Final Fantasy VII Script Comparison: Reunion in a Church

Cloud blacks out and we get our first encounter with the mysterious voice. Japanese has the luxury of never using pronouns, leaving it completely ambiguous. E PSX went for “you” while E PC settled on “I”.

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
『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…

The voice says “Worry about yourself now” and then follows up with a line that’s missing in English (Roughly, “Can you move your body?”). Without this line, Cloud’s response in English makes it seem like he’s saying “I’ll try to worry about myself” instead of “I’ll see if I can move at all.”

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
『……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.
『……身体、動かせるか？』
クラウド「……やってみる」	Cloud “……I’ll give it a try.”	Cloud “…I’ll try.”

Cloud wakes up and a familiar girl explains that he fell through the roof of the church.
E PC fixes some context errors from the original translation here. As we’ve seen previously, Japanese often leaves out the subject, assuming that readers/listeners can guess who or what is being talked about based on the context.
(For reference the Japanese here is literally something like: “Suddenly fell. Was surprised.”)

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
「いきなり、落ちてくるんだもん。　おどろいちゃった」	“It suddenly fell on top of me. It really gave me a scare.”	“You just fell from above. You really gave me a scare.”

She tells Cloud that he shouldn’t worry about damaging the flowers.
“Sacred” is an interesting word choice. I guess they went for it because it’s in a church. (Though it’s unclear if they even had that context to work from.) The Japanese is literally just “special.”

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
クラウド「……落ちてきた」	Cloud “……I came crashing down?”	Cloud “…I came crashing down?”
「屋根と、花畑、クッションに　なったのかな。　運、いいね」	“The roof and the flower bed must have broken your fall. You’re lucky.”
クラウド「花畑……あんたの花畑？」	Cloud “Flower bed……is this yours?”	Cloud “Flower bed…is this yours?”
クラウド「それは悪かったな」	Cloud “Sorry about that.”
「気にしないで。　お花、けっこう強いし　ここ、特別な場所だから」	“That’s all right. The flowers here are quite resilient because this is a sacred place.”

E PC only noted when it differs from E PSX

She continues on…
This is the first time the English script suggests that plants and flowers don’t grow in Midgar. In Japanese, Barret previously mentioned that no plants grow in Midgar because the reactors suck up all the Mako, but that line was removed in English.

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
「ミッドガルって　草や花、あまり育たないでしょ？　でも、ここだけ花、さくの」	“They say you can’t grow grass and flowers in Midgar.”	“They say grass and flowers won’t grow in Midgar.”
	“But for some reason, the flowers have no trouble blooming here.”	“But for some reason, they have no trouble blooming here.”
「好きなんだ、ここ」	“I love it here.”

E PC only noted when it differs from E PSX

Bonus fact: Before talking to Aeris again, if you run to the door of the church you can talk to Reno outside.

Japanese	English
「もう少し、時間をやるぞ、と」	“I’ll give you a little more time.”

When Cloud talks to her again, she mentions that this is their second time meeting.
If Cloud guesses that she’s the slum drunk and didn’t buy a flower from her, she’ll call him out for not remembering their first encounter. In English this is mistakenly translated as “I don’t remember a thing” instead of “You don’t remember a thing.”

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
「しつれいしちゃうわね！」	“Excuse me, but that’s really rude!”	“Excuse me, but you’re really rude!”
「な～んにも覚えてないんだ」	“I don’t remember a thing.”
「まぁ、いっか」	“Well, that’s okay.”

E PC only noted when it differs from E PSX

She then starts talking about materia.
Unlike what the English translation has, she’s not asking but rather stating a fact in order to strike up a conversation. (Roughly, “Hey, you have materia.”)
The next line has yet another context error in the English. This isn’t Cloud replying; she’s saying “I have some too.”
This scene in general is in horrible need of more context for the translation.

Japanese	English
「ね、マテリア、持ってるんだね」	“Say, do you have any materia?”
「わたしも持ってるんだ」	“Yes, some.”
クラウド「今はマテリアはめずらしくもなんともない」	Cloud “Nowadays you can find materia anywhere.”
「わたしのは特別。　だって、何の役にも立たないの」	“But mine is special. It’s good for absolutely nothing.”

She talks about the special Materia she has.
In Japanese she actually says “But I don’t care if it’s useless,” which helps transition better into her next line: “I feel safe just having it.”

