Yes! Since it wasn't likely that Ganbare Goemon 3 would contain any references to July, Los Angeles, or "chimbley sweeps", I never got to make a good reference to any songs by the Decemberists in the scene titles. (Let's face it, "Baby Needs a New and Shiny Prize" is kind of dumb.) Now, I was able to name one of my blog posts after the refrain from one of my favorite non-Beatles songs, "The Crane Wife 3."
Anyway, my plan is to basically put any errors (or possible errors) I made while translating GG3 here. Some of these have been mentioned before, and many of them come from Sarahsuke. You may want to refer to those old posts while reading this. Let's start from the beginning:
- Scene 2: The error comes in Ebisumaru's thought regarding Yae. Actually, I'm not even sure if this is really an error, but it's worth mentioning. I can't tell if "Gu hoo hoo hoo..." is supposed to be him chuckling or crying. Apparently, Ebisumaru has made comments about Yae's attractiveness in the past (Gaiden, for example), so he could be excited at the possibility of "borrowing Yae's body", to reference a later scene. Or, my previous interpretation could be correct, and he might feel that Yae's seriousness will keep him from being as laid-back as he likes to be. I'm really not sure about this one.
- Scene 3: The "bragging"/"conch shell" mixup. I think I went into enough detail in the post where I first mentioned it, but this is basically the one pun in the whole game that was horribly mishandled. A possible correction to the dialogue is also given.
- Scene 21: The name "Nekokichi." Is it just his name, or does it actually translate to some sort of title (like I had it)? Actually, I guess I could've called him "Fanatical Cat" or something like that, seeing as how the suffix "-kichi" means "maniac" or "fanatic."
- Scene 23: This is another pun. The word for "cold" and "wind" is the same ("kaze"). He could've been talking about how the wind carried his kite up to the roof, and then been reminded that he had some extra cold medicine to give to Goemon and co. After all, it seems kind of random that he would just start talking about his health all of a sudden. This pun would've been easier to deal with than the one in Scene 3. I would've had him say something about how the wind is picking up, it's getting cold, and he would be giving them the medicine so they wouldn't get sick. Easy, right? I may or may not have been right in the video. Once again, I'm not entirely sure.
- Scene 29: Who exactly is Chukichi talking about when he mentions the hot spring? Do the Omikuji Siblings go there to avoid being beaten, and the memories of their abusive leader are flooding back to Chukichi at that moment? (The part I translated as "Remember that!" really just means "remembering.") Or was I right? We'll never know...
- Scene 34: Sarahsuke suggested that "Karakuri Paaku" should be translated as "Mechanical Park," which makes more sense than "Mechanical Pack" (I guess I tried to tell myself that that was the name of the group including the Omikuji Siblings, Bismaru, and Jurokubei). The Mechanical Park is the area where the last dungeon and the door are located.
- Ending: The phrase I translated as "Manji Fortification" at the beginning should actually be "Manji Hold." Apparently, a Manji Hold is some sort of wrestling move. Ha, the fact that Jurokubei thought he could get Impact in a wrestling hold seems quite ludicrous to me. Also, I think I've come up with a halfway decent explanation for the very last part. The Wise Man managed to regain control of his time machine in the future, and he wanted to come back to the Edo period before he originally went to the future, so it would be as if none of this ever happened. However, he made a mistake and arrived a day too late. So, Omitsu, Goemon, and Ebisumaru, understandably, freak out when the Wise Man suddenly appears out of thin air. This is my best attempt to come up with a good explanation for this confusing issue.
And that officially wraps up Ganbare Goemon 3 in English. I've been lazy, it's been five days since I started writing this stupid thing.
Anyway, I've finally got an idea for what to work on next for the translation project (but I still can't come up with any good ideas for fiction...ugh). Look out for that soon.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
GG3 - Part 9
Ganbare Goemon 3 (English) - Part 9
Excitement! Crazy, crazy excitement! (By the way, before I get sued or something, I should probably say that that particular quote comes from Dominic Monaghan.) I've accomplished my goal of getting all the major cutscenes of Ganbare Goemon 3 translated by the time I go on Spring/Easter Break, (with almost a week to spare) and I was able to release the final video on March 6, 2008. This week was hell, but at least I was able to finish these last two videos so I would have time to suffer in my room, the library, and the classroom without also worrying about making videos. Let's move on to GG3 scene analysis and scripts, one last time.
Scene 44: The Downside of a Great Mind
Goemon: What a strange room...
Wise Man: Hya hya hya hya! I am a genius, a great genius!
Goemon: W-Wise Man! Damn it, it seems like you’re being manipulated somehow! What happened to you?
---
Sasuke: Wise Man, are you all right?
Yae: It seems like the brainwashing mechanism made him that way...
Goemon: He’s not gonna wake up for a while.
Yae: Sasuke and I will take the Wise Man to a safe place in the town. Let’s go, Sasuke!
Sasuke: Wise Man...
Goemon: We should go further inside! Huh? Ebisumaru, what’s wrong?
Ebisumaru: I’ve got a bad feeling about this...(Shudder)
Goemon: Stop complaining! We have to defeat Shishi Jurokubei, no matter what!
You hear that, kids? If you're too smart, you'll get captured by a strange man wearing a nun's habit and forced to build evil robots for him. Recall from the opening to this game and a previous scene (Scene 20) that Bismaru stated that the Wise Man would be working for them from now on, and Sasuke mentions that he overheard the enemy saying that the Wise Man was working on a new model of the walker.
You may notice that the scene started with me playing as Goemon and ended with me playing as Sasuke. Just a free tip from me: the surge from Sasuke's surge kunai makes him the best character to fight against the Wise Man, IMO (even though I did lose 9 hearts during the battle...hey, I never said it was an easy fight). How ironic, eh?
Scene 45: The Giant God's Revival
Goemon: Wow! We’re really high up!
Ebisumaru: Goemon, that guy’s clothes are really loud...
Goemon: Ha! Loud clothes! What are you, scared? Huh?! I-Isn’t that Omitsu over there? And there...Ah! You’re the head of the mechanical bandits, Shishi Jurokubei!
Jurokubei: Indeed! Now, hand over the conch shell!
Goemon: What?! You’ve gotta be kidding! You should give me back Omitsu!
Jurokubei: Hoo...I’m acting like a gentleman, and you’re taking advantage of me.
Ebisumaru: (Goemon, we should exchange the conch shell for Omitsu.)
Goemon: Good thinking, Ebisumaru! Oy! Jurokubei, we’ll give you the conch shell if you give us Omitsu!
Jurokubei: I understand. On my signal, we’ll exchange at the same time! Ready...Go!
Ebisumaru: Ah! Goemon! Jurokubei--!
Goemon: Over here, Omitsu! Wha-Wha-Wha-Wha-What?!
Bismaru: Thank you! I knew you would help me!
Goemon: What the hell are you talking about?! Pest!
Ebisumaru: Goemon, did you really give up the conch shell?!
Goemon: Sorry! It slipped out of my hands! What could he want with the conch shell, anyway?
Ebisumaru: I wonder if this has anything to do with the Giant’s Revival that the hooded halfwits were talking about.
Jurokubei: Bwa ha ha ha! Fools! The real Omitsu is right here! I’ve got good news for you, though! Omitsu will be added to my collection of beautiful women! And you, you can have Bismaru! Take good care of him! And now, at last, my great plan for the Giant God’s Revival will become a reality! Omitsu, get ready to board the Giant of Legend! I will smash the rest of you and become history’s champioooon!
Goemon: Damn it! What’s gonna happen now?!
Ebisumaru: It won’t be good to stay here! Let’s use Impact to go back!
Goemon: But Impact’s all the way on the opposite side!
Ebisumaru: This isn’t good...
Sasuke: Goemon! Ebisumaru! Get in, quickly!
Yae: Now we’re even for what you did for me at the prison!
Jurokubei: I’m surprised that the Legendary Giant God is the splitting image of your robot! The appearance may be tacky, but I’ll show you proof of true strength! Hold on tight, Omitsu! Let’s go! Yaaaaaah!
Goemon: W-What’s going on?! I don’t understand what’s happening!
Ebisumaru: It looks like another time warp!
Sasuke: A rejection in Impact’s time machine circuit must have caused some sort of an accident!
Yae: This is gonna hurt...
Wow...this scene is long. Too long, if you ask me. And there's a lot of talking. On top of that, the game is controlling the message speed, so pausing at each new subtitle is recommended when you're watching the video, especially if you're not a very fast reader.
It turns out that "kyoshin" is better translated as "Giant God" rather than just "giant." Makes it seem more threatening and imposing, making it a proper noun and adding "god" to the title. So, I guess you could say that I made a mistake when I translated "kyoshin fukkatsu" as "Giant's Revival" in the past, or you could look at it in light of the excuse that I'm about to give now, which is that Jurokubei, being the arrogant bastard he is, feels like he is the only person worthy of the privilege of calling Dark Impact the "Giant God" instead of just the "Giant." The Omikuji don't have that right, and thus Ebisumaru doesn't know any better when he, too, says "Giant." Wait...does that even make sense?
This is the first direct mention of Jurokubei's beautiful women collection, although it is indirectly referenced when Koronda says he was going to donate Yae to him.
Speaking of Jurokubei, he uses a lot of slang that requires more research than usual to translate. I should thank Sarahsuke for helping me find some of these words/phrases for this and other scenes.
To be honest, I haven't watched the video in its entirety yet, but I imagine the lag is a real problem here, especially with the subtitles and the lightning. Stupid lag.
The last line in this scene used to be something like "I-It's so painful..." That makes very little sense, frankly. Even though the only word Yae says there is "Kurushii" ("painful"), I thought there would be a better translation for it. So, since Japanese doesn't really have a "future tense", per se, I decided that this would still work. Not sure which one is more accurate, but this one makes more sense, I think.
Scene 46: Be Careful What You Wish For
Lord: Every day is so peaceful. I’m getting sick of it!
Princess Yuki: Oh, father, you’re so imprudent. Hey, Kurobei!
Kurobei: (Meow, meow.)
Lord: Why does something like this always happen?!
Poor Lord and Princess Yuki. Naturally, they're always there when Oedo Castle gets smashed...or goes up in flames...or starts flying away...or gets transformed after getting hit by a strange beam from a peach-shaped flying saucer. Basically, besides the whole "royalty thing", they've got some really rotten luck.
The reason I didn't write anything right before Impact lands on the castle (when everybody's expression suddenly changes) is basically the same reason I never wrote anything whenever Goemon blew into the conch shell. The characters that go across the screen are essentially a sound effect that represents a loud rumbling.
By the way, I don't remember if it's ever explicitly stated that the Lord and Princess Yuki know that Kurobei is a ninja cat. Does anybody know whether this is true?
Scene 47: One Last Battle
Jurokubei: What the--?! This place! My aspiration to see the Edo period has been fulfilled! If you want to destroy such a magnificent castle, you’re just not normal! Hoo...So be it! After I destroy you, I will claim the castle for myself and return home! You will know the real strength of the Great Jurokubei!
I never knew Jurokubei wanted to see the Edo period so badly. Or that he wanted to own a castle from that period. See, you learn something new everyday.
And that wraps up the last Ganbare Goemon 3 scene analysis! I hope you guys enjoyed watching these videos/reading this thing and learning the true story. What's coming next? Umm...who knows? I certainly don't. Does anybody have any ideas?
But if anybody wants to help with a future project (if there are any), let me know ASAP. I'm looking for people to help with the actual translations, in particular, but if you've got some other skill that you think can help this project, talk to me and I'll see if I can find something for you to do. Instant messaging is probably the fastest way to communicate, but emails and messages on other sites work well, too.
So, I couldn't have done this without a little help from my friends. First, I owe a lot to Sarahsuke for helping me translate some of the more obscure words and phrases, and for pointing out my mistakes. Oh, and for reading the first versions of all my scripts and giving me her feedback that way. Also, thanks to everyone who commented, especially a friend of mine known as mysticalninjaduelist on YouTube. I know you were probably busy this past week, but I really looked forward to reading your comments every time I posted a new video. You rock! And, finally, thanks to all the members of Goemon International for being an overall great group of people and supporting me throughout this whole project.
