Years ago, while translating a Japanese movie about an ancient document with clues to a secret treasure, I noticed something odd: when the document finally appeared on the screen, it was written in English… and it was actually an end user agreement for Mac software!
![This text from Lupin the 3rd: The Columbus Files is actually an end user agreement for Mac software by Aladdin Systems!]( "This text from Lupin the 3rd: The Columbus Files is actually an end user agreement for Mac software by Aladdin Systems!")
This text from Lupin the 3rd: The Columbus Files is actually an end user agreement for Mac software by Aladdin Systems!
![This is pretty blurry but it definitely talks about legal agreements here, not secret treasure]( "This is pretty blurry but it definitely talks about legal agreements here, not secret treasure")
This is pretty blurry but it definitely talks about legal agreements here, not secret treasure
After that, I encountered similar “filler English” during other translation projects. I never thought much about it until a few weeks ago when I saw this Sailor Moon image being passed around online:
![(Thank you to whoever made this!)]( "(Thank you to whoever made this!)")
(Thank you to whoever made this!)
On a lark, I asked Twitter users if they knew of other examples of this phenomenon. I expected only a handful of answers, but there were so many reactions that my phone battery died. A few days later, the Twitter thread was translated for a Japanese site, and the comments there featured even more examples – including the opposite in which English-language stuff uses random Japanese quotes as filler!
So, because there’s so much enthusiasm around the topic, I decided to compile all the answers I got and share them here. Many thanks to everyone who contributed!
![Sailor Mercury's computer features RoboCop's prime directives (from Sailor Moon)]( "Sailor Mercury's computer features RoboCop's prime directives (from Sailor Moon)")
Sailor Mercury's computer features RoboCop's prime directives (from Sailor Moon)
![The bottom plaque is a flipped sign about picking up dog poop (from Resident Evil)]( "The bottom plaque is a flipped sign about picking up dog poop (from Resident Evil)")
The bottom plaque is a flipped sign about picking up dog poop (from Resident Evil)
![Uhh, that's just the English alphabet (from Legend of Galactic Heroes)]( "Uhh, that's just the English alphabet (from Legend of Galactic Heroes)")
Uhh, that's just the English alphabet (from Legend of Galactic Heroes)
![This is supposed to be the deed to Saudi Arabia's oil reserves (from Lupin the Third)]( "This is supposed to be the deed to Saudi Arabia's oil reserves (from Lupin the Third)")
This is supposed to be the deed to Saudi Arabia's oil reserves (from Lupin the Third)
![This letter to Laura is the lyrics from Bon Jovi's "Blaze of Glory" (from Silent Hill 2)]( "This letter to Laura is the lyrics from Bon Jovi's \"Blaze of Glory\" (from Silent Hill 2)")
This letter to Laura is the lyrics from Bon Jovi's "Blaze of Glory" (from Silent Hill 2)
![This guy's shirt text keeps changing!]( "This guy's shirt text keeps changing!")
This guy's shirt text keeps changing!
