The "Mr. Driller" game franchise is very near and dear to me. It's a very addictive puzzle game which--like many of NAMCO's finest games--seldom sees a stateside release, or at least a release several years after the original Japanese release. You follow the adventurer--a young boy by the name of Susumu Hori--as he defends the world from subterranean troublemakers. Susumu Hori is the biological love-child of "Taizou Hori" (Star of "Dig-Dug") and "Masuyo Tobi" (Star of "Baraduke", she also goes by the nickname "Kissy"). In the NAMCO world, some franchises take place in the same universe.
Every now and again, I'll translate a song from Japanese to English on a sheer whim. This happened to be one of those instances. I love Mr. Driller, you see. Additionally, I was awake all night filled with anxiety and energy (that, and about three and a half cups of coffee). I had nothing better to do than to sit there and fiddle with the song.
Luckily for me, it was about 4:00am PST by the time I finished, and my British lady-friend Sarah, who also studies Japanese like I do, decided to help me out for a bit. She helped me locate and identify certain Kanji characters I had trouble deciphering--and in return, I taught her certain grammatical and syntax formats to help boost her class grade a bit. The end result is this.
Here's the translation sheet for the whole song--I suggest that you have Japanese Language Text support installed on your computer, because on my website I have a tendency to toggle back and forth between English and Japanese dialogue.
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ももいろへルメットに
「Momoiro HERUMETTO ni」
"You're wearing your Helmet,"
なびく前髪おちゃめ
「Nabikumaegami ochame」
"Playfully twisting the bangs in your hair..."
愛と勇気があれば
「Ai to Yuuki ga areba」
"If Love and Courage are there..."
こわせないものないよ
「Kowasenaimo no naiyo」
"There's nothing you can't break through!"
くずれかけた迷路で
「Kuzurekaketa meiro de」
"The maze has begun to deteriorate..."
泣きたい時もあるけど
「Nakitai toki mo arukedo」
"You feel like crying..."
腕にみなぎるエナジー
「Ude ni minagiru ENAJII」
"But your arms are pumped up with Energy!"
そうさ!
「Sou sa!」
"That's right!"
今日も明日も堀のさ!
「Kyoumo asumo hori no sa!」
"Just dig out of today and into tomorrow!"
はるかな、はるかな未来へ
「Haru ka na, Haru ka na, mirai he」
"Towards the Far, Far Future..."
ホリホリ、ホリホリ、ホリ・ススム!
「Hori Hori, Hori Hori, Hori Susumu!」*
"...Keep Digging-Digging, Digging-Digging, Dig Onward!"
(This is a pun because the main character's name is "Susumu Hori". Susumu means "Onward / To Advance" and "Hori" means "to Dig" or
"Excavate".)
DIG A CHANCE!
地底の果てに
「Chitei no ha te ni」
"To the depths of the earth..."
希望と夢が
「Kibou to Yume ga」
"Your desires and dreams..."
埋まっているよ
「Umatte iru yo」
"They're buried there..."
だから
「Dakara」
"So, therefore"
すすめ!ドリラー
「Susume! DORIRAA」
"Go for it! Driller!"
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If you want to post my translation on your blog or website or whatever, I honestly don't mind--If I did mind, I wouldn't bother posting it at all. However, if you do plan on doing it, I would greatly appreciate the acknowledgement of you citing me as a source. You can distribute it--just don't take credit for originally writing it, that's all I ask. I wrote this out on Friday, March 16th, 2007. I wrote the translation sheet in the morning, finishing it at about 4:00am PST, and finally submitted the video at about 8:30pm PST. Check for posting, and "last modified" dates.
I hope you enjoy my translation, and I would personally like to thank YouTube.com user "Zreserve" for submitting the raw dump of the video game's introduction. Mr. Driller Great--along with the majority of other Mr. Driller games--are VERY rare to come by. Even in Japan, as most of the discs are now out of print.
There'll be more to come from me, everyone. So stay tuned, as always.
- DeviFoxx
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