Keep checking back here periodically. I'll be posting Goemon-related stuff here whenever I think of something. That stuff may or may not be related to the Goemon in English project, but barring any unforeseen circumstances, there will be more stuff to come soon.
Monday, March 3, 2008
GG3 - Part 8
Ganbare Goemon 3 (English) - Part 8
And now, I bring you Part 8 of Ganbare Goemon 3, released on March 3, 2008. This is another one that actually has less dialogue than you might think, and (for the most part), I left myself too much time for subtitles again. Oh well. The good news is that it didn't take long to get translated, and this has one of my favorite scenes in the entire game in it. Let's just move on to scene analysis, shall we?
Scene 39: The Continuing Story of the Omikuji Siblings
Kyo: Argh! Your strength is the real deal!
Kichi: Until now, we’ve always been the allies of justice!
Shokichi: But we have to trust Lord Jurokubei to take care of that now!
Chukichi: We are retiring, naturally.
Daikichi: We will return to being the Poor Storytelling Siblings! If you’d like to see us, you’re all invited. Well, that’s it from us!
"The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" was changed to "The Continuing Story of the Omikuji Siblings" for the purposes of Ganbare Goemon. Yep, another Beatles song.
Who would've guessed that the Omikuji Siblings used to be "Poor Storytellers"? Wonder what kind of stories they used to tell. Well, they probably weren't any good anyway. Of course, we all know what kinds of stories they're going to tell after this fight. All about how Mean Mr. Goemon (Hey, there's another Beatles reference!) beat them up and constantly made fun of them while doing it.
And if you want to know which color corresponds to each of the Omikuji Siblings, refer to the end of my post for Part 7.
Scene 40: The Door
Goemon: Phew...I’m surprised that they were so hard to handle!
Yae: The base’s door must be towards the north!
Ebisumaru: We have all 8 of the code plates here...
Sasuke: Now we just have to set them in the door correctly!
Goemon: Okay, let’s go give it our best effort!
Blah. I'm in a bit of a creative slump. Give me a break.
I can't think of anything to say about this one. Let's move on.
Scene 41: A Bee Stinging a Crying Face
Yae: Do you suppose this is the door to the base that the hooded halfwits were talking about?
Goemon: Well, this is just a glass ornament!
Sasuke: No, I’m guessing this is a very complicated device.
Ebisumaru: Eh? You think so?
Goemon: Well, if you say so, I guess I have to agree with you.
Sasuke: I’m guessing we have to set the code plates in those dents correctly.
Goemon: Oh, that’s too much trouble! Let’s just destroy it!
Yae: Wait! Attacking recklessly could be dangerous!
Sasuke: Insert the code plates!
Narrator: The green (yellow) button places the code plate. If you think you made a mistake, press the red button to remove it. And press the blue button if you want to stop. Well, try it and do your best!
---
Ebisumaru: I don’t think anything’s happening...
Goemon: Son of a bitch! We’re in a real crisis here!
When you put the code plates in, they read "Nakittsura ni hachi", which is a Japanese proverb that translates to "A bee stinging your crying face." Basically, it means that misfortune strikes when you're least prepared for it. When one thing goes wrong, everything goes wrong. Sounds like the story of my life...err, anyway, my thanks go to Sarahsuke for figuring that out.
This is one of those times where the game controls the message speed, so pausing at each new line is highly recommended. Especially the first one. I was forced to put the English onto two lines, because it's there for less than two seconds.
Does anybody else find it strange that the characters fall in the order of Ebisumaru, Yae, Goemon, and Sasuke right after putting the plates in, but when they're actually plummeting it's Yae, Sasuke, Ebisumaru, then Goemon? I don't know, it seems strange to me.
Oh, and I should probably explain what the colors of the Super Famicom buttons correspond to on the Super Nintendo. In the order that they are mentioned:
Green = Y
Yellow = B
Red = A
Blue = X
Scene 42: March of the Impact
Ebisumaru: Whew! Just in the nick of time.
Goemon: This conch shell...no, Impact, saved us!
Yae: It seems like the code plates were a trap set up by the Omikuji Siblings.
Sasuke: I never would’ve expected those idiots to put that much thought into something like this!
Goemon: All right, enough talk! We have to hurry and march into the base of the enemy to rescue Omitsu and the Wise Man from their clutches!
Sasuke: Let’s go, let’s go!
Not much to say here. Umm... Sasuke doesn't really say "let's go" twice, he just says something at the beginning of his sentence that indicates intensity. Yeah, that's about it. Moving on.
Scene 43: Pride, in the Name of Love
Jurokubei: You’ve come at last! But we’ve only been fooling around until now! Now, we start getting serious! Do you honestly expect to be victorious against the Great Jurokubei? Mechanical Formation 16! Go!
---
Jurokubei: Ack! That was too easy for you! I should give you a prize! Time for a different formation: Shishi Jurokubei’s Dangerous Special! There! I’m so sharp and handsome, it’s terrifying, don’t you think? Shishi Jurokubei should win now! Here I go! Agh! Bismaru, you’re getting in the way of my coolness and interfering with my big scene!
Bismaru: L-Lord Jurokubei! How can you say such things? This is a union of love! See! We will proceed by the power of two people’s faithful love!
Jurokubei: Agh! My big scene!
---
Owowowow! Ah! Ah! Yowch! Aaaah!
Jurokubei: Damn it! Bismaru! If you hadn’t come, I would have won!
Bismaru: Lord Jurokubei! Talking about the past like that isn’t going to change anything! First of all, the old man is still a hostage in the building...
Jurokubei: Oh! That’s a good idea!
Goemon: What?! The Wise Man?! Get ready for one more punch! Upper cut! This must be the building they were talking about.
Ebisumaru: Wow, that’s a huge building!
Sasuke: I can’t even guess where the Wise Man would be in there...
Yae: Leave it to me! I’ve got a plan! Get Impact’s arm in there!
Goemon: If we used Impact’s arm, we could all go in there...
Yae: Wait! Trust a woman’s intuition! Aaaaah!
Pride, in the Name of Love...derived from "Pride (In the Name Of Love)" by U2. Simply put, that song kicks ass. Anyway, Jurokubei brings the pride, Bismaru brings the love, and they've both got a ton of it.
Anyway, this is one of my favorite scenes in the entire game. I think Bismaru's sudden appearance makes this scene hilarious. Heh, "union of love" makes it sound like he and Jurokubei are getting married. Sorry, buddy, I know that would probably be a dream come true for you, but it ain't happening.
A lot of Jurokubei's dialogue is really awkward, but that's because it can be difficult to translate all the slang he's using. I think it's all there, though, maybe with a little more, unfortunately.
Notice how Jurokubei refers to himself in the third person a lot. I guess he's so arrogant, he loves hearing the sound of his own name. I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not, but he also constantly adds the honorific suffix "sama" to the end of his name (Goemon does, too, so maybe it runs in the family or something). Sama is a suffix of great respect, so it's just another sign of how full of himself he really is. I like to put "The Great Jurokubei" as much as possible. Something like "ore-sama" (which just means I or me) is a bit tougher to do something like that. If somebody wants to do me a favor, could they see if "ore-sama" was what was translated as Dochuki's "my illustrious self" in the English version of Goemon's Great Adventure?
I'm pretty sure when Bismaru talks about the Wise Man being their hostage, he's talking about using the time machine to go back to the beginning of the fight and try again. Then you'd get something like what happened in a few episodes of Red vs. Blue, where Jurokubei would go back in time over and over again and keep trying until he finally wins.
So, that's it, I suppose. Just one more video. I'm currently swamped in schoolwork (damn you, midterm exams and reports!), so it'll probably be a while before it's released, unfortunately. The script is ready, but it's gonna be tough to get it up by the weekend. Sorry!
Still no idea what to do next. The likelihood of me writing the companion essay to "AVD" is becoming greater everyday. I'll talk to you guys again later.
(By the way, I think I've got the blog set up so that anybody can leave comments here, even anonymous users. In case anybody's interested.)
Thursday, February 28, 2008
GG3 - Part 7
Ganbare Goemon 3 (English) - Part 7
By some uncharacteristically good luck, I was able to get this translated on a Wednesday evening and upload the video on Thursday, February 28, 2008, a lot sooner than I had originally anticipated. How long did it take to translate this? Half an hour. That short amount of time is a testament to how much dialogue there really is in this in this video, which runs over 9 minutes. That being said, this video is proof that I was becoming a slower reader rather than a faster one. Anyway, enough about that. Let's talk about some scenes.
Scene 35: Every Gardener's Greatest Dream
Cook: Oh! I’ve been waiting for you! You own this field! In the olden days, this area was called Ninnin Village. I’ve been protecting this field for you. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be able to meet you! Oh! The Kappa’s favorite food is the bio cucumber! Should I plant the seed?
Sasuke: Do it!/No.
Cook: Well, I accept this seed, and I’ll put in the field. *Sprinkle, sprinkle.* Ah! I’m so sorry, but I’d like to see this happen quickly here. I have a house in the north. I’d like you to go there and try flipping the new growth switch. Please do this for me.
---
Administrator: Oh! An errand from the cook? Okay, I’ll put the growth switch on for you. You should hurry back to the field!
---
Cook: Oh! I’ve been waiting! I harvested it for you! A splendid bio cucumber! As expected, it was ready almost instantly, thanks to the growth machine. Ooh, look at the brilliant yellow! It looks so delicious. So, please take it!
Narrator: Goemon and allies obtained a bio cucumber. The cucumbers of the future are yellow!
Every farmer in the world is gonna want one of those growth machines! Too bad it won't come around until there are only yellow cucumbers. And what the heck does a "bio cucumber" taste like, anyway?
What is written in the English script as "*Sprinkle, sprinkle* is written as "paraparatto" in Japanese, which is an adverb describing something falling in large drops or sprinkling. I have no idea what a really good English translation for that could be.
This scene also solves the mystery of what you need the field for. Remember way back when, when Goemon and co. got a field for giving a bean to the guy at Ninnin Village (who, ironically, has the same name as the "Cook" in this scene)? Well, this is that same field, which brings up another question: What happens if you don't get the field before coming here? I'm pretty sure you can't go back to the Edo Period after you arrive in the future. And you don't need the field to proceed through the game...or do you? Maybe Bismaru never comes to Hagure Town or something. But if you can continue without obtaining the field, then are you stuck when you get to this point? I don't really feel like testing that out...
Scene 36: The Mighty Water Imp, Kihachi
Kappa: I am Kihachi the Kappa! Please remember that from now on. Oh! You have my absolute favorite food, the bio cucumber! I want to eat that! Hey, what do you say?
Sasuke: Well, okay./I’m not willing!
Kihachi: Seriously? You’ll let me have it? Thank you! I can’t wait to eat it! Mmm...delicious! Oy! I’ll give you my doorsteps as a present! Here!
Narrator: Goemon and allies obtained Kihachi’s doorsteps. ??? They’re actually code plates! The group really obtained 3 code plates!
The title is directly from Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon...I think. It's how Kihachi describes himself when you meet him in that game. I hope I got it right. I don't have the game with me right now, so I can't check. Oh well, that's the name of his theme music on the MNSG album.
Kihachi may instruct the ninjas to remember his name, but there's no indication that they remember him at all when they meet him in MNSG. Of course, since this is "the future", the Kihachi of MNSG probably doesn't know them, but the Kihachi of GG3 does, assuming they're the same person...err, Kappa. So, it makes sense that the ninjas wouldn't know who he is in GG3, but they should remember it in MNSG...unless they completely forgot about the events of this game, which seems unlikely. Ack! My head is starting to spin! Let's just move on to the next scene.
Scene 37: Fight or Flee
Omikuji: The 5 Omikuji Siblings’ robot expert, Kyo, is here!
Goemon: One after another...how many of you are there?!
Omikuji: There’s a reason we say 5 Omikuji Siblings!
Ebisumaru: Are you sure you’re not all just one person?
Sasuke: Come to think of it, they never appear more than one at a time!
Yae: It’s a shame we can’t see 5 hooded halfwits at the same time!
Omikuji: Grr! G-Give back the code plates you’ve collected! Return them immediately!
Goemon: What the hell are you talking about?! We can’t get into your base without them!
Omikuji: Well, so be it! I’ll show you how strong we really are! You can test our real strength! Unite, brothers, in the giant lottery robot! Come! Ka ka ka ka ka! Be afraid! Be very afraid! I’ll be boarding immediately to destroy all of you! Farewell!
