ヨウのライブスタイル / Yoh’s Freestyling Beats
…………。
(Man, that girl's performance is seriously impressive...)
The translator thought English players wouldn’t get the silent Japanese one? I think it would work with the image of Kakeru.
陽向くん、フワッフ先生。
ここにいましたか。
Canon! Mr. Fwuff! So this is where you've been.
Here it is, another massive loss of character related to Canon.
This male student is Yoh, and he is a 3rd year. He calls Canon “Himukai-kun” (her real name plus -kun, which is normally for males), which is completely different from English, but understandable as nothing matches that. -kun can be used to address someone of lower position even if she is female, because -chan is not a parallel and is too informal (if a boss called a female employee -chan he’d be arrested), and at the same time just “Canon” is a bit too casual (but English went with it anyway). Just “Himukai” would be too strict, and I guess Yoh thinks “Canon-kun” is not it either and feels too close. So he chooses “Himukai-kun”, still keeping that small 1-year senior distance. The “Himukai-kun” usage comes exclusively from Yoh, and I think it’s cool.
Fwuff could technically also use this “Himukai-kun”, so this implies an off-screen story where Canon basically asked everyone to call her “Kyano-san/senpai”, but Yoh refused to go along with her and kept it more formal.
あ、ぶちょー！
FINEのメッセージみた？
Oh, Captain! Did you see my FINE message?
ぶちょー、ぶちょー！
話がズレてるよ！
Earth to Captain! You're veering off topic!
Canon’s cute bucho ぶちょー can’t exactly be captured in “captain”.
ヨウ先輩！？
どうしたんすか、その格好！！
Is that you, Yoh?! What's with that get-up?!
I’ll have to stress that Kakeru always attaches -senpai to 2nd and 3rd years, like Yoh-senpai. The English sentence here sounds so casual compared to Japanese.
Yo! これは俺のライブスタイル！ 即興でMC、フリースタイル！
オーディエンスはみんなスマイル！ Yeah!
Yo! This is how I rock it live! Freestyling MC, that's the vibe! My tricks? Always packed with a surprise! I'll have the crowd all smiles, feeling the highs! Yeah!
Ah, this is where the English version could win. Ha! The Japanese tries to rhyme with katakana English loan words like “audience wa minna smile!” here, but real English can do more.
わ～パチパチパチ！
Woo! Go, Captain!
She literally says “clap clap clap”, which is funnier.
パチパチパチ……って、ラップすか！？
Uh, is he...rapping?!
And Kakeru plays along with her!
ここが俺の戦場！ やるからには全力！
見てろ俺の演奏！ ぶち上げるぜテンション！
This is my battlefield! The place where I make my opponents yield! Keep your eyes on my ascension! Cuz I'm gonna crank up the tension!
The English one rhymes better!
Kick! Kick! 天まで！ Kick! Kick! 飛ばせ！
Hey Yo! グルーヴコースター！
Kick! Kick! Let's make it fly! Kick! Kick! Up to the sky! Hey yo! Groove Coaster!
The Japanese version is in the lyrics of “Arts in the Hearts”. (Kick kick tenmade, kick kick tobase)
いいYo! いいYo! いいヨウくん！
いつも以上に響いてるYo！
Yo, yo, that's the stuff, Yoh! You're really hitting those grooves today, yo!
Awesome translation haha. In Japanese, Fwuff is making wordplay with iiyo いいよ meaning that’s great, and then ii-yoh-kun. The ending “Yo!” sounds the same as the ending yo よ that Fwuff uses normally. The English one works as well, but feels more like Fwuff is actually rapping.
御影選手の即興ラップ！ レールを軽くさっとステップ！
がっちり会場ヒートアップ！
It's Mikage's trademark freestyle rapping! He's got the whole crowd keyed up and clapping! He's gliding across the rails with those nimble steps he really nails!
Linka starts rhyming by connecting “rappu”, “steppu” and “heat-uppu” at the end of each of her sentences, which was really funny the first time I heard it. The English one works well too!
先輩ナイス！ ラップでライブ！ キレキレライム！ 歓声あびる！
高まるバイブス！ 俺もダイブ！
That's the way, Yoh! Your rapping's got some mad flow! The crowd's soaking up those slick rhymes! I've never vibed with a performance so sublime!
Another rap where both versions work, but I think the English one wins!