Final Fantasy VII Remake Script Comparison: Chapter 7

As in the original, they slide down a pipe to make it down to the reactor.

The smell of mako is brought up again, and Tifa says it takes her back, hinting at a major event from FF7.

Japanese Remake	English Remake
ティファ　このにおい　思い出しちゃうな	Tifa The smell… It takes me back…

Then Cloud has a flashback of Tifa. The Japanese dialogue here is exactly the same, but the English opts to go for “I’m sick of this!” this time around. It’s a nice, natural turn of phrase and a bit more versatile, since this line will soon come up again in a different context.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	E PSX
ティファ　セフィロス　ソルジャー……	Tifa Sephiroth… SOLDIERs…	ティファ「セフィロス……ソルジャー…… 　魔晄炉……神羅……ぜんぶ」	Tifa “Sephiroth…SOLDIER… Mako Reactors…Shinra…Everything!”
ティファ　魔晄炉　神羅……	Tifa Mako… Shinra…
ティファ　ぜんぶ……	Tifa I’m sick of this!
ティファ　ぜんぶ　大キライ！	Tifa I’m sick of all of this!	ティファ「ぜんぶ大キライ！」	Tifa “I hate them all!”

Once again, Barret yells to snap him out of it, and Cloud starts to say something to Tifa, but then thinks better of it.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
バレット　おい　しっかりしろ！	Barret Hey! SOLDIER boy!	バレット「おい、しっかりしてくれよ！」	Barret “Damn man, get a hold of yourself!”
クラウド　ティファ	Cloud Tifa—	クラウド「……ティファ」	Cloud “…Tifa.”
	Tifa What?	ティファ「ん？」	Tifa “Mmm?”

As they turn to leave, they quickly discover that they’ve been set up. In the original, they don’t realize this until they get out onto the bridge.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
クラウド　タイミングがよすぎる	Cloud Weirdly perfect timing.	クラウド「……ワナ、か」	Cloud “…A trap…”

Heidegger introduces himself as head of Public Security, a much better department name than the original’s “Public Safety Maintenance” or “Peace Preservation.” The Japanese department name remains the same.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ハイデッカー　”戦意扇動広報作戦”を指揮する　神羅カンパニー　治安維持部門統括	Heidegger As architect of our populace engagement campaign, I, Heidegger, head of Public Security…	神羅カンパニー治安維持部門・兵器開発部門資料室	Shinra, Inc. Peace Preservation/ Weapon Dev. Research Library

He then gets the role of introducing the airbuster boss instead of President Shinra.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ハイデッカー　エアバスターによる　公開制裁だ！	Heidegger The airbuster! Your executioner!	プレジデント神羅「我が社の兵器開発部が試作した　機動兵『エアバスター』だ」	President Shinra “Meet ‘Airbuster’, a techno-soldier. Our Weapon Development Department created him.”

The crew discusses their situation, and Barret makes a remark about how Shinra controls the news. (Cloud also brought this up earlier in Chapter 3 when discussing the bombing with Tifa, as well.) This is consistent with the original, where in a later scene in Kalm, Aerith says that the newspapers are owned by Shinra and thus are unreliable.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	E PC
バレット　ああ　やつら　好きなようにニュースを　ねつ造するぞ	Barret Yeah. And their bullshit news is already peddling their false narrative.	エアリス「新聞は神羅が出してるのよ。　信用できない」	Aeris “Shinra, Inc. owns the newspapers, so you can’t rely on that.”

They make their way through the facility, disabling the airbuster as they go. Barret and Tifa will make random comments when you choose to dispose of different items. One of Barret’s lines in particular matches up with a later line of his in the original. Again, ざまあ見ろ (zamaa miro) is a colloquial phrase that literally breaks down to mean “see what happens!” and basically means “serves you right!” And “Serves y’all right!” is exactly what E Remake goes with this time, possibly as a nod to the original translation.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
バレット　ハイデッカーめ　ざまあみろ	Barret Serves y’all right!	バレット「んなこたぁ、どうでもいい！　もうすぐここはドッカン！！だぜ！　ざまあみやがれ！」	Barret “Don’t give a damn ’bout none of that! This place’s goin’ up with a big BANG soon! Serves y’all right!”

