Author Topic: !OUTDATED INFORMATION! -- The Novella: Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eternal Cost~  (Read 110817 times)

halez

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Re: The Novella: Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eternal Cost~
« Reply #270 on: March 09, 2014, 04:35:01 pm »
So close to the English release now! Hopefully that will spark some call to action and we'll at least get answers.

Ananda

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Re: The Novella: Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eternal Cost~
« Reply #271 on: March 12, 2014, 08:59:19 pm »
COUNTDOWN!!!
6 days left my friends!!!
FFX ;-)

CrystalOfLies

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Re: The Novella: Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eternal Cost~
« Reply #272 on: March 13, 2014, 01:41:06 pm »
5 days. 5 more stinkin' days...

It's funny because I have the rest of my exams next week so I probably won't be as excited for it. XD

I hope that, with the English release, more people will find this forum and will contribute more to the community. There are gonna be tons of video game sites pitching their two cents onto the audio drama, and even the novel if we get lucky. It sure is gonna be funny reading all of those rants. :3

I'm pretty pumped for the English dubbed version of Will, anyway. One of my favourite voice actors is in it (James Arnold Taylor as Tidus) and we'll get to hear Chuami's jabs against Lulu's... um, posture. Unfortunately, those who aren't as crazy and impatient as us will have to experience the lukewarm feelings we had for this drama and the novel. Prepare your barricades.

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Pyreflies_of_MJ

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Re: The Novella: Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eternal Cost~
« Reply #273 on: March 23, 2014, 01:53:45 am »
Jesus, I just read through the translation of the first chapter. It's SO bad! I just, I don't even. Yuna hardly says anything the entire chapter and Tidus is lonely because she won't have anything to do with him because of "village elders". WTF? Where did they even come from and why would they be SO grumpy? Nothing like that was relevant in X-2, she was able to do as she pleased and as she should - she should have at least had the balls/desire to go to Tidus at some point but she doesn't. God, and everyone was being so generally mean. I can't believe how bad this is and it's just chapter 1. Wow.

CrystalOfLies

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Re: The Novella: Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eternal Cost~
« Reply #274 on: March 23, 2014, 03:18:22 am »
I know. Everybody just has a mean tone in this chapter, apart from Tidus and Paine, oddly. Lulu's all like 'You better make a good impression on those elders' to him. The elders don't even know who he is (Which is odd, because... you know, Tidus pretty much killed himself to save their asses) and he even has to tell them that he's a legendary guardian. Even then, they don't like him. I guess Wakka, Lulu or Yuna didn't bother to tell them about his great sacrifice. You'd think Yuna would spend the rest of the night with him instead of sucking up to the elders all day. What could she possibly be talking to them about that's so important as to ignore your resurrected soul mate all day? Rikku's a lot more ****ier than usual. "The fayth didn't bring you back! Yuna did! Be grateful!" And then Wakka's all like 'Durrr, are you really the real thing? You were an illusion the last time!' which makes Tidus paranoid for himself.

I feel really sorry for Tidus. He realised that he has a bunch of selfish jerks for family. No wonder he's lonely.
« Last Edit: March 23, 2014, 03:23:25 am by CrystalOfLies »
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kk

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Re: The Novella: Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eternal Cost~
« Reply #275 on: March 23, 2014, 05:05:20 pm »
Well, the tone in the first chapter reminds me of The Eternal Calm video. In that video, we see Lulu and Wakka helping Yuna as she acts as High Summoner. That means, she still needs to act very prim and proper and stuff, and she was meeting with pilgrims who came to see her/the temple at Besaid and being proposed to by high-ranking officials all over the place, sooo...

I don't know, I got the sense she was very much stuck in her role as High Summoner while in Besaid. Trapped, almost, which is part of why she went with Rikku on her journey. She 'wanted more', as she said.

Therefore, I don't think how she acts in Besaid, being shooed off by village elders, is uncharacteristic. Besaid still sees her as The High Summoner. The people of the village are very traditional. After all, they become the headquarters of the Yevoners.

I mean, clearly in X-2 she 'wanted more' and she's learned to embrace sticking up for herself and her own wants, but even still, she cares so much about Spira and tries not to offend and basically is a people pleaser. She DID sign up to be a summoner, and thus she's probably accepted her responsibilities as High Summoner, especially now that her adventure with the Gullwings is over. But, apparantly, they end up staeling off into the night on a ship, so she does, EVENTUALLY, put her foot down and break away from the village elder's attempts to groom her back into the perfect little summoner.

Idk. I just don't think that's necessarily OOC.

