Sonic the Hedgehog JP Materials Translation Thread

[Vertekins]

Hello and welcome to Vertekins thread of Sonic translations.

In this topic, I will be providing my own personal translations of various Japanese materials in English, be they profiles, articles in magazines, interviews or official guidebook excerpts. I may even elaborate on script differences.

My work has been referenced in Sonic Retro Wiki's articles and Johnny Vector's channel on Youtube, just to mention a few. So without further ado, I think I'll start with some translations of Sonic's profiles (Since he's my favourite character ).

SONIC JAM OFFICIAL GUIDEBOOK PROFILE

This one caused quite a stir when I revealed my translation of it a few years back. For some reason, the fandom was bemused by Sonic's bizarre "Danger-sneeze-sense", taken aback by it. It was referenced in @Badnik Mechanic's video about the subject.

 

“A blue Hedgehog (♂) whose motto is to run daily “Whenever the mood dictates”. He takes pride in his absolutely unbeatable strength and his running speed in particular is second-to-none (It exceeds Mach 1). His only weakness is his inability to swim. He seems to have a precognitive ability and when he senses danger, he sneezes"

[Screenshot caption] - “He loves adventure and travelling the world.  The vivid red biplane “Tornado” is his favorite machine”

 

SONIC MEGA COLLECTION STRATEGY GUIDE PROFILE

 

Running on the ground with supersonic feet.

“A Hedgehog adventurer brimming with the power of initiative. There is no-one better than him when it comes to running and he has the title 'Fastest on the ground'. He is short-tempered but can't leave a troubled person alone.”


OFFICIAL SONIC WORLD ADVENTURE WEBSITE PROFILE

 

“A supersonic Hedgehog who runs all over the world daily with proud feet.

He is the fastest hero in the world who has a great hatred of crookedness and cannot bear to witness troubled people. He hates to be bored and restrained and always goes on carefree adventures. His favorite food is hot, hot Chili Dogs. He is weak in water as he cannot swim.

This time, something terrible happened to his body as a result of a trap due to a blunder in a decisive battle with Dr Eggman.”


OFFICIAL SONIC AND THE SECRET RINGS WEBSITE PROFILE

“Blue Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog. A supersonic hero who has had various adventures all over the world. He’s a bit impertinent, always has something cool to say but there’s hot flames blazing in that heart……”


SONIC WORLD ADVENTURE MANUAL WEREHOG FORM PROFILE



“The appearance of Sonic after he transforms at night due to Dr Eggman’s trap. His fangs grow, his arms grow stronger, his nails are longer and his whole body is covered with hair. It looks horrible, but the heart is no different from the original Sonic.”


SONIC ADVENTURE 2 MANUAL PROFILE

 

The world’s fastest supersonic Hedgehog

“He is a hero of justice, for some reason he is being chased as a fugitive from the military facility. The black Hedgehog who resembles him: He will follow the mystery of Shadow and confront Eggman’s desire to conquer the world.”

 

I will leave these profiles in this first post for now as I can't seem to add any more. I'll add more of my translations of Sonic's profiles since these are just a small taster in my second post should this topic receive posts (I dislike double posting )

I hope that you find this topic informative.

 

 

 

[Muscles Maximum]

Oh I love this. I’m always trying to find good translations for Japanese materials. It really helps give some insight on what the initial intention was for Sonic, and it’s just so fascinating to me. I miss his danger sneezing sense.

Thank you for your efforts!

[Vertekins]

For this post, I'll focus on some pretty interesting things I learned about Sonic Adventure specifically. Because I said I'd post more Sonic profile translations, I'll include my translations of his profile from the SADX manual, the Tokyo International Forum Booklet and the official strategy guide.

TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FORUM SONIC ADVENTURE BOOKLET SONIC PROFILE

This booklet was handed out to attendees of the event that took place on 22nd August 1998 in Japan where Sonic Adventure had its very first public unveiling. This is Sonic's character profile (Alongside those of the other characters) that was inside it.

 

“The world’s fastest supersonic Hedgehog (Maximum speed is Mach 1.2!!). He has a free-spirited personality not bound by anyone and hates being constrained. He has a short temper but his sense of justice is stronger than anyone elses and he is a kind and gentle person that can’t turn away from someone in need. Dr Eggman is a destined rival and he has fought many fierce battles in the past (Of course, all wins, no defeats). He has many fans who yearn for his cool way of life but he doesn’t care for that at all. Today, he continues to run freely all around the world. “Hello everybody! I’m Sonic! Nobody can catch up with me!!....Huh, what was that? Dr Eggman is up to misdeeds again? Sheesh...what a jerk...... Well, leave him to me.”