As they near the end, Barret mentions coming up with victory poses, a reference to how the characters always struck a pose at the end of every battle in the original. We do actually get to see the victory animations recreated later on in Remake, too.

Japanese Remake	English Remake
バレット　勝利のポーズ　考えとくか　全員でキめてやるのさ	Barret For real, though, we need to talk victory poses. Something coordinated for the live, on-camera finish!

Eventually they reach a place where they have to all pull levers at the same time to progress. This mini-game existed in the original as well, where they had to push buttons at the same time, and was much more difficult without any cues to work with.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
クラウド　レバーを同時に動かせばいい	Cloud We move the levers at the same time.	ティファ「３人同時にボタンを押せって　ジェシーが言ってたわ」	Tifa “Jessie said we all have to push the button at once.”

Incidentally, while the Japanese just uses numbers for the security levels, English goes with “alpha,” “beta,” etc., which has a cool, official feel to it.

Japanese Remake	English Remake
アナウンス　現在　最上級セキュリティモード有効です	Announcement Delta-level security lockdown is currently in effect.

Japanese Remake	English Remake
アナウンス　セキュリティモードレベル１　解除	Announcement Alpha-level security—disengaged.

Finally, they make it out onto the bridge and run into President Shinra, as before. Once again, President Shinra notices that Cloud must be a SOLDIER based on his eyes, though this time around we get more information on the fate that awaits all SOLDIERs.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	E PC
バレット　プレジデント神羅？	Barret President Shinra!?	バレット「プ、プレジデント神羅？」	Barret “Pres…President Shinra?”
プレジデント　ほう　魔晄を浴びた者の目か	President Shinra Oho. The eyes of one who has bathed in mako…	「アバランチとやらに参加して　いるという元ソルジャー。　たしかにその目の輝きは　魔晄を浴びた者……」	“You’re the one who quit SOLDIER and joined AVALANCHE. I knew you’d been exposed to Mako, from the look in your eyes…”
プレジデント　君は　ソルジャーだな	President Shinra Which would make you…a SOLDIER?
クラウド　”元”ソルジャーだ	Cloud Ex-SOLDIER.
プレジデント　ソルジャーは　死ぬまでソルジャーだ	President Shinra Once a SOLDIER, always a SOLDIER.
プレジデント　まあ　役に立たなくなる者も多いが	President Shinra Though not, alas, for very long.	プレジデント神羅「すまないがソルジャーの　名前なんて　いちいち覚えとらんのでな」	President Shinra “Forgive me for asking, but I can’t be expected to remember everyone’s name.”
プレジデント　ソルジャーの死因で　最も多いものは　劣化による　自己崩壊	President Shinra Accelerated cellular degradation being the most common cause of death by far.
プレジデント　データは非公開だが　ソルジャーなら皆　知っている	President Shinra This is classified, of course, but every SOLDIER knows the truth.
クラウド　もちろんだ	Cloud …That’s right.

Barret butts in and they trade insults, similarly to the scene from the original.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	E PC
バレット　こっちは無視かよ	Barret Think you forgettin’ someone!?	バレット「んなこたぁ、どうでもいい！　もうすぐここはドッカン！！　だぜ！　ざまあみやがれ！」	Barret “Don’t give a damn ’bout none of that! This place’s goin’ up with a big BANG soon! Serves y’all right!”
プレジデント　ふん　君の話はだらだらと長い　そんな予感がしてね	President Shinra Would that I could. You strike me as the type to go on without end.	プレジデント神羅「……そろそろキミたちの　相手をするのにもあきたよ」	President Shinra “…You are beginning to bore me.”
バレット　てめえらの悪行を数えあげたら　いくら時間があっても　足りねえ	Barret Ain’t enough hours in the day to hold you to account for all your crimes!
プレジデント　足りないと嘆く者ほど　浪費する	President Shinra And what a wasteful indulgence it would be even if there were.	プレジデント神羅「そうだな。　キミたちウジ虫を始末するには　高価すぎる花火ではあるが……」	President Shinra “And such a waste of good fireworks, just to get rid of vermin like you…”
バレット　そう　それよ	Barret Oh, okay then…	バレット「ウジ虫だと！？　言うに事欠いて、ウジ虫だと！」	Barret “VERMIN!? That’s all you can say? VERMIN!?”
バレット　浪費について　話そうじゃねえか	Barret Let’s talk about wasteful indulgences.	「キサマら神羅は、この星を死に　追いやろうとする寄生虫　じゃねぇか！　その親玉であるキサマが　何をえらそうにホザク！」	“Shinra’re the VERMIN for killing the planet! Guess that’d make you King VERMIN! So shu’up jackass!”
バレット　魔晄の正体は　ライフストリーム	Barret What is mako? The lifestream!

