaride, it seems somewhat contradictory to see "Dark Force" argue the exact opposite as a "correction". Perhaps, where relevant, we need to mention what JP did (e.g. De Ragan and "De Rolei" were changed from PSO, and Dark Falz was not. But for us, "De Rol Le" was changed too). - Miraglyth 08:18, 12 May 2008 (CDT)
• Mewn's right. Were its name intended to be "Dark Force," then in Japanese it should've been ダーク・フォース (da-ku fo-su). I just found a video of the Falz battle in the Japanese version of PSI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngcycp6Y4UM) to verify the name, and it is indeed ダーク・ファルス (da-ku farusu). Now, if one were to be literal, ファルス could be translated as "farce" or even "phallus" (seriously, not making that up), but I doubt "Dark Penis" is what the developers intended. Anyway, when PSI was localized, the boss in question was named "Darkfalz," with its name changing in English to "Dark Force" with the following three games, despite remaining ダーク・ファルス in the Japanese versions. So technically "Dark Force" is an official name, but the original name would've been "Darkfalz." - EspioKaos 09:11, 12 May 2008 (CDT)
• As a sidenote, I checked it out for myself and it appears it's only in PSU that the kana is ダーク・ファルス, in everything else (I checked PS1-2, the remakes of those, and PSO) it appears to be ダークファルス. Doesn't really change my argument since both mean 'Dark Falz' (although the latter could be 'Darkfalz'), but I thought it interesting they changed it slightly for PSU. - Mewn 11:52, 12 May 2008 (CDT)
• I noticed that you changed the article, Jeff Paine, but I disagree with Dark Falz even being in the article as a translation error. Not to mention that the current entry still implies Dark Falz is a mistranslation (it's not, for reasons that have been explained). Maybe there's a call for a seperate section for contested translations but whether you think Dark Falz or Dark Force is the correct name, the simple fact remains that Dark Falz is not a mistranslation. - Mewn 07:52, 13 May 2008 (CDT)
  • I wasn't sure what to do with it, so I made a new "Incorrectly regarded as translation errors" section (I felt it would be helpful to explain that, since I've seen Dark Force used all too often and that's part of the reason I thought Force was the correct translation), if you think there's a better way to point that out, or if it doesn't belong there at all, then feel free to do whatever with it Jeff Paine 12:07, 13 May 2008 (CDT)
  • That section works for me, since there's quite a few PSO things in the original table that aren't incorrect translations (Shato, Jigo Booma and so on). I might change the 'Incorrect Translation' heading to 'Alternative Translation' though. - Mewn 03:47, 14 May 2008 (CDT)

Categories of Translation Errors

• I thought it might be nice to add specific categories to each of the entries on the table as another column. These categories would be:
  • Mistranslation (the translation is just plain wrong, for example Jao stuff)
  • Inconsistency (the translation is not wrong per se, but is inconsistent with other translations or even the same term in other contexts, for example Agtaride, Tengohg, Fulyen Curtz)
  • Typo (the translation is not wrong per se, but the English has been spelled wrong e.g. Assasin still conveys the correct meaning of the Japanese, but is a typo)
  • JP mistake (a mistake in the original Japanese, usually stemming from incorrect use of Anglicisms in item names e.g. Vullseye, BT Lovers)
  • Change (the name has been completely changed in the translations, but it's not really a mistranslation so much as a completely different name e.g. Shifta)

• Thoughts? - Mewn 07:47, 27 October 2007 (CDT)
  • I like it. What about including incorrect descriptions? They don't exactly count as mistranslations, but perhaps they're still worth mentioning. For example, the English description of PA Fragment makes no sense at all when related to the item while the Japanese description translates as "A fragment of a data disc for some of the strongest photon arts that only select individuals can use. If enough fragments are collected, the data can be reconstructed." - EspioKaos 08:47, 27 October 2007 (CDT)

• Crea weapons? Aren't they meant to be Claire? Go Bajjija and Badria too. --JubeiSaotome 17:31, 24 December 2007 (CST)
  • Badira/Bajilla, yes. Claire, no. It was just KUREA or whatever, and people guessed they'd transliterate it as "Claire." However, they went with "Crea" (which is probably closer), and they were consistent with it, so that's not any sort of error. --Qwerty 17:39, 24 December 2007 (CST)

• I coulda swore I'd mentioned this some time ago, but... in the case of PSO -> PSU names, it might help to include all four terms (PSO/PSU for JP/EN) so we can compare what JP did with what we did. For example, Gigobooma -> Jigo Booma is an alteration for us but for JP it was the same in both games. On the other hand, JP changed De Rol Le to something like De Rolei for PSU, but we kept the same name. - Miraglyth 15:36, 13 June 2008 (CDT)

"Correct" translation

• I'm not sure "Correct" is the word to use in some of these cases. - Miraglyth 07:15, 5 January 2008 (CST)

Massive Overhaul - June 1, 2010

• Rearranged page into multiple sections and new tables according to Mewn's suggested (back in 2007!) categories
  • Removed "Location" column
  • Added columns for Japanese kana, and, where appropriate, suggested corrections (often replaced "correct translation" column), alternative translations, additional details
• Added many more entries, wrote/rewrote additional details
• English names link to their articles
• One entry removed entirely, Halp Serafi: is technically correct, no known precedent to otherwise conflict with
• One uncertainty: A few such as Jigo Booma and Dark Falz actually have added separators (ジゴブーマ vs. ジゴ・ブーマ) compared to older games, debating whether or not it's significant enough to bother mentioning at all.

--AngelusInsomnus 21:15, 1 June 2010 (UTC)