Final Fantasy VII Remake Script Comparison: Chapter 10+11

Cloud starts off with the choice of whether to help Tifa or Aerith first, as in the original.


In Japanese, Tifa exclaims that this is 最低 (saitei ; “the worst”), just like on Playstation. E Remake has her express her frustration more naturally.

Japanese RemakeEnglish RemakeJapanese OriginalEnglish Original
ティファ
 もう 最低
Tifa
That bastard!
ティファ
「もう!
 サイテーね、これ」
Tifa
“Man!
This is terrible.”

This time around, though, Tifa isn’t as convinced that Shinra is actually going to go through with dropping the plate. Her line here is reminiscent of Reeve’s line from the original, asking if Shinra is really going to kill all those people just to stop Avalanche.

Japanese RemakeEnglish RemakeJapanese OriginalEnglish Original
ティファ
 ねえ コルネオの話 信じる?
Tifa
Hey… You don’t believe that crazy story of his, do you?
ティファ
 プレートを落とすなんて
 アバランチをつぶすどころ
 じゃない
Tifa
Shinra wouldn’t sacrifice a whole sector just to take out Avalanche, would they?
ティファ
 ミッドガルの危機だよ
 神羅カンパニーが
 そんなことする?
Tifa
Destroying part of the city—killing all those people, just to get at us?
リーブ
「プレジデント!
 本当にやるのですか?
 たかだか数人の組織を
 つぶすのに……」
Reeve
“President!!
Are we really going to do this?
Simply destroy a group
with only a few members…”

The trio proceeds through the sewers to get back to Sector 7. This was a pretty short sequence without much dialogue in the original game, but has been expanded into a whole chapter in Remake.

Japanese RemakeEnglish Remake
ティファ
 六番街と七番街の下水は繋がってるの
 迷ったら水路を辿れってね
Tifa
The sewers under Sectors 6 and 7 should be
connected. “If you get in trouble, just follow the
stench.”

On the way back, Tifa continues to agonize over whether Sector 7 is really going to be destroyed. Aerith, meanwhile, seems to be holding something back. In Japanese, Tifa directly asks her “Aerith, do you know something?” The English translation implies this and focuses more on the “you’re hiding something” aspect.

Japanese RemakeEnglish Remake
ティファ
 ギリギリで中止になる そうなる
Tifa
We have to get there in time to stop it. We have to.
エアリス
 うん
Aerith
Right.
ティファ
 エアリス 何か知ってるの?
Tifa
Aerith, what are you not telling me?

Aerith has a line hinting at the end of the game…

Japanese RemakeEnglish Remake
エアリス
 最悪の事態?
Aerith
Still thinking about the plate?
ティファ
 うん
Tifa
Yeah.
エアリス
 どんな未来でも変えられるよ?
Aerith
The future isn’t…set in stone.
エアリス
 わたし そう信じてる
Aerith
That’s what I always tell myself.

And “pack chocobo” is a really nice touch in English, drawing on the game’s setting. The Japanese is roughly just “(we’ll) make (him) carry a lot!”

Japanese RemakeEnglish Remake
エアリス
 楽しいことも 考えるの
Aerith
How ’bout this, then? Think of something fun.
エアリス
 七番街 守ったら
Aerith
After saving Sector 7, you’re gonna…?
ティファ
 守れたら
Tifa
I’m gonna…
ティファ
 上で買い物 どう?
Tifa
Go shopping—topside!
ティファ
 えっと
Tifa
I’ll buy…
ティファ
 たとえば 雰囲気のある小物や食器を探すの
Tifa
Stuff for the bar! Decorations, coasters…
エアリス
 ティファと?
Aerith
Can I come?
ティファ
 よければ
Tifa
You’d better!
エアリス
 絶対 行く
Aerith
Then it’s a date!
ティファ
 クラウドは荷物持ち
Tifa
Cloud can carry all our stuff!
エアリス
 い~っぱい 持たせちゃう
Aerith
He’ll be our pack chocobo!