Ebisumaru: G-Goemon, what are we gonna do?
Goemon: Humph! It’s settled! You know what to do! As for the giant, approaching robot...Run away, everybody!
Sasuke: What good is running away going to do?!
Yae: Goemon...this is no time for jokes!
Goemon: S-Sorry about that! Well, I changed my mind. Let’s go!
Goemon wants to run away from a fight?! That seems oddly out of character for him. Hmm...
I was a little confused about what the word "bibitta" meant for a while. And then I found out that it's probably related to "bibiru", which has to do with being scared out of your wits. I translated it as "Be afraid! Be very afraid!", but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be a lot stronger than that. I was wondering how far I could go with that translation, but I decided to stick with that instead of going overboard and putting in more stuff than what's actually there.
Also, am I the only one who thinks it's funny that Kyo laughs like Popeye ("Ka ka ka ka ka!")? Does anybody else even remember who Popeye is?
Scene 38: A Lottery Nobody Wants to Play
Kyo: Wa ha ha! Aren’t you surprised?!
Kichi: Until now, you idiots have been cruelly teasing us...
Shokichi: But not anymore! That won’t happen again!
Chukichi: We will give you plenty of thank you gifts for the way you’ve treated us!
Daikichi: The 5 Omikuji Siblings of Love and Justice!
Kyo: Time to play the deluxe lottery!
iMovie still doesn't like the character heads that show up when the opponent says something. So, I put the specific character names in the script instead of calling them all "Omikuji." The names, with their corresponding colors, are as follows:
Kyo = Black
Kichi = Green
Shokichi = Orange
Chukichi = Blue
Daikichi = Gray
I think I might have gotten Shokichi's line wrong, but other than that I might be okay.
One last thing before I go: I thought for sure I finally had a handle on what was causing the frame rate issues with the past videos, but it looks like I was wrong. So...I don't know what to say, except sorry that they're so hard to watch. Why the GG3 ending was able to avoid it is still beyond me.
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this anyway. Only two more to go.
Monday, February 25, 2008
GG3 - Part 6
Ganbare Goemon 3 (English) - Part 6
So, another week, another video. This one was released on February 25, 2008. I've got a lot to say about this one, so let's just get started, shall we?
Scene 30: Baby Needs a New and Shiny Prize
Demimua: I think my baby is going to be born soon. But I lost the charm my husband gave me, so I’m very nervous. Ah! You’re holding the charm my husband gave to me. Please, let me have it at once!
Yae: Well, of course!/I refuse!
Demimua: Oh! Thank you so much! With this, my heart is at ease! I’m sorry I can’t give you much, but please accept this.
Narrator: Goemon and allies obtained a lemon. It’s extremely sour.
The title doesn't REALLY have much to do with what's going on here. It was just my feeble attempt to make a reference to the Decemberists. You can find the line at the beginning of Part II of The Tain.
But, who knows. The charm could be shiny for all we know (it's almost certainly not new). It struck me as odd at first that this woman would place so much importance on an old charm, but then I realized that an "omamori" is supposed to have some kind of protective or at least reassuring power (like a crucifix).
Thanks to a good friend, it has also come to my attention that the name Demimua may be related to the way the Japanese pronounce Demi Moore ("Demi Muua"). They may be making a reference to the "Vanity Fair Controversy" (go here). The timing seems about right, since this game came out at the end of 1994.
Oh, and it was around this time that I realized that Goemon is probably saying all the things when you have choices like that. All four main characters have a distinctive way of speaking and emphatic masculine particles and words like "Teyandei" ("What the hell are you talking about?!") gave it away. Still, I'll keep doing these types of things the same way so as to reduce confusion.
Scene 31: The Cat Strikes Again
Merchant: Thief! Somebody please catch him!
Cat Thief: That’s still impossible! What happened last time won’t happen today! (Meow) Today, I won’t be eating the fish and leaving it as evidence! (Meow) Catch me if you can! (Meow)
---
Cat Thief: Ow! D-Damn it! (Meow) I lost everything I’ve worked so hard to gather, and then you caught me anyway! My life is just one mistake after another! (Meow)
Shop Master: Oh! Thank you very much! You took care of that sneaky little cat thief for us! I’m so happy, see how the tears of joy fall from my face! I’d like to give this item to you as thanks.
Narrator: Sasuke received the surge kunai. Lucky! This different color...
Yes, I called him "Cat Thief" again even though "Nekokichi" may actually be his name. It's for consistency's sake. It's really not very important in the grand scheme of things anyway.
There was a part where the "Shop Master" said something about his face and everything else getting wet from his "tears of joy", but I couldn't think of any way to put that in there without making it sound weird.
Oh, little side story from me. The very first time I played GG3, I ran into a nasty glitch at this part. Instead of getting the surge kunai, Sasuke was stuck with the firecracker bombs. There was no way to switch to the kunai from the bombs. So, since the surge kunai is required to continue the game, I had to start again from the beginning. It sucked, to put it nicely.
Scene 32: I'm not a Ghost!
Tamiko: Who’s there? I’m sorry, but I can’t help you right now. I’m busy with something...
Ebisumaru: Eek! Noppera-bo!
Tamiko: Eh? Ah, the face. I just packed this white wrinkle cream on my face. But I’m not really satisfied with this. I need something more...Oh! You, you have a great thing there! If you let me have that lemon, I will give you something rare and wonderful!
Ebisumaru: Hand over the lemon./I’m not interested!
Tamiko: Thank you! With this and a beautiful face, everything will be perfect! O, ho ho ho ho! Ah, that’s right, the rare gift! Yes, this! A cucumber seed. Nowadays they are very rare, indeed. But if you want to eat it, you still have to find a field to plant it in.
Narrator: Goemon and allies obtained a cucumber seed. Do they not have fields in this age?
The title is mostly a message to myself. I was convinced pretty much until I got this translated that this wasn't a normal human.
The Nopperabou is a ghost that has no facial features, but otherwise likes look a human being. I guess Ebisumaru was a little too freaked out to realize that this girl actually has a visible mouth. Anyway, Nopperabo are usually harmless, doing nothing more than frightening humans. You can learn more on the Nopperabo Wikipedia page.
This is actually one of the scenes where I went through it with every characters before eventually settling on Ebisumaru for some reason.
Why she wants a lemon so badly is still beyond me.
Scene 33: He's Stronger Than He Looks
Muscleman: Huh! I am the famous muscleman and hidden, unsung hero! Everyone calls me John! What do you want from John?
Ebisumaru: Move the rock!/Can I have your autograph?
John: All right, if you give me 100 ryo, I’ll think about it.
Narrator: Will you pay 100 ryo?
Ebisumaru: Pay./Goodbye, John!
John: Okay! Let’s get going!
---
John: Oh! This rock is very light! This will an easy problem to deal with! Well, there you go! Goodbye!
Yeah, in case you couldn't tell, I wasn't feeling too creative this week. I'm getting over a cold, and I've been getting even less sleep than usual. My apologies.
Scene 34: The Bath Lover
Omikuji: The 5 Omikuji Siblings’ bath lover, Daikichi, is here! Grr! The code plate again?! Furthermore, you have no manners, coming here just as I get out of the bath! As soon as I get out of the bath, I like to drink fruit milk. That’s really the only thing you can do.
Goemon: What?! I think lemon-lime soda is better! And then I turn on the electric fan, put my hand on my hip, and drink the soda while relaxing in the cool air. It’s really heavenly!
Omikuji: H-Hand on your hip?! I never imagined you would be so stubborn! Anyway, I don’t have time to take this slowly. I have to hurry back to the Mechanical Pack, before I get the chills!
Yae: I don’t really understand what that conversation was about...
Sasuke: Was that really an adult conversation?!
Ebisumaru: Goemon, I like coffee and milk the best...
Wow. I have to agree with Yae and Sasuke here. This has to be one of the dumbest conversations in the entire game.
Omikuji scenes have been pretty tough to translate in general. The conversations are so weird.
"Ramune" (the type of soda Goemon mentions) has its own Wikipedia page. Yuck! They've got wasabi flavored, and curry flavored, too. I think I'll just stick with lemon-lime. Goemon's got the right idea there.
Also, I've got a correction to the script, courtesy of Sarahsuke. I made an error in translating "Karakuri Paaku". It should be "Mechanical Park", not "Mechanical Pack" (I put that in because I was totally clueless about what that meant...I don't know what I was thinking. Lack of sleep again.), so the line should be "I have to hurry back to the Mechanical Park" instead of "I have to hurry back to the Mechanical Pack."
Well, that's all I can think of for now. There'll be three videos after this one, and I'm hoping to finish them either before or right after I go on Spring Break (March 13). I'll be taking a break from translations until after I get back.
I was hoping to have a second video ready this week (all of you with a calendar will notice that I have two weeks to do three videos). But, it didn't work out, so I'll try to get two sometime later. See you then!
Monday, February 18, 2008
GG3 - Part 5
Ganbare Goemon 3 (English) - Part 5
First released on February 18, 2008, this is Part 5 of my mission to translate the major scenes in Ganbare Goemon 3.
There were more road blocks while translating this one than usual. Of course, I'll discuss them in good time...meaning now.
Scene 25: Hey Bulldog
Taruyama: *Grr!* (I’m so hungry...) *Whine, whine, whine!* (You have something good!) *Whine, whine!* (Give it to me!)
Sasuke: (The dog wants the dog food.) Give./Don’t give.
Taruyama: *Whine!* (Thank you very much!) *Whine, whine!* (I want to thank you...) *Howl!* (...by giving you some treasure.) *Whine, whine, whine!* (Look! You can use this!)
Narrator: Goemon and allies obtained a charm. But this dog is a real smart aleck!
I know this dog probably isn't a bulldog, but coming up with this title was too easy for me. Why wouldn't I name the scene after a Beatles song?
As for the dog, Taruyama is almost certainly a male, and a vulgar one at that (which is probably the main reason he's referred to as a "smart aleck"). I figured this out not from the name, but by the words he uses. There's some masculine sentence endings ("ze", for example, which Goemon also uses frequently), and he speaks in a way that would be considered somewhat rude and low-brow by the Japanese.
Figuring out what to put outside of the parentheses was a bit of a problem here. When I was first transcribing it, I had written "Whine" every time "wan" and "waon" had shown up, hoping that I could come up with something to better represent the sounds of a dog whining. Even though there's two dogs at home, I couldn't come up with anything, so I eventually decided to just put a * at the beginning and end of each "whine." I was going to put them in parentheses, but the human translation is in parentheses. Even later, after I sent the first draft of the script to Sarahsuke, I changed the translation for "waon" from "*Whine!*" to "*Howl*", since it's basically just a slightly different, prolonged version of a wan/whine.
Scene 26: Devil's Savior
Devil: It’s so terrible. The nuns in this town locked me in there because of my swaying hips. I didn’t do anything bad. To express my gratitude, I want you to have my treasured performing hula hoop.
Narrator: Goemon and allies obtained a performing hula hoop. Push the green button while holding up on the control pad to stick to the pegs!
Devil: Good luck with your bending hips. Well then, bye bye.
Goemon: Humph! Goemon, the greatest thief in the world, will be bogged down with a ring like that! Hey, Ebisumaru!
Ebisumaru: Is that so? Well, this is my specialty! I can move my hips better than anybody else. Back and forth and back and forth...
I thought it might be interesting to contrast the devil, who's supposed to be the ultimate evil and the one who traps peoples' souls, with a savior, who by definition saves people. Just a thought.
I actually wanted to make some sort of Elvis reference in the title, since his hip-shaking was also frowned upon. But, sadly, I couldn't think of anything.
So, I actually thought this scene was pretty funny the first time I saw it, even before I dissected it. First, there's the idea that you walk into a church, destroy a mirror, and Satan pops out. Only in a Goemon game, right? Then, it wasn't too hard to figure out why Ebisumaru seems to trail off at the end, and Goemon is left speechless. My hypothesis was that Ebisumaru had become hypnotized by watching the devil dance.
Well, as you may be able to tell, both hypotheses were only half true. The devil that comes out of the mirror is probably not Satan as Westerners know him (that's my opinion, anyway; I suppose that could be up for debate). I should probably do some research into whether the Oniroku is a specific reference to something in Japanese mythology one of these days. Also, I don't think Ebisumaru says anything specific about being mesmerized by the motion of the devil's hips, but I guess it's sort of implied.
