Funbag Fantasy 3if — Translator’s Corner

Today on the blog, we have a Funbag Fantasy 3if translator’s corner from Momimomi!

Hello! Funbag Fantasy 3if is the first translated game of this series set in ancient Rome. Such a radical change of the setting required some changes to the translation as well. Let’s discuss the most prominent ones.

First of all, honorifics. In my opinion, Japanese honorifics have no place in a Graeco-Roman setting. That was the reason why before even starting translation I embarked on a journey to search for alternatives. It goes without saying, Romans had no exact equivalents to Japanese honorifics, but they had names that consisted of many parts (praenomen, nomen, cognomen). Unfortunately, in the original game script all the characters had only one name. So, the option with shuffling names could not be used.

On the other hand, since most in-game mortals had official positions, we could use Latin titles to indicate formality, e.g., Legatus Legionis Virto. And for slaves addressing their masters, Latin had special words “dominus” and “domina.” But what about gods? Well, major gods of the Roman pantheon had many epithets, which could be used to lengthen their names, e.g., Jupiter Optimus Maximus. So now that we had respectful ways to address major god, all that remained was the minor and fictional gods. They had no epithets. Luckily, I found a word in Cato’s “De Agricultura” that was generic enough to address any god. It was “macte” or “honored.” Cato used it as “Jupiter macte.” Thus we had enough terms to replace all Japanese honorifics.

Now, those who played the previous games probably remember that we used many English archaisms in those translations. It was justified by many factors. However, Funbag Fantasy 3if is set in ancient Rome. Romans spoke Latin. Hence, replacing archaic English with Latin words sprinkled here and there was a natural choice. And in fact, this was what the source script used as well. But for reasons unknown to me, the writer largely abandoned Latin after a few chapters. So enjoy it while it lasts.

One last thing I want to address is the names of gods. I suppose everybody noticed that some characters in this game have Greek names, e.g., Athena, while others have Roman names, e.g., Venus. Why? My theory is as good as yours, but I suppose the author simply chose the names that sounded better.

Funbag Fantasy 3if is a game with a unique for visual novels setting exploited to its fullest. So do not miss this rare opportunity to become a Roman god!

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