Trying to translate a game

Hi, I'm trying to learn Japanese precisely to play games that are japan-only and I've decided that starting translating a game I love myself would be a great way to start, but I've stumbled with a scene that seems very difficult, as it has no context whatsoever, being the first scene of the game (I've translated some other scenes before finding the script and beginning from... well, the beginning.)

I'm not pretty sure if I can post this as it has lots and lots of text, but I'm only going to ask for the sentences I have lots of problems with and tried translating it myself beforehand.

I hope there's no problem with this.

I'll start by pasting the entire first scene (it's about 9 lines long since the other ones are really simple) and then pasting the translation I've been doing so you can correct me if it's not asking much.

？？？(イングラム)「………」
？？？(イングラム)「ここは……どこだ？」
？？？(イングラム)「俺は……」
？？？(イングラム)「俺の名はアウレフ……いや……」
？？？(ユーゼス)「………」
？？？(イングラム)「……！」
？？？(ユーゼス)「……緊急非常コードの発信は、 誤作動ではなかったようだな」
？？？(イングラム)「お前は……？」
？？？(ユーゼス)「……今、この時に憑依したか……。 因縁、だな……」
？？？(ユーゼス)「だが、今なら取り込めるやも知れぬ……」
？？？(イングラム)「ぐうっ！」
？？？(ユーゼス)「お前に枷を与える。 今度こそ、我の傀儡となるがいい」
？？？(イングラム)「う……ぐ………」
？？？(ユーゼス)「……禁断の地より踏み出でし者がいる。 彼らは、自ら結界を破ったのだ」
？？？(ユーゼス)「これで我らはあの星に干渉できる……」
？？？(イングラム)「ううう……う……」
？？？(ユーゼス)「だが、愚帝や監査官共より先に 手を打たねばならぬ」
？？？(ユーゼス)「切り札を手に入れるのは、 我らゴッツォであらねばならぬ」
？？？(イングラム)「くぅ……ううう……！」
？？？(ユーゼス)「任務を遂行せよ、アウレフ・バルシェムよ。 我は遠き地より、それを見守ろう……」

And the translation:

？？？(Ingram)「………」
？？？(Ingram)「This place…... Where am I?」
？？？(Ingram)「I…...」
？？？(Ingram)「My name is Aleph…...No…...」
？？？(Euzeth)「………」
？？？(Ingram)「……！」
？？？(Euzeth)「It seems the emergency code transmission was not due to a malfunction...」
？？？(Ingram)「You…...」
？？？(Euzeth)「……Was this a possession, now……? It must be fate……」
？？？(Euzeth)「However, even if we capture it now, it will not uncover itself……」
？？？(Ingram)「Guh!」
？？？(Euzeth)「I will bind you. This time, you will be a good puppet for me.」
？？？(Ingram)「U……Gu………」
？？？(Euzeth)「……It seems they escaped from the forbidden land。 They broke the barrier」
？？？(Euzeth)「We can take action now……」
？？？(Ingram)「Uuu……u……」
？？？(Euzeth)「But it must be before the Foolish Emperor and the Official Inspection Group decide to do something about it」
？？？(Euzeth)「切り札を手に入れるのは、 我らゴッツォであらねばならぬ」
？？？(Ingram)「Ku……uuu……！」
？？？(Euzeth)「任務を遂行せよ、アウレフ・バルシェムよ。 我は遠き地より、それを見守ろう……」

The sentence I have the problem with is: 切り札を手に入れるのは、 我らゴッツォであらねばならぬ as I've been looking for the structure であらねばならぬ yet nothing shows up

Thanks in advance for your help and sorry for any inconvenience if it's too long of something

だが、今なら取り込めるやも知れぬ
今なら = if it's now (as opposed to some other time), 取り込める is potential (can capture), and やも知れぬ is an archaic form like かもしれない
So it's "But, now (given these circumstances), (I) can perhaps capture (you)".

~ねばならぬ, which appears twice in the above, is a form of ~なければならない.
So ゴッツォであらねばならぬ is "we must be ゴッツォ (I presume some form of ごつい)

Thanks for the correction nekojita ^^

ゴッツォ is actually just the character's family name, Gozzo, sorry I forgot to mention it ^^U

Either way, the sentence would be something like "Using the trump card (as I read the のは is a noun clause and as such it converts 切り札を手に入れるのは into a noun), we must be Gozzo." which still doesn't make much sense.

