It appears that three of the tracks from the "Rare Soundrack" are just inferior duplicates of tracks that were already released on the original and Maniax soundtracks.
Also, the second half of "My God and the Demon Lord of Ice" is the same as the second half of "God Aradia - Advent," but the first half is the unique variation heard at the end of the Diet Building.
Some of the titles from the
US Maniax CD take liberties with their translations, but there are a few which as far as I can tell are faithful translations.
With that said I was wondering if a handful of the current translations should be swapped out with some of the titles from the US Maniax CD.
Considering that they're from an official source I feel that they should probably take priority over the unofficial ones even if they're synonymous.
Below are the applicable titles, let me know if it looks like there are any translation inconsistency between them that I missed.
Here were a few other tracks from the original and Maniax soundtracks that I was looking at and had some thoughts on in regards to their translations. If there's anyone here who's familiar with Japanese then your thoughts on these would be much appreciated.
Soundtrack Translation Thoughts/Inquire:
1.13: I was wondering if "Recovery Spring" ("回復の泉") should be changed to "Recovery Fountain," as the English translation called it "Fountain of Life." "泉" can be translated as "fountain," though I don't believe "回復" can be read as "life" so I imagine that part of it was just a localization change. However, if I recall correctly it is referred to as a "spring" instead of a "fountain" in SMT IV: Apocalypse & SMT: Liberation Dx2.
1.21: "Joker" → "Joke" / "Jest" / "Playing the Fool" ("おどけ")
To my understanding "おどけ" means to purposefully fool/joke around. I think something like "Playing the Fool" (or maybe even just "Joke" or "Jest") might be a more accurate way of translating it than "Joker," but I'm not entirely sure. Plus in the context of MegaTen the term "Joker" is likely to make one think of Persona 2 and/or 5 instead of Nocturne.
2.11: "Manekata" → "Manikin" ("マネカタ")
I'm not sure if "Manikin" is actually an accurate translation or not (though it is what was used for the English translation,) however I noticed that we currently have the track "マネカタの面汚し" listed as "Manikin's Shame" so for the sake of consistency I think that one of these should be changed to match the other.
2.12: I was curious to know, does the space in "アラディア神 降臨" denote a hyphen when translated into English? It doesn't appear that any of the other track titles have spaces in them so I suppose it makes sense. Couldn't it also be translated as "God Aradia's Advent" or "Advent of the God Aradia?"
2.19: I'm uncertain if this was a translation error or not, but in the English script, "ヤヒロノヒモロギ" was translated as "Yahirono Himorogi" as opposed to "Yahiro no Himorogi," thus I wasn't sure if the spelling used for the English tracklist should reflect that or not. After all we have "アマラ" listed as "Amala" instead of "Amara" which was a mistranslation in the English script.
2.22: Currently we have "再生" translated as "Reincarnation," but I have reason to believe that something like "Playback" might be more fitting given the context. This track is used in the Freedom Ending where the Demi-fiend chooses to restore Tokyo to its state from before the Conception, the game then ends similar to how it began with the protagonist heading out to meet up with his friends. There doesn't appear to be any implications of reincarnation occurring in this scenario (in fact you could say you're actually denying the reincarnation of the world by setting it back to how it used to be.) Unless they're referring to the characters themselves, but reincarnation would imply that they became different people instead of remaining the same.
Similar to the above here are tracks from the "Rare Soundtrack" that I have some thoughts on in regards to their translations. Again, any assistance regarding these would be greatly appreciated.
Rare Soundtrack Translation Thoughts/Inquire:
5.1: I was thinking about changing "Amala Drums" ("アマラ転輪鼓") to just "Amala Drum" for the same reason that we have "Recovery Spring" instead of "Recovery Springs." That is to say that the plural form is unnecessary here.
5.5/5.21: These two are simply grammar related, but I was debating as to whether or not "Fleeting Dream" should be "A Fleeting Dream" and if "Creation of a New Demon" should be "The Creation of a New Demon."
5.4: "禍なる魂": I believe this title is referring to the parasitic creature known as a the "Magatama" ("マガタマ" / "禍魂.") Initially I thought the title was referring to the Blonde Child (Lucifer) as the first half of the song is used for most of the scenes featuring him, but the second half of this track only plays in the scene where he gives you the Magatama. In the Japanese version this scene is followed by the Old Woman's voice saying "悪魔の力を宿せし禍なる魂”マガタマ”。これで貴方は悪魔となったのです。" in the English version this was translated to "Magatama, the essence of demonic power... You have now joined the ranks of demons." If I'm looking at this right, it appears that they localized "禍なる魂" to "essence of demonic power." However, when asking the Lady of the Fount about the "curse" ailment she will say: "マガタマは禍魂... マガタマ暴れし時、御身に黒き呪いを 授けることもありましょう。" In the English script she says, "The Magatama is a spirit of misfortune... There may be times when you shall receive a terrible curse by the Magatama raging within you." While the same spelling is not used here I think that "禍なる魂" can also be translated as "Spirit of Misfortune." Maybe that would be the most appropriate option in terms of translation here as it appears to be the only equatable phrasing in the English script that's also still faithful to the original writing.
