Rayman 2 JP version

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Hugo
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Rayman 2 JP version

Post by Hugo »

I'm playing through Rayman 2 in Japanese. I think everyone is familiar with the different skin palettes for the main characters, but I wanted to share some details I thought were interesting about the translation. I'll be comparing it with English since unfortunately I can't understand the original French.

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In English, this sign says "free dumping for anyone who can figure out how to open the door". But in Japanese, it says "Garbage dump: No raw waste, and don't break the door down!"

There are very few, if any, countries that take waste separation as seriously as Japan. (Raw waste refers to anything that decomposes, normally kitchen waste). You'll typically encounter two or more types of bins in a row. One of the shining aspects of Japanese society is the sense of community and cooperation; there is a sense of respect and care for the shared environment.

Image

This sign is basically the same as the English one. At first I thought it was cute that Razorbeard referred to the troops as せいとたち which means students, but in English he calls them cadets which is somewhat similar.

Image

As any fans of anime know, Japanese characters often have a habit of attaching a word at the end of each sentence. (One of the most famous of these is Naruto's "dattebayo" which I think was translated as "believe it!" or something like that). These sentence-enders are called "gobi" in Japanese (lit: word tail). When translating from Japanese to another language, it generally sounds more natural to give characters other quirks that fit their archetype rather than forcing them to say the same thing at the end of every sentence.

But in this case the game has been translated into Japanese, so they gave Globox the quirk of ending every sentence with "da na", adding a kind of flavor to his character that wasn't there before. It's hard to describe the exact nuance of "da na" but it gives off a kind of certainty like "that'll be it." Typically you'd think of a male person concluding something.

That doesn't really sound like Globox, but the nuance changes yet again by the comical effect of him using it in every sentence. "Ly gave it me, she did." "My precious Uglette'll be waiting for me, yep." It's one of those things that doesn't translate perfectly, but all the more reason I wanted to share it.

Hope you found that interesting!
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Re: Rayman 2 JP version

Post by ItzalDrake »

This is very interesting, thanks a lot for sharing!
I didn't know there were also differences in the localization :D
Hugo
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Re: Rayman 2 JP version

Post by Hugo »

ItzalDrake wrote: Sun Mar 09, 2025 1:51 pm This is very interesting, thanks a lot for sharing!
I didn't know there were also differences in the localization
Thanks! When I was young it was really difficult to get hold of Japanese versions, even online, and it never even crossed my mind that Rayman had a Japanese version. Generally I find the aesthetic changes rather arbitrary (they claim it's to suit Japanese tastes, but we're talking about things like a palette swap here) but it's amazing what an impression you create with a few lines of text.

Maybe you could tell us about the Italian version? :D
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Re: Rayman 2 JP version

Post by ItzalDrake »

I played Rayman games in Italian only so I am not sure if the localization is much different from English at least, for sure not as much as the Japanese one! :D
But if I have time I can check because I am curious now :lol:
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Re: Rayman 2 JP version

Post by Game Ze 2 »

Hugo wrote: Thu Mar 06, 2025 10:14 pm This sign is basically the same as the English one. At first I thought it was cute that Razorbeard referred to the troops as せいとたち which means students, but in English he calls them cadets which is somewhat similar.
This may be related to Japan's naval culture.
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Re: Rayman 2 JP version

Post by Hunchman801 »

Thanks for sharing, it's always interesting how localizations are more than just mere translations.

On a side note, the sign in the Sanctuary of Water and Ice reads "Vidange gratuite à qui trouvera le moyen d'ouvrir le portail" in the original French version, meaning "free oil change". This was lost in the English translation, and the Japanese one seems to have strayed even further!
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Re: Rayman 2 JP version

Post by Hugo »

Hunchman801 wrote: Mon Mar 17, 2025 12:08 am Thanks for sharing, it's always interesting how localizations are more than just mere translations.

On a side note, the sign in the Sanctuary of Water and Ice reads "Vidange gratuite à qui trouvera le moyen d'ouvrir le portail" in the original French version, meaning "free oil change". This was lost in the English translation, and the Japanese one seems to have strayed even further!
Glad you found it interesting! You made me really want to study the French version now.
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Re: Rayman 2 JP version

Post by PluMGMK »

I presume the "free oil change" was an incentive for whichever pirate could figure out how to get into the Sanctuary (in the end, only Rayman can figure it out, with Murfy's help)! Then in the English version they changed it to "free dumping", which arguably makes more sense (I can't believe I'm saying that :oops2:), because it implies that they want to turn the Sanctuary into a rubbish dump, and whoever opens it first gets first dibs. But then the Japanese version implies that it's already been turned into a dump, which is obviously not true – unless they're referring to the little cabins with the sparadrap doors instead, which just misses the point completely! :boon:
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Re: Rayman 2 JP version

Post by The Jonster »

Yeah the sanctuary of water and ice never made much sense to me. What exactly was a dumping anyway :lol:

Gotta admit the smooth Globox wasn’t as horrible as I thought it would be. Thanks for sharing your findings! I always wanted to try a Japanese version of R2 for the experience (thankfully I’ve played enough times since I can’t read the language)
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Re: Rayman 2 JP version

Post by PluMGMK »

The Jonster wrote: Thu Apr 17, 2025 2:54 pm Yeah the sanctuary of water and ice never made much sense to me. What exactly was a dumping anyway :lol:
Like I said, it means you can dump your rubbish there for free. But I didn't realize that until many years after I first played :boon:
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Re: Rayman 2 JP version

Post by DaveRattlehead »

Hugo wrote: Thu Mar 06, 2025 10:14 pm But in this case the game has been translated into Japanese, so they gave Globox the quirk of ending every sentence with "da na", adding a kind of flavor to his character that wasn't there before. It's hard to describe the exact nuance of "da na" but it gives off a kind of certainty like "that'll be it." Typically you'd think of a male person concluding something.

That doesn't really sound like Globox, but the nuance changes yet again by the comical effect of him using it in every sentence. "Ly gave it me, she did." "My precious Uglette'll be waiting for me, yep." It's one of those things that doesn't translate perfectly, but all the more reason I wanted to share it.

Hope you found that interesting!
Well this is interesting! I highly doubt it, but does any other character have this kind of quirk?

Also, Globox seems a bit... Different here :confus:
Hunchman801 wrote: Mon Mar 17, 2025 12:08 am Vidange gratuite à qui trouvera le moyen d'ouvrir le portail" in the original French version, meaning "free oil change".
And that's another confirmation of my suspicions (the game being translated from French to Spanish and not from English, which is what usually happens nowadays...).
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Re: Rayman 2 JP version

Post by Hugo »

DaveRattlehead wrote: Sun Apr 20, 2025 11:16 pm Well this is interesting! I highly doubt it, but does any other character have this kind of quirk?
Absolutely! Ssssam ends his sentences with "da su". That gives the "sss" feeling and, I don't know if this is my subjective interpretation, but it sounds like a morphing of "desu" (polite version of da, the sentence finalizer), creating an idiosyncratic yet respectful tone that seems to suit Ssssam.

I guess I didn't include him because I hate that level. Getting all the lums is a real chore...
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Re: Rayman 2 JP version

Post by Hunchman801 »

DaveRattlehead wrote: Sun Apr 20, 2025 11:16 pm And that's another confirmation of my suspicions (the game being translated from French to Spanish and not from English, which is what usually happens nowadays...).
Yeah, this was usually the case before Rayman Origins, from what I can see.
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