Previous Part: Introduction

Storyline text and attempted translations from...

Final Fantasy VI

A House |

Fade in. The girl lies in a bed, with an elderly man standing nearby. 1-3 "Awakening" plays.

「ここは… : Where am I...? GIRL: Where am I...?
老人「ほう…
 あやつりの輪が外れたばかりだと
 いうのに…
Old Man: Oh...?
 So soon after the manipulation
 band came off you...
OLD MAN: Whoa!
And I only just removed the crown!

It's still unclear what exactly the object is, other than that it's ring-shaped. The kanji 輪, which is all the text gives us to go on here, is used in words for jewelry from finger rings and bracelets to chokers and nose rings, and for many other more general types of ring-shaped objects from rubber bands to landing gear. Going by the appearance, considering what would be practical, and remembering that Wedge mentioned her head, it's most likely a circlet of some kind.

「頭が…いたい…… : My head... hurts... GIRL: ...head...hurts...
老人「無理をするな。
 これは、あやつりの輪。
 これをつけられればその者の思考は
 止まり、人の意のままに動くように
 なる。
Old Man: Don't push yourself too hard.
 This is a manipulation band.
 Having one of these on put you
 halts your thoughts, leaving you
 subject to the will of others.
OLD MAN: Easy! This is a Slave Crown. The others had complete control over you while you were wearing it.
「何も思いだせない…
老人「大丈夫。
 時間がたてば記憶も戻るはずじゃ。
: I can't remember anything...
Old Man: That's okay.
 Your memory should return, in time.
GIRL: I can't remember a thing...
OLD MAN: Don't worry.
It'll all come back to you...in time, that is.
「…… : ...... .........

She shakes her head, probably in confusion.

At this point, everything fades to black, except the girl, who shifts to center screen. The game gives the following brief description of her, then allows the player to change her name if desired. The same sort of thing happens with most playable characters.

Tina
帝国にあやつられていた
生まれながらに魔導の力を持つ
謎の少女……
A mysterious girl
born with the power of sorcery
who was controlled by the Empire...
A mysterious young woman,
controlled by the Empire, and
born with the gift of magic......
「わたし…
 名前は…{ティナ}…
老人「ほう…
 強い精神力を持っておる。
: I...
 my name is... {Tina}...
Old Man: Oh...?
 Strong will you have there.
My name...
...is...{TERRA}...
OLD MAN: Impressive!
I've never heard of anyone recovering this fast...!

Note that names in the English version are by default ALL CAPS. This was probably done to match all the other names and identifiers that are given in ALL CAPS before characters' lines (like OLD MAN), but it's not aesthetically pleasing to see an ALL-CAPS name in the middle of a normal-case sentence. In contrast, fixed names (the ones the player can't change) do appear in normal case in the middle of sentences. So why didn't they just make everything normal case all the time? I hardly think it would have ruined the game to identify a speaker as Old Man instead of OLD MAN. A poor decision overall in my opinion, but fortunately not one that damages the meaning.

Meanwhile, guards with dogs come up to the house from outside.

「ここを開けろ!
「魔導アーマーに乗っていた娘を
 出せ!
: Open up!
: Hand over the girl who was
 riding Sorcerous Armor!
SOLDIER: Open up!
Give us back the girl and the Empire's Magitek Armor!!
「ここを開けるんだ!
「娘をだせ!
「そいつは帝国の手先だぞ!!
: Open up!
: Hand over the girl!
: She's with the Empire!!
SOLDIER: Open this door!
We want that girl!
She's an officer of the Empire!

Here we see the sort of textbox that led to my including a colon at the beginning of the lines with 「 in the JP version that have unidentified speakers. Note that it's clear in the original that at least two people are speaking in each block of text, but this is completely lost in the NA version. Though it doesn't make much of a difference here, leaving out the differentiation elsewhere often confuses who says what in places where it's more meaningful, typically leading to misattribution (like who it was that used to have a pet turtle) or muddled dialog that's difficult to parse at all.

For a while, I put such text in quotation marks, but decided that should be reserved for generic party member lines, denoted with the 『 mark in Japanese. My use of a colon for a lone 「 parallels the standard use of, to give an example, "Old Man:" for 老人「 in Japanese.

{ティナ}「帝国…?
 魔導アーマー…?
{Tina}: Empire...?
 Sorcerous Armor...?
{TERRA}: Empire...?
Magitek Armor...?

Speaking of character names and how they display, when a character is speaking, the Japanese version normally displays their name in halfwidth, rather than the standard fullwidth, kana, so the young woman is shown here as ティナ instead of ティナ.

