Translation errors

As with any work translated from one language to another, the process of translating and localizing will result in a few different interpretations of the material. The purpose of this article is to record these notable discrepancies between the Japanese and English versions of Phantasy Star Universe.

Mistranslations

These entries are simply and plainly incorrect, and cannot be attributed to simple typos or Japanese language quirks.

English	Japanese	Suggested Correction	Details
Rod	ロドウ	Rodou, Rodoh	Applies to all Yohmei Rods (i.e. Ulrodou, Rayharodou, and so on). GRM Rod, added in Ambition of the Illuminus, is simply Rod (ロッド) in the Japanese version.
Lumirus/Kaos Knight	ルミラス/カーズナイト	Lumirus / Cursed Knight	"Chaos" (カオス), as the English name would suggest (and misspells, presumably to fit the item's name into the provided space), doesn't really work.
Formal Set	フォマールセット	FOmarl Set	PSO's FOmarl costume. Completely missed the reference, despite getting the names of the other PSO costumes correct.
Jao	ジャッゴ	Jaggo	The names of these room items should match the name of the enemy, as they do in Japanese. Contrast with Cushion Jaggo. "Jaggo" itself is an intentional alteration of "Chao" (チャオ) from Sonic Adventure. Also see specific notes for Chao Staff within the inconsistent translations section.
Relaxing Jao	リラックス・ジャッゴ	Relax Jaggo, Relaxing Jaggo
De Rol Le	ヂィ・ロレイ	De Rolei	The Japanese name is a deliberate alteration of the PSO boss De Rol Le (デ・ロル・レ) and does not match. Compare Delsaber and Delnadian.

Typographical Errors

These are minor, most likely unintentional spelling errors.

English	Japanese	Suggested Correction	Details
Ank Bico	アンク・ピッコ	Ank Piko, Ank Pico	A reference to the "Piko Piko Hammer" weapon used by the Sonic the Hedgehog series character Amy Rose. Similar to Toy Hammer from Phantasy Star Online.
Assasin	アサシン	Assassin	The board for this weapon is spelled correctly.
Neddle Cannoc	ニードルカノック	Needle Cannoc	The board and GRM version of this weapon are spelled correctly.
Barada	バラタ	Barata	Prefix for all Shotgun bullets.
Regrant	レグランツ	Regrants	Consistency with technique Grants in previous games.
Nel Soul	ネイ・ソウル	Nei Soul	A reference to Nei of Phantasy Star II. Correctly referred to as "Nei Soul" in the trading information screens of Desert Arms Shop.

Deliberate Changes

With these entries, the original Japanese has been deliberately set aside. As opposed to a translation error, which is an unintentional mistake, the text is purposefully rewritten with something entirely different, often bearing no resemblance to the original Japanese at all.

English	Japanese	Approximate Romanization	Details
Fortetecher	フォルテクター	Fortecher	An extra "te" was added to make this type syllabically consistent with Fortefighter and Fortegunner.
Koltova Gun	コルトバズーカ	Koltobazooka, Koltovazooka	The English version chooses to ignore the Japanese's pun entirely.
RCSMs	シャドゥーグ	Shadoog	Known as both ranged combat support machines and R-Mags in English, but consistently Shadoog in Japanese.
TCSMs	マドゥーグ	Madoog	Known as both TECHNIC combat support machines and TECH-Mags in English, but consistently Madoog in Japanese.
Moon Atomizer X	コスモアトマイザー	Cosmo Atomizer	Probably relates to its similar function to regular Moon Atomizers. Creates an inconsistency with PhotonChargeCosmo.
Grav	グラブター	Gravata	Shortened for the ground elemental bullets of Rifles, Laser Cannons, Twin Handguns, Handguns, and Machineguns.
Dark	ダークネス	Darkness	Shortened for the dark elemental bullets of Rifles, Laser Cannons, Twin Handguns, Handguns, and Machineguns.
Shot	シュート	Shoot	The suffix for all Rifle bullets, "Shoot", was (appropriately) changed to "Shot".
Fury	フィーバー	Fever	The suffix for all Machinegun bullets, "Fever", was changed to "Fury".
Shifta	アグタール	Agtal	Name changed to match a similar technique in previous games. Interestingly, in the Japanese version of Phantasy Star Portable 2, its effect is merged with Retier's TP boost to create a new TECHNIC called Shifta. Also see notes for Agtaride in the inconsistent translations section.
Jellen	アグディール	Agdeel	Name changed to match a similar technique in previous games. Interestingly, a new TECHNIC called Jellen with an added TP lowering effect replaces Agdeel in Phantasy Star Portable 2.
Deband	デフバール	Defbal	Name changed to match a similar technique in previous games. Interestingly, in the Japanese version of Phantasy Star Portable 2, its effect is merged with Zodial and Retier (MST boost) to create a new TECHNIC called Deband. Also see notes for Defbaride in the inconsistent translations section.
Zalure	デフディール	Defdeel	Name changed to match a similar technique in previous games. Interestingly, in the Japanese version of Phantasy Star Portable 2, its effect is merged with Zoldeel to create a new TECHNIC called Zalure.
Reverser	レジェネ	Regene	Named changed to match the name of a technique in previous games; however, the effect of Reverser in previous games (revival of a fallen party member) does not match, and its Japanese name is actually rather close to a technique present in Phantasy Star IV anyway: Raja's Regen (レジェネス/Regenes).

