Final Fantasy 16 Lost in Translation - Jill's Sidequest

There's a sidequest in Final Fantasy 16 called Letting Off Steam III in which you can choose to have either Jill or Tarja accompany Clive to go shopping. Jill's version of the quest, however, has a pretty big discrepancy in its translation.
Instead of asking if it's wrong that Jill's enjoying herself, in the Japanese version of the game, Jill asks Clive if she's acting like a "person" would, and Clive says that she is, and that she isn't a monster anymore.
Generally, the localization for Final Fantasy 16 is pretty fantastic, so a difference of this magnitude was kind of shocking. I think this sidequest gives us a lot of insight into Jill's inner turmoil, and the English version comes across as being really bland in comparison, so I wanted to share what I could with the community of Final Fantasy 16 at large.
If you want to talk more translations, localizations, FF16, and more, feel free to join the Discord:
/ discord
---
Do you like the content and want to help support the channel more?
Become a channel member or send your support to:
Patreon profile:
/ lastprotagonist
Buy a drink or coffee with ko-fi:
ko-fi.com/lastprotagonist
Donate via Paypal:
www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_...

[@minespatch]

"You were shopping, that proves you're no monster". So... Going to the grocery store means I have humanity? 😆

[@AgentQV]

Because no monsters ever engaged in commerce and capitalism.

[@hewithdarkwings]

Kiss him you fool.

[@TroyTheCatFish]

Pretty Neat

[@willirazl5526]

This I don't get
What does the voice actor say? Does he use the word "person"?
Because that's important when the villain insults you as a puppet.
If the voice actor uses the Japanese word for person how can it not be translated to person in English ?

[@zingodoom]

ああジルは人だ/Aa, Jiru wa hito da
人/hito just means person/human
The game's English script isn't just translated so much as *localized*, which can involve choices from the localizer(s) to change certain things to better appeal to the target audience. Usually, this just amounts to rewording to get the same message across even if it isn't a literal translation. Context, the characters' stories and emotions at a given time, the way one might "expect" someone to speak or react to something, these are all things localizers take into consideration
Other times, they change things which can arguably completely alter the intended message, however. The scene with Clive and Jill on the beach when he absorbs Shiva's power is changed to be basically the exact opposite of how it goes in Japanese. In English, Jill talks about how she's frightened for the trials Clive has to face and asks him to take her power to help, and he agrees. In Japanese, it's the other way around - Jill says that no matter what, she wants to protect Clive, and he says he wants to protect her too, and he does so by taking Shiva's power without her expecting him to (thus Joshua's reaction later being to angrily punch him in the face - even if Clive's intention was to keep Jill safe, he still knowingly took her power without her consent, in fact when she expressed a desire for the opposite)

[@specialnewb9821]

Hmm this one is indefensible. 🤷
What the hell are you doing Koji?

[@mattb6616]

they should just let him write a game since thats what he seems to really want to do with this and ff14

[@chstens]

@@mattb6616I mean, he basically did. Only the first draft of the FF16 script was in japanese, it was then translated to english and the master copy was written in english from then on, then re-translated back to japanese at the end.

[@mattb6616]

@@chstens apparently this story isn't entirely true but I don't know the details. It may have been closer to a normal localization process than koji is claiming.

[@chstens]

Should be noted that beyond the very first draft, the script was written in english first.