U.C. Hardgraph - Messing with Ranks

[Deacon Blues]

So I caved in and purchased those 300 page U.C. Hardgraph novels ($90 total a la Amazon Japan) because I'm a sucker for background information and I wanted some perspective on the drop operations and what not from the lowly totem pole soldiers. At any rate, the opening to the books have a character listing, maps of troop movements, etc. But! Here's the kicker: Using navy ranks doesn't work for translations.

Here's the breakdown:

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EARTH FEDERATION FORCES MARINES

North America 4th Marine Division 23rd Marine Brigade 1st Batallion C Detachment Company

 Captain Sterling Pyke Detachment Company Commander

Marines 106th Reconnaissance Team (RT)

 Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Samuel McCulloch (SMMC) -Chief-
 Master Sergeant Alhe Luske -Subman-
 Sergeant Gonzales Bragg -Pointman-
 Corporal Matthew Taylor -Radioman-
 Corporal Raphael Vasquez -Support Weapon-

EARTH FEDERATION GROUND FORCES

North America 36th Combat Engineer Group 8th Combat Engineer Batallion

  Private 2nd Class Henry Hebert [Truck: "Mole Under the Mole"] -Junior Cargo Assistant-
  Superior Private Van Dorn [Same] -Driver-
  Private 2nd Class Zachary Price -Senior Cargo Assistant-

Mechanized Rocket Unit

  Major James M. Crockett -Commander-

North America 2st Armored Division

  2nd Lieutenant Matthew Ryan -Recon Chief-
  1st Lieutenant Annie Burkley -Recon Tank Commander-
  2nd Lieutenant Svenson -Recon Tank Commander-
  Private 1st Class Robert Louis -North American Ground Forces Unknown Affiliation-

EARTH FEDERATION AIR FORCE

Earth Federation Airforce Homestead Base Ground Observation Post

  Staff Sergeant Thomas N. Morland
  Private 1st Class John Macintosh
  Private 2nd Class Jeremy R. Ogden

North America 10th Air Force 482nd Fighter Wing

  Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Twix -Flight Commander-
  Major Dwight
  2nd Lieutenant David E. Garrett
  2nd Lieutenant Isaac Fisher

CIVILIANS

  Aaron Stevenson -Eyewitness of the Zeon Forces Drop Operation-
  Genessa Stevenson -Aaron's wife-
  Hal Mayfest -Eyewitness of the Zeon Forces Drop Operation, Aaron's friend-

And here's the Japanese for comparison:

Spoiler

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北米第４海兵師団第２３海兵旅団第１大隊C分遣中隊
　スターリング・パイク大尉　分遣中隊指令

海兵隊第１０６偵察班　（RT）
　サミュエル・マカロック海兵隊最先任上級曹長　（SMMC）　班長　（チーフ）
　アール・ラスク曹長　副長　（サブマン）
　ゴンザレス・ブラッグ軍曹　（ポイントマン）
　マシュー・テイラー伍長　（ラジオマン）
　ラファエル・バスクェス伍長　（支援火器）

北米第３６工兵群第８工兵大隊
　ヘンリー・エベール二等兵　トラック　"モール・アンダー・ザ・モール"　号次席荷役助手
　ヴァン・ドーン上等兵　同　ドライバー
　ザカリー・プライス二等兵　同　先任荷役助手　

ロケット機動部隊
　　ジェイムズ・M・クロケット少佐　指揮官
　　
北米第１機甲師団
　マシュー・ライアン少尉　偵察隊班長
　アニー・バークレイ中尉　偵察戦車小隊長
　スヴェンソン少尉　偵察戦車小隊長
　ロバート・ルイス一等兵　北米地上軍　所属不明

地球連邦軍空軍

ホームステッド地球連邦軍空軍基地対空監視哨　
　トーマス・N・モーランド二等軍曹
　ジョン・マッキントッシュ一等兵
　ジェレミー・R・オグデン二等兵
　
北米第１０空軍第４８２戦闘攻撃航空団
　ナサニエル・トゥィッグス中佐 飛行隊長
　ドワイト少佐
　デヴィッド・E・ギャレット少尉
　アイザック・フィッシャー少尉

民間人
　アーロン・スティーブンス　ジオン軍北米降下作戦の目撃者
　ジェネッサ・スティーブンス　アーロンの妻
　ハル・メイフェスト　ジオン軍北米降下作戦の目撃者、アーロンの友人

I suppose if I really wanted to, I could just use this as a guide, but it sorta defeats the purpose as the Marines don't use naval ranks 0_o;

Thankfully the Zeon side doesn't have that much work

Anywho, comments appreciated!

[toysdream]

Looks fine to me. What's the question?

-- Mark

[Deacon Blues]

Well, since you guys use naval ranks as per Sunrise, it doesn't really work for this particular material (which poses a whole lick of problems imo), but that's just me, maybe?

[toysdream]

As per Sunrise, the Federation's ground forces use army ranks (hence "General Revil"). If they'd asked me, I would have suggested doing the same for Zeon's Earth Attack Force and Mobile Assault Force, since they're organized into army-style divisions rather than naval fleets. Too late now, I guess.

As for the Zeon Marines, since they hadn't really been invented when Sunrise came up with that rule, you can probably do as you please. Certainly the folks who compiled these listings seem to have been thinking of army ranks, even if they clearly have no idea what the heck "Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps" actually means.

-- Mark

[Deacon Blues]

Huh, I always thought that General Revil was an exception to the rule... or is it because the Federation Space Forces switch to naval ranks? Then again I can't remember where the Titans lie with that either. Sadly, we've had so many different variations used over the years there's never any consistency. A shame we can't rewrite those errors :S

[toysdream]

The "Federation ground forces use army ranks because of General Revil" rule has been in force as long as I've been working on these titles, which is almost 15 years at this point, and it should be consistent across all the English adaptations done in that time. (Which excludes 08th MS Team, 0080, and 0083.) Of course, that rule doesn't apply to the stuff that's done on the Japan side.

-- Mark