And I'm gonna have to call bullshits here again, since this is tying into that
blasphemous Lifestream White translation. It's obnoxious. See
this is why people need to actual read what's written instead of knee jerking and spewing crap out, raising hell and throwing accusations for no reason.
Anastar said:
Furthermore, RF translated "koibito" as sweetheart. Therefore, that's the most likely translation of "koibito" in CoLW. If SE translates CoLW as "Cloud is Aerith's sweetheart", then it's safe to say that they were girlfriend/boyfriend during the game.
Lastly, that cannot be compared to what's said in RF about Tifa. In the first place, Nomura's quote says that he's talking about Tifa's characteristics, not her role in the movie. For that matter, the movie doesn't even portray her as Cloud's sweetheart, so how can it mean that? In the second place, Nomura didn't use Cloud's name, and Cloud's name isn't used anywhere on that page. So to think it mean that Cloud is Tifa's sweetheart is pure assumption. In the third place, Saeki tells us that part of the Japanese used makes it possible for his statement to be referring to FFVII as well as AC/ACC. In that case, it could easily be referring to Cloud's crush on her as kid, or Johnny's crush on her, or Rude's crush on her - all of which were made obvious in FFVII.
Goddamnit, this lie is frustrating, and I'm sick and tired of the backpedaling and butchering here. I'm gonna quote:
Though there’s been some debate about whether these words were used to refer to Tifa’s traits or to her roles, the word that became “dimensions” in the official translation was “tachiba,” meaning such things as “position” or “situation.” Basically, it refers to actualized, lived aspects of someone’s life, so “role” would make the most sense.
So, that leaves us then to identify who she’s like a mother to, is a close ally in battle to, and is a lover/girlfriend/desired person to. We know she’s like a mother to Marlene and Denzel, and is a close ally in battle to the rest of AVALANCHE. That leaves her to be a koibito to someone. Who else could it be but Cloud?
"Tachiba" means situations and/or positions. Actualization into reality. A third person, creator statement that is defining what she's done in her roles within the actual story of AC from Nomura's perspective. If you're gonna start trying to talk down and state what the Japanese sentence is stating, actually know what you're talking about. I don't know how many times hito, and dozens of other translators have repeated this. Hiding behind the "official" translation of the Reunion Files where it calls Rosso the Crimson of the Tsviets A MAN is ridiculous. The book is typo'd and mistranslated in english.
If she's taking up the role of a lover/sweetheart/fish lady then there has to be someone she's fulfilling that role for. If context is so important, then it should be obvious who that person is. It's a statement from Nomura regarding Tifa's actualized character.
Now let's jump to Lifestream White. Where Aerith called Cloud her koibito. This is THIRD PERSON RESTRICTED narrative. She (Aerith) is calling Cloud, her koibito/sweetheart/beloved/lover/fish person. Now if you can't spot the difference between Nomura talking, vs. Aerith, then you have schism with reality. An out of universe statement from a creator of a franchse =/= an in-universe thought from a character in the franchise.
Stop comparing apples and oranges.
The "context" is not the same, despite the two words being the same. Since context is now suddenly so important regarding a translation, please for God's sake, take your own advice and apply it here.
Aerith is not the director, or writer of FFVII or the Compilation. I think Aerith's awesome and all but I don't think she exists in reality or is breaking the 4th wall.
In contrast, CoLW *specifically* says that Cloud is Aerith's sweetheart. Nomura didn't say that about Tifa.
Wrong. Lifestream White *specifically* tells us that Aerith thinks of Cloud as a "sweetheart/beloved/lover/whatever damn synonym you want to use for koibito and be anal about." You need to stop focusing on these words in isolation and deliberately cutting them out of their context. It's misleading and wrong.
And why are you pinning that on us alone? The Cloti's who translated CoLW did the same thing. While Nomura's statement about Tifa was the only statement using koibito, Cloti's insisted that it could only mean a mutual relationship. Now, they're translating CoLW as "beloved", which does not necessarily mean a mutual relationship. "Beloved" can also mean one-sided. So if you wanna bitch about us, please bitch about what the Cloti's did, too
Lover could also mean one-sided! So could sweetheart!
What the fuck? It has nothing to do with the word, and everything to do with the
context and who's saying it.
There's no vast, right wing, Cloti conspiracy here. The word was chosen because of its elegance and narrative tone in regards to Aerith's thoughts and dialogue. No one fucking bitched about our use of the word "beauteous" in regards to describing Sephiroth's appearance in the story, yet I love how people are pissing vinegar over the word "beloved."
You need to take off the tin-foil hat and realize that the argument has NOTHING to do with whether or not "beloved" can mean a one-sided relationship, and EVERYTHING to do with the entire STORY not being equitable to a creator rapping about how Tifa is like Cloud's lover in a work of the Compilation. Quit turning hard work done by someone into a fucking pissing contest that not only insults the hard work of the people who brought the damn thing to you in the first place, but missing the entire point of the debate.
Hito and I seriously should've left the word as "sweetheart" to rickroll the fandom, apparently. LOL hilarious.