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
クラウド「……役にたたない？　使い方を知らないだけだろ？」	Cloud “……good for nothing? You probably just don’t know how to use it.”	Cloud “…good for nothing? You just don’t know how to use it.”
「そんなこと、ないけど…… 　でも、役に立たなくてもいいの」	“No, I do…… it just doesn’t do anything.”
「身につけてると安心できるし　お母さんが残してくれた……」	“I feel safe just having it. It was my mother’s……”	“I feel safe just having it. It was my mother’s.“

E PC only noted when it differs from E PSX

She invites Cloud to chat with her for a while, if he refuses, she says this following line.
English can’t really get away with being vague like this more literal translation. “Ahhh, I wonder whose fault it is that my flowers are all squashed?” would establish more context for English readers. She’s trying to guilt trip Cloud into talking with her.

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
「あ～あ、誰のせいかな～。　せっかく、元気に育ったのにね～。　お花さん、かわいそ」	“Ahhh. I wonder whose fault that is. It takes a lot to grow them, you know. Poor flowers.”	“Ahhh. I wonder whose fault that is. It‘s not easy to grow them, you know. Poor flowers.”

She tends to the flowers a bit, then comes to a realization.
Cloud hasn’t actually mentioned anything so “Now that I think of it” or something might work better here.

We also finally learn her (canon) name. “Aeris vs. Aerith” has been debated and explained at length in plenty of other places, but for posterity: there is no “th” sound in Japanese, so foreign words with “th” sounds are usually rendered with ス (su) or the like. Thus, her name can technically be transliterated either way. Later translations side with “th” because the name likely derives from the English word “earth.” I’ll be using “Aeris” throughout this series just to match the original translation.

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
「あ！」	“Oh!”
「そういえば、まだだった」	“Now that you mention it……”	“Now that you mention it…“
「おたがい、名前、知らないね」	“We don’t know each other’s names, do we?”
「わたしは……」	“My name is……”	“My name is…“
「わたし、花売りのエアリス。　よろしくね」	“I’m Aeris, the flower girl. Nice to meet you.”

E PC only noted when it differs from E PSX

They chat for a while, then are interrupted.
Strap in for some more context errors. Reno has just walked into the church, so Aeris is saying that HE has bad timing. (The Japanese is just “Bad timing.”) The English most likely assumed that she was talking about herself because the only context they had to go on was that Aeris laughed at Cloud and he was offended.

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
クラウド「何がおかしい！　どうして笑う！」	Cloud “What’s so funny? What are you laughing at?”
エアリス「ごめんなさい……でも、ね」	Aeris “Sorry……I just”	Aeris “Sorry, I just…”
エアリス「タイミング、悪いなぁ」	Aeris “Sorry, bad timing on my part.”

E PC only noted when it differs from E PSX

As Cloud approaches Reno, Aeris yells, “Cloud! Don’t get involved with him / stay away from him!”
Again, the translator doesn’t know that Reno is there. The verb 構う (kamau) is fairly versatile and can also mean “to care about/to be concerned about.” So the English mistakenly assumes it’s being used in that sense.

Japanese	English
エアリス「クラウド！　かまっちゃダメ！」	Aeris “Cloud! Don’t let it get to you!”

To back up the “stay away from him” interpretation of Aeris’ above line, here Reno quotes her, saying “(She) said to stay away from me.”

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
「オレにかまうな、だと」	“Don’t worry about me.”	“Don’t mind me.”

Aeris hires Cloud as her bodyguard, and he confronts Reno.
He declares that he doesn’t know Reno, but then hesitates, struggling with his memory and questioning the statement he just made. The translator must not have had this context. A better reading might be “Wait… DO I know you?” (The Japanese is literally: “Don’t know…?”)
Following on in that vein, Cloud’s inner voice then chimes in to remind Cloud that he DOES know Reno. “(You/I/We) do know him.”

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
クラウド「どこの誰だか知らないが……」	Cloud “I don’t know who you are, but……”	Cloud “I don’t know who you are, but…“
クラウド「知らない……？」	Cloud “You don’t know me……?”	Cloud “You don’t know me…“
『……知ってるよ』	……I know you.	…I know you.
クラウド「そうだ……俺は知っている」	Cloud “Oh yeah……I know you.”	Cloud “Oh yeah…I know you.”

Aeris and Cloud escape to the back of the church.
Reno appears to be speaking more to himself here, since he was just pausing to dwell on Cloud’s Mako eyes. Like “Well, whatever. Back to work.” (More or less what E PSX has.) Though he does also turn to his subordinates when saying this, so it could be directed at both himself and them.

