{"rewrite":{"id":"r_9f2541517b663f57768f365c","clusterId":"c_4b4ea16bb392594ac4c19360","slug":"uma-musume-localizers-explain-why-kansai-dialect-became-ya-and-dis","model":"deepseek-v4-flash:free","headline":"Uma Musume Localizers Explain Why Kansai Dialect Became 'Ya' and 'Dis'","summary":"At CEDEC 2026, held July 22 to 24 at Pacifico Yokohama North, two members of Cygames' Localization Department, Alison Catrell and Ryuhei Morita, presented a session on how they localized character speech patterns for the English version of Uma Musume Pretty Derby. They distinguished translation, which transfers information, from localization, which conveys a character's tone, personality, and background. Because the English version has no English voice acting, the team had to express each horse girl's personality through text alone. For Tamamo Cross, who speaks in Kansai dialect, they avoided the common approach of mapping it to an American Southern accent, since Taiki Shuttle already uses that. Instead, they spelled words like \"you\" as \"ya\" and \"this\" as \"dis\" to mimic the fast, contracted sound of Kansai speech. For Yukino Bijin, they used archaic English from the 1930s to 1960s. Agnes Digital's lines drew on English-speaking otaku community expressions, and Daitaku Helios used Gen Z slang. The team assigned staff familiar with each character's culture, used a Slack channel for discussion, and created per-character speech guidelines.","whyItMatters":"The session shows that the English version's success, including its Best Mobile Game award at The Game Awards, rested on a deliberate rejection of standard dialect substitution in favor of building each character's voice from scratch.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCEDEC 2026 ran across 12 venues at Pacifico Yokohama North, with the Uma Musume session taking place on July 24, the conference\u0026#39;s final day.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe session title was \u0026#34;Creative Approaches to Localizing Character Dialects and Speech Patterns in the English Version of \u0026#39;Uma Musume Pretty Derby.\u0026#39;\u0026#34;\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team\u0026#39;s stated goal was balancing recognizability, being instantly identifiable as the character, against authenticity, feeling like the character truly exists.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCatrell said the success of the anime and Japanese version created high expectations for the global release, which the localization team felt they had to meet.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe English version launched in 2025 without English voice acting, using the original Japanese voice actors\u0026#39; audio, which made text-based expression essential.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFor Tamamo Cross, the team mimicked how \u0026#34;chigau\u0026#34; (different) contracts to \u0026#34;chau\u0026#34; in Kansai speech, applying the same sound breakdown to English words.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYukino Bijin is a country girl who yearns for the city and is pure and unaffected by trends, which the 1930s to 1960s archaic English was meant to reinforce.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAgnes Digital is known among fans as an otaku horse girl who pours passionate love onto other horse girls, so her lines use online excitement text expressions familiar to English-speaking otaku communities.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDaitaku Helios is a gyaru whose heavy social media use led the team to conclude she would naturally speak in current Gen Z slang and vibes.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFor Helios, the team assigned a Gen Z member; for Agnes Digital, the member most knowledgeable about English otaku terminology on the team.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAn in-house language quality control team, knowledgeable about the IP, continuously checks whether translated speech patterns are too rigid or too loose and diluted.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCatrell noted that even staff joining the project midway can easily grasp the translation direction thanks to the guidelines and management system.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Cygames localizers at CEDEC 2026: Kansai dialect in Uma Musume became 'ya' and 'dis' in English, because Taiki Shuttle already owned the Southern accent.","twitterPost":"Uma Musume's English localization built each horse girl's voice from scratch: 1930s slang for Yukino Bijin, Gen Z terms for Daitaku Helios, otaku phrases for Agnes Digital. No dubbing meant text had to carry it all.","threadsPost":null,"newsletterBlurb":"At CEDEC 2026, Cygames localizers explained how they translated Uma Musume's horse girls into English without dubbing, using creative text techniques like 'ya' for 'you' and Gen Z slang. The session revealed a team process built on character-specific guidelines and Slack discussions.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Inside\",\"url\":\"https://www.inside-games.jp/article/2026/07/29/185358.html\",\"title\":\"Learning 'Creative Translation Techniques' from 'Uma Musume': Why Does the English Version Convey Character Personalities? Kansai Dialect Is Not Translated as 'Southern Accent' [CEDEC 2026]\"},{\"source\":\"GameBusiness.jp\",\"url\":\"https://www.gamebusiness.jp/article/2026/07/30/27579.html\",\"title\":\"Learning 'Creative Translation Techniques' from 'Uma Musume': Why Does the English Version Convey Character Personalities? Kansai Dialect Is Not Translated as 'Southern Accent' [CEDEC 2026]\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":14887,"outputTokens":1518,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1785914963,"createdAt":"2026-08-05T07:12:46.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-08-05T07:27:24.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-05T07:12:46.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_4b4ea16bb392594ac4c19360","canonicalTitle":"『ウマ娘』から学ぶ、“創造的翻訳術”ー英語版はなぜキャラの個性が伝わる？関西弁は「南部訛り」に訳さない【CEDEC2026】","representativeArticleId":"a_efd3211948ded591c2dc7a8e","sourceCount":2,"writtenSourceCount":2,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":false,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"ウマ娘 プリティーダービー\"],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-07-29T08:00:04.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-07-29T22:15:02.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-05T07:27:24.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"GameBusiness.jp","url":"https://www.gamebusiness.jp/article/2026/07/30/27579.html","title":"『ウマ娘』から学ぶ、“創造的翻訳術”ー英語版はなぜキャラの個性が伝わる？関西弁は「南部訛り」に訳さない【CEDEC2026】"},{"source":"Inside","url":"https://www.inside-games.jp/article/2026/07/29/185358.html","title":"『ウマ娘』から学ぶ、“創造的翻訳術”ー英語版はなぜキャラの個性が伝わる？関西弁は「南部訛り」に訳さない【CEDEC2026】"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["ウマ娘 プリティーダービー"],"studios":[],"people":[],"type":"news","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":["CEDEC 2026 ran from July 22 to 24 at Pacifico Yokohama North.","Cygames Localization Department members Alison Catrell and Ryuhei Morita presented the session on July 24.","The English version of Uma Musume Pretty Derby launched in 2025 without English voice acting.","For Tamamo Cross, the team wrote \"you\" as \"ya\" and \"this\" as \"dis\" to mimic Kansai dialect's fast tempo.","Uma Musume Pretty Derby won the Best Mobile Game award at The Game Awards last year."]}