Inconsistent Translations

While many of these entries are technically accurate, they are translated inconsistently within the game itself or against another Phantasy Star game's translation.

Characters

English	Japanese	Details
Obel Dallgun	オーベル・ダルガン	The seventeenth President of the GUARDIANS, his first name is often seen as "Ohbel" instead.
Orson Waber	オルソン・ウェーバー	Referred to as "Olson" in earlier story missions, most notably Valley of Suspicion 2.
Bruce Boyde	ブルース・ボイド	Hey, it's me, Bruce Boyd! Or was that Boyde? His last name suffers from inconsistent spelling.
Reyna	レイナ	The receptionist at the Ohtoku City GUARDIANS Branch, her name is often seen as "Reina" instead.

Items

English	Japanese	Alternative	Details
Durandal Replica	デュランダル・レプカ	Durandal Repca	Inconsistent with Agito Repca.
Hard / Night	ハルド/ナイト	Hard / Knight	Part of the "Knight" series of arm units. This is carried over to the French and German translations as well, where "Nocturne" and "Nacht" are used instead of "Chevalier" and "Ritter" respectively.
Agtaride	アグタライド	Shiftaride or similar	Derived from the TECHNIC Shifta, whose Japanese name is "Agtal", which matches in the same way Retier, Zodial and Megistar match their item names. Alternately, Shifta could be changed to Agtal. See notes for Shifta in the deliberate changes section.
Defbaride	デフバライド	Debanride or similar	Derived from the TECHNIC Deband, whose Japanese name is "Defbal", which matches in the same way Retier, Zodial and Megistar match their item names. Alternately, Deband could be changed to Defbal. See notes for Deband in the deliberate changes section.

Equipment Sets

These items together form a set bonus have matching names in Japanese, but were translated seperately and do not match in English.

English	Japanese	Suggested Corrections
Jitseen	ジートシーン	"Jitline" or "Zeetseen", or change both items to "Jitoshin" and "Jitoline"
Zeetline	ジートライン
Nafli-zashi	ナフリザシ	"Nafri-zashi" or "Nafli-senba".
Nafri-senba	ナフリセンバ
Rayharod	レイハロドウ	"Reiharod" or "Rayha-senba". Also see entry for Rod in Mistranslations section.
Reiha-senba	レイハセンバ
Lidra	リドルラ	"Lidra-senba". "Ridolra" would be a bit difficult to pronounce.
Ridol-senba	リドルセンバ

Enemies

English	Japanese	Alternative	Details
Badira	バジラ	Bajilla	Bajilla would be closer to the original. Alternatively, Go Bajilla could be changed to Go Badira for consistency, but would make both equally more inaccurate.
Go Bajilla	ゴ・バジラ	Go Badira
Tengohg	テンゴウグ	Tengoug	Half of this family of monsters uses "gohg", while the other half uses "goug"! To further compound this, mission descriptions, story mission dialogue, and other text are often inconsistent about this as well.
Onmagoug	オンマゴウグ	Onmagohg
Zoal Goug	ゾアル・ゴウグ	Zoal Gohg
Alterazgohg	アルテラツゴウグ	Alterazgoug

Inconsistent with Previous Games

The Japanese names of these items match those of their counterparts in Japanese versions of other Phantasy Star games, but are translated differently in Phantasy Star Universe.

