Viper RSR - Un-official Names.. must be decided by us.

[黒い灯影]

Okay,
So there hasn't been much progress on translating Viper RSR since I donno when...
So I've sent some of the text from Viper RSR to a few translations services..
And I have to fix a few words here and there...
The problem is a few translators have worked on them,
so some of the names have come back with different possibilities..

Namely these two...
Name 1: 精騎軍
This is the name of the army, i suppose, that Elan and Cala work under.

Names that have come back:
-Holy Knight Army
-Seikigun
-Seikigun, the Elite Knight Army

and JG's suggestion (from the past)
-Elven army (?) (was it?)

Name 2: 魔獣
The baddies in RSR

-The demon beasts
-Monsters
-Magic Beasts
-Magic devils
-Demons
- and a mispelled one... magic beats (to be fair, this one is still waiting to be proof-read)

I want to discussion which would sound better, or be more accurate.
So, what do you guys think?
If you have any suggestions I would like to know.
I want to officialize the name in here, even if it's unofficial.

Also, I would appreciate any monies you can donate,
It would help recover some of the costs for hiring the translators.

Here's a sample from the first couple of lines

Code: (Intro) [Select]

This is my house.
It's nothing special, just an ordinary house.It's only because I belong to the Holy Knight army that I'm allowed to use this house at such a young age.So I'd better carry out my duties properly.
It has become quite bright outside now.
"Now then... I'll train outside again today.
"We have to maintain the peace in this castle town so the world can remain peaceful.That's our duty as knights of the Holy Knight Army.
"Or so they say, but since I joined ...or more likely since I was born, things have always been peaceful.That's why it doesn't feel like a real army.
"They say the demons used to attack people long ago, but we can't even imagine that now.To me, demons are quite cute and gentle.


[JG]

Name 1: 精騎軍
This is the name of the army, i suppose, that Elan and Cala work under.

Names that have come back:
-Holy Knight Army
-Seikigun
-Seikigun, the Elite Knight Army

I'd go with Paladins.  You could also go with Crusaders but that has negative connotations in some countries.  (The kanji actually translate as "holy" "mounted" "army", like cavalry or something.)
Plus Paladins makes it sound like the magic users (Elan, Cala, Alfa) are elite, better than the regular standing army.

Name 2: 魔獣
The baddies in RSR

-The demon beasts
-Monsters
-Magic Beasts
-Magic devils
-Demons
- and a mispelled one... magic beats (to be fair, this one is still waiting to be proof-read)

It should translate directly as monsters.  The first kanji is "demonic" and the second is "beast".

I think what Elan is referring to as "cute and gentle" in the opening is a jab at Pokemon (pocket monsters.)  This may be an internal joke, as Pokemon and VIPER have roots in the same anime shop and/or Sogna may have hired a few artists who also worked on the Pokemon show to do cel painting.  Either way, Pokemon was huge in Japan while RSR was being developed and perhaps P-Warrior disagreed with the notion that monsters could be cute and cuddly and was merely making a social comment.

[Rai]

Is the elven race ever named in RSR? As far as I know, Cala, Elan, and Alfa are always referred to as part of the Seikigun. What about Julietta, or mentions of her mother? For a while I got the impression that "Seiki" referred to their race, and "Seikigun" to the soldiers. Reason being that the Sei character is the same as in Yousei, the Japanese word for elf. Made me think they were going for a word that indicated their role as paladins as well as their elven nature.

For majuu, "monsters" seems a bit generic, but it's not like there are any examples of non-majuu monsters in the game, so might as well. Japanese has a few different words that often get translated into "monster", like "kaijuu" for the Godzilla-type monsters, "kaijin" for humanoid monsters, "yokai" for certain folklore-derived monsters, etc. So when RSR introduces a fairly unique variation of the term, it seems like it ought to have a similarly unique translation. "Demon Beasts" is a bit clunky though. The "ma" kanji is often used to mean "magic", but most of the RSR monsters don't seem to be capable of any kind of magic, so in this case "demon" is most likely the intended reading.

I'd say either go with "monster" or leave it as "Majuu". Sometimes when a term to translate looks like it should be specific but the only sensible translation is generic, I think leaving it untranslated is a valid choice. It's like a proper name in that regard.

Edit: Just realized that you can get the same effect simply by capitalizing "Monster" in text. It communicates the meaning as well as the specific intention.

[黒い灯影]

I was kind of inclined to lean towards Holy Knight Army..
due to the merchants saying they would be cursed if they accepted any money from them.
but I suppose Paladins can be used in this context also.

Code: (Dialogue from one of the merchants) [Select]

あんたらから金なんか貰ったらバチが当たる。
I'd be cursed if I took money from you people.

What about Julietta, or mentions of her mother?

I'll let you know if I find out anything new, as they are translated.
I can only send sections at a time, such as whole chapters, or a series of small scenes.
If money were no object, I'd send all the text from the game.


How about using "monsters" to refer to the lesser more common enemies...
and using "Demons" for the magic beasts..
I know there is text in the game that says something like "demons that can use magic"...

Code: [Select]

"You're right.The jewel gives power to those who use magic.But if it's been stolen by magic beasts, that could be trouble."
"Some magic beasts can use magic. If they had the jewel, they would become much stronger.If you want to save that girl, getting back the stolen jewel might be the shortest route."


[Rai]

Yeah, a phrase like "Some magic beasts can use magic" sounds redundant, so that's probably not the right way to translate majuu in that case.

"Demon" is too grandiose for the lesser guys like the rats, frogs, and even Maranello. It would be appropriate for Diablo and Veloce, but if they're all called "majuu" in Japanese, it doesn't seem appropriate to differentiate them in the translation. I think calling them all "Monsters", capitalized is the best approach.