Final Fantasy VII Remake Script Comparison: Chapter 12

We start off the chapter with another fantastic translation. Barret’s line in Japanese is roughly just, “Don’t mess around (with me/us)!”

Japanese Remake	English Remake
神羅ヘリ　神羅が脅しに屈することはない	Shinra Helicopter Shinra does not negotiate with terrorists!
神羅ヘリ　ただちに支柱から立ち去れ	Shinra Helicopter Resist and we will use lethal force!
バレット　ふざけんなぁ！	Barret Got your lethal force right here, asshole!

Wedge falls from the pillar, but this time his momentum is slowed a bit so that he isn’t as badly hurt.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
クラウド＆ティファ　ウェッジ！	Cloud & Tifa Wedge!	クラウド「だいじょうぶか？　……ウェッジ！！」	Cloud “Wedge!! You all right!?”

He tells the crew that Barret is fighting above, and Cloud heads up to help. The English translation retains the original’s “I’m going up!” While the Japanese keeps ウェッジを頼む (Wedge wo tanomu), roughly, “(I) entrust Wedge (to you).”

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ウェッジ　行かなきゃ	Wedge I have to go back—
ウェッジ　上でバレットたちが……	Wedge Barret and the others are still—	ウェッジ「バレットさんが…上で戦ってるっす。　手をかしてやって……」	“Barret’s up top. …Help him…”
クラウド　無理だ	Cloud Stop!
クラウド　ウェッジを頼む　俺は上へ行く	Cloud Stay with Wedge. I’m going up.	クラウド「のぼるぞ！」	Cloud “I’m going up!”
		クラウド「エアリス！　ウェッジをたのむ」	Cloud “Aeris! You look after Wedge.”

Wedge then calls out his friends’ names as a show of concern, hoping they’re all right. This is something that Japanese often does: having a character say another character’s name to convey a variety of unspoken emotions. This isn’t as much of a thing in English though, and so it’s often better to just try to write out those unspoken emotions if possible, as the English translation does here.

Japanese Remake	English Remake
ウェッジ　ビッグス　ジェシー　バレット！	Wedge Hang on, guys! Help is coming!

Moving on to the scene with Biggs, Cloud once again gets dialogue options to choose how to respond, but they’re a bit softer now, showing his connection with Biggs. If you pick “I won’t,” Biggs then thanks Cloud, as he does when the second dialogue option is chosen in the original. If you pick the other Remake option, “What about you?”, he’ll basically tell Cloud not to worry about him (just not in so many words), similarly to the original. That’s about the only things that line up, though, as the majority of the conversation is rewritten and expanded upon, as we’ve come to expect by now.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ビッグス　上が苦戦中だ	Biggs It’s…pretty bad up there.	「でも……おれはいいから…… 　バレットが……上で戦っている。　手をかしてやってくれ……」	“…don’t worry ’bout me…… Barret’s…fighting up there. Go help him…”
ビッグス　頼む　クラウド	Biggs Cloud. Promise me.
ビッグス　行ってやってくれ	Biggs Don’t let it be for nothing.	ビッグス「クラウド…… 　やっぱり……星の命なんて…… 　どうなろうと……興味ないか？」	Biggs “Cloud… so you don’t care…what happens… to the…Planet?”
上が苦戦中だ　行ってやってくれ　まかせてくれ　アンタはどうする	Don’t let it be for nothing. 　I won’t. 　What about you?	悪いけど興味ない　　　それよりケガが……	Nope, not interested 　　You’re wounded……
(1) クラウド　まかせてくれ	(1) Cloud I won’t.
ビッグス　ありがとな	Biggs You’re a good man.	(2) ビッグス「ありがとよ、クラウド」	(2) Biggs “Thanks, Cloud.”
ビッグス　そう言ってくれると　心強い	Biggs Giving me that…that comfort.
(2) クラウド　アンタは　どうする	(2) Cloud What about you?
ビッグス　ここで戦うさ	Biggs I’ve still got some fight left in me.	「でも……おれはいいから…… 　バレットが……上で戦っている。　手をかしてやってくれ……」	“…don’t worry ’bout me…… Barret’s…fighting up there. Go help him…”
ビッグス　あと百人倒してやる	Biggs ‘Nough for another platoon or two.
ビッグス　普通の男を　なめんなよ	Biggs Don’t gotta be a SOLDIER…to make a difference.

And not to beat a dead horse, but the translation continues to have great military-like lingo.

Japanese Remake	English Remake
空中兵　５階　侵入者発見　ただちに排除する	Helitrooper Contact—L5! Moving to engage!