![These are actually setup instructions for a computer scanner plug-in (from Gundam Wing)]( "These are actually setup instructions for a computer scanner plug-in (from Gundam Wing)")
These are actually setup instructions for a computer scanner plug-in (from Gundam Wing)
![Just a big ol' list of MAME games (from Godzilla 2000)]( "Just a big ol' list of MAME games (from Godzilla 2000)")
Just a big ol' list of MAME games (from Godzilla 2000)
![Hey, that's Donald Duck's nephews and the alphabet (from Cowboy Bebop)]( "Hey, that's Donald Duck's nephews and the alphabet (from Cowboy Bebop)")
Hey, that's Donald Duck's nephews and the alphabet (from Cowboy Bebop)
![This alchemy book is a review of a Dungeons and Dragons book (from Fullmetal Alchemist)]( "This alchemy book is a review of a Dungeons and Dragons book (from Fullmetal Alchemist)")
This alchemy book is a review of a Dungeons and Dragons book (from Fullmetal Alchemist)
![The English in the background is from other manuals (from the Shinobi game manual)]( "The English in the background is from other manuals (from the Shinobi game manual)")
The English in the background is from other manuals (from the Shinobi game manual)
![The English in the background is from game other manuals (from the Shinobi game manual)]( "The English in the background is from game other manuals (from the Shinobi game manual)")
The English in the background is from game other manuals (from the Shinobi game manual)
![This is a list of Led Zeplin songs (from Shippu! Iron Leaguer)]( "This is a list of Led Zeplin songs (from Shippu! Iron Leaguer)")
This is a list of Led Zeplin songs (from Shippu! Iron Leaguer)
![Oh, what's this? A list of 80s movies! (from Dirty Pair)]( "Oh, what's this? A list of 80s movies! (from Dirty Pair)")
Oh, what's this? A list of 80s movies! (from Dirty Pair)
![We see news about an Iron Maiden concert, yet the game is set in 1930 (from the Sega game Earnest Evans)]( "We see news about an Iron Maiden concert, yet the game is set in 1930 (from the Sega game Earnest Evans)")
We see news about an Iron Maiden concert, yet the game is set in 1930 (from the Sega game Earnest Evans)
![Doraemon's got a list of rock and heavy metal bands]( "Doraemon's got a list of rock and heavy metal bands")
Doraemon's got a list of rock and heavy metal bands
![MADE IN HONG KONG, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, SQUER COMPANY LIMITED (from Final Fantasy VII)]( "MADE IN HONG KONG, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, SQUER COMPANY LIMITED (from Final Fantasy VII)")
MADE IN HONG KONG, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, SQUER COMPANY LIMITED (from Final Fantasy VII)
![On the side is a track list from Electronic's self-titled debut album (from Denji Sentai Megaranger)]( "On the side is a track list from Electronic's self-titled debut album (from Denji Sentai Megaranger)")
On the side is a track list from Electronic's self-titled debut album (from Denji Sentai Megaranger)
![This is basically a mock screenshot of an old Star Trek game (from Macross)]( "This is basically a mock screenshot of an old Star Trek game (from Macross)")
This is basically a mock screenshot of an old Star Trek game (from Macross)
![This tiny English text is from the Team Fortress Wikipedia page (from Let's Tap for the Wii)]( "This tiny English text is from the Team Fortress Wikipedia page (from Let's Tap for the Wii)")
This tiny English text is from the Team Fortress Wikipedia page (from Let's Tap for the Wii)
![The "info" on these dudes are snippets from a political blog (from Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo)]( "The \"info\" on these dudes are snippets from a political blog (from Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo)")
The "info" on these dudes are snippets from a political blog (from Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo)
![Here we have the lyrics to two David Sylvian songs (from Bubblegum Crisis)]( "Here we have the lyrics to two David Sylvian songs (from Bubblegum Crisis)")
Here we have the lyrics to two David Sylvian songs (from Bubblegum Crisis)
![I don't think that sort of text appears in real English textbooks (from Yu Yu Hakusho)]( "I don't think that sort of text appears in real English textbooks (from Yu Yu Hakusho)")
I don't think that sort of text appears in real English textbooks (from Yu Yu Hakusho)
![This is from a music video featuring J-pop idols doing computer hacking, but it's actually an article on transgender rights]( "This is from a music video featuring J-pop idols doing computer hacking, but it's actually an article on transgender rights")
This is from a music video featuring J-pop idols doing computer hacking, but it's actually an article on transgender rights