老人「とにかくここを出るんじゃ。
 わしが説明してもやつらは
 聞かんじゃろう。
Old Man: Get out of here for now.
 I doubt they'll listen even if I
 explain things to them.
OLD MAN: Look,
I have to get you out of here!
I don't have time to explain!
老人「こっちじゃ! Old Man: Over here! OLD MAN: Over here!
老人「裏の炭坑から逃げられるはず。
 ここは、わしがくいとめる。
 さあ、早く!
Old Man: You should be able to escape
 the back way through the coal mines.
 I'll stall them here. Now hurry!
OLD MAN: Make your way out through the mines! I'll keep these brutes occupied!

Two Sleeping Bags are added to your inventory at this point. The nearby clock, like many others, contains an Elixir for no apparent reason.

Tina leaves through the back door. "The Mines of Narshe" plays. Some guards spot her going across a walkway.

「あそこにいるぞ! : She's over there! She's up there!

Skip the treasures in the mines for now. If unopened, the chests will contain markedly better items... much later.

Tina fights alone and only lightly armed in the mines, but she's no pushover and has little difficulty until guards rush in from several directions and corner her.

「いたぞ! : Found her! Got her!

Actually, it's literally "[She] was [here]", but that's awkward at best in English. Just one of those Japanese idioms.

The floor beneath Tina caves in, and she loses consciousness soon after falling.


Flashback

Everything appears in sepia tones as Tina sits in the center of a small, apparently hi-tech, room. An unfamiliar man stands nearby, frequently laughing. 2-13 "The Empire "Gestahl"", a somber militaristic track, plays.

ケフカ「魔導の力を持つ娘か…
 ヒッヒッヒッ…
 この、あやつりの輪をつければ
 俺様の思うがままに動くのだあ!
Cefca: The girl with the power of sorcery...
 Hee, hee, hee...
 If I put this manipulation band on you,
 you'll do whatever I please!
KEFKA: My sweet little magic
user...! Uweee, he, he! With this Slave Crown I'll practically OWN you!!

"Cefca" is, apparently, the official JP version spelling, though I've never seen it anywhere in the game itself. Those are hard 'c's, so it is pronounced "Kefka", as it's spelled in the NA version.

I can't say I don't like the way the NA version makes him sound unhinged right away... actually, I'm thinking the original may do the same; it at least makes him sound cocky. Not just anyone will refer to himself with the incredibly arrogant term 俺様 (ore-sama). In any case, he's infamous for his deranged laughter. The game even has a deranged laughing sound effect for him.

The following line exists in the ROM and fits here, but isn't used in either version.

{ティナ}「いやーやめて!! {Tina}: No, stop it!! {TERRA}: No! Get away from me!

Cut to a battlefield. Tina, riding a mech, vaporizes a Soldier effortlessly.

ケフカ
「ヒッヒッヒッ そうだ!
全てを焼きはらうのだ!
Cefca:
Hee, hee, hee, yes!
Burn everything to ashes!
KEFKA:
Uwee, hee, hee! Good!
Burn up everything!

Cut to what looks like a rallying speech that wouldn't be out of place in Nazi Germany. An important-looking man stands in front of a crowd. Behind him, an unidentified man and woman, along with with Cefca, lead cheers. Tina, standing next to a mech, looks on passively.

ガストラ「わがガストラ帝国は魔導の力を
 復活させた!
 選ばれた者のみが使うことのできる
 神聖な力だ…
Gastra: My Gastra Empire has
 revived the power of sorcery!
 It is a divine power that only
 the chosen ones can use...
GESTAHL: We stand on the brink of a major breakthrough! In the days to come, we'll witness a total revival of magic!
GESTAHL: It is our destiny, and ours alone, to take this mystic force and claim what is rightfully ours!

Some interesting changes here. ガストラ (GASUTORA) doesn't much resemble "Gestahl". The original indicates that his "major breakthrough" has already happened, not that it will soon occur, and there are also changes to several other nuances.

This also brings us to one more minor note about name display in the Japanese version. The game font combines dakuten ( ゛) and handakuten ( ゜) marks with the base kana in halfwidth text. Standard fonts don't do that, so, as seen above, I'm forced to present halfwidth ガ as カ and ゙ next to each other, for example.

The following line comes here in the ROM, but isn't used in either version. Heck, Cid doesn't even appear in the scene.

シド「ケッサクじゃ。
 魔導の力と機械の力を組み合わせた
 きゅうきょくのマシーンじゃ…
Cid: It's my masterpiece.
 The ultimate machine, combining the
 powers of sorcery and mechanics...
CID: This is my finest work.
These Magitek converters combine the power of magic with machines...
ガストラ「いまこそ、わがゲストラ帝国が
 世界を支配する時!!
Gastra: Now is the time for my
 Gastra Empire to rule the world!!
GESTAHL: With our new-found power, nothing can stand in our way!
「ウォー!!
「ガストラ皇帝バンザーイ!!
: Hurrah!!
: Long live Emperor Gastra!!!
Hurrah!!
Long live Emperor Gestahl!!!

The scene fades, the music fades, color returns... and Tina remains unconscious on the cave floor.


Previous Part: Introduction

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