----------------------------------------------- Panorama Cotton Game Translation FAQ v1.2 May 28th, 2007 "Panorama Cotton", "Cotton" and all related characters mentioned herein are copyright 1994 Success and Sega Enterprises Ltd. ----------------------------------------------- --- Display Test: If the following row of numbers (79 total) wraps to a second line, this FAQ will display incorrectly: 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789 --- --- Version History 1.0 - First Release 1.1 - Fixed syntax and formatting stupidity :) 1.2 - Fixed the bloody quotation mark error --- Table of Contents ------------------------ x. My Introduction 1. Miscellaneous Text 2. Attract-mode/Demo Text 3. Animated Story Introduction 4. Pre-final Battle Dialog 5. Animated Ending Sequences 6. Final Messages 7. Credits xx. Special Thanks ------------------------ x. My Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I loved Panorama Cotton long before I was able to read a word of the text in it. It's got twice the personality of almost every other game I've ever encountered, not to mention its great gameplay. However, most everybody on this side of the ocean winds up missing out on the story of the game, which is quite unfortunate. The story fits perfectly and serves to add to the whole atmosphere of Panorama Cotton, and I think any fan would benefit from knowing it. It is my aim to make the first full presentation of this story as it is shown in the game itself. Along the way, I have also attempted to translate every other piece of Japanese text in the game, to provide a complete experience for all Panorama Cotton players. All of this, you will find in this guide. There really isn't much else to say, except on the subject my translation style. The method with which one translates always depends on what one's audience is hoping to see. I assume that people reading this FAQ have a greater interest in knowing exactly what the original Japanese text is saying than they do in being entertained by clever English writing (or whatever feeble attempts I might make at such). For this reason, I have left things in a fairly literal state. However, for reasons listed above, I still want people to enjoy the story, so I have taken a few little liberties where necessary to keep things from sounding distractingly unnatural. I have actually translated much of the manual, including some interesting character introductions and additional story information. If you are interested in seeing this, please email me, and I will consider making an instruction manual translation FAQ. Of course, if you also notice anything missing or out of order in this FAQ, please let me know about it as well. Thanks for reading! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------- 1. Miscellaneous Text ----------------------------- [Rainbow-butterfly text at beginning] "In Living Color" [Options screen title text] "Option" (literally, the phenomes of this word spell out "Opushon") [Kanji character on teacups] "Long Life" (Can also mean "Congratulations") [Ending screen text] "The End" ----------------------------- ------------------------------------ 2. Attract-mode/Demo Text ------------------------------------ The Willow Grass, which can grow nowhere other than in a delicately changing climate, is both of unknown composition and impossible to cultivate regularly. By bringing together the juices absorbed its stalk, it produces a Willow, a solid substance with a soft bendyness. Used as food long ago, the Willow Grass came to have seven different varieties of color through the features of the different climates where it grows. The Willows made from each of these colors have differing compositions, and it is said that when they combine with each other, very mysterious phenomenon will occur. Generally, the Pink Willow Grass is the one most commonly found, When speaking of Willows for food, this color is the one which comes up most often. However, since its formula is so special, the number of Willows is limited throughout even the Parallel World ....a delicacy!! ----------------- --------------------------- 3. Animated Story Introduction --------------------------- [scene begins with scrolling mural shot] Once upon a time, the seven willows which brought light to the entire world were carried off by the Dark Angel Wool. Before long, light vanished, and one by one, monsters began to surface from the darkness and invade the world. In great distress, Queen Velvet of the fairy kingdom decreed that the very beautiful fairy Silk was to go and take back the stolen Willows. The very beautiful Silk pleaded to a witch named Cotton, who loved willows, and requested that she lend her aid to the task. Cotton readily took up beautiful Silk's request, and used her power with (beautiful) Silk's to take down the beasts of the darkness one after another. At the end of a long battle, the Dark Angel Wool was defeated, and the willows were returned to the Fairy Queen. This is how the warm light once again rained down, and the beautiful world brimming with light was restored. The witch, Cotton, started off on a new adventure of her own. And the beautiful Silk was given great praise by the Queen, and long afterwards people would hear stories of the fairy named Si... [change music] Oh my god, Silk! Queen Velvet, she's... [change screen to Knit] The Queen is acting really weird! She's called everyone up to the great sanctuary and is saying all sorts of strange things! [change screen to castle on hill] Huh? What are you talking about? I'm kind of in the middle