Final Fantasy XIV - Kiwi Free Company

[Brandy [◉'']]

I've always been curious about certain quirks with the localization, just given that there are nuances in the Japanese dialect that sometimes aren't picked up or are misinterpreted. Dawntrail in particular, although I can't remember the specific scenes that stood out to me anymore.

I tended to view the Yshtola/Runar relationship as just being as close colleagues with perhaps a bit of unrequitedness on Runar's end, although that reading is a generous read on what is presented to us. Never got that vibe from Yshtola at all.

As you said, some things are really hard to convey. What feels somewhat natural and sincere in Japanese can sound pretty cringe in Engish if you'd translate it one to one. Koji Fox has a much better grasp of Japanese than I ever can dream of having, and I genuinely love the translations he does, they are very soulful, but sometimes stuff gets added or lost. In XI he had absolute free reign, resulting in Tarutaru being extra unbearable in English. One of them speaks like Ned Flanders.

Regarding Dawntrail: If I had to guess Wuk's Naruto-isms probably translated very badly into English and didn't help the overexposed character. Her standing atop of Tulliyola and shouting about a promise to her people can be seen as very endearing and honest in Japanese (its a Japanese acting quirk) but I assume it went over fairly poorly in English, especially with the VA.

 

[Troon Whisperer]

I tended to view the Yshtola/Runar relationship as just being as close colleagues with perhaps a bit of unrequitedness on Runar's end, although that reading is a generous read on what is presented to us. Never got that vibe from Yshtola at all.

I'd have to replay the cutscenes, but from memory their relationship was very mentor/protege because Runar had to step up and become a leader at a young age, so he relied on Yshtola for guidance and help.

 

[Pigeon Enthusiast]

Regarding Dawntrail: If I had to guess Wuk's Naruto-isms probably translated very badly into English and didn't help the overexposed character. Her standing atop of Tulliyola and shouting about a promise to her people can be seen as very endearing and honest in Japanese (its a Japanese acting quirk) but I assume it went over fairly poorly in English, especially with the VA.

I feel like a lot of stock shonen-isms become very cringy when translated into English, and there is only so much that can be done to salvage some parts, given that you still have the cutscene animations and so on that are acting as guardrails on how far you can depart from "what is the character doing and how are they saying this". There's only so much that artistic license in translation can do to salvage dialogue writing right out of a children's comic book, honestly.

Combine with the fact that Wuk was voiced by someone who was too busy straining into an unnatural voice range and shitty latam accent to actually emote well, and you have a one-two punch of "cringe dialogue" and "terrible acting" that is going to be received way worse than the former in isolation.
Because slightly cringe dialogue is, at least in my experience, usually forgiven if the delivery is good, but not the other way around, or god forbid, in combination.

 

[SnowBall]

Since we’re on the subject of localizations this guy is currently going through the entire MSQ in Japanese comparing the Japanese script to the English one. He discovered that a lot of stuff from the Japanese script was drastically changed in the English localization from both Kate and Koji and in some cases completely rewritten. Not to mention inconsistencies and characterization differences. He also pointed out that Dawntrail Japan got is apparently much different than the one English players got. The writing is still bad but less so in Japanese. His videos are long but I recommend checking them out.

 

[Well Intentioned]

As you said, some things are really hard to convey. What feels somewhat natural and sincere in Japanese can sound pretty cringe in Engish if you'd translate it one to one. Koji Fox has a much better grasp of Japanese than I ever can dream of having, and I genuinely love the translations he does, they are very soulful, but sometimes stuff gets added or lost. In XI he had absolute free reign, resulting in Tarutaru being extra unbearable in English. One of them speaks like Ned Flanders.

Yeah, although sometimes those sorts of changes are necessary, I'd argue. I've mentioned earlier in the thread that I dislike literal word for word translations and would rather have authentic localizations that convey the spirit/tone/context/etc. Legends of Localization is a site I've brought up before, but there is a lot of insight I've gleaned from there. EG, Sometimes there's wordplay or jokes based on cultural references that might not carry over well either due to a lack of understanding or how different languages work. Or there's some real nuanced elements as has been mentioned above where it's tough to convey those details. I don't mind localizers having the freedom to adjust things so long as they aren't tossing in details that weren't in the original script (something which Kate was guilty of, most notably with the fae in Il Mheg, although I think that was covered under her role as a lore lead.)

Regarding Dawntrail: If I had to guess Wuk's Naruto-isms probably translated very badly into English and didn't help the overexposed character. Her standing atop of Tulliyola and shouting about a promise to her people can be seen as very endearing and honest in Japanese (its a Japanese acting quirk) but I assume it went over fairly poorly in English, especially with the VA.

I actually remembered one of them: Wuk Evu seems to scream a character which is based on some quirks in Japanese culture. He works as a bit of comic relief in the EN script, but I imagine that there's more etiquette/cultural rules going on in the JP script with him.

Also the shit in Shaaloani with rubber bullets.

 

[Not your Buddy Holly]

Since we’re on the subject of localizations this guy is currently going through the entire MSQ in Japanese comparing the Japanese script to the English one. He discovered that a lot of stuff from the Japanese script was drastically changed in the English localization from both Kate and Koji and in some cases completely rewritten. Not to mention inconsistencies and characterization differences. He also pointed out that Dawntrail Japan got is apparently much different than the one English players got. The writing is still bad but less so in Japanese. His videos are long but I recommend checking them out.

Would love one day to play through ARR to DT with a 3rd party translation of ffxiv that's closer to the original intent of the Japanese version than what the English version of the game has given us.

 

[Well Intentioned]

Since we’re on the subject of localizations this guy is currently going through the entire MSQ in Japanese comparing the Japanese script to the English one. He discovered that a lot of stuff from the Japanese script was drastically changed in the English localization from both Kate and Koji and in some cases completely rewritten. Not to mention inconsistencies and characterization differences. He also pointed out that Dawntrail Japan got is apparently much different than the one English players got. The writing is still bad but less so in Japanese. His videos are long but I recommend checking them out.

What is their expertise? The first video 'Everything you know about FFXIV is wrong' set off alarm bells in my head.