![She's writing an article on US / Russian relations ?? (from Venus Wars)]( "She's writing an article on US / Russian relations ?? (from Venus Wars)")
She's writing an article on US / Russian relations ?? (from Venus Wars)
![Here's an essay about robots (from Mazinkaiser SKL)]( "Here's an essay about robots (from Mazinkaiser SKL)")
Here's an essay about robots (from Mazinkaiser SKL)
![This is an excerpt from a book called "The Sea Around Us" (from Power of Stone)]( "This is an excerpt from a book called \"The Sea Around Us\" (from Power of Stone)")
This is an excerpt from a book called "The Sea Around Us" (from Power of Stone)
![The HTML code for Super Sentai's Wikipedia page on the side (from Tokumei Sentai Go Busters)]( "The HTML code for Super Sentai's Wikipedia page on the side (from Tokumei Sentai Go Busters)")
The HTML code for Super Sentai's Wikipedia page on the side (from Tokumei Sentai Go Busters)
![Below "CLUB" is the Wikipedia definition of "disco" (from Garo: Vanishing Line)]( "Below \"CLUB\" is the Wikipedia definition of \"disco\" (from Garo: Vanishing Line)")
Below "CLUB" is the Wikipedia definition of "disco" (from Garo: Vanishing Line)
![This is actually just the readme info from a computer program called "Terragen" (from Klonoa for the GBA)]( "This is actually just the readme info from a computer program called \"Terragen\" (from Klonoa for the GBA)")
This is actually just the readme info from a computer program called "Terragen" (from Klonoa for the GBA)
![This info sheet is an essay on the scientific revolution (from Fullmetal Alchemist)]( "This info sheet is an essay on the scientific revolution (from Fullmetal Alchemist)")
This info sheet is an essay on the scientific revolution (from Fullmetal Alchemist)
![An essay on George Orwell's 1984 (from Dirty Pair)]( "An essay on George Orwell's 1984 (from Dirty Pair)")
An essay on George Orwell's 1984 (from Dirty Pair)
![The original Dragon Ball series features filler text from the 1979 Alien movie. In an interesting twist, this filler actually reveals the fact that Goku is an alien long before it's revealed in Dragon Ball Z!]( "The original Dragon Ball series features filler text from the 1979 Alien movie. In an interesting twist, this filler actually reveals the fact that Goku is an alien long before it's revealed in Dragon Ball Z!")
The original Dragon Ball series features filler text from the 1979 Alien movie. In an interesting twist, this filler actually reveals the fact that Goku is an alien long before it's revealed in Dragon Ball Z!
![A writeup about the history of Gainax (from End of Evangelion)]( "A writeup about the history of Gainax (from End of Evangelion)")
A writeup about the history of Gainax (from End of Evangelion)
![This certificate has something about the colors of animals (from Fullmetal Alchemist)]( "This certificate has something about the colors of animals (from Fullmetal Alchemist)")
This certificate has something about the colors of animals (from Fullmetal Alchemist)
![It appears this man is the King of Beer (from Bubblegum Crisis)]( "It appears this man is the King of Beer (from Bubblegum Crisis)")
It appears this man is the King of Beer (from Bubblegum Crisis)
![Oh, it's just the synopsis from the novelization of The Muppet Movie (from Black Magic M-66)]( "Oh, it's just the synopsis from the novelization of The Muppet Movie (from Black Magic M-66)")
Oh, it's just the synopsis from the novelization of The Muppet Movie (from Black Magic M-66)
I’m guessing there are many more examples out there, new and old. So if you know of anything not included here, let me know on Twitter or in the comments and I can add it to this page!
If you liked this, check out
press start to translate, my book about the time I Google-translated
Final Fantasy IV. It includes the worst/most hilarious translation mistakes, all while explaining
why Google's A.I. made such terrible choices. (
free preview PDF)
I’ve wondered if dialogue spoken at the beginning of Darius II was meant to be understood. It sounds like something that fits into this phenomenon and wasn’t changed for the English localization.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1t2YC5CRtE&t=17s
OST without the shooting, but no subtitles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj2ANS0DkBs&t=9s
Haha, so that’s where that “I ALWAYS WANTED TUNA SASHIMI” quote comes from!
I saw you posting about this on Twitter, glad to see a compilation! This is all very fascinating. If you have the time to do a compilation on the opposite (Japanese text in English) I’d love to see it! Thanks for taking the time to write this out, it was quite a read.
