Twisted Wonderland: Usurper of the Wilds, English Translation

A word-for-word comparison of the official English-language translation of Twst the second novel.

Chapter 1

The following content was added to the English-language novel and does not exist in the original book:

…and a bit of an oddity at the university. Yuya had been suddenly and mysteriously whisked away from his home world to this magic-filled place known as Twisted Wonderland. Yuya was an utterly average human with no magical abilities, and no one could understand why he was here or how to send him back home.

Grim, meanwhile, was a furry gray creature with a round face and a round body. He vaguely resembled a weasel or a cat standing on two legs. He had magical abilities and the ambition to become one of the greatest mages who ever lived, though his impulsiveness often got him into trouble.

Despite Yuya’s lack of magic and Grim’s volatile temperament, the two had managed to prove their mettle, and the school’s headmage, Dire Crowley, had allowed them to matriculate into the student body as one joint student, meaning that Yuya was supposed to keep Grim in line while Grim performed the magical tasks Yuya could not.

The following content was added to the English-language novel and does not exist in the original book:

Riddle had become so enraged when the Heartslabyul Dorm students had pushed back against his authority, his overuse of magic coupled with his poor mental state had resulted in his overblotting, causing an enormous destructive monster to materialize, which then started wreaking havoc on the Heartslabyul garden.

Even in the magic-filled world of Twisted Wonderland…

Riddle had survived the event but was now forced to face hard truths about his actions as housewarden.

The following text was added to the English-language novel and does not exist in the original book:

Though Yuya had not had a major part in directly confronting Riddle, his presence at the battle and the unusual circumstances of his admittance to the college had ignited a flurry of rumors presuming Yuya was an exceptional and potentially powerful first-year the other students needed to watch out for.

Chapter 2

Removed from EN: Even though it’s only been half a year since then, it now feels like a very long time ago.

Changed on EN:
Original: “When he refused, saying ‘Even if it’s just a game, competition is the last thing I want,‘ his parents had laughed in exasperation and…”
EN: “…though games, still felt like a form of fighting to him, and he was definitely not interested in that. His parents had laughed…”

Changed on EN: Possibly in a call back to his delinquent days, Deuce refers to Riddle as the “head” of Heartslabyul in the original novel, changed to “warden” on EN. More here ▶︎

Added to EN: “Yuya supposed Grim had been so focused on trying to gain entry into Night Raven College in the first place that he had never paid any mind to the sport.”

Changed on EN:
Original Crewel: “Good boy.”
EN Crewel: “‘Good,’ Crewel said.”

Added to EN:

“It reminded Yuya that he was a stranger in this land. For him, some unexplained magic was automatically translating this world’s language into his native language, Japanese. He remembered the moment when he had first arrived in Twisted Wonderland and had realized that his ears were hearing Japanese, but his mouth was forming different shapes and syllables than what he was expecting, apparently speaking this world’s language.”

Original Crewel: “A group of puppies who can’t even understand commands, led by an owner incapable of giving clear instructions….”

EN Crewel: “A leader who is unable to communicate orders accurately to a group of puppies unable to understand commands to begin with…”

Removed from EN:
Original: “…and all he can see is the top of Grim’s head, his ears drooping in dejection. He looks just like a grey ball.”

EN: “He could see only the top of Grim’s head because the monster’s dejected ears were drooping and hiding his face.”

Removed from the EN novel (Yuuya): “‘I think you know already, but we don’t have that much money.'”

Original novel: “…minced meat cutlets several times thicker than the bread itself are visible through the wrapping. The paper has darkened where meat’s juices have soaked through.”

EN novel: “…generous slices of ham and cheese. The sandwich looked positively delicious.”

Original novel: “Ruggie was the beast-person student whom…”
EN novel: “Ruggie was the Savanaclaw student Yuya and Deuce…”

Added to EN: “…and the Savanaclaw Dorm housewarden, Leona Kingscholar.”

Added to EN: “…and had kept the encounter from escalating to dangerous levels.”