Reno also gets some first-class dialogue. In particular, his Japanese line とんだ　３ギル芝居だぜ shows how the tone of voice can be just as important to interpreting the meaning of the line. With just the text, this could be taken as Reno commenting on Rude’s bad acting skills (roughly, “What an awful 3 Gil act”), but when you hear him say it, his tone makes it clear that he’s expressing more general frustration at the whole situation, as the English translation has.

Japanese Remake	English Remake
レノ　ん？　あいつ	Reno Wait. I know you…
レノ　あー　ハイハイ	Reno Mister “First Class.”
レノ　クラスファースト	Reno First-class asshole!
レノ　オラオラ	Reno Gotcha now!
レノ　オラオラオラオラ！	Reno You ain’t go nowhere to run!
クラウド　マズイな	Cloud Not good.
ルード　あきらめて　投降しろ	Rude Throw down your weapon and surrender!
ルード　極悪非道の　アバランチ	Rude Shinra does not negotiate with terrorists!
レノ　とんだ　３ギル芝居だぜ	Reno Man, screw this cheap-ass play.

We cut back to Aerith and Tifa. Tifa begins to ask Aerith to go take care of Marlene, but Aerith cuts her off even earlier this time, already knowing what Tifa wants her to do.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ティファ　エアリス	Tifa Aerith.	ティファ「エアリス、おねがい」	Tifa “Aeris, do me a favor.”
ティファ　近くに　セブンスヘブンって　お店があるの	Tifa There’s a bar in the center of town—Seventh Heaven.	「この近くに私たちの店　『セブンスヘブン』があるの」	“I have a bar called ‘7th Heaven’ in this neighborhood.”
ティファ　そこで——	Tifa I need you to—	「そこにマリンっていう名前の　小さな女の子がいるから……」	“There’s a little girl named Marlene there.”
エアリス　マリンが待ってる　でしょ？	Aerith Get Marlene to safety. Right?
エアリス　まかせて　必ず助ける	Aerith It’s okay. I’ll find her.	エアリス「わかった。　安全な場所へ、ね」	Aeris “Don’t worry. I’ll put her somewhere safe.”

In the original, Tifa yells at everyone to get away from the pillar, but in Remake Wedge and Aerith take on this role.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ウェッジ　ここにいちゃ　ダメッス	Wedge You guys can’t stay here!	ティファ「ここは危険です！　みんな早く柱からはなれて！」	Tifa “It’s dangerous here!”
ウェッジ　みんな　離れて！	Wedge Come on, come on!		“Everyone get away from the pillar, quickly!”

The guards are still sticking around, like in PSX, but this time they’re refusing to let anyone through.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
先輩兵士　うるさいっ　無理だと言ってるだろう！	Senior Officer Back off! It’s not gonna happen!	「あ、あの…… 　これが、僕の仕事だから… 　ギリギリまでここにいないとならないんだ」	“L, look… This is my job, so I have to be here until the absolute last minute.”

Aerith and Wedge talk about the inevitability of the pillar falling, and Aerith convinces him that it’s worth trying to help people either way. This concept is actually brought up much later in the original game when you meet Bugenhagen.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ウェッジ　エアリスは　プレートが　落ちるって　信じてるんスね？	Wedge You don’t think we’re gonna stop them from dropping the plate, do you?
ウェッジ　オレは　アバランチの勝利を　信じてるッス	Wedge I wanna believe that we can still win somehow.
エアリス　うん	Aerith Mm.
ウェッジ　でも　イヤ～な予感が　ずっとしてて　なんだろう　これ	Wedge But…something in my gut tells me we’re due for a reckoning. Just this…feeling. Know what I mean?
エアリス　それ　わたしも	Aerith Yeah… I do.
エアリス　だから　イザと言う時に備えよう	Aerith But…that’s no excuse to give up.
エアリス　あの時　こうすれば良かったって	Aerith I don’t wanna look back one day…
エアリス　後悔しないように	Aerith and wish I’d done it different.
エアリス　今を　精いっぱい　できること　ちゃんと	Aerith Right here, right now, I need to know I did everything I could.	ブーゲンハーゲン「結果はどうなろうと　何かやることが大切なの　ではないか？」	Bugenhagen “No matter what happens, isn’t it important to try?”

Eventually the new recruit gives in and lets the people through. In the original game, the senior officer was willing to let Cloud through from the start, deciding that he didn’t want to be party to Shinra’s crimes. (The original translation obfuscates this a bit. See my series on the original for more details.)

