Regarding my last post, if you want to get an idea of what I mean, there’s this excellent post on Reddit by someone who explained the translation differences much better than I could here:
I definitely like the idea of Sora and Riku joining their powers together and bringing out that keyblade again in that moment... but the scene with Riku protecting Sora (and essentially giving his absolute all to protect Sora) is done to complete the narrative that gets set in Olympus (at least, in the Japanese version, which is what I played...the English...kinda loses this narrative).
In Olympus, Hercules says, "All I know is that she was in trouble. Suddenly, I wanted to save her with all my heart..." he also refers to Meg as his 大切な人 (taisetsu na hito) or "precious (taisetsu) person (hito)" in Japanese. The English version translated "taisetsu na hito" to "person I love" in this instance.
Then, right after Olympus ends we get Mickey and Riku in the RoD. In the English version, Mickey tells Riku "I think it's because you finally found inside you that special strength to protect what matters. [...] Sometimes you care so much for somebody that other feelings disappear." In the Japanese, Mickey says それはきっとリクが大切な人を守る強さを手に入れたってことじゃないかな?or "Isn't that because you (Riku) finally found the strength to protect *the person* who matters?" The rest of what Mickey says in the Japanese lines up well with the English localization.
After this talk with Mickey we have Riku flash back to the promise/oath that he made when he was younger and this time, instead of saying 大事なもの (daiji na mono) or "important (daiji) thing(s) (mono)" like he did originally in BBS (and again in DDD), he says 大切な人 (taisetsu na hito) - essentially "person who matters" or "precious person." So Riku changed his oath/promise from being about protecting "things that matter" to protecting "a person who matters" (aka Sora). The localization team totally failed to show this shift in Riku's oath/promise though and just kept the line as "things that matter." But, throughout Sora's visits to the Disney worlds, the word 大切な人 (taisetsu na hito) keeps getting brought up and it always gets used in reference to one person (thus, Riku's use of "taisetsu na hito" is likely meant to be viewed as being towards one person as well - Sora).
In Frozen, we see "taisetsu na hito" being connected to an "Act of True Love." When Sora and Anna are talking about Elsa and Riku, the Japanese and English versions vary quite a bit. In the English, Sora says to Anna (about Elsa) "I'm sure she knows how much you love her." In the Japanese he says エルサのことを大切に思ってるんだな。or "You really care about her." Once again we see the word "taisetsu" pop up and Sora uses it again when he talks about Riku a few moments later.
In the English he says (about Riku) "He thought he had to push me away, to protect me." In the Japanese Sora says 大切な人だからこそいっしょにはいられない。Sora is talking about both Riku and Elsa here and he essentially is saying, because they (Riku and Elsa) viewed them (Sora and Anna) as *precious people*, they "couldn't be together." The English localization mostly captures this idea, but they completely erase the aspect of a "precious person." The Japanese version keeps this through line though and the Frozen world ends with Sora witnessing an "Act of True Love."
Fast forward to the Keyblade Graveyard. Sora lost the will to fight. He is down on his hands and knees. He looks up at Riku, tears pouring down his eyes and he asks Riku what it is he should do. That he can't fight without everyone beside him. Sora is so lost. We see Riku start to reach out to Sora - to comfort him - but then he pulls back and clenches his fist. He stands up and says ソラ、俺は信じてる。お前はあきらめない。or "Sora, I believe in you. You won't give up." Then he starts walking away from Sora and toward the heartless swarm. The scene then enters slow motion and we see Riku (from Sora's perspective) using all of his strength to protect the *person who matters* (Sora). He literally protects Sora until his death. He puts his whole being into protecting Sora.
This scene is meant to be an accumulation and reflection of Hercules' words to Sora at the beginning of the game "All I know is that she was in trouble. Suddenly, I wanted to save her with all my heart...", Mickey's words to Riku "Sometimes you care so much about somebody that other feelings disappear," and of an "Act of True Love," like what we saw with Rapunzel and Eugene in Corona or Anna and Elsa in Arendelle. The Japanese kept this narrative for Riku extremely clear throughout the course of the game through the use of 大切な人 (taisetsu na hito) by both Riku towards his oath/promise and by the various Disney characters and their use of the term towards the people they care about. The English really loses this aspect of Riku's narrative though.
