Soul Calibur Vocal Translations by Patrick Coffman. v1.0 Introductory mini-FAQ: --> Why isn't this document all pretty with neat ASCII art and nice, good-looking text formatting? I didn't intend to make this document so it could win some kind of presentation award. In fact, I don't really care about formatting, just so long as someone can read the darned thing. If it's really too ugly to look at then just delete it I guess--you're not going to hurt my feelings, as Emeril always says. --> Why would anyone want a translation for Soul Calibur phrases? Well, the majority of people who would be reading this document are in America or Europe. It's kind of surprising, but most people in America and Europe (you'd better sit down for this) don't speak Jap- anese. That's a problem for people who play video games and watch Japanese animation of course. So there are a few purposes for this document: a) in case you own this game and it has the Japanese vocals (I don't know about the American standard release--I haven't even seen it yet) and you just hear them making gibberish and are wondering what they say (hey I know a lot of people who're put off from the whole Japanese gaming thing because of the speech), or if you are studying Japanese and hope to improve it by reading how things translate (good practice BTW). --> These are vocal translations. Why did you also translate Cervantes's and Inferno's endings? I felt like it. If translations for all the endings are needed, any- one can mail me at ryled@yahoo.com. I can translate anything you toss my way. --> What's missing from this document? First off, let me just say that I don't think these are all the vocals for each character. I believe I've heard a few more. So far I've just translated what they had in the character profile menu in the museum--and not all of that, either. If there's a vocal missing that you find in the character profiles section, it's probably just a cry that has no meaning--e.g. most of Yoshimitsu's, all of Voldo's, and all of Lizard Man's. If you've heard vocals outside of the character profile screen, send me a way to get the vocal and I'll see what I can do. The last thing that's really missing are some of the Chinese characters for some of the names--Li Xianghua's, Seung Mi Na's, and Sung Myung Hwang's. Thats' because I haven't seen them written out, and the Japanese Namco Wonder Page is kind of hard to navigate about. I think they've taken the arcade Soul Calibur page completely down and replaced it with the Dreamcast one, in which I can't find the names writte in Chinese characters. That page is kind of a nightmare too, but some of the secret sections have some neat pictures and stories, and there's even a text game for Taki. --> That's very good and all, but when do each of these vocals come out? I'm not sure I can identify all of them. I really don't know. Most of them are repeated all over the place (e.g. Mitsurugi says 'Namusan!' during some of his throws and at least one of his victory poses). Lastly, a few words on the format. It should be pretty self-explan- atory. First I've given a quasi-Hepburn-style romanization for the phrase. Then, I give what I think is the best translation. Then, if applicable, I give notes on each phrase, such as other trans- lations or historical notes. Japanese can optionally have certain parts of the sentences removed such as the subject and it has little subject-verb agreement (only in certain cases such as the honorific). Unfortunately, that sometimes makes it hard to tell what they mean, especially if there's no context to put it in. Order: --Yoshimitsu --Mitsurugi Heishiroh --Cervantes + Cervantes's ending --Taki --Maxi --Astaroth --Sung Kyung Hwang --Seigfried --Seung Mi Na --Rock --Nightmare --Ivy --Li Xianghua --Sofitia --Kilik --Edge Master --Inferno (ending only) Oh yes please distrubute freely and give me credit! YOSHIMITSU (YOSHI - Good fortune; joy. MITSU - Light.) ---------- Shikisokuzeku (2 versions) -- "All is vanity" This is a Buddhist concept and is almost untranslatable. I'd suppose Yoshimitsu is using this as kind of a mantra or war cry and shouldn't be translated into 'your life is vain' or some- thing silly like that. He says this in Tekken 3 as his left punch win pose, too. Namu namu namu namu... -- (untranslatable) Approximately 'praise god' This is often translated as 'Hail so-and-so' where you stick in the name of your Buddha or Bodhisatva (I mispell that word quite a bit I'm sorry if I've done so), most often the Buddha Amidhava. I was making a lot of jokes about that when Episode One came out and I think that was the height of my unbearability as a friend. Anyway, Yoshimitsu is really using it as a mantra and it is untranslatable. 