Even though the devil uses a typical exclamatory particle ("yo") several times, there isn't even one exclamation point in his sentences. The Goemon games are chock full of exclamation points, so this guy must be speaking really blandly.
Oh, one more thing. "The green button" on the Super Famicom is equivalent to the "Y" button on the Super Nintendo. In case anybody was confused by that.
Hmm...he said the nuns were responsible for locking him away. I wonder if Bismaru had anything to do with that.
Scene 27: Bomb's Away
Omikuji: The 5 Omikuji Siblings’ burning man, Shokichi, is here!
Sasuke: Hey! Isn’t this the hooded halfwit who threw us in prison?
Yae: Heh, hooded halfwit...well said, that’s a clever title!
Omikuji: Ooh! How rude! When you snuck out of the prison, I never thought we would chase you all the way to this place. You disrespected The Great Shokichi! But I have a secret weapon that will give me the upper hand here! Prepare yourselves for the Omikuji Bomb! Gu ha ha ha! Prepare to experience the destructive power of the Omikuji Bomb! What the--?!
Goemon: That was lucky! Thanks for giving us back the conch shell!
Omikuji: D-Damn it! That conch shell was a vital part of Lord J-Jurokubei’s plan for the Giant’s Revival! His plans will fail without it! Damn it, why didn’t I remember I had that?!
Ebisumaru: Plan for the Giant’s Revival? What do you mean by that?
Yae: Ebisumaru, he’s not here anymore...
Sasuke: Goemon! Call Impact right away so we can go destroy the dam!
Goemon: Damn it! I forgot all about that! We have to destroy the dam so we can save two towns. Okay...it’s been a long time since I used the conch shell...There!
Sasuke: Why are you wasting your time polishing it?!
Goemon: Hey, come on! I know I don’t usually act like this, but this calls for a change in attitude.
Heh heh..."Bomb's Away"...as in, "The bomb is away"...get it? Okay, I'll shut up now.
"Hooded halfwit" was first suggested several months ago by Sarahsuke as a potential translation for "baka zukin" for those who want to "get alliterative." I didn't have any better ideas, so I decided to go with that in the end. Thanks, Sarahsuke!
Well, there were two problems for me in this scene. The first is the part where Goemon is presumably cleaning the conch shell. I'm not entirely sure what the "kyu" is supposed to be, but if I had to guess, I'd say it's Goemon spitting. Again, I had no idea what to put there, so I left it blank, and tried to match the "...There!" with the end of the sound (though it's probably pretty tough to tell because of the skipping). Looking back, I probably could have put *Spit* or something like that. Oh well. The second problem is the very last sentence in the scene. I still have no idea what that means exactly, but it was my attempt to at least say something.
So...if Shokichi had the conch shell...where's the Omikuji Bomb? Hmm...
Scene 28: The Wicked Dam
Sasuke: I’m glad the conch shell has come back safely...
Goemon: Well, we have to head north towards the wicked dam!
Ebisumaru: Wicked dam is such a terrible name...
Goemon: Hey! I came up with that name!
Everyone: Argh!
Yae: Well, let’s hurry over there!
This one was probably the easiest to write this time around. Not much to say, so let's move on to the last one.
Scene 29: Meet Mr. Refreshing
Omikuji: The 5 Omikuji Siblings’ own Mr. Refreshing, Chukichi, is here! Grr! You destroyed the fort in the dam like you destroyed this place’s boss. From now on, we will call you the Quartet of Hooligans!
Goemon: Quartet? That’s for sure!
Ebisumaru: It’s definitely interesting...
Omikuji: Lord Jurokubei tries so hard to save society but you always ruin everything and make things difficult for us, the 5 Omikuji Siblings, the allies of justice! We always have to go to the hot spring in the snowy mountains to relax because of you! If you go there, we will beat you until you’re black and blue! Remember that!
Ebisumaru: Oh! Where is this hot spring?
Sasuke: I love taking hot baths! I can’t wait another minute, I want to go!
Yae: Yes, we should definitely go there!
Goemon: (Gulp)
Meh. This was probably a title that I had put in as a placeholder and hoped to change later, but I either couldn't think of anything better or didn't want to spend the time to think of a replacement, so I just left it the way it was and exported the movie.
I'm actually not sure if I got this one right. I have reason to believe that the Omikuji actually go to the hot spring to avoid being beaten until they were "black and blue". Maybe Jurokubei is an abusive leader? Anyway, my ultimate goal is to make videos that make sense, while sticking to the original Japanese dialogue as much as possible. Sometimes, it can be tough to do both. I think if you do it too much, you end up getting games like "Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon" that are filled to the brim with "WTF?!" dialogue.
And it looks like Goemon's thinking of Yae's body again. Get your mind out of the gutter, Goemon.
Thus ends another GG3 video. Let's see, what else is in the news...oh, yeah! I finally beat the DS game yesterday. Umm...all right. Go, Goemon!
Also, comment, comment, COMMENT! I really appreciate it when people leave meaningful feedback (i.e., more than just a rating). And I'm still looking for help with this project from anybody who can read Japanese. Let me know if you're interested.
First released on February 18, 2008, this is Part 5 of my mission to translate the major scenes in Ganbare Goemon 3.
There were more road blocks while translating this one than usual. Of course, I'll discuss them in good time...meaning now.
Scene 25: Hey Bulldog
Taruyama: *Grr!* (I’m so hungry...) *Whine, whine, whine!* (You have something good!) *Whine, whine!* (Give it to me!)
Sasuke: (The dog wants the dog food.) Give./Don’t give.
Taruyama: *Whine!* (Thank you very much!) *Whine, whine!* (I want to thank you...) *Howl!* (...by giving you some treasure.) *Whine, whine, whine!* (Look! You can use this!)
Narrator: Goemon and allies obtained a charm. But this dog is a real smart aleck!
I know this dog probably isn't a bulldog, but coming up with this title was too easy for me. Why wouldn't I name the scene after a Beatles song?
As for the dog, Taruyama is almost certainly a male, and a vulgar one at that (which is probably the main reason he's referred to as a "smart aleck"). I figured this out not from the name, but by the words he uses. There's some masculine sentence endings ("ze", for example, which Goemon also uses frequently), and he speaks in a way that would be considered somewhat rude and low-brow by the Japanese.
Figuring out what to put outside of the parentheses was a bit of a problem here. When I was first transcribing it, I had written "Whine" every time "wan" and "waon" had shown up, hoping that I could come up with something to better represent the sounds of a dog whining. Even though there's two dogs at home, I couldn't come up with anything, so I eventually decided to just put a * at the beginning and end of each "whine." I was going to put them in parentheses, but the human translation is in parentheses. Even later, after I sent the first draft of the script to Sarahsuke, I changed the translation for "waon" from "*Whine!*" to "*Howl*", since it's basically just a slightly different, prolonged version of a wan/whine.
Scene 26: Devil's Savior
Devil: It’s so terrible. The nuns in this town locked me in there because of my swaying hips. I didn’t do anything bad. To express my gratitude, I want you to have my treasured performing hula hoop.
Narrator: Goemon and allies obtained a performing hula hoop. Push the green button while holding up on the control pad to stick to the pegs!
Devil: Good luck with your bending hips. Well then, bye bye.
Goemon: Humph! Goemon, the greatest thief in the world, will be bogged down with a ring like that! Hey, Ebisumaru!
Ebisumaru: Is that so? Well, this is my specialty! I can move my hips better than anybody else. Back and forth and back and forth...
I thought it might be interesting to contrast the devil, who's supposed to be the ultimate evil and the one who traps peoples' souls, with a savior, who by definition saves people. Just a thought.
I actually wanted to make some sort of Elvis reference in the title, since his hip-shaking was also frowned upon. But, sadly, I couldn't think of anything.
So, I actually thought this scene was pretty funny the first time I saw it, even before I dissected it. First, there's the idea that you walk into a church, destroy a mirror, and Satan pops out. Only in a Goemon game, right? Then, it wasn't too hard to figure out why Ebisumaru seems to trail off at the end, and Goemon is left speechless. My hypothesis was that Ebisumaru had become hypnotized by watching the devil dance.
Well, as you may be able to tell, both hypotheses were only half true. The devil that comes out of the mirror is probably not Satan as Westerners know him (that's my opinion, anyway; I suppose that could be up for debate). I should probably do some research into whether the Oniroku is a specific reference to something in Japanese mythology one of these days. Also, I don't think Ebisumaru says anything specific about being mesmerized by the motion of the devil's hips, but I guess it's sort of implied.
Even though the devil uses a typical exclamatory particle ("yo") several times, there isn't even one exclamation point in his sentences. The Goemon games are chock full of exclamation points, so this guy must be speaking really blandly.
Oh, one more thing. "The green button" on the Super Famicom is equivalent to the "Y" button on the Super Nintendo. In case anybody was confused by that.
Hmm...he said the nuns were responsible for locking him away. I wonder if Bismaru had anything to do with that.
Scene 27: Bomb's Away
Omikuji: The 5 Omikuji Siblings’ burning man, Shokichi, is here!
Sasuke: Hey! Isn’t this the hooded halfwit who threw us in prison?
Yae: Heh, hooded halfwit...well said, that’s a clever title!
Omikuji: Ooh! How rude! When you snuck out of the prison, I never thought we would chase you all the way to this place. You disrespected The Great Shokichi! But I have a secret weapon that will give me the upper hand here! Prepare yourselves for the Omikuji Bomb! Gu ha ha ha! Prepare to experience the destructive power of the Omikuji Bomb! What the--?!
Goemon: That was lucky! Thanks for giving us back the conch shell!
Omikuji: D-Damn it! That conch shell was a vital part of Lord J-Jurokubei’s plan for the Giant’s Revival! His plans will fail without it! Damn it, why didn’t I remember I had that?!
Ebisumaru: Plan for the Giant’s Revival? What do you mean by that?
Yae: Ebisumaru, he’s not here anymore...
Sasuke: Goemon! Call Impact right away so we can go destroy the dam!
Goemon: Damn it! I forgot all about that! We have to destroy the dam so we can save two towns. Okay...it’s been a long time since I used the conch shell...There!
Sasuke: Why are you wasting your time polishing it?!
Goemon: Hey, come on! I know I don’t usually act like this, but this calls for a change in attitude.
Heh heh..."Bomb's Away"...as in, "The bomb is away"...get it? Okay, I'll shut up now.
"Hooded halfwit" was first suggested several months ago by Sarahsuke as a potential translation for "baka zukin" for those who want to "get alliterative." I didn't have any better ideas, so I decided to go with that in the end. Thanks, Sarahsuke!
Well, there were two problems for me in this scene. The first is the part where Goemon is presumably cleaning the conch shell. I'm not entirely sure what the "kyu" is supposed to be, but if I had to guess, I'd say it's Goemon spitting. Again, I had no idea what to put there, so I left it blank, and tried to match the "...There!" with the end of the sound (though it's probably pretty tough to tell because of the skipping). Looking back, I probably could have put *Spit* or something like that. Oh well. The second problem is the very last sentence in the scene. I still have no idea what that means exactly, but it was my attempt to at least say something.
So...if Shokichi had the conch shell...where's the Omikuji Bomb? Hmm...
Scene 28: The Wicked Dam
Sasuke: I’m glad the conch shell has come back safely...
Goemon: Well, we have to head north towards the wicked dam!
Ebisumaru: Wicked dam is such a terrible name...
Goemon: Hey! I came up with that name!
Everyone: Argh!
Yae: Well, let’s hurry over there!
This one was probably the easiest to write this time around. Not much to say, so let's move on to the last one.
Scene 29: Meet Mr. Refreshing
Omikuji: The 5 Omikuji Siblings’ own Mr. Refreshing, Chukichi, is here! Grr! You destroyed the fort in the dam like you destroyed this place’s boss. From now on, we will call you the Quartet of Hooligans!
Goemon: Quartet? That’s for sure!
Ebisumaru: It’s definitely interesting...
Omikuji: Lord Jurokubei tries so hard to save society but you always ruin everything and make things difficult for us, the 5 Omikuji Siblings, the allies of justice! We always have to go to the hot spring in the snowy mountains to relax because of you! If you go there, we will beat you until you’re black and blue! Remember that!
