Shining Force Feather Translation Project: Opinions/thoughts - in-game Laugher

[Moogie]

I've just come across a bit of Japanese which is obviously meant to be some kind of laugher/scoff.

"うふふっ"

and it occurred to me there's bound to be various similar noises/sounds which need Anglicising.

I would welcome any thoughts as to how different kinds of laughs & scoffs can be worded/spelled in English.
There are obvious things like Ha ha, ho ho (never been fond of that), tee hee, mwahaha etc... but is there something a bit better we can use?

Or should we go with *actions* , eg
*laughs*
*scoffs*
*giggles*

and so on?

[Kaihaku]

Fufu is a classic in translated J-media.

[sulfuroxp]

but what is exactly "fufu" and/or "kuku" ???

[Lord Oddeye sama]

"うふふっ"

"Hmhmhm" could work for this one. Though you could take the Final Conflict route and word the action when unsure.

[Omega Entity]

Many times I've noticed, however, that sometimes different characters have their own specific way of laughing... As such, maybe we should try, wherever possible, to try and preserve that, I think.

[Moogie]

Good call Unfortunately I'm not sure who's speaking there as it's unlabelled- something from a break battle I think. I'll try to ID the speaker as I start to play through again. Will PM you the Google docs link later too. Think we may have 2 translators onboard now as well as your good self, so will need to start co-ordinating efforts (hence the need for a forum!).

[Omega Entity]

Coolies

[Cupwalkerz]

fufu? Seems legit, I hear lots of this kinds of laughs from time to time specifically in anime's. Like when a evil female character laughs, well more of a giggle as if she's expecting something... Its like a sadistic giggle maybe?

[Mew seeker]

I don't know if it can help but I have a picture with the ふっふっふ laugh written in it.
http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php? ... d=18519832" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
If you're familiar with both Touhou and Madoka Magika, you will get the picture. ^^

[Moogie]

Although I think the 'fufufu' is quite often used in anime subs etc, I wonder how Sega would have translated this for the English-speaking market, based on the assumption that many players wouldn't know 'fufufu' as a typical Japanese laugh?
If it's sort of scornful/disdainful perhaps something like "Pfffft!" would be a translation, sort of a scoff? Not sure.

[Weyu]

fufu? Seems legit, I hear lots of this kinds of laughs from time to time specifically in anime's. Like when a evil female character laughs, well more of a giggle as if she's expecting something... Its like a sadistic giggle maybe?

That sounds about right.
As for the laughs, I would either just keep it and write it as "ufufu" in the text, or change it something like what Moogie said, that's about right.

[Omega Entity]

Eh, I think 'phhhft' lacks the darker connotations often found with fufufu - it's most often I see it with either evil or more mature characters. That's just me, though.

[Siel]

I've often seen "ufufu" translated as "eeheehee" or "heheheh"/"eheheh"/"ehehe".

[Simpelicity]

I've often seen "ufufu" translated as "eeheehee" or "heheheh"/"eheheh"/"ehehe".

The "eeheehee" has more "dark connotations" than the rest. Just throwing that out there.

[Omega Entity]

The only issue I'd have is that the laugh fits the character - I can't picture a female villain believably saying 'eeheehee', unless she were a child or teenager.

[Daria]

I vote for the emoted actions like *giggles* and *snickers*. You can still personalize the action to a character, and it doesn't read all.... funny. I personally detest the japanese fufu and keke crap. It doesn't even sound like laughter.

[Corsair]

Even if it is a cultural thing, it's not something that carries particularly well over into english.

Kinda like this type of thing:

Bob: Hey Jim.

Jim: Hey Bob.

Bob: How is Jim doing today?

Jim: Are you on crack?

This should never be done for any reason ever.

It's this sort of thing that separates a good translation from a great one - sometimes you have to fudge with the direct accuracy a bit to make it sound natural.

[Omega Entity]

That's how I translate. For me, flow and readability are the most important, and it's really not that hard to rework a translation in a way that makes it both pleasant to read, and maintaining the general meaning/idea the original text was trying to get across.

[Siel]

Although fu is romanized with an f, it could be said its pronunciation is like a mix of the English f and h. Thus, ufufu could quite sound like uhuhu, which might appear closer to a typical sound of laughter.

Ufufu doesn't necessarily have to be some dark or sinister laugh. Ufufu can often simply be a giggle. There's not much context given in the opening post, so it's hard to tell in this case. As can be seen in the image Mew seeker linked, the slower ふっふっふっ/fuffuffu/"fu, fu, fu" variant is what would more certainly be an evil enunciated laugh.

Some examples of ufufu:
http://youtu.be/d15iy3I4CNg#t=38.2s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (0:38)
http://youtu.be/JHlyR7XcEr4#t=8.6s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (0:08)
http://youtu.be/JHlyR7XcEr4#t=53.3s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (0:53)

[sulfuroxp]

so, ufufu is jijiji