#so many weird kanji

[aechlys]

Honestly, I see misty, mossy forest pictures and all I hear now is a desperately sung "私は獣にあなたは妖精に生まれ..."

"I a beast and you a fairy were we born... Just for this one twinkling of a human moment tasting each other, we live..."

"Body like willowy torchlight softly cast The color of the lake shadowy but also rather of a deep lamentation"

"Even breath forgetting... Your voice far away... 'You will know I...am not...here...' "

"If there is writhing agony In your heart's depths... 'I have known that you...are not...here...' "

"I a beast and you a fairy were we born... Just for this one twinkling of a human moment tasting each other, we live..."

"No one even knows..."

"On the b e d of the l a k e..."

"If this is a dream I beg to just remain in it...always...forever..."

.

.

original lyrics by Atsushi Sakurai, music by Masami Tsuchiya, translation by myself, Aechlys. >DO NOT REPOST ANYWHERE or I will send ghosts after you.

[localcoffeeshop]

things in the Candy Kingdom that appear only in season 5 episode 43 "root beer guy" and literally never again:

underground subway system

powerlines extending out the parameter of the city all the way to lake butterscotch

call centers

donald trump candy citizen

functioning airplanes flying in the candy kingdom airspace

parking meters

a hardware store

[artsy-dreamer]

Looking up art references… it’s all fun and games until you get stuck on that one very specific detail that you can’t find a good reference for ANYWHERE

[volfoss]

the nature of volfoss is they will make translating proper nouns actually the most hellish thing int eh world.

[itsoverfeeling]

pixiv my love

[tengoku-izumi]

DFO strikes again ! Almost everybody in DFO fandom, might have heard about the weird coincidence where AFO's prison number 1541 spells Hisashi. Well, folks, we found Hisashi again! And this time it is in Izuku's Birthday. 15th of July. July =7 1 = ichi (kanji ��� ) 5= go/sa (nanori reading) (kanji 五) month 7 = nana, shichi (kanji 七)

ichi (一) can also be read as hi (五) can be sa, we already know. nana, shichi (七) also have a reading shi (N.B. the reading shi is not used as it is homophone to shi (death) in japanese. They consider it unlucky.) 15th of July implies hi-sa-shi. It's so mysterious, that we find the man's name in so many ways but the man himself doesn't show up. (or does he? 👀)

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 408: Orphaned Cryptid to Billionaire Supervillain

Previously on BnHA: HE WAS BORN AN ARROGANT BABY.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi decides he’s going to cover the rest of the AFO/OFA saga in the span of just seven pages, the majority of which are mostly just filled with lovingly detailed closeups of AFO and Kudou’s eyes. Back in the present day, Kid For One takes a couple of seconds to trample the last of the “Kacchan is OFA II or is related to OFA II” theories into the dust, and is then all “fuck it, I’ll just take him out with one last spectacularly grotesque supermove.” Kacchan is all “lol you fucking dipshit”, and he says it with such confidence that it truly makes me believe he can defeat AFO’s “ALL THE QUIRKS EVER!!” attack with his piddly little exploding bloodsweat quirk. AND IT WILL BE A SIGHT TO SEE.

interesting!

Yoichi’s name btw is written with the kanji 与 which means “bestow” or “give”, and 一 which means “one.” so basically “one who gives”, which is fitting as the creator of OFA, but also fits in with this new context of being the first “possession” bestowed upon AFO

oh yes and also AFO I guess has just torn his brother to shreds or something too. idk. I’m going to be honest with you guys, this panel has such a surreal vibe that I just sat here blinking stupidly at it and wasn’t even shocked or anything. like what. is he dreaming this?? or did he really just make a “STOP! IN THE NAAAAME OF LOVE” gesture and in doing so remove half of his brother’s jaw

ewww

idk what’s wrong with me today guys. AFO just disintegrated Yoichi, and Kudou and and OFA Tres (who apparently still doesn’t have a name???? freaking Kudou got named before you??) are literally RIGHT THERE and presumably horrified, and all I can think about is how fucking gross it is that they’re all hanging out in a fucking sewer

oh shit y’all it’s about to go down

he can’t kill Kudou right off the bat can he? does Kudou even know he has OFA yet? are we going to see him transfer it to OFA III? I’m so fucking excited omg

LOL WHAT

“weirdly matte” omg. so apparently he’s like All Might, where the “he’s just drawn differently” thing is something people actually acknowledge in-story. “yeah he actually has no pupils. that’s a real thing. technically that should mean he can’t see since pupils are what let light into your eyes, but don’t worry about that part. just know that his eyes canonically look weird to the story people as well, and everyone is creeped out by it, not just you”

yeah he’s actually blind

so he literally can’t see outside himself. way to lay those metaphors on thick, Horikoshi

(ETA: this is my “just in case my impeccably dry wit doesn’t translate well across the internet” ETA to assure everyone I know he’s not actually blind lol.)

now we’re cutting to some random city where AFO is broodingly staring at Yoichi’s severed hand because he’s perfected the art of always doing incredibly unsettling things

I cannot believe the fucking hands thing has an actual origin story. of course it does. this man has never done a single hinged thing in his life. it’s all unhinged or bust. am I talking about AFO or Horikoshi? YOU DECIDE

he’s sitting at a table with a bottle of wine holding his dead brother’s embalmed severed limb and thinking about fucking quirk shit

so your transformation from Orphaned Cryptid to Billionaire Supervillain happened almost completely offscreen huh. I’m kinda disappointed, ngl. I could have read a few more chapters about that. maybe a spinoff miniseries

WAIT WHAT

are you serious. we finally get a panel that’s INCREDIBLY RELEVANT to pretty much ALL OF MY BNHA THEORIES, only for that same panel to contradict itself ONE SPEECH BUBBLE LATER?? so what is the truth???

omg omg omg

so many fucking questions, omg. what the hell does “through research” even mean. how did he confirm Yoichi’s quirklessness, and why did he later change his mind? how the fuck can Yoichi have a quirk factor and yet not have an actual quirk. “it was just so weak it didn’t count or something I guess” okay??? how much of this is unreliable narrator vs. the word of god? how is it we’re getting so many answers and yet all I have is more fucking questions you guys

BRUE?CE?CEE??!

bruce

Kudou is so goddamned hot. I hope you washed the hell out of that arm wound after getting it all covered in sewage you stupid sexy man

I can’t get over Three’s name. “idk if anyone noticed, but it’s kind of a subtle homage to another very famous superhero” Horikoshi your nap wasn’t long enough, please go home

also love how Bruce is talking shit about OFA being a puny loser quirk for wimps. how the fuck do they even know what’s going on, anyway? was there a tutorial???

oh you just had a feeling huh??? that it was “something like this”, huh??? how is it that I, who knows all about OFA because I’m from the future and have read 408 chapters of this nonsense, am somehow still less in the know than this handsome clown who doesn’t know shit but just “had a feeling”

(ETA: while editing this post I noted that Bruce is sitting in front of a computer in what seems to be some sort of medical lab, so maybe they ran some tests or something? except that only makes me more confused, because it implies they didn’t actually figure out OFA’s workings via convenient plot instincts. so then how the fuck did they figure out the transfer process?? questions)

meanwhile AFO is sitting in the panel next to him whining about how someone stole Yoichi’s quirk. excuse you. he did not steal it. it was in fact a gift

these flashbacks are all jumbled up and it’s unexpectedly fun to read, but also really chaotic

I guess he’s talking to Kudou on the right and AFO on the left

so many intense closeups of eyes in this chapter oh my goodness

Horikoshi even drew the individual goddamn eyelashes. this looks like the margins of someone’s notebook from when they were really bored in middle school

oh my god the information overload!!!

so much for AFO actually feeling emotions lol. or is he just lying to himself about why he cried. that delicious ambiguity

so we don’t even get a flashback explaining how the transfer actually happened?? to either Kudou OR my beloved Bruce?? goddamn you Horikoshi. omg I would seriously kill for more of this. make a movie about it. I want the OFA origin story prequel movie damn it

I like how AFO just sits there on a throne holding court with a single tiki torch beside him for aesthetic reasons

I can’t quite figure out how he killed Banjou and I’m not sure I really want to know. it looks very violent

friendly reminder that Shinomori is Sir Not Appearing In This Flashback because he’s the only OFA user who died of natural causes! good for you Shinomori. En probably wishes he was more like you

poor En

was Nana just taking a stroll or something one day and stumbled across this epic fight with the evilest man on the planet vs some kid in a trenchcoat, and then the poor kid got bisected and he looked at her and he was all “please eat my hair” and she was just like “ok”?

OH WOW

what a transition omg

LOLLLLLLLL

you know, part of me always wondered how All Might was so certain he’d killed AFO that he apparently never bothered to confirm it. but looking at this panel now, I can understand

fjjfdzjgf

he’s sweating so much. like “okay yeah he punched the top of his face off, this is pretty bad but I’LL DO MY BEST”

BACK TO THE PRESENT DAY AWW SHUCKS

so let’s recap. over on Kacchan’s side we have “GOTTA USE THE PAIN TO WIN!!!” haha ouch. and then over here on KFO’s side we have. whatever the fuck we just experienced over these past two chapters. so basically it’s a battle between the two most deranged characters in the entire series. glorious sweet chaos

DSFJKSLDKGJL he’s now trying to figure out how the fuck they look so much alike and whether they’re actually related

“no, that can’t be it. so then maybe... this kid grows up and then somehow travels back in time...?!” HE’S JUST LIKE US FR

so now he’s saying it’s because Kacchan didn’t have character development yet the last time, but now that he does his eyes are all Full Of Determination just like Kudou’s and so we’ve basically come full circle!

transcended WHAT? :O :D :D omg I’m kidding you guys please don’t hurt me

lol

actually the more we learn about Kudou the less I personally see the resemblance now lol. because Kudou seems so calm and collected, but Kacchan is just... [gestures to literally everything about Kacchan]

so AFO’s trying to strategize, but he can’t warp Kacchan away because the only available targets are too close and he’s still got that SUPERSPEED, BOYO so it wouldn’t make a difference. lol but if you kept doing it repeatedly it might be kind of funny though

and he can’t keep fighting him either because he’s getting his ass whooped and it’s speeding up his de-aging or whatever. well you could just give up then I guess. your call, AFO

oh was that your plan?

spoiler alert for me lol. but it’s not exactly shocking or anything since he’s dying, guess he wants to abandon ship

(ETA: just FYI for anyone reading this who’s not familiar with my dumbassery, I have currently only read chapters 1 through 374 at this point in time, before skipping ahead to 403 because Kacchan came back and I lost all willpower. I am working on catching up with the rest!)

oh so now you did come up with a strategy?

lmao what the FUCK

how much of this is going to be clearer to me once I finish the chapters that I missed, and how much of it is just plain old “nope this is all brand new zero-context BnHA bullshit” lol. this looks like every single quirk AFO ever absorbed combined into one gigantic horrifying blob that forced Horikoshi to take an extra week just to draw it

oh my god!?

Kacchan hovering there bravely facing all this is giving me Gandalf “you shall not pass” vibes and I’m LIVING FOR IT

so either AFO is going to kill Kacchan for the second time right here and now, or he’s going to fail and turn back into a squishy evil baby fdslfjkls

love how All Might is all “DODGE IT YOUNG BAKUGOU!” thanks for the warning, champ. doing his part

more exploding bloodsweat closeups. are these just going to be a mainstay of Kacchan fights from now on

“are you stupid?”, when faced with [gestures to the entirety of the previous page], is possibly the best line ever uttered by anyone in the series. even better than the polite “coming through” uttered only seconds before it

ah man. you love to see it. he literally doesn’t even care. HE ALREADY DIED ONCE TODAY, AND IT CLUED HIM IN TO THE FACT THAT HE’S A MAIN CHARACTER AND ACTUALLY IMMUNE TO DEATH. sorry AFO it’s curtains for you. CURTAINS

[nebulaaaeee]

“ Why SatoSugu Might be Canon ”

nebulanalysis

i was bored, so i thought.. why not point out stuff that might relate to SatoSugu being canon?

credits to Jallomoth on YouTube for most of the information in this post :)

check his YouTube video about satosugu here

let’s start, shall we?

WARNINGS:

manga spoilers , satosugu as its own warning

REMINDERS:

manga spoilers

satosugu

only an assumption

i do not want to argue, made for fun

most of the information by Jallomoth on YouTube

__

satosugu, a very tragic ship if i ever saw one.

the ship consists of two ‘bestfriends’.

satoru gojo and suguru geto.

let’s start with our first piece of evidence..

AO NO SUMIKA’S LYRICS ☆

now, if you hadn’t known already, ao no sumika interprets or resembles gojo and geto’s relationship.

let us look at some suspicious.. lyrics.

“it’s like a quiet love”

or

静かな恋のような (in kanji)

now, some people might say:

“platonic love exists!”

“what if he means platonic love?”

well,

that can’t be right.. let us look at japanese culture, and the kanji used for love.

since, in the west, we really only have one word to describe love. which is.. love.

but..

not for japan!

恋 - this kanji right here is prounounced; koi.

and.. koi is only used when referring to romantic or passionate love.

here’s an image for ya.

believe me? .....no? well, you’re free to do your own research!

here’s another ao no sumika lyric that has something to do with romance!

“even if i’ve come to know your scent, diffferent from mine, in the depths of eternity left behind”

knowing or remembering someone’s scent is considered romantic in most cultures!

since, if you were to write a song about a bestfriend,

you wouldn’t write a lyric that contains stuff about knowing their scent, right?

that would seem weird, if you only love them platonically.

next..

DECEMBER 24TH (manga spoilers ahead, skip if needed.)

suguru geto died on december 24th, most of us know that.

satoru gojo died on december 24th, some of us know that.

now, okay, dying on the same day is.. kind of romantic if you look at it that way i guess.

but, it is not about that fact,

it is about the day they both died!

they both died on december 24th,

now, if you don’t know,

december 24th is the most romantic day in the year in japanese culture. it is basically the valentine’s day equivalent in japan.

if you were a mangaka/author trying to hint that two characters are inlove, killing them both on the most romantic day of the year would do it.

now, onto our next shred of evidence.

KFC ‘BREAKUP’

the infamous KFC “breakup”.

a lot of people know about the KFC scene, where geto and gojo parted ways infront of a KFC.

(this one)

now, i am not going to say that KFC is the most romantic food in japan or anything..

but it is commonly enjoyed by lovers on december 24th.

yes, i am saying that their “breakup” taking place infront of a KFC is romantic.

also, the fact that gege modeled the kfc in this scene from a real life KFC restaurant is kinda suspicious.

you don’t just accidentally draw a perfect real life KFC restaurant and paste it on your manga, do you?

here are the KFCs in both the manga and real life.

seem quite similar, don’t you think?

next piece..

GOJO’S SILENT VOICE IN JJK 0

now i am sure that everyone knows that there is a scene where gojo says something to geto,

which was never revealed, by the way,

in jjk 0.

now, i am not going to claim that gege told me himself that what gojo said was romantic but..

gojo’s english voice actor said that he can’t say what it was, and that it was localized so it would be understood in english.

but he said that it was three words.

now, there are a lot of three words you can say to a bestfriend.

many people might think;

“but! what if it’s; ‘you’re my friend’??”

“or ‘this is it’??”

“or even ‘we’ll meet again’!”

but.. the thing is..

the light novel of jjk 0 confirmed that what gojo said was;

A. really embarassing, and

B. something neither has said to the other ever in their time together.

so, the only reasonable sentence gojo would say was simply;

“i love you.”

let us move on to our next evidence.

LGBTQ+ IN JAPAN

some might ask, “well, why did gege not confirm this despite everything you just said?”

well..

japan, gege’s hometown is..

homophobic, or hostile to gay people.

insert gasp GIF.

in the west, it’s easy to get away with something like: being gay.

but in japan, it’s so much more different.

it would be a much bigger controversy in japan if you are gay.

gay people are either fetishized, made fun of / bullied, or just completely hidden away by japanese people.

there’s a case like this, where an anime called Yuri on Ice had two male characters with an engagement and they had to label it as a bizzare friend relationship (?)

and, as far as i know, MAPPA dropped it without completing the series.

next example, is adventure time.

a series that surely, you are familiar with.

adventure time characters: marceline and bubblegum were supposed to have a romantic relationship early on in the series.

but, they had to wait until the finale in order to finally show them hugging and a small kiss.

because they fear that they might not be able to show the finale if they did it before.

and, steven universe.

steven universe wanted this big, gay wedding in a grand episode where there were also a lot of plot in.

cartoon network kept warning them that the show will not be good for them financially, and will also go horribly in eastern countries.

however, steven universe doubled down.

they forced the episode to air, so it is either

A. show the episode to eastern countries exposing viewers to LGBTQ+ or..

B. not let the episode air in those countries, leading to mass confusion due to a large portion of plot in said episode

and, keep in mind, the staff that told them that airing the episode is going to be a bad idea, is gay. (as far as i know.)

so, if gege were to reveal that satoru gojo, the most popular character in modern shonen history, was gay!?

that would result in possibly:

A. more people trying to figure out gege’s real identity, immense backlash and boycotting

B. gege losing his job and career

C. Jujutsu Kaisen being dropped by MAPPA, similar to Yuri on Ice

or

D. all of the above.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

so, dear readers, this is all i have to say about satosugu being possibly canon.

check out the YouTube video of Jallomoth about satosugu here, he explains it better than me :)

that’s all folks!

- nebula rambles🙌🏻

[cissi-sh01]

ranking all the atp players' chinese characters/kanji tattoos

rankings will be based on the meaning of the word they chose, placement and font. in other words its just me judging people based on my bias

(might not be a complete list if you know anyone else with chinese characters/ kanji tattoos please tell me in the comments!)

matteo berrettini

愛(traditional chinese character/ japanese kanji) - Love

tbh that is a bit of a cliche word but the font has a nice traditional calligraphy done (correctly!) with a brush vibe, and the placement is a bit weird for me but hot (imean its on matteo berrettini) so id say its a good tattoo

2. flavio cobolli

勇氣(traditional chinese) - courage

i actually quite like this choice of word, but the font is like the chinese equivalent font of calibri. or impact at max. imagine tattooing something in those font on yourself 😭 but because this word gives a bit of a ACGN+ vibe and the font also gives some manga text vibes (although! it is not japanese kanji, japanese kanji of this word would be 勇気) so it actually kind of worked for me, and id say its still a nice tattoo. but i dont think he thought this much he probably just chose the first available font lol

3. arthur cazux

战士 (simplified Chinese) - warrior

cool choice of word, but (1) it is quite obvious that this is done by someone who is trying to 'draw' a traditional calligraphy style chinese characters and (2) i think that is a samurai knife behind the characters so it would probably go better with the japanese kanji version 戦士. and also why simplified chinese that is literally the most swagless form of chinese characters????

but still i am very impressed they managed to cover all forms of chinese characters with just 3 of them 😭😭😭 very inclusive

???. Marat Safin (i have so many things to say about this one)

猴 (same character used in all three forms) - monkey

yea his tattoo means monkey. which is supposedly because he was born in 1980, and 1980 is the year of the monkey in the chinese zodiac calendar. at this point you might think oh okay thats cool, but no, because for calculating zodiacs we use the lunar calendar which is typically 1.5 months later than the solar calendar we are all using now and he was bon on the 27th of January of 1980, so his zodiac animal was actually a goat instead of a monkey. big missed opportunity for him, he could have tattooed 'goat' on himself, that would be incredibly narcissist but at least cool

[salteytakesonmanga]

Dishonorable mention for completely erasing Kureha’s signature line, and with it a lot of the meaning from this scene. But apparently it was also confusing in Japanese because Oda got an SBS question about it. Still, the translators completely changed her words to mean something entirely different so I’m leaving the dishonorable mention.

Kureha uses the word “happy” a lot, and says it in English. Her greeting is “are you happy?” and she sprinkles it throughout her conversation. I assume they took it out because it’s weird, but sometimes you have to let things be weird! It’s weird in the original, too. Get confused, think about stuff, it’s good for you.

I think it’s also unfortunate because it flattens Kureha’s character. When she asks, “Are you happy?” people react with fear, which contrasts with her cheerful smile and the fact that she’s here to help. It adds to her image as a fairytale witch, one who asks questions with hidden meanings and offers you what you want but with a secret price. Taking this out removes one of the ways that this arc contends with various dualities - Kureha is 140 139 but dresses like a teenager, Chopper is an animal and a "monster" but has more humanity than Wapol, healing comes in many forms and some of them are painful…

Here she says “That feeling, don’t ever forget it.” She’s not talking about what she did, but the illness itself. In the original the line is “that HAPPYness, don’t ever forget it,” and “happy” is the phonetic reading given to the kanji for “illness.” So her repeated question, “are you happy?” may actually be her way of asking “are you sick?” She has a reputation for being a nasty old lady, but in her own way she's trying to take care of people.

[witchofthesouls]

Okay, so I'm thinking about linguistics on Cybertron, especially between city-states and caste influence.

I want to emphasize that I don't know jack shit about linguistics, so feel free to jump in if I'm using the term wrong or I'm veering into weird/silly territory.

Because of a lot of fanon interpretation and Bayverse, I'm viewing Cybertronian/Neocybex as ridiculously tonal and, unlike humans, are able to vocally include subglyphs -(sub)harmonics that closely act like written Chinese characters or Japanese kanji.

I'm really stressing the written part because Cybertronians have the capability to able to differentiate a word's very specific meaning without going through all the context surrounding it. So instead of vocally explaining that their names or meaning is "this," people already know.

Think of the name Miko and how many of us already immediately think of shrine maiden. But there are different kanji variations of Miko, so the meaning changes to exemplify certain characteristics or future aspirations.

There is a culture clash between dialects as names can rise from different conventions and inspirations. Hence, the IDW Megatron joke of his name being derived from neutron, the bomb. And TFP Megatron from the Fallen.

In terms of dialect by regional/city-state differences:

Kaon and Tarn: highly forceful and the underscores of territorality (mine versus not yours); very direct and clear cut; incorporated meanings with biolight usage and plating noise

Vos, Praxus, and Polyhex: aggressively stresses the group/flock/cohort rather than the individual (even Starscream with his me/I has a lot of accompanying subglyphs that stresses his position as the second-in-command to the Decepticons, Air Commander, and leader to the Elite Trine), very conscientious of social dynamics and ranks, pecking order is strictly held yet contains fluidity to be challenged, use of more "animalistic" noises, body language with wings/panels, expanded lexicon for spatial relationships during traveling operations

Iacon: emphasis on social hierarchy via one's occupation (aka their caste); formal and cold as it utilizes the least amount of subglyphs (viewed to be academic or stem from it); purposely more general rather than specific

I'm willing to bet the Lost Colonies of Cybertron had developed their own unique flavor of Neocybex/Cybertronian, especially without the immense pressure of Functionism.

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

hypmic has a reputation of having weird character names in the jp fandom. can I ask how hypmic character names are different from other jp media's? sorry if this is an odd question

I wouldn't say their names are unlike those of characters in other Japanese media, but many are spelled in unique ways with rare kanji. As a result, a lot of native Japanese speakers seeing these names for the first time have to take a second to go, "Wait, how is that read?" instead of automatically seeing it and knowing what it is.

For example, Sasara is not uncommon as a girl's name, but it's usually written like 沙々羅/佐々良 or some variation that preserves a similar meaning of slenderness, slightness, or daintiness. Most of these kanji are either common in day-to-day writing or in names, meaning it's very easy to look at those names and recognize them as "sasara." At the same time, a sasara (spelled 簓) is also a type of folk instrument--which is probably where our Sasara's name comes from, tying him back into the theme of entertainment--but this kanji is used for precious little else. I couldn't even type it w/ my computer's kanji conversion program; I had to google "ささら楽器" (sasara musical instrument) and copy/paste the kanji from the Wikipedia article haha. Because it's so uncommon, it may cause a double take when someone sees it for the first time.

Depending on tone and genre, characters in Japanese media may have realistic names, non-Japanese-sounding made-up names, Japanese-sounding made-up names, or realistic names with thematic kanji. Most Hypmic characters fall into the first and fourth camps.

[piracytheorist]

"Sy-on boy" vs. "Second son"

As someone who a) watches the anime first and then reads the manga (and doesn't read manga chapters that haven't been animated yet), b) is quite cautious about Damian's character and c) doesn't even like Damιanya as a ship, I think I have a very different perspective on Anya's view of Damian - at least, according to the point the anime has reached - to the point that I can get VERY confused whenever I see some shippers talk about that. To the point I go like "Is there something I missed?"

And there IS something I miss. And that's manga-only (or at least manga-first) context.

In Japanese, Loid thinks about Damian being the second son of Donovan Desmond, using the word "次男" (jinan) which literally means "second son".

Damian uses the same word for himself later,

and Anya picks that up from then on (though using hiragana characters instead of kanji, as she does in general). And maybe because of that use of simpler characters, the manga translation team decided to have her call Damian "sy-on boy" - a mispronounced "scion boy" - instead of simply "second son".

The thing is, though "sy-on boy" makes Anya's speech sound simpler and more imaginative, fitting her age more, it can also sound more endearing, cute and affectionate, if you lean towards that. Meanwhile, "second son" can range from neutral at best to derogatory at worst - especially considering that Damian is not dealing very well with the fact that his older brother is already an accomplished Imperial Scholar and has raised the bar very high for Damian.

Again, my first contact with the story was from the anime, where Anya simply calls him "second son".

Which, if I'm honest, already sounds appropriately silly. Who calls someone, even the second child of a family, that? Anya's use of "haha" for mama and "chichi" for papa is already kind of incorrect when she talks to them, she's young and has still got lots to learn, in the same chapter/episode she called Becky "milady" until Becky reminded her of her name, and also Damian pissed her off so she has no reason to refer to him with his name (yes I'm fully taking her side on this, bully victim for bully victim). She heard both Loid and Damian use "second son" in their thoughts, so same way she called Becky "milady", she picked that up as a way to call Damian.

I actually wonder why the manga translation team went for "sy-on boy". There's no indication that Anya heard the word "scion" ever before, so it sounds out of place, and honestly, with what I said above, out of character for her. In a weird way, though, it actually fits with how she manages a decent score in her "Ancient Language" test many many chapters later.

(I am aware that there was a fan translation of some chapters before the manga got picked up for an official translation. I have no access to the fan translation, so maybe "scion" was used there and it passed on to the official translations in that way?)

Anyway, what I mean to say is that the use of "sy-on boy" may have encouraged a more lenient and even "encouraging" view of Anya's feelings for Damian, even though through her actions and words she keeps showing that she would rather not be around him, but she has a mission to accomplish.

And with that, though I don't know any Japanese myself, I'm leaning towards the conclusion that "sy-on boy" is not a translation that accurately communicates Anya's sentiments.

And as someone who is very passionate about defending Anya's mistrust of Damian, the use of "sy-on boy" in the manga translation sounds... misleading. Maybe it just feels that way to me because I am a bit more cautious, but it also explains why some fans are so passionate to the point of saying Damian never actually bullied Anya - or to tell me to my face that I shouldn't call Damian a bully because it upsets his fans. If the manga has her use a nickname that could show she's on equal footing with him and could betray, under a certain interpretation, some hidden affection for him, then you kind of understand why people reach that point. It doesn't mean it's right to say Damian was never a bully, or to tell me that after I've shared I still carry scars from having been bullied, but you know. Fandoms will be fandoms.

[hestzhyen]

What's in a Name? (Sazanami Clan)

Sincerely sorry for spamming you, dear void. Think of this as a purge of ideas that have been percolating around for a while but were never given time until now. Anyway, let's take a look at the kanji meanings for the Sazanami clan members' names! ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

Much like parents creating a name for their children, authors often put their wishes and intentions for the character into the name selection process. Kagurabachi is no different- the Saznami's names showcase how much thought Hokazono put into creating the characters to fit seamlessly into the story.

I'm not a pro at Japanese so these interpretations are based off of a lot of research only.

Without further ado:

漣 (sazanami, most commonly read as ren) means "ripple". An indirect reference to the inherited isou technique that uses shock waves?

More rarely, it can also mean crying or continuously flowing tears. A hint towards the horrible legacy they've got as a clan, perhaps.

Sazanami Kyora (漣 京羅) - Bizarre name.

京 (kyo) directly means capital city and is often used as shorthand for Kyoto city itself (京都). 羅 (ra) is for lightweight fabrics like silk or gauze... a surface reading is kinda weird, huh. His name is "Kyoto silk", huh...

In a name, 京 (kyo) can confer both grandeur and power. 羅 (ra) can confer the idea of a protective net, or a link of unity and strength. So in my mind, Kyora is meant to be the powerful, uniting force that protects. Protects what? Certainly not his kids lol.

Sazanami Soya (漣 宗也) - Soya is a special guy for many reasons... 宗 (usually read as mune) is associated with respect for family, ancestry, and following the teachings of a founder (in a religious sense). The so reading is actually pretty rare and means "origin" or "virtuous ancestor". In general it conveys a sense of the child being expected to honor the family's ancestors, legacy, and perhaps the start of something new and special. Good good this is fine.

也 is pretty interesting too. It's archaic, for one. Thus making it a strange choice for a modern name. The most common readings of 也 (nari and ya) mean "to be" in the sense that something is certain to happen/occur, but there's also a less common one used here (ya) that is questioning- like "will it be?" or "is it"? And when it's included in a name, 也 (ya) often takes on a meaning like "also". In an abstract sense, ya here implies excitement for the baby being born, so at least he's got that going for him.

So IMO the most direct meaning of 宗也 (soya) is "another origin" in reference to his "love" being what helps Hakuri overcome Soya himself and start down his new path, with strong implications that he was expected to honor his family's tradition... but maybe wouldn't be able to. Cool stuff! And really depressing in the context that he was chosen to be the next head of the family! Did his parents not have high hopes for him for some reason? Imagine naming your kid "baby we're excited to have that will respectfully carry on our family legacy" while also throwing it in doubt by deliberately using an archaic kanji lol. Soya never had a chance.

Is that why he treated Hakuri the way he did once his little bro failed to manifest the talent he was assumed to have...?

Sazanami Hakuri (漣 伯理) Our favorite former boyfailure sure has an interesting name...

伯 (haku) means someone with a position of high authority like "chief", "earl", or "count". In a name, it conveys a sense of respect and admiration being due as the highest ranked person in the family. What audacity lmao. I think it's interesting that the middle child was given this name since haku also implies being obligated respect and admiration as the eldest brother/role model of the family. Should his and Soya's names have been swapped?

理 (ri) means reason/logic... and less often, justice or truth. It's interesting that this character was used instead of the more common 裡 (ri) that usually composes the full name (伯裡). This character is for something in the rear or the middle, inside or within- implying they're protected or sheltered. Name implications carry connotations of inner strength, security, and comfort; a sense of belonging and connection. ...Things our Hakuri notably lacks. He was never meant to be a strong leader secure in his relationships and protected from harm, I guess. So let's look at why 理 might have been chosen.

There are many implications when it's used in a name, but most of them imply that the child will be guided or helped along in a positive way. Whether by order and structure, logic and wisdom, deep empathy... any or all of them. So his name is something like "logical/natural chief" with the implication that something will guide his path through life. Fortunately for him and us, it happens to be empathy. Not escaping the swapped names theories though since Soya was supposed to be the logical, calculating oldest brother chosen to lead the clan. Hmm.

With all that context, this panel just makes me so... something:

Is there more to unpack with the Sazanamis after all? Is leadership a meritocracy or something? Because normally you'd expect the oldest son to have the duty passed on to him. Yet I'm not confident that Soya was always the first choice now.

But yeah, with a name like that, no wonder we see him being called special by Kyoura at such a young age- Hakuri had a lot placed on his shoulders at birth. It makes me curious as to why he was apparently seen as a better prospect than Soya, but we'll probably never get the details.

Sazanami Tenri (漣 天理) - Another guy with a unisex name that leans feminine lol. Even more parallels to Chihiro!

A lot of fellow anime and manga fans will probably be familiar with 天 (ten)- meaning heaven, sky, sometimes God. No surprises there. 理 (ri) - the same one used in Hakuri's name- once again means reason/logic, and less often, justice or truth. In names, 天 (ten) also adds a sense of natural talent or gifts the child is born with (and we do see Tenri becoming the youngest member of the Tou ever, so he certainly was born with something special like his father claimed).

理 (ri) implications hurt my heart. He was also named with great expectations placed on him, but at least it's a relatively common name unlike his older brothers'.

I think a common, straightforward interpretation is usually best so "heaven's natural law" is the meaning I'd ascribe. But I do like the optional interpretation of "heaven's judgement" being there to echo Mr. Inazuma's "lightning of judgement" that Chihiro delivered on his behalf. Just a fun little thing for me to gnaw on. The additional naming implications make me think he was supposed to be guided by his natural talents to a bright future, but... well...

I kind of want a side story or episode zero about Kyora, Mrs. Sazanami, Tenri, Hakuri, and Soya before Hakuri was ostracized now. Why were they named like this?! Hakuri and Soya in particular have me going insane over implications for their relationship and why Soya might have been so cruel to him...

Anyway, thanks as always for letting me rant in your ambivalent ears, kind internet void. I'll be able to ride out the last hour or so of waiting for spoilers in peace thanks to you.

