Translation differences and preferences.

[Aori]

Since the other thread really isn't the place to ramble about preference in translation (It's about splatfest, not translation errors and whatnot), I decided to make a thread for talking about the translations between regions! Feel free to choose your favorite in the poll.

 

[Dessgeega]

Non-US Spyke isn't British and therefore inferior.

 

[Aori]

Non-US Spyke isn't British and therefore inferior.

I was mostly looking at the squid sisters translations tbh, since they are the ones you see quite a bit more (I never really go to Spyke, I guess that's why I never really noticed or had an opinion on him).

 

[Dessgeega]

You wot, mate!? :D

 

[WeirdChillFever]

NA conveys the "rad" theme so much better in everything and sassy Marie is best Marie so it's NA for me.
(Though NA Marie crossed a line at the Final Splatfest Announcement)

 

[Meta Knightmare]

the NA version of the squid sisters suck major squid butt, so the JP or the EU translation
i even like the spanish one more (i can understand it better without translation)
i like how they get along and only sometimes poke fun at eachother and not ALL the time like they are enemies.
youd think the american squid sisters would have broken up by now with how squidding mean they are to eachother.
as for spyke? NA spyke all the way haha

 

[Ansible]

Will have to look up the wiki to dig through all the dialogue changes later.

But I would have been thoroughly amused if EU Spyke was given an American accent. Especially a Cowboy American one. (Fair is fair.)

 

[Babycowland]

I prefer the Japanese and North American translations because I like being able to say C'mon to encourage my team. I realize that's probably a silly opinion, but I'm a silly person so...

 

[Cuttleshock]

Non-US Spyke isn't British and therefore inferior.

Nuh-uh. In the PAL English translation, they're all British to me! US Spyke is just memey...

I prefer the Japanese and North American translations because I like being able to say C'mon to encourage my team.

But... that doesn't work. All of your non-US teammates will just hear a message along the lines of 'come here', so that argument only makes sense in US-only lobbies, say, in regional Splatfests.

 

[birdiebee]

Oops, I posted in the splatfest thread before I read that this one was made.

But yeah, like I mentioned over there... Callie and Marie in the JP region are pretty much cookie-cutter anime archetypes. Their NA counterparts are less simple to swap out with any other character. More uniquely conceived. More flare. That's not to say that they are any more complex or well-rounded. All regions play up a personality type and roll with it. I'm only suggesting that if your preference is for the JP Aori / Hotaru, then you don't mind Japan's habit for grabbing personality templates from a pool of marketable archetypes and slapping them on a colorful character design. In fact, the very fact that their NA dialogue is so divisive to me means that they're stirring the pot more, which is what the splatfest is meant to do.

Also, I have to take objection to this quote from the other thread.

Everyone wants them to get along, yet Nintendo kinda spat in our faces, can we move on from this now?

Who wants them to get along? We've never wanted them to get along. They're rivals... that's literally their function in the game. How atrociously boring would it be if their announcement went like "For the first time, I'm TEAM MARIE!!!" and Marie says "Aww, thats so sweet of you. I'll support you too!" Is that really how you want this splatfest to play out? Would that ever be in line with Marie's personality across any region? On the contrary, people want competitive sisters. The final splatfest needs to be divisive, competitive, fierce. Otherwise why would we vote at all?

 

[Aori]

Who wants them to get along? We've never wanted them to get along.

A lot of people wanted them to get along. They may be rivals, but they're also cousins.
I've seen more art than you can imagine of people wanting them to get along.
Sooo... yeah.

I said a multitude of times that I wanted a Marie vs. Callie splatfest where the two take eachother's sides as a sign of friendship and a healthy relationship between them. It would have been cute and incredibly heartwarming for the last splatfest. Again, however, this is just my opinion.

 

[Meta Knightmare]

friend, I think youre in the minority with not wanting them to support eachother for one LAST splatfest after being at eachothers throats in the past (theres a lot of art on pixiv about the two supporting eachother for once, for once)
so I think its just you who wants them to be utter rivals, its not really their FUNCTION, sure, maybe for splatfests sometimes, but ORIGINALLY they were just newscasters and the agents in the storyline, thats all. If they were rivals why would they be doing ANYTHING together, why would they be together as the squid sisters idol group? They wouldnt if they hated eachother THAT squidding much.

so stop speaking for the entire fanbase when only a handful enjoys petty rivalry and the sisters being total utter jerks for no reason/an unhealthy relationship between the two partners

 

[birdiebee]

friend, I think youre in the minority with not wanting them to support eachother for one LAST splatfest after being at eachothers throats in the past (theres a lot of art on pixiv about the two supporting eachother for once, for once)
so I think its just you who wants them to be utter rivals, its not really their FUNCTION, sure, maybe for splatfests sometimes, but ORIGINALLY they were just newscasters and the agents in the storyline, thats all. If they were rivals why would they be doing ANYTHING together, why would they be together as the squid sisters idol group? They wouldnt if they hated eachother THAT squidding much.

so stop speaking for the entire fanbase when only a handful enjoys petty rivalry and the sisters being total utter jerks for no reason/an unhealthy relationship between the two partners

I never said they hated each other. Rivals and enemies are not synonymous. They're seen drinking tea and chatting all the time in Inkopolis. Yes, they perform together. They get along off-camera. They like each other. But yes, their function IS to split the fanbase into teams for Splatfests. Fandom can make as much artwork as they want of them holding hands and getting snuggly but that will never not make them rivals. If canonical dialogue upsets you then you've fallen far too deep into your own headcanon/imagined conception of the character.

