On The Way To A Smile, Japanese version

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Does anyone know where I can read these Novellas in Japanese online? Specifically Case of Shinra?

 

[dz]

Does anyone know where I can read these Novellas in Japanese online? Specifically Case of Shinra?

If you do, I'd be so grateful for clarification on this translation:
On page 160 of the official English translation it stated that Reno's father is dead:
"Yikes. I'd be less freaked out if my dad woke me up," Reno remarked. "And he's dead"

But thelifestream.net translation says:
https://thelifestream.net/on-the-way-to-a-smile-episode-shin-ra-revised/6/
“You gave me quite a surprise for an old man who’s supposed to be dead.”

My hunch is that TLS is more accurate here.

Until I get this clarified, Reno's dad is in a Schrodinger's cat situation for me

 

[Strangelove]

i would be inclined to go with the official one here. the original line is:

「死んだオヤジに起こされるより驚いたぞ、と」

roughly "i'm shocked more than being woken up by [...] dead old man"

オヤジ can be 'my old man' as in one's father (i'm playing a bit of ffx and this is how tidus refers to jecht), or an older man generally. i think i'd probably lean towards the former meaning. so while embellished a bit from the original text, i think the official translation is closer.

i had to flick through the paper book to find that line, it took me a good minute.

ebook versions for the ffvii novels are available now. i was considering getting the kindle versions, but i tried to buy a different book using a vpn and changing my device locations. the order went through and it's in my order history, but i can't actually read it or find it in my purchased contents list. amazon took my money, but i don't have my book and i don't want to complain to amazon because i was technically lying about my location.

 

[dz]

roughly "i'm shocked more than being woken up by [...] dead old man"

オヤジ can be 'my old man' as in one's father (i'm playing a bit of ffx and this is how tidus refers to jecht), or an older man generally. i think i'd probably lean towards the former meaning. so while embellished a bit from the original text, i think the official translation is closer.

Thanks!

I guess what complicates that more is that Veld goes on to suggest the Turks are like his family (making Veld their father figure). And to me, it felt like Reno would be more likely to be literally shocked by being woken up by Veld, who he did think was dead (assuming this the first time he sees Veld alive since his fake death in BC, and Tseng kept the secret?). Yet I want to believe the official translation would not make up Reno's father being dead too

 

[Strangelove]

i guess the trouble i have seeing 'old man' refer to veld is that the line is talking about being more surprised by what is happening (veld being there) than his example of being woken up by the 'dead old man', the contrast between the present events and his other example being muddled if they are both about veld

 

[dz]

i guess the trouble i have seeing 'old man' refer to veld is that the line is talking about being more surprised by what is happening (veld being there) than his example of being woken up by the 'dead old man', the contrast between the present events and his other example being muddled if they are both about veld

Ah I see, that makes sense! So his comparing his shock at being woken up by Veld in that moment as more shocking than if Reno's own dead dad woke him up. Thanks, I feel a lot more comfortable with the official translation now.

This is a meaningful comparison, a comparison perhaps of Reno's two father figures, and reinforcing why Reno reacted so strongly to Veld's apparent death in BC. I still wonder when Reno first discovered that Veld was alive, perhaps it was this scene.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I expect Tseng let Reno and Rude know as soon as it was safe to do so.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Reno must have known Veld was alive during Meteorfall. In chapter 3 of CoS, it says,

Finally, even the former leader of the Turks, Veld, and their old colleagues arrived in Midgar. Reno thought this must be a mirage, conjured by Meteor.

But I like to think Tseng told him way earlier than that. It would have been too cruel not to.

 

[JBedford]

ebook versions for the ffvii novels are available now. i was considering getting the kindle versions, but i tried to buy a different book using a vpn and changing my device locations. the order went through and it's in my order history, but i can't actually read it or find it in my purchased contents list. amazon took my money, but i don't have my book and i don't want to complain to amazon because i was technically lying about my location.

If it doesn't show up at https://read.amazon.co.jp/ then you were probably robbed.

The Kindle apps (as far as I know) only work with one regional Amazon at a time. I've considered buying English books on the Japanese Amazon to not have to deal with whatever hassle is involved with switching accounts. Once you buy one book from Amazon Japan, you should be able to buy others without needing a Japanese IP.

I have the Japanese Turks novel e-book, but only the physical OWS.

 

[Strangelove]

If it doesn't show up at https://read.amazon.co.jp/ then you were probably robbed.

i checked that before but didn't see them, but checking my order history now it say the order was cancelled due to an issue with payment so at least i should have my money back. i might try again having set my account email to a different one from my .co.uk account

i might try again later, i mainly wanted to extract the text from the file more than anything

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

In Case of Shinra, chapter 4, there's a section of conversation between Rufus and Tseng which has been translated in several ways, ech translation siginifcantly changing the meaning:

Official English localisation


The fan translation on this website:

“Tseng.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m sure you’ve had enough—”

“There are still many things that only Shin-Ra can accomplish.”

Rufus nodded satisfied at his response.

“I’m sure this will be fun.”

The line "I'm sure you've had enough" has sometimes been translated as "I'm sure you've been reprimanded."

