Originally Posted by celerystalker
I'm fully in favor of replacing Japanese jokes and idioms and such, ones that would never make sense or come off properly in English, with English lines that are in the same spirit, but the problem with the humor in Working Designs (and Gaijinworks) localizations is that it was often inserted where it never existed in the first place. They'd heavily rewrite scripts for no particular reason, totally changing the mood and characterizations from how they were intended. On top of that, their humor was/is usually juvenile, like something only an elementary schooler would laugh at (Summon Night 5 opens with a warning that you'll get bad breath or constipation if you pirate it), or in very bad taste, like the Retardotaur in Vay or the joke in Magic Knight Rayearth referencing how Ike Turner would beat his wife, Tina Turner. Nothing says comedy like real-life domestic abuse. When I think about the Magic Knight Rayearth localization, it especially makes me mad because I feel bad for any established Rayearth fan who bought the game back in the day, expecting it to be representative of the source. It was my favorite anime back in the 90s, and the only reason I was spared that abomination of a localization is because I didn't have a Saturn back then (though, considering what the game is worth these days, I kinda wish I owned a copy). But I mean, how do you take a game based on a shoujo manga/anime, i.e. primarily targeted at a preteen/teen female audience, and think it makes sense to insert a bunch of sex jokes, crass language like "skank", and Western pop culture references that would never come out the mouths of Japanese girls in 8th grade nor those in a fantasy world totally unrelated to Earth?
Anyway, I could rant about Working Designs for days and days, haha. In the grand scheme of things, I'm still appreciative that they brought out a whole bunch of games that surely wouldn't have left Japan otherwise.
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