Ranking Fire emblem Three Houses characters according to theirĀ English translation accuracy
So yeah, Iāve been translating this game for a while now and this is my conclusion. Also this in an easy accession point to all my translations. Just click the characterās name to see the translations of your chosen character.
A tier
Includes most of the characters, majority of them from Golden Deerās which is interesting. There is also Dimitri and Dedue who are accurate until the time skip.
B tier
Majority of these characters that speak in keigo ę¬čŖ, the most formal way of speech in Japan. Some characters like Flayn and Rhea the translation comes through while characters like Hubert lack a certain edge without the refined speech. Sothis also speaks in an ancient way, referring to Byleth with an old way to say youĀ onushiĀ å¾”äø» and referring to her self withĀ washiĀ å which is an old way to refer to oneself also Hanneman uses it.
C tier
People in this category have small changes made to them.Ā
Claude actually uses senseiĀ å ēĀ (teacher, instructor) or as is translated to professor justĀ like everyone else when speaking to Byleth but with a slight change of tone, which is why I see no problem with them changing it to more playful āāteachāā. Also after time-skip he uses the word kyoudaiĀ å å¼Ā (sibling, sibling-in-law, mate or a friend) to refer to Byleth. I find it has the same vibes when yakuza can use brother to refer to their close clan mates, thus I think itās a reference to Claudeās culture somehow.
Ferdinand actually is more of an aggressor between him and Hubertās support link. Hubert says he doesnāt mind eating lunch with him and Byleth and Ferdinand is the one making things difficult thus he should stay silent. After time skip Ferdinand doesnāt shout dramatically āāno...!āā when he learns his father is dead, but just says to himselfĀ āācould it be...?āā
Casparās lines are changed when interacting with Petra. During the introduction to the Black Eagles Caspar says something likes toĀ āāI can take Byleth on bare handedāā, to which Petra asksĀ āāBare handed? You want Professor strip their gloves off?āā To which Caspar states it was just a metaphor for combat.
Ingridās interactionĀ with Sylvain during their C support have been changed.
Edelgardās changes are subtle are only amplified after time skip. The small changes of her wording make her seem more cold and dismissive than she originally was.
Male Byleth interactionĀ with Sylvain is changed.Ā More could have been changed as I played in English with Japanese voices, but this one stuck up.
Multiple time skip DimitriāsĀ conversations have been altered. In Japanese he shows much more clear signs of paranoia and seeing things that donāt exist, speaking to Byleth after their first meeting as if they are just one of his hallucinations.
Dedueās line when sacrificing himself for Dimitri is altered. He saysĀ āāI will always stay by your side, even with the distance of death separating us.āā while in the translation he just says how Dimitri will be a good king, which is much more inpersonal.
Balthus and Bylethās C support is altered. Where Balthus gratefully accepts Bylethās offer to protect him and Balthus saysĀ āāDonāt mind me sticking to your side then.āā in the translation he is made much more casual about it, removing the vulnerability of the conversation.
Miklainās conversation with Sylvain is changed.Ā This is actually the first time gendered language is used as an insult which made me suspicious.
Death knightās English translation is much more dramatic than in the original. He is a quiet menacing and speaks rarely which leaves on impression of power.
D tierĀ
The queer context removed gang! Here is supports between Annette and Mercedes, Leonie and Lysithea, and Edelgard and Dorothea.
E tier
These characters change a lot between the original and the translation.
Bernadetta is much more stuttering and less panic talk in the original. Also in her and Felixās C suppport Felix notes feeling her emit sakkiĀ ę®ŗę° (bloodlust) when escaping from him.Ā
Felix is much more caring in Japanese, more blunt and not actually vicious.Ā Iām planning on translating his and Ingridās B support which also shows this.
Edelgardās time skip changes can be summarized with her support with Hubert. She emotes much more and shows great care for him and actually laughs with him.
So Randolf in the original speaks of doing things for his family while in the English side itās changed to doing it for honor? Really now? You donāt want to empathize with the enemy English translation? And an NPC. Really?
SoĀ Hapi and Yuri, have an altered comments for when Jeralt dies. Yuri also doesnāt call Byleth a friend but anta ććć a more casual version of anata č²“ę¹ which is usually translated to dear, darling, honey or something close to that.
ManuelaĀ
So she gets a a tier of her own for her altered B support with Cyril.Ā The original support made me disgusted of her and happy there is no A support between them. Click her name if you want to read it, but beware of the problematic elements related to alcohol and hints of grooming.
F tier
So here lay Cyril, Petra and Sylvain. The characters that I have most to say about translation vice.Ā So these characterās are completely different between the translation and the original. I can only think of the reason for Cyril and Petraās change in speech style coming from translator's internalized racism.Ā
Cyril has no accent and actually speaks very politely, on many occasions using desu/masu ć§ć/ ć¾ć Ā Ā which is polite speech belowĀ keigo but above casual speech. Closest I can refer to how he would speak in English would be Dedue. He also speaks about tolerating his work rather than enjoying it. He also speaks less about Rhea and more about himself as individual, how he is extremely loyal, and how he enjoys when people can depend on him and how Tomas was one of those people that werenāt racist against him and how he feels conflicted with his own feelings and stance of the church, but resolves himself to listening Rhea as he feels in debt to her.
Petra speaks in a very clear Japanese with sometimes a little odd word order and only stumbles in metaphoric speech usually taking it literally. She is a good representation of how learning another language works, and once being told something is a metaphor she asks what it means as she will later start using said phrases. Instead in the translation she speaks like illiterate which is kind of reminiscence how Gonta from Danganronpa V3 was translated.Ā
(Somehow these characters are always people of color, I sure wonder why~)
Here is translatedĀ Petra and Cyrilās C supportĀ for evidence.
And then there is Sylvain... What have they done to you my boy. Translation reduces him to comic relief while he has a lot of trauma with the abuse from Miklain, to a possible sexual assault or some other trauma concerning a lot of women, as he speaks of women as ants who surround him or how he fears and hates them. All this tells that his flirty demeanor is but a defense mechanism and a self-destructive one at that. It reflects real life of how itās common for those sexually abused to become hypersexual as a result to try to cope with their traumaās lack of consent, ( but this is just how interpret it.) All these conversations of Sylvain's trauma are cut and can be found translated by me inĀ Sylvain and Mercedes support chain.