'Namu Amida Butsu' is a 'Pure Land' Buddhist phrase, but samurai were generally Zen Buddhists and in Yoshimitsu's time may have even been Shintoh worshippers. MITSURUGI HEISHIROH (MI - Emperor; Divine. TSURUGI - Sword. ------------------- HEI - Flat; Calm. SHI - Four. ROH - Man; Son) Souru Ejji wa dare ni mo watasan! -- "The Soul Edge won't be given to anyone!" This isn't the passive, but I really can't think of a better way to say it. Jigoku e iku no wa omae ga saki da! -- "_You're_ the one going to Hell soon!" He's saying literally 'the one going to hell will soon be you', but that translation is actually more awkward in my opinion. Mitsurugi da! Oboeteoke! -- "I'm Mitsurugi! Remember my name!" Mijukumono ga! Warawaseru na! -- "You novice! Don't make me laugh!" Hissatsu! -- "Special attack!" In Japanese comics and film, fighters often call out their special moves. The literal meaning is 'sure-killing'. He's left out the 'waza' that usually appears (i.e. 'hissatsu waza') along with the move name. It just means 'special move', though. Translating it as 'sure-killing technique' is like having a robot translate it for you. No one would say 'special attack' in English either, but 'sure-killing!' would sound pretty lame in this instance. KwaAAATSU! -- (untranslatable) This is a strange occurance I find often in video games, where they do a war cry or a 'kiai' as karate people often call it. All 'katsu' means is 'shout'. I put it in here just to caution those who saw the kanji (Chinese character) and thought it had to have meaning therefore. Moratta! -- "Gotcha!" Ikuze! -- "Take this!" This has been translated so many ways by so many people, I feel as though I'm entering an age-old debate. "Here I go," "I'm going," "Go!"--I've heard them all. Could you imagine someone saying "Here I go!" in English during a duel? It would be very awkward. It only really makes sense at the beginning of a fight anyway, translated that way. For instance, Ryu in Marvel vs. Capcom says this, I believe, at the beginning of the fight. In that instance only does it make sense to translate this that particular way. Namusan! -- "Lord have mercy!" (very approximate) This is another religious term, and it's very old. Almost no Japanese people I've spoken to know of this term. It's often translated as 'have mercy on me!' However, I think that in this instance it's hard to tell if he's saying, 'Forgive me for sinning (by doing this to you)' or if he means 'Have mercy on your soul.' CERVANTES DE LEON ----------------- Kono itami, kisama mo ajiwae! -- "Feel my pain!" A more literal translation is 'you too, taste this pain!" But that obviously isn't that good. Ware to tomo ni jigoku e koi! -- "Come to Hell with me!" Dare ni mo tomeraren wa! -- "I won't be stopped by anyone!" Soko da! -- "Take that!" Lit. 'there it is!' Kakugo shiro! -- "Prepare yourself!" Kurae! -- "Eat this!" Could also be translated as 'Take this!' Saseru ka! -- "Think I'd let you do that?" This is said when he reverses the opponent's attack. Ending: Kare ga ushinatte hisashii mono |That which he lacked for so long Katte kare o sihai shiteita mono |That which had controlled him completely Tsukaite wa ushinatta maken ni te ga|His arm reached out for the magic nobiru sword his swordhand had lost Futatabi hitotsu ni naru toki ga |The time for them to become one kita no da again had come Imada kien fu no honoh o kakiwake |Pushing its way through the dark, inextinguished flame, Hitori no otoku ga sugata o arawasu |A lone man's form emerged Onore no ichibu o torimodoshita kare|He, who had taken back part of wa subete o himself remembered all, Omoidashi, togireta kusari wa |And the severed