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
先輩兵士　おまえ！	Senior Officer Close it!
新人兵士　ボクは　後悔したくありません！	New Recruit No, sir! I will not obey that order!	「おう！　これが俺の最後の仕事だ！　登ってけ！！」	“Doh! And this was supposed to be my last job! Do something!!”
新人兵士　みなさん　こっちです　早く！	New Recruit This way, everyone! Quickly, quickly!	「こんなことになるなんてな！　いい気分じゃねえ！　明日、じひょうだ！」	“I never thought this would ever happen to me! Great… I’m quitting tomorrow!”
先輩兵士　おい　待て！	Senior Officer You can’t just… Wait!

Aerith tells Wedge not to worry because she’ll take care of Marlene. In the original game, she says something similar to Cloud when he talks to her. Interestingly, the Japanese and English line up in different ways here, with the Japanese keeping the まかせて (makasete ; “let (me) handle (this)”) and the English keeping the “don’t worry.”

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
エアリス　ウェッジ　セブンスヘブンは　この先だよね？	Aerith Wedge! Seventh Heaven is just down this road, isn’t it?
ウェッジ　そこの道を抜けて　右側ッス	Wedge Head straight and look right—you can’t miss it!
エアリス　マリンは　まかせて！	Aerith Don’t worry about me!	エアリス「だいじょうぶ。　ここはまかせて」	Aeris “Don’t worry. You let me handle this.”

And Aerith then gets Tifa’s original line of telling everyone to get out of Sector 7.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
エアリス　七番街から離れて！	Aerith You all have to get out of Sector 7!	「７番街から離れて！」	“Everyone get out of Sector 7!”
エアリス　早く　遠くへ！	Aerith Now! Please!

The dreaded 仕方ない (shikata nai ; over-translated as “it can’t be helped”) pops up in Marle’s dialogue, with the line roughly translating to something like “There’s no point in making a fuss (about it) here!” The English translation encapsulates this meaning while making her sound like a badass old lady taking charge.

Japanese Remake	English Remake
マーレ　プレートは　落ちるのかい？	Marle They’re going to drop the plate on us?
エアリス　はい	Aerith Yes.
自警団　信じられねえ	Neighborhood Watch Member Those sons of bitches!
自警団　あいつら　どういうつもりなんだよ	Neighborhood Watch Member What good do they think that’ll do!?
マーレ　ここで騒いでも　仕方ないよ	Marle Feel free to cry about it later!
マーレ　さあ　自警団は避難誘導だ	Marle Right now, we need to get everyone to safety.

Aerith makes her way to Seventh Heaven and is about to walk out with Marlene when she’s stopped by Tseng. His line in Japanese is かくれんぼは終わりだ (kakurenbo ha owari da), roughly “hide-and-seek is over.” This may be a callback to the previous chapter, where hide-and-seek was a major theme. The English translation goes for “merry chase” instead, possibly because of timing constraints or just to sound more natural. And to be fair, Aerith was never really hiding from the Turks; they always knew exactly where she lived.

Japanese Remake	English Remake
ツォン　かくれんぼは終わりだ　エアリス	Tseng You led us on a merry chase, Aerith.

We cut back to Cloud and get another example of how context can improve a translation. In Japanese Rude just says “That’s…” which is incredibly vague and not something that sounds very natural in English. Because the translators had context and knew that Rude was referring to Tifa running up the stairs, though, they’re able to change this to just “Stairs” so that Rude can alert his partner to the presence of another enemy. Also “Two birds with one shitload of bullets” is great. The Japanese there is roughly just “(I’m) gonna be mean.”

Japanese Remake	English Remake
クラウド　限界か	Cloud Gotta move.
レノ　そろそろ　決着つけようぜ～？	Reno Pop your head out and let me finish this already.
ルード　あれは……	Rude Stairs.
レノ　意地悪しちゃうぞ　と	Reno Two birds with one shitload of bullets!

At the last minute, Rude stops Reno from shooting Tifa. Fans familiar with the original FF7 may know that this is (likely) because Rude secretly has a crush on her, as revealed later on in the PSX game.

Japanese Remake	English Remake
レノ　なにやってんだよ　相棒！	Reno Dammit! You wanna explain yourself, partner?
ルード　すまん	Rude Uh… Hand slipped.

