TRC Translation Notes Volume 21 Part 2 (Ch 162-166)
@giniroangou is back with more translation notes! Did the wording of the Celes climax confuse you as much as it did me? Well you’re in luck! Now it all makes sense and is tied together with a neat little bow of closure. Finally, the second secret curse is no longer so secret!
Chapter 162
p.67 - The line translated as, “The guilty must be put to death!” is actually just a further description of the Valerian king’s madness - that he put innocent people to death.
p.78 - This is implicit in the translation, but when Kurogane mentions that it would have been better for Fai to use as much of his magic as possible to make himself stronger, he directly states that this would have made Fai’s curse more difficult to activate.
p.80 - In the translation, Ashura says it “wouldn’t be right” for Fai’s power to grow too great. His original lines feel a little more personal; it would inconvenience him/be troubling if this happened.
p.82 - I don’t know how clear this is in the translation, but the thing Kurogane says will be ripped apart at the seams is Fai’s past. Basically, he knows Ashura wouldn’t show them this past full of easily-spotted holes unless it was part of some larger plan.
Chapter 163
p.89 - The katakana reading of “supia” returns for the word “spell” on this page, and since this time it’s in reference to the sleeping spell Fai’s using, it’s safe to assume that this is what they call spells in general in Celes.
p.97 - Same meaning pretty much, but a more direct translation for Ashura’s line here would be just, “Let’s continue.”
p.99 - Ashura doesn’t actually speculate here that Fai created Sakura. He only references Chii as an artificial human, suggesting that the life in Sakura’s body is thanks to the power of the feather that Fai made Chii out of.
p.103 - Fai literally just yells, “STOP!!” here.
Chapter 164
p.112 - Fai’s instruction to Lava Lamp is even less clear in his original line than in the translation. I wouldn’t interpret this as him directly telling Lava Lamp to leave with Sakura, but merely entrusting Sakura to him. It almost feels more final - even if Lava Lamp and Sakura don’t leave that room, Fai isn’t expecting to be around to take care of her after what he’s about to do.
p.116 - Fai doesn’t specifically say he’s planning to fulfill their wishes. He says: “...Let’s bring this to an end, Your Majesty. Your wish… and mine as well.” My personal interpretation doesn’t differ from the official translation, since I originally assumed each of their wishes at this point to be their own deaths, but you could also read this as Fai giving up on his own wish of resurrecting his brother so I do like the added flexibility of the Japanese lines.
p.123 - Ashura doesn’t say here that Fai was trying to follow his brother into death, but that he wanted to put an end to the life that had forced his brother to die. Then Ashura’s, “You will not die” should be, once again, “You cannot die.”
Chapter 165
p.135 - Ashura’s words to Fai here are even more optimistic in the original text. He asserts that as long as he’s with the others, Fai will be able to overcome his curse.
p.147 - OG Fai’s final request for Yuui isn’t precisely to live free (though that is implied) but simply to become free.
p.150 - This line isn’t exactly mistranslated, but “It was all my fault” feels a bit broad compared the original. More literally, Fai says, “Because of me… this whole time… I never let him rest.”
p.151 - The reason Fai’s curse didn’t come undone isn’t because the wrong person killed Ashura, but because Fai didn’t kill Ashura himself. It amounts to the same thing, but the focus in the original wording is on Fai’s action (or lack thereof) rather than Ashura’s.
p.158 - This was already pointed out, but the result of Fai failing to kill Ashura himself should be that his curse will activate automatically (regardless of Fai’s own will.)
Chapter 166
p.159 - I’m going to respectfully disagree with the translation from Portuguese you were provided with. I would consider the official translation on this page to be correct. That being said, the implication is still that Fei Wang wanted/expected someone else to kill Ashura because he didn’t want the curse to be rendered moot.
p.161 - Fai’s line about not being able to leave could refer to the group as a whole, but it could also refer to himself alone.
The trap Fei Wang mentions here has no effect on Fai and Ashura; it causes harm to anyone aside from those two who uses magic on Celes. This explains Lava Lamp’s strange reaction and subsequent incapacitation once they arrived at the castle. As Fei Wang mentions on the next page, the purpose of this is to prevent any other magic-users from interfering with Fai’s curses.
p.162 - I think Fai’s “None of us” would be better translated as “Not all of us,” or potentially just, “We’re all…”
p.163 - Here Fai tells Lava Lamp, “Don’t let go of Sakura-chan and Mokona.”
p.164 - I’m so bewildered by this “I’m planning a departure!” translation, omg, it’s just super awkward?? “You’re getting out of here,” would be more accurate, or possibly, “We’re getting out of here,” depending on how optimistic you want to read Fai in this moment (it’s hard to tell whether he’s trying to cast his magic on both himself and Kurogane or on Kurogane alone.) It may be precisely this ambiguity that the translator was trying to avoid but… not so much.
p.167 - It might be a little hard to tell from the translation, but Fei Wang’s purpose here (and presumably the reason he put this curse on Fai in the first place) is apparently to eliminate all of Sakura’s companions. He’s noting specifically that Lava Lamp is the only one left, and he will content himself with having only taken out Kurogane and Fai.