That's why, as much as I *really* would have loved to see Riku and Sora come together and bring out this particular attack again...it would have destroyed Riku's narrative in this game. A narrative that I love to bits. That this moment was Riku's "Act of True Love" to Sora - him finally fulfilling that oath/promise he made to "protect the person who matters." That scene was honestly so good! I wouldn't want it to change in anyway.
That one scenes with Mickey and Riku in the realm of darkness: Is it a joke that got lost in translation? I don’t understand why Riku freaks out when Mickey says that aqua is like sora
I can finally properly answer this! I got Volume 1 of the KH3 novel today, and it offers insights into Riku’s thoughts about the situation. Basically, I think he’s a little concerned about the thought of another person as carefree as Sora running around, haha. Mickey is quick to reassure him that what he meant was Aqua’s heart is strong like Sora’s, which puts him at ease.
The dialogue in the novel looks to be lifted straight from the games with a few tweaks for formatting. My translation is a lot looser than normal, because I thought hey, I’m translating a short snipped from a novel, why not go for a more natural sounding translation as opposed to a more literal one?
Japanese Version
「アクアは、ソラに似てるよ」
「ええっ!?」
ミッキーからこぼれた意外な言葉に、リクは大声をあげる。
あの能天気なソラと、かつて自分を助けてくれたアクアが似ている……?
「いやいや、心の強さがね」
慌てたように、ミッキーが言った。
「そうか。まぁ、ソラに似てるなら少しは安心かな。あいつなら、どんな深い闇に飲まれて���負けない」
Free Translation
“Aqua’s like Sora.”
“Huh?!”
Hearing such an unexpected thing from Mickey, Riku couldn’t help but raise his voice.
Aqua, the person who had once saved him, was like Sora? Sora, with his laid-back, happy-go-lucky, carefree attitude?
“No no no, I mean her heart’s strong like Sora’s,” Mickey hurriedly answered.
“Really? Well, if she’s like Sora, then that makes me feel a little better. He won’t give up, no matter how deep the darkness.”
So, I started playing the Japanese Kingdom Hearts just a while ago and as I’m progressing through the game I’m planning to translate some cutscenes into English. Naturally we’re starting on the Destiny Islands. All in all, I think the Kingdom Hearts localization is great, but I'm sure there are some people interested in how exactly things are worded in the original one, I sure am. Thus, I’ll try to stay as true to the source material as possible. Without further ado, let’s get started!
Sora:
わわッ!おどかすなよ カイリ
Whoa! Don’t startle me like that, Kairi!
Kairi:
そっちが勝手におどろいたんじゃない
そろそろさぼる頃だと思ったんだよね ソラは
You got startled over nothing. I bet you thought this was a good chance to slack off, didn’t you Sora?
Sora:
ちがうって!あの真黒い奴が俺を呑みこんで息ができなくなってーーーー
痛ェ
That’s not it! This pitch black thing swallowed me up and I couldn’t breathe and...
Ouch!
Kairi:
まだ目がさめない?
Are you still sleeping?
Sora:
夢じゃなくてーーーー
夢だったのかなあ
知らない世界でさ へんな場所でさ
It wasn’t a dream! Or was it? You know, I was in this unfamiliar world, in this weird place...
Kairi:
はいはい
Of course, of course.
Sora:
なぁカイリ
カイリは子供の頃にいた街ってどんなところだった?
Hey Kairi, what was your home town like?
Kairi:
おぼえてないよ 前にも言ったでしょ?
I can’t remember. I told you before, right?
Sora:
思い出したかもと思って
I thought maybe you had remembered.
Kairi:
ぜんぜん
Not at all.
Sora:
帰りたくならないか?
Don’t you want to go back?
Kairi:
私はここで幸せだからーーーー
I’m happy here, so...
Sora:
そうか
I see.
Kairi:
でもね 見てみたいって気はするな
But you know, I feel like I’d like to see it.
Sora:
俺も見たいんだよなあ
この世界以外にも世界があるんなら死ぬまでには絶対見たい
I wanna see it too. If there are other worlds besides this one, then I wanna see them before I die for sure.
Kairi:
じゃあ 一緒に行こうね
Well, let’s go together then.