The chapter closes with Cloud trying to act cool again. Like in Chapter 2, he basically just says “I’m strong!” in Japanese, which doesn’t sound nearly as impactful in English. So the translation goes for something more threatening.

Japanese RemakeEnglish Remake
クラウド
 もう知ってるよな 俺は強いぞ?
Cloud
Last warning! Back off, or die!

The trio exits from the sewer into a train graveyard. Tifa suggests that they stick to the trains that are lit up. In the original, she tells the group that they can get out if they get past the lit up trains. Again, this was a short sequence in the original without much dialogue, but in Remake it’s been expanded into an entire chapter.

Japanese RemakeEnglish RemakeJapanese OriginalEnglish Original
ティファ
 通称 列車墓場
 ジャンクパーツの宝庫
Tifa
This is the train graveyard all right—a real treasure trove of scrap.
ティファ
 あそこに見えてる車両倉庫の
 向こうが七番街のはずだよ
Tifa
Sector 7 should be just past that large maintenance facility over there.
ティファ
 あかりのついている場所を
 通っていこう
Tifa
I vote we stay in the light so we can see where we’re going.
ティファ
「え~と……明かりのついている
 車両を抜けて行けば
 出られそうね」
Tifa
“Let’s see…If we can just get past
the trains that are lit up,
we should be able to get out of here.”

They quickly discover that the train graveyard is truly haunted. In Japanese, Cloud says that ghosts are outside his range of expertise. English goes for “aren’t my thing” to sound natural, and also probably to better fit the timing of the line.

Japanese RemakeEnglish Remake
クラウド
 オバケは専門外だ
Cloud
Ghosts aren’t my thing.

As the trio proceeds, a spooky train announcement starts playing. The Japanese subtitle has words cut out to reflect the fact that the audio itself is hard to hear and cuts in and out. English decides to fully subtitle the line, perhaps for accessibility reasons.

Japanese RemakeEnglish Remake
????
 この列車は……駅経由……墓場行
???
This train will be stopping at the Sector 7 slums…and
is bound for the train graveyard.
????
 ご乗車になる……は
 お急……そ ぎ——
???
The train will depart shortly. Please stand clear of the
closing doors.
エアリス
 いじわる~
Aerith
That’s not funny, you know.

A big ghoul appears. In Japanese Aerith says みつけた?(mitsuketa) roughly meaning “Found (you)?” Because there’s no subject or object, this could be interpreted multiple ways. Aerith could be hesitantly saying that she found the ghoul. The English translation, though, decides to interpret it as the ghoul saying that it found them, with Aerith quietly repeating its message, since she’s the only one who can communicate with the ghosts.

Japanese RemakeEnglish Remake
エアリス
 みつけた?
Aerith
“Coming to get you”…?

And again, after the boss Aerith says かくれんぼ (kakurenbo ; “hide-and-seek”) in Japanese, while the English has her repeating what the ghost supposedly said. Honestly, this is a nice way to emphasize her supernatural abilities, making it extra clear that she can communicate with spirits.

Japanese RemakeEnglish Remake
エアリス
 かくれんぼ
Aerith
“That was fun”…
エアリス
 誰かに見つけてほしくて
 ずっと 待ってたのかな
Aerith
All this time, you were waiting for someone to come
and play with you.

Tifa has a brief vision of Marlene, who once again has great dialogue in English that really makes her sound like a little kid.

Japanese RemakeEnglish Remake
ティファ
 マリン?
Tifa
Marlene?
マリン
 黒い風に連れていかれた子はね
 ず~っと列車墓場をさまようんだって
Marlene
…And…the kids that the black wind carries away have
to live in the train graveyard forever and ever!
マリン
 危ないから
 ティファも絶対に近づいちゃだめだよ
Marlene
So you have to stay far, far away from there!