of writing, you know. Oh, please! Would you just hurry up and come to the castle? [change screen to gathering] This morning, while I was in the castle garden, I discovered something terrible. There were only 255 petals sprouting from the Pokopen plant when there should have been 256. [change screen to queen] This is undeniable proof that the world is falling into disorder. If we continue on like this, then most surely something dreadful will happen. And the disaster will fall not only upon ourselves, but upon the entire world. Unfortunately, there is nobody who can prevent this disaster...nobody except me! The time has come to set off on my journey. I go for the good of the people! Giddyup, Pinky! Awayyyy! [cut to screen with Queen on Pinky] I'm going to protect the peace at all costs! [cut to screen with Silk and Knit flying together] Your Highness, wait! Where are you going? What are we gonna do, Silk? That Pinky is the prized beast of the kingdom. He may not look it, but he's the fastest thing in Filament. We'll never catch him at our speed! [cut to screen with Queen disappearing, Silk & Knit stopping] Oh, no! She's broken through the dimensional barrier with Pinky's Illusion-Drive! [cut to screen with Silk & Knit standing and talking] Once she's broken through that barrier, there's no way we can tell which dimension she went to. Say, Knit...do you have any idea what might be causing the Queen to act this way? Come to think of it, there was this burnt willow that had fallen near the side of the castle. It smells really funny. Some of the girls get sick when they go near it, and right now my head feels a little hazy. Really? I didn't smell anything...but then, my nose is kind of stuffed up at the moment, so I don't know... [cut to screen of dark monsters] In fact, I've heard that the monsters from up north are supposed to be burning up any willow they see. It could be that the willow in the castle came from up there. [cut back to last screen] I hope the Queen's not in trouble... Anyway, it looks like that burnt willow is what's causing this mess somehow. [cut to screen with burnt willow] We've got to do something about it! [change music and cut to screen of Cotton's eyes] Grrmmmm....willow...mmmm Where...where...where... whe....hey....there! Thats...! [cut to screen of Silk carrying willow w/ owl] Oof, darn it, this is heavier than I was expecting... So, where am I going to get rid of this burnt willow? [cut to close up of silk] I can't very well just toss it off into the bushes. There's a huge mountain range just a little bit ahead...maybe there's a volcano I can throw it into? [willow vanishes] Huh? [Cut to screen with Cotton eating] WILLOW TIME! Munch munch munch smack smorf gobble munch munch ...munch...munch...munch... ................... [cut to Cotton spitting fire] Bleaaah! [cut to Cotton punching Silk] What the heck are you giving me?! Real funny, making me eat this nasty stuff! [Translation Note: In the original Japanese, these sentences appear almost non-sensical. After consulting a native, I found out that Cotton's words are very heavily distorted because of the funky willow she just ate. So the taste or the pieces of willow left in her mouth are supposed to be making her talk funny, but I'm not sure how to write this in English. Instead, I just translated the corrected sentences I received from my friend. In romanized form, here they are: Nante mono tabesasu no yo. Konna henteko na mono, yoku tabesaseta.] [cut to Cotton pinching Silk's cheeks] Hey! It's you again! What's the big deal, huh? Why do you have to keep doing this all the time? Have you got some kind of grudge against me? Come on, out with it! Neeee...let me exmai...eeeenmu... [cut to screen with monsters] A munch of monsters from ub north hab meen murning willows and causing troumle. Meeep! [Translation note: again, distorted speech, but this one is much less drastic. I wrote the English based on the sounds I heard when I pulled my lips apart at the sides with my fingers and said "a bunch of monsters from up north have been burning willows and causing trouble."] [cut to Cotton temper tantrum] What?! No!! They're taking my plump, juicy, tasty, gooey, yummy willows and burning them?! [Cotton is now holding Silk] ARRRRG!! I'll never, never, NEVER let them get away with this! They may be monsters, but whoever they are, they're gonna get it! [cut to picture of Silk, Cotton, and the willow sun] So it came to be that the unlikely pair of Cotton and Silk started out on a new adventure...... Who knows what's going to happen...? -------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------ 4. Pre-final battle dialogue ------------------------------------ You! You're the one who's been burning my precious willows, aren't you! That's right, it's me. How...how could you do such a thing?! It's just that I hate willows, you see. Y, You don't like them?! That's it?! You're not after revenge, or world conquest, or... Nope! Uh, you know, I just remembered something I have to go do. Ta ta! Wha, wait! ----------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ 5. Animated Ending Sequences ------------------------------------------ (Note: All ending sequences contain the same content, but they will cut off at different times depending on the difficulty level you chose. "Easy" ends the earliest, "Hard" goes on the longest and gives you the full ending.) [starts with Calmin shrinking in front of Cotton] Waaah! Let me go! I'm sorry! I won't burn the willows anymore! [cut to screen with Cotton talking down at Calmin] So why