chains were re- tsunagatta fastened. Kare no fune ha futatabi umi o |His boat once again painted the kyohfu ni someru seas in terror Rekkyoh no gunkansura shinen e to |Even the great world powers' war- kieshisaru ships were sunk to the bottom of the sea. "Ikari o ageyo, ho o hare! Waga na |"Raise the anchor, set the sails! wa My name is Serubantesu De Reon!" |Cervantes De Leon!" TAKI (Ambiguous: Waterfall, boiling or cooking, burning, complex.) ---- (My bet is on waterfall) Kakugo wa ii ka? -- "Are you ready?" Jaken ni madowasaremono, kakugo! -- "You who are decieved by the evil sword, prepare yourself!" Mada yaru ka? -- "You're still at it?" 'Yaru' is a very difficult verb because it can mean so many things. This is a very ambiguous statement she's made. Fufu korinai yatsu -- "Heh-heh, you just don't learn." Ufufufu - ii no kai? -- "Heh-heh-heh, may I?" I don't know when she says this so I don't really understand it. She could be sayhing something more like "Do you mind if I...?" It's kind of a vague point because I don't know what she's doing when she says that. Fuuma kanryoh! -- "Sealing magic complete!" 'Ma' means spirit or devil, but it can also be magic. That's because of the compound 'mahoh' (the demon's way), which means magic. She's always going on about sealing demons, so it would also be correct to say something like 'Finished sealing the demon' or something. Kietekureru? -- "Would you please go away?" When she's talking to an evil spirit she could also be saying something like 'Would you please vanish (i.e. be banished)?" Jaki yo! Chireei! -- "Evil spirits, disperse!" 'Jaki' is actually an injust air or aura, usually translated as 'miasma' or 'malice'. Kiena! -- "Vanish! / Begone!" MAXI ---- Ore ni kakawatta no ga un no tsukisa! -- "Your luck ran out when you met up with me!" This is literally 'getting involved with me was the exhaustion of your luck!" I think it would be appropriate, if this were to appear in a passage, to simply say "Your luck's run out!" Jama suru yatsu wa yohsha shinee! -- "I won't forgive anyone who gets in my way!" Tatenai ka? -- "What, you can't get up?" Shinitakunee nara koko made da! -- "If you don't want to die, give up now!" Literally: "It's up to here, if you don't want to die." In other words, 'better get out now while you still can' kind of taunt. Tanoshikatta ze! -- "It's been fun!" Madamada da! -- "It's not over yet!" He's just saying 'not yet' literally. He's saying something like 'I'm still rarin' to go' or 'c'mon don't give up yet!' Uketemiro! -- "Take this!" Kore de kimari da! -- "This is it!" He's literally saying 'this decides it!' However that trans- lation doesn't work too well. ASTAROTH -------- Jigoku e ochiro! -- "Go to Hell!" Kieusero -- "Get out of here! / Get outta my sight!" Tamashii...ore no mono! -- "Your soul is _mine_!" It's kind of like baby talk almost. "_MY_ soul!" kind of thing. Shinda ka? -- "You dead?" Mushikerame! -- "You worm!" You could even put an expletive in there. 'Me' is pretty harsh. Shinei! -- "DIE!" Mogake! -- "Suffer!" He's really saying something like 'struggle!' or 'writhe!' but that's no good unless you say something like 'I want to see you writhe in agony' or something longer like that; 'writhe!' by itself just won't work. Wameke! -- "Scream!" Obviously, scream in terror kind of thing. Kind of like the 'Mogake!' quote. SUNG KYUNG HWANG (HWANG - Yellow, the others I haven't seen yet) ---------------- Inochi o muda ni suru na! -- "Don't waste your life!" Kisama no koto wa oboeteokoh! -- "I'll remember you!" Jidai no yami wa ore ga kiru --"I'll slash away the darkness of today" The verb he uses 'kiru' is a kanji that differentiates the 'to cut' words. This particular one means to cut, but specifically to kill. That is why it is so often used as the word 'to kill' but it would be an even more awkward statement to say you'd kill this age's darkness. Kuni e kaere! -- "Go home!" 'Kuni' literally means country but is used here as homeland. That applied back then not only to countries but to different regions or towns. On a side note, if a Japanese person told another to go to their country back in the era before 1868, they meant to go to their home province (not their country). There was a nationwide isolationism. Ukatsu da na! -- "How careless!" Kore wa doh da! -- "How's this?? / Try this one on for size!" Moratta zo! -- "Gotcha!" Saigo da! -- "It's over! / This is it!" Lit. 