Story of the Emblem

Paralogue 7

I wanted to do a whole part comparison/part guide on this chapter because it’s one that gave me some trouble during my first playthrough of the game. This is Paralogue 7, in which we recruit Ryoma’s well-muscled-but-not-terribly-bright son, Shiro. (”Shinonome” in Japanese.)

First off: the paralogues (called gaiden, (外伝) in Japanese)  are not numbered in the Japanese version. If you marry off a bunch of units at once or neglect to recruit their children for a while, this can lead to a long list of numberless gaiden on your world map. 

There’s only 5 here, but there are, oh…15 below it, maybe? Eek!

Big McLargeHuge’s Shiro’s monologue in the opening scene is a little different in the Japanese and English versions of the game.

Japanese:
ほう…これが外の世界か。思ってたより普通だな。
“So…this is the outside world. It’s more normal than I thought.”

さて、白夜王国ってのはどこだ？秘境の奴らの話を盗み聞きしたところ…俺の父さんは白夜王国の王子で…
“Now, where’s that Kingdom of Byakuya? According to what I overheard from those guys in the Deeprealm… My Dad’s apparently a prince of that Kingdom of Byakuya [Hoshido]…”

俺は王族ってことらしい…もし、その話が本当ならなんで父さんは黙っているんだ？
…やっぱりそんな話は信じられないな。
“And that would make me royalty… But, if that were true, then why hasn’t Dad said anything about it? …Of course I can’t trust that story.” 

As for the English version of this monologue…

Yeah… “Prince” and “royalty” became “Big Cheese” and “Little Cheese.” xD Nice choice of words there, Blast Hardcheese Shiro!

That said, Japanese Shiro seems to think that his dad is more or less an ordinary person. English Shiro seems to know that his father is an important person, he just doesn’t know just how important Ryoma is. 

And the “Of course I can’t trust that~” line became:

English Shiro always knew his father was a Big Cheese. A big, lobster-like cheese with porcupine hair. …Yep. xD (I tease because I like you, Ryoma!)

Then when we get to the actual battle, Trunk Slamchest Shiro is an allied unit stationed around the middle of the map. He may be able to hold his own for a little while if the enemies are of a lower level, but if the enemies are stronger than he is, he won’t last long! So we need to recruit him as quickly as possible. Ryoma must talk to him in order to recruit him. 

He’s waaaaaaay outside of Ryoma’s range, though…

About the third time I played this chapter, I realised I could make good use of the Rescue staves! Now, that’s how I always handle this situation: bring Eat Punchbeef Shiro close to Ryoma with a couple of rescue staves, and then recruit him, all within turn 1!

You’ll need at least 2 staves to pull this off successfully within the first turn. I give one Rescue staff to a Falcon Knight, and one to someone else. (A Falcon Knight is almost indispensable for this mission!) I place the Falcon Knight and the other staff user on the farthest right space I can, and put Ryoma next to one of them, like so:

Hinoka and Sakura have the Rescue staves, and Ryoma’s primed and ready to talk some sense into his boy!

First Hinoka travels to the northeast to bring Shiro closer to her—but make sure that the space she drops him on to is within range of Sakura’s staff! (Honestly, though…this probably won’t be a problem, as Sakura has a far superior range with her staff. She just can’t reach Shiro’s starting position, due to her shorter movement range.)

Aunt Hinoka has comes to the rescue!

Then, before having Sakura drag him closer, I check Ryoma’s range and plot exactly where I want Shiro to land.

Right by one of the Dragon Vein spots would be perfect. (Those Dragon Vein spots remove sand from the terrain.)

Time for your other auntie to bring you closer!

Ta-da! Now you’re within Ryoma’s range. 

And…RECRUIT!!

……..**snorts with laughter**
 Well, that’s a respectful way to talk to one’s father, right? xD

——————————

The biggest change in the chapter is in the conversation at the end…

In the Japanese version:
シノノメ、歯を食いしばれ。
Ryoma: “Shinonome [Shiro], grit your teeth.”

(Slapping sound effect.)

…ぐっ！？
Shiro: “Oogh!?”

Ryoma: “…………”

父さん…！？
Shiro: “Dad…!?”

何てことをするんだ、お前は…もう軽はずみな行動はするな！
俺が来たからよかったものの…お前に何かあったら白夜王国はどうなる！？
Ryoma: “What the hell do you think you’re doing… Stop this rash behaviour! It’s OK now since I came… What would happen to the Kingdom of Byakuya [Hoshido] if something happened to you!?”

白夜王国？
Shiro: “The Kingdom of Byakuya?”

Ryoma: “…………”

…まさか…俺は本当に…
Shiro: “It can’t be… Am I really…”

…そうだ。俺は白夜王国の王子で、お前はその息子だ。つまりお前は…いつか白夜王国の王となる人間ということだ。
Ryoma: “…That’s right. I am a prince of the Kingdom of Byakuya, and you are my son. In other words… That means you are are the person who will one day become the king of the Kingdom of Byakuya.”

From here on, the English and Japanese conversations are pretty similar. 

In the English version, they removed the bit with Ryoma slapping Shiro. Ryoma begins with:

Ryoma: “Shiro, you have disobeyed me for the last time. And you will show me respect–or I will show you how I deal with utter fools.”

This is Ryoma’s first line, and the point where he slaps Rip Steakface Shiro in the Japanese version. However, there is no pause or slapping sound effect in the North American version.

There are some notable differences from the Japanese version! For one, Ryoma no longer slaps Shiro, instead giving him a thorough scolding. In the Japanese version, Ryoma doesn’t say anything about Shiro’s caretakers, while English Ryoma suspects that one of them told Shiro about his being Hoshidan royalty. (Which is kinda true, but Shiro was eavesdropping, so it was unintentional!)

Physical punishment (like slapping) is a pretty controversial issue, especially in some parts of the Western world. By removing it and replacing it with a more thorough and well-reasoned-out scolding, NOA was probably trying to avoid controversy and keep fans from speculating over the possibility of Ryoma being an abusive parent. 

(……And, if you’re wondering where all those stupid fake bodybuilder names came from, well, see here. xD Shiro’s personality and muscular build remind me of the protagonist of the film they riffed on that episode, and I couldn’t resist…)