But I also don't think it's not weird that they would be a little wary of him. They still probably see him as the reckless youth who ran into the temple and disturbed her. I'm not sure that Yuna and co. would exactly explain to Spira what happened. After all, the whole dream story stuff must have been hard to explain to outsiders, and Yuna probably wouldn't want to talk about it a million times to every interviewer or perosn who came to visit, not while she's grieiving. You saw how nosy Shelinda and others were in X-2 !
« Last Edit: March 23, 2014, 05:07:01 pm by kk »

Pyreflies_of_MJ

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Re: The Novella: Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eternal Cost~
« Reply #276 on: March 23, 2014, 07:38:09 pm »
^ I think the whole "elders" thing came out of left field. When you first visit Besaid in X-2, the villagers are surprised and glad to see Yuna again when you talk to them, but no one makes a b-line for Yuna. She comes and goes as she pleases - there's no mention of elders or otherwise overly crotchety people. There are also a lot of half-naked people in Besaid (which makes sense considering it's a tropical island and all) and I don't recall anyone shooing them off to change (she may be still considered High Summoner, but I don't recall anyone having the audacity to order her around like they own her). What's going on in this first chapter feels cultish and dark. I don't think the Eternal Calm video was awesome by any means (it was stuffy and pretty boring), but it certainly made more sense for there to be an air of melancholy there than at the close of X-2 - when Yuna and co saved the world and she got back her man.

It should be a time to rejoice and feel like a family reunion, but no one's acting like that. It's a question of tact and taste. This book was not tastefully done by any means and a lot of it feels inappropriate. If it's in-character for Yuna to lose all her backbone and treat Tidus like he's at the bottom of her priority list, then I'm not sure I like her (basically, all of X-2 is being ignored here).  I don't think that Yuna and co would have gone into detail about him being a dream, but I do think he would have at least been mentioned a few times with respect.

And what's more is that people who've read the book have consistently mentioned Yuna's coldness towards Tidus. I didn't think it was going to be a factor so soon in the story, but low and behold. No, it's not a direct coldness, but it's there and it's floating in the air like an ominous fog. I don't sense love emanating from anyone, (they need sensitivity training) and I don't think there's any justification for that. When even Rikku, the eternal ball of sunshine (who I thought loved Tidus like her own Al Bhed kin) doesn't hug Tidus and even gets mad and snaps on him for saying something pretty innocent, I don't know how anyone could say this stuff ain't OOC. I've seen bad fan-fiction similar to this, where the author makes a **** out of everyone and the result is Tidus wondering why he was brought back at all.

I shouldn't be feeling that kind of vibe from this, it's disgusting. And this is only the first chapter, and we know what happens from there - nothing good, nothing logical or heroic or fitting for the two main protagonists who we're supposed to like and root for. I can't make a move to defend any of it - from the plot devices to the atmosphere to the characterizations - nothing feels right to me. Apparently some fans want a game/story wrought with omnipresent darkness and angst - I don't.

kk

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Re: The Novella: Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eternal Cost~
« Reply #277 on: March 24, 2014, 10:53:34 am »
Well, there is at least oNE old lady I recall (I think in the temple) that when you talk to them, she expresses her dismay at the way Yuna is acting. And another younger one who judges Yuna's apparal (WHILE WALKING AROUND IN THE EQUIVALENT OF BUTT-LESS CHAPS). I think the Yevonite's still expect Yuna to uphold a certain image, basically... that of a Yevonite. Dumb, ofc, because after what Yevon did to her, why should she? But we see in X-2 that they're not exactly the most thoughtful bunch. And there are certain standards of dress that apply to high-ranking yevonites, it appears. While the rest of Spira is barely clothed, yevonites with rank (shelinda, maesters, everyone you see in Bevelle and the temples) all seem to be wearing heavy robes. Yuna, a apprentice summoner, was somewhere in between. She still looked Besaidian, but her clothes were also pretty non-revealing. Issaru and Belgemine and Ginnem all wear big robes. (Dona said fuq the police.) ANYWAY-- even besides the clothes, in eternal calm, she is really upholding all of this being a good public official thing. I can see how going back to besaid for good could sort of put them all in clucking hens mode. Before, she was still a Gullwing. She still was kind of bucking against her responsibilities as High SUmmoner. But now, she's returning home for good, and maybe she feels like, 'wellll i guess i DO kind of have to settle down at least a little'. Granted, I agree that totally not talking the person who just returned for several hours is very very strange, but I guess I mean, I can perhaps see what Nojima was GOING for, at least. He just kinda... overdid it. A lot.

