Kokichi Ouma

[Battler Ushiromiya]

The localization evidently messed up an incredibly important part of Kokichi's character. This Tumblr post outlines the issues the changes that the localization made:
http://oumakokichi.tumblr.com/post/166327441530/what-do-you-think-about-nisamericas-localization

The things detailed there are incredibly important for understanding his character, and is what turns his character from a good one to a great one, and I believe everybody should read this. There are spoilers for the entire game, so be warned.

[oursjulien]

For once I'm glad I did the French version where Gonta tries to speak like a real gentleman rather than Tarzan and where Ouma is much closer to his japanese counterpart x)

[Battler Ushiromiya]

I will say, I don't mind Gonta talking like Tarzan as much. It makes sense, considering that Gonta was raised far from civilization.

[oursjulien]

But as I read in one of the comment under the Tumblr post, (spoilers for the entire game)
I don't understand why would Kokichi decide to kill Miu by using Gonta if he was so against murder :/ ? Surely he didn't have to go this far to convince the others he was the mastermind ?

[Battler Ushiromiya]

Originally posted by oursjulien:

But as I read in one of the comment under the Tumblr post, I don't understand why would Kokichi decide to kill Miu by using Gonta if he was so against murder :/ ? Surely he didn'nt have to go this far to convince the others he was the mastermind ?

He didn't have any other choice. He didn't want to do it, but he had to. She would have killed him otherwise. I also believe that the things he said right before Gonta's execution, and a big part of the reason why he decided to sacrifice himself in chapter 5, was because of the fact that he did indirectly kill MIu.

[TildenJack]

Originally posted by Battler Ushiromiya:

He didn't have any other choice. He didn't want to do it, but he had to. She would have killed him otherwise. I also believe that the things he said right before Gonta's execution, and a big part of the reason why he decided to sacrifice himself in chapter 5, was because of the fact that he did indirectly kill MIu.

Of course he had another choice, as he realized what she had planned before they ever went into the virtual world. Killing her was just the easy way out. And doing it by getting Gonta killed was an absolute di.ck move.

And while the translation might not be entirely accurate, most of these points still come across well enough. So I don't see how they make him into a better character. If anything, they just make him look like a hypocrite.

[Battler Ushiromiya]

Originally posted by TildenJack:

Originally posted by Battler Ushiromiya:

He didn't have any other choice. He didn't want to do it, but he had to. She would have killed him otherwise. I also believe that the things he said right before Gonta's execution, and a big part of the reason why he decided to sacrifice himself in chapter 5, was because of the fact that he did indirectly kill MIu.

Of course he had another choice, as he realized what she had planned before they ever went into the virtual world. Killing her was just the easy way out. And doing it by getting Gonta killed was an absolute ♥♥♥♥ move.

And while the translation might not be entirely accurate, most of these points still come across well enough. So I don't see how they make him into a better character. If anything, they just make him look like a hypocrite.

I don't agree at all. I don't see any other way to stop Miu from killing. And he COULDN'T kill her himself because he had to survive to stop the mastermind, not to mention the fact that Gonta still killed her of his own will, as his own decision, Ouma just did something that would prod thta along.. And I don't agree that these points came across well at all. The translation here doesn't mention a SINGLE WORD about Ouma's hating killing. It doesn't even try to imply it.

[TildenJack]

Originally posted by Battler Ushiromiya:

I don't agree at all. I don't see any other way to stop Miu from killing. And he COULDN'T kill her himself because he had to survive to stop the mastermind, not to mention the fact that Gonta still killed her of his own will, as his own decision, Ouma just did something that would prod thta along.. And I don't agree that these points came across well at all. The translation here doesn't mention a SINGLE WORD about Ouma's hating killing. It doesn't even try to imply it.

1.Not entering the virtual world?
2.Telling the others what Miu has apparently planned? She's a weak person who's easily put down, so having her plans exposed could easily have discouraged her from trying to actually kill someone. Especially since that would make her far too suspicious after such a proclamation.

They could still have entered the virtual reality without her while someone like Kaito stood guard. They could even have tied her up first.

And Kokichi's motive video says he's the leader of a group that does nothing but petty, non-violent crimes. That's all you need to know to realize he's not a killer. Having his dislike spelled out directly just makes his actions worse.

[defective pancake]

Wait a second... Weren't you the one defending localization at some point? And you were completely fine with it? But when it comes to your favourite character and the way localization messed him up wou're all like "oh no this localization is bad". Being a hypocrite is such a fun thing, don't you think?

[shtanko]

Well, of course English Ouma is going to be different.Translated world is entirely new world anyway, especially when it comes to what kind of feeling audience should feel. Even names of objects have a different feel to it in different languages.

This person outlined differences between translations in such detail. They should write a book.

Edit: Of course, since I don't know this person, it's entirely possible that they nitpicked facts and mistranslations to fit their idea of Ouma, and there were mistranslations into opposite direction they decided not to include. But I'll never know the truth.

[Battler Ushiromiya]

Originally posted by defective pancake:

Wait a second... Weren't you the one defending localization at some point? And you were completely fine with it? But when it comes to your favourite character and the way localization messed him up wou're all like "oh no this localization is bad". Being a hypocrite is such a fun thing, don't you think?

I never said it was completely bad, nor did I defend it completely then. I defended the localization on some things, but not others. It's not go big or go home.

[Battler Ushiromiya]

Originally posted by shtanko:

Well, of course English Ouma is going to be different.Translated world is entirely new world anyway, especially when it comes to what kind of feeling audience should feel. Even names of objects have a different feel to it in different languages.

This person outlined differences between translations in such detail. They should write a book.