Original novel: “It’s like cream bread…”

EN novel: “…like a jelly donut.”

Original novel: “…even if the world were turned upside down.”

EN novel: “Pigs would fly before…”

While adapting idioms to the local market is common in localization, this was maybe an unfortunate change as “turn the world upside down” is a reference to Scar’s song in the Japanese-language adaptation of the Lion King, recreated faithfully in EN game, and was possibly written intentionally here as another reference both to the movie and to Ruggie’s often reiterated ambitions: turn the world upside is exactly what he is trying to do.

“Kind underclassman” changed to “kind soul” in the English-language adaptation of the novel.

Original novel: “That anpan is real good, too. So good, in fact, you’ll wish that it wasn’t so small.”

EN novel: “You enjoy that anpan. It’s so delicious, you’ll find you won’t be dissatisfied even if it’s small.”

(A backwards reinterpretation on EN: Ruggie is mocking Grim while emphasizing their upperclassman > underclassman hierarchy.)

A line about Savanaclaw students being used to fighting positions was misattributed to Yuuya.

It was actually said by Deuce, who would know about brawls due to his past while Yuuya would not, as he has always actively avoided them, which is a major part of his character.

A conversation between Ace and Deuce was rewritten for EN, with a line by Deuce misattributed to Yuuya:

Original novel: “Deuce furrows his brow. ‘But last year, the dorm that won was……'”
EN Novel: “‘Yeah,’ Deuce said, ‘but the winning dorm the last two years was–‘”

Original novel: “If you’d watched the broadcast of the tournament last year, you’d know that.'”
EN Novel: (removed)

Original novel: “‘Ah.’ Deuce blinks.”
EN: “‘Ohhh,’ Yuya said.”

Chapter 3

Originally the other Housewardens “cast open and obvious glances his way” when Riddle enters the Mirror Chamber.

This is backwards in the official translation, where the housewardens “pointedly averted their eyes.”

Added to EN: “…the large multipurpose room that housed the Dark Mirror that chose which dorm students would join, for the housewarden meeting.”

In the English-language adaptation of the novel Ruggie says Leona is going to fail “more” of his classes, as though he is already failing at least one this year.

In the original novel Ruggie says Leona will fail his classes “again,” possibly in a reference to how he repeated a year.

Originally the novel describes Azul and Riddle as 2nd-year students, accurate to the game, the manga, and the anime.

In the English-language adaptation of the novel, Azul and Riddle are described as 3rd-year students.

Added to EN novel:

“Crowley cut an imposing figure in his top hat, long coat, and conspicuous black mask, which had a sharp-pointed nose and covered his face from his forehead to below his golden eyes.”

Canonically, Crowley’s eye color is undefined. More here ▶︎

In the original novel Idia is referred to only as “the Ignihyde Housewarden.”

The English-language adaptation of the novel added “Idia Shroud” to the narration, but it is possible the original author did not want him to be referred to by name, which is why he wasn’t.

Original Novel: “Leona smiled in satisfaction. It is a smile that seems to praise Riddle for having bravely faced adversity.”

EN Novel: “His satisfied grin seemed to praise Riddle, to say, ‘Way to push back, pal.'”

(Not a big change, but canonical uses of the word “friend” (and its synonyms) in Twst are being tracked, and this is not one of them. More here ▶︎)

Chapter 4

Content added to the EN novel:

“…Yuya mused, thinking of the Heartslabyul Dorm’s traditional formal high tea parties that were held on a day that wasn’t anyone’s birthday. The Heartslaybul housewarden could throw one of these parties whenever he chose to.”

Content added to EN Novel: Yuuya saying “Us?” When Crowley asks him and Grim to investigate the incidents. Originally he says only, “Me?”

Removed from EN Novel: Suspecting that Crowley himself has been spreading the rumors about him around the school, there is the line, “Yuuya’s shoulders droop,” removed from the English-language translation.

Crowley repeats “Since I am so kind” often in the original game/novel, almost always with the exact same wording.