don't you like willows? Well, I accidentally ate too many of them, and then I got big all of a sudden! I figured that if I kept eating them, I would get so big that I couldn't move, so I just burned them. Heh, but I went back to normal once I started exercising. You ate too many?! Why didn't you just save some for later?! [Calmin holds up black willow] O, Oh yeah, I almost forgot! I was going to get rid of this black willow, but why don't you have it? Eh, heh, you know, you don't have to ask. Because I'm gonna eat it no matter what you do. Cotton, wait, that Willow looks like... [cut to Cotton eating] WILLOW TIME! Munch munch munch Munch munch...munch ...munch...munch...ugh! [cut to Cotton hurling on Silk] Blaaaaaaaaaaah! This is another stinking burnt willow, damn it! [cut to Cotton kicking Calmin] ^^MEGA RAGE^^ I've had about enough of you! [cut to Cotton frying Calmin] Eat Fire Dragons! [cut to sequence where Cotton kicks Calmin into volcano] Now get out of my sight! [cut to Cotton close-up] (pant)...(pant)...(pant)... Awww, I didn't get to eat any willows this time either! I don't care if I get huge, I just want to have some! Oh Cotton, these things just happen, you know? Cheer up! Somewhere out there is a big, fat, delicious willow just waiting for you to come eat it. [End of ending sequence on easy difficulty] [otherwise cut to a different angle shot of Cotton and Silk] That reminds me, Cotton, how did you become a witch, anyway? [cut to scene with Silk's thought bubbles] You probably did all that stuff like learning how to make magic potions, studying spellbooks, and training hard to temper your magic power, right? What? Lemme see, is that how it went? Hmm... You know, I think all I did was eat a willow, and before I knew it, I could use magic! [cut to Silk crying] Aw man, so all you did was be a food-crazed little girl? [End of ending sequence on normal difficulty] [otherwise cut to a temporary black screen] At that very same moment, we find Queen Velvet... [cut to shot of yellow lake] Wh...What in the world...what is all this sticky, gooey...hey, wait a minute, I'm stuck! [cut to screen with Queen in...erm...a vulnerable position] And Pinky! What planet to do you think we're on? I was going to save everybody, but there's nobody here! [cut to sequence of Queen falling into yellow lake] Yaaaa! Somebody! Heeeelp! [Epilogue sequence, displays on all difficulty levels] Cotton! Listen! I hear the faint sound of willows on the wind. Do you hear it? What? Where? Which way? This way? No, maybe this way... Willows, here I come! ------------------------------------- ------------------------- 6. Final Messages ------------------------- --- [Easy mode] Congratulations on beating the game! This is just a rumor, but if you clear the game on normal mode, they say you'll get to find out the secrets of our little witch-friend, Cotton. --- --- [Normal mode] Congratulations on beating the game! This is just a rumor, but if you beat the game on hard mode, the Queen's current location will...? --- --- [Hard Mode] Congratulations on beating the game! When you get over 1,000,000 points and beat the game, Silk and Cotton...? --- --- [Message after viewing high score table if score was greater than 1,000,000] Silk, the one who's always being bossed around, is having a dream... It's time for Reverse-Mode! Go! (Continue) --- --- [Message after beating the game in reverse-mode (lit. something-is-wrong-mode)] Congratulations on beating Reverse-Mode! We appreciate your effort. (Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap) [next screen] We would like to present you with a reward, but unfortunately, this is the only thing we have space in the cartridge for. What do you think? [beneath picture] Silk Belly-Button Power-Up! [next 4 screens] Ah. Aha, I can see you're upset. Calm down, and think reeeaal hard for a moment. Over the course of your long life, you don't know what's going to happen to you. Carelessness is your greatest enemy! You never know when the rain and hail will fall! If you are prepared, there will be no sorrow! Look closely, even the people in your family who look so happy are holding onto all kinds of worries that they can tell no one about. If you ever get in an accident, please just remember Silk's belly-button here. If you take this as a lesson of life, you might just get a whole new way of thinking out of it. Thank you, thank you! [final screen] Really, THE END --- ---------------------------- ------------ 7. Credits ------------ Director Tamura Hideki Programmer Kuwahara Toshiyuki Sound Driver Isoda Shigeharu Music composer Hirata Kennichi Character Voice Yuguchi Takae* Main Graphic Designer Ishigo Okataka* Tamura Hideki Graphic Saitou Hajime Machida Takayuki Graphic Itou Shinobu Ui Teruko* Producer Yoshinari Ryuuto* *I consulted a native speaker for the pronunciation of all names since they appear in kanji, but these particular ones she was unsure of. -------------------------------------- xx. Special Thanks --------------------------- I'd just like to say thanks to my awesome girlfriend Mari-chan, for helping me tackle a couple tough parts in this translation among other things. I love you, baby! Also, even though I didn't really use it here, I would also like to thank Jedi Master Thrash of the Segaxtreme forums for giving me scans of the ultra-rare manual for this game. It's definitely been a treat to have those. I'll see what I can do about translating them as well! Finally, thank you Success for making such an awesome game. Now let's see the revival of 2D Cotton shooting games!