Shears/Sears Veld/Verdot

[Kuraudo.]

Hi guys, I'm trying to understand what's the official correct name for these two BC characters.

I know that in 10th anniversary Ultimania Verdot and Sears are written in this way. So:

"Verdot - Sears" in the Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Ultimania (jp: 2007)

"Veld - Shears" in The Kids Are Alright: A Turks Side Story (en: 2019 by yenpress) - The FFVII Advent Children Reunion File (2006)

Is that right? And what about On the Way to a Smile several official translation? Is Veld/Shears also in there?

BTW just my two cents:
ヴェルド "Verdot", the japanese pronunciation reminds me of both Italian (Verde) and French (Petit Verdot, pronounced Verdō) meaning "green". While the official translation has "Veld" which means field, a grassland.

 

[Roger]

The Kids Are Alright version would be the most recent official translation, so I'd use that if you yourself have no preference (I prefer Veldt myself).

 

[JBedford]

Veld and Shears was used in the Reminiscence of FFVII Compilation bonus feature with Advent Children Complete. Verdot was used in On the Way to a Smile.

Yeah, I would have to say that if you want the most "official" localised names then its Veld and Shears. I think the 10th Anniversary Ultimania had their names' actual origins though.

 

[Shademp]

I think the 10th Anniversary Ultimania had their names' actual origins though.

Do you mean like actual developer commentary regarding why the names Veld/Veldt/Verdot and Shears/Sears were specifically chosen?

I transcribed Veld's profile page (page 105, FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania Revised Edition) but found nothing there about the origin of his name.

Spoiler

ヴェルド
Verdot

厳格な態度に温かさを秘めた
タークスの主任

PROFILE
登場作品　『BC』
性別　男
武器　銃
出身地　カーム
一人称　「俺」


ツォンの前任に当たる、卓越し
た手腕を持つタークス主任。ター
クスにおける結果至上主義を打ち
立てた人物で、社長であるプレジ
デント神羅からの評価は極めて高
い。仕事のプロという立場を徹底
するあまり、ときには非情な命令
をくだすこともあるが、タークス
全員に気を配っており、それぞれ
に的確な指示を出すため、部下か
らは信頼されている。


「お前たちなら必ずできる。
いけ!」


「恐れを捨てろ。
誇りを取り戻せ」


【ヴェルド】
タークスとして優先
すべきことはなんだ！？

↑部下のなかでもツォンに
は、タークスとしてのあり
かたを教えるなど、とりわ
け目をかけている。


（仕事の間だけは
後悔と喪失感を
忘れることができた）

←タークスひと筋に生きてき
たヴェルド。大切な妻子を過
去に失って以来、仕事だけが
彼の支えとなった。

 

[Odysseus]

The joke is that he's such a minor character they never had to settle on a romanization of his name.

Given that OTWTAS is the most recent, I'd go with what it uses.

 

[Tetsujin]

Verdot and Sears are the superior choices imo, just sound better

 

[Shademp]

I have an allergic reaction to "Verdot". Veld is smooth like silk and I love it.

#TLSCivilWar

 

[Torrie]

I tend to call them Verdot and Sears respectively, because I was exposed to this spelling while binge-watching one of Before Crisis fan-translated playthroughs on YouTube. I remember having the same question, lol. Can't really help decide which is more correct or more iconic though

 

[JBedford]

Do you mean like actual developer commentary regarding why the names Veld/Veldt/Verdot and Shears/Sears were specifically chosen?

Sorry, my wording was ambiguous. I personally think the words that ヴェルド and シーアズ derived from were "Verdot" and "Sears". Therefore I believe that the Latin-text names given in VII 10th Anniversary Ultimania were right.

The joke is that he's such a minor character they never had to settle on a romanization of his name.

Given that OTWTAS is the most recent, I'd go with what it uses.

The Turks localisation is actually more recent.

I don't think the localisers of the novels were given any supervision when translating so they might as well be glorified fan translations. OtWtaS correcting Gelnika to Guernica might have meant something if it didn't also use "Scarlett"! But I was glad that Verdot finally got a localisation in an official title (as opposed to just side-media) and they used best name and didn't just copy the wiki.

