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Throughout the process of localizing a video game from one language to another, a number of regional differences can appear. Besides changes in the script to befit the target audience and culture of a particular region, changes towards other elements of the video game, such as art assets, references, and game mechanics, can also be made for various reasons. This article goes over the regional differences found in The World Ends With You, from the original Japanese version[1] to the North American and European versions, and NEO: The World Ends with You.
Subarashiki Kono Sekai: It's a Wonderful World Nintendo DS Lite
In Japan, a "Wonderful World Edition" Nintendo DS Lite was produced, marked with the Reapers' skull symbol and the name of the game.
Due to globalization, the Japanese version of Solo Remix removed the "It's a Wonderful World" English translation of Subarashiki Kono Sekai in trailers, box art, and in-game, and replaced it with the localized title "The World Ends With You". These changes were retained in LIVE Remix and Final Remix.
Voices & Text[]
Most text is translated from Japanese to English.
In Japan, the game is titled すばらしきこのせかい (Subarashiki Kono Sekai, abbreviated to "SubaSeka" within the Japanese community) and known as It's a Wonderful World. Subarashiki is the noun or verb acting prenominally for the adjective Subarashii.
There were some localization changes in the script.[2] For example, Uzuki no longer uses star symbols in her speech, Neku and Shiki are ruder in the English version. A more extensive look at script changes can be seen here.
Tin Pin Slammer is called Marble Slash in Japanese. At the start of a game, the announcer says "Slash in!" instead of "Slam on!"
The large sign on the 104 building at the start of the game says "YOU HAVE 7 DAYS" in the English version, but says "TIME LIMIT WITHIN 7 DAYS" (sic) in the Japanese version.
In the Japanese version, the difficulty flavor text (Face the Noise, Erase the Noise, Hush the Noise, Crush the Noise) is just the names of the difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, Hard, Ultimate).
Due to globalization, the Japanese version of Solo Remix removed the "It's a Wonderful World" English translation of Shin Subarashiki Kono Sekai in-game (title screen, opening, and ending) and replaced it with the localized title "The World Ends With You". The End credits feature more English text mixed in with the Japanese text such as adding English character and cast names next to the Japanese names and translating the Japanese staff names. The original games End credits only used English text for titles, company names, and artists.
The names of some of the days were slightly changed:
Week:Day
English name
Japanese name
1:1
Reaper's Game
Death God's Game (死神のゲーム,Shinigami no Gēmu)
1:2
Don't Kill Me
Don't Kill Me (私を殺さないで,Watashi o Korosanaide)
1:3
Who 2 Trust
Trustworthy People (信頼できるヒト,Shinrai Dekiru Hito)
1:4
Erased
Erasure (消滅,Shōmetsu)
1:5
Empty Urban Legends
Empty Urban Legends (空虚な都市伝説,Kūkyo na Toshi Densetsu)
1:6
Superiority/Inferiority
Pride and Inferiority Complex (プライドと劣等感,Puraido to Rettōkan)
1:7
Wakeless Dream
Wakeless Dream (醒めない夢,Samenai Yume)
2:1
Rulez
Rules (ルール,Rūru)
2:2
Reapers
Death God (死神,Shinigami)
2:3
Roamin' the Streets
Drifting the Streets (ストリートを漂流,Sutorīto o Hyōryū)
2:4
Pinned
Badge (バッジ,Bajji)
2:5
Turf
Territory (テリトリー,Teritorī)
2:6
Beast on the Prowl
Dashing Beast (疾走するケダモノ,Shissō Suru Kedamono)
2:7
Clash of Desires
Clash of Desires (欲望のさめぎあい,Yokubō no Samegiai)
3:1
Sensible Senseless
Common Sense, No Common Sense. (常識、非常識。,Jōshiki, Hijōshiki.)
3:2
Style
Style (スタイル,Sutairu)
3:3
The Composer
The Composer (コンポーザー,Konpōzā)
3:4
Indelible Guilt
Indelible Guilt (消えない罪悪感,Kienai Zaiakukan)
3:5
Vanishing Point
VANISHING POINT,
3:6
Stride
STRIDE
3:7
Game
GAME
Secret
Another Day: This Day Ends With You!
Another Day: It's A Wonderful Day. (アナザーデイ すばらしきこの一日。,Anazā Dei Subarashiki Kono Ichinichi.)
Soundtrack[]
The soundtrack had some music tracks replaced as follows:
The lyrics for Owari-Hajimari and Lullaby for You were changed from Japanese to English.
