I really like the song "Bloodlines" from Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. I was wondering if I could get some help in finding different versions or arrangements of this song. I know there's one in Portrait of Ruin, but that's all I can think of. Both official and doujin arrangements are good suggestions. Thanks!

Well there are three versions of Dracula X now - PCE CD, SNES and PSP. Then there's an arrangement of sorts in Symphony of the Night, although it's more of a new tune with snippets of the Bloodlines melody thrown in.

Akumajo Dracula MIDI Collection features the song "Descendents of Heaven and Earth - Richter's Theme" (track 15), which I believe is an arrangement of Bloodlines - or perhaps an arrangement of "Strange Bloodline" (or whatever the odd remix of the theme is in SOTN).

Either way, being on the MIDI album, it's kind of a hit or miss - and if I remember correctly, it's a miss.

Sorry.

"Bloodlines"?  Are you talking about "Descendents of Heaven and Earth", the Stage 1 BGM?  If so, there are 2 awesome versions of this song, one is on Magical Trick Society's "odi et amo" album, which stays faithful to the original with a heavier guitar.  The second is on Earth Japan Soft's "Lost Vampire Killer", which sounds like Vinnie Moore doing CV, basically melodic fusion, it's phenomenal.

Well on the Dracula X soundtrack, it's just called "Bloodlines".
http://www.vgmdb.net/db/albums.php?id=2938

I've heard the SNES soundtrack as well, but I'm still waiting to hear the PSP version.

The song that appears in SotN does have a cue to "Bloodlines", but I never saw it as much of an arrangement.

I'll have to track down those albums you mentioned, Nemo. Thanks.

Which seems to be a bad translation. Unless that soundtrack does have english tracknames with japanese ones, like FF VI did have.

But same awesome track with different translation.

And like Nemo already mentioned, Magical Trick Society's arrange of this is awesome.

I'm almost certain the title is correct. I don't even know how you could translate one to the other. Besides that, the tune is referenced in Symphony of the Night's "Strange Bloodline", and arranged in Portrait of Ruin's "Bloodlines Bequeathed". I'll have to check my soundtrack when I get home and see what the actual text is.

I can't read kanji, but from the way it's phrased, it looks like you guys are right:
http://host.kg13.com/music/_scans/demon … cula_x.jpg

Would be nice if someone could do a correct translation of all the titles.

Do you notice the character in common with Bloody Tears (track 6)? That there's the kanji for "blood". Now I'm sure some know-it-all can explain how kanji have a bazillion different interpretations depending on context, thus explaining why the alternative translation lacks any variation of the term "blood" - and I hope someone does, because I'll be the first to admit I sure don't read this crazy moon language.

I don't really know any Japanese either, but online translators tell me that the kanji that follows "blood" means "family", and that the two combined mean something like "blood relative". Changing that to "descendants" is just a way of keeping the translation from being too literal. (Meanwhile, they also say that "Bloody Tears" is really an expression meaning "Bitter Tears".)
That same combination of kanji is what is translated as "Bloodline" in SotN's "Strange Bloodline".
On the other hand, the translation "Bloodlines Bequeathed" (PoR) is a pretty lousy one, especially considering its structure. The first set of kanji ("Inheritance"(?)) is enclosed in dashes, and then the original Dracula X title follows. The separation of the phrases wasn't carried over into the translation.

Back to Dracula X, there aren't too many of the usual translations that seem blatantly off. Someone who actually knows the language should take a look at "Dancing in Phantasmic Hell" and "Cross Your Heart"; those are the toughest for the online translators to figure out.

Oh, I almost forgot - maybe I'm mixing things up in my head, but "Introduction - 'Mark of Blood' " from Castlevania 64/Legacy of Darkness features an arrangement (which comes in after the tune that went on to be in COTM (Sign of Pulse?)):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kekitaCO6Wk

Nah, I think you're okay...I don't think most people would associate a track like Bloodlines with Castlevania 64's music.

Could be, but at least one of the levels that has "Bloody Tears" as its BGM have a large Holy Mary-esque statue in the background crying blood (even though the song came from CVII). I might be thinking of CV Chronicles, though. It's been a while. Even if the correct translation was "Bitter Tears", I wouldn't be able to adapt to it.

Two things:

1) The official track title for "Bloody Tears" on the Dracula X PSP OST is "??? -Bloody Tears-"... which translates to (apparently) "Bitter Tears -Bloody Tears".

2) The track name in the DCX PSP soundtest for "Bloodlines" is called "Divine Bloodlines".

Edit: can't get the JP chars to show up. Dammit.

血の涙

-Mike

血の涙 is indeed an expression for "bitter tears" (and really bitter ones at that), but the literal translation "bloody tears" is just as valid, and more suitable in my opinion.

乾坤の血族 -- The first two kanji are "heaven and earth" or "universe". 血族 stands for "kin", "blood relatives"; "bloodlines" isn't too far off. "Divine Bloodlines" as mentioned by Zane seems appropriate.

As for the other problematic tracks:

獄幻界乱舞 ("Dancing in Phantasmic Hell") -- The first kanji can be "prison" or "hell" depending on the context (which, in this case, leans towards "hell"). 幻界 : :illusionary / phantasm world". 乱舞 : "boisterous / wild dance". Translation's good enough for me.

十字架を胸に ("Cross Your Heart") -- Another one of those annoying titles where the verb is omitted. 十字架 is "cross / rosary" and 胸 is "chest / heart", so while not being exactly faithful, "Cross Your Heart" is a rather neat way around it.

I've taken the liberty of changing "Bloodlines" to "Divine Bloodlines" in the Dracula X album tracklist.

Thanks for the input, Blah!

I didn't expect this thread to become a topic on track title translations, but the subject has always interested me. Furthermore, finding better translations is always a good thing.

While we're going over different translations, "Cross Your Heart" is officially known in Portrait of Ruin as "Crucifix Held Close". I like the former, personally.