Riku:
おいおい
俺は仲間はずれかよ
しかもーーーー
真面目にイカダ作ってるのは俺だけだ
カイリも一緒にさぼってたろ
Hey, c’mon. Are you planning on leaving me behind? Moreover, I’m the only one working hard on the raft.
And you were slacking off as well, weren’t you Kairi?
Kairi:
バレたか
じゃあ みんなで仕上げちゃおう
ね 向こうまで競走
You caught me. Well then, let’s finish it together. Hey, let’s race there.
Sora:
えーー?
Ehh?
Riku:
なんだよそれーーーー
What’s up with that?
Kairi:
よーーい ドン!
Ready, go!
Sora:
海の果てまで行ったら
カイリの元の世界があるんだよな
If we sailed across the sea, I bet we’d find Kairi’s old world.
Riku:
それはわからない
でも行ってみないと わからないままだ
We can’t be sure, but we won't ever find out if we don’t leave.
Sora:
イカダでどこまで行けると思う?
How far do you think we’ll get with the raft?
Riku:
さあな
ダメだったら別の方法を考えるさ
Beats me. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll think of something else.
Kairi:
ねえ リクは 別の世界に 行ったら何するの?
ソラ見たいに 見れば満足?
Hey Riku, if we got to another world, what would you do? Would you be satisfied with just seeing it, like Sora?
Riku:
実はそんあに考えてない
ただーーーー
俺は 俺たちがどうして ここにいるのか 知りたい
他に世界があるのなら どうして俺たちは ここでなくちゃ ダメだったんだろう?
他に世界があるのなら ここはーーーー そう 大きな世界の小さな カケラみたいなものだからーーーー
どうせ カケラだったらーーーー ここではない 別のカケラでも かまわないわけだよな?
Honestly, I haven’t thought about it that deeply. It’s just... I want to know why we are here. If there are other worlds, then why was it that we ended up in this place?
If there are other worlds, then this is just... like a smaller fragment of a bigger world. And if this place is just a fragment, then we could have just as well ended up on a different one, right?
Sora:
わかんねぇ
Dunno.
Riku:
そういうことだ
じっと座っていても 何もわからない
自分で動かないと 何も変わらない
同じ景色しか見えないんだ
だから動くんだ
That’s what I think. We’re not going to find out anything if we just sit tight. Nothing’s going to change if we don’t take action ourselves. We would forever be staring at the same scenery. That’s why I’m going to take action.
Kairi:
リクっていろんなこと考えてるんだね
You sure think about a lot of things.
Riku:
カイリのおかげさ
カイリはこの島に来なかったら
俺 何も考えていなかったと思う
ありがとう カイリ
It’s thanks to you. If you hadn’t come to this island, I think I wouldn’t have thought about any of these things. Thanks, Kairi.
Kairi:
なんだか照れるなあ
Now you’re making me embarrassed.
Riku:
ソラ
おまえ これが欲しかったんだろ
Sora. You wanted one, right?
Sora:
パオプの実ーーーー
A paopu fruit...?
Riku:
「その実を食べさせあったふたりは必ず結ばれるーーーー
どんなに離れていても いつか必ず」
ためしてみたかったんだろ?
“Those who have fed each other this fruit will always be connected. No matter how far apart they may be, they will someday find their way back to each other.”
You wanted to try it out, didn’t you?
Sora:
な なにーーーー
Wha, what?
Sora:
だ 誰?
Who, who’s there?
Ansem:
この世界の扉を見に来た
I have arrived to see the door of this world.
Sora:
はあ?
Huh?
Ansem:
この世界は繋がった
This world has been connected.
Sora:
あんた 何言ってるんだ?
What are you on about?
Ansem:
闇と繋がった世界ーーーー
まもなう 光を失う世界ーーーー
A world connected to darkness will soon lose its light.
Sora:
気味悪いこと言うなよ
誰だが知らないけどなーーーー
あんた どっから来たんだ?!
I have no idea who you are, but don’t say creepy things like that.
Where’d you come from?!
Ansem:
おまえがまだ知らぬ 扉の向こう
Beyond the door, you are still unaware of what lies there.
Sora:
他の世界から来たんだな!
You came from another world!
Ansem:
おまえには何もわかるまい
おまえは何も知らない
You understand nothing and know nothing.
Sora:
俺はこれからいろいろ知るんだよ
準備だってしてるんだからな!