On EN this is written in different ways, such as “how marvelously generous I am” and my “magnanimity knows no bounds.” More here ▶︎

Content added to EN Novel:

Without that benevolence, Yuya would have had nowhere to go, lost in a foreign world with no way home.

Content added to EN Novel:

“…who had allowed Yuya and Grim to matriculate as one student. Grim would perform any tasks that required magic and Yuya would keep Grim’s ferocious personality in line.”

After Grim refuses to help, Yuuya becomes worried that Crowley will get angry, removed from the EN novel: “–but rather than upset, he seems to be deep in thought.”

Grim says “Pardonnez-moi?” in the English-language adaptation of the novel, when in the original novel he just says, “What?”

Ace saying “Merci” was also added to the first novel. In the original novels, Rook is the one and only character who ever uses any French.

Original Crowley: “‘By my authority as headmage, I will simply work something out.'”

EN Crowley: “As school headmage, I will simply perform a magical miracle to fill out your team.”

Original Novel: “Yuuya finds this suspicious…”

EN Novel: “He raised a dubious eyebrow…”

Original Novel: “Ace joined the basketball club. His reason was simply, ‘Because it looks cool and seems like it’d make me popular.'”

EN Novel: “Ace was in the basketball club, which he’d joined for two simple reasons: It looked cool, so girls would be impressed.”

Original Ace: “…there’s an upperclassman with really intense quirks.”

EN Ace: “I just checked which cool senior guys were on the team.”

EN sounds as though Ace joined basketball to follow “cool senior guys,” but he did not. The conversation was about his struggles on the team, because of Floyd. EN loses the reference made to this scene in the next chapter:

Original Novel: “Could it be that the ‘upperclassman with really intense quirks’ Ace had mentioned was this Floyd?”

EN Novel: “Was Floyd the upperclassman Ace was talking about?”

Content added to EN novel:

“…a small building that housed seven mirrors that transported students to each of the seven primary dorms. Ramshackle Dorm was located within the school’s grounds, unlike the other dorms, and thus had no mirror in the hall.”

Removed from EN: “…please believe me, housewarden, vice-housewarden!”

(Interestingly, Rook’s follow-up line of “Of course we believe you” was retained on EN, despite how the previous line of the student begging to be believed was removed.)

Rook does not originally say, “Mon dieu!,” he originally says, “Oh,” changed on EN.

Original Novel: “Deuce, who had heard the story from another Heartslabyul student in his club, had apparently told Ace, who had remained in the classroom.”

EN Novel: “He explained that he’d heard the news from another Heartslabyul student, and then he told Ace.”

Content added to EN novel: Grim telling Trey, “It’s cool. Don’t get up.”

Content added to EN novel:

“…that was their final year before they left the campus for their fourth-year offsite fieldwork.”

The EN novel retained the EN-game localization of Cater’s nickname for Adeuce: “Hunting Season.”

Content added to EN novel: In a scene where Riddle stops himself from berating Grim, EN added the line, “He looked at the injured student.”

If you thought it was odd for Trey to roll his eyes at Riddle and for Riddle to roll his eyes at Yuuya, you are correcting: while added to the EN novel, Trey and Riddle rolling their eyes did not happen in canon.

Original Trey: “‘That’s exactly what you told me at lunch today. I’m fine, really–it’s all right.'”

EN Trey: Trey rolled his eyes before responding. “You asked me the same thing earlier. I’m good. You don’t need to fuss over me like this.”

Original Riddle: “Riddle responded with an exasperated, ‘So that’s what it is’…”

EN Riddle: “Is that it?” Riddle asked, rolling his eyes.”

In one place in Chapter 4, a line said by Ace was misattributed to Deuce.

In two places a line said by Deuce was misattributed to Ace.

Original Novel: “…Cater, who is so close to Trey.”

EN Novel: “Trey’s good friend Cater.”

(As of Chapter 4 the word “friend” has appeared 11 times in the English-language adaptation of the novel, and 0 times in the original story.)