SONIC ADVENTURE DX MANUAL PROFILE

 

“The world’s fastest supersonic Hedgehog. He loves freedom and has a great hatred of crookedness. Although he has a short temper, he has a gentleness that makes him unable to turn his back on a person in need.”

“Although he was on a long journey for a while, the city Sonic came back to invited him to adventure again”


SONIC ADVENTURE NAVIGATION GUIDE PROFILE

“He loves to be free-spirited and despises any crookedness. Although impulsive and short-tempered, he's is a kind person who can’t turn away from someone in trouble. In any case, he’s incapable of sitting still.
He's picky about music.”

Next up are a few fascinating little tidbits I found inside the same guide as where the profile directly above came from.



This text on the right here states that the purpose of Sonic's "long journey" immediately prior to the events of the game (And mentioned in his profile and first recap screen in-game) was for the purpose of ascetic training. The exact wording pertains to Sādhanā, a spiritual practice for the obtainment of a spiritual or ritual objective. This may explain why Modern Sonic has more moves than his Classic era self - He literally pushed himself to the brink on his sabbatical.

In the text here, it's stated that the Egg Walker has balancers around it's feet to correct its center of gravity. This explains why the main section of the mech tips sideways when Tails attacks them, making it vulnerable.



In this text on Chaos 4's page, it's stated that Chaos 4 has the ability to manipulate the water quality. This explains why sinking too deep in the lake that constitutes the boss arena is harmful to your player character.



In this text, Beta Mk II has the power of "Phantom Movement". This explains why he looks like he's teleporting and leaves afterimages of himself whilst moving in Gamma's final battle against him.

Tikal's profile inside this book actually confirms that she lost her birth mother at a young age, something only implied in the actual game. I'll provide the translation for that specific profile later in this thread.

 

 

[Vertekins]

This topic hasn't had any replies and I haven't posted in here for over 3 weeks so I hope nobody minds me double-posting with more of my translation work

Anyway, I translated a few of the backstory sections for the "Life in Sonic's World" Karasuno artworks that were featured in the artbook of the same name.

This one is from the page featuring the artwork of Cubot and Orbot providing the hard-at-work Dr Eggman with a fried chicken meal in commemoration of "Respect for the Aged Day"

 

“Despite being old-aged, he’s still robust.... or perhaps I should say that I don’t know how old Eggman is but going by his speech manner and splendid mustache, he seems old enough. Eggman works hard every day for the realization of his great dream of world domination. He usually behaves in such a bullish and arrogant way but when his subordinates treat him to such complimentary service, it brings a smile to his face.”

“... Incidentally, is fried chicken actually Eggman’s favourite food? It looks a little like roast chicken but at any rate, I didn’t realize he ate so much for a late night snack. I get why his belly is so fat.”

 

The next one correlates with the artwork of Sonic visiting Sweet Mountain at lunchtime.

 

"Sweet Mountain" is the most prominent location in "Egg Planet Park", the mysterious amusement park that Eggman constructed in outer space.
It's a dream-like location surrounded by enormous cakes, confections and snacks. At the sight of it, Sonic became hungry all of a sudden and took out his favourite afternoon snack. Of course, what else but the usual chili dog...!

This is the first illustration to commemorate "SONIC PICT"
At the time, I drew pictures quicker and thus drew rough sketches all at once. I finished the delicious "Sweet Mountain" with both carefulness and momentum whilst saying "But I can't eat it"


This one accompanies the artwor of Amy and Chip decorating the sweets.

 

“In “Sonic World Adventure”, Sonic and Amy meet in Spagonia once again. Whilst Sonic was out on his adventure, Amy was spending time with Chip in the town.

They are preparing food on the 2nd floor of a bakery in a location in Spagonia. With Amy’s signature vigour and charm, she successfully negotiated for use of the place. The choco bar that Amy poured her heart and soul into must taste exceptional. The recipient must be a very fortunate person indeed ★ At any rate, what a hearty move for Chip to have a nibble!”

 

Blaze's section.



"Blaze is the imperial princess of the Sol Empire in a world separate from Sonic and co. In the past, she threw herself into battle when the world faced crisis but this is how she usually performs her official duties. Since it's Blaze, every word and numeric must be absolutely accurate for the sake of decision-making and documentation."
"The Sol Empire's peace is maintained not only from the rejection of evil from the outside but also from the integrity of its management from within. Send thanks for hard work."


Shadow and Maria's section.

“One scene on the Space Colony "ARK" that takes place several decades before the events of "Sonic Adventure 2″. The scene depicts a beautiful but fleeting paradise between Shadow, born here as the ultimate lifeform and Maria, a young girl who connects their little existences.
The two later become drawn into in a sad incident but they certainly spent happy times here together.”