Preface: this is not an opinion on whether the change was good but rather a conversation starter and a speculation on why the change was made just for fun. Spoiler tag is here just to be extra safe.
Main post below ↓
Everyone probably remembers Ima’s “I’m gonna pee myself” comment from the intro. There’s a change to it from the Japanese script that I have not seen mentioned and I think it is an interesting launching point for conversation. The exchange leading up to the line goes as follows:
Ima: “Does anyone have a clean pair of underwear I can borrow? Asking for a friend.”
Kako: “Do you need to take a bathroom break?”
Ima’s subsequent line is where the notable change is, though the preceding line from Kako is very slightly different (in a relevant way) as well. I have posted a screenshot of Ima’s line in English and Japanese.
In English, Kako appears to show concern for Ima, to which he replies that he can endure the discomfort (of needing to pee) as long as she is with him.
In the Japanese script, Kako’s asks if there’s no bathroom available, and the way she words it doesn’t specify that she’s only talking about Ima. The subject is omitted so you could interpret her as expressing concern for herself as well. This leads into Ima’s line, which a relatively more direct translation of might be: “It’s okay! If you’re in a pinch, I can brace myself and accept it all for you”.
This might sound not too different on the surface, but the way it reads in Japanese is more like: “Don’t worry! If you need to go, I’ll let you pee on me!”
—
Speculation on reasons for change:
I think the tamer translation was probably to allow an English speaking audience to not be quite as disgusted with Ima. I watched five Japanese let’s play reactions to this line and they barely had any reaction to it, outside of one who joked by saying, “call me when it happens so I can watch”.
English speaking audiences, even with the tamer translation, were usually either disgusted or at least a little discomforted by Ima’s strong infatuation with his sister early on. My conclusion based on my observations was that the Japanese audience was far less likely to take Ima’s dialogue seriously, and that this was why the line was slightly altered.
—
Food for future conversation:
I think this is just one small piece of an incredibly unique localization where the game’s script is so massive and was being translated even while the English dubbed performances were being recorded (need to confirm this with a source because I forgot where I heard it). I believe one of the VAs (I want to say it Sarah Pitard aka Darumi) said they didn’t have the Japanese performances as a reference when dubbing, which is another fascinating detail. (Admittedly, I am not sure how rare this is nowadays considering how many games get simultaneous releases in multiple languages.) I want to look further into how the translation and dubbing of this game was done purely for fun and educational purposes, as much of the discourse surrounding the localization is often superficially about whether it’s good or not.