Ebisumaru: Oh! Where is this hot spring?
Sasuke: I love taking hot baths! I can’t wait another minute, I want to go!
Yae: Yes, we should definitely go there!
Goemon: (Gulp)
Meh. This was probably a title that I had put in as a placeholder and hoped to change later, but I either couldn't think of anything better or didn't want to spend the time to think of a replacement, so I just left it the way it was and exported the movie.
I'm actually not sure if I got this one right. I have reason to believe that the Omikuji actually go to the hot spring to avoid being beaten until they were "black and blue". Maybe Jurokubei is an abusive leader? Anyway, my ultimate goal is to make videos that make sense, while sticking to the original Japanese dialogue as much as possible. Sometimes, it can be tough to do both. I think if you do it too much, you end up getting games like "Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon" that are filled to the brim with "WTF?!" dialogue.
And it looks like Goemon's thinking of Yae's body again. Get your mind out of the gutter, Goemon.
Thus ends another GG3 video. Let's see, what else is in the news...oh, yeah! I finally beat the DS game yesterday. Umm...all right. Go, Goemon!
Also, comment, comment, COMMENT! I really appreciate it when people leave meaningful feedback (i.e., more than just a rating). And I'm still looking for help with this project from anybody who can read Japanese. Let me know if you're interested.
Monday, February 11, 2008
GG3 - Part 4
Ganbare Goemon 3 (English) Part 4
Hmm...I was going to include the video in this post, but it seems like I accidentally threw away the Quicktime file already, and I don't really feel like waiting for it to export again. It took about 20 minutes the first time. Oh well. The link up there should be good enough.
Anyway, yes, I know this is a long one (released after a longer-than-usual waiting period, on February 11, 2008). I was actually concerned that I might not be able to fit as many scenes as I had hoped I could, but thanks to some brutal cutting, I managed to fit as much as I originally planned. The long duration of this video is due almost completely to one scene. Speaking of scenes, it's time for some commentary.
Scene 18: All Squawk, No Bite
Koronda: Ga ha ha ha! I am this prison’s boss! (Squawk!) We’re going to donate your friend here to Lord Jurokubei. (Squawk!) But before we do that, I’ll be beating all of you! (Squawk!)
---
Yae: Thanks, Goemon! I owe you one!
---
Goemon: Humph! That was easy!
Ebisumaru: He talks big, but he wasn’t so tough.
Goemon: Come on, Sasuke and Yae are waiting.
Ebisumaru: Well then, let’s go!
The "gyaa" that Koronda has at the end of most of his sentences is a scream or, as I've used here, a squawk. This is similar to the way Kurobei and other cats end sentences with "nyaa" (Meow).
"Koronda" is the past tense of "Korobu", which means "to fall down/over." Kind of interesting when you look at the shape of his body. It seems that, like many enemies in the Goemon series, his appearance is based off of a Daruma doll, even though (again like many enemies in the Goemon series that are based off of a Daruma) he has arms.
Scene 19: Try to Run, Try to Hide
Goemon: This time period has the exact same walkers as the Edo period...
Ebisumaru: And Sasuke was able to find 4 of them. He did a good job.
Sasuke: When I was in the prison, I had a chance to listen in on the enemies’ conversation...
Yae: Kyaa! There’s a huge, weird robot coming from behind!
Goemon: Run!
Well, I was listening to "Break On Through" by the Doors when I was trying to come up with a title for this scene. Several minutes after the song had ended, I still had no idea what to call this scene, so I just went with my initial gut feeling.
Scene 20: Time for an Upgrade
Ebisumaru: Well, we did great, didn’t we!
Goemon: But the Wise Man’s inventions, the mechanical walkers, are terrible! They’re so fragile! Sasuke!
Sasuke: Be that as it may, Goemon, I won’t tolerate you insulting the Wise Man like that! Anyway, I heard from the enemy that the Wise Man was developing a new model of the mechanical walkers somewhere around here.
Yae: I wonder why the Wise Man is working with the enemy...
Ebisumaru: If that’s true, then we’re in big trouble!
Goemon: A new model of the mechanical walker...it won’t be a problem for this sly thief to get!
Sasuke: If I’m not mistaken, the prison’s factory building is to the south. We should gather information about how to enter the factory!
I never realized Sasuke was this impatient, even if it is about somebody presumably insulting the Wise Man. Then again, we've seen that his sense of humor is a bit screwed up. He really should lighten up. That's gotta be bad for his circuits.
Scene 21: The Cat Thief
Merchant: Thief! Somebody catch him!
Cat Thief: That’s impossible! I am the greatest thief in the whole world! Catch me if you can, though I’m certain you can’t! (Meow)
---
Cat Thief: What?! How did you find this place? (Meow) I ate too much of the fish I stole...I regret eating so much; I can’t move! (Meow)
Shop Master: Oh! You! Thank you very much for catching that sneaky cat, he’s really not as big as he claims. I want to give you this to express my gratitude!
Narrator: Ebisumaru obtained the reflection shuriken. Store energy and throw the shuriken, and it will bounce off things like walls!
I have no idea what the suffix "kichi" means in this case (I translated "nekokichi" as "Cat Thief"). I know it can refer to an enthusiast or a maniac, but I don't know if that works here. "Thief" makes much more sense, I think.
"Shujin" (which I translated as "Shop Master") actually just means master, or the head (of a household, for example). I put the "Shop" part in there to match it to his assumed profession.
Scene 22: Stupid is as Stupid Does
Omikuji: The 5 Omikuji Siblings’ Factory Manager, Kichi, is here! If you think you can get away from us so easily, you’re gravely mistaken!
Goemon: Pfft! You think I can’t escape? Haw, haw, haw, oh, that’s funny!
Ebisumaru: I heard you guys were stupid, but I never imagined you would actually be this stupid!
Omikuji: Oooh! I’d better keep quiet about my deep fried food before you idiots steal that, too.
Yae: A ha ha! You’re talking about fried food now? How stupid can you be? There’s no tofu here!
Sasuke: Don’t waste your time with this moron. It’s pointless to even try to talk to him. Quickly, let’s just get out of here!
Omikuji: Damn it! You tell me I’m stupid, but I think you’re the stupid ones! You can’t escape from this place and from us! There are many traps and mechanical bandits, and a door that requires 8 flat objects known as code plates to open. You have to set the plates correctly, or else you can’t enter the hidden base. You idiots don’t know anything about this door, so...
Sasuke: Aha, I see! If we collect the 8 flat code plates and set them in the door correctly, something good will happen.
Goemon: Well, we just picked up one of the plates!
Omikuji: What?! The code plate?! Argh! I can’t do this alone! I have to go for now. Farewell!
Goemon: Okay! Our objective is clear now, so let’s go!
Sasuke: The Wise Man and Omitsu must be in that base!
Ebisumaru: The problem is figuring out the locations of the remaining code plates.
Yae: We’ll just have to search the thieves' hideouts one by one.
Goemon: Mechanical bandits...I’ll destroy every one of them!
I don't need to tell you where I got the title for this, do I? I had a lot of ideas floating around my head, and this is one that I hoped I wouldn't have to use. One of my first instincts was to go with "When You're Stupid, You're Just Stupid", which is (I think) a line from "The Emperor's Club." This would've been my little homage to my mentor and favorite teacher in high school, as this movie was one of his favorites and he "quoted" this sentence several times in class. Unfortunately, he wasn't one for specifics, and I couldn't confirm on IMDB that the line even existed, so I just took the easy way out instead. Either way, it fits in with the general theme of the conversation, which is a "You're stupid!"/"No, you're stupid!" type of thing. Really mature, guys.
Oh, boy, was this one tough to write, and it certainly shows. The hardest part is the fried tofu bit, and I was really close to changing it to better fit what was going on, so that I don't confuse anybody with the randomness of the conversation. To get an idea for what I was going to put in, just replace the dialogue between Kichi (Omikuji) and Yae with the following (this is right after his hood ignites, I believe):
Omikuji: Oooh! You call me stupid, but I am rubber, you are glue...
Yae: A ha ha! Are you really gonna come back with something like that? How stupid can you be?
Yeah. Both options suck, really. But, in an effort to keep the translations somewhat accurate, I decided to go with the more confusing one. This is my best attempt, hopefully I don't have to do stuff like that too many more times.
I also left myself WAY too much time while recording the original video, apparently. There are subtitles on here that last over 9 seconds. I get kind of nervous when that happens, because it makes me feel like I might have missed something important.
I was going to show Sasuke grabbing the code plate, but cut it out for time. I later realized that it would be difficult to translate what's said when he grabs the plate anyway, since the symbols on the plate spell out one or more Japanese words when put together. I'll see if I can let you guys know what the full message is when you put the code plates together later on in the game. It would be really confusing if I did that later and said what sound was on the plates now ("ra" for example...and how would I translate a small "tsu"?). As a result, such lines will also be cut out of future videos.
Scene 23: Kites and Colds
Takosuke: Oh! That machine might be able to bring my kite back down! Please help me!
Sasuke: What do you need me to do?/I don’t want to!
Takosuke: I’m going to body slam the wall as hard as I can, and immediately after that I want you to punch with the machine. Get ready! Yay! My kite is back! And my cold is better, too. I know, I’ll give you and your friends this cold medicine, so you can feel better, too!
Narrator: Goemon and allies obtained cold medicine. With this, they won’t have to worry about colds anymore!
The word "tako" means "kite" in Japanese, so this is another name that is a pun. I don't remember if the other fat guys in this game were also called Takosuke.
Scene 24: You Should Really See a Doctor About That
Yorozuko: My father has a really bad cold, so we can’t open the store. (Sniff) I wish we had bought some cold medicine before. Ah! That medicine! Do you suppose this cold medicine can save my father’s life? Can I have it, please?
Sasuke: With pleasure!/I don’t want to give it to you!
Yorozuko: Thank you! Yorozuko is so thankful! I want to give you something to thank you, so wait right here. If my father drinks this medicine, his head cold will be cured in the blink of an eye! This delicious dog food will be my way of expressing my gratitude. It’s very tasty! Bye!
Narrator: Goemon and allies obtained dog food. Ebisumaru is drooling.
I'm not 100% sure about this, but I have a feeling that Yorozuko might be a combination of the word "yorozuya" (merchant) and "ko" (child, or young woman). Basically, that would mean she's either the merchant's daughter or a young female merchant, and both of them seem to make sense given the context of the scene. But that would make the line that I translated as "Yorozuko is so thankful!" even more awkward, so I just assumed it was her name.
By the way, I briefly entertained the thought of calling this scene "Take your Fun-Fun" as a reference to "Arrested Development", but quickly discarded the idea when I realized that nobody would get the reference.
Another week, another Goemon video. Even though I'm not really fond of this one in particular, I'm still very much enjoying making them.
Comments are very much appreciated, of course; feedback of any kind is very important to me. Remember that I'm also looking for help in translating these scenes. Tell your friends. (Hey, there's an Arrested Development reference!)
Hmm...I was going to include the video in this post, but it seems like I accidentally threw away the Quicktime file already, and I don't really feel like waiting for it to export again. It took about 20 minutes the first time. Oh well. The link up there should be good enough.
Anyway, yes, I know this is a long one (released after a longer-than-usual waiting period, on February 11, 2008). I was actually concerned that I might not be able to fit as many scenes as I had hoped I could, but thanks to some brutal cutting, I managed to fit as much as I originally planned. The long duration of this video is due almost completely to one scene. Speaking of scenes, it's time for some commentary.
Scene 18: All Squawk, No Bite
Koronda: Ga ha ha ha! I am this prison’s boss! (Squawk!) We’re going to donate your friend here to Lord Jurokubei. (Squawk!) But before we do that, I’ll be beating all of you! (Squawk!)
---
Yae: Thanks, Goemon! I owe you one!
---
Goemon: Humph! That was easy!
Ebisumaru: He talks big, but he wasn’t so tough.
Goemon: Come on, Sasuke and Yae are waiting.
Ebisumaru: Well then, let’s go!
The "gyaa" that Koronda has at the end of most of his sentences is a scream or, as I've used here, a squawk. This is similar to the way Kurobei and other cats end sentences with "nyaa" (Meow).