I know a rather amusing one. In the Italian Mickey Mouse story “The honor of the shogun”, Mickey, Minnie and Goofy travel to Japan and end up stumbling over an old note with a message that a local tells them is “written in Japanese, but unintelligible – some kind of code”. After a lot of hijinx involving protecting the note from a pair of thieves, Mickey eventually gets an idea – maybe the Japanese text is simply mirrored. So they get out a mirror, look at the note in it, and learn that it’s a set of directions to a hidden cave.
At this point you’ve probably picked up on the fact that the author didn’t know a whole lot more about the Japanese language beyond “they use symbols instead of letters” since none of this makes any sense whatsoever, but apparently the artist WAS familiar with the language.
So the “unintelligible Japanese that was actually just a set of directions written in mirrored Japanese” was actually “トポリノ”, Mickey’s Italian name Topolino written in katakana.
Wild ARMs 3:
This is a newspaper in the English language versions: https://imgur.com/a/eV0Sy0V
Note that it’s just the same text about the Call Whistle regardless of headline. But what does it say in the Japanese version?
https://imgur.com/IFVTSrT
It’s blurry, but it seems to be talking about Mario 64. In a PS2 game.
Somebody doesn’t understand what “trademarks” are, especially those owned by a direct rival. 😛
Corya sugoy… This explains why I’m so impressed when the onscreen English text is right!
The Klonoa game on GBA is called Empire of Dreams.
I noticed that on the Japanese site, it translates Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) as “鋼の錬金術師のアニメ第1作”, which I assume means “first Fullmetal Alchemist anime” (the only parts I’m not sure about are the kanji surrounding the 1). Interesting.
Also, the Google translation of the comments is certainly something.
“Hagaren is a magical book”
Here’s a couple I found in Zeta Gundam!
http://roaringblood.tumblr.com/post/11684996309/exodus-ultima-regasy-of-llygmyn-wizadry-iii
Haha, this reminds me of when we were watching CSI cyber and they showed what was, if I recall, supposed to be like a firmware patch or something, which if you looked at the actual code on the screen, was written in html…which was interesting…
Turned out it was like the HTML from the Wiki article for firmware.
Okay but the thing I get most from this article is that there was a novel adaptation of The Muppet Movie.
Offtopic, but I wonder why one of the Dirty Pair pictures shows Chizuru from Combattler V.
Im not the only one who noticed! Thank god!
Great idea for an article. I do recall something like this in a Japanese movie called Fugitive Alien(which Mystery Science Theater riffed on). At one point they show a spaceship’s computer screen and the English text happens to be shipping instructions to Salt Lake City, Utah.
https://orig00.deviantart.net/547f/f/2018/115/7/1/utah_by_cowboycrocket-dc9tt7y.png
Don’t forget such helpful gauges as “Tenperature”, “Cabin Air Presser”, “Sunny Side” and “Other Side”
I remember that Transformers Headmasters used a synopsis of Akira as filler text in at least two episodes.
They also had several instances where BASIC code was shown onscreen. Not sure what if anything specific the programs were that it was from, though it could likely be from examples in programming textbooks or some similar source.
Thunderforce 4 has some weird text on the readout for your ship
http://www.zanyvideogamequotes.com/thunderforce4/readout.png
And of course,the king of all filler English text
https://i.stack.imgur.com/WNodh.png
L is Real 2401\Eternal Star
There’s a scene early in Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor where the game rapidly scrolls by some text that’s supposed to be the code of a demon-summoning program embedded in the game systems the protagonists are carrying. Slowing it down and examining the code frame-by-frame reveals that it might well be a snippet of the source code of the game itself.
There’s also a passage from the Bible, but that actually makes sense given the game’s plot.
I didn’t have time to grab a screenshot yesterday, but here’s a shot of the code scroll:
http://lpix.org/3104630/Shin Megami Tensei – Devil Survivor (US)__19372.png
It’s neat because in the OVA it’s all in FORTRAN 77
Gundam Battle Universe boots up with text about buying “Braves season tickets” and the ebay motors description of different types of car.
https://i.imgur.com/tirC8hL.png
Oh, and Episode 3 of the first Full Metal Alchemist anime also has a book that contains someone’s review for the D&D book “Alchemy and Herbalists”. This one is actually relatively infamous in the fandom.
