Final Fantasy VII Script Comparison: Assault on the Pillar

As Cloud and company fall to their doom, we cut to Shinra HQ.
Reeve’s line in English should be “Simply to destroy,” which unfortunately did not get corrected in E PC. Basically, he’s incredulous that the president would go to such lengths just to destroy a such a small group of people.

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
プレジデント神羅「準備のほうは？」	President Shinra “How are the preparations going?”
ハイデッカー「ガハハ！！　順調順調！　実行部隊はタークスです」	Heidegger “Ha, ha, ha!! Smoothly, very smoothly! I assigned the Turks to this.”	Heidegger “Gya, haa, haa! Smoothly, very smoothly! I assigned the Turks to this.”
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…”
プレジデント神羅「いまさらナニかね、リーブ君」	President Shinra “What’s the problem, Reeve? You want out?”

E PC only noted when it differs from E PSX

Heidegger belittles Reeve for being so hesitant.
E PSX is a very literal translation of the Japanese, which E PC revises to sound a bit more natural.

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
ハイデッカー「リーブ、そういう個人的な問題は　朝のうちにトイレで流しちまうんだな！」	Heidegger “Reeve, you should flush those personal problems in the morning!”	Heidegger “Reeve, flush your personal problems with the rest of your crap!”

Cloud and the ladies make they’re way through the sewers and train graveyard until they eventually arrive in Sector 7.
The original translation finally uses “pillar” here, as opposed to “support structure.” Either they had some context, or a different translator handled this. I imagine they didn’t make much use of glossaries back when this was translated.

Japanese	English
ティファ「まにあった！　柱が立ってる！」	Tifa “We made it! The pillar’s standing!”

Cloud can talk to the people standing around before heading up the pillar.
This NPC’s line is a little more like “Is the pillar going to be destroyed?” Basically just wondering what’s going to happen.
His next line runs afoul of more context errors. The Japanese is literally just, “(I’m) scared, but for your sake…” So it isn’t clear based on the text what exactly “for your sake” is referring to. It turns out a shop menu opens up after he says this, so it’s actually “(I’m) scared, but (I’m staying here to sell these) for your sake.”

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
「オロオロ… 　柱壊れちゃうんですか」	“Uh oh…… There goes the pillar.”	“Uh oh… There goes the pillar.”
「こわいんですけど　あんたたちのためにね」	“I’m scared, but it’s for your own good.”

E PC only noted when it differs from E PSX

Cloud can also talk to the soldiers standing around.
The English translation sort of gives him the wrong attitude here, like he’s just frustrated with the situation and feeling bad for himself. He’s actually saying that he’s cutting ties with Shinra (because he knows they’re behind this), and giving Cloud permission to enter for once.
Roughly, “Hey! This is my last job (because I’m resigning)! Get up there!” and “I never thought something like this would happen! This feels awful! I’m turning in my letter of resignation tomorrow.”
Though the Japanese doesn’t specifically say that he’s quitting because of Shinra’s actions, we can infer this through the fact that he’s resigning tomorrow, that the whole situation makes him feel bad, and that he’s letting Cloud through (likely disobeying orders in the process).

Japanese	English
「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!!”
「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!”

As Cloud heads up the pillar, he finds Biggs and Jessie in rough condition.
If Cloud tells Biggs he still doesn’t care about the planet, Biggs comments on how Cloud hasn’t changed.
The Japanese doesn’t sound quite as negative as the English translation seems to make the line out to be. To me, it feels more like, “Ha, you haven’t changed a bit. Well, whatever. That’s fine.”

Japanese	English
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?”
悪いけど興味ない　　　それよりケガが……	Nope, not interested 　　　You’re wounded……
(1) ビッグス「へっ……変わんねえな。　まあ……いいや」	(1) Biggs “Hmph…you haven’t changed. Oh, forget it.”
(2) ビッグス「ありがとよ、クラウド」	(2) Biggs “Thanks, Cloud.”
「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…”

Cloud and Tifa meet up with Barret at the top of the pillar.
Though Cloud and the others assume this is a bomb, Tseng later explains that Reno actually activated the Emergency Plate Release System. So it’s not rigged to “blow” like a bomb. The Japanese here is roughly, “After all, we’d be in trouble if certain idiots could easily mess with it.”

Japanese	English
バレット「くっ！　時限爆弾か！」	Barret “DAMN! It’s a time bomb!”
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!”
クラウド「……ただの時限爆弾じゃない」	Cloud “…It’s not a normal time bomb.”
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.”
「どこかのバカ者が勝手に　ふれると困るからな」	“It’ll blow the second some stupid jerk touches it.”

Tseng continues on. Barret takes aim at Tseng, preparing to fire, but Tseng reveals that he’s taken Aeris hostage.
More context issues arise here, since it isn’t clear who is in danger of doing the harm. It isn’t “you might make me injure” but rather “You might injure our special guest (by blasting bullets in our direction).” (Literally, “If something like that is done, (it will) injure (our) special guest.”)

