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Guilty Gear Xrd Series Official Artworks- Short Story "Breakdown!" (English Translation)
This will be a full English translation of the short story "Breakdown!"
It's the second out of three new short stories written to be included in "Guilty Gear Xrd Series Official Artworks"- an artbook released in October 2024, containing concept art for all three main versions of Guilty Gear Xrd.
The specific author(s) of these short stories have not been revealed, but it's been indicated that they were in-house staff of Arc System Works.
--
Breakdown!
"Oh, I did it again…"
When she came to her senses, Elphelt found herself standing in the back alley of a district filled with street stalls, far on the outskirts of Illyria's castle town.
Her mind was flooded with memories of the countless times she messed up while working at Illyria Castle, and the faces of the staff members who kept trying to encourage her still.
"I just wanna be useful, but all I ever do is make things harder for everyone. Maybe I really am a…"
The orange sky peeking through the gaps between the buildings above started to blur. What was she even doing? Why did she run out of the castle in the middle of work?
"Ahhhh…."
She crumbled down to the floor, head in hands. Everyone must be so worried about her. She had to hurry back and apologize right away. But try as she might, she couldn't pull herself together. Even if she did go back, she had no idea what to do anymore.
She kept agonizing over it, when suddenly, she felt someone's presence behind her. Spinning around in a panic, she was met with—
"Hey, you are not wearing a wedding dress for once."
"Jam?! What are you doing here…?"
"Oh, I am… Hehe, well, since you are already here, please come along."
—
"…and that is why I am now touring around the whole world to promote my cooking everywhere. On foot. After all, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Right now I only have a little food stall, but one day I will open a proper restaurant again." (1)
Apparently Jam was running a temporary food stand in Illyria at the moment, and came to that back alley to throw away some trash. Upon returning, she poured Elphelt a glass of water and began stirring her wok.
"What about you? Find a good man yet? If so, bring him over, I will interview him."
"Umm… I've been kinda busy lately, so I haven't been able to meet a lotta guys… And even if I did, I wouldn't let you make them work for you!"
"…You got bigger things on your mind than cruising for boys, huh?"
"C-cruising for boys…?"
Elphelt shifted her gaze to the water in her glass. She wanted to smile. The way you're supposed to when meeting an acquaintance again. But the reflection staring back at her from the surface just looked pathetic. She was about to let out a sigh, when she heard the soft clink of a plate being placed in front of her.
"Hauhh?"
"Here, one serving of chǎofàn. You should eat something."
The rice was piled up high, with a refined sheen—and plenty of larger ingredients mixed in, too—giving the dish a downright mouthwatering appearance. The aroma of the spices and sesame oil did wonders for her appetite, assuring her the meal couldn't be anything but a culinary delight. She looked at Jam, who confidently crossed her arms and nodded.
"Are you sure? Thank you! Don't mind if I do… Mmm~!"
The moment the fried rice hit her tongue, it was like all her prior anxiety vanished into thin air.
So good! Fluffy rice without even a hint of grease! And that balance of texture and flavor, like a golden ratio of ingredients! All coming together, playing in perfect harmony! No way fried rice could be THIS satisfying…! Her heart swelled with an overwhelming rush of emotions.
Jam watched intently as Elphelt munched away, her eyes sparkling with blissful glee.
"No time to overthink so much when you eat my cooking. Eat while it's hot and cool your head. Then we can talk."
—
"…So the thing is, I'm actually helping out at Illyria Castle right now. After the Cradle Incident, the others wanted to give me and Ram a place to live."
Having finished wolfing down her sizable meal in record time, Elphelt took a little breather and slowly started to open up.
"Ram's now the commander of this special brigade full of strong people working under her. As her little sister, I'm super proud, and I'm glad she seems to be doing okay, but… No matter what I try, I always mess up. Everyone's still kind to me anyway, and I'm so, so grateful for that, but I'm also frustrated that I can't do anything for them in return. I want to be someone Ram and Mother can be proud of, too."
The sun continued to set, and lights started to come on all over the castle town. Taking in the view, Elphelt stretched and sighed.
"Hrrmh! Me? A lost cause? No way! I just gotta keep trying! Well, I don't know what I'm gonna try next yet, but… I wanna keep building up my girl power, so that I can find true love one day!" (2)
"Huh? That sounds like a real hassle. Why not get yourself that true love right now?"
The bluntness of that question made Elphelt sheepishly avert her eyes.
"Ummm… I don't think I'm ready yet… Well, what I mean is, like, just thinking about it makes me feel all 'Bwah!' and stuff, y'know like, uhhh…"
"What does that mean? Come on, just say what you want to say."
Jam flapped her arms impatiently, urging Elphelt to keep going.
And so she did.
"Sorry, haha. Well, then… Ahem. So, whenever I think about love stuff, I get this BURST of energy. I really think love is amazing. When two people care for each other it's just like, infinite excitement overload! Their completely unique kinds of love come together, creating trust and endless heart racing—and a bright future! I believe that if everyone found a special someone, the whole world would be filled with love and become a peaceful place! Of course, love doesn't always come easy. And it's not all sunshine and rainbows, either. But sharing that pain helps staying positive, too! Love holds SO much power! And as long as we hold onto the hope that ANYONE could one day obtain it, no matter which path we take, I think we'll all be able to keep on smiling… Hang on. Maybe I should try spreading that message to people!?"
“This is denser than the thickest báitāng…”
Although Jam had trouble keeping up, she still got a kick out watching Elphelt prattle on with such enthusiasm, like she had finally found her groove.