The film “Dirty Pair: Flight 005 Conspiracy” has two examples of German filler text:
https://i.imgur.com/CK8Xl2N.png
https://i.imgur.com/fBOeUhp.png
https://i.imgur.com/iHsIbAi.png
The first one reads, “…I haven’t been in touch for so long. I’ve been so busy with my term paper these last few weeks that I didn’t have time to write. I handed the paper over to my teacher Professor Schultz today. I’m pretty exhausted now, but before I go to bed, I’d like to quickly tell you how I’m doing. I have settled into Freiburg rather well by now. I have a quiet room, and the landlady is quite friendly. I also have found a circle of nice colleagues.” (It then deteriorates into nonsense.)
The second one reads, “It was with great joy that I learned of the birth of your first son. I wish with all my heart that the new arrival will have a life full of health and success bestowed upon him, and that he will grow up to be his dear parents’ pride. Please send the young mother my regards, and best wishes to you, too.”
I’m not sure if it counts since the text was actually relevant, but in episode 3 of the D.Gray-man anime when the characters are looking at a brief about the town of Mater, Italy, the text was a direct copy of the English Wikipedia page on Mater at the time the episode was produced.
Another is in “Star Wolf/Fugitive Alien” when a screen briefly flashes up a shipping manifest from an American trucking company: “Hey, that truck’s headed for Utah!”
https://youtu.be/9-CV1Raacs4?t=20m20s
Don’t know if anyone’s pointed this out yet, but the Fullmetal Alchemeist text about animal colors is actually a direct quotation from the closing chapter an ancient book on alchemy called Ripley’s Twelve Gates: http://www.levity.com/alchemy/recapit.html
Aha! I was going to say, it ending by talking about how “after these shall appear the substance invariable” sounded like an excerpt from an actual alchemy text.
It seems like all of the FMA filler text is related to alchemy in some way or another.
I saw quite a few example myself over the years; Sailor Mercury actually had something like that on her mini computer in a much earlier season (I think the very first one). It does puzzle me as to why they can’t just bother with putting something actually legible instead of stealing or mentioning copyrighted info and thinking no one will notice. Japan sure is weird.
Hey Clyde, I know this this is off-topic, but in Sonic Forces Classic Sonic is constantly referred to as being from “another dimension”. Is this a mistranslation or is this intentional?
Are you referring to the original English script or the Japanese translation? Modern Sonic games are written in English first, then translated to Japanese for their release in Japan.
I don’t know enough about the Sonic series to know off the top of my head., but if you can get me screenshots of the Japanese and English scene in question (or YouTube videos) I can look for you.
Here’s a non Japanese example. Oh My Disney, one of the Disney websites I go on just posted this
https://ohmy.disney.com/news/2018/05/02/lilo-stitch-easter-egg/
It’s an Easter egg for Lilo and Stitch where what appears to be an adoption paper for Stitch, is when zoomed in on actually a thank you for the creation of the film!
I tried to find actual photo evidence of this, but it seems to have been erased from the internet sometime over the last eleven years… There was a gothic lolita dress that had text from an English language erotic novel as the fabric’s print. When overseas fans discovered it, the dress maker actually stopped production! So I guess it wasn’t intentional, lol!
So here’s an odd example, from the PC/PS1 game Gundam 0079: The War for Earth.
https://twitter.com/LanceBoyle94/status/995866481459105793
One part during the opening sequence, showing footage from a security camera, has all that flavor text on the side appear rather quickly. I say odd ’cause, unlike all other examples shown here, The War for Earth was developed by an American company (Presto Studios). Amusingly it’s still kept in the Japanese-only PS1 version.
“I hope nobody is readind this crap, here are some numbers”
That’s fantastic.