Japanese	English
ツォン「クックックッ……」	Tseng “Ha ha ha……”
「緊急用プレート解放システムの　設定と解除は神羅役員会の　決定なしではできないのだ」	“Only a Shinra Executive can set up or disarm the Emergency Plate Release System.”
バレット「ゴチャゴチャうるせえ！」	Barret “Shut yer hole!”
ツォン「そんなことをされると　大切なゲストがケガ　するじゃないか」	Tseng “I wouldn’t try that…… You just might make me injure our special guest.”
ティファ「エアリス！！」	Tifa “Aeris!!”

Cloud asks Tseng what he plans to do with Aeris.
Something like “Who knows?” may have been a better reading for Tseng’s response, because he isn’t actually in charge of deciding what happens to Aeris. In fact, he says in his next line that the only order they received was to capture her, emphasizing that he doesn’t know what exactly Shinra is going to do with her.
Also, the Japanese technically says nothing about her being the “last one,” just that she’s a surviving Ancient. It isn’t that big of a difference, but there is confusion later in the story over whether certain other characters are also Ancients, so it is somewhat relevant to the narrative. Of course, the characters’ limited knowledge will also play into whether they view Aeris’ as the last survivor or not. In any case, there is room for interpretation in the Japanese here that Tseng may not necessarily believe that she’s the last.

Japanese	English
クラウド「エアリスをどうする気だ」	Cloud “What are you gonna do with Aeris!?”
ツォン「さあな」	Tseng “I haven’t decided.”
「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「ずいぶん長い時間がかかったが　やっとプレジデントに報告できる」	Tseng “It’s taken us a long time, but now I can finally report this to the President.”

In the aftermath of the Sector 7 disaster, Barret rails against Shinra for killing so many people just to get to AVALANCHE.
To me, it feels more like Tifa is wondering to herself here, rather than accusing Barret of implying that it’s their fault. Like, “Was this our fault?” or “Does that mean this is our fault?” (Literally just: “…Our fault?”)

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
バレット「ああ、ヒドイもんだぜ」	Barret “This is all screwed up!”
「オレたちを倒すために街ひとつ　つぶしちまうんだからな。　いったい何人死んだんだ……」	“They destroyed an entire village just to get to us! They killed so many people…”
ティファ「……私たちのせい？　アバランチがいたから？　関係ない人たちまで……」	Tifa “…are you saying it’s our fault? Because AVALANCHE was here? Innocent people lost their lives because of us?”	Tifa “…Are you saying it’s our fault? Because AVALANCHE was here? Innocent people lost their lives because of us?”
バレット「ちがう！　ちがうぜ！　ティファ！！」	Barret “No, Tifa!”
	“That ain’t it! Hell no!!”

E PC only noted when it differs from E PSX

The crew returns to Sector 5.
This NPC is actually commenting on how the sick person didn’t react in the slightest to the plate falling. Although context issues are partially to blame, the use of ここの人 (koko no hito ; lit. “the person/people here”) should have tipped the translator off. It’s likely that a rushed schedule didn’t allow them the time to properly parse the line.

Japanese	English
「あんな大きな音がしたってのに　ここの人、あいかわらずなんだよね。　よっぽどつらいことでも　あったみたいなんだよね……」	“Even with all that commotion, you went on like nothing happened. You must really been through the mill to get that.”

Here we see the materia shop owner’s reaction to the recent event.
Both translations take this line fairly literally. This is an idiom that doesn’t work as well in English, so it would’ve been better to rework it into something else that gets the “This place is crazy dangerous!” vibe across.
E PC does fix the last line up, though, clarifying that the shopkeeper is talking about himself. The original translation is a very literal take on the Japanese, which, you guessed it, does not include a subject.

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
「こんなとこに住んでたら　命がいくつあっても足りないぜ！」	“Living in a place like this, you could live out several lives,	“You could live several lives in a place like this,”
	“and it still wouldn’t be enough!”
「さ、マテリア買ってくれマテリア！　金をつくってここから逃げ出すんだ！」	“Well, how about some materia? Make some money and then scramble out of here!”	“Well, how about some Materia? I gotta make some money and get out of here!”

E PC only noted when it differs from E PSX

And here’s the item shop owner’s reaction.
The way the English is worded makes it sound like Cloud or someone was trying to pay with something other than gil, but a better reading might be “As long as you give us gil, we’ll give you items. No matter what happens.” Implying that no matter how bad things get, they’ll stay in business.

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
「……ジロジロ…… 　フン、金さえだしゃ　アイテムはやるよ。　何があろうとね……」	“…stare… ……hmph…we only trade items for gil here. No matter what.”	“Hmmm, … …hmph…we only trade items for gil here. No matter what.”

This NPC is still watching the news.
He once again messes up AVALANCHE’s name, this time calling them “B-Lunch,” a reference to lunch sets sold at restaurants. The translation gets in on it this time, using “Avant-garde” as a nice substitute.

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
「何てこったい……！　アバランチだかBランチだか　知らねえが、プレートごと　落っことすなんてどうかしてるぜ！！」	“The hell’s up with that!? I don’t care if they’re AVALANCHE or Avant-garde or whatever you call them. Anyone who brings the plates down on us is nuts!!”	“The hell’s up with that!? I don’t care if they’re AVALANCHE or Avant-garde or whatever. Anyone who’d bring the plates down on us is nuts!!”