I don't know, I mean, they ARE apparently setting up for a bonfire/party aren't they? I can't be bothered to re-read it, haha. But I think they were. So, I think it is a time to celebrate, but... meh. I don't know xD; I can't really DEFEND the book per se, because I'm not sure that I agree with it either, but... in this chapter alone, it seems fine to me, at least. There are other interpretations I would PREFER, like yours, definitely. but I wouldn't necessarily discount this as a possibility, either. But, no doubt, it sounds like it goes absolutely insane after this point, so... I'm not enthusiastic about the book AT ALL, but this chapter alone seems kinda harmless to me. Rikku's bluntness is the one thing I can't really... make sense of at all, though. I mean, to just say it calmly, but to yell it at him and storm off?? I'm confused, haha. I feel like something got lost in translation, there??

But in the translations we've seen so far, other than ofc the fact she hasn't spoken to him yet in the first chapter, I don't really sense any coldness from Yuna?? She was being coy in the kiss scene. Remember, people also said they got in an argument and Tidus kicked a blitzball and died. Which none of that was true. (Well, except for the death part l:) So, I'm not taking what people say too seriously, not until (if it ever) gets translated. Though, at this rate, that seems unlikely. Which is just as well because then we can just ignore all of this??? But if we DO believe what people are saying, then apparantly they also got very close on the boat, before they even arrived on the island, sooo, she can't be being THAT cold, haha.

I guess, I'm just trying to stay open-minded and wait to see where they're going with this, even though my hopes are very low. xD I mean, Last Mission at first sounded crazy to me. Yuna Rikku and Paine all arguingm regretting meeting up???? Sounded OOC. I was super against it. But once you watch it and see all  of their motivations and thoughts play out and all of that, it made sense, and further more, really added depth to the characters, I think! So I'm just sort of tryING to give the book a chance, though I doubt it can redeem itself.

Wasn't it linked to an article in another thread, saying that Nojima never wanted FFX to have a happy ending? he thought the ending  of X was just fine? A lot of people agree with that, actually. Maybe they he was just trying to satisfy the crowd that hated the cheeriness of X-2. i think that's absolutely stupid, but... it kinda seems like that's what he's trying to do, with this. u_u
« Last Edit: March 24, 2014, 10:58:13 am by kk »

CrystalOfLies

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Re: The Novella: Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eternal Cost~
« Reply #278 on: March 24, 2014, 11:44:26 am »
Yes, Tidus and Yuna actually did do the nudge nudge on the boat. But then, that's how the boat even crashed in the first place (seriously, Tidus, dude. You know that 'storm + no helmsman = bad.' I guess all those years of living on a boat in Zanarkand did nothing for him. .-.) so maybe Yuna holds a bit of a grudge against him? Other sources say that she's unsure of her feelings for him, hence the rejected kiss. (but then why did they rock the boat all night long?) If you think about the rejected kiss now, with all the info we got from chapter 1, it's actually quite depressing.

They are setting up a bonfire party to celebrate the defeat of Vegnagun I guess. The weird thing is that Lulu commands Tidus to help with the organisation. Which I guess isn't too bad, since he agrees to do it, but for Yevon's sake, lady! The guy just returned and already he's being forced to do work. That's like if Yuna returned to Besaid for a break, and then she's ordered to vanquish some fiends around the forest. At least let him get eased into his new home!

Yeah, I guess I get what Nojima is going for here: that even though Tidus has returned to his friends and finally has a home, from his view, he's still an alien. He's still the outsider that appeared out of nowhere and accidentally turned the whole island against himself for doing something fairly innocent in his eyes. Everybody has moved on and made new lives for themselves, while Tidus was stuck in purgatory for two years, and hence his death has only seemed like yesterday. However, Nojima could have gone about it in a more subtle and... kinder way. Instead, Tidus is stuck with the thought that nobody wants anything to do with him, hence his loneliness and neglect. It almost seems like... he still doesn't exist in anybody's eyes. It's Jecht and his wife all over again.

Man, I feel so bad for Tidus. I just wanna give him a hug right now. D:

We gotta remember though: Japanese people have full access to the contents of the novel. Since it's a rather short book (~250 pages. Also consider the size of the writing.) people will have finished it by now. One of the main gripes people have with the novel according to Amazon reviews is that they dislike Yuna in the novel; maybe even hate her, and they feel really bad for Tidus. So who knows? Maybe Yuna gets more cold later on in the novel. (And apparently there's something really bad that happens later on that we haven't discovered yet; so bad that it shook our former translators. Might have to ask for more info on that.) Until we find a Japanese review that goes over the full contents of the novel, we really have no leads except for the translators.