Just noting that Godzilla 2000 appears twice in the examples. And is “Power of Stone” actually “Power Stone”?
Hello Mato!
Not sure if you’ve seen this particular one (described below), but your article got me more interested in the subject of filler text, and I wanted to share another example with you. I was also wondering about the origin of the text in my example.
On the contents page of a Famitsu guidebook for a pair of obscure RPGs for Game Boy Color known as Space-Net: Cosmo Red/Cosmo Blue, you can find what appears to be some technical text related to space/astronomy/cosmology, possibly taken from one or more publications. The texts may in fact not be from only one extract and could be from various sources or sentences grouped together.
“The heliocentric co-ordinates of [cut]ellow through Blue are calculated using the algorithms given in Jean Meeus’ astronomical Algorithms, based upon the VSOP87 planetary theory of Bretagnon and Francou, The position of Pluto is calculated, for dates between 1885 and 2099, using the method given in Chapter 36 of astronomical Algorithms. [cut]o analytical of the orbit of [more text follows that is obscured by the システム header] onstruct one.”
Here is an image of the page. Sorry about the low quality (I tried my hardest to make the text readable though), it just seems my scanner isn’t working.
https://i.imgur.com/nY2iMIC.png
(I had the manual for this game too. I’m unsure if I still have it, but the manual could have some filler text in it as well)
I had a closer look and I found some of the text verbatim here! https://www.fourmilab.ch/solar/details.html But Mercury and Neptune appear to be replaced with “Yellow” and “Blue” (planets in the Rainbow System, a fictional setting in the game)
Whoa, thanks for sharing this AND looking into it!
You’re welcome :). Glad you liked this.
Update: My scanner is working now. ^^ So here is a clearer image which shows the whole page (and the page before it) in case you or anyone else wants it. The guidebook is called the Space-Net Official Perfect Guide, スペースネット 公式パーフェクトガイド
Page with the modified text, where the original seems to be from John Walker’s website Solar System Live https://imgur.com/a/d8gco9w
Front cover of guidebook: https://i.imgur.com/h3ABItf.jpg
I saw something like the opposite(?) of this about a decade ago when I was watching the anime Code Geass R2.
The main character was going through his school psychology department’s records; when I paused, I was surprised to find that the filler information for the students he was flipping through was not only written in perfect English, but the studio had apparently gone to the trouble of writing actual in-universe interview samples for each student.
The Godzilla 2000 one is on here twice.
Thanks, I’ve fixed it.
I just saw another of these in the latest episode of the Ace Attorney anime. There was a close-up shot of an American driver’s license, and there was a large block of text partially obscured by a person’s hand. I could only make out the first line, but it’s clearly some text that has nothing to do at all with a person’s identification.
I’ve been playing Zero no Kiseki lately, and I noticed an amusing instance of filler text in the prologue, during a scene in which the player is introduced to a computer system they’ll use to receive optional quests:
https://i.imgur.com/DgJxCCy.jpg
It’s difficult to read, but the bottom half of the background text seems to be from some boot screen of a computer running Windows XP. Not entirely inappropriate for an actual computer booting up in-game, but it’s funny to think that it’s running Windows XP in a world that not only has no connection to Earth, but where computers are new enough technology that most people have probably never seen one.
episode 4 of Tekkaman Blade has the credits of a Andrei Tarkovsky movie in a hospital monitor here: https://imgur.com/a/xhqpaYw
This does make me wonder which ones are just a random hunk of text they grabbed (essentially a Lorem Ipsum) and which ones are sneaky references someone on the team snuck in. Things like the movie titles and track lists almost seem like they could be very subtle homages from fans of those works. Of course, they could just as easily be whatever came up on Google first when looking for something formatted like list. Who knows?
I recently re-watched “R.O.D. The TV”. Being that the British were a major part of the story, a lot of text was in English. Interestingly, while definitely filler and definitely non-native, the text was most often germane to what was being discussed. It was just way too wordy and superfluous for what was being communicated so that it would fill a page or screen.