Slash Brothers was renamed Slam Brothers in the international versions. In the Original Soundtrack, the song is instead titled Slash and Slash, differing from the names given in both the Japanese and international versions.
Both soundtracks would be eventually combined for the international version of Solo Remix for mobile devices, and subsequently Final Remix on the Nintendo Switch.
Graphics[]
The Udagawa mural, Towa Records sign, and the Brainy Cat pin were slightly changed to remove religious symbolism. For more info, see CAT.
The Japanese version had four pins (Polytan, Gemaga, Nindori-kun, and Famitsu) that were references to Japanese gaming magazines (Dengeki, Gemaga, Nintendo Dream, and Famitsu respectively). Their icons and descriptions were changed to Fuji Yama, Daruma, Sushi, Shinobi in the NA/EU version. The stats of the pins did not change.
Game mechanics[]
(Confirmed) Character or Noise attack/defense have changed slightly. Some enemies, mostly Boss Noise and Taboo Noise, do more damage in the Japanese version. Regular enemies such as Grizzlies also do more damage in the Japanese version.
Fusion star requirements were reduced in the US/EU version: Level 1 was reduced from 5 stars to 4, Level 2 from 10 stars to 8, and Level 3 from 20 stars to 16.
Mingle PP rewards were increased in the US/EU version:
Espers from 20 to 50 MPP each.
Ordinary People (AKA Civvies) from 3 to 20 MPP each.
Aliens from 20 to 100 MPP each.
Many items' stats were improved: below is just one example.
Angel Feather: from ATK -24, HP +600 in the Japanese version to ATK +30, DEF +30, HP +2000 in the US/EU version
Some food items offer higher digestion bonuses outside of Japan:
(S) Tin Pin Versus had its quest changed from a single Tin Pin Custom pin to one of each 100, 500, and 1000 Yen pins. This meant that the sticker could not generally be purchased until W2D3 in Japan (unless one managed to obtain the pin through Mingling) but was available as early as W1D4 in later versions.
Eden's Door evolved into 1 Yen in the Japanese version - a devastating punishment for evolving the Holy Field pins incorrectly. In the NA/EU version, it evolves back into One Jump from Eden.
When equipping threads, an apparent bug in the Japanese version would give an error if one attempted to replace an equipped thread item with one of the same class, just as if they tried to equip both at once, necessitating that the equipped item be removed separately before its replacement was equipped. This was fixed in later versions, allowing one to simply drop the replacement item on top of whatever it was replacing.
When clearing a wall that requires a specific pin, the Japanese version seemingly requires that Neku not have the required pin equipped to his pin decks.
In the Japanese version, shop owners will immediately reveal abilities for items in your inventory after leveling up their friendship. Later versions require you to either leave the shop and reenter or to select the item from those on sale.
There's one more ESP'er Rank after "Demon," the "God" rank. In the Japanese version, it was earned at exactly 65,535 ESP'er Points. This was reduced in the NA/EU version to 10,000, but was erroneously left as exactly 10,000 points instead of being changed to at least 10,000. The rank reverts to "Demon" at 10,001 and beyond.
NEO: The World Ends With You[]
Fret names the Wicked Twisters in the Japanese version. While the English text is the same, the Japanese text reads only "Twisters".
The game is titled Shin Subarashiki Kono Sekai (lit. "New It's a Wonderful World") in Japanese. In Japan, the English localization title "NEO: The World Ends With You" replaces the original English translation "It's a Wonderful World" that has been marketed by Square Enix in all forms since the original game. This use of the English localization title being used in Japan started with the Solo Remix release.
The game's script has had some changes with more pop culture references and modern English language. For example, Fret seems to reference Among Us when he mentions "kinda sus" next to "impostor" and makes a Dr. Doolittle reference with "Dr. Zoolittle". Shoka makes a Avatar: The Last Airbender reference with the phrase "that's rough, buddy." Nagi calls herself "Nagi the Edgelord" and what was originally akin to "I'll strike back" has become "face my edgy wrath". Ken Doi wonders if his curry made as a Japanese man is inauthentic, while he asks himself "Is this cultural appropriation?" in the English version. MKN is specified to be an anti-capitalist in the English version.
