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mad_le_zisell Feb 27, 2019 @ 12:52pm

Character names.

Will there be ♥♥♥♥♥♥ localised names or proper original japanese ones?

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Originally posted by Mich-666:

Originally posted by Battler Ushiromiya:
What part of "it's not ever said until the latest game" is hard to get. Besides, explanations were given in interviews. It's an alternate universe America where Japanese immigration laws were less strict, so its culture was allowed to better flourish. Also, if I recall right, California has the highest percentage of Japanese-Americans in the US living there.

Funny thing you mention this because by moving whole series to America you effectively break the 4th wall everytime you see japanese themed things like buildings or things on the screen. By 'not trying to lose some puns' you are basically rewriting whole game and creating even worse disconnection with everything a reader can see and what you had to 'localize' to fit your headcanon. You are literally bending the story to fit the locale you have created and that's even worse than losing some puns (which can be noted by furigana ingame if really needed). And the mere fact you have to EXPLAIN your localization on wiki or in interviews makes it even worse as every localization should be self contained, without any need to look for external sources.

And yeah, places like Kurain Village or are TYPICAL american towns. Not to mention the characters who wear kimonos, things like shogi or daruma or the presence of youkai. Heck, places like temples literally scream like USA, right?

https://aceattorney.fandom.com/wiki/Hazakura_Temple

Also, kanji for mayoi certainly means pure evening in japanese but do you know that mayoi also means indecision in japanese? The kanji is different but when you actually read the word you can have several meanings, right? Including things close to it like mayoigo which means stray child. Even japanese people can't actually tell by just hearing and they often need an explanation of kanji which is another reason why it is bad idea to localize those as you are losing the pun in all future references. Fey completely changes the meaning and makes that sound like she's someone who is crazy instead. How come this wasn't 'localised' properly to reflect this in Maya's name? /s

Originally posted by Battler Ushiromiya:
"When something smells, it's usually the Butz". It's not butchering anything, stop acting like it is, it's simply wrong.

You are joking, right? Yahari Masashi has nothing to do with smell and this chosen name actually doesn't reflect the pun the original had at all. The running pun with Yappari Yahari can be simply translated with 'If it's not Yahari again' without any big loss while the Larry Butz actually contributes nothing to this pun (even worse, it's creating sense of someone unwanted which wasn't the intention of the original as they are pals). In the same way, Ryuuichi is dragon, not Phoenix and his 'localization' falls off the table the moment when he meets Toranosuke (Furio Tigre, yakuza boss) and whole tiger vs. dragon rivalry gets completely lost in the translation. And there are many, many other similiar cases where the localization actually removes the pun.

tl;dr: english 'localization' of their names, places and things actually does more harm then good because the original intention of the author gets lost in the process.

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Showing 1-15 of 158 comments

MATT SUNSTON has Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Feb 27, 2019 @ 12:58pm

I mean, you can play in Japanese if that's what you want. The English version will only use the localization, for fairly obvious reasons.

Redblaze27 has Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Feb 27, 2019 @ 1:00pm

Names were localized because the character names are bad puns in Japanese qnd thay would be lost on most English players.

mad_le_zisell Feb 27, 2019 @ 1:00pm

I could, could I? Shame i can't read kanji.

mad_le_zisell Feb 27, 2019 @ 1:01pm

Originally posted by Redblaze27:
Names were localized because the character names are bad puns in Japanese qnd thay would be lost on most English players.

Do you think I care? There is one common rule for any good translator. Which is "Personal Names does not translate".

Redblaze27 has Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Feb 27, 2019 @ 1:12pm

Originally posted by mad_le_zisell:
Originally posted by Redblaze27:
Names were localized because the character names are bad puns in Japanese qnd thay would be lost on most English players.
Do you think I care? There is one common rule for any good translator. Which is "Personal Names does not translate".

You need to understand that this series was localized at a time when Visual Novels were not only extremely niche, but virtually unheard of outside of Japan.

Capcom was taking a risk localizing the original game and wrote it off as a one-and-done situation, but the game overwhelmingly exceeded their expectations that they needed to reprint the original game like 3 or 4 times to meet demand.

But due to wanting to give it the best possible chance and not thinking ahead to future games, they localized the game with the idea of it being set in Los Angeles, California.