English	Japanese	Alternatives	Details
TECHNIC	テクニック	Technique	Reasoning behind change is unknown, but is similar to other fully capitalized in-game terms such as RELICS, or GUARDIANS.
Bardiche	バルディッシュ	Berdysh (PSO)	Phantasy Star Online's original naming is a rather horrible mangling of an actual weapon term for a long poleaxe.
Stag Cutralli	スタッグカットラリ	Stag Cutlery (PSO)	A double saber originally from PSO.
Neiclaw	ネイクロー	Nei's Claw (PSO)	Known as "Nei's Claw" in English versions of PSO. Neiclaw is actually the most accurate.
Falclaw	ファルクロー	Rika's Claw (PSO), Rikaclaw	Known as "Rika's Claw" in the English versions of PSO. "Fal" is the Japanese name of Phantasy Star IV's Rika.
Sonichi	ソニチ	Soniti (PSO,PSZ)	A Mag from Phantasy Star Online, now a RCSM. Like PSO, Phantasy Star Zero uses "Soniti".
Chao Staff	チャオの杖	Striker of Chao (PSO)	Known as Striker of Chao in the English versions of PSO. Note that Chao, and not Jaggo, is correct here and only here.
Shato	シャト	Sato (PSO), Chato (PSZ)	A Mag from Phantasy Star Online, now a TCSM. Confusingly, Phantasy Star Zero, released later, uses a third spelling.
Yasminakov	ヤスミノコフ	Yasminkov (PSO), Yasminokov (PSZ)	Reference to the Yasminkov series of weapons from PSO. "Yasminokov" would be the most accurate translation.
Grinna Bete C	グリナ・ビートC	Grinna Beat C	The names of these machine enemies reference PSO's Sinow Beat (シノワビート), but both "Sinow" and "Beat" are spelled differently in PSU. "Shinowa" is closer to the original Japanese than the more liberal "Sinow", however.
Grinna Bete S	グリナ・ビートS	Grinna Beat S
Shinowa Hidoki	シノワ・ヒドキ	Sinow Hidoki
Jigo Booma	ジゴ・ブーマ	Gigobooma (PSO,PSZ), Gigo Booma	A familiar enemy from the forest area of PSO. "Jigo" is closer to the original Japanese, since the "G" in "Gigo" could be mistaken for a hard G sound (as in "go" or "gravity") instead of the "j" sound (as in "jelly" or "jury") it should be.
Dark Falz	ダーク・ファルス	Darkfalz (I), Dark Force (II,III,IV), Dark Phallus (Saturn Collection bonus material)	The Japanese name, which is closer to "Falz" than "Force", has been mostly consistent throughout the series' entire history. "Falz" is the most common variation now, even after bundling expanded versions in the series (e.g. Blue Burst, Ambition of the Illuminus) with their originals.

Miscellany

English	Japanese	Alternatives	Details
Ank Kilik	アンク・キリク	Ank Kireek	A reference to PSO NPC Kireek, given the items required in exchange for it; however, the names are slightly inconsistent in the Japanese: キリク for the weapon, キリーク for the character.
Tyrant Spada	タイラントスパーダ	Tyrant Sparda	Sparda or Spada?
Special Ops (Sparda)	特務兵・スパーダ	Special Ops (Spada)
Bil De Vear	ビル・ヂ・ビア	-	Technically accurate, but compare to PSO's Hildebear (ヒルヂベア).

Japanese Errors

A mistake made in the original Japanese, usually stemming from incorrect use of Anglicisms—essentially translating English to Japanese and back to English again.

English	Japanese	Suggested Correction	Details
Vullseye	ヴァルズアイ	Bullseye	V and B are often confused/interchangeable in Japanese. The proper spelling for "bullseye" would be ブルズアイ instead.
BT Lovers	BT・ラバーズ	VT Lovers	The "BT" is supposed to stand for "Valentine", and thus should probably have been VT. Also, conjecturally, rendering it "VD" (for "Valentine's Day") would probably have been problematic—"VD" also stands for "venereal disease," an older term for sexually transmitted diseases.
BT Box	BT・ボックス	VT Box