EN added “the college’s social media app, Magicam,” to narration, but there is never any insinuation that Magicam is exclusive to Night Raven College (in the game, Magicam seems to be used by both NRC students and non-students alike).

Cater is a “yaeba” character (八重歯), with one or more crooked teeth, which can make him seem as though he has a fang in official art.

The EN game also seems to have struggled with how to localize references to Cater’s yaeba (more here ▶︎). In the novel, “crooked tooth” was written as, “a toothy smile.”

Content added to EN novel:

…that it would manifest in such a huge, destructive monster that had practically leveled the Heartslabyul garden.

Chapter 5

In the original story Floyd comments on Riddle’s “head” standing out and drawing attention to himself, presumably due to his hair color.

In the English-language adaptation this was changed to Floyd saying Riddle has “a face that really sticks out,” instead.

The original novel references a line said by Ace in the previous scene where he talks about an “upperclassman with really intense quirks,” who is then revealed to be Floyd.

EN changed the original line in Chapter 4, and then removed this callback line in Chapter 5.

When another person approaches Riddle and Floyd as they speak, the original novel does not specify who they are.

The EN novel was changed to identify them, with “the other twin, who must be Jade,” added to narration.

Yuuya smiling at Jade was added to the English-language novel. Originally, he does not.

Floyd arching an eyebrow was added to the EN novel.

Floyd sneering at Riddle was added to the EN novel.

He also compares Riddle to “a little kitty cat,” but it is possible that Floyd has canonically never compared anyone to an animal that is not marine-life-adjacent.

Original Yuuya: “I’m sorry! It was a misunderstanding!”

EN Yuuya: “I’m sorry! You’re totally misunderstanding everything!”

A line said by Floyd in the original novel was misattributed to Jade in the English-language translation.

Jade’s line in response was misattributed to Floyd.

Original Novel: “When they reach the Main Street, Yuuya breathes a sigh of relief.”

EN Novel: “He finally let out a sigh of relief when they came out onto Main Street, the wide road lined with large stone statues of the Great Seven, located in the center of campus.”

Removed from the EN novel: “Yuuya asks anxiously, but Riddle’s reaction is opposite to how he responded before.”

The EN novel added the explanation of Briar Valley being “a land north of here” to Riddle’s dialogue. Originally, Riddle does not specify where Briar Valley is.

In the original novel (and game/manga) Lilia’s speech patterns are old fashioned: he uses phrasing associated with older/rural/eccentric male characters in fictional stories, like Samurai-era or fantasy settings. (More here ▶︎)

Lilia’s characterization seems to have shifted in the English-language translation of the novel where he uses words like “y’all” and says “my bad.“

In the scene where Riddle approaches Silver in the woods, the line, “He seems most intent upon continuing their investigation” was removed from the EN novel.

Lilia tells Riddle that Malleus becomes “lonely” quite easily. This was written as “he really feels the sting of these things,” which is not incorrect, but emphasizing Malleus’ loneliness in particular was likely intentional in this scene.

Original Novel: “Riddle speaks of himself in the same tone he used to criticize Malleus, his expression unchanging. Unable to agree or disagree, Yuuya can only watch Riddle in silence. ‘Oh, my apologies. I have been speaking on a topic to which you cannot relate. There’s no point in telling you this, after all, Riddle says.”

EN Novel: “Yuya didn’t know what to say. He was shocked to hear Riddle be so introspective and self-critical. ‘Aah, apologies, Yu,’ Riddle said, waving a dismissive hand. ‘I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s got nothing to do with you. I’m mostly talking to myself.'”

Original Novel: “…he wants them all to meet up at Savanaclaw.”

EN Novel: “…he wanted everyone to rendezvous at the Hall of Mirrors and then go together to Savanaclaw Dorm.”

Original Novel: “It appears that, in his own mind, he seems to think he is improving.”

EN Novel: “Apparently, promising not to use his signature spell, Off with Your Head, was an improvement.”