"Koronda" is the past tense of "Korobu", which means "to fall down/over." Kind of interesting when you look at the shape of his body. It seems that, like many enemies in the Goemon series, his appearance is based off of a Daruma doll, even though (again like many enemies in the Goemon series that are based off of a Daruma) he has arms.
Scene 19: Try to Run, Try to Hide
Goemon: This time period has the exact same walkers as the Edo period...
Ebisumaru: And Sasuke was able to find 4 of them. He did a good job.
Sasuke: When I was in the prison, I had a chance to listen in on the enemies’ conversation...
Yae: Kyaa! There’s a huge, weird robot coming from behind!
Goemon: Run!
Well, I was listening to "Break On Through" by the Doors when I was trying to come up with a title for this scene. Several minutes after the song had ended, I still had no idea what to call this scene, so I just went with my initial gut feeling.
Scene 20: Time for an Upgrade
Ebisumaru: Well, we did great, didn’t we!
Goemon: But the Wise Man’s inventions, the mechanical walkers, are terrible! They’re so fragile! Sasuke!
Sasuke: Be that as it may, Goemon, I won’t tolerate you insulting the Wise Man like that! Anyway, I heard from the enemy that the Wise Man was developing a new model of the mechanical walkers somewhere around here.
Yae: I wonder why the Wise Man is working with the enemy...
Ebisumaru: If that’s true, then we’re in big trouble!
Goemon: A new model of the mechanical walker...it won’t be a problem for this sly thief to get!
Sasuke: If I’m not mistaken, the prison’s factory building is to the south. We should gather information about how to enter the factory!
I never realized Sasuke was this impatient, even if it is about somebody presumably insulting the Wise Man. Then again, we've seen that his sense of humor is a bit screwed up. He really should lighten up. That's gotta be bad for his circuits.
Scene 21: The Cat Thief
Merchant: Thief! Somebody catch him!
Cat Thief: That’s impossible! I am the greatest thief in the whole world! Catch me if you can, though I’m certain you can’t! (Meow)
---
Cat Thief: What?! How did you find this place? (Meow) I ate too much of the fish I stole...I regret eating so much; I can’t move! (Meow)
Shop Master: Oh! You! Thank you very much for catching that sneaky cat, he’s really not as big as he claims. I want to give you this to express my gratitude!
Narrator: Ebisumaru obtained the reflection shuriken. Store energy and throw the shuriken, and it will bounce off things like walls!
I have no idea what the suffix "kichi" means in this case (I translated "nekokichi" as "Cat Thief"). I know it can refer to an enthusiast or a maniac, but I don't know if that works here. "Thief" makes much more sense, I think.
"Shujin" (which I translated as "Shop Master") actually just means master, or the head (of a household, for example). I put the "Shop" part in there to match it to his assumed profession.
Scene 22: Stupid is as Stupid Does
Omikuji: The 5 Omikuji Siblings’ Factory Manager, Kichi, is here! If you think you can get away from us so easily, you’re gravely mistaken!
Goemon: Pfft! You think I can’t escape? Haw, haw, haw, oh, that’s funny!
Ebisumaru: I heard you guys were stupid, but I never imagined you would actually be this stupid!
Omikuji: Oooh! I’d better keep quiet about my deep fried food before you idiots steal that, too.
Yae: A ha ha! You’re talking about fried food now? How stupid can you be? There’s no tofu here!
Sasuke: Don’t waste your time with this moron. It’s pointless to even try to talk to him. Quickly, let’s just get out of here!
Omikuji: Damn it! You tell me I’m stupid, but I think you’re the stupid ones! You can’t escape from this place and from us! There are many traps and mechanical bandits, and a door that requires 8 flat objects known as code plates to open. You have to set the plates correctly, or else you can’t enter the hidden base. You idiots don’t know anything about this door, so...
Sasuke: Aha, I see! If we collect the 8 flat code plates and set them in the door correctly, something good will happen.
Goemon: Well, we just picked up one of the plates!
Omikuji: What?! The code plate?! Argh! I can’t do this alone! I have to go for now. Farewell!
Goemon: Okay! Our objective is clear now, so let’s go!
Sasuke: The Wise Man and Omitsu must be in that base!
Ebisumaru: The problem is figuring out the locations of the remaining code plates.
Yae: We’ll just have to search the thieves' hideouts one by one.
Goemon: Mechanical bandits...I’ll destroy every one of them!
I don't need to tell you where I got the title for this, do I? I had a lot of ideas floating around my head, and this is one that I hoped I wouldn't have to use. One of my first instincts was to go with "When You're Stupid, You're Just Stupid", which is (I think) a line from "The Emperor's Club." This would've been my little homage to my mentor and favorite teacher in high school, as this movie was one of his favorites and he "quoted" this sentence several times in class. Unfortunately, he wasn't one for specifics, and I couldn't confirm on IMDB that the line even existed, so I just took the easy way out instead. Either way, it fits in with the general theme of the conversation, which is a "You're stupid!"/"No, you're stupid!" type of thing. Really mature, guys.
Oh, boy, was this one tough to write, and it certainly shows. The hardest part is the fried tofu bit, and I was really close to changing it to better fit what was going on, so that I don't confuse anybody with the randomness of the conversation. To get an idea for what I was going to put in, just replace the dialogue between Kichi (Omikuji) and Yae with the following (this is right after his hood ignites, I believe):
Omikuji: Oooh! You call me stupid, but I am rubber, you are glue...
Yae: A ha ha! Are you really gonna come back with something like that? How stupid can you be?
Yeah. Both options suck, really. But, in an effort to keep the translations somewhat accurate, I decided to go with the more confusing one. This is my best attempt, hopefully I don't have to do stuff like that too many more times.
I also left myself WAY too much time while recording the original video, apparently. There are subtitles on here that last over 9 seconds. I get kind of nervous when that happens, because it makes me feel like I might have missed something important.
I was going to show Sasuke grabbing the code plate, but cut it out for time. I later realized that it would be difficult to translate what's said when he grabs the plate anyway, since the symbols on the plate spell out one or more Japanese words when put together. I'll see if I can let you guys know what the full message is when you put the code plates together later on in the game. It would be really confusing if I did that later and said what sound was on the plates now ("ra" for example...and how would I translate a small "tsu"?). As a result, such lines will also be cut out of future videos.
Scene 23: Kites and Colds
Takosuke: Oh! That machine might be able to bring my kite back down! Please help me!
Sasuke: What do you need me to do?/I don’t want to!
Takosuke: I’m going to body slam the wall as hard as I can, and immediately after that I want you to punch with the machine. Get ready! Yay! My kite is back! And my cold is better, too. I know, I’ll give you and your friends this cold medicine, so you can feel better, too!
Narrator: Goemon and allies obtained cold medicine. With this, they won’t have to worry about colds anymore!
The word "tako" means "kite" in Japanese, so this is another name that is a pun. I don't remember if the other fat guys in this game were also called Takosuke.
Scene 24: You Should Really See a Doctor About That
Yorozuko: My father has a really bad cold, so we can’t open the store. (Sniff) I wish we had bought some cold medicine before. Ah! That medicine! Do you suppose this cold medicine can save my father’s life? Can I have it, please?
Sasuke: With pleasure!/I don’t want to give it to you!
Yorozuko: Thank you! Yorozuko is so thankful! I want to give you something to thank you, so wait right here. If my father drinks this medicine, his head cold will be cured in the blink of an eye! This delicious dog food will be my way of expressing my gratitude. It’s very tasty! Bye!
Narrator: Goemon and allies obtained dog food. Ebisumaru is drooling.
I'm not 100% sure about this, but I have a feeling that Yorozuko might be a combination of the word "yorozuya" (merchant) and "ko" (child, or young woman). Basically, that would mean she's either the merchant's daughter or a young female merchant, and both of them seem to make sense given the context of the scene. But that would make the line that I translated as "Yorozuko is so thankful!" even more awkward, so I just assumed it was her name.
By the way, I briefly entertained the thought of calling this scene "Take your Fun-Fun" as a reference to "Arrested Development", but quickly discarded the idea when I realized that nobody would get the reference.
Another week, another Goemon video. Even though I'm not really fond of this one in particular, I'm still very much enjoying making them.
Comments are very much appreciated, of course; feedback of any kind is very important to me. Remember that I'm also looking for help in translating these scenes. Tell your friends. (Hey, there's an Arrested Development reference!)
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Tenguto no Gyakushu
I finally beat Ganbare Goemon: Tenguto no Gyakushu yesterday. It's about time. I started the game sometime during Fall 2007, and I've been playing it on and off ever since. I ran into a major hurdle a while back, but overcame it on Friday and realized that the guide I was using had missed a step in the process of getting to the last part. Grr...stupid Goemon guides, all the ones I've used so far have been extremely vague, or downright false in some cases. It's actually pretty irritating.
Anyway, the game definitely ranks on the lower end of the Goemon scale for me. The N64 and SNES games are still far superior. The final battles in Tenguto were also disappointingly easy (which contrasted with the difficult random encounters), but I guess I shouldn't complain. They were long, but the bosses didn't put up a very good fight.
So, I'm working on the DS Goemon game right now, as well as some other games that I've been neglecting due to schoolwork and a roommate who hogs the TV. Man, every time I think about all the games I've had forever but still need to beat, my head starts to spin. There's a lot, let's just say that.
Anyway, the game definitely ranks on the lower end of the Goemon scale for me. The N64 and SNES games are still far superior. The final battles in Tenguto were also disappointingly easy (which contrasted with the difficult random encounters), but I guess I shouldn't complain. They were long, but the bosses didn't put up a very good fight.
So, I'm working on the DS Goemon game right now, as well as some other games that I've been neglecting due to schoolwork and a roommate who hogs the TV. Man, every time I think about all the games I've had forever but still need to beat, my head starts to spin. There's a lot, let's just say that.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
GG3 - Part 3, and Progress Report
Ganbare Goemon (English) - Part 3
This one was released only 16 and a half hours after the last one, on the morning of January 29, 2008. I'm just going to say right off the bat that this video has some of my favorite jokes so far, and that's probably why it was released so soon after the last one. I was really excited to share it. Of course, I'll go into more detail about my favorite jokes later.
Again, this one was pretty easy to translate, so I'm just gonna jump in to the scene analysis.
Scene 13: The Time Warp
Bismaru: Strong...they’re too strong...The great and clever Bismaru was charmed by someone else for once. But I guess you can’t blame him. I still have to take Omitsu away, though, because Lord Jurokubei ordered it. Bismaru pod, time warp! Until we meet again, farewell!
Sasuke: Ooh! He made a time warp!
Yae: Hoo hoo...He’s got a lot of nerve, running away!
Sasuke: Impact, time warp!
Yae: Phew...somehow, we’re okay. Eh? Something’s behind us!
Sasuke: Oh no! I can’t get away!
I think this scene is the main reason that this video is the longest so far in terms of time (by 25 seconds), even though it has the least amount of dialogue. I had a bit of a dilemma with this one. I thought it was very much out of character that Bismaru would say he was charmed by Goemon; I considered the possibility that it may have been the other way around (that Goemon and the others were so smitten with Bismaru, they didn't notice that he actually managed to escape, or something like that). But, what seems to be part of the Japanese dialogue is there, and it really does make sense when you remember that Goemon is an ancestor of Jurokubei (uh-oh...I hope everybody who reads this is familiar with the ending to this game). In other words, if Bismaru is in love with Jurokubei, it seems logical that he would also be in love with Jurokubei's ancestor.
Scene 14: Separated in the Future
Sasuke: What is this place? Is this the futuristic Edo? Ah! Yae! Are you all right?
Yae: Unn...I’m okay. Sasuke, where are we?
Sasuke: I think we arrived in the future, one way or another.
Yae: Where are Goemon and Ebisumaru?
Sasuke: Perhaps the impact of coming out of the warp sent them to a different place. That’s what I think, anyway.
Yae: Seems that way...
Sasuke: There’s no sense in us staying here. We should head towards the town!
Yeah, I don't think the writers were trying to put any jokes in here. After all, Sasuke and Yae are often considered to be the most serious characters. It's really kind of plain, I think, but it is necessary to move the story forward. Let's move on.
Scene 15: The Plum and the Curtain
Yae: It looks like we can’t continue from here.