Due to globalization, the English names that appear in the team logos are in the Japanese version as well, but not once do the characters say the English names in the game nor are they stated in interviews and the game website. In Japanese, the Wicked Twisters are "Twisters", the Variabeauties are "Valley" (ヴァリー), the Purehearts are "Pure Heart" (The speech bubble when Motoi says this is in English in the JP version), the Ruinbringers are "Ruin", and the Deep Rivers Society's name is "幽川舎" (Yuusensha) which is literally "Deep River Society" translated into Kanji; the symbol visible on the English logo is also the Kanji for "deep".
Some characters' names are spelled differently due to the differences between natural English pronounciation and literal romajization of Japanese. For example, Rindo's name is Rindou, which is pronounced in Japanese the same as "Rindo" in English (if spelled "Rindo" in Japanese, it would be pronounced like "Rindoh" in English). Likewise, Shoka is Shouka and Shiba is Shiiba.
The @ sign before a character's name or description when Scanning was an addition to the English version, as a reference to social media handles, such as on Twitter.
On all versions other than the English version, the text when a non-Noise encounter is completed reads Victory!; only the English version shows Threat Muted.
Motoi Anazawa's memes are similar but fall into some standard poetic forms, such as haiku. For example, the English meme "If you shed a tear, don't fret; that just means your eyes are wet" is the haiku 涙とは / 身体の中に / あった水だよ (Namida to wa / Karada no naka ni / Atta mizu da) "Tears are the water that was within the body".
Several characters pronounce "Shibuya" incorrectly, over-emphasising the "bu", even though their characters are Japanese. For example, Shiba Miyakaze pronounces it correctly, but Tanzo Kubo doesn't.
Due to globalization, the Opening and End credits in the Japanese version are fully in English rather than in Japanese with English text only for things like titles and company names like the original game did.
In the End credits, the English version shows the title "NEO: The World Ends with You" in both fonts before changing both "Ends" to "Begins". Due to globalization, the Japanese version shows "新すばらしきこのせかい" (Shin Subarashiki Kono Sekai) on top while on the bottom it has the English localization title. While the Japanese text remains the same, the "Ends" in the English text changes to "Begins".
A number of the standard terms used for game items are described using English words, but different English words to the actual English translation:
English
Japanese (Romanized)
Pin
Badge
Thread
Fashion
Thoughts
Analyze
Streets
Map
Records
Report
Beatdrop / Drop The Beat
Chance
Bonus
Jackpot
Uber Pin
God Tier Pin
Plague Noise
Disease Noise
Scramble Slam
Struggle
Telewarp
Jump
As in the previous game, the names of the days are different, sometimes significantly:
Week:Day
English name
Japanese name
1:1
Reaper's Game
Death God's Game (死神のゲーム,Shinigami no Gēmu)
1:2
Get x Twisted
TWISTERS (ツイスターズ,Tsuisutaazu)
1:3
Deep Dive
Beyond the Deep Dive (深く潜った先に,Fukaku Mogutta Saki ni)
1:4
Real (eyes/ize/lies)
True Lies (真実のウソ,Shinjutsu no Uso)
1:5
HEAD 2 HEAD
Psychicer x Psychicer (サイキッカー×サイキッカー,Saikikka x Saikikka)
1:6
In2 the Xing
Scramble (スクランブル,Sukuranburu)
1:7
Game Theory
Truth of Reversi (リバーシの真理,Ribaashi no Shinri)
2:1
New Game
NewGame
2:2
Living Legend
Target: Legend (ターゲットは伝説,Tagetto wa Densetsu)
2:3
Sound♪Surfer
Sound Surfer (サウンドサーファー,Saundosaafaa)
2:4
Urban LegendZ
Follow the Urban Legend! (都市伝説を追え！,Toshi densetsu o oe!)
2:5
noisrevnI
inversion
2:6
Desire Destination
The destination of desire (欲望の到着地,Yokubo no tochaku-chi)
2:7
CHECKMATE!
Checkmate (チェックメイト,Chekkumeito)
3:1
Sudden Death
Vanishing Mode (ヴァニシングモード,Vanishingumoodo)
3:2
Dearly❤Beloved
Butterflies, Flowers (蝶よ花よ,Choyo Hanayo)
3:3
re:Start
Re:START (Re:START,Re:START)
3:4
Come Back
Come Back (再来,Sairai)
3:5
Vision
Trailer (トレーラー,Toreeraa)
3:6
Stabbed
River of Betrayal (裏切りの川,Uragiri no kawa)
3:7:1
S.B.Y
3:7:2
Shi Bu Ya
3:7:3
Shibuya
Another
Party in the 'Buya
Shibuya Festival Day (シブヤフェスの一日,Shibuyafeesu no ichinichi)