5.9: "カブキチョウのあいつ": This title is a weird one, it's used when encountering Isamu in the Kabukicho Prison who then proceeds to use the terminal there to enter the Amala Network. In addition to "The Guy of Kabukicho" I believe it could also be read as "That Guy at Kabukicho" or "That Guy in Kabukicho" either of which are probably more fitting in terms of phrasing. The thing I don't understand here is the use of "あいつ" because that implies that the person in question is someone unfamiliar when in actuality the person in the scene is Isamu, one of the protagonist's friends. The only logical conclusion I can reach is that maybe they mixed up Isamu and Futomimi as he's a character whom you do meet for the first time in the scene prior to this one and is the reason Isamu went to Kabukicho in the first place. Additionally, when speaking to Isamu in an earlier scene he says that he heard a rumor about a Manikin (Futomimi) that can see the future, the exact line being "...I guess I have to place my bets on that guy." The Japanese line is "...こうなったら、アイツに賭けてみるしかねえかな。" but I believe "アイツ" can also be read as "that guy" which further leads me to believing they were referring to the incorrect character for this title.
5.12: "マネカタの面汚し": In addition to "Manikin's Shame" I believe this could also be read as "Shame/Disgrace of the Manikins." This track is used when first meeting the renegade Manikin, Sakahagi who kills his fellow Manikins for their skin and Magatsuhi (energy.) As one of the Maniken NPCs put it, "He's a traitor to our cause, having committed various atrocities." This title is likely referring to how the other Manikins view him which is why I think that "Manikin's Shame" should be altered to one of the other options as it's not Sakahagi himself that feels any sense of shame for his actions, but his fellow Manikins whom find his actions to be disgraceful.
5.14: "イケブクロの静寂": In addition to "Ikeburuko in Silence" I believe it could also be read as "The Silence of Ikeburuko" or "Silence in Ikeburuko." This track plays during the scene when you meet Hikawa in front of the Mantra Headquarters, this being not too long after he utilized the Nightmare System to drain the Magatsuhi from the Mantra Army which resulted in the deaths or weakened states of the demons residing there. I'm assuming that the title is in refrence to most of the life there having been extinguished as a result of the aforementioned Nightmare System. Regardless, I wasn't sure if the context made one of the alternatively phrasing more appropriate or not so I just figured I'd mention it.
5.22: "魔なる神": In addition to "Demonic God" I think it could also be read as "Demon God" or "Devil God," but those are all synonymous. The title is reffering to Chiaki's demonic sponsor, "Baal Avatar."
However, I'm curious as to how "魔なる神" differs from "魔神" ("majin") which can similarly be translated as Demon/Devil God," perhaps it's just that some of the potential translations differ between the two?
5.23: "私の神と氷の魔王": This is another weird one, this track plays during the scene at the end of the Diet Building with Hikawa and Yuko/Aradia. "私の神" is referring to Yuko's demonic sponsor, "Aradia" who she often refers to as "私の神" or "my god" in the English script. However, the part which confuses me is "氷の魔王" as I can't determine what exactly it's referring to. The most logical answer would be that it's referring to the demonic sponsor that Hikawa is about to summon, the "god of the void," "Ahriman." However, I don't see anything in the game nor the actual deity from Zoroastrianism that pertains to ice. Interestingly, Hikawa's name ("氷川" / "ひかわ") means "glacier" and includes the kanji for ice ("氷") so maybe that has something to do with it. Considering that they seem to have erroneously referred to Isamu as "that guy" it wouldn't surprise me if this was a typo or something and it was actually meant to be "私の神と氷川の魔王" ("My God and Hikawa's Demon Lord/Devil.") This is all purely conjecture though of course.
5.25 "アメ・ツチ・ヨミ": I believe, "Ame-Tsuchi-Yomi" is correct, though I'm not sure how it relates to the context of the scene in which it's used. This track is basically just sound effects from a cutscene, said cutscene being when you ascend to face Kagutsuchi. Ame would be "heaven," Tsuchi would be "earth," and "Yomi" would be the land of the dead / the underworld, so I guess you could translate it as "Heaven-Earth-Underworld?" Though "Ame-Tsuchi-Yomi" has a better ring to it, imo.
5.26 "刻を待つ者": I think this one could also be translated as "Those Who Wait for the Time" as opposed to "The One Who Waits for the Time" though there's no way to determine for sure if it's intended to be singular or plural. This track plays before facing Lucifer in the True Demon route, I'm uncertain if the title is meant to refer to Lucifer specifically or demonkind in general, but I'm leaning towards the latter based on this line of dialouge featured in the cutscene after the battle: "All of you who have lurked in darkness and waited faithfully for this day, hear me... A new demon of darkness has been born...The time has come."
Also, here's a list of all the arrangements of past MegaTen tracks that I'm aware of in Nocturne.
Additionally, I decided to pair all the new tracks from the "Rare Soundtrack" to their respective in-game locations in case anyone was curious.