Because Alm's birthmark is depicted on his hand in Echoes, at first, I instinctively translated the novel to match. ...However, Ozaki-sensei very clearly uses the word "arm" when describing its location on his body. And it didn't click that I was doing something wrong until I got to book 2, and there's a whole piece of art that was made to show exactly where it is on his arm.
One of the tricky parts of translation is to not let your brain turn on auto-fill!! You're never too good or experienced not to do it.
(I'm mostly making this post so I can remember later to go back and fix book 1's translation.)
...I also just learned that the localization translates aza to "Brand." That might be something I go back and change, too. I really should have read the localized Echoes script and taken detailed notes before I started translating the novel, lol.
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FE2 Novelization Translation - Cover and Book Intro Pages
If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!
FE Game Script Translations - FE Novel Translations - Original FE Support Conversations
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New year, time for another new FE novelization translation!
2024's novel of focus is that of FE2, the original game Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia was a remake of. Enjoy reading this take on the same exact plot, ~25 years prior!
Cover
Fire Emblem Gaiden
The Zofian Liberation War
Book 1
STORY
The continent of Valentia is divided between the north and the south, as well as their beliefs in War Father Duma and Earth Mother Mila. While the Kingdom of Zofia is ruled with kindness and compassion, the Rigelian Empire believes in raising its citizens to be prepared for war. Their hostility towards each other has finally pulled them into a vicious war. Units from both sides spill each other’s blood, fighting for their god and loyalty to their homeland each and every day, with no end in sight…
The protagonists of this tale are Alm, Celica, and countless other young units. They all wish for Valentia to be unified, but differ in how they want that outcome to be reached. And so, a grand tale of love and hate is about to unfold!
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Written by Katsuyuki Ozaki
Cover Illustration by Ichiro ?*
Cover Design by Kazuo Hiroi (WIDE)**
*T/N: I cannot find the Kanji character in this person’s last name anywhere to confirm its reading.
**T/N: First name could also be ‘Ichio’ or ‘Itsuo.’ I cannot find any record of this person online, so I cannot confirm the correct reading of their name. Their nickname is ‘WIDE’ because their last name, ‘hiroi,’ is the Japanese word for wide.
Published by Futabasha
Author’s Profile
Katsuyuki Ozaki
An up-and-coming author also working as a copywriter. His major works include “Valkyrie no Densetsu,” “F-Zero,” “Zelda II: The Adventure of Link,” and many more, all published by Futabasha. He has also written for other strategy guide series. His hobbies include golf, cars, and computer games. He is of course also passionate about Fire Emblem, and has completed all of the games so far. He poured all of his love for the series into writing these two books without rest!
Front:
Alm and Celica each set out on their own journey to forge!
This is the epic adventure of this young man and woman!!
The stage unfolds on a Valentia in chaos in this epic tale of love, blood, and war!
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Back:
Ad for Book 2.
Ad for a Shin Megami Tensei novelization.
Color Art
A necrodragon was here. In Zofia. When she realized exactly what that meant, Celica was petrified in horror. Earth Mother Mila had lost all power over Zofia.
Title Page
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1: The Deliverance
The Six Resurrection Pills
Alm’s Awakening
The Mysterious Girl Silque
Chapter 2: Mila’s Restoration Army
Celica Embarks on Her Journey
The Ruffian Saber
The Necrodragon’s Trial
Chapter 3: To Zofia Castle
Rescuing Clair
The Night Before Storming Zofia Castle
Cliff’s Gambit
Chapter 4: The Red Haired Woman
The Port Town Tavern
Differing Paths
Chapter 5: To Mila’s Shrine
The Sisters from Archanea
Blake, Wielder of the Shadow Sword
Royal Bloodline
Desert Army
Princess Anthiese
Chapter 6: The Newly Reborn Kingdom of Zofia
His name is Zeke
Cross-Shaped Birthmark
Collapse and Liberation
The Throne Bathed in Light
Epilogue
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Illustrations: Ichiro ?* & Kazuo Hiroi (WIDE)**
*T/N: I cannot find the Kanji character in this person’s last name anywhere to confirm its reading.
**T/N: First name could also be ‘Ichio’ or ‘Itsuo.’ I cannot find any record of this person online, so I cannot confirm the correct reading of their name. Their nickname is ‘WIDE’ because their last name, ‘hiroi,’ is the Japanese word for wide.
Book design: Yusuke Matsuoka (NEXT)
Editing & printing: Rekkasha
Character Introductions
Alm’s Army
Robin: A Villager who grew up with Alm in Ram Village. He later transcends to become an Archer.
Silque / Shilk: A Cleric in service to the goddess Mila. She specializes in healing magic.
Cliff / Klihs: A Villager from Ram Village. He later transcends to become a Mage, specializing in long range combat magic.
Delthea: A female Mage who has fallen into Rigel’s hands by Tatarrah’s magic. She wields the Aura tome.
Luthier: He decides to join forces with Alm to lead his younger sister Delthea’s fate down a righteous path. A mage with a tragic past.
