After a very frustrating interaction with the woman at the post office, I finally received my copy of Mother 3 for the GBA on October 2, 2024. It has been my goal to play this game in Japanese for two years. I am now at an ~N4 level of vocab and ~N3 level of grammar, so I think I'm ready to take the plunge!
I started up the game and was happy to see that the start screen is... entirely in English! I'm pretty sure NEW GAME is Japanese for "new game"... The opening music is spooky dings.
Character Select
The funk synth + piano name select music is more what I was looking for. Uh oh... now it's all in Japanese. Good, I was starting to get worried that I got the English fan translation. On the select screen we have some new words:
お任せ (omakase) = Like the food! Apparently it means "leaving the choice to someone else", which makes sense for the dish. Here it means it will pick a name for me.
戻る (modoru) = to go back, intransitive. Here it means "backspace".
双子 (futago)= Twin.
双子の兄弟 (futago no kyoudai)= Twin brothers. The game uses 双子の弟 (futago no otouto), presumably meaning the younger twin brother (can't be that much younger, right?).
I'm picking a name for a character with the descriptor "双子の弟、やさしい男の子だ。" The younger twin brother. He's a nice boy. That お任せ's to リュカ (Lucas)! When I pick his name I get a super distorted "そうですか？" Love that.
For the second character, we get the descriptor "双子のお兄さん、元気な男の子だよ。" The older twin brother. He's an energetic boy! That one お任せ's to クラウス (Claus), so presumably these are German children.
The next character there's a new word:
頼る (tayoru) = to rely on (intransitive or transitive).
The descriptor is "強くてやさしい頼れるお父さんだ。" A strong, kind, reliable father. That's the potential form of the verb acting as a noun modifier, I think. This cool dad is フリント (Flint), not very German...
Next we have "大好きなお母さん！" Beloved mother :). She's ㇶナヮ (Hinawa)... We have the German children of a Japanese woman and a Cowboy.
And lastly, "勇敢で利口な犬。" Both of those な adjectives were new words for me. This dog is
勇敢 (yuukan) = brave, and
利口 (rikou) = clever.
Naturally the brave and clever dog is ポニー (Pony). そうですか？
Now it asks "好きな献立はなに？" The dictionary says
献立 (kondate) = menu,
so this is a case where direct translation doesn't work well. I imagine it's asking for my favorite dish, as the image is ポニーちゃん holding up a plate with a question mark above it. It お任せ's to "ふわふわオムレツ", fluffy omelette, so I'm probably right.
And finally "格好いいと思うものは？" Something you think is cool? It actually autofills roman characters: LOVE. Personally that doesn't seem very 格好いい to me, but I'll do whatever Shigesato tells me to do.
For the メッセジ速度 (text speed) I'm gonna go with 遅い (slow) because
ふつう = ordinary
is probably too fast for me. As for my ウィンドカラー (text window color), I'll pick ストロベリー (strawberry) because it's nice I guess! And with that it's time to 終わり. Final set phrase:
これでよろしいですか？ = Are you ok with this?
Introduction
The opening sequence gives me the names of some places of interest in "MOTHER3 World". It seems we are on "ノーウェア島" (Nowhere Island). We pan past "タツマイリ村" (Tatsumairi Village, apparently romanized as Tazmily Village by fans?), and "テリの森を越えた先" (beyond the Teri forest). That's a new one for me:
越える (koeru) = to cross over, and in this phrase
越えた先 (koetasaki) = beyond.
That's a pretty complicated kanji... apparently an N3 word. Finally, we pan over to a quaint home and are told it is "ヒナワの父アレックの家", Hinawa's dad Alec's house.
Claus wants Lucas to wake up because some dragos(?) brought (連れてきて) a baby. Walking aroudn the room, it seems Lucas and Claus sleep in the same bed next to their mom's bed? A bit odd...
Walking around outside, I talk to all the animals. The frog let's me save! The cow tells me all that cows ever think is "moo", which is convenient to remember? The pigs seem to be fighting passive aggressively. The chickens are judgmental that I slept in late!
Alright, enough animals. I talked to grandpa, who also makes fun of my oversleeping. He says I'll be returning home today, and seems worried he'll get lonely.
Heading to the right, I run into Claus who has been play-fighting (ケンカごっこ) the Dragos, which look like T Rex. He asks me to join, and try tackling it (たいあたりしてみる). Grandpa shows up to remind Claus that I actually don't know how to tackle. He asks me to imagine something like a B button and press it down for a while. After Claus gives an example, I try for myself. Fun! This lets me run around quickly so that I don't have to walk everywhere slowly like in Earthbound.
I enter my first battle, which is against some sand fly thing. It goes smoothly, and mom shows up to tell us to come eat our ふわふわオムレツ. As we run back home, grandpa Alec stops to break the 4th wall and teach me all about saving. It's pretty funny.
The place we are returning to (I think Tatsumairi Village) requires going through the forest, so we have to leave early. As mom steps out of the house, a long letter scrolls up the screen Star Wars style. It's too fast for me to read and interpret, so I had to reset and film it so I could pause it at various frames. It's a very sweet letter to Flint, more-or-less saying they miss him and can't wait to see him.
The sweet music doesn't last long! The carrier pigeon flies away with the letter and the Mother 3 logo shows up with the song I know from Smash Bros... It looks like aliens are setting the forest on fire! Well, that's not great, because we needed to go through there to get home. The intro ends and a new chapter begins!
