18-08-2026, 02:22 AM
There's a fine line between translation and localization. Sometimes, getting the literal words across is less important than getting the actual implied meaning of a phrase. There are often idomatic expressions or cultural references that simply do not translate on a word-for-word basis. And with languages as lacking in common origin as Japanese and English, these things will only balloon.
When Evangelion got a fresh translation for Netflix, there was an absolute meltdown when a line previously translated with the word "love" became "like" with the two camps arguing which was correct. "Like" was correct on a word-for-word basis. Proponents of "love" insist it is what is implied by the character, context, and themes of the show. This is a single word in one episode of a 26(+) episode show.
But then there's the "I'll write what I want!" revisionist philosophy. Some people, in the position of localization simply can't help but become re-writers. Whether it's a belief it'll make a work more profitable or popular, or to satiate their own creative needs, it varies from person to person.
Metal Gear Sold 1's coma line is perplexing indeed. I can accept that the change was made for dramatic effect the first time around. However, the line was retained in Twin Snakes, despite having an (allegedly) more accurate translation. Indeed, many lines that were inventions of the original localization were deleted. But why was the revisionist notion of Big Boss's coma retained? Did Kojima actually like that detail and insist on keeping it? Did the Twin Snakes' translation team get lazy and copied from the original translation? As that game never had a Japanese audio track, it's harder to know for sure. Perhaps a very patient bilingual person can read TTS's Japanese subtitles for that scene to verify?
Of course, by the time we actually do see Big Boss enter a coma in MGSV - it's certainly well after the cloning had already happened. So it still doesn't align with what Liquid says in the English dialogue. MGSV also features characters that posit that the English language itself is parasitic. That that game of all games would depict an event similar to one introduced in the English localization of a Japanese game - that can't be a coincidence can it? It's quite meta. Spurious information introduced by a translator 'infected' the canon later on.
When Evangelion got a fresh translation for Netflix, there was an absolute meltdown when a line previously translated with the word "love" became "like" with the two camps arguing which was correct. "Like" was correct on a word-for-word basis. Proponents of "love" insist it is what is implied by the character, context, and themes of the show. This is a single word in one episode of a 26(+) episode show.
But then there's the "I'll write what I want!" revisionist philosophy. Some people, in the position of localization simply can't help but become re-writers. Whether it's a belief it'll make a work more profitable or popular, or to satiate their own creative needs, it varies from person to person.
Metal Gear Sold 1's coma line is perplexing indeed. I can accept that the change was made for dramatic effect the first time around. However, the line was retained in Twin Snakes, despite having an (allegedly) more accurate translation. Indeed, many lines that were inventions of the original localization were deleted. But why was the revisionist notion of Big Boss's coma retained? Did Kojima actually like that detail and insist on keeping it? Did the Twin Snakes' translation team get lazy and copied from the original translation? As that game never had a Japanese audio track, it's harder to know for sure. Perhaps a very patient bilingual person can read TTS's Japanese subtitles for that scene to verify?
Of course, by the time we actually do see Big Boss enter a coma in MGSV - it's certainly well after the cloning had already happened. So it still doesn't align with what Liquid says in the English dialogue. MGSV also features characters that posit that the English language itself is parasitic. That that game of all games would depict an event similar to one introduced in the English localization of a Japanese game - that can't be a coincidence can it? It's quite meta. Spurious information introduced by a translator 'infected' the canon later on.
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