Yen Press has acquired the rights to the Final Fantasy VII: On the Way to a Smile

[Dashell]

i saw some camera shots on twitter and someone noted as evil as sephy is aerith still had to note how good looking he was (in TLS white) ??

LMAO I saw that too. I went to look for TLS's translation to see if that was part of the original. Me thinks the translator was putting their own opinion in there just abit

 

[Theozilla]

LMAO I saw that too. I went to look for TLS's translation to see if that was part of the original. Me thinks the translator was putting their own opinion in there just abit

Eh it may be less subtle and flowerly phrasing than “beauteous wall”, but both translations are essentially saying the same thing.


The most vocal reactions I’ve seen on social media are a couple of clerith fans who are upset that the translator didn’t translate “kobito” as “lover” (even though TLS didn’t translate it that way either).

 

[Dashell]

The most vocal reactions I’ve seen on social media are a couple of clerith fans who are upset that the translator didn’t translate “kobito” as “lover” (even though TLS didn’t translate it that way either).

Yeah... I didn't want to bring that up but since someone else did, I have to wonder if these people who are upset about the localization are mostly Clerith fans. (Marlene also refers to Cloud and Tifa as her parents, and it specifically says Tifa is sitting up in bed when she asks Cloud if he loves her )

Though I'll admit, the way they DID translate the koibito line was a bit... odd. It was almost as if they knew about the LTD nonsense or something. Both the French and German translation used a word for lover so... who knows?

 

[T@ctic]

Yeah... I didn't want to bring that up but since someone else did, I have to wonder if these people who are upset about the localization are mostly Clerith fans. (Marlene also refers to Cloud and Tifa as her parents, and it specifically says Tifa is sitting up in bed when she asks Cloud if he loves her )

even as a fan i didn't expect that...

maybe they probably did know about TLS drama, it's not a particularly popular book outside of the dedicated fans so i wouldn't be surprised.

 

[CrashOuch]

I'm pretty sure they're aware, at least vaguely, of the LTD. It's been around a lot longer than TLS has. And that scene always took place with them in bed, it just wasn't clear if it was the same bed or not, but it makes more sense for it to be, cos pillow talk is pillow talk, you know.

 

[Theozilla]

Another interesting thing I've noticed is that Yen Press/Melissa Tanaka decided go with the Verdot spelling, instead of Veld, in Episode Shinra. IIRC the English version of "Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII Compilation" used the Veld spelling. I wonder if Tanaka had to get approval (or was instructed) from SE for the Verdot spelling, or if the SE people in charge of approving the translation just didn't care and left it to Tanaka's discretion?

Also interesting tidbit about the translator, apparently Before Crisis is her favorite FFVII game.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/763408418610745344

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I received my copy a couple of days ago and just finished it.

Overall, I like what the translator did with each character's voice, and most of their word choices in general -- though the odd handling of the "koibito" line stands out as disappointing, as does the repeat of the mistake about Aerith's death from the first English translation of "Episode Tifa." (It should say that Cloud talked to Elmyra about Aerith's death, not that he informed her of it, as Reeve had already informed her in the original game.)

An excellent translation by far, though, and it's nice to finally have an English translation of the whole novella series sitting on the shelf at last.

 

[Lex]

Meanwhile, in Scotland

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Oof!

 

[Lex]

I have no idea why, it had the correct release date but it changed to that on the release date *angerfeisu*

 

[Shademp]

Kazushige Nojima himself posted on his Twitter about the English release of OtWtaS. Though I admit I have no way of confirming 100% if this is a fake account or not.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1063338845255565312

 

[Teioh]

There's this instagram account with the same name that has this particular photo. I don't know if that confirms if it is official or not The scarce selfie shots do look like him though.

 

[Lex]

Oh I finally got my copy btw. It arrived on Wednesday (the 21st of November, which if you're following my saga is not in the specified range of 24th Nov - 31 Dec. I find it likely this was a stock issue due to Yen press underestimating demand.

Happy to have received it early/ 10 days late, however you want to look at it lol. Just starting Barret's chapter atm. It's fantastic to have an official English translation of this finally.

Can I have a hardcover version now please. I've had the French one sitting on my shelf for years and I'd really like to replace it.

 

[Cthulhu]

Random TLS giveaway idea: I know some people can turn a paperback into a hardcover,

 

[Mage]

Not quite as swish as this, but I don't see why the heck not!

 

[Dashell]

I heard the Spanish one is coming out this week. 10 Years later and they're finally releasing these in all different languages. Spanish should be getting Ultimanias as well I believe... or they might already be out. I'm not sure

 

[Radigar]

@Dashell correct, the last 9 of April was launched on Spain:


In this translation, the choice was Veld instead Verdot, Aeris instead Aerith and Sefirot instead Sephiroth.

About Ultimanias there is still no information at the moment.

 

[Dashell]

Yeah I saw it here:
http://www.listadomanga.es/coleccio...a4UWJYyEbY6xDRkYBZVB_ormTUu2FgLqhGYIJqkKFQeyw

but yeah no release date or anything. Hopefully they come out for you guys soon.

 

[SailorStarDust]

Thinking about this book since I got a copy sometime after release. I found Episode Shinra especially enjoyable, though Episode Tifa was my favorite (Cid and Barret's banter was beautiful comedy gold, though).

I seriously love the great translation y'all did here, but what I especially like about Ms. Tanaka's translation is certain things weren't as redundant with Nojima's somewhat wonky prose? I personally enjoy the Compilation works as fun fanservice to FFVII (since FFVII proper is all I need to enjoy the story). Nojima's "Character thoughts and then a bunch of sentences" writing style is a confusing read! (Not that I'm saying I'm any better, despite being a 19+ year fanfic author )

Small example (I'm paraphrasing) that comes to mind: Tifa thinking Marlene is my daughter, that's how I introduce her to people. But Ms. Tanaka nixes that in favor of tweaking "Tifa called her daughter downstairs". I'm sure some would complain it's a not literal translation, but translation is always such a fine balancing act of literal vs pretty prose, that I didn't mind at all. (I was a little about "for she had loved him"—is "beloved"/"sweetheart" really such an odd choice? But, her translation seemed go for an intentionally straightforward approach to VII's world and characters, so.)

 

[Suzaku]

Just FWIW, that's a very Japanese way of writing prose, in general. Especially in light novels. There's a strong tendency to have voiced internal monologues, and extremely active narration, sometimes even asking rhetorical questions.

 

[SailorStarDust]

My Kanji-fu is too weak to read anything like novels, so thanks for the interesting clarification!