Words and grammar from this section
赤ん坊 (akanbou) = baby
寝癖 (neguse) = bed hair
薪ストーブ (makisutoubu) = wood stove, 薪 alone is firewood
本格的 (honkakuteki) = authentic
ふかふか = soft and fluffy as a bed or bread
暖炉 (danro) = hearth, fireplace
寝坊 (nebou) = oversleeping, sleepyhead, ねぼすけ is also sleepyhead or oversleeper
とっくに = A while ago
ちゃんと = readily, sufficiently, diligently, perfectly, quickly (apparently it means everything good)
着替える (kigaeru) = to change (clothes)
Verbておく = to do (verb) for future convenience. Here, it's セーブしておく (save, as it will be convenient for the future). It's pretty complicated
あらゆる = always, every (adjective, N3)
発言 (hatsugen) = statement, utterance
気になる、気にする、気がする = Challenging N3 point here. With nuance, all mean "to have on the mind." I found one ok article on it... seems there are many things to learn.
け、っけ = Sentence-ending particles that indicate trying to recall some information
遅起き (osooki) = waking up late, 遅起きさん is a late riser
寂しい (samishii, sabishii) = lonely
草臥れる (kutabireru) = to get tired (N2)
ケンカ = brawl
ごっこ = suffix for playing make believe. Here kenkagokko is play-fighting
長め(に) = for a while
見本 (mihon) = sample, model, example
抜く (nuku) = to draw on, to pull out, to let out. Here, 力を抜く - draw on your power (N3)
どいつもこいつも = every last one of them
攻撃 (kougeki) = attack
案外 (angai) = surprise (N2, WK22)
大した (taishita) = important (N3, WK1 I remember this one kind of)
小まめ(に) (komame) = diligent(ly)
一切 (issai) = Entirely, absolutely, everything, whatsoever
早め(に) (hayame) = early
危なっかしい (abunakkashii) = dangerous, grave. Not sure how it is different from 危ない
甘えん坊 (amaenbou) = spoiled child
noun + 足りない (tarinai) = not enough (noun)
久しぶり (hisashiburi) = for a long time (N4, I always forget this one)
CHAPTER 1: とむらいの夜
The chapter title is "funeral night"... terrifying! I'm now in control of Flint, with some guy named Thomas at my door. Fueru is the son of Raita We find Raita surrounded by underlings and a doctor. He is in need of medical care but is happy we brought his son back. It starts to rain, which washes away the fire. We return to the town, and the nurse tells us it is the first rain that Tatsumairi Village has experienced in a long time. He tells me that before the fire he saw some mask-wearing suspicious men were igniting something. As I leave the lodge, I see a man named Isaac (イサク) who tells me he saw Hinawa and my kids while he was out picking mushrooms before the fire. Unfortunately he heard some screaming and shrieking... Sounds kinda awful. He suggests I head home to see if they are there. When I get back to my door, the pidgeon is there with the letter from my wife. It is a lot sadder now that I fear for their deaths... I miss the fluffy omelettes... Isaac and Fueru come to my home while I am distraught, reading my letter. They say everyone in the town will try to help me. I leave and Pony the dog barks at me, but as with every animal in the game, short sounds are pregnant with parenthetical meaning. He asks if I can take him with me, claiming he can be of use. Sure, why not. Without the fire in the way, I think to head north-west towards the place I saved Fueru. I run into some people on the way that tell me a search party has gone out to look for my family, and they say I am blessed to have great friends.弔い (tomurai) = funeral
削れる (kezureru) = to collapse, to crumble
素早い (subayai) = quick, swift
こそ = really confusing one. Means "precisely" sometimes.
親方 (oyakata) = Master, boss, chief, foreman, supervisor.
修理 (shuuri) = repair, mending, fixing.
怪我 (kega) = injury, wound.
羨ましい (urayamashii) = envious, jealous.
無様 (buzama) = unsightly, ungraceful.
もしかすると = Perhaps (N2).
とりあえず = first of all.
手当 (teate) = salary, medical care.
しばらく = For a while (N4).
マシ = better, preferable (N1).
怪しい (ayashii) = suspicious (N2).
そういえば = Now that you mention it.
毒消し (dokukeshi) = antidote. Poison eraser, literally :D
一休み (hitoyasumi) = short rest.
見かける = to happen to see.
叫び声 (sakebigoe) = shout, yell, scream.
悲鳴 (himei) = shriek, scream.
雨宿り (amayadori) = taking shelter from rain.
恵まれる (megumareru) = To be blessed with.
焦げ臭い (kogekusai) = smelling or tasting burnt (adjective)
もうじき = soon
不潔 (fuketsu) = unclean, dirty
多少 (tashou) = a little, some
推理 (suiri) = reasoning, inference, deduction
抉れる (egureru) = to be gouged, to become hollow
爪痕 (tsumeato) = scratch, traces of damage
真逆 (masaka) = by no means, never!, certainly not (N3)
酷い (hidoi) = cruel, very bad (written in kana usually), excessive
有様 (arisama) = state, the way things are (common but N1. I hate when that happens...)
参った (maitta) = I'm beaten, I give up
倒れる (taoreru) = to collapse, to die, many other meanings
きつい (kitsui) = tough, determined
若しか (moshika) = if, in case
切れ端 (kirehashi) = scraps
装備 (soubi) = equipment
非常 (hijou) = emergency
怪しい (ayashii) = suspicious
物体 (buttai) = object, body, solid (N1)
表紙 (hyoushi) = cover (like of a book, N2)
乱暴 (ranbou) = violence, rough, reckless
名付ける (nazukeru) = to call, to name
魅惑 (miwaku) = attraction, fascination
地道 (jimichi) = steady, honest
コツコツ = steadily
改造 (kaizou) = remodeling
それぞれ = each, respectively
勿体ない (mottainai) = wasteful (N2)