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I just started playing the Japanese version of FFVI - the original words translated in English. There are many interesting parts that are left out in the clean, SNES and PS versions. Almost every sentence in the game is different.

The Floating Continent scene is far more vicious than before. Kefka, Celes and Ghestal use much stronger language that makes the scene far more exciting.

Also, it is revealed that Sabin's mom died at his childbirth.

There are many other cool scenes, i'll write more as I play the game.

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I'VE HAD AN ETERNITY TO PONDER THE MEANING OF THINGS. AND NOW I HAVE AN ANSWER...

I thought I knew that Sabin and Edgar's mother died when they were born, but maybe not.

From what I can gather from Japanese stuff in general (maybe Goz or someone else who has studied more Japanese will show up and provide more knowledge), swear words seem generally more common, and the same swear word can mean anything from 'darn' to something I can't type in this forum. With that kind of a range, it's not surprising that translators chose the milder words (even when the situation seemed, um, dire) to avoid offending the hyper-sensitive video game police.

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

The problem though is that by choosing the "milder" words, the tone of the dialogue is altered. In japanese that's not a problem because it's the same word, but in english, it comes off as sounding unenthusiastic.

I understand Square's need to bow and kowtow to Nintendo's morality police, but it does lose its edge.

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Oh sure, I don't have to get kicked in the junk to activate it, but I like it anyway. -- Thief commenting on the difference between Throw and Blue Magic.

Yes I am playing it right now and there are just some events that seem so much clearer with the correct translation. It makes me question all the confusion I have in other games, could it all be cleared up with a simple translation fix? God damn the translators in this country, why they ever thought the fans would enjoy their massacring of words I will never know. Maybe they're just told here, here's what happens make up words for the characters lol, but the translation's a lil' closer than that. My only problem with this translation is selecting rages because I'm used to the english names so now I'm like wtf?? I had to write down all the ones i use next to their english names =P But yes I am ever so enjoying the japanese translation version.

well, to be certain, there's really no such thing as a "swear" word in japanese (unlike, say, korean) -- i guess the closest thing would be 糞 [kuso] and its many compounds/phraseologies. it would seem that in western societies, we take offence to the actual words themselves, given that they are usually quite crude in their geenral meanings.

however, the japanese would seem to take offence to the actual intent of disrespect, which can easily be expected of a society so ingrained with the in-/out-group social mentality. for example, many of the common "swear" words for the second person pronoun were originally actually terms of respect for example, 貴様 [kisama] was originally an indirect way of addressing an individual by saying loosely "the honoured one" (the kanzi mean quite literally honour-sama), as directness (anata/sonata) is considered either intimate or rude given japanese cultural mores. eventually the word evolved into a "curse" word as the feudal system died out and the japanese began to use the word in an increasingly facetious manner. so now you've got a "curse" word that means literally "honourable one," but is rude in its intent. even a relatively harmless word like 野郎 [yarou] can become intensely offencive if said in the right (wrong?) way.

the question becomes, "how the hell do we translate this type of word?" is the intent to merely show disrespect, or is the intent to use the word for its shock value, as it may be? people in english might scream "you fkcuin piece of stih" where a japanese might use "kisama," but undoubtedly the former would be far more offensive to english ears than would the latter to the japanese listener. i would have to say it is more important when translating between two languages that are really nothing alike to maintain the *sentiment* of what is being said, rather than staying as close to the literal meaning as possible, so i would agree that it's best, for example, to translate "kisama" as something along the lines of "bastard."

regardless, the bottom line is that there is *no* definite way to translate the japanese "swear" memes seamlessly into english; the two languages have entirely dissimilar swear methodologies. i have played through the japanese version, and i have played through the officially licensed english translation. while clearly playing the game in its original language is the only way to understand the true original intent of the dialogue, the woosely translation is most justified and i really can't see why people are complaining about it. unlike ff7 and fft, the translation was consistent, accurate, lucid, and clean besides.

just because a translation has more curse words doesn't mean it's any closer to the original script. it's very difficult to convey in english the roughness &c. that the hugely varied array of japanese speech patterns allow for, so lazy translators just throw in a bunch of curse words and hope nobody will notice. it's not simply a matter of choosing "milder words;" the words themselves are not the offencive component in the japanese.

Honestly curse words are becoming a part of American Society. They're losing their effect and overall shock. People use them too much, the words shock dies. People joke make fun of eachother using swears, that's just how it is now. There are other ways to express disrespect which has more to do with tone and body language. But of course the adults in our society care more about swear words, at least to some degree, so they still want kids to be censored, but with the internet, no matter how many parental contorls are made, kids will never be censored from such material. So in the future I doubt swears will be a big deal at all.

It wasn't only the language that was made different in the Japanese Version to the English Version, but there were some nudity parts on some of the monsters in the game so they had to cover them up. In FFVI, they were very open with their subjects in the game, so the English Version was made for all ages to play and enjoy.

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Acts 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Chrsit for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost

Acts 4:12

Matthew 28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost