#may or may not post a theory later which may or may not have subconsiously affected the way i translated this

[mysticgalaxychaos]

Tanukineiri (Sham sleep) (Google translate+)

So, the actual reason I'm kinda back here is to post my Google translate kinda version of Masa's new songs' lyrics (that makes sense)

Before I do, I'll annoy you a bit with how I get these lyrics. I use multiple translators and disect the sentences to derive the most sense I possibly can out of it, plus I look for extra things on it to get as much culturally right as I can. It is still google translate and I only know the very bare bones of the language (like, huge begginer stuff) so you should take this with a grain of salt, but this is esentially what you'll be seeing here... I haven't been fully accurate in the past, but a few things do make sense and it's one extra sourse of translation at the end of the day, so I think it's worth it. I'm saying all this, because in the past, google translate has caused discourse in the fandom. Read at your own discretion

Tanukineiri

Dead poems sung by child

The story of the Miasmic Mountain Temple

What should a woman eaten by insects do?

Take the head of the temple’s shrine

The miasma-eating insects that have abandoned the eternal world

Exterminated by the Baketanuki

In the depths of the mountain where the sun is always set

The Bunbuku Chagama temple’s guardian deity

A rusty tea kettle that sucks people in

The fishy-smelling monk has abandoned the eternal world

Tanuki worshiping bōzumekuri

Fukuwarai scattered in the back room

Wiped off the blood off

The voice of the centipede echoing in my head

Come on, give me this tea kettle I want

Hell’s sound of the tea kettle in the underground

Eating up life regardless of whose

Centipede and the married girl’s song

Return to hell and sing to the tanuki

A mountain smelling of miasma that leads to the eternal world

In the back of the temple hell’s gates

Enma’s messenger right hand

The Bunbuku Chagama temple’s guardian deity

Golden lotus and the spider’s web

Betray Enma and take the world

Tanuki worshiping bōzumekuri

Deva’s gate in the back hall of the temple

A shrine maiden holding a tea kettle

Touch the taboo and sing to the tanuki

The last job of Enma’s centipede

The demi-god’s new born centipede

Shared life with the world’s half dead

The monk and the tanuki’s forbidden dance

Go back to hell and sing to the centipede

Hell’s sound of the tea kettle in the underground

Eating up life regardless of whose

Centipede and the married girl’s song

Return to hell and sing to the tanuki

----------------------------------------------------------

Notes:

Tanukineiri: The title of the song is the literal word for "fake sleep", but interestingly the first character (狸), seen in the romaji as well, translates to Tanuki, a word wich appears constantly in the songs and means "Racoon dog". Racoon dogs or Tanuki as i keep refering to them here are considered powerful shapeshifting yokai. The yokai is specifically named Bakedanuki and is supposed to be a trickster shapeshifter type yokai, similar to the Kitsune

Bunbuku Chagama: The Bunbuku Chagama is a folk tale about a Tanuki which transforms from a kettle, a symbol seen in the story/songs a lot

fishy-smelling monk: a corrupt monk

bōzumekuri: This was a nightmare to figure out, but this was the best I could do... Apparently the bōzumekuri is a japanese card game. In this case the interesing part about it is, it seems the monk card is a major loss card... And the word monk (bozu) is in the name... But i cant help further

Fukuwarai: Children's game similar to pin the donkey. You have to place the feautures of a drawn face on it correctly.

married girl’s song: I couldn't decipher if the gir and the centipede are the ones supposed to be married here, but it's doubtfull. The original translation was "couple's girl song"

Enma: Buddhist king of hell

Deva’s gate: The "Nio" gate, entrance to a temple guarded by two Devas

------------------------------------------------

That's all! Hope you enjoy!

Edit: I'm awful, i forgot to post links

the awsome original translator on youtube who inspired me to do this

where i got the lyrics from, again huge thanks!

[mariaantonnietta]

So, we all agree Kurokono Tasuke condition is unkown right?

....or maybe we don’t, but it’s a valid take, right? I saw the Reunion Arc again (I love this arc!!) and every time I see it I end up feeling different about Kurokono Tasuke being alive or dead by the end.

I believed it was supposed to remain ambiguous, but I see a lot of wikis posting him as alive, and ok?, I mean, it is a valid interpretation that Kurokono is alive, somehow found out what the Kihetai was doing and appeared to help at the most crucial moment, but it is also a valid interpretation that it was his spirit. It really sounded ominious the ‘ before I turn into a real demon’ line and is fitting of an story of people pretending to be a ghost to be confronted with the real deal. 

(of course in that case it  would mean that GIntoki was actually talking with a dead Kurokono in the dream/memory, which wouldn’t be surprising, you can interpret that scene as Kurokono having survived and later parting ways, or you could see it as Kurokono spirit saying a final goodbye to Gintoki, the fact that it appears that GIntoki was sleeping under a tree and he could be still sleeping and just dreaming of Kurokono, the ‘I am always by your side’ of Kurokono can be seen as  a parting soul  words too)

And all that without taking into account that is has been established that Gintoki can see ghost somewhat, AND we have had  a ghost playing ‘kick-the-can’in the story before (Zenzou’s dad).

Of course there’s a lot of points to think he is alive, like if Takasugi and he were friends, doesn’t it sound probable he knew the plan Takasugi had to blown up the temple beforehand? (of course in the version he dies the tragedy is that his lack of presence made Takasugi overlook him). And the demon line could be just him being a badass, and in the flashback he was telling Gintoki  that he was leaving and he was alive and it was a normal goodbye.

To this we can counter that is strange that Matako seems so surprised he is here, as if she is seeing a ghost, so she does believe he’s dead, and Takasugi doesn’t seem the type to lie like that. But also, they may just assummed he was dead, (Takasugi might  have not been clear in that aspect) and Kurokono as a shadow could be able to discover he was needed and assist his formed comrades.

One of the strongest points to the theory he survived was Katsura basketball story, because  this event where he hears him  is  held after the war, and the idea of ‘let’s play basketball to lift up people spiritrs’ has the same sentiment of  ‘let’s play kick the can to lift up people spirits’, it may well have been Kurokono who suggested the idea (of course, basket), but also, maybe the similarities to what Kurokono situation is what made Katsura subconsious picture Kurokono there even if he wasn’t there (the one who passes the pokari could be interpreted to be Tatsuma, or another person, and the actual factuallity of this memory is disputable, at least is not recently after the war, both Zura and Sakamoto seem too old, almost the same as the main series (or the same?), so it was a lot closer to the present, so it is either a Joi/Kaientai reunion or the ‘ease the tropes’ is bullshit and these two went to have fun, or is imaginary) ). Or he could have appeared there, to see old friends, and be alive.

At the end we see Gintoki with two Pokari’s, and that could both mean that Kurokono appeared and they talked together, or that Gin decided to dedicate one to Kurokono spirit (or, being that Gintokki can somentimes see ghosts, maybe Kurokono's spirit sat down with him, but I see this one less probable) 

Katsura and Sakamoto not remembering a thing is probably because of the sleeping gas, but it can also be because of ghost interferance (or both things).

I personally think the ambiguiity is on purpose, and it could be read either way, and I like the episode for that, so I don’t know, I made this post because I saw the wiki saying he’s alive, and well, if sorachi stated he was aiive somewhere then my bad, but. l think is more up to interpretation.  Did I overthink this? Quite possibly,  so thanks for reading my take on it.