'this is the last!' Sore! -- "Take that!" Words like this have very little meaning and I tend to leave them out, but here I had it written down for some reason. SIEGFRIED VON STAUFFEN ---------------------- Kiboh wa aru no ka? -- "Can there be any hope for me?" He doesn't say the 'for me'; I just read it in. He doesn't seem to be saying 'is there any hope for you' or anything like that. Ore wa kokoro o torimodosu! -- "I'll take back my soul!" The word 'kokoro' is so often mistranslated as 'heart.' I don't know where the practice began. It's closer to mind or spirit, but the meaning is very complex. It means spirit as in 'the spirit of the law' or something like that. He's saying 'I'll take back my essence/that which is me!" Yatteyaru sa! -- "I'll show you!" Here again is the ambiguity of 'yaru.' He's literally saying: 'doing, (to do), you know!' Kind of tricky, but I think the second yaru is kind of like the 'to give/do as a favor' yaru. He could be saying a _lot_ of different things and I'm not quite clear on the context myself. Doh shitara iin da...! -- "Whatever you try, I'll beat you!" He's just saying 'whatever you do is OK by me' but he means something like 'do your worst!' Kore de doh da! -- "How's this!" Moratta! -- "Gotcha!" Kuraeei! -- "Eat this! / Take this!" Koko made da! -- "It's over! / That's _it_!" Motto da! -- "Try harder!" Lit. 'more!', but it's a little strange just by itself like that. SEUNG MI NA (MI - Beauty. NA - what, how [used for its sound]) ----------- (I haven't seen Seung yet) Saa! Shohbu yo! -- "Well, let's fight!" Kodomoatsukai sasenai wa! -- "I won't let you treat me like a kid!" Otohsama, watashi wa makenai! -- "I won't lose, father!" Haa, sukkiri shita wa! -- "Ahh, that hit the spot! / How refreshing!" Omoishitta? -- "You figured it out yet?" I threw in the yet. You don't like it then take it out. I'm sure you have a text editor. You could also translate this as kind of a 'you got it?' like you'd say after giving someone a lesson. Yokete goran! -- "Try and get outta this one!" Literally the verb for 'deflect'. It could also be translated as 'let's see you block/get out of this!' Koitsuu-! -- "Bastard! / Jerk!" There's another meaning to 'koitsu', which is 'this thing.' You could, therefore, say she's saying 'take this one!' or something like that. Whenever I've heard people say that in that tone of voice it was kind of like a 'what am I going to do with him?' (directed at the sky or something). Moratta wa! -- "Gotcha!" Kimare! -- "It's over!" 'Be decided!' sounds pretty strange, but that's the literal translation. This is why literal translations are so terrible. Konoo-! -- "Take this!" This could actually again be another 'jerk!' That's how a lot of Japanese animation and comics characters mean this. ROCK ---- Banguu, mitete kure! -- "Bongoo, watch me!" Strange translation, but I guess it's because he's supposed to be teaching and raising Bongoo. Mitekure can also mean something like the looks of something, e.g. 'mitekure warusoh na' is something like 'you shouldn't be seen like that' or 'it looks pretty awful' or something like that. Here, tho', I don't think that meaning can be implied any way. Muda da! Akiramero! -- "It's useless! Give up!" Jama o suru na! -- "Don't get in my way!" Usero! -- "Get out of here!" This is another 'vanish!' comment. There are quite a few. Still, I think that 'begone!' sounds too haughty for Rock. Another translation may be 'die!', but that's probably too strong. NIGHTMARE --------- Moh hikikaesenain da yo! -- "I can't go back anymore!" A nice poetic translation is 'I can no longer retrace my steps' Chi yo...yami yo...ware no moto ni! -- "Blood! Darkness! Be my foundations!" Ore wa...kokoro o torimodosu! -- "I'll take my soul back!" see Siegfried for kokoro rant Ken yo...chikara o ware ni! -- "Sword, grant me strength!" Tamashii yo...tsudoe! -- "Focus, spirit!" Lit. 