Eventually Cloud and Tifa come across Jessie. This time, Cloud doesn’t get a dialogue option, making the original’s “Don’t say last” the canon choice. In general, her death scene lines up more with the original than Biggs’ did, with her commenting on how she gets to talk with Cloud and expressing regret for the people who were killed because of their actions. They even get her response to the original’s second dialogue option in there, commenting on Cloud’s reaction.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ジェシー　最期の話し相手　クラウドか	Jessie So…you’re the guy…who gets to hear my last words…	ジェシー「あ……クラウド…… 　最後に……話せて良かった……」	Jessie “…Cloud… I’m glad……I could talk with you…one last time.”
ジェシー　うん　悪くないぞ	Jessie Heh… Lucky me.
クラウド　最期と決まったわけじゃない	Cloud Like hell they’re your last!	最後だなんて…… 　　　そうか……	Don’t say ‘last’…… 　　Is that so…
ジェシー　ううん　いいんだ……	Jessie It’s okay, Cloud… It’s okay.	(1) ジェシー「もう、いい……いいの……」	(1) Jessie “That’s…all right…”
ジェシー　わたしの爆弾　大勢殺したからね	Jessie They were my bombs. They were all…my victims.	「私たち……私たちの作戦で　たくさん……人、死んじゃったし…… 　きっと……そのむくい……ね」	“Because…of our actions…many……people died…… this probably……is our punishment…”
ジェシー　償わなくちゃ	Jessie I had it…coming.
ジェシー　また助けられちゃった	Jessie My hero. So gentle…
クラウド　何度でも助けるさ	Cloud Just try to hang on!
ジェシー　しみる……	Jessie So dramatic…	「フフ……相変わらず…… 　クールな……元ソルジャーさん。　……そこが……いいんだけどね……」	“Ha……cool……as usual… ex-…SOLDIER. …always…I liked that…in you…”

They finally meet up with Barret at the top of the pillar. As in the original, he tells them to watch out for the helicopter, using almost the exact same wording in Japanese. E Remake once again improves on the original translation with “Chopper’s gonna chew you up!” Which sounds so much more snappy than “They’re attacking from the helicopter.”

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
バレット　ティファか？	Barret Tifa!?	バレット「ティファ！　クラウド！　来てくれたのか！」	Barret “Tifa! Cloud! You came!”
バレット　おう　気をつけろ	Barret Get your ass behind cover! Now!	「気をつけろ！　やつら　ヘリで襲ってきやがる」	“Be careful! They’re attacking from the helicopter.”
バレット　ヘリから撃ってきやがる	Barret Chopper’s gonna chew you up!

Barret asks if they’re ready to go, kind of like how Tifa suggests they stop to prepare in the original. (And the player is actually given the chance to open the menu and change their equipment during the following cutscene.)

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
バレット　準備はいいか？	Barret You ready?	ティファ「本格的にくる前に　装備を整えておいたほうがいいわ！」	Tifa “Better equip ourselves before they attack in full force!”

Reno drops down to initiate the plate release countdown. This time there’s no confusion over whether it’s a bomb like there is in the original.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
端末音声　緊急コードの入力を確認	Announcement Plate separation authorized.
端末音声　起動ボタンを押してください	Announcement Awaiting confirmation.
端末音声　緊急コードの入力を確認	Announcement Plate separation authorized.
端末音声　起動ボタンを押してください	Announcement Awaiting confirmation.
レノ　はい　おしまい	Reno Yeah, yeah, coming right up.	レノ「はい、おしまい！　作業終了」	Reno “That’s all, folks! Mission accomplished.”
レノ　邪魔——	Reno No you don’t!	レノ「そういうわけにはいかないぞ、と　タークスのレノさまの邪魔は　誰にもさせないぞっ……と」	Reno “I can’t have you do that. No one gets in the way of Reno and the Turks…”
レノ　するなよっ　と	Reno Not when I’m working!

There’s some banter as they begin fighting. Reno calls Cloud out for beating up Rude earlier, to which Cloud responds with “Had to” in English and 仕事だ (shigoto da ; “(it’s part of my) job”). The Japanese line may be a reference to Reno’s earlier line as he jumps out of the helicopter: お仕事だぞ　と (o-shigoto da zo to ; “(it’s part of my) job”), which was (wonderfully) translated as “It’s nothing personal, bitch!” It’s too bad Cloud couldn’t also respond with “nothing personal” in English here, but it most likely didn’t fit the timing.

Japanese Remake	English Remake
クラウド　タークス	Cloud You!
レノ　お仕事だぞ　と	Reno It’s nothing personal…bitch!

Japanese Remake	English Remake
レノ　おまえ　ルードもやったんだって？	Reno So. Heard you gave Rude a beating.
クラウド　仕事だ	Cloud Had to.