(lit.)The one who gets the ace must be us Gozzo. = (We Gozzo must get the ace.)

Thank you toritoribe, it makes sense since it previously said that they must attack before the others, so...

Could you please analyze the sentence so I can understand it?

の is not a nominalizer but a pronoun for "person" in that sentence (therefore 切り札を手に入れるの means "the one who gets the ace/trump" as in my translation).


あら: the -nai stem(未然形) of a classical verb あり, which is equivalent to ある in modern Japanese
ね: the -ba stem(已然形) of a classical negative auxiliary verb ぬ(= ない)
ば: a conditional particle
なら: the -nai stem(未然形) of a classical verb なり(= なる)
ぬ: the predicative from(終止形) of ぬ

In modern Japanese, ある doesn't have the negative form, whereas あり has the negative form あらぬ or あらず in classical Japanese, which is equivalent to ない in modern Japanese. In conclusion, ～であらねばならぬ is the same as ～でなければならない, as nekojita-san explained.

Thank you again, toritoribe, that was very useful.

I've translated the last sentence (任務を遂行せよ、アウレフ・バルシェ ムよ。 我は遠き地より、それを見守ろう……) as "Accomplish your mission, Aleph Barshem。 We will watch over it from the distant land……"

It seems correct, but that "from the distant land" bugs me a bit... Can it mean something else?

Your translation is correct except "we". 我 is singular, i.e., "I".
遠き is the attributive form of a classical adjective 遠し(= 遠い in modern Japanese), thus 遠き地 is the same as 遠い地 / 遠くの地.

Oh, right, I mixed up 我, 我々 and 我ら. So, if there is nothing more to change, this:

？？？(イングラム)「………」
？？？(イングラム)「ここは……どこだ？」
？？？(イングラム)「俺は……」
？？？(イングラム)「俺の名はアウレフ……いや……」
（モニターオン）
？？？(ユーゼス)「………」
？？？(イングラム)「……！」
？？？(ユーゼス)「……緊急非常コードの発信は、 誤作動ではなかったようだな」
？？？(イングラム)「お前は……？」
？？？(ユーゼス)「……今、この時に憑依したか……。 因縁、だな……」
？？？(ユーゼス)「だが、今なら取り込めるやも知れぬ……」
（短い感応）
？？？(イングラム)「ぐうっ！」
？？？(ユーゼス)「お前に枷を与える。 今度こそ、我の傀儡となるがいい」
？？？(イングラム)「う……ぐ………」
？？？(ユーゼス)「……禁断の地より踏み出でし者がいる。 彼らは、自ら結界を破ったのだ」
？？？(ユーゼス)「これで我らはあの星に干渉できる……」
？？？(イングラム)「ううう……う……」
？？？(ユーゼス)「だが、愚帝や監査官共より先に 手を打たねばならぬ」
？？？(ユーゼス)「切り札を手に入れるのは、 我らゴッツォであらねばならぬ」
？？？(イングラム)「くぅ……ううう……！」
？？？(ユーゼス)「任務を遂行せよ、アウレフ・バルシェムよ。 我は遠き地より、それを見守ろう……」

gets translated into this:

？？？(Ingram)「………」
？？？(Ingram)「This place…... Where am I?」
？？？(Ingram)「I…...」
？？？(Ingram)「My name is Aleph…...No…...」
（Monitor On）
？？？(Euzeth)「………」
？？？(Ingram)「……！」
？？？(Euzeth)「It seems the emergency code transmission was not due to a malfunction...」
？？？(Ingram)「You…...」
？？？(Euzeth)「……Was this a possession, now……? It must be fate……」
？？？(Euzeth)「However, given the circumstances, maybe I can capture you now……」
(Short Flash Sound)
？？？(Ingram)「Guh!」
？？？(Euzeth)「I will bind you. This time, you will be a good puppet for me.」
？？？(Ingram)「U……Gu………」
？？？(Euzeth)「……It seems they escaped from the forbidden land。 They broke the barrier」
？？？(Euzeth)「We can take action now……」
？？？(Ingram)「Uuu……u……」
？？？(Euzeth)「But it must be before the Foolish Emperor and the Official Inspection Group decide to do something about it」
？？？(Euzeth)「We Gozzo must be the ones to get the trump card.」
？？？(Ingram)「Ku……uuu……！」
？？？(Euzeth)「Accomplish your mission, Aleph Barshem。 I will oversee it from the distant land……」

Seems correct.