And again, this time around we gain more insight into the world. In Remake, it seems that most people do in fact know what mako is, at least on some level, but choose to use it as an energy source anyway. This may seem to run counter to Barret’s line from the beginning of the original game (which was cut in English), but later on in the PSX game there are NPCs in Kalm and other places who clearly see the effects of using mako, but decide to continue using it anyway, just as President Shinra says here in Remake. Honestly, it’s also just a lot more realistic, all things considered.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original
プレジデント　魔晄の本質など　誰もが知っている　それでいて　見て見ぬふりをしている	President Shinra The true nature of mako is known to one and all, yet the people willfully turn a blind eye to the cost.	「でも誰も魔晄の本質を知らねえんだ。　おまえ、知ってるか？」

President Shinra then says his farewells, taking a cue from Heidegger and calling the crew “sewer rats” in English. The Japanese word used here is actually 道化師 (doukeshi) meaning “clown(s).” The translators may have gone with “sewer rats” to create more consistency with Heidegger’s term for the team (in Japanese 薄汚いネズミ ; usugitanai nezumi ; “filthy mice/rats”), and possibly also as a reference to the original where President Shinra calls them “vermin.”

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
プレジデント　さて　スラムの道化師諸君	President Shinra As are you, my faithful sewer rats.	プレジデント神羅「そうだな。　キミたちウジ虫を始末するには　高価すぎる花火ではあるが……」	President Shinra “And such a waste of good fireworks, just to get rid of vermin like you…”

As the fight begins, Tifa says the same thing that she did during Cloud’s flashback. “I’m sick of this” works well in both contexts. Also, note that the Japanese uses 許さない (yurusanai) for the first line. This is often translated as “I won’t forgive (you),” but is actually much more flexible depending on the context it’s used in. There’s a great thread talking more about the concept of 許さない and how to translate it here.

Japanese Remake	English Remake
ティファ　許さない	Tifa I’m sick of this.
ティファ　ぜんぶ　大キライ！	Tifa I’m sick of all of this!

Cloud blanks out for a second and Barret gets his attention, as he did in the original when Cloud was more concerned about President Shinra than the incoming threat of the airbuster.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
バレット　クラウド　ぼさっとしてんなよ	Barret Cloud! Get your head in the game!	バレット「おい、クラウド！　とりあえずコイツをなんとかするぞ！」	Barret “Yo, Cloud! We’ve gotta do somethin’ ’bout him!”

As an aside, their initial battle positions are exactly the same as the original game, which is a nice touch. And the “big bomber shells” that the crew can dispose of ahead of time in Remake come directly from the airbuster’s original special attack.

When they finish the airbuster off, Heidegger remarks that the footage will at least help raise morale. This is not unlike how President Shinra talks about the data from the battle being used for future experiments in the original.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
ハイデッカー　この映像は　戦意高揚のため　大いに活用させてもらうぞ	Heidegger This footage will prove invaluable in raising the morale of our Shinra rank and file.	「君たちとの戦闘データは　今後の開発の貴重な　サンプルとして　利用させてもらうよ」	“I’m sure the data he’ll extract from your dead bodies will be of great use to us in future experiments.”

