KH3 Collector Plates - English Translation
They were always there by each other’s side, so they overcame all kinds of trouble and numerous hardships with a smile.
Three fully fledged heroes who follow their hearts.
A traveling bond.
A good luck charm from their childhood.*
No matter how far they are separated, under this same sky that the worlds share, they will always be connected.**
Transforming their connected hearts into a power, they open the door to the worlds.
A destined bond.
Though they were once separated when fighting against a great Darkness.
Someday.
When he awakens from his slumber.
When she returns to this world.
When he reclaims himself from the Darkness…
Their promised bond will be a bond that never dies.
A friend of a friend is a friend.
Even though the names and memories were lost, just the graven pain remained.
The wish to someday, once again, sit atop that clock tower and look at the dazzling sunset.
A twilight bond.
Real or fake?
Their two paths meet again in the Darkness.
“I want to save her.”
That heart, dwelling in false memories and a false body, was unwavering and real.
His other self fulfills his wish.***
A two-sided bond.****
Torn,
Perfect Darkness and perfect Light born from one heart.
That broken heart stopped being connected.
There was another heart.
Each could exist by complementing the other.
A deficient bond.
Even if their form changes.
Even if they come to cross blades.
As a partner, as a worthy opponent, the time they accumulated made their hearts trust in each other, never to be separated.
They are connected by a purpose.
An indestructible bond.
* おまじない (omajinai) means “good luck charm” and is what Kairi refers to the paopu fruit as in the scene with Sora in KH3.
** In this bit the Japanese uses the phrase この空が繋ぐ世界で (kono sora ga tsunagu sekai de), which is the same phrase that Kairi used in her letter to Sora in KH2, so I tried to incorporate some aspects of the official translation for that into this section of my translation. It had to be modified a bit to work, flow, and sound nice though.
*** The Japanese here is 意志を継ぐ (ishi wo tsugu) or, more directly, to “inherit the will” and “will” in this sense means like “intention, intent, volition, determination,” not a will. That’s 遺言(yuigon). 継ぐ (tsugu) usually gets used in the sense of successor (someone inheriting a role, like a prince inheriting the crown or something like that). In the KH3 Ultimania, Nomura talked about the Namine and Riku scene at the end, stating that Riku was essentially fulfilling the wish of Repliku. I don’t have the KH3 Ultimania on me right now (it’s back at my apartment and I’m currently at my parent’s place), so I don’t know for a fact if this is the exact same phrasing as in the interview, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it is.
**** I ultimately went with “two-sided” here for my translation. The Japanese used is 表裏 (hyouri), which can mean “front and back, inside and outside, both sides.” It can also have the meaning of “being two faced, double dealing, duplicity,” but that is a very negative meaning and I don’t think that is accurate to the bond that exists between Riku, Repliku, and Namine in KH3.