Lili

Feb 27, 2019 @ 1:14pm

The names, sure, mustn't be translated… unless the names actually matter. It isn't a random anime where names and surnames just identify the character, you also get some hints by looking at the name, like Larry Butz (Masashi Yahari) is irritating or Phoenix Wright (Naruhodo Ryuichi)… is always right. Imagine you can't speak Japanese at all (or it's actually the case, I don't know), what do these names tell you about the characters? Absolutely nothing. AA is an exception to this rule.

mad_le_zisell Feb 27, 2019 @ 1:15pm

And that was stupid decision IUAM. Good games does not need localizing. It need translation. More to it, I equal any localising (read "renaming characters and changing places to US") with racism.

mad_le_zisell Feb 27, 2019 @ 1:17pm

Originally posted by Miles Edgeworth:
The names, sure, mustn't be translated… unless the names actually matter. It isn't a random anime where names and surnames just identify the character, you also get some hints by looking at the name, like Larry Butz (Masashi Yahari) is irritating or Phoenix Wright (Naruhodo Ryuichi)… is always right. Imagine you can't speak Japanese at all (or it's actually the case, I don't know), what do these names tell you about the characters? Absolutely nothing. AA is an exception to this rule.

WOW. Why did they haven't localised names in anime then? I watch episode, I hear names like "Ayasato Mayoi" and "Itonokogiri Keisuke" and i SEE that names in subs (in mirrored writing, but still). Why anime should be different from the game? Using your logic, of course?

Duckilous

Feb 27, 2019 @ 1:24pm

Eh, you can't please everyone.
I don't mind about the Japanifornia setting.

Lili

Feb 27, 2019 @ 1:28pm

For anime, there are two sets of subtitles: with Japanese and English names. Why didn't Capcom made the same option in the game? Because it wouldn't make sense as nothing in the game (especially vocals) is in Japanese.

#10

Redblaze27 has Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Feb 27, 2019 @ 1:46pm

Originally posted by mad_le_zisell:
Originally posted by Miles Edgeworth:
The names, sure, mustn't be translated… unless the names actually matter. It isn't a random anime where names and surnames just identify the character, you also get some hints by looking at the name, like Larry Butz (Masashi Yahari) is irritating or Phoenix Wright (Naruhodo Ryuichi)… is always right. Imagine you can't speak Japanese at all (or it's actually the case, I don't know), what do these names tell you about the characters? Absolutely nothing. AA is an exception to this rule.
WOW. Why did they haven't localised names in anime then? I watch episode, I hear names like "Ayasato Mayoi" and "Itonokogiri Keisuke" and i SEE that names in subs (in mirrored writing, but still). Why anime should be different from the game? Using your logic, of course?

Because the surprise fandom that formed around the localization found the names endearing and accepted them and the cringey attempt to pass off Japan as California (which actually lead to good concept to explain things as the series being set in a world where Japan never isolated itself and its people openly migrated around the world.)

#11

mad_le_zisell Feb 27, 2019 @ 1:49pm

Originally posted by Redblaze27:
Because the surprise fandom that formed around the localization found the names endearing and accepted them and the cringey attempt to pass off Japan as California (which actually lead to good concept to explain things as the series being set in a world where Japan never isolated itself and its people openly migrated around the world.)

Never understood that. I have one rule regarding any translate. "When you're translating, TRANSLATE, change nothing." Also by my personal opinion, 99.99 percent of any fandom are morons who can justify any fecalia fed to them.

Last edited by mad_le_zisell; Feb 27, 2019 @ 1:50pm

#12

Redblaze27 has Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Feb 27, 2019 @ 1:54pm

We are at a point where these names are not only nostalgic to players, but iconic in gaming.

Capcom likely isnt going to change this unless an overwhelming backlash happened.

That said, this is the PC. Mods happen.

#13

Redblaze27 has Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Feb 27, 2019 @ 2:28pm

I mean, I can empathize with their beliefs as I am generally against Americanizing Japanese media in localization, but Ace Attorney is one of those few exceptions where I feel the changes add charm to the experience.

And these changes arent drastic enough to the extent of something like Power Rangers, where both versions are capable of coexisting in the same market.

#14