Topic: Old Castlevania: Bloodlines interview translated

[Nagumo]

Link:

http://shmuplations.com/bloodlines/

It contains a pretty cute picture of the development staff including Yamane.

Also, I thought the following section was interesting in light of our discussion about whether or not the game was originally intented to be a gaiden. The speaker is Toshiki Yamamura, the scenario writer:

As you can probably gather from the fact that Vampire Killer is set in a different era from the previous games, the scenario is unique to the Megadrive, and is my personal conception of the Dracula series. In my mind there is a trilogy or tri-partite structure to the Dracula saga, and this game takes the place of the second act. Of course, I’m a big fan of the previous Castlevania games too, so I wanted continuity in terms of style and image. I’d like players to see Vampire Killer as my personal interpretation to the canon. I was pretty influenced by Hideyuki Kikuchi’s work.

[theplottwist]

Nice! Though I'll say I expected more unique info to be revealed. Loved Yamamura's idea of the "tri-partite structure to the Dracula saga".

[Nagumo]

I wonder what he means with "tri-partite structure"? Was he planning a "Vampire Killer trilogy"? If Bloodlines is the first part then what are the others? I'm guessing the first part is supposed to be the fight between Dracula and Quincy Morris. But what is the third part?

Also, since Yamamura was influenced by Hideyuki Kikuchi, I wonder if the Alucard Spear was originally just a Vampire Hunter D reference. (In the novels the name Alucard is an alternative name for Dracula, judging from a quick search on the internet).

[TheTextGuy]

We may never know.  Maybe something taking place at World War II?  Maybe Cold War?  Maybe some post apocalyptic stuff?

Also, this statement:

Yamane: Yeah, everyone on the team wants to release something that makes players think, “I sure am glad I bought this!” We also don’t want to hurt the Megadrive market by releasing a half-hearted effort.

As soon as I read this, I did think "I'm sure am glad I bought this.  Used.  For $50."  That statement is not sarcastic: it's legit.  I really like this game. 

[theplottwist]

I wonder what he means with "tri-partite structure"? Was he planning a "Vampire Killer trilogy"? If Bloodlines is the first part then what are the others? I'm guessing the first part is supposed to be the fight between Dracula and Quincy Morris. But what is the third part?

I actually think he was making a parallel with the first three "legends" acting as a "closed recipe" to the series, similar to your own mindset when talking about CVI, II and III.

Like, he thinks the Dracula tale must be told on a three-part structure/arc, and brough this structure to Bloodlines. He told first the second part with a legend following behind (much like Simon's adventure with Christopher's legend following behind), while the legend -- the first part -- is told on another game, in this case being the non-existent Quincy quest mirroring Christopher's quest. And he probably had a third part planned in mind, too.

* I'm considering here it's likely that Christopher and Trevor were treated as one character before IGA, according to the already debated information, therefore making CVIII, Dracula Densetsu I and II into the "first part" of the "Dracula saga".

Now, considering IGA's words about previous developers... Could he have contacted Yamamura to concoct Portrait of Ruin? Like, if you stop to think about it, the Morris saga IS a tri-partide structure of their own tale, starting with Quincy and ending with Jonathan before the Belmonts are back into the picture.

[X]

I wonder what he means with "tri-partite structure"? Was he planning a "Vampire Killer trilogy"?

I think the Brahm Stoker's Dracula novel is the first part of this tri-partite idea of his (or at least that which was lifted from the novel). Who knows what the third part is since the guy never got the chance.

[Lumi Kløvstad]

*quietly files this under my "Castlevania as Collection of Folklore" theory/preference*

*ahem*

I always felt that the connection to Bram Stoker's Dracula felt forced as it related to the series taken as one cohesive timeline. But it seems like this guy wanted to make something stylistically connected to the series thus far, but not narratively connected. Taken as its own thing, the Bram Stoker connection makes a lot more sense to me and any questions I might have had about the plot holes it might create evaporate in seconds. So, I think I prefer the creator interpretation here. It makes a hell of a lot more sense than the half dozen ways I've tried to explain Bloodlines (or more accurately, the pre-Bloodlines story) to myself.