'souls, converge!' Again a very strange translation. Even 'focus, spirit!' is a bad translation but he's not saying any- thing truly profound. It's not like Kenzaburoh Ooe wrote this. Mada tarin to iu no ka? -- "Still not enough...?" This could also be 'are you still so stupid?' or 'haven't you had enough yet?' or 'am I still not enough?' So I left it very amiguous. I'm not even fully sure of what he's saying, but I don't think it's the 'stupid' one. I only know he says this when he's fighting his 'mid-boss'. Uowaria! -- "It's over!" (heavily slurred) Kuraeei! -- "Eat this! / Take this!" Koko made da! -- "It's over! / This is it!" Motto da! -- "Try harder!" see Siegfried IVY --- Subete o kirisaiteyaru! -- "I'll tear you to pieces!" Jack the Ripper is referred to as 'Kirisaki Jack'. 'Subete' actually means 'everything', but I think she's referring to slashing the person all over, not slashing up everything in the room. So 'I'll slash everything!' is a little strange. Motto shite mo ii no yo... -- "You can fight harder, you know...." Another translation: 'It's alright to come at me more' or some- thing like that. Ken yo! Unare! -- "Sword! Cry out!" You could say like 'snarl' or 'growl' instead. Kono kenkoso watashi no takara -- "This _sword_ is my treasure!" She's saying 'it's this _sword_ specifically I value so much!' Moh oshimai yo! -- "This is it! / It's all over!" Madamada! -- "It's not over yet!" see Maxi. Shibutoi yatsu ne! -- "What nerve!" Literally, this is 'you're a pushy fellow aren't you?' but it's a bit idiomatic, and 'what nerve you've got!' is kind of an old, set translation. Abarenja nai yo! -- "Don't you dare struggle! / Stop struggling!" Literally, abareru means all sorts of things, all of them re- lated to hot temper or acting up. Fretting, struggling, bucking (as in a horse), and ravaging and raging are a few examples. However, she's definitely not saying 'I'm not raging / I'm not crazy!' as one might expect -- the 'ja nai yo' is a negative command--e.g. 'Namenja nai yo!' -- "Don't underestimate me / better not mess with me!" (lit. don't lick!) Odorei! -- "Dance!" LI XIANGHUA (LI - Plum. A common Chinese name given to Chinese im- ----------- migrants by the Japanese. I haven't seen Xianghua yet) Yaru shika nai wa ne -- "Guess I have no choice" No choice but to beat you up I'd assume. Tekagen nashi tte itta desho! --"I told you I wouldn't pull my punches! The sentence literally says 'I told you I make no allowances!' Either one works, but the 'allowances' one is a little more confusing. Zatto konna mon ne! -- "Well, you get what I mean now, right?" A totally literal translator would say, 'Roughly speaking, it's that!' If anyone finishes translating something and that's what it looks like, that means you have to think what that might be saying. Believe me, it can be agonizing. I still don't like my translation, actually.... Gochisohsama! -- "Thanks for everything!" Seigi wa katsu! ...nanchatte -- "Justice triumphs! - or...something..." I hate this puffy, airheaded Japanese animation stock character. Ehhen! ...doh? -- "Tee-hee! How was it?" See what I mean? They get annoying fast. Kore de, oshimai! -- "It's all over / this is it! / here it comes!" Itadaki! -- "Gotcha!" Omake yo! -- "You've lost!" Todome! -- "It's all over! / this is it!" SOFITIA ALEXANDER ----------------- Anata o sukuitai -- "I want to help you" Mada, taoreruwake ni wa ikanai -- "You still have to fall" Meaning 'In order to complete my mission, you still must fall' That 'still' is just kind of floating around there, and why she says it is not very clear. Kiboh wa sutenai -- "I won't abandon hope" Watashi, katta no ne! -- "I've won, haven't I!" Chotto yarisugita kashira? -- "Maybe I've gone a bit too far...." Literally 'I wonder if I've done it a bit too much?' Literal translations are terrible. Yurushite ne -- "Forgive me" Makerarenai no! -- "I can't be defeated!" Saigo yo! -- "It's over / This is it!" Gomen nasai ne -- "I'm sorry about that" Another translation could be 'please forgive me' again. The problem with just saying 'sorry' by itself is that 'gomen nasai' is actually fairly polite, despite it having the word 'gomen' which by itself is used as a very informal apology. KILIK ----- Kike! Waga tamashii no kodoh o! -- "Hear the heartbeat of my soul!" 