My very hot take about Shadow Milk's crashout at the end of BY8 (and by extension his whole character) is that both the English and Korean contexts are valid.
Imo, it feels like the English dub plays into the idea that the character of Shadow Milk is a performance the most, and is probably the most deceiving out of the dubs, even to the audience. He switches between facades easily: the silly jester, the sinister madman, the sadistic psycho, the nuisance that the other Beasts dislike - all to protect the hurt individual within.
One very, very important thing to note is that... Shadow Milk Cookie is a liar (cue Pikachu's shocked face).
!! Everything he says here is part of his facade. !!
View the crashout from his POV. This guy who stole your Soul Jam, the guy that you manipulated and obsessed over as the result of a clash of ideals ascends and was able to push past the doubt that Deceit brought and reconciliate the fact that they are indeed inseparable and accepted it when you couldn't.... Offering you something you have always desired but could never obtain...
It's easier for Shadow Milk to dismiss Pure Vanilla as nothing because of his pride, because of his fear of vulnerability.
'Shadow Milk actually hates Pure Vanilla yadda yadda yadda' Again, I am tapping the sign that Shadow Milk is a LIAR.
It's easier for him to say he hates Pure Vanilla than to confront the fact that he has been hurt and is at risk of appearing vulnerable. It's easier to say hate than to confront the complicated emotions he feels about the whole betrayal after PV's awakening.
Remember earlier when he was talking about Pure Vanilla's souljam? When he was talking about how he couldn't stand PV's souljam resonating whenever he was with his friends?
That souljam, to Shadow Milk, represents his loss. His own lost friendships (perhaps with the Beasts), his own loneliness. From the story in the One of Darkness Absolute, there is some sort of awareness that he is annoying to the other Beasts (like Burning Spice and Mystic Flour doesn't even try to hide it from him). He hesitates in the Wind Archer story when he says 'I don't have that many... friends'. He knows that a lot of things have changed between them but he still calls them friends because he's still trying to cling on in some way or form.
On the other hand, the Korean dub (and probably all the other dubs too - I crosschecked with the Chinese dub since that is my second language) is more straightforward and doesn't leave any ambiguity for interpretation. It makes sense as to why, since after all it is a story that the audience is supposed to take a message from. But in some ways, it can feel a little...expositiony?
Coming from a writer, the dialogue, if directly translated, feels too stilted in English, and especially when one is crashing out... which is why I can see they opt for that dialogue instead.
No localisation is ever perfect, especially for different languages such as Korean to English for a complex character like Shadow Milk.
I think the only flaw in the English localisation here is underplaying the extent to which Smilk is willing to tear it all down for the sake of destroying PV and the crew, but to say that it lacks depth is hmm... missing the nuanced layers that make up Shadow Milk. A lot of it is in the subtext for English, while it feels more open and out there for the other language dubs. But if you consider the context, then it's very easy to come to the same conclusions just by thinking hard and analysing the text.
(On a voice acting performance note because I am a yapper, it's interesting how the other dubs has him screaming in pure rage, while the English dub has him screaming with rage, yes, but there is also that underlying layer of sadness as if he's struggling to fight back tears. I like it a lot. It helps to humanise him a little bit which I think Devsisters wants to do since his Korean VA keeps saying how we should take care of him etcetc... )
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