Edit: Of course, since I don't know this person, it's entirely possible that they nitpicked facts and mistranslations to fit their idea of Ouma, and there were mistranslations into opposite direction they decided not to include. But I'll never know the truth.

No, I've seen several different translations that translated them mostly the same way he did, specifically with Ouma hating killing and DICE having a no killing policy. I honestly think this is too big to brush off as a "natural localization change".

[Cerebral Daemon]

Originally posted by TildenJack:

Originally posted by Battler Ushiromiya:

I don't agree at all. I don't see any other way to stop Miu from killing. And he COULDN'T kill her himself because he had to survive to stop the mastermind, not to mention the fact that Gonta still killed her of his own will, as his own decision, Ouma just did something that would prod thta along.. And I don't agree that these points came across well at all. The translation here doesn't mention a SINGLE WORD about Ouma's hating killing. It doesn't even try to imply it.

1.Not entering the virtual world?
2.Telling the others what Miu has apparently planned? She's a weak person who's easily put down, so having her plans exposed could easily have discouraged her from trying to actually kill someone. Especially since that would make her far too suspicious after such a proclamation.

They could still have entered the virtual reality without her while someone like Kaito stood guard. They could even have tied her up first.

And Kokichi's motive video says he's the leader of a group that does nothing but petty, non-violent crimes. That's all you need to know to realize he's not a killer. Having his dislike spelled out directly just makes his actions worse.

I don't think neither of those would've worked.
Your first point would definitely have prevented Kokichi from being the murder victim, but Miu could've just as easily switched a few things in the simulation and chose anyone else as her victim. Given his apathy for murders, I doubt he'd see that as a worthwhile solution, nor would he be willing to take the risk.
As for the second point, from every character's perspective, Kokichi is a compulsive liar; he doesn't have the necessary credibility to expose someone like that. Plus, of course it would put Miu in hot waters had she actually carried out a murder after that, but that would've only applied after a murder had occurred; there would already be a victim at that point. and that's a no-no for him.

In my opinion, the fourth trial is where Kokichi was forced in a corner, and decided to try and save those he could no matter the sacrifices. He thought Miu's plan wasn't good because it'd either only save herself, or keep the killing game going, but he likely also thought that if he took things into his own hands, he'd be able to save more than a single person. I think that's why he went as far as he did, his priority was to save as many as he could, even if he himself couldn't be saved because of it. He probably weighed the importance of his moral versus the purpose that moral is meant to fulfill, and ultimately decided to try bringing down the killing game by any means necessary; which, if I'm correct, would be quite the irony, because it means his moral became his motive, and he followed Kaede's footsteps despite saying in the first trial that her intentions were ultimately what the mastermind wanted.

[WizoDard]

I read the entire post by the anonymous guy, and I can kind of agree with him, but from my perspective I disagree with him.
I can see why he thinks people would misunderstand Ouma because you have to read in-between the lines so much to find out what he's really like, and most people aren't really good at that, but for me, I understood Ouma's character completely. I knew what he was like and what he was trying to get at after his motives were revealed. I certainly think he is a nice character who was forced to make rash decisions to stop the killing game. Personally, reading between the lines should've been mandatory for Ouma anyway. You've spent 4 chapters with him, at that point in the game you should've realized what he lies about and what sounds somewhat truthful.
For me, I understood Ouma's character completely based off of the localization of his character, but I can definitely see why others might not. I would just say that the Japanese version put the facts out there, but the localization version made you think more to find the true self of Ouma.
And the part about him being non-violent but the game not stating it well, I'm pretty sure it was very obvious that he wasn't a violent person once you saw his motive video. The motive video says specifically that his group did, " harmless, funny pranks " on people. Anybody who read that and compared it to his actions in the killing game, and his final line revealed by Kaito could easily understand what Ouma was like.
I just think it was easy for me to understand him, but I have no idea if this applies to anybody else...

[Battler Ushiromiya]

Originally posted by WizoDard:

I read the entire post by the anonymous guy, and I can kind of agree with him, but from my perspective I disagree with him.
I can see why he thinks people would misunderstand Ouma because you have to read in-between the lines so much to find out what he's really like, and most people aren't really good at that, but for me, I understood Ouma's character completely. I knew what he was like and what he was trying to get at after his motives were revealed. I certainly think he is a nice character who was forced to make rash decisions to stop the killing game. Personally, reading between the lines should've been mandatory for Ouma anyway. You've spent 4 chapters with him, at that point in the game you should've realized what he lies about and what sounds somewhat truthful.
For me, I understood Ouma's character completely based off of the localization of his character, but I can definitely see why others might not. I would just say that the Japanese version put the facts out there, but the localization version made you think more to find the true self of Ouma.
And the part about him being non-violent but the game not stating it well, I'm pretty sure it was very obvious that he wasn't a violent person once you saw his motive video. The motive video says specifically that his group did, " harmless, funny pranks " on people. Anybody who read that and compared it to his actions in the killing game, and his final line revealed by Kaito could easily understand what Ouma was like.
I just think it was easy for me to understand him, but I have no idea if this applies to anybody else...

Thinking Ouma is a nice character is here you're wrong. He's not a nice character, at all. He's technically on the side of the students, but that doesn't make him a good person

[BeastBox]

Originally posted by Battler Ushiromiya:

The localization evidently messed up an incredibly important part of Kokichi's character. This Tumblr post outlines the issues the changes that the localization made:
http://oumakokichi.tumblr.com/post/166327441530/what-do-you-think-about-nisamericas-localization

Interesting read. I wish they'd spent a little more of that big budget getting the dialogue more accurate in localization. It's kind of important in these sorts of games. :p