Hello! 
Following a brief hiatus from my posting activities on the EoFF forums, I have returned!!! Woot!
Okay, before I begin, a couple of disclaimers:
1. I don't speak/read Japanese. My knowledge of the dialogue in FFXII comes from (reliable and respectable) fan translations. The translations I have consulted can be found
here - the FXII section of
GameFAQs. So, in this respect,
Aria28 has the upper hand in our debates.
2.
I HAVEN'T PLAYED FFXII. However, I
have viewed all of the cutscenes in the game. Details
here.
Originally Posted by
Aria28
Originally Posted by
al-bhed_kid0827
Is there really a Fran/Balthier/Ashe love triangle?
Hmmm, well, one thing for sure is that
(SPOILER)there is no sense of competition at any point between Fran and Ashe, so it's not formally a love triangle.
Originally Posted by
scooby
...Except for when
(SPOILER)Fran asks Balthier what it's like to have a "second woman" (which implicitly implies that she is his woman, to begin with) - an obvious reference to Ashe. This elicits an irritable "baka!" ("fool", if you don't know) from Balthier, as though the mere suggestion that he could love any woman other than Fran is preposterous.
I also detected some hostility towards Ashe, coming from Fran, in several scenes.
Well, like I said, I think that it is more about
(SPOILER)what we want to read into their relationships than about what there is clearly there. It will be interesting to see what the translation will be like (i.e. if there is something clearer in that respect) and what people who haven't played it yet will make of it.....
Oh, and could you give me the sentence in Japanese re: what Fran says? Because I don't ever remember her telling quite that (although I remember the one from Balflear - hard to forget *g*) - now of course, my Japanese isn't perfect and I may have misunderstood it - would be easier to understand if I have it written.
EDIT: Found that sentence again! You mean
(SPOILER) once they both are back in the Bahamut Fortress to repair it and after debris have fallen, right? She says "Nimaime wa taihen ne, Barafurea" - which you could translate into: "It's hard to be a playboy, isn't it, Balflear?" (she doesn't say "second woman", if that's the sentence you were referring to - I imagine it's the "ni" of "nimaime", which alone reads as "two", that could make think that. "Nimaime" is a term used for an actor who plays love interest in a story, i.e. a handsome man, if I'm not mistaking). To which he replies "Baka" - "Idiot". Btw, baka can be an endearing term to say "idiot" (Penelo uses it with Vaan a lot), especially the way he says it: he's not revolted by what she says, LOL To me, she sounds everything but jealous, actually, she's clearly teasing him, and he's not irritated, but amused. Just watch the scene again - maybe you hadn't seen it in a long time? I know I needed to refresh my memory as well, LOL
Now of course, you could certainly interpret things in your way, with her hitting at the fact that Ashe fancies/loves/is infatuated with/whatever him, to which he replies Baka to say "Idiot, it's only you I love". But you'll have to admit, it's only one possibility, i.e. he doesn't actually say that, it just may be implied. The first time I saw this scene, I was more under the impression he was saying "baka" because she's saying such a thing in the difficult position they are in, which is pretty funny. But then that's also only an interpretation.
Hence my opinion that
(SPOILER)things are only hinted at in this game, and that room is left for interpretation. It's not about being right or wrong, but about perceiving things a certain way.
See Disclaimer #1. I'm not going to dispute what you have said, and am not qualified to argue this further. The (SPOILER)"second woman" line came from one of the aforementioned fan transcripts. Either you or the translator may be right.... *shrugs* How would I know? We'll just have to wait and see what the official English translation of Fran's line will be.... Either way, I feel sure that she was referring to Ashe...and in, what I perceived as, a jealous (though well-disguised) tone of voice....
Originally Posted by
Aria28
...but he [Balthier]
(SPOILER)understands better than anybody else what really is going on, and where Ashe's feelings are leading her if she keeps being "tied to her past". He does understand that, she has to "see the light" before it's too late and all hell breaks loose, not just for herself, but for everyone involved.
...I think that (SPOILER)Vaan displays an equally good, if not better, understanding of what Ashe is going through. He always notices, and points out to the others, when Ashe is seeing "him" (Rasler). Vaan, of course, also suffered a bereavement in the recent past; his grief enables him to empathize with Ashe. I do not think that Balthier's understanding of Ashe is any greater than Vaan's is. But, whatever....
Originally Posted by
Aria28
(SPOILER)...to say she's her love interest in the game would be too much of a stretch though.
Originally Posted by
scooby
Huh?!
"
She's her love interest"...?!
*sigh* Read me again, you'll see that I'm saying that you definitely cannot say that she is his love interest during the game.
My confusion was owing to your use of the word "her", where, I now realize, you meant to write "his".
...English isn't your native language, is it?
Perhaps the sequel to FFXII - Revenant Wings - which stars both Balthier and Fran, will give us further insight into their relationship.... *prays*
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