Quote Originally Posted by DayHealer View Post
It seems the characterization of the japanese Haurchefant is more that of the friend that tries to flirt with the WoL at any chance, contrary to the Western characterization that is that of the big brother that helps and cares for the WoL.
For the best or for the worst the localization team did this change to appeal more to western audiences, and just thinking on change it back by now is just silliness.
I play the game in Japanese -- but to me I didn't feel Haurchefant was creepy or anything. He seemed like an extreme health / body-building enthusiast who just found the WoLs body as the best specimen available in the world. Every scene with him was really funny because of all the details he would point out how the WoL's body is super-awesome. None of his comments felt suggestive to me and only indicated that he was utterly crazy about having toned muscles, etc.

As someone who has done a bit of localization professionally, I don't think there is any "correct" way to do the job. However, personally I don't like to change the narrative due to the translator's own potential bias or "misunderstanding" of the original language which can happen if the translator is not bilingual / bi-cultural. My opinion isn't that important however because SE pays for the localization and it is clear that Yoshida likes Koji's translation (although I am not sure how he can judge the quality accurately with his language ability -- a continuous struggle for translators because your client would rarely 100% understand the quality of your output).

The issue then is why is Haurchefant's dialogue basically the same as the Japanese version in the German & French version (or so I have heard).