Topic: Behind Necklace of J

[theplottwist]

The ages-old question is finally answered:

[Nagumo]

I knew about Cube of Zoe, but not about this. Ironically when IGA was doing that "Devs Play" for SotN somebody asked him about that and he had know idea why it was called that in English.

Now what I would really like to know is from what is Milican's Sword derived? Apperently its origin is vague even among Japanese fans. 

[Inccubus]

And that is why I don't count localizations as true canon.

[beingthehero]

Interesting. I remembered when he did that interview on Hardcore Gaming 101 he couldn't remember off the top of his where he referenced his son. Apparently his son asked him to be put in the game too.

 

[theplottwist]

I updated the wiki accordingly on both the Cube of Zoe and Necklace of J's entries.

[Inccubus]

Cool. Always good to hear of new info being added to the wiki.

[Gaawa-chan]

I've always wondered about that necklace... like, why does Alucard wear a necklace? XD

Was it his mommy's?

[GuyStarwind]

I always thought it was some type of foreshadowing for Julius Belmont because he's just known as J before you know who he is. And yes I know SotN is like 1797 or whatever but yeah

[theplottwist]

OKAY PEOPLE, I went on and asked a few more questions to him. Jeremy's really sweet and provided answers through PM to the best of his abilities. Here is what he answered. I'll be cutting to the chase with my questions and summarizing them, but I'll post here his exact answers:

Me: In SotN, were the names of Cthulhu and Malachi (Devil and Evil in Japanese) swapped? (I provided reference pictures to jog his memory if needed)

Jeremy: "I don't recall exactly. Sounds like either they were switched, or I did not have a visual for that to refer to when I translated."

Me: Do you know where the name "Milican" from Milican's Sword comes from?

Jeremy: "If I named it Milican, it sounds like I did not "get" the reference either."

(We discussed a little more about the references to Tolkien aspects and other things more, after this, to which he confirmed that they were all his work whenever the name differed too much from the japanese original, or when he felt people would not get it)

Me: Why did you choose to use the "What is a man?" line for Dracula? (Here I meant more in the sense of "what was wrong with the original japanese line?")

Jeremy: "Hmmm, why indeed. I think my thinking was like this, but you would have to confirm by reading the original Japanese. If you have it, please let me see it. But basically, it was supposed to be a dramatic scene, with impact. But IIRC, the Japanese was really, really uninspiring. It just felt flat.

My belief about translation is that when you do it, much of the power of the original is lost simply in the translation. So something needs to be added in order to give it some "ooomph".

I felt it did not do justice to Dracula... and here is something you have to appreciate. At the time, we (all of us in US and Japan) never imagined that there would be people that would ever compare the two versions.

We only thought of making an impact on our own market. And so I just concentrated on doing what I felt would be most entertaining (within limits!).

But it sure seems that it was a memoriable line. I even have a t-shirt with that on it!"

(After I showed him the how the original japanese went more or less, he confirmed that it was indeed very generic to his tastes. Even though the whole dynamic in the dialogue speaks about how the powerful are the ones who have the final word, no matter what you think is evil or not, I much prefer the english localization and I think this specific dynamic was not lost. Dracula is still talking about how the ones in power are the ones who decide the others' destiny)

I also asked him about Crissaegrim (to which he replied that the japanese was something like "Valmanway" but still sounded wrong to him) and Granfaloon, to which he confirmed the connection with Kurt Vonnegut's novel, and that it was possible he was not keen on the original meaning of the japanese writting of "Legion" at the time.

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If you have any questions, dudes, ask away and I'll ask him! (Or maybe you could ask yourself too, if you wish o.O )

[theANdROId]

How does that scene go in the Japanese version?

[theplottwist]

How does that scene go in the Japanese version?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Oma-VUECmc

The translation here is much more accurate to the japanese script than the PSX's translation.

[Shiroi Koumori]

So that was the meaning. Thanks for this new info!

[Lelygax]

What is the correct name for Necklace of J then? It ever sounded strange to me but I didn't knew that it had the same story from Cube of Zoe (that we know from some years ago). Thanks for contacting him, it is very insightful.

You can ask to him why he added a biblical passage on Dracula's last words? It is one of the most memorable additions to the adaptation.

[Shiroi Koumori]

According to this, the item was simply called necklace in Japanese.