[AlexCalvo]

As someone who has done a fair bit of translation work myself, there are some parts of this article that seem... we'll say funny.  You have to remember when translating that you are not literally translating each word individually as much as trying to translate the meaning of the sentence as a whole.  This is true regardless of the languages you are translating to and from.  You don't translate directly from one language to another, because languages are not just different sets of vocabulary.  That's why google translate is so limited, and a mediocre translator can ruin what they are trying to translate.

Given all of this I have to say it looks very much like whoever translated this article very purposefully chose where to use incredibly vague and semi-non sensical phrasing, in what seems like an attempt to obscure what is trying to be said.  I only say this because the rest of the article is almost flawless (almost),  no decent translator is going to produce a sentence like “the scenario is unique to the Megadrive, and is my personal conception of the Dracula series”  Or “my personal interpretation to the canon.” in the context they are presented in (IE. “Interpretation of the canon” works fine when discussing our collective head canons, not when making a game to insert or not insert into said canon).  They don't make sense.  When I was working as a translator a sentence like that would have been roundly rejected, because in English the choices in vocabulary don't concisely relay the idea.

What is “my personal interpretation to the canon” supposed to mean?  Is it “My personal version of the canon”?  “My personal addition to the canon”?  The sentence as it stands in the original translation makes no sense (I also spent several years as an English teacher.)

The same goes for “the scenario is unique to the Megadrive, and is my personal conception of the Dracula series”.  Is he just trying to say that it is a mega drive exclusive?  Is he trying to say that the game is a self contained continuity within a megadrive game?  By “my personal conception of the Dracula series” does he mean this is his version of the “Dracula series”, disconnected from the other?  Or simply his addition to the original Bram Stoker novel and/or established canon(given the references to it in game I would assume so)?  It is just weirdly worded and unclear, almost purposely so.  Just vague enough to prove nothing and let everyone hold onto the take they already had.  Just an English teacher/translators perspective.

[Nagumo]

Yeah, you're right. I was also thinking there's definitely something lost in translation. I would like to take a look at the original interview in order to get a better grasp of what he said. I'll try mailing the person who translated this and ask if he maybe could provide a scan or a transcript of the original interview.   

[theplottwist]

What AlexCalvo said is interesting because that would not be the first time shmuplations did this. They also excized completely Igarashi's statement about Richter disappearing out of shame.

And I've emailed them, and received no response whatsoever.

[Dracula9]

I love that you don't even need a caption or even to see her face, and you still can tell which is Yamane. Woman's chock full of pizazz even with a posterboard French guy on her face.

Also, Shmuplations causing mistranslation shenanigans? Nooooooooo way!

[TheTextGuy]

Also, Shmuplations causing mistranslation shenanigans? Nooooooooo way!

Huh.  For some reason that's the first time I've heard of that.  Any more examples?

[Dracula9]

Scroll up.

[Nagumo]

Since I have some knowledgeabout how long Japanese sentences work, I think I could shed some more light on one of the sentences ("As you can probably gather from the fact that Vampire Killer is set in a different era from the previous games, the scenario is unique to the Megadrive, and is my personal conception of the Dracula series.") As I don't have acces to the original text, this I just a feeling I have so I can't proof it (for now).

Basically, the sentence structure is like this: X, Y, Z. Each section of the sentence gives more background about the section that precedes it (Y gives more background about X, Z gives more background about Y). For example the sentence: "Mathias became a vampire because he was angry with God about the fact that he caused the death of his wife"). X=  "Mathias became a vampire", Y= "because he was angry with God ", and Z= "about the fact that he caused the death of his wife". X is the main sentence and Y and Z add further details. In Japanese the order is reversed. In that case the order of information would be: Z, Y, X.

So what I think might have happend is that translator made a mistake and translated in the wrong order. Ignoring for now what "personal conception of the Dracula series" actually means, it's possible the sentence should be translated like this:

"This is my personal conception of the Dracula series, since it's a scenario that is unique to the Megadrive, because Vampire Killer is set in a different era from the previous games .  "

(In a normal English translation this information would probably have been split up in two sentences).