"Spread the message, spread the message… How would I spread the message…"
While she was mulling it over, her eyes wandered across the megaphone that Jam used to attract her customers.
"…Maybe with my voice? Shout about love? Hmm… I guess I could give speeches? No, that's not it. I think I'd rather recite my poetry and hand out pamphlets instead… Man, this might be pretty tricky, actually… Spread the message of love… Far and wide… love… lovely love…"
Lost in her own thoughts, Elphelt happened to catch a glimpse of a few eccentric-looking men, taking out stacks of papers across the street.
She barely had time to stare and wonder what this was about, before they held the papers up high under the street lights and started to shout:
"We're looking for band members! All we're missing is at least one vocalist! Join us! This could be your chance to let your passion shine!! Band name isn't decided yet! At least take a flyer!"
"Ohh, they're looking for someone to sing in their band… Alright!"
"Hey, wait! I didn't say the meal was free!!"
Following her intuition, Elphelt promptly darted off towards the group.
Jam's desperate cries did not reach her ears.
"Excuse me! Does being a vocalist in a band mean that it's, like, your job to shout out all of your emotions to the music?"
Elphelt asked, while imagining the man that would be her future husband.
"Oh! You interested? It's not really a job though, we think of it more as like, 'rebellion'", one of the men replied proudly. He had long blue hair and wore light blue face paint.
"And lots of people are gonna listen, right?"
"Yeah, you bet they will. All of humanity's gonna hear us!"
Another man spoke up, his ambition plain to see in his expression. This one had purple hair and wore red face paint.
"I… see…"
As Elphelt became aware of possibilities she'd never even known, it wasn't the ringing of bells that echoed through her mind, but the thunderous roar of screams and cheers. A new dream. (3)
I found it. This is something I can do, I know it!
"Please let me sing! I'm pretty good at poetry! I'll admit, I don't got a lot of experience with singing, but I know my voice packs a punch! And there's so much I wanna share with the world…!"
In the darkness, the faint light of the street lamps embraced Elphelt's determination.
And in the near future, an even stronger, more dazzling light will shine upon her… maybe.
"YOU STILL HAVE TO PAY!!"
--
Translation Notes:
(1) In Japanese, Jam uses the term "行脚/angya" here, which usually refers to a pilgrimage, or a regular trip on foot. But the furigana above the kanji instead read "ツアー", which literally means "tour", being a loanword from English.
Furigana are normally used to clarify the intended reading of a kanji when it's nonstandard or ambiguous, but sometimes text-based media also use them for little easter eggs or character bits.
In this case, I think the intent was having the amusing contrast between a word like "pilgrimage", implying conviction and spirituality, and a word like "tour", implying business and commercialization. It's two clashing aspects to Jam's character.
I tried to get a bit of both meanings across in my translation, though the surrounding context of Jam's dialogue also carries that vibe, so I didn't feel like I had to lay it on thick there.
(2) The term I translated as "girl power" is "女子力/joshiryoku" in Japanese. It could be translated to something like "feminine power" or "girl power". It's a term that became popular in Japan around the 00s, used a lot in commercials or the like aimed at women specifically.
Generally it refers to something like the "power" that comes with being a woman, usually tied to a certain pride in one's femininity and such, and the ability to improve yourself. Therefore, products aimed at women will sometimes be advertised with phrases like "use this to show off your joshiryoku!", etc.
However, some folks have a more broader perspective of it, thinking of it more as the power of a woman to be her best, truest self, regardless of presentation.
In any case, in the context of Guilty Gear, Elphelt as a character is very devoted to the idea of "joshiryoku", always aiming to increase hers. It even has an entry in GG World, giving us an idea of how we're supposed to interpret the term here.
In the English localization of Xrd it was adapted as simply "womanhood", but in Strive it's usually translated as "girl power". I decided to go with the latter, since it's more recent, and technically closer to the term's literal translation, even if "girl power" has slightly different connotations in English.
(3) Another bit making use of furigana here. When the phrase "未知の可能性" meaning "unknown possibilites" is used, there are furigana above spelling "ゆめ", which would translate to "dream".
I tried to adapt this in a way that would reflect this, but in the original context the usage of "dream" is a bit more vague. I went for "new dream", but it's not the only way to interpret this. All you can take away for sure is that "unknown possibilities" is treated as an equivalent to the word "dream" here, no adjectives or articles for further clarification.
I felt the need to point this out because I know finer details like this can be important to people for the purposes of in-depth character analysis.
like yes actually there is a conversation to be had about how a characters actions are framed and how they thematically fit with the rest of the story and it can in fact reflect the author's beliefs. some authors are even trying to make a point
not all depiction is glorification but sometimes it is and you need to be able to tell the difference. not because your immortal soul will be tainted by reading The Bad One, but because you need to have reading comprehension skills
I think it's a shame that "Oedipus complex" refers to fucking your mom instead of the actual point of his story, fulfilling your destiny through your attempts to avoid it. It just so happens his destiny was to fuck his mom
Yeah, I don’t know what Freud was thinking, but Oedipus very much did Not want to fuck his mom. He spent the entire play trying to avoid that, and then gauged out his eyes when he learned that he had anyway.
my secret to art happiness is it's not about how many notes what you draw is likely to get. t's about how many times you're going to go back to it, to your own art, and think "this FUCKS actually and caters to me entirely, specifically, fully. i love this artist (me) (me who i drew this) (myself)"
