Official Case of Lifestream White Clerith kobito screenshots in Japanese, French and German
While almost everyone following the FFVII Compilation has heard of Case of Lifestream White officially publishing Cloud as Aerith’s kobito which translates to lover, not everyone has seen scans of the official Case of Lifestream White kobito quotes in Japanese, French and German.
Here is are the official translations of Kobito from Case of Lifestream (the English version has not been officially translated which is why I left it as kobito)
ENGLISH: “Cloud was her friend, her koibito — a symbol of what was important to her, and someone to be protected.”
JAPANESE: クラウドは女の友人であり、恋人であり / Cloud was the woman’s friend, and lover.
FRENCH: “Cloud avait ete son ami, et son amant. / Cloud was the woman’s friend, and lover.
GERMAN: "Cloud war ihr Freund gewesen, ihr Geliebter/ Cloud was the woman’s friend, and lover.
I was finally able to get a screenshot of the Official German version of the Case of Lifestream White kobito quote. I also have a screenshot of the Official French version of the Case of Lifestream White kobito quote and screenshots of official copyright given by Square Enix to translate On the Way to a smile (which contains Case of Lifestream White) into German and French in case Clotis try to say its a fan translation.
Here is where you can buy the German and French versions: https://www.amazon.de/Final-Fantasy-VII-Blick…/…/3833222417/ (Official German version of On the Way to a Smile which has Case of Lifestream White)
https://www.amazon.fr/Final-Fantasy-VII-Way-Sm…/…/2371020028 (Official French version of On the Way to a Smile which has Case of Lifestream White)
I also managed to get a screenshot of the Official Japanese version of the Case of Lifestream White kobito quote which you can see here:
Official Japanese kobito quote enlarged for ease of reading:
French Official Kobito quote:
German Official kobito quote:
Here is the Official kobito quote of Tifa from the Reunion Files that Clotis use in their claims of Tifa being Cloud’s kobito/sweetheart/girlfriend/lover, despite his name not being mentioned and the kobito sentence containing traits of Tifa’s character. As you can see below kobito is translated as sweetheart which is likely what the official English translation of Case of Lifestream White would be if it is ever officially translated.
These pictures are from The Lifestream Forums where the translators of Case of Lifestream translate kobito for Clerith as "beloved” rather than sweetheart/lover/boyfriend when they have no problem doing it for Noel and Yeul and Serah and Snow and Freya and Fratley which are official canon couples as you can see from the quotes and link to the the Lifestream forums where people can judge it for themselves.
“On pg. 10 of the FFXIII-2 Ultimania Omega guidebook, Noel and and Serah are only described as “partners” (パートナー) while Serah and Snow are still described as “koibitos” (恋人) — meanwhile, Yeul is identified as Noel’s “taisetsu na sonzai” (大切な存在), or “important person.”
Added to that, Yeul is referred to as Noel’s koibito on pg. 18 of the same book:
(translation by hitoshura)
—
“Your time-gazing friend”
Noel, a descendant of the Farseer tribe, has heard about Valhalla and the gates from Yeul, the Farseer maiden from his time and his lover. Because Lightning also knows this, she is hinting at Yeul with the expression “your time-gazing friend.”
—
Japanese text:
—
「時を視る彼女」
時詠みの一族の末裔であるノエルは、ヴァルハラやゲートについて、同時代の時詠みの巫女であり恋人だったユールがら聞いていた。ライトニングもそれを知ってい るため、「時 を視る彼女」という表現でユールのことを示唆している。
“Meanwhile, Final Fantasy IX’s chart from the same book (pp. 272-273) links Steiner and Beatrix with “Rivals (later, favors)”/ライバル (のちに好意), Freya and Fratley with “koibitos”/恋人 (see the rest of this analysis for more on this word), and Zidane and Dagger with the “important existence/person” identification (scans again courtesy of Celes and Balthea).” The book in the quote is the FF 20th Anniversary Ultimania.
Source of Noel & Yeul, Snow x Serah and Freya and Fratley kobito quotes plus kobito definition by TLS (The Lifestream Forums):
https://thelifestream.net/…/dilly-dally-shilly-…/old-ghosts/ https://thelifestream.net/reviews-analysis/dilly-dally-shilly-shally-an-ltd-analysis/a-puppet-who-can-see-the-strings/
Snow and Serah called “koibitos”/恋人:
Noel and Yeul called “koibitos”/恋人:
Freya and Fratley called “koibitos”/恋人:
One person asked The Lifestream forums why the translator hitoshura did not translate kobito 恋人 as lover since they have translated kobito as lover with regards to other canon couples as the quotes and links above have shown and this was the response that hitoshura originally wanted to translate it as lover but didn’t because beloved is prettier/more romantic.
If that is the case then why are Snow x Serah, Noel and Yeul and Freya and Fratley not called beloved especially since the Clotis at The Lifestream Forums gave this as their own definition of the meaning of kobito:
“Of greatest significance here is the word “koibito” (恋人) — a Japanese word usually meaning “lover,” “boyfriend” or “girlfriend” depending on the context. When examined as its separate components, “koi” and “hito”/”bito,” one sees that the literal meaning is “loved person.” Given the purely romantic/sexual connotations of “koi,” it might be better read as “desired person.”
If “koibito” (恋人) means lover to them for multiple canon couples then why would they not translate it as lover when Case of Lifestream was translated? Could it be because the Clotis do not wish to admit that Cloud is Aerith’s lover/sweetheart and boyfriend because it would invalidate their long standing claim Cloud being Tifa’s boyfriend/sweetheart/lover?
They have even tried to make multiple definitions for kobito. One definition being mutual for Cloti and every other canon couple in Final Fantasy yet its only one sided love with regards to Case of Lifestream where they translated that kobito means “beloved” when used by Aerith implying its only talking about her feelings with regard to Cloud.
However this would contradict their own definition of kobito: “What’s important to understand about the word is that it reflects the feelings of one person toward another. In other words, this sentence says that one of Tifa’s roles is that of one loved/desired by another. Furthermore, while the antiquated understanding of the word — the technical meaning, one might say — is that this only confirms a one-sided love, as it is used today, the word carries a connotation of mutuality. Essentially, it is identical in meaning and usage to the English “beloved”, where beloved has mutual meaning although that might simply be the case cause its an analysis of Tifa’s kobito quote from the Reunion files (see above picture) and anything Cloti is mutual but Clerith is one sided even “koibito” (恋人) which is mutual regardless of pairings.
Source of The Lifestream question about hitoshura‘s translation of kobito as beloved for the Case of Lifestream White kobito quote:
https://thelifestream.net/forums/showthread.php?t=14754&page=61