'Kodoh' justmeans 'beating' or 'pulsation', but you don't really hear pulse. You can listen to a heartbeat but it's a little strange to say 'hear the throbbing of my soul' because you feel throbbing or pulsing, not hear it really. You could also say 'listen to' instead of 'hear'--won't hurt my feelings. Nagaimono ni wa makarero tte ne -- "You're overwhelmed with its size, aren't you?" This is an awful sentence. Makareru can mean a few different things. He's literally saying "for long things, it's like 'makareru' isn't it." That's a terrible translation. The only other way I can think of it making sense is 'You want me to make it a bit shorter don't you?' Mada itai me ni aitai kai?--"You want me to teach you a lesson again?" I know he's not using 'mata' which is the standard 'again', but it's strange to say 'you still want me to teach you a les- son?' and mean what he means here. This is obviously an idiom and shouldn't be translated as 'you want a black eye still?' Shishoh, ore makemasen! -- "Master, I won't lose!" Koko made da! -- "That's enough / it's over!" Akirame na! -- "Give up!" Yokoshima naru mono yo! Messeyo! -- "Die, villain!" This is pretty good old Japanese, actually. Kono-h! -- = "Bastard! / How's this?" (see Seung Mi Na) Kurae! -- "Eat this! / Take that!" Iza! -- "This is it!" (very approximate translation) 'Iza' is a very difficult word to translate by itself. It means something like 'ok, this is it, right now!' It could be a part of 'Well OK then, come at me!' Very ninja-ish. EDGE MASTER ----------- Kono jiji ni kateru ka na -- "Let's see if you can beat this old man" Kono shohbu shika to moraiuketa zo -- "I dominated you this round!" A little off mark, but I wanted it to be something that would fit closer to the time limit for the dub. He's saying something like 'I just completely won this match'; 'no one would doubt that this victory was mine'. So he's implying that he comp- letely had the upper hand the whole match. Sen nen wa hayakaroh! -- "I'm way outta your league!" Literally, people often translate this as 'You're 1000 years too early!' which makes no sense. I think it's more like 'I'm 1000 years to fast for you' or something like that personally, but at any rate it means 'I'm just so much better than you!' Sohsoh ni tachisarei! -- "Now, get the heck out of here!" Literally, 'Get up quickly and leave' Kuraei! -- "Eat this! / Take that!" Iza! -- "This is it!" (see Kilik) Tawake ga! -- "How foolish!" He's saying 'tawake', a word that means foolishness or stupid- ity. Kanousei! -- "You show promise!" I'm not sure what he's saying here, but the word is 'promise' or 'possibility'. I think he's referring to the other person's fighting technique. Understanding vocals from games and ani- mation is the worst at times. I understand movies just fine usually, but voice acting can really be quite hard. Kakugo wa seyo -- "Prepare yourself!" INFERNO ------- Ending: Kumo o tsuranaku hikari no hashira |A pillar of light that pierced ga tachiagari through the clouds rose up Subete no mono ni toki ga kita koto |And told each and ever person o tsugeru that the time had come Fukureagaru janen ni taikoh suru |The Spirit Blade, which hid the yohni righteous power strong enough Tsuyoki haja no chikara o himeta |To oppose the evil intentions Reiken which were rising up... Yoritsuyoi tamashii wo motomeru |...had, in the end, become fuel jaken ni totte for the wicked sword Sore ha shigoku no kate to natta |that was seeking stronger souls. Jaaku na hamon ga gohohken ni |A wave of evil succeeded in fill- mitasare ing the defense sword, Aratanaru mazawai no ken ga ubugoe o|And a new sword of calamity gave ageta out its birth cry Zensekai ni todokantobakari ni |Inferno's joyful voice resounded, Inferuno no kanki no koe ga hibiku |As if to tell the whole world of its arrival Kiboh wa kiesari |All hope vanished, and Ima, Ankokujidai ga tobari o akeru |The curtain was then raised for the Age of Darkness If I revise this document it'll probably be smaller, with less tran- slation notes. I'll probably also include other vocals I've heard that weren't listed. Mail complaints, questions, or comments to ryled@yahoo.com Distribute freely.