Crisis Core would have been 1000% better if Zack was a completely normal guy who was really confused and annoyed with all the anime drama and posturing happening around him at all times. Genesis start's reading a poem and Zack rolls his eyes and starts texting his bro Kunsel while he waits for Gackt to shut up.
The best way I could ever think to describe CCs English script and acting was "flowery." The word choices and phrasing are strange, the way lines are delivered are strange, Genesis' accent is weird... I dunno, it just has this self-important vibe to it that I don't care for. I was afraid that the Remake would be the same way, but thankfully outside of a few parts it was the complete opposite.Crisis Core makes so much more sense in Japanese it's... a bit crazy how bad a lot of the English VA work is. A lot of the characters don't deliver their lines in ways that match what the actual lines mean or how the character arcs actually work out.
Zack's English VA is... really the only decent one. Everyone else... blah... give me the JP voices and the story is much less awkward to watch.
Crisis Core makes so much more sense in Japanese it's... a bit crazy how bad a lot of the English VA work is. A lot of the characters don't deliver their lines in ways that match what the actual lines mean or how the character arcs actually work out.
We will never know because Zack didn't care enough about his "friend" to report anything to HQ. His laziness regarding paperwork is canon and everything.
She lies to Tseng and gives Zack her damn bike to help him escape. That's why he spares her, because she still favors him. She's useful to him and they used to be friends, so I guess that counts too.
He fancies her, that's why.
My problem with Zack isn't so much the character himself but rather how he's somehow singlehandedly responsible for 90% of the lore in FF7. Aerith's hair ribbon? Aerith selling flowes? Tifa's bar? Yuffie becoming a skilled thief? You can thank Zack for all of the above, and more. I'm sure Nojima and co. didn't mean it to be anything more than just some "remember this, remember that" moments but they actually do kind of detract from the lore and characters, especially with Yuffie, who originally trained herself to become a master materia thief but in Crisis Core it was all Zack lol.
There is a fan-made translation of CC by Chocolinx (SilentTweak). It's a tad different from the official translations and there's definetly some bits of it I like a lot better than the Official English Translations. You can find SilentTweek's translations here: https://www.silenttweak.net/index.php?file=cc/cctranslationsI think "stilted" is the right word to describe English Crisis Core. Kind of makes me want to play it in Japanese, but I don't think a direct translation is available.
It's true, he always sounded like overly-split ass in Japanese too.I've seen a lot of hatred towards Zack's new English VA, but what people don't seem to notice is how similar he actually is to his Japanese counterpart.
It's Kingdom Hearts quality dialogue scripting. Or to be more frank, it's pretty corny in some places. That coupled with its limited model movements make it feel very far removed from reality. Compare it to the Remake and it becomes easily apparent. It's like watching an old anime dub from the early 90s versus today. That has its charm points at times. But that's the reality. Square's dub work has evolved massively since then.
Here's a question. Did they re-record the Zack scene in Japanese, or is it reused from crisis core barring the new lines?
Here's a question. Did they re-record the Zack scene in Japanese, or is it reused from crisis core barring the new lines?
I sat down with two videos this morning and literally watched/listened bit by bit. The Remake delivery sounds almost identical, but the audio is mixed with the background music in a different way and <insert some more audio engineering terms which I sadly don't know>. So yeah, I have to agree with X here. It's much more reasonable to ask the VA to do the same job than to get all worked up about tailoring the 13 y.o. tracks to the rest of the production.I think that there's basically a 0% chance that they just copied the audio from Crisis Core just because of the fact that new lines exist.
Macmillan Dictionary:
- something such as a tradition or problem that exists as a result of something that happened in the past
- something that someone has achieved that continues to exist after they stop working or die
Cambridge Dictionary:
- money or property that you receive from someone after they die
- something that is a part of your history or that remains from an earlier time
- a situation that has developed as a result of past actions and decisions
Collins Dictionary:
- money or property which someone leaves to you when they die
- an event or period of history is something which is a direct result of it and which continues to exist after it is over
Merriam-Webster:
- a gift by will especially of money or other personal property
- something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past
- of, relating to, associated with, or carried over from an earlier time, technology, business, etc
"Don't forget that you are actually nobody and you're living this life for me, because I can't" - I immediately interpreted it like that. Is it a special Japanese way of keeping dear ones alive by keeping the memories about them alive? After all, Cloud's memory of Sephiroth brings our one-winged angel back eventually, too. Or is Zack really a narcissistic cannibal? Or am I digging and clinging to words too much? TLS, I need your help and your thoughts on that."You kicked his ass once, right? It's a piece of cake!"
"Right."
"Don't you ever forget again..."
"...that I'm the proof that you once existed."
I'm not done with this thread yet.
I totally forgot to bring up one hella cringeworthy issue. I love Zakkura package deal to the moon and back, but if don't find peace with this, it will keep bothering me forever. It's the entire "You're my living legacy" thing. Do I misunderstand something culture- or language-wise? Am I supposed to hate Zack for pulling a complete 180 from an admirable hero to an arrogant dick?
First, let's look up the word "legacy" in various dictionaries.
Although the contextual examples in the aforementioned dictionaries are pretty convincing, I still don't quite feel this word, either because I'm not a native speaker, or because the CC official translation sucks materia orbs. The definitions give me an impression that Cloud being a legacy is something that Zack owned, or created, or achieved, or directly influenced. I doubt he meant any of that on his deathbed!
I'm fine with his passing the Buster sword like the proverbial baton, together with his honour and dreams, because he didn't need them anymore. But I wouldn't have any problem if he'd just said "You have outlived me" or "Keep on living", because it's straight to the point, or "My path ends here, but yours has just begun" or "Remember me", because it's sentimental.
By calling Cloud his legacy Zack basically burdened him with the promise to live both of their lives from now on instead of trying to find the joy of his own life. If I had to choose between two circulating translations "You're my living legacy" and "You're the proof that I existed", the latter sounds to me a bit better, but only just. From Cloud's perspective, "I'm the proof that you existed" a.k.a. "I'm the evidence of your life" sounds more validating for his personality than being a mere part of someone else's history. But still, remember when Zack appeared to lift Cloud's spirit in AC/C?
"Don't forget that you are actually nobody and you're living this life for me, because I can't" - I immediately interpreted it like that. Is it a special Japanese way of keeping dear ones alive by keeping the memories about them alive? After all, Cloud's memory of Sephiroth brings our one-winged angel back eventually, too. Or is Zack really a narcissistic cannibal? Or am I digging and clinging to words too much? TLS, I need your help and your thoughts on that.
I don't know either, lol. I may not be particularly good at analyzing things with all aspects concerned, but I'm still learning. Not that I'm trying to justify myself, but sometimes one just gets fixated on a twisted idea and needs to see a bigger picture....I really don't get how people reach these conclusions on Crisis Core. Like, you have to literally inject bad faith into the character(s) to reach these 180 conclusions on their motivations.
That's true, but how we're "meant" to see him isn't how we have to see him. The story presents him as a heroic figure, but when you really examine Zack's actions he doesn't act in a very heroic way all that often. His conflicts with Angeal and Genesis are more personal than anything, and he fails to save banora or Nibelhiem from Shinra, too. The most heroic thing he does is save Cloud, and even that inadvertently messed with Cloud's head because of some poorly phrased dying words.The game is often not well-written, but I think you have to take it as it presents itself. Zack is supposed to be a hero. They might not have done the best job of portraying it, but that's still how we're meant to see him.