Then Turks was released and I read a review that said they called him "Veld"! No consistency in naming even within Yen Press.

 

[Odysseus]

Oh man, I didn't realize it was different between the two (I need to read more carefully.) Yeah that's a mess, I'm betting they were only given main character names and left to their own devices for other things.

 

[Kuraudo.]

Is it "Verdot" also in OtWtaS?!

Anyway I had a discussion with another user that knows Japanese and long story short: "Both are possible translations."

Just FYI
"The Japanese has very precise and inviolable rules on phonetics, for example every consonant (except n) must necessarily have a vowel behind it. So when a Japanese creates a non-Japanese name in katakana, it will often be approximate. "Sears" and "Shears", pronounced in English, share the same result - シ ア ー ズ, so without more info from who created the name it becomes impossible to trace the original name with certainty. Ditto for Veld and Verdot, although Veld * perhaps * could be written differently in Katakana."

 

[Torrie]

"Both are possible translations."

Sounds like it's just the same story as with Cloud being "Kuraudo" in Japanese. (Hence your nickname ) Veld would sound like "Verudo", which is pretty similar to "Verdot", given its French silent "t" at the end.

 

[Chocobo Eater]

First name, Veld. Last name, Verdot. Let's go with that.

 

[Kuraudo.]

Ya the eternal debate on "how should this be translated from Japanese" purist vs localization. Curaudo or Cloud. Heh

The truth is we don't know after what "weapons" or items or whatever they want to name them. I mean Sears could be Spears and for Verdot they could have in mind many things perhaps Silk (Velo in Italian), or

I'm just throwing stuff there but ya... The fact is: Verdot / Sears was the first text out. Then we had Veld / Shears from novels. I wouldn't be surprised if Square Enix Stick to the last localization.

 

[Shademp]

Fun fact:
The FFVII Advent Children Reunion Files, a book released in 2006 that sports the rarity of having all the content in both Japanese and English, uses Verdot/Veld and Sears/Shears on the same page.

Spoiler: Page 96 crop

The translation "Veld" is seen again in a passage on page 97.

 

[Tetsujin]

They just can't make up their mind

 

[Makoeyes987]

Because Before Crisis has never been released in English, no specific localization has been given thought to the names of it's characters.

Coupled with various translators/localizers working on content specific to it with zero official direction, you get situations like these. Until a game truly utilizes and localizes the content of it's story, the names of it's characters exist in a localization limbo.

Cross your fingers for an actual game that settles the question.

 

[cold_spirit]

Fun fact:
The FFVII Advent Children Reunion Files, a book released in 2006 that sports the rarity of having all the content in both Japanese and English, uses Verdot/Veld and Sears/Shears on the same page.

Spoiler: Page 96 crop

View attachment 9165

The translation "Veld" is seen again in a passage on page 97.

This deep cut is just *chef's kiss*

 

[BioTeach]

I'm personally ok with both Verdot and Veld. I imagined Veld is a shortened nickname for Verdot. And for Shears/Sears I have to go with Shears because Sears just makes me think of the old department store.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I have an allergic reaction to "Verdot". Veld is smooth like silk and I love it.

This is the only correct answer.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

They're both aliases he has used from time to time.
I like Shears more than Sears.

 

[Odysseus]

Spoiler

OR

YOU DECIDE

Images are too big these days I tell ya.

 

[JBedford]

Both Verdot and Elfe come from French. Also the association with red wine just seems to suit his character.

I find it difficult to like the name Veld because I can only see it as a straightforward blind idiot conversion of ヴェルド.

 

[Shademp]

While my opinion remains that I much prefer the look and sound of Veld, nonsense though it may be, I have to take this moment to admit that up until this thread I had no idea that "Verdot" was French and that the ending T was silent. In the almost 17 years since the character Veld/Verdot was revealed, I have never heard the name spoken out loud which contributed to my ignorance on the matter. It at least makes more sense in my head now since before I was trying to wrap my head around why anyone would enjoy the name "VAER-DOTT (the way it sounded in my head) but now that I know it's French I understand why not everybody was objecting against it.

#TeamVeld

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I like Veld because I imagine him speaking in a South African accent because he's a hard case who'd kill you as soon as look at you. He squints into the sun.