So sure, maybe I shouldn't speak for the fanbase, but you shouldn't either. Let's stick to the facts: Marie and Callie are competitive and their dialogue in the NA announcement certainly supports that.

 

[Aori]

If canonical dialogue upsets you then you've fallen far too deep into your own headcanon/imagined conception of the character.

But wouldn't the first version of the game to come out (JP) be the canon dialogue since it was the first version of the game?

 

[Meta Knightmare]

Sure, but wouldn't the first version of the game to come out (the jpn one) be considered the true dialogue since it was the first version of the game? I mean..
Though the way you were wording it made it sound like you considering their relationship to be completely sour and not at all anything different
I dont think im speaking for the fans, however not eveyone enjoys the girls at eachothers throats, much like how not everyone wants to see them buddy buddy all the time. Contrast is fine in doses.
Being competitive is one thing but them being completely rude is another.

 

[Ansible]

Skimming the wikis it doesn't look like there were that many 1:1 splatfests across regions, so I'm guessing each group had to work with what they had and inside their own cultural mindsets.

Maybe some of the Japanese dialogue is as it is both because of culture and some of the splatfests having promotional backing? Again just guessing.

And as someone with multiple siblings (and cousins) to deal with, the NA dialogue feels normal to me. Normal like the sort of behaviour you expect between family members that actually do get along. Sure we'll bicker, poke fun of, throw shade, and harsh each other (even in public) but more often than not we somehow become like "yay family" and:

(But look, I don't care what my siblings say--I'm neither spoiled and I am in fact the most adorable of us all!!)

 

[Aori]

And as someone with multiple siblings (and cousins) to deal with, the NA dialogue feels normal to me.

I guess that's something I wouldn't really understand then. I don't really have any siblings or cousins that talk to me a lot. My siblings I do have are 20 years younger than me or so, and live in another state so I am really unsure how siblings and cousins act or if they have huge arguments at times like how the American squid sisters do. Nonetheless, I guess I just wanted to see them in a more healthy relationship than siblings or relatives that fight a lot, since it would promote kindness between younger kids that fall into that category!

I guess my distaste for their NA personalities kind of stems from that alongside the fact that they translated Marie only hating tomatoes as "hating all vegetables", which is bad if they're aiming for younger kids that should eat healthy. There's a few other nitpicks I have with the dialogue but honestly in the end it all just boils down to me wishing they'd get along. I don't mind playful joking but I'll be honest this splatfest's announcement was taking it a bit too far with Marie's sassiness.

 

[Meta Knightmare]

idk man, I grew up with my cousin and we werent at eachothers throats like THIS, like,
we would JOKE but neither of us were straight up inkholes to eachother (i have to censor that, use your imagination) -- cause that would be detrimental to us being that we live with eachother and may need one another for things. Im not about to say we were all dandy peaches and sunshine all the time, but we didnt go about like we could just be against eachother all the time, that would be exhausting.
then again I guess it depends on how you were raised- neither os us were spoiled either tho.

 

[birdiebee]

It's like @Ansible said. Cultural mindsets. If you're a purist you can say that everything in Splatoon was designed with a Japanese cultural mindset and thus all characters should behave as such. But 1) That wouldn't have as much international appeal and 2) I do not believe that the Japanese developers built the characters and scenarios around Japanese dialogue and personality tropes. I believe a good developer is conscious of the fact that while we will characterize someone this way in this region, they will be characterized differently in another, and Callie and Marie are flexible enough that they are allowed to be spunkier and sassier in NA while maintaining their respective genki / kuudere approximated archetypes in Japan. In other words, I do not believe NOJ handed over Splatoon (or any other game for that matter) to NOA/E and said "here's the original, modify it to you liking, but this is the original" but rather "here is the version for our region, please make it suitable for your region."

Although I have to ask, for those of you voting Callie just because you found Marie's NA dialogue to be rude... if you believe that JP Callie and Marie are the "true" ones, then why is your opinion swayed at all by their NA dialogue?

EDIT: another thing I wanted to touch on. Maybe your personal life didn't accurately reflect the sibling rivalry exhibited by NA Callie and Marie... but its not supposed to. As mentioned, they are cartoon characters; in JP and NA their personalities are exaggerated. Genki/kuudere are personality tropes in anime, exaggerated and simplified versions of the ways people act IRL. Same goes for whatever you want to call their NA counterparts. Of course its more dramatic than real life experiences. That's what makes them entertaining.

 

[Meta Knightmare]

okay fine i get it, you like it when siblings are total pricks to eachother, i however dont care for it since i wanna like them both-- as i mentioned a few times before, i dont mind them poking fun at eachother in doses but not to an extreme just "youre nasty and i dislike you and everything you stand for" type thing.(im not saying everybody either but im not saying only me) Tropes arent that entertaing to me anymore as a lot of people i run into overglorify them and exagerrate them, then act like its the ONLY way a person or character is supposed to act (flanderization I think can be used here)
also yeah, i get the whole thing of making it "fit our region" though not all games and even translated shows have to do that, at least not to the extreme. (looking at you 4kids)

edit: also thats understandable, but youd think kids (the people nintendo usually try and catch the eye of) would want things to relate to, but that may just be my thoughts