As they press on, the trio discovers that they need to push the trains to open up a path, just like in the original game. (Also, can I just say that the music kicking in with the Turks’ theme at this point is just So Good.)

Japanese RemakeEnglish Remake
ティファ
 また道が塞がれてる
 あと少しのはずなのに
Tifa
This path is blocked too? But we’re so close, I can
see it.
エアリス
 列車 動かせないかな
Aerith
Hey, do you think these trains might still run?
クラウド
 調べてみよう
Cloud
Could give it a try.
クラウド
 読みが当たったな まだ動きそうだ
Cloud
Good call. Looks like it still works.

Aerith gets separated from the group and is surrounded by ghost/vision children who are playing hide-and-seek. In Japan, after counting down from whatever number, the seeker calls out もういいかーい (mou ii kai), roughly meaning “Are (you) ready yet?” and the hiders will reply まだだよ (mada da yo ; “not yet”) if they still need time or もういいよ (mou ii yo ; “(it’s) good now” or in this context “(I’m) ready”) when they’re good to go. This call and response would be extremely familiar to Japanese people, but in America we don’t tend to wait politely for everyone to be ready; we just immediately yell “Ready or not, here I come!” E Remake decides to go for a straight translation of “Are you ready?” and “I’m ready!” anyway, but something like “Ready or not, here I come!” and “You’ll never find me!” may have been more familiar to an English-speaking audience. To be fair, the scene would need to be heavily rewritten to get rid of all the “Are you ready?” and “I’m ready!”s going back and forth, and the timing for these lines was probably extremely tight.

Japanese RemakeEnglish Remake
少年
 もういいかーい
Boy
Are you ready?
少年
 もういいかーい
Boy
Well, are ya!?
少年
 もういいよ
Boy
I’m ready now!
少女
 もういいよー
Girl
Me too!
少年
 みーーっけ!
Boy
Found you!
少女
 あ みつかった
Girl
No way!
少年
 みつけたっ
Boy
We found you!
少年
 ああ みつかっちゃった
Boy
Aw, you got me.
少年
 なあ エアリスは?
Boy
Hey, where’s Aerith?

The English translation does at least mix it up a bit when child Aerith repeatedly calls もういいよ (mou ii yo ; “(I’m) ready”) to try to get the other kids to find her.

Japanese RemakeEnglish Remake
エアリス
 もういいよー
Aerith
I’m ready!
エアリス
 もういいよー
Aerith
I’m ready!
エアリス
 もういいよー
Aerith
I said I’m ready!
エアリス
 もういいよー
Aerith
Come get me!
エアリス
 もう……いいよ……
Aerith
I’m right here…

The trio fights Eligor, a rare enemy from the original game that has been expanded into a boss battle in Remake. You can even steal one of Aerith’s weapons from it, like before.


Tifa lands the finishing blow on it, yelling いい加減 どいて! (ii kagen doite ; roughly “just get outta the way already!”) in Japanese. E Remake has her instead say “go to hell” which is much more impactful and perhaps a light jab at the fact that Eligor is an actual mythological demon.

Japanese RemakeEnglish Remake
ティファ
 みんな 今行くね
Tifa
Hold on, guys. We’re coming.
ティファ
 いい加減 どいて!
Tifa
And you…can go to hell!
ティファ
 行こう
Tifa
Let’s go.

They dash for Sector 7, finally making it to the train station there. Funnily enough E Remake’s “We made it!” is directly from the original translation (as small of a thing as it is), while the Japanese is actually rewritten, using ついた (tsuita ; “(we’ve) arrived!”) instead of まにあった (ma ni atta ; “(we) made it in time!”).

Japanese RemakeEnglish RemakeJapanese OriginalEnglish Original
ティファ
 ついた!
Tifa
We made it!
ティファ
「まにあった!
 柱が立ってる!」
Tifa
“We made it!
The pillar’s standing!”

And that concludes Chapters 10 and 11…

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