One fan theorised as follows:

The text should read:

“Tseng. I thought you would’ve learned your lesson by now, but –”​

“There are still many things that only Shinra can accomplish.”​

Rufus nodded, satisfied with that response.​

“This will be fun.”​

(shoutouts to @quicksilver-fair for doing the heavy lifting on the translation)

the important thing to note here is how harsh rufus’s verbage actually is in japanese. the word that he uses for “learned your lesson” is derived from the word meaning “to discipline” – which is why the original fan translation had this line as “I’m sure you’ve been reprimanded, but –”

There's a really big diffence between Tseng getting disciplined (for what offense, I don't know) and Tseng being ready to hang up his gun and retire! I wonder where the truth lies. Meanwhile, it seems to me one ought, on principle, to take the official localisation at face value.

 

[Strangelove]

「もう懲りたと思っていたが――」

懲りる is to have some bad experience as the result of a mistake/etc. and to decide not to do that thing again, to be done with something. idk why the first example that came to mind for me is 「男なんて懲りたはずなのに」(i thought i was done with men) from disney's hercules but it's probably because i can relate to that

the other word for 'discipline' is probably 懲らす／懲らしめる but i don't know if i'd called 懲りる 'harsh'? (i guess the implication that tseng has messed up and suffered for it could be considered harsh). but him being disciplined isn't really being talked about here, except if you count being disciplined by his own screw-ups.

except for the 'reprimanded' version i think they all work. 'ready to retire' is a bit punched up (from the little quotes i've seen that seems to be the general tread for the book), but it works in the sense of 'this job has kicked me around enough and i'm ready to pack it in.' 'had enough' is a bit vague but still works. 'learnt your lesson' kinda maybe could sound like rufus is talking as if he was behind that?? but maybe i'm reading too much into that there

 

[Odysseus]

I've read enough Yen-press stuff to know that them spicing up the dialogue a bit is pretty common for them. One of the Japanese authors even commented on it, saying that the English versions of the characters sounded cooler.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Thank you so much Strangelove!
Which of them says, "This should be fun?" Is it Tseng, or Rufus?

 

[Strangelove]

rufus (「きっと楽しいぞ」 is too informal to be tseng speaking to rufus)

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Thanks!

So Rufus is saying something like, "I half expected you to tell me you're ready to pack it in," and Tseng's saying something like, "Not while there's work that only Shinra can do, sir," and this reply makes Rufus happy, and he tells Tseng they're going to have fun.

 

[Odysseus]

Shipping is once again the source of all translation inquiries, as is tradition.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Actually, and unusually, in this case, no.

Someone on tumblr was using that scene to argue the following
1. Tseng was bitter against Shinra and on the point of renouncing the company and Rufus
2. Rufus was mocking Tseng and reminding him that he'd screwed up
3. "This is going to be fun" specifically meant that Rufus was looking forward to using and abusing Tseng as a tool for his goals again

In short, the scene was used to argue that Tseng and Rufus didn't like each other and had a nasty working relationship in which Rufus enjoyed putting Tseng in positions of extreme danger - because he didn't care if Tseng lived or died.

I was pretty sure that this scene conveyed none of that, or at least not unequivocally.

You don't have to ship them to see them as allies who work together because they share goals and respect each other.

 

[Odysseus]

Oh wow, but this scene almost conveys the complete opposite of that.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

TBH I can't tell if they're just shitposting to provoke... a reaction? They're very anti Tseng/Rufus.
Elsewhere they argue that Rufus is a fundamentally good person - but they're contradicting themselves, because no good person would treat their most loyal employee (and friend) the way this person claims Rufus treats Tseng.

 

[Strangelove]

imo the ぞ at the end of「きっと楽しいぞ」kinda sounds like rufus not talking to himself, but more to emphasise to tseng that it'll be fun

i'm not really getting the 'rufus wanting to torment tseng' reading personally

 

[Odysseus]

They're very anti Tseng/Rufus.

Sounds like it's about shipping to me lol.

That's a pretty dumb take on RuPaul though, one of his defining traits is that he has class, unlike his father. He wouldn't endanger someone loyal to him for teh lolz.

 

[Rydeen]

TBH I can't tell if they're just shitposting to provoke... a reaction? They're very anti Tseng/Rufus.
Elsewhere they argue that Rufus is a fundamentally good person - but they're contradicting themselves, because no good person would treat their most loyal employee (and friend) the way this person claims Rufus treats Tseng.

Oh we're thinking of the same person again. I agree with some of their assessment on why they don't believe them to be compatible, but I think their interpretation (or as they would say, "canon," because their interpretation is always canon /s) of their relationship is far more antagonistic than it actually is. Honestly, I'd argue that their relationship isn't antagonistic at all. They understand each other quite well, and Rufus is the person who lets him be himself rather than oppress him like he is used to.

I wish this person would just call themself a theory crafter - they take the littlest dialog and then twist it to whatever their theory is while pretending that their theories are all canon to newcomers (the people whom they market to).

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Yes, we are


I don't want to get into a fight with them or reblog their post with a long addendum about why they're wrong. I just wanted to double-check for my own satisfaction.

 

[Rydeen]

Yes, we are


I don't want to get into a fight with them or reblog their post with a long addendum about why they're wrong. I just wanted to double-check for my own satisfaction.

I kinda want to, but they don't seem like the type that would ever admit they're wrong or even just partially wrong.

I'm honestly really tired of their pompous and choleric attitude, especially toward veteran Shinra fans, but I just can't wipe them off my feed because there are some legit good observations that come out of some of their posts. It also bothers me that all these newcomers are gonna walk around thinking all these theories are canon because the author won't engage debate (without copping a huge attitude) and refuses to acknowledge that they are theories. I think the real reason they never came to TLS is because they can't actually handle discussion.