Right then, thank you for your time, toritoribe, nekojita.

Is it okay if I post finished translations of other scenes to correct them? It will not be all of them, obviously, and they're not too long, most of the time, but if it's a problem, I'll keep it to shot sentences.

No problem unless it's too long.

So I got stuck again

手も足も出んとは、このことか！

I know that 手も足も出ない means feeling powerless, that cannot do anything, so I thought that 手も足も出ん was the same, but I don't know the function of the とは nor what does the "this thing?" (このことか) means in the structure of the frase :/ I think that it means something like "Are we powerless about that?" but I'm now very sure.

Right. 手も足も出ん is a classical/dialectal form of 手も足も出ない.
～とは is a structur to explain a definition or characteristic of a thing.
このこと refers to a problem, trouble or issues the subject is confronted with.

Okay, so I finished another scene and there are some sentences that even though they make sense, I'm not pretty sure if they are correct.

〔暗礁宙域〕
〔Asteroid Sector〕 (it says "reef sector", but being in space, I supposes it means something like an asteroid field)

（ヒリュウとジガンスクード出現、メギロートが出現しながらあちこちに爆煙)
（The Hiryu and Giganscudo appear、Megillots appear while there's fumes everywhere）

ダイテツ「本艦の 損害状況を報告せよ！」
Daitetsu「Requesting ship damage report！」

ショーン「第４から第９ブロック、 第２艦橋大破。第１、第２主砲、 共に使用出来ません」
Sean「Blocks 4 to 9 and the second bridge are greatly damaged. The first and second main cannons have been disabled.」

ダイテツ「ジガンスクードは！？」
Daitetsu「What about Giganscudo...！？」

（ジガンスクードが四方を見回す、動作音）
（Giganscudo looks everywhere. Movement sounds）

ショーン「正体不明機に 包囲されて身動きが取れません」
Sean「Surrounded by unknown machines, it can't shake them off.」

ダイテツ「ぬうっ…！」
Daitetsu「Grrr…！」

ショーン「艦長、 彼我戦力差が大きすぎます。 ここは撤退すべきでしょうな」 (here I wasn't sure if it was "i think we should retreat" or "don't you think we should retreat?")
Sean「Captain, their forces are too great. Don't you think we should retreat?」

ダイテツ「おのれ…！ 手も足も出んとは、このことか！
Daitetsu「Bastards…！ There's nothing we can do?！」

ショーン「虫に似たあの物体は 明らかに我々より高度な技術で 作られています」
Sean「Those bug-like bodies are made with a much more advanced technology than ours.」

ダイテツ「ならば、異星人…！？」
Daitetsu「Then, they're aliens…！？」

ショーン「…おそらくは。その上、 多勢に無勢……さらに、敵機の 大きさと数から考えて…」 (this is the strangest, I think he's trying to give some explanation, but he says also/moreover twice to say the same, I was not very sure, so I put what made the most sense)
Sean「…Probably. Moreover, we are outnumbered……Given the size of their forces and their number…」

ショーン「母艦、あるいは機動要塞が 近くにいるのかも知れません。 …このままでは非常に危険です」
Sean「Their mothership, probably a mobile fortress must be near. …We are in great danger.」

ダイテツ「うぬっ…！ ようやく人類が外宇宙へ 足を踏み出したというのに…！」
Daitetsu「Grr…！ Now that we finally set foot into outer space…！」

ショーン「お気持ちはわかります。 ですが、ここは撤退を」
Sean「I understand your feelings. But we must retreat.」

ショーン「これ以上、 ヒリュウに損害を受ければ……」
Sean「If the Hiryu takes any more damage……」

ショーン「地球どころか、 火星へ戻ることも 不可能になりますぞ？」(it's written as a question, yet I can't see how that could be a question :/ )
Sean「It would be impossible to return to Mars, let alone to Earth.」