[thepersonperson]

I think JJK going on break after the last chapter is a bit cruel. This is nerve-wracking. We still have 3 chapters left and so many things can happen there. 268 feels too good to be true and the title is weird.

I'm not sure what is the right translation and I don't have access to raws. Right now, it's 268 title is "Finale" or "Conclusion" but I heard from someone that it can be also be read as "Curtains".

If it can be read as "Curtains", then it could be a reference to "final curtains". The problem is JJK has its own version of "Curtains", right? Idk what to think.

Gosh I wish it was “Curtains”. The chapter title is 決着 (Kecchaku) which means settlement/conclusion/end.

For example, at the end of an extremely brutal fight in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Jolyne screams “Kechakuuuuuuu!” (決着ゥゥーーーッ!!) (It's actually a small Jojo meme in the JP fandom.) This got translated as "Game set!"

I love the localization they used for this since that entire battle was like struggling in arcade mode for a fighting game.

Anyways, in the context of JJK, especially since this has been a literal Sukuna Gauntlet and the previous chapter had the “Ringing the bell on a long fight.” editor’s comment, I don’t think there’s an ambiguous way to read Kecchaku. The Curtain/Veil kanji in JJK is 帳 (Tobari). (Though if there’s some fancy wordplay I’m missing please let me know.)

However…I would kneel before Gege if this was an elaborate trick by Sukuna—him giving Yuji delusions of a happy ending only to yank it away last second. It’s very hard to make characters feel familiar but slightly off on purpose for misdirection. That kind of tonal control is something I praise Umineko for. (Dungeon Meshi does it excellently for the shapeshifter scene.)

But that is pure copium I think. Sometimes otherwise good media just fumbles the endings. (Not an example of good media, but I was around for the Secret BBC Sherlock Season 4 Ending meltdown so I’m not too hopeful about a turnaround.) I personally blame the JP work culture/crunch since a lot of modern mangas have rushed endings due to burnout/unfair contracts.

I think the most heartbreaking examples of this phenomenon for me are The Owl House and Moral Orel. Those shows still stick the landing imo, but the creators are very open about how studio interference forced them to condense everything. You can feel that suffocation in the final episodes. Everything is just slightly off and you know it would be better if the creators were allowed their breathing room.

[benkyoutobentou]

Hello

What are some good resources for learning Japanese?

Thank you for asking!

For just starting out, I recommend JapanesePod101's videos on both hiragana and katakana.

For beginner grammar, I used and really enjoyed videos from both Japanese Ammo with Misa and Miku Real Japanese (both on YouTube). Misa's videos are a lot longer and more in depth, but if you want a quick overview of a grammar point, Miku's videos are great. Both channels also have lots of other Japanese learning content as well!

For beginner textbooks, Genki is well loved, but I haven't used it myself. I also believe that there are YouTubers who make videos based on the lessons within Genki, if that's up your alley. I won't even name the textbooks I used to start out, because I'd never recommend them.

To get started with kanji, WaniKani is a popular choice that seems to work great, but it's a pretty pricey subscription. I use the app Learn Japanese! - Kanji, which is a one time purchase of 10 USD. It can be buggy, but it has a built in spaced repetition system and, hey, it's ten dollars.

The subreddit r/LearnJapanese has a huge resource list here, but I only link this hesitantly, as my main advice to using it is to look at the resources, and never darken r/LearnJapanese's door ever again. That place is horrible and will eat all motivation you have to learn Japanese. I saw someone ask elsewhere if it was possible to be fluent in Japanese because they saw someone on that subreddit say it wasn't. Seriously, it's bad.

As for my current resources, ie. very much not beginner resources, I'm slowly but surely making my way through Tobira. I really like it as a textbook, but I also just use it as far as I need it. To elaborate, I came back to it after a while of not using it, and found that it was just a bit too easy now (singing the praises of immersion!), so I've been skipping around on the reading comprehension questions, because I just don't think they're worth the effort for me right now. The later chapters probably will be, though.

JPBD is a lifesaver for me right now. I've fought with Anki on multiple occasions and had it work for me many times, but right now, the premade decks are what are gonna get me to study vocabulary, not pretty pictures. I also really like the ability to study a deck before you read something, rather than only being able to study vocabulary retroactively. The example sentences can be weird or terrible, but it allows you to choose from multiple sentences or make your own, so the benefits absolutely outweigh the drawbacks for me. Another thing of note is that these flashcards only go Japanese-English, so if you want to have the option to do English-Japanese cards, you might want to stick to Anki (or idk rip the decks and put them in Anki).

If you're ready to immerse and want to start a collection of physical books, I buy 90% of my Japanese language books through CDJapan. They have multiple options for shipping and are generous enough with sales and rewards points that usually I can get that to cover the cost of shipping. Plus they sell at Japanese retail price (minus tax!) so it's extremely reasonably priced.

I hope this helped a bit, and good luck on your language learning journey!