Sasuke: Should we go back?
Omikuji: Ha ha ha ha! You! You’re the ones chasing the great Bismaru! But doing that is like trying to throw a dried plum at a shop curtain!
Yae: What is that supposed to mean?!
Omikuji: In Japan, there’s an old proverb that says if you throw a dried plum at a curtain, nothing happens. It just drops to the floor. In other words, it’s pointless to even try! Don’t you think you’re getting wiser here?
Yae: I can’t believe I have to talk to this idiot. What a ridiculous way to get arrested...(headache)
Sasuke: Well, what are you gonna do?
Omikuji: Hey! It’s incredibly rude to call me an idiot! Quickly, throw them into the prison!
First of all, I'm pretty sure the metaphor that Omikuji mentions (throwing a dried plum against a shop curtain) isn't a real saying in Japan. A "noren" is a short curtain that hangs from the top of the doorframe in most Japanese stores. Basically, this saying isn't referring to the drapes you put over your windows.
If you want to know more about what the name Omikuji refers to, I recommend Wikipedia. Now, I'm not going to give you the link to the actual page, but I will give you a link to a post in the Ganbare Goemon in English topic that has the link to the page. It's here. The more plugs for that site, the better, I say.
Again with the visual problems. Besides the usual frame rate issues, the barrier that's supposed to separate Sasuke and Yae from moving forward flickers on and off randomly. Otherwise, it doesn't really make sense that Yae says "we can't continue from here" when it seems like nothing's stopping them. But hey, they're able to jump over the barrier anyway, so I guess they could've continued forward if they had tried hard enough.
Scene 16: Ebisumaru's Eating Habits
Goemon: Uggh...Did we end up in the future?
Ebisumaru: Goemon...I’m so useless...I can’t move another step...
Goemon: What the hell are you talking about?! There’s nothing wrong with you, you’re probably just hungry!
Ebisumaru: That’s not true! I’ve been eating a lot of this grass, and I think it made me sick! I’ve been throwing up.
Goemon: Ebisumaru...even in the future, you’re eating grass?
Ebisumaru: B-But Goemon...I’m starving...
Goemon: Oh, shut up! Come on, we have to go look for Sasuke and Yae!
Probably my favorite scene so far. I figured out that Ebisumaru was eating grass pretty early on, and for some reason, it just made me laugh whenever I thought about it. I mean, what is he, a cow? And Goemon's reactions are just as great. Apparently, this isn't something unexpected for him. This scene just strengthens my belief that Ebisumaru is one of the best video game characters I've ever seen (he's definitely the funniest). I find almost everything about him to be incredibly amusing; I cracked up the first time I saw his walk in this game and Ganbare Goemon 4, for example. I thought it fit him so well.
Honestly, I don't know if this scene is REALLY as funny as I think it is. But it'll always stand out in my mind.
Scene 17: Plan of Escape
Goemon: Sasuke! You’re safe!
Ebisumaru: I was really worried! Huh? Where’s Yae?
Sasuke: I’m so ashamed! I underestimated our enemy, who was called Shokichi or something, and he threw Yae into a different prison. Not only that, but the conch shell seems to be in enemy hands.
Goemon: Damn it! Let’s go, you two!
Ebisumaru: Yes!
Sasuke: I’m going to go first and blow up the prison doors for you. I’ll also prepare our escape vehicles in the back. Yae’s freedom will be entrusted to you two!
I think it's funny how Ebisumaru says he was "really worried" about Sasuke when he wouldn't even move in the previous scene. Other than that, I really have nothing to say about this scene.
Overall, I find that I'm better able to utilize my resources to translate more of this stuff on my own. At the rate I'm going, it could take years before I'm even moderately proficient in written Japanese, so it's great to have so many great tools at one's fingertips.
OK, I'm going to end by apologizing for not having Part 4 ready this week. This is a result of being overly ambitious, extremely busy, and a little bit stupid. But, on top of all that, it simply wasn't possible to get a translation this past weekend even if I was ready. I started this blog two days ago to make up for this fact. But, progress is being made towards getting Part 4 done, so hopefully it'll be up next week sometime (cross your fingers).
This one was released only 16 and a half hours after the last one, on the morning of January 29, 2008. I'm just going to say right off the bat that this video has some of my favorite jokes so far, and that's probably why it was released so soon after the last one. I was really excited to share it. Of course, I'll go into more detail about my favorite jokes later.
Again, this one was pretty easy to translate, so I'm just gonna jump in to the scene analysis.
Scene 13: The Time Warp
Bismaru: Strong...they’re too strong...The great and clever Bismaru was charmed by someone else for once. But I guess you can’t blame him. I still have to take Omitsu away, though, because Lord Jurokubei ordered it. Bismaru pod, time warp! Until we meet again, farewell!
Sasuke: Ooh! He made a time warp!
Yae: Hoo hoo...He’s got a lot of nerve, running away!
Sasuke: Impact, time warp!
Yae: Phew...somehow, we’re okay. Eh? Something’s behind us!
Sasuke: Oh no! I can’t get away!
I think this scene is the main reason that this video is the longest so far in terms of time (by 25 seconds), even though it has the least amount of dialogue. I had a bit of a dilemma with this one. I thought it was very much out of character that Bismaru would say he was charmed by Goemon; I considered the possibility that it may have been the other way around (that Goemon and the others were so smitten with Bismaru, they didn't notice that he actually managed to escape, or something like that). But, what seems to be part of the Japanese dialogue is there, and it really does make sense when you remember that Goemon is an ancestor of Jurokubei (uh-oh...I hope everybody who reads this is familiar with the ending to this game). In other words, if Bismaru is in love with Jurokubei, it seems logical that he would also be in love with Jurokubei's ancestor.
Scene 14: Separated in the Future
Sasuke: What is this place? Is this the futuristic Edo? Ah! Yae! Are you all right?
Yae: Unn...I’m okay. Sasuke, where are we?
Sasuke: I think we arrived in the future, one way or another.
Yae: Where are Goemon and Ebisumaru?
Sasuke: Perhaps the impact of coming out of the warp sent them to a different place. That’s what I think, anyway.
Yae: Seems that way...
Sasuke: There’s no sense in us staying here. We should head towards the town!
Yeah, I don't think the writers were trying to put any jokes in here. After all, Sasuke and Yae are often considered to be the most serious characters. It's really kind of plain, I think, but it is necessary to move the story forward. Let's move on.
Scene 15: The Plum and the Curtain
Yae: It looks like we can’t continue from here.
Sasuke: Should we go back?
Omikuji: Ha ha ha ha! You! You’re the ones chasing the great Bismaru! But doing that is like trying to throw a dried plum at a shop curtain!
Yae: What is that supposed to mean?!
Omikuji: In Japan, there’s an old proverb that says if you throw a dried plum at a curtain, nothing happens. It just drops to the floor. In other words, it’s pointless to even try! Don’t you think you’re getting wiser here?
Yae: I can’t believe I have to talk to this idiot. What a ridiculous way to get arrested...(headache)
Sasuke: Well, what are you gonna do?
Omikuji: Hey! It’s incredibly rude to call me an idiot! Quickly, throw them into the prison!
First of all, I'm pretty sure the metaphor that Omikuji mentions (throwing a dried plum against a shop curtain) isn't a real saying in Japan. A "noren" is a short curtain that hangs from the top of the doorframe in most Japanese stores. Basically, this saying isn't referring to the drapes you put over your windows.
If you want to know more about what the name Omikuji refers to, I recommend Wikipedia. Now, I'm not going to give you the link to the actual page, but I will give you a link to a post in the Ganbare Goemon in English topic that has the link to the page. It's here. The more plugs for that site, the better, I say.
Again with the visual problems. Besides the usual frame rate issues, the barrier that's supposed to separate Sasuke and Yae from moving forward flickers on and off randomly. Otherwise, it doesn't really make sense that Yae says "we can't continue from here" when it seems like nothing's stopping them. But hey, they're able to jump over the barrier anyway, so I guess they could've continued forward if they had tried hard enough.
Scene 16: Ebisumaru's Eating Habits
Goemon: Uggh...Did we end up in the future?
Ebisumaru: Goemon...I’m so useless...I can’t move another step...
Goemon: What the hell are you talking about?! There’s nothing wrong with you, you’re probably just hungry!
Ebisumaru: That’s not true! I’ve been eating a lot of this grass, and I think it made me sick! I’ve been throwing up.
Goemon: Ebisumaru...even in the future, you’re eating grass?
Ebisumaru: B-But Goemon...I’m starving...
Goemon: Oh, shut up! Come on, we have to go look for Sasuke and Yae!
Probably my favorite scene so far. I figured out that Ebisumaru was eating grass pretty early on, and for some reason, it just made me laugh whenever I thought about it. I mean, what is he, a cow? And Goemon's reactions are just as great. Apparently, this isn't something unexpected for him. This scene just strengthens my belief that Ebisumaru is one of the best video game characters I've ever seen (he's definitely the funniest). I find almost everything about him to be incredibly amusing; I cracked up the first time I saw his walk in this game and Ganbare Goemon 4, for example. I thought it fit him so well.
Honestly, I don't know if this scene is REALLY as funny as I think it is. But it'll always stand out in my mind.
Scene 17: Plan of Escape
Goemon: Sasuke! You’re safe!
Ebisumaru: I was really worried! Huh? Where’s Yae?
Sasuke: I’m so ashamed! I underestimated our enemy, who was called Shokichi or something, and he threw Yae into a different prison. Not only that, but the conch shell seems to be in enemy hands.
Goemon: Damn it! Let’s go, you two!
Ebisumaru: Yes!
Sasuke: I’m going to go first and blow up the prison doors for you. I’ll also prepare our escape vehicles in the back. Yae’s freedom will be entrusted to you two!
I think it's funny how Ebisumaru says he was "really worried" about Sasuke when he wouldn't even move in the previous scene. Other than that, I really have nothing to say about this scene.
Overall, I find that I'm better able to utilize my resources to translate more of this stuff on my own. At the rate I'm going, it could take years before I'm even moderately proficient in written Japanese, so it's great to have so many great tools at one's fingertips.
OK, I'm going to end by apologizing for not having Part 4 ready this week. This is a result of being overly ambitious, extremely busy, and a little bit stupid. But, on top of all that, it simply wasn't possible to get a translation this past weekend even if I was ready. I started this blog two days ago to make up for this fact. But, progress is being made towards getting Part 4 done, so hopefully it'll be up next week sometime (cross your fingers).
GG3 - Part 2
Ganbare Goemon (English) - Part 2
I uploaded this, the second video in the series, on January 28, 2008.
I'm pleased to report that this one was pretty easy to translate, despite the fact that I found I had made an unusually high number of mistakes in the paper copy of the script. I guess I'm getting sloppy.
For some reason, I left out the scene where Yae gets her mermaid jutsu, as well as the other 3 characters getting their respective abilities. Honestly, I don't remember why I decided to do that. So, without further ado, let's just move on to scene scripts/analysis.
Scene 7: Dancing Shoes
Hanakichi: I got a little too excited while dancing during the festival and broke the strap on my sandal. Doggone it! Boo hoo hoo...Oh! That thing you have there...Is that the legendary crimson sandal strap? Please give it to me!
Goemon: Give / Don’t give
Hanakichi: Thank you! You saved me! I can be happy and dance again! To express my gratitude, I want to give you this enigmatic bean.
Narrator: Goemon and allies received an enigmatic bean. What on earth did he mean by “enigmatic bean”?
I guess there can be several explanations for where I got the title for this scene, but the one that comes to my mind right away is the song "I'd Rather Charleston" (At least, I think that's what it's called.). The line goes: "You're just a fellow who has got his brain in his dancing shoes." I think that describes this guy perfectly.
As far as I know, Hanakichi doesn't mean anything, so I just assumed it's the guy's name, and others agreed with me as well.
Scene 8: Yae
Yae: I finally found you guys!
Sasuke: It’s Yae! Perfect timing! We found a note in the shrine here and we were just about to go back to Hagure Town, because we need to get to a secret area in Ninnin Village.
Yae: Do you suppose the conch shell is in a cave? But nobody can get into that place without being able to travel underwater.
Sasuke: But if the Wise Man borrowed Yae’s body, maybe she would be able to enter...