ダイテツ「…やむをえん！ ジカンスクードを回収し、最大戦速で この宙域から離脱する！」 (I had my doubts with やむをえん as it supposedly means that X is impossible, yet there is no X here, so... I also didn't really understood 最大戦速 either, but it seems it's kind of a navigation term)
Daitetsu「…There's no other way！ Take the Giganscudo back、and break away from this sector at maximum combat speed！」

ダイテツ（この屈辱……忘れんぞ！！）
Daitetsu（This humilliation……I will not forget it！！）


Thanks in advance ^^

Karrion;733833 said:

ショーン「艦長、 彼我戦力差が大きすぎます。 ここは撤退すべきでしょうな」 (here I wasn't sure if it was "i think we should retreat" or "don't you think we should retreat?")
Sean「Captain, their forces are too great. Don't you think we should retreat?」

Click to expand...

彼我戦力差が大きすぎます literally means "the difference in the war potential between the both sides is too big".
As for ここは撤退すべきでしょうな, it's an advise / a suggestion.

Karrion;733833 said:

ショーン「…おそらくは。その上、 多勢に無勢……さらに、敵機の 大きさと数から考えて…」 (this is the strangest, I think he's trying to give some explanation, but he says also/moreover twice to say the same, I was not very sure, so I put what made the most sense)
Sean「…Probably. Moreover, we are outnumbered……Given the size of their forces and their number…」

Click to expand...

多勢に無勢 is a proverb, meaning "The enemy is superior to us in number."
The last clause continues to the next line, thus, さらに、敵機の大きさと数から考えて、母艦、あるいは機動要塞が近くにいるのかも知れません。 is a single sentence.

Karrion;733833 said:

ショーン「地球どころか、 火星へ戻ることも 不可能になりますぞ？」(it's written as a question, yet I can't see how that could be a question :/ )
Sean「It would be impossible to return to Mars, let alone to Earth.」

Click to expand...

It implies "don't you think so?"

Karrion;733833 said:

ダイテツ「…やむをえん！ ジカンスクードを回収し、最大戦速で この宙域から離脱する！」 (I had my doubts with やむをえん as it supposedly means that X is impossible, yet there is no X here, so... I also didn't really understood 最大戦速 either, but it seems it's kind of a navigation term)
Daitetsu「…There's no other way！ Take the Giganscudo back、and break away from this sector at maximum combat speed！」

Click to expand...

やむをえん is an idiom, just like "It can't be helped."

Right. 戦速 is an abbreviation of a navigation term 戦闘速度 "Battle Speed", which refers to a range of speed higher than 巡航速度 / 巡速 "Cruise Speed".

Thanks, toritoribe, you have no idea how much you're helping me learn

I'm sorry if I'm being tiresome, but I'm running into more doubts that I expected.

I'll post the previous sentences to the part I'm translating just in case I missed something and that's why I don't understand it in context:

新西暦と呼ばれる時代。
人類が宇宙へ本格的に進出してから約２世紀が経過していたが、
人々の生活そのものは２１世紀初頭とさほど変わっていなかった。

This is a period called New Era.
Approximately 2 centuries have passed since humanity earnestly advanced into space,
however, the people's life did not change much with the beginning of the 21st century.

それは、旧西暦時代に地球へ落下した二つの隕石による被害と
混乱のため、人類の進歩が一時的に停滞したからであった。

That is, until, during the Old Era, two meteorites fell down to the Earth,
causing much damage and disorder. Much so, that humanity's progress was temporarily halted.

そして新西暦１７９年。
アイドネウス島に第３の隕石『メテオ３』が落下した。

It is now Year 179 of the New Era.
A third meteorite [Meteor 3], has fallen into Aidoneus Island.

メテオ３の調査を行ったビアン・ゾルダーク博士は、それが
人工物であり、何者かの意思によって地球へ落とされたもので
あると確信した。

Dr. Bian Zoldark, who conducted the research on Meteor 3, discovered
that it was an artificial object, and was convinced that it was dropped
by the will of someone as means of communication.


何故ならメテオ３は、Ｌ５宙域に突如出現した後、地球へ
落下……しかも落下前に減速していたことが判明したからである。

This is the one I'm having trouble with: I understand that it says something like "Because Meteor 3, suddenly appeared behind sector L5, fall towards Earth" I can't really make sense of what it's trying to say so I didn't yet try to understand what the other part says because I thought I would make less sense if I didn't translate the first part first.