The thing is, Nojima's stories are actually quite dark in general. It certainly was odd seeing him work in X-2. From what I've heard, Nojima wanted to make the story of FFX darker, but producers and the company decided against it. After all, it was Nojima's idea to originally make Tidus the unsent instead of Auron. Since this is a novel that Nojima wrote without any restrictions from QA or Square, this could be sort of a 'revenge' thing against the company, by twisting X-2 into a creepy tale of selfishness and loneliness starring Tidus the Headless, throwing in reproduction and swimsuits for the lulz, and decapitation by bomb. Nojima solo-wrote the novel and the audio drama, and they're pretty damn dark. He must be in a bad mood these days. :S
« Last Edit: March 24, 2014, 11:46:19 am by CrystalOfLies »
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Internal Medicine Doctor

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Re: The Novella: Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eternal Cost~
« Reply #279 on: March 24, 2014, 09:50:09 pm »
Whatever beast is lurking within this novel, it's ostensibly a big one.

From everything I've read and heard regarding translations so far, there's nothing terribly offending...

...but the will to translate almost concretely dissipated with all of our recruited so far, so there must be something later on in the novella that is upsetting to a universal degree.
The only question that remains is what that beast is.

SoraxWare

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Re: The Novella: Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eternal Cost~
« Reply #280 on: March 25, 2014, 09:09:00 am »
Ouch!

Something had struck him. It wasn’t the same heat that had been stinging the back of their necks these past few days. It wasn’t Yuna’s hand finally giving into the urge to knock him out of his constant immature (however, adorable) jokes. It was a dark, spherical object that immediately and heavily hit the ground. Tidus turned to inspect what it was.

‘That looks like a Blitzball but it-‘ He hadn’t been given much time.

It happened too fast. She was standing with him a few moments ago. It happened too fast. That wasn’t enough time. Yuna felt her heart smash into a million pieces as her rib-cage almost split open from her scream. Everything hurt.

‘Tidus!?’ She screamed. There was too much smoke. It happened too fast. It was an explosion. That wasn’t a blitzball. It was a bomb. Yuna scrambled desperately to her feet. It happened too fast.

“Tidus where are you!? Tidus I’m hurt! Tidus please say-“ She tripped. Falling to the ground. Why did she trip? Why was she covered in blood? What tripped her?

Yuna looked down at her feet. There. With the look of shock still frozen to it, was Tidus’ head.

“No!” Yuna screamed as her hands desperately clung to her chest. Every breath came out like a scream. Everywhere she looked was blurred by her tears. “No! Tidus! No!” She wasn’t breathing. She didn’t have time to breathe. She didn’t have time to think.

It happened too fast.


Hi Everyone! Just joining today! I recently got the novel and I'm currently in the middle of translating the whole thing and re-writing it.

I'm Japanese/Australian and I'm fluent in Japanese & English so I'm going to do my best! Unfortunately a lot of this novel is SEEMINGLY mean-spirited & unfortunately, MOST of what is rumoured... (boat sex, head decapitation, arguments etc)... are all true.

I'll post the full chapter ASAP! contact me on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/scotti.pyjamas ^_^ PEACE

Pyreflies_of_MJ

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Re: The Novella: Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eternal Cost~
« Reply #281 on: March 25, 2014, 10:06:32 am »
^ THANK YOU! I am both jealous an excited by your abilities, it's much appreciated.

I wish I could say I looked forward to reading it...but, at least things will be cleared up. I'll just have more rage fuel now.

CrystalOfLies

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Re: The Novella: Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eternal Cost~
« Reply #282 on: March 25, 2014, 10:14:46 am »
HALLELUJAH! A messenger from the heavens!

...But seriously, thanks for dropping by! Now we have a reason to sharpen our pitchforks again!
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Internal Medicine Doctor

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Re: The Novella: Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eternal Cost~
« Reply #283 on: March 25, 2014, 02:50:30 pm »
That's not a legitimate translation.


Even though our translators didn't get far, the majority of them translated and confirmed the content regarding Tidus's death.
What he posted has nothing to do with the actual material; it's false.

SoraxWare

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Re: The Novella: Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~Eternal Cost~
« Reply #284 on: March 25, 2014, 04:14:42 pm »
Actually it is. Most of the novel is written in Haiku. Just like the video game's script. It's almost entirely written in poem. There's also constant perspective changes so in order to avoid confusion, I'm re-writing it in third-person perspective. I've read this novel about 20 times and I can constantly say that I am legitimately translating every chapter. I'm re-writing everything in an equally-dramatic way in English in order to keep the same level of drama that is present in the Japanese version. Otherwise, a LOT of what's written is lost in translation, so yes, I am changing a few things as I translate it, but this is just because so far, it's being translated too literally.

I'm re-writing Chapter 1 at the moment and I will make sure I post scans of that page (and every page-here-on) to explain exactly what it is I'm changing in each translation.

A Japanese speaker/person would be able to understand what it is I'm doing. There's way too many implicational and symbolical elements to this story that are getting lost in each translation that has been posted so far.

Thanks! ^_^