#xrd rev2

[solradguy]

Tried this arcade machine in a videogames museum in May ✌️I was very bad at it haha

Omg that's so cool!!! I've never seen one of the Rev2 machines before, just the demo versions of the Xrd Sign ones. Xrd has a lot going on tbf, I'd probably be bad at it playing on a cabinet too despite having like >60 hours in it haha :'D

Thanks for sharing!!

[dgsfufu]

Guilty Gear Xrd Rev2/Revelator, lost in translation and one translation whoopsie

I’ve previously posted about minor fluff that was lost in translation in Xrd Sign. Now I’m writing Xrd Rev2′s minor intricacies lost during the translation process.

Once again, a disclaimer. No translation is perfect, and things always get lost in translation, which is perfectly ok! No 2 languages are the same, and my post does not inherently imply the localization is bad. It’s made by people far, FAR more experienced and professional than me, lol.

Note if I don’t spring up the JP, it means the EN is all in all alright and there’s nothing too major to be pointed out.

Before I head to the minor fluff, 2 major things I want to highlight.

1. General - Humans, redundancies.

In JP, St. Maximus/Universal Will calls humanity人形(ningyou, ie. dolls, puppets), and Redundancies in EN. Interesting word choice here, and I think redundancies is a really good substitute. Considering in EN, dolls or puppets have the implications of a toy, something you play with but not necessarily destroy. It would have been a lazy TL pick for them to use it for UW.

Ningyou has a more sinister implication of being an artificial, creepy imitation of a human. Just check out how close ningen 人間 and ningyou 人形 look and sound, side by side. I think it’s neat.

2. Lady Luck - she comes thrice.

Revelator A (Link to transcript)

In here there is a conversation between Vernon and Leo talking about Sol behind his back, and the exchange is as follows.

[EN] Vernon: He has Gear cells within him. And thanks to his strength, we were able to survive the calamity a few days earlier. Needless to say, I am in his debt... However! He's too strong! I've served. I know how terrifying Gears can be. But they were nothing like him. [EN] Leo: Hmm... I'm in charge of the Australian region, so...I'm afraid I don't know much. But, in the Holy Order, I know he was something of an urban legend... They called him the God of War. [EN] Vernon: God of War...? [EN] Leo: I can confirm he's a whimsical and vulgar man. I've met him. I think it's that personality, and timing (he pops up everywhere) that led to his little nickname. Whatever happens, though... Never ask him directly. [EN] Vernon: Ask him what?

[EN] Leo: His history... Something about his luck going down.

[JP] Leo: His history. Something about pushing Lady Luck.

I wonder if they ran out of time to QA or this just missed the loc team’s radar. The EN implies asking Sol about his past would jinx Sol, but JP implies the questioner being jinxed. Which then makes the following lines much more sensible.

[EN] Vernon: Luck...? Is that supposed to be some kind of jinx on the battlefield? And, do you trust him...? He's not human, after all. [EN] Leo: I can't answer that. Not personally, anyway. But I do know the First King places him in extremely high regards. And if Ky believes in him...then for the time being, so shall I. [EN] Vernon: I think we need to know. If he's the God of War or of Death... One of these gods is going to shape our world, after all...

After the events of Xrd Sign, someone like Leo of course would get better acquainted with Sol. Hell, even Ky of all people, arguably Sol’s strongest bond, went from “I don’t know your real name” to “I know but I won’t initiate the topic” and skirts around the issue, possibly knowing Sol would just deploy a social AT field. Sol is just that much of a recluse.

2.2 This in turn leads to this exchange where Sol questions Ky...

 Sense A (Link to transcript)

[EN] Sol: [beat] Why don't you ask me already? [EN] Ky: Ask you what? [EN] Sol: About my past. [EN] Ky: I can ask you? [EN] Sol: I guarantee, it won't be interesting. [beat] Every other word that came out of your mouth was "Duel me," or "I challenge you!" You were so eager to fight and... ...Now it's like you're not even interested. [EN] Ky: Back then, the only thing on my mind was defeating you in a fair duel. Nothing else really mattered.

[EN] Ky: Besides, I didn’t wanna risk my chances with Lady Luck. [EN] Sol: Really? You? [EN] Ky : You didn't know? I'm actually quite a religious man.

It seems Ky has gotten familiar with the method to befriend Sol, and questioning the recluse directly had never been the correct approach to take... His has now defaulted to basically let Sol approach him, rather than pursue Sol in their relationship. Hell, it’s worked multiple times in the novels, and more in his time in IPF. In his time in the order, chasing the older man down for answers has never worked.

Sol on the other hand has went from viewing Ky as a familiar stranger to a trustworthy friend after Xrd Sign, and it shows. He’s ok if Ky pries.

And thus, knowing all these, our man Ky FUCKING Kiske gives the most amazing shit eating grin.

Or perhaps Ky Kiske read the situation and sensed Sol’s death-flag-up-your-ass trap. /s

2.22 Universal Will can(not) avoid advancing bum first into Sol’s death-flag-up-your-ass trap.

Fireworks (Link to transcript)

Did I say Sol’s death-flag-up-your-ass trap? There is a Sol’s death-flag-up-your-ass trap.

In the climax, shit hits the fan. Sol & his merry friends now face the final boss, and in a last ditch attempt to save herself, the Universal Will attempts to tap into Sol’s Godhood status to sway him over to her side.