I also have trouble understanding the connection between the second and third paragraph, as nowhere says when this "New Era" started :/

I really appreciate your help and hope I'm not being too tiresome or too lengthy for you.

何者かの意思によって地球へ落とされた means "to be dropped by the will of someone". It doesn't say "as means of communication".

The last paragraph says that the two facts were discovered in the research; 1)メテオ３は、Ｌ５宙域に突如出現した後、地球へ落下した and 2)しかも落下前に減速していた. The structure 何故なら～からである shows that these two facts are the reasons of Dr. Bian Zoldark's conviction.

Karrion said:

I also have trouble understanding the connection between the second and third paragraph, as nowhere says when this "New Era" started :/

Click to expand...

新西暦と呼ばれる時代。
人類が宇宙へ本格的に進出してから約２世紀が経過していた
そして新西暦１７９年。

Probably now is the New Era 179 (= approximately 2 centuries), and the New Era would have begun when humanity moved into space.

Okay, so after a bit trying to transale the intro, stuck again Grr, I still have much to learn.

I've succesfuly (I think) translated two more sentences:

何故ならメテオ３は、Ｌ５宙域に突如出現した後、地球へ
落下……しかも落下前に減速していたことが判明したからである。
また、メテオ３の内部には他者に閲覧されることを前提とした
状態で、人類にとって未知の物質と技術情報が封入されていた。

The basis of that conviction is that Meteor 3 suddenly appeared behind sector L5 …
… and that it was proven that it decelerated before falling towards Earth.
Also, upon further inspection by others into the inside of the meteor,
it was found enclosed within a material and technology information unknown to mankind.

I used your corrections for this one but I'm not sure if I'm happy with how it sounds. That second part (Also, upon further inspection by others into the inside of the meteor, it was found enclosed within a material and technology information unknown to mankind.) sounds kinda strange.

それらはエクストラ・オーバー・テクノロジー……「ＥＯＴ」と
呼称され、地球連邦政府上層部の面々で構成された「ＥＯＴ特別
審議会」とビアンが責任者を務める「ＥＯＴＩ機関」の厳重な情報
管理の下、さらなる調査が進められた。

They were named Extra Over Technology or [EOT]…
…Each one of the top brass of the Earth Federation formed the [EOT Special Council]
and Bian, under the strict management of information from the [EOTI Agency],
continued even more investigations.

I had problems with this one with the function that 「ＥＯＴＩ機関」 has in the sentence. Is Bian from the agency? He's controled by it or by the special council? I'm not sure :/

そして、何者か……すなわち地球外知的生命体が使用していると
思われる全長１０メートル以上の有関節型機動兵器のデータが
発見された時点で、ビアンは彼らに対し強い警戒心を抱いた。

Here I understand that it says something like that Bian was wary of some aliens and built some 10 meter high robots, but I really have no idea how to translate it even though I kind undertand what it says. 有関節型機動兵器 is something that I don't really understand neither the function of the verb 思われる... It is very confusing overall @_@ Could you please give me a translation along an analysis if it's not much trouble?

Thanks in advance.

the first paragraph
The two facts were proven; 1)メテオ３は、Ｌ５宙域に突如出現した後、地球へ落下（した）, 2)メテオ３は、落下前に減速していた.
他者 refers to "others than the sender(s)/maker(s) of メテオ３", not "others than the doctor's team".
Those who made Meteor 3 expected someone(probaby mankind/people on earth) would find a material and technology information enclosed inside it.


the second
The two orgaization, "EOT Special Council which is formed with the top brass of the Earth Federation" and "EOTI Agency whose manager is Bian", both manage the information. Purely grammatically, another interpretation "EOT Special Council and Bian are both the managers of EOTI Agency" is also possible, but I believe the former one makes more sense.


the third
有関節型機動兵器
mobile arms that have joints (just like insects)

地球外知的生命体が使用していると思われる兵器
arms that are considered to be used by extraterrestrial intelligent life

The core of the sentence is データが発見された時点で、ビアンは彼らに対し強い警戒心を抱いた "When the data was found, Bian was suspicious about the ariens".
何者か refers to 地球外知的生命体.
Both 地球外知的生命体が使用していると思われる and 全長１０メートル以上の modify 有関節型機動兵器.