After the battle, Tifa rushes over to the console, as before, but this time Cloud is able to directly ask Reno how to stop it.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
端末音声　緊急コードの入力を確認	Announcement Plate separation authorized.
端末音声　起動ボタンを押してください	Announcement Awaiting confirmation.
クラウド　解除方法は？	Cloud How do we stop it?	ティファ「クラウド！　止めかたがわからないの。　やってみて！」	Tifa “Cloud! I don’t know how to stop this. Try it!”
レノ　言うかよ	Reno Who knows?

But of course, they fail and get a visit from Tseng, though over the monitor this time as opposed to a face-to-face meeting. It’s interesting to note that the English translation here has Aerith say “I found Marlene!” without explicitly declaring that she’s okay. This may be to help leave more room for doubt, as in Chapter 13 the trio acts as though they aren’t really sure that Marlene is safe.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ツォン　システムの解除は　もはや不可能だ	Tseng Nothing. There is nothing you can do now.	ツォン「そのとおり。　それを操作するのは難しい」	Tseng “That’s right. You’ll have a hard time disarming that one.”
ティファ　おねがい　止めて！	Tifa You can’t do this!	ティファ「おねがい、とめて！」	Tifa “Please, stop it!”
エアリス　ティファ！　マリンは大丈夫だから	Aerith Tifa! I found Marlene!	エアリス「ティファ、だいじょうぶだから！　あの子、だいじょうぶだから！」	Aeris “Tifa, don’t worry! She’s all right!”
ティファ　エアリス？	Tifa Aerith!	ティファ「エアリス！」	Tifa “Aeris!”
バレット　マリン？　マリンだと！？	Barret Marlene? My Marlene!?
バレット　あんた　マリンを	Barret What did you do with her!?
クラウド　そこはどこだ？	Cloud Where are you!?
エアリス　わたしは——	Aerith I’m at the—

Tseng thanks them for basically helping the Turks capture Aerith, then leaves them to their doom. There may be a slight misunderstanding in the English translation here over Tseng’s line: だが　申し訳ないが居場所は (da ga moushiwakenai ga ibasho ha). This roughly translates to “However, I’m sorry, but the location is…” The English translation seems to have taken the word “location” to be referring to where Cloud and the others currently stand. But Cloud has recently asked where Aerith is and after saying this line Tseng puts a finger to his lips, which suggests to me that “location” may actually be referring to where Aerith is being held. It’s possible this was changed in English to better transition to “you’re doomed,” but then him putting his finger to his lips seems weird. Though perhaps they meant the player to take it as “Shinra’s involvement in the plate collapse is a secret.”

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ツォン　君たちの活動が巡り巡って　我々に古代種をもたらした　というわけだ	Tseng Your activities unwittingly brought you into contact with the Ancient, who is now back in our custody where she belongs.	「われわれタークスにあたえられた　命令は『古代種』の生き残りを　つかまえろ、ということだけだ」	“Our orders were to find and catch the last remaining Ancient.”
ツォン　その点に関しては礼を言おう	Tseng For this, you have my sincerest gratitude.
ツォン　だが　申し訳ないが居場所は	Tseng Alas, the sector in which you stand has been condemned.
クラウド　古代種？	Cloud “Ancient”?
エアリス　逃げて　はやく逃げて	Aerith Run! You have to go now!	エアリス「だからはやく逃げて！」	Aeris “Hurry and get out!”
ツォン　アバランチに逃げ場など　あるかな？	Tseng And where exactly do you expect them to go?	ツォン「クックックッ！　そろそろ始まるぞ。　逃げきれるかな？」	Tseng “Ha, ha, ha… Well, it should be starting right about now. Think you can escape in time?”

The trio manage to find a wire to quickly make their escape, just like in the original. Though it’s a different kind of wire this time.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
バレット　ここにいたらペシャンコだ　とにかく　脱出方法を探すぞ	Barret If we don’t get the hell outta here right now, we’re dead! We gotta think of something!	ティファ「上のプレートが落ちてきたら　ひとたまりもないわ。　いそがなくちゃ！」	Tifa “Once that Plate starts coming down it’ll be too late. We gotta hurry!”
バレット　おい！	Barret Hey!
バレット　こっちだ	Barret Over here!
バレット　このワイヤーで脱出だ	Barret Found us a way out!	バレット「おい、このワイヤーを使って　脱出できるぜ！」	Barret “Yo, we can use this wire to get out!”