The Universal Will knocks on Sol’s door and pries it open.

[EN] St. Maximus: Remember...the past. You fall in love? You overcome your troubles to achieve something? You ever get excited about what the future holds?

[EN/JP] St. Maximus: Tell me everything... ...about your past!

...Oh hey!

[EN/JP] Sol: C'mon now...

[EN/JP] Ky: You can't mention that...

[EN] Sol: Don't push your luck.

[JP] Sol: You’re just pushing Lady Luck.

And St. Maximus/Universal Will gets absolutely destroyed.

I got incredibly loose with the line, ツキが落ちる, but it essentially means to tempt fate, try your luck, etc. In these 2 separate scenes, I’ve left it as “pushing Lady Luck.”

This was an absolute loss that it didn’t get handled well, because these 3 points had me laughing at Ky’s superstitious nature to cackling at his dodge. It’s so well done...! What a pity.

And... more missed fluff under read more.

3. 意思 (ishi). Purpose and will

Identity A (Link to transcript)

In this part, Leo summons Sol to his office and subjects him to a verbal interrogation. He wants to know more about Sol as an individual, and not an Army God as previously discussed with Vernon.

[EN] Leo: You've saved the world time and time again. And yet you show no vested interest in people or interest in settling down for that matter... And people call you the God of War or whatever, but that's all wrong. We've come to depend on you. Way too much, without even a simple thanks... I was one of them. But I refuse to be an onlooker praying for salvation... I don't care what you're doing here, or why you help us. If my voice can reach you, then I must do my duty... Save the world. [EN] Sol: Who the hell crosses their heart and uses command form...? Well, whatever. It was always my plan to seal Justice away on my own. Satisfied?

Sol is annoyed, but Leo presses.

[EN] Leo: I'm not asking about one goal... I'm asking about your purpose.

[JP] Leo: I’m not asking about your objective. I’m asking about what you WANT to achieve.

In EN the ‘purpose’ part leaves a bit of ambiguity. Is it purpose born out of obligation, or by others’ will? Sin and everyone wants Elphet back, so Sol’s too nice and gets swayed by their opinion, perhaps? It’s actually none of that. In JP, Leo is simply pressing directly for Sol’s desired outcome of this crisis in Rev2. “お前の意思を聞いている。”   意思 ishi means one’s will/desire in context.

In any case, the localization and JP both resulted in Leo gaining an understanding of Sol as an individual acting on his free will rather than some Hero God with obligations.

Also funnily enough, Leo finds a 3rd option to dig for Sol’s past. In this scene it’s implied he got information from Vernon. By not asking Sol directly about his past, Leo avoids pushing Lady Luck down a ravine.

4. Saint Foreshadowing 

Thesis A (Link to Transcript)

Some bit of lost nuance in here. The team gathers around the strategy table to discuss how to neutralize Universal Will. It’s dire, and they need a Super Duper Trump Card. That Man joins the party, and suggests,

[EN] That Man: We use Saint Oratorio. [EN] Sin: Ora...what now?

[EN] Sol: Saint Oratorio... A type of energy I've been researching. It basically has no limits.

[JP] Sol: Saint Oratorio, an energy with no limits. A research I once specialized in.

EN makes Saint Oratorio sound just like any other random magitek research that happened to exist, and Sol had a hand in it. In JP, Saint Oratorio sounds like THE energy source that THE Sol Badguy once went neck deep into.

[EN] Sol: Can it handle practical uses? [EN] That Man: I loathe to admit, I've setback your dream. Right now, I've got it stable at Balmung class.

This is also interesting to note, because in Guilty Gear Begin, Sol wasn’t researching Saint Oratorio when he got turned into a Gear.  He refers to himself as a subcontractor for the Gear Project, plus for some reason he was in Laboratory Beta of the research institute, alone in his lab, separated from Asuka/That Man and Aria. IIRC, the duo were assigned to Gamma, and the three of them would meet together during breaks. This seems to imply that Asuka/That Man pulled some strings to set the stage for Frederick/Sol to turn into a prototype gear, highly possible he foresaw the Gear project getting hijacked by military for malicious use.

Frederick has always been a loner, even when deep into researching. Saint Oratorio may have been developed mostly by just 1 guy.

(Feel free to correct me on this section if it’s wrong!)

These all also makes the ending of Strive where Frederick blasts God I-No with a Saint Orotario beam all the more delicious.

5. Square Ass.

Sense A (Link to transcript)

[EN] Ky: Please hold on for just a moment... I'd like to finish these. I'll hear your report once I'm done. [EN] Sol: Well, hurry up. Before your foo-foo soft cushion turns my ass soft, too. [EN] Ky: If you need something to do, please feel free to invite Sin here, as well. What do you say to a meal together? [EN] Sol: Gonna give me all the dirty work? [EN] Ky: I would be happy to switch seats anytime.

[EN] Sol: ...Well, your chair's gonna turn me square. 

How can gorillaman be square? He’s a researcher once and still seems to be at heart, so he’s used to paperwork even if he hates it, right? Well, here’s the line in JP that didn’t cross well.

[JP] Sol: ...Your chair’s going to turn my ass square.

Aaah.

[EN] Ky: And yet it has enormous significance.

And that’s the end for now!