Explosions erupt all around them and Cloud is flung into a precarious position. The exchange here is more or less exactly the same as the original in Japanese, if cut a bit shorter. Again we see the English translation being upgraded to sound more natural in the moment.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	English Original
バレット　もうすぐ　爆発するぞ	Barret We don’t have long to get clear!	バレット「もうすぐ爆発する！　行くぞ、ティファ！」	Barret “It’s gonna blow! Let’s go, Tifa!”
クラウド　俺はいいから　ティファを	Cloud Take Tifa, and get outta here!	「自分の心配でもしてろ！　俺はいいからティファを！」	“You worry about yourselves! I’m all right, but take care of Tifa!”
バレット　いろいろ　悪かったな	Barret I…I was wrong aboutchya—	バレット「……そうか。　いろいろ悪かったな」	Barret “…Alright. Sorry ’bout all this.”
クラウド　これで終わりみたいな　言い方をするな	Cloud This ain’t the end of the line for you or me!	クラウド「これで終わりみたいな言いかたは　やめてくれ！」	Cloud “Stop talkin’ like this is the end!”
ティファ　クラウド！	Tifa Cloud!
バレット　行くぞ	Barret C’mon!	バレット「じゃ、あとでな」	Barret “Alright, then, later.”

Cloud seemingly falls to his doom, and we cut to a scene with a mysterious voice. Once more, the Japanese dialogue is basically exactly the same, while the English is touched up, restoring a missing line from the original and generally just sounding smoother. It’s interesting to note that the English forgoes any pronouns for the “scraped knees” line this time, to keep it as vague as possible. For reference, E PSX went with “you could get by with,” while E PC settled on “I only got.” The Japanese doesn’t use any pronouns here, as usual.

Japanese Remake	English Remake	Japanese Original	E PSX	E PC
大丈夫か？	Hey, buddy.	『……大丈夫か？』	……You all right?	…You all right?
聞こえてるか？	You okay?	『……聞こえてるか？』	……Can you hear me?	…Can you hear me?
クラウド　ああ	Cloud Yeah.	クラウド「…………ああ」	Cloud “……Yeah……”	Cloud “…Yeah…“
あの時はヒザをすりむいただけですんだけど	Made it through with just a couple of scraped knees back then…	『あの時は…… 　ヒザすりむいただけで　すんだけど……』	Back then…… You could get by with just skinned knees……	Back then… I only got scraped knees…
クラウド　あのとき？	Cloud “Back then”?	クラウド「……あの時？」	Cloud “……What do you mean by ‘back then’?”	Cloud “…What do you mean by ‘back then’?”
今度はどうかな起きられるか？	Whaddya say? We doing this?	『今度はどうかな？　起きられるか？』	What about now? Can you get up?
クラウド　こんど？	Cloud Have we—	クラウド「……あの時？　……今度は？」	Cloud “……What do you mean by ‘that time’? ……What about now?”	Cloud “…What do you mean by ‘back then‘? …What about now?”
気にするな今は　体のことだけ考えるんだ	Never mind about that. Right now, you need to focus on yourself.	『……気にするな。　今は身体のことだけ　考えるんだ』	……Don’t worry about me. You just worry about yourself now.	…Don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself now.
体　動かせるか？	Move something, anything.	『……身体、動かせるか？』
クラウド　やってみる	Cloud Why not…	クラウド「……やってみる」	Cloud “……I’ll give it a try.”	Cloud “…I’ll try.”
どうだ？	Good.	『……どうだ？』	……How about that?	…How about that?
ゆっくりな少しずつ　少しずつ	Easy does it. Slow…and steady…	『ゆっくりな。　少しずつ少しずつ……』	Take it slow now. Little by little……
クラウド　わかってるさ	Cloud Yeah, yeah…	クラウド「……わかってるさ」	Cloud “……I know.”	Cloud “…I know.”
？？？？　もしも～し	??? Hello?	「もしも～し！」	“Hello, hello!”
クラウド　なあ……あんた　誰だ？	Cloud Hey, uh… Who are you?	クラウド「なあ……あんた、誰だ？」	Cloud “Hey…who are you?”

E PC only noted when it differs from E PSX

At the end of this sequence, we get an extra bit in Remake where Sephiroth makes an appearance as well. Note that in Japanese he uses the pronoun 私 (watashi) here. In the original game, Sephiroth started out using the pronoun 俺 (ore), but switched to 私 (watashi) after a certain major incident. In Remake, there are times when he uses one pronoun and times when he uses the other, which is thought to hint at the existence of multiple Sephiroths.