Goemon: Y-Yae’s body? Come on, you can’t do that...gah, nosebleed!
Ebisumaru: G-Goemon! What are you thinking?! By the way, Yae, why were you looking for us?
Yae: Umm...Yeah...Actually, while I was on patrol, the ninja cat Kurobei told me about the Wise Man’s situation and I thought I could help.
Goemon: I didn’t know Kurobei knew about that. Hey, Yae, I’m sorry to drag you into this situation...
Yae: Well, we’re friends. Why would you apologize now, I’m already a part of this. Let’s go!
Hey, if I called Scene 3 "Sasuke", I can call this one "Yae", right? Wow, I'm so creative. I don't really know if I was considering any other good options for titles.
This one caught my attention pretty early on (even before I got a full translation) for one reason: Goemon's sudden nosebleed. For those of you who read a lot of manga (and that doesn't really describe me), you know what I'm getting at here. I took this as a sign that just talking about Yae's body was enough of a turn-on for him to get a nosebleed just out of the blue like that. Now, personally, I am very much against a GoexYae pairing, but this is the first real piece of evidence I've seen in any of the games that supports a possible relationship between those two.
Apparently, this is the first scene where I employed my usual practice of reading the Japanese script in slow motion to gauge time. There's a lot of time for each subtitle from here on out, and I didn't exactly display a lot of editing prowess in handling it.
Scene 9: Bird Gathering Ninjutsu!
Cook: Something terrible happened! The important chickens ran off! If we had the right food, we could catch the chickens right away. Ooh! Is that the enigmatic bean? Please, by all means, give it to me!
Yae: Give / What the hell are you talking about?!
Cook: Thank you so much! With this, I should be able to bring them back! With the power of this bean, bird gathering nijutsu! Oh, how they assemble! You were very helpful! To thank you, I will give you one of our fields!
Narrator: Goemon and allies obtained a field...So they’re proud land owners now?!
The title is a reference to Scene 2, where I used the name of the ninjutsu used as the title.
The ninja that Yae talks to is called "Itasan", which means cook. Itasan is a name that is attached to several NPCs in this game, but they all seem to be farmers rather than cooks. I almost called this guy "Mr. Ita", and I probably would've done the same for all the other Itasans that the group runs into. But, I suppose now I've gotta call them "Cook", even though they're clearly farmers or ranchers.
By the way, does anybody know if there's any significance to the parcel of land the group gets for helping bring the chickens back? It's not like you trade the deed later, but I can't remember if it's worth anything at all.
Scene 10: Bismaru's Mechanical Bodyguard
Bismaru: Oh, ho ho ho ho! I’ve been waiting for you. Look at this town, it’s so lovely and cleared away! Now it’s your turn! I give you the mechanical bodyguard!
Robot: G-Goemon...Gaaaah!
---
Bismaru: So shameless! Useless piece of junk! I will take the girl and smash you with my own enormous robot! Farewell!
Omitsu: Kyaa! Help me, Goemon!
Goemon: Damn it! Omitsu’s in trouble again!
Ebisumaru: Waah! We’re in big trouble! What are we going to do?
Yae: Ah! Look! That ugly robot is running away!
Sasuke: Goemon! Use the conch shell to call Impact!
Goemon: Okay! Huh? Is this thing broken or something?
Sasuke: You have to take a bigger breath!
Goemon: Argh! Fine, I’ll change the way I do this! I will overcome this! Let’s go!
"The Mechanical Bodyguard" makes more sense than "The Tricky Bodyguard", right? The word "karakuri" means tricky, but, according to Sarahsuke, it can also be used to describe "a mechanical device to tease, trick, or take a person by surprise." Also, this is the title Kabuki Forever gives himself in the GG3 Ending.
Scene 11: Impact is too Slow!
Goemon: Goemon Impact is a time machine? Well, at any rate, that pest is running away really fast!
Sasuke: Yae, pull that new switch there.
Yae: Okay! This yellow switch, right?
Ebisumaru: We’re not going nearly fast enough! Is something broken in here?
Sasuke: What do you mean by that?!
Goemon: Hey! Stop fighting over that! We have to chase this guy!
Ebisumaru: At this rate, it’ll be nighttime by the time we get there...
Ah. So that's why Impact's "rampage" is so sluggish.
Originally, I thought Ebisumaru was yelling at Yae for something. After all, the implication from Scene 2 is that he doesn't really like her (I probably should've mentioned that...). But, I guess he was yelling at Sasuke for something instead.
Scene 12: Bismaru Elegant
Bismaru: Bonjour! You’ve got some nerve coming here. It is dangerous for you here! It must have been love at first sight that brought you to this place! Unfortunately for all of you, however, this will be goodbye. Bismaru Elegant, transformation!
I liked writing this scene. In fact, I think Bismaru is a really fun villain to write for. You can go completely over the top with him, and it won't seem out of place.
Yes, you read that right. Bismaru is in fact a male, homosexual transvestite. Recall that Goemon, Ebisumaru, and Sasuke all refer to Bismaru as "he" or "him" in Goemon's Great Adventure. According to Sarahsuke, the term used to describe Bismaru is "okama."
And I don't know why Bismaru's head disappears for a long time like that. It reminds me of Bismaru's pod disappearing all at once in the ending, and something else that I'll mention in the next post.
And that wraps up the Part 2 analysis. I'll get Part 3 up as soon as I can.
I uploaded this, the second video in the series, on January 28, 2008.
I'm pleased to report that this one was pretty easy to translate, despite the fact that I found I had made an unusually high number of mistakes in the paper copy of the script. I guess I'm getting sloppy.
For some reason, I left out the scene where Yae gets her mermaid jutsu, as well as the other 3 characters getting their respective abilities. Honestly, I don't remember why I decided to do that. So, without further ado, let's just move on to scene scripts/analysis.
Scene 7: Dancing Shoes
Hanakichi: I got a little too excited while dancing during the festival and broke the strap on my sandal. Doggone it! Boo hoo hoo...Oh! That thing you have there...Is that the legendary crimson sandal strap? Please give it to me!
Goemon: Give / Don’t give
Hanakichi: Thank you! You saved me! I can be happy and dance again! To express my gratitude, I want to give you this enigmatic bean.
Narrator: Goemon and allies received an enigmatic bean. What on earth did he mean by “enigmatic bean”?
I guess there can be several explanations for where I got the title for this scene, but the one that comes to my mind right away is the song "I'd Rather Charleston" (At least, I think that's what it's called.). The line goes: "You're just a fellow who has got his brain in his dancing shoes." I think that describes this guy perfectly.
As far as I know, Hanakichi doesn't mean anything, so I just assumed it's the guy's name, and others agreed with me as well.
Scene 8: Yae
Yae: I finally found you guys!
Sasuke: It’s Yae! Perfect timing! We found a note in the shrine here and we were just about to go back to Hagure Town, because we need to get to a secret area in Ninnin Village.
Yae: Do you suppose the conch shell is in a cave? But nobody can get into that place without being able to travel underwater.
Sasuke: But if the Wise Man borrowed Yae’s body, maybe she would be able to enter...
Goemon: Y-Yae’s body? Come on, you can’t do that...gah, nosebleed!
Ebisumaru: G-Goemon! What are you thinking?! By the way, Yae, why were you looking for us?
Yae: Umm...Yeah...Actually, while I was on patrol, the ninja cat Kurobei told me about the Wise Man’s situation and I thought I could help.
Goemon: I didn’t know Kurobei knew about that. Hey, Yae, I’m sorry to drag you into this situation...
Yae: Well, we’re friends. Why would you apologize now, I’m already a part of this. Let’s go!
Hey, if I called Scene 3 "Sasuke", I can call this one "Yae", right? Wow, I'm so creative. I don't really know if I was considering any other good options for titles.
This one caught my attention pretty early on (even before I got a full translation) for one reason: Goemon's sudden nosebleed. For those of you who read a lot of manga (and that doesn't really describe me), you know what I'm getting at here. I took this as a sign that just talking about Yae's body was enough of a turn-on for him to get a nosebleed just out of the blue like that. Now, personally, I am very much against a GoexYae pairing, but this is the first real piece of evidence I've seen in any of the games that supports a possible relationship between those two.
Apparently, this is the first scene where I employed my usual practice of reading the Japanese script in slow motion to gauge time. There's a lot of time for each subtitle from here on out, and I didn't exactly display a lot of editing prowess in handling it.
Scene 9: Bird Gathering Ninjutsu!
Cook: Something terrible happened! The important chickens ran off! If we had the right food, we could catch the chickens right away. Ooh! Is that the enigmatic bean? Please, by all means, give it to me!
Yae: Give / What the hell are you talking about?!
Cook: Thank you so much! With this, I should be able to bring them back! With the power of this bean, bird gathering nijutsu! Oh, how they assemble! You were very helpful! To thank you, I will give you one of our fields!
Narrator: Goemon and allies obtained a field...So they’re proud land owners now?!
The title is a reference to Scene 2, where I used the name of the ninjutsu used as the title.
The ninja that Yae talks to is called "Itasan", which means cook. Itasan is a name that is attached to several NPCs in this game, but they all seem to be farmers rather than cooks. I almost called this guy "Mr. Ita", and I probably would've done the same for all the other Itasans that the group runs into. But, I suppose now I've gotta call them "Cook", even though they're clearly farmers or ranchers.
By the way, does anybody know if there's any significance to the parcel of land the group gets for helping bring the chickens back? It's not like you trade the deed later, but I can't remember if it's worth anything at all.
Scene 10: Bismaru's Mechanical Bodyguard
Bismaru: Oh, ho ho ho ho! I’ve been waiting for you. Look at this town, it’s so lovely and cleared away! Now it’s your turn! I give you the mechanical bodyguard!
Robot: G-Goemon...Gaaaah!
---
Bismaru: So shameless! Useless piece of junk! I will take the girl and smash you with my own enormous robot! Farewell!
Omitsu: Kyaa! Help me, Goemon!
Goemon: Damn it! Omitsu’s in trouble again!
Ebisumaru: Waah! We’re in big trouble! What are we going to do?
Yae: Ah! Look! That ugly robot is running away!
Sasuke: Goemon! Use the conch shell to call Impact!
Goemon: Okay! Huh? Is this thing broken or something?
Sasuke: You have to take a bigger breath!
Goemon: Argh! Fine, I’ll change the way I do this! I will overcome this! Let’s go!
"The Mechanical Bodyguard" makes more sense than "The Tricky Bodyguard", right? The word "karakuri" means tricky, but, according to Sarahsuke, it can also be used to describe "a mechanical device to tease, trick, or take a person by surprise." Also, this is the title Kabuki Forever gives himself in the GG3 Ending.
Scene 11: Impact is too Slow!
Goemon: Goemon Impact is a time machine? Well, at any rate, that pest is running away really fast!
Sasuke: Yae, pull that new switch there.
Yae: Okay! This yellow switch, right?
Ebisumaru: We’re not going nearly fast enough! Is something broken in here?
Sasuke: What do you mean by that?!
Goemon: Hey! Stop fighting over that! We have to chase this guy!
Ebisumaru: At this rate, it’ll be nighttime by the time we get there...
Ah. So that's why Impact's "rampage" is so sluggish.
Originally, I thought Ebisumaru was yelling at Yae for something. After all, the implication from Scene 2 is that he doesn't really like her (I probably should've mentioned that...). But, I guess he was yelling at Sasuke for something instead.
Scene 12: Bismaru Elegant
Bismaru: Bonjour! You’ve got some nerve coming here. It is dangerous for you here! It must have been love at first sight that brought you to this place! Unfortunately for all of you, however, this will be goodbye. Bismaru Elegant, transformation!
I liked writing this scene. In fact, I think Bismaru is a really fun villain to write for. You can go completely over the top with him, and it won't seem out of place.
Yes, you read that right. Bismaru is in fact a male, homosexual transvestite. Recall that Goemon, Ebisumaru, and Sasuke all refer to Bismaru as "he" or "him" in Goemon's Great Adventure. According to Sarahsuke, the term used to describe Bismaru is "okama."
And I don't know why Bismaru's head disappears for a long time like that. It reminds me of Bismaru's pod disappearing all at once in the ending, and something else that I'll mention in the next post.
And that wraps up the Part 2 analysis. I'll get Part 3 up as soon as I can.
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