Mycen: A former unit of the Knights of Zofia, transcended to one of the highest level classes, Gold Knight.
Python: An Archer prodigy whose short-temper is as great as his skills with a bow.
Clair: A Pegasus Knight who was granted the ability to fly a pegasus by the two gods. Clive’s younger sister.
Forsyth: A soldier who’s greatest skill is his ability to calmly make decisions in the heat of battle.
Mathilda: An exceptionally talented female Cavalier. She possesses both a brave soul and bewitching beauty.
Tatiana: A Saint captured by Nuibaba. Zeke’s beloved.
Clive: A Cavalier and the leader of the young surviving units of the Knights of Zofia.
Zeke: A mysterious Gold Knight who has lost his memory. He serves Alm under Emperor Rudolf’s orders.
Lukas: A hot-blooded soldier who wields his lance like lightning.
Alm: A fighter raised by Zofia’s hero Mycen, and the protagonist of this story. He is a boy with a grand fate!
Gray: A Villager from Ram Village. He later transcends into a Cavalier.
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i'm having so many feelings about alm + berkut // literally no one asked
i'm having to many feelings about alm and berkut. they are my sons, baby boy baby, sweet children of mine. i want to wrap them up in blankets and give them hot chocolate and a place to scream their troubles and be heard.
thoughts under the cut because this got long.
one of the things that stick out to me the most about alm is how responsibility is thrust upon the poor kid. he knows he's getting into a war, he knows what a war with rigel will bring. he knows how the people suffer, and how something must be done, and the only way to do that is by a war. in order for any change to happen, sometimes force is the only path. he needs to throw off the yoke of the old gods and let the people live by their own hands, he needs to stop the suffering, and if it is war that will do that, then so be it.
alm has responsibility thrust upon him, when all he's really stated before is how he wants to help the people, and that's practically it. he doesn't necessarily want to wage war. i've read a really good fic outlining to celica (through lukas) how, "if there were another peaceful solution, alm's sword would be first on the pile", and i genuinely think this is true. the boy has been only taught the practical skills (combat, strategy, weather and terrain, etc) and not the finer points of leading. he acknowledges how much he has to learn when he prepares to right back against rigel, sure, and he does learn to lead, but as the quote in hamilton goes, "dying is easy, young man, but leading is harder."
when clive comes to him and just makes him leader, he practically says "hey wait are you sure this is a good idea??" and even later, everyone assumes he's gonna be king at the end of the war
and it hurts, because if you think about it, he's never been taught how to handle the court, how to handle nobility, any of this high aristocracy bullshit. and celica's right. he has no idea how the hell any of this works. he says he's not a farmboy, but he is. he's a country bumpkin from the southern most tip of zofia, hailing from a truly backwater village.
and sure, he has celica to rely on, and clive to rely on, and mycen to rely on. he's forgiven celica already since their fight, and loves her. but she's right. and clive just thrust the title of "leader of the deliverance" and later "king of valentia" onto him. and mycen, mycen isn't truly his grandfather, and all the man does is chide alm for every single decision he makes since leaving the village.
and it's not fair!! it's wholly unfair and sad and painful to think of how alm must step up to the mantle that was pushed upon him. mycen was right. "once you march on Rigel, you place yourself in the hands of destiny. You won’t be able to stop the events that unfold. No one will wish you well. Many will even try to stop you; unexpected tragedy is sure to follow. That is the price of what you are about to undertake." and he's right, and alm said he was ready for it, but even so!!
"and what of my peace?!" he screams to the uncaring world. "what of my personhood?!"
and the world keeps turning on its axis, cold and unchanging as the rigel winter.
"this is not the time for mourning or self-pity, boy." the world tells him. "you cannot be a person, for you are the leader, and leaders must make sacrifices."
and this theme, this arc of alm's fits incredibly well with berkut's. it fits so well and i'm so incredibly sad.
because berkut... berkut was a gentle child. according to the valentia accordion, he was so timid that even riding a horse could make him cry. berkut, being the nephew to the emperor, being in line to the throne only because his father's brother is the emperor, who has no children... he has never was supposed to become emperor in the first place, either. his worldview is deeply shaped by rigel's culture, by how "a prince of rigel cannot possibly be weak". i've discussed this before, about how berkut is an unfortunate product of his upbringing.
but it hurts. it hurts how, no matter what he does, he can't ever be recognised for his accomplishments, that he fails so horribly to a farmboy- a zofian country bumpkin, a weak soldier compared to him- that the only person he has to look up to (much like alm, as mycen keeps ripping him apart, and clive only wants him to lead and also tells him off throughout the story, and celica, who's an entire ocean mass away) finds him a disgrace and leaves him out to dry, because he's simply not good enough, not even when he's been forced to walk this path.
"uncle!!" he screams to the retreating figure of the red-clad emperor. "please tell me i am good enough for you!! please tell me my own pain wasn't for nothing!"
and the silence is deafening, just like crackle of flames that drown out even the cries of the one thing he truly cared for most.
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