Well, soon I’m going to know lots of things. I’ve been preparing, just so you know!
Ansem:
何も知らない者が何を見てもーーーー
そう 何も理解できない
Someone clueless will still be unable to comprehend no matter what they see.
Kairi:
リク ちょっと変わったね
Riku’s changed a bit.
Sora:
どこが?
How so?
Kairi:
ええとーーーー
Well...
Sora:
気のせいだよ
You’re just imagining things.
Kairi:
ねえ このままイカダに乗ってさ
ふたりだけでいっちゃおっか
Hey, let’s hop on to the raft and leave, just the two of us.
Sora:
え?
Huh?
Kairi:
なんてね
Just kidding.
Sora:
突然 どうした?
カイリのほうが変わったんじゃないか
What’s gotten into you all of a sudden? You sure it’s not you who’s changed?
Kairi:
かもね
海の向こうに行くの 少し怖かったけど
今はワクワクしてるんだ
どこへ行っても 何を見ても
私かならずここに帰ってこれる
でしょ?
Maybe. I was a little scared of sailing across sea at first, but now I’m excited. No matter where I go, or what I see, I can always come back here. Isn’t that right?
Sora:
まかせとけよ
I’ll make sure of that.
Kairi:
よかった
ソラは変わらないでね
That's a relief. Sora, don’t change.
Sora:
へ?
Huh?
Kairi:
海の向こう 行けるといいね
楽しみだね
I hope we get to sail across the sea. I’m looking forward to it.
Sora:
嵐
やばい イカダが!
A storm... Oh no, the raft!
Sora’s mom:
ソラ ごはんよ
おりてらっしゃい ソラ?
Sora, dinner is ready. Come downstairs! Sora?
Sora:
なんだありゃ!?
リクの船と カイリも来てるのか!?
What’s that!?
That’s Riku’s boat and... Kairi came here too!?
Sora:
リク カイリは一緒じゃないのか!?
Riku, isn’t Kairi with you!?
Riku:
扉が開いたんだ
The door has opened.
Sora:
リク?
Riku?
Riku:
扉が開いたんだよ ソラ
俺達 外の世界へいけるんだぜ!
The door has opened, Sora. We can go to the outside world!
Sora:
何言ってるんだよ!それよりカイリがーーーー
What’re you talking about! More importantly, what about Kairi...
Riku:
カイリも一緒さ!
扉をくぐればもう 帰って来られないかもしれない
父さんや母さんには 二度と会えないかもしれない
でも 恐れていては何も始まらない
闇を恐れる事はないんだ!
Kairi’s coming too!
If we go through the door, we might not be able to come back. We might not be able to see our moms and dads ever again, but if we get cold feet then nothing’s going to change.
There’s no need to be afraid of the darkness!
Sora:
リクーーーー
Riku...
Sora:
カイリ!!
Kairi!!
Kairi:
ソラーーーー
Sora...
Translator’s notes:
1. When two people share a paopu fruit, the Japanese version refers to this as feeding it to another person “Tabesaseru”. In the light of what KH3 showed us, it’d seem you actually have two fruits and both parties hold out one fruit so that the other person can take a bite out of it.
2. When Kairi wants Sora to affirm that she can always return to the island, Sora answers with “Makasetoke” which literally means “Leave it to me”. What Sora is basically doing is reassuring Kairi that he’ll personally make sure she can return. The English version glossed over this.
3. What the Japanese version seems to confirm is that either both Sora and Riku, or at least one of them has both a mom and a dad. Would you look at that. But we can’t be completely sure as Japanese is the type of language that tends to leave a lot of things up for interpretation. Riku uses the words “kaa-san and tou-san” in his speech and I found that there's really no end to the speculation whether he’s referring to Sora’s or his own parents (or both) when you start considering all the potential factors such as Riku's closeness to Sora and his family and his level of respect for his own. This is why I won’t dig into this any further, but I’d say there’s a potential they both could have a mom and a dad.
For anyone who wants to actually watch the Japanese cutscenes: You can find them here on YouTube.
Kingdom Hearts III Quotes from the back of the leaflets.
Departures
まったく!僕らがいないとダメなんだから、ソラは - "Jeez! Sora's useless without us."
心の繋がりをたどれ - "Follow the connection of your hearts."