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
レノ「あれは………魔晄の目」	Reno “They were……Mako eyes.”	Reno “They were…Mako eyes.”
レノ「ま、いいかぁ。　お仕事お仕事、と」	Reno “Yeah, all right. Back to work, back to work.”	Reno “Yeah, all right. C’mon, get to work.”

Once again, he’s paraphrasing Aeris here, like “She said not to step on the flowers.”
Also, “You’re gonna catch holy hell!” is a fun turn of phrase (if a bit odd?). The Japanese is roughly: “(She’s) gonna get mad (at you)!”

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
レノ「あっ！」	Reno “Oh!”
レノ「お花、ふまないでね…だと」	Reno “And don’t step on the flowers……”	Reno “And don’t step on the flowers…“
「レノさん、ふんだ！」	“Hey Reno, you just stepped on them!”	“You just stepped on them yourself!”
「花、ぐしゃぐしゃ！」	“They’re all ruined!”	“They’re ruined!”
「怒られる～！」	“You’re gonna catch holy hell!”

E PC only noted when it differs from E PSX

Cloud and Aeris try to escape up into the rafters.
And we’re in for more context issues. This should be more like “Over there!” or “Look!” because she just spotted Reno and his goons running into the room. While あれ (are) does literally mean “that,” in this case it’s being used to draw Cloud’s attention.

Japanese	English
レノ「いたぞ、あそこだ！」	Reno “There they are, over there!”
エアリス「クラウド、あれ！」	Aeris “Cloud…that one!”

Here, Cloud has just jumped across a gap on the upper floor while Aeris is hesitating.
Cloud is reassuring her that he’ll catch her when she jumps. (“It’s okay. I’ll catch you.”) So Aeris replies, “Okay. Make sure you do catch me.”
受け止める (uketomeru) means “to stop / to catch.”

Japanese	English
クラウド「だいじょうぶだ。　俺が受け止めてやる」	Cloud “All right. I’ll hold them off.”
エアリス「わかったわ。　しっかり受け止めてね」	Aeris “Right. Make sure they don’t get through!”

The Shinra soldiers start shooting at Aeris.
The Japanese particle な (na) can be used as a confirmation in the way that ね (ne) is, but here it’s negating the verb. So Reno is actually yelling “Shoot! Shoot!” and then suddenly realizing that shooting at Aeris is in fact not a good idea, quickly switching to: “No, wait, DON’T shoot!”
There’s even a pause in the dialogue scroll to emphasize this.

Japanese	English
レノ「古代種が逃げるぞ！　撃て、撃て！　あ、撃つな！」	Reno “The Ancient is getting away! Attack! Attack! Attack!”

Aeris falls down to the bottom floor.
Because it’s clear from Reno’s previous Japanese line that he did not actually want to kill Aeris, his tone here is/should be a little more resigned. Like, “Well, crap. Did that do her in? That’s what she gets for resisting, though.”

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
レノ「やっちまったかな、と。　抵抗するからだぞ、と」	Reno “Think we killed ’em? They shouldn’t have put up a fight, I say!”	Reno “Think we killed ’em? They never should’ve fought us!”

Eventually, Cloud and Aeris escape. They talk about the Turks for a bit, then make their way along the rooftops. Aeris asks if Cloud used to be in SOLDIER and notes the glow in his eyes. Cloud confirms her suspicions, but is confused about how she knows that SOLDIERs’ eyes have a special glow.
Her final line here in reply to Cloud’s question is a little odd in English. She’s basically just trying to be evasive in Japanese. Something like “I just do” or “Oh, you know…I have my ways” might work better in this situation.

Japanese	E PSX	E PC
エアリス「ねえ……クラウド。　あなた、もしかして…… 　ソルジャー？」	Aeris “Hey……Cloud. Were you…ever in SOLDIER?”	Aeris “Hey…Cloud. Were you…ever in SOLDIER?”
クラウド「…………」	Cloud “……”	Cloud “…“
クラウド「……元ソルジャーだ。　どうしてわかった？」	Cloud “…I used to be. How did you guess?”
エアリス「……あなたの目。　その不思議な輝き……」	Aeris “…Your eyes. They have a strange glow…”
クラウド「そう、これは魔晄を浴びた者…… 　ソルジャーのあかし」	Cloud “That’s the sign of those who have been infused with Mako…”
	“A mark of SOLDIER.”
「だが、どうして、あんたがそれを？」	“But, how did you know about that?”
エアリス「……ちょっと、ね」	Aeris “……Oh, nothing.”	Aeris “…Oh, nothing.”