絆があるからこそ心痛かったんだと思う。心の痛みが絆なんだ - "I think you had that heartache precisely because you have a bond. The pain of the heart is what bonds are."
Memories
おまえは本当によく眠るな - "You really do sleep a lot, don't you."
女心がわからない子ねぇ、放っておいてあげなさいよ - "Hey there clueless, leave things be. You clearly don't understand the female heart."
ロクサスが戻れたら、ナミネも戻れるんだよね - "If Roxas can come back, then so can Naminé, right?"
Twilight
手加減はなしだよ、リア - "Please don’t hold back, Lea."
目の下のマーク、消えたんだな - "The marks under your eyes disappeared, didn't they?"
アイス、買ってくりゃよかったな - "I wish I'd bought ice cream."
Dawn
これで俺とおまえの旅も終わる。。。 - "Now our journey ends too, yours and mine…"
それはきっと、リクが大切な人を守る強さを手に入れた、ってことじゃないかな? - "That must mean Riku's obtained the strength to protect those who are dear to him, right?"
自分の感情より誰かを助けたい気持ちの方が前にきてる。不安や孤独を感じる隙がないほどにね - "The feeling of wanting to help someone comes before your own emotions. Until you have no room for stuff like anxiety or loneliness."
Darkness
もし闇に敗北するなんて結末になるなら、俺が書き換えるさ - "Who's to say I can't change it, and maybe light will prevail."
つかみ取るだ 究極の鍵、Xブレードを! - "Take it, the ultimate key, the X-blade!"
ゼアノートを倒すには悲しみの中で眠る者を再びこの地に迎えねばならない - “To strike down Xehanort, we need the individuals King Mickey spoke of in his letter. We must lead them out of sorrow and slumber.”
Hey! Who was Sora referring to with "the feeling of wanting to protect an important thing- a precious person"? Kairi, Riku? I know it looks like a parallel to riku's newfound understanding of wanting to protect Sora but.. I take it it's Kairi since kh3's events?
Hello! :) I can’t say for certain. The text doesn’t offer any more insight into that. It could be Kairi. I’m currently translating a Relationship Chart from an older Ultimania (KH Ultimania Alpha), which outlines character relationships/correlations up until the end of COM. In that chart, Kairi gets referred to as “Sora and Riku’s Precious Person” (ソラとリクの大切な人), but I feel the character relationships have changed a lot since then. At least, in the sense of Riku and Kairi - I think they definitely still care about each other, they are childhood friends that still have a bond to each other, but the writing of their relationship just doesn’t feel like a 大切な人 level anymore. I mean, they don’t even interact in KH3 and it makes me sad. :( Getting back to Sora though, the narrative doesn’t do a very good job of showing Kairi being Sora’s 大切な人 either, it tends to tell us this often, but the showing aspect of the writing doesn’t really reflect it all that well, imo (this is definitely true for the more recent games, especially KH3 when Sora hardly even thinks about Kairi in a way like he did back in KH2 with the whole dancing fantasy scene). That being said, we’ve been told about Sora and Kairi’s feelings and relationship over the course of the series, so we can assume it is Kairi. But we can assume otherwise and wouldn’t necessarily be wrong either, though saying that it must be or has to be Riku wouldn’t be right either. Because the text just doesn’t give anymore real follow up on this. I’m hoping the novel will give more insight into this and I expect it will likely be Kairi. But I don’t feel like I can say that with 100% certainty right now either. I’m of the opinion to leave it up to personal opinion at the moment, and to go for a let’s wait and see kind of approach.I’d love for a new, updated Character Relationship Chart someday. We got a Character Correlation Chart in the Perfect Book that was released before KH3 came out, and which covered the character correlations/relationships up to DDD, but that really didn’t give any new insight into Sora, Riku, and Kairi’s relationship. They were all just labeled as “childhood friends” to each other on that chart, while other trios (like the Wayfinder Trio and Sea-salt Trio were all labeled as “best friends”). But these charts also tend to label Sora, Riku, and Kairi’s trio as the “Childhood Friend Trio” or the 幼なじみ3人組. I’d like a new chart though, that would go a little deeper on the character relationship aspect and would include the events of KH3. That would be nice. But for now, we just have an older character relationship chart and people’s own personal interpretations of character relationship dynamics and interactions to go off of.