#japanese works off of characters and kanji. plus people call each other by their family names | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

littleeyesofpallas · 5 years

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Bleach - Name Games

Not a family by name or blood, but a kind of found family. (at least the way they were originally presented) This time I’m tackling the Visored! And while I’m at it I want to address some of the broader thematic elements going on with their original character designs. Buckle up, this is a long one...

Hirako(平子) Shinji(真子)

Shinji’s name is actually kinda of a false start to this one. His names read as “Flat-Child“ and “Real-Child“ but that’s keeping in mind that -ko(子) for “child” is actually just a really common suffix for names, and not one generally used to ascribe literal meaning. (Typically because of its diminutive implications it denotes a female given name, but it applies neutrally to family names, and even generally is not uncommon in male names.) So his name kind reads as “Flat Reality“ or “Flat Truth.“

But this one isn’t actually about the meaning of the words, it’s a different kind of name game. As we all remember, when Hirako introduces himself to Ichigo’s class at Karakura High during his original entrance at the start of the Arrancar Arc, he writes his name on the board mirrored and mentions how he’s “good at doing things backwards.” At the time it was a reference to him being a hollow (Remember that when Ichigo’s inner hollow was given a chapter cover, his “name” was Ichigo’s but written mirrored) and would later influence his zanpakutou, Sakanade(逆撫)

As an aside here, Sakanade(逆撫) has been kind of erroneously translated as “counter stroke” in English, which is technically accurate as a literal translation but is kind of needlessly vague; For one the word “Stroke” here specifically refers to the act of stroking as in petting, patting, or smoothing over, and not something like a sword stroke; secondly the “counter” here should read more obviously as “reverse,” “opposite,” or “inverted.”

Moreover, Sakanade(逆撫で) is an actual verb already, so it doesn’t actually need to be broken down in the first place. The word actually means exactly what it sounds like as well as having a colloquial use as, “rub the wrong way.” Yes, other than just meaning to literally “pet in the opposite direction” (as with petting a cat or dog from tail to head) it means “to irritate” or “to annoy,” (which the former action invariably does) and that is an apt description of Sakanade’s powers.

Anyway... About Hirako’s name not being about the meaning: the joke is that whether you write the name forward or backwards 平子真子 -vs- 子真子平, you still get Shinji(真子) out of it. As in, his name is still legible both forwards and backwards. Plus both kanji, 平 and 真 have horizontal symmetry, so they don’t change when mirrored..

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Okay... let’s do an easier one...

Sarugaki(猿柿) Hiyori(ひよ里)

My personal favorite Visored, has a nice straight forward name Saru(猿) as I’m sure anyone amply familiar with anime knows means “Monkey” and the Gaki(柿) is the word for the fruit “Persimmon.” The image of a monkey in a persimmon tree references an old folktale present in various east-asian cultures about a greedy monkey who cheats other animals before eventually receiving its comeuppance at the hands of the animals it has wronged. In this case it’s reflective of Hiyori’s general image, sandles, track suit, decidedly tomboyish and unladylike; the “mountain monkey” is a poor, rural character type in Japan, not dissimilar to the American hillbilly of the Appalachia.

In that same vein, the name Hiyori(ひよ里) has a peculiar rural slant to it, in that it uses hiragana in place of the first component. The ri(里) is a common place indicator in surnames meaning “village” or “hamlet” but like many Japanese surnames that reference landmarks like -kawa(川)“-river,” “-yama”(山)-mountain,” and “-da”(田)”-field,” the important part isn’t actually the locale but the descriptor preceding it; Which mountain? Which river? Which field? Which village? In the case of Hiyori, it’s not clear... The fact that the village she appears to be named after doesn’t have a kanji again lends to this impression that, like the peasants of Soul Society’s Rukongai, the person who named her didn’t know how to read or write kanji.

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Muguruma(六車) Kensei(拳西)

I think this one has gotten pretty good visibility in the fandom already because of the relation with Hisagi Shuuhei. The eventual explanation of Hisagi’s 69 tattoo would be that it was copied directly from Kensei’s, and that Kensei’s comes from a mix of his name Muguruma, and the fact that he was captain of the Gotei 13’s 9th squad. (Personally I don’t like this explanation, and I think there’s pretty reasonable cause to assume this was a later decision and not a part of Kensei’s original conception or design.) But the reason behind that being Muguruma(六車) Mu(六) which is the Japanese numeral “6″ and Guruma(車) meaning “wagon” and later updated to mean “car.” In the Turn Back the Pendulum sidestory, this name is played upon in how Kubo styled Kensei’s 9th squad as a Bousouzoku(暴走族) the term for a Japanese biker gang (although they often include sports cars), where the “Six Car” reading becomes emblematic of his gang.

There’s a lot about the Bousouzoku that is culturally specific to Japan, but much of the familiar American cliches do actually carry over. One distinct aspect of how the Bousouzoku opperate however, is that they are predominantly a youth culture phenomenon, as any wide spread, organized criminal activity among adults quickly steps on the toes of the much better established Yakuza scene. For this reason it is very rare for Bousouzoku to persist in direct group activity into their adult years, although often bikers become easy recruitment targets for Yakuza.

Kensei(拳西) is actually an odd one for me. It’s both super straight forward yet somehow together really obtuse. Ken(拳) for “Fist” and sei(西) for “West;“ both are pretty singular in their meaning, so it’s not like there’s any uncertainty to what each one means, but I can’t make heads or tails of the two together. For one, Ken(拳) is usually something you’d see put on the end of a compound, and when it’s used that way it tends to denote a kind of martial arts style or technique. It might still be meant to read as “Western Fist” or essentially “Western [style] Fist” and Kubo just liked the sound of Kensei over Seiken. It might be a reference to the fact that Kensei’s original design was largely reminiscent of a kind of military look and feel, with a combat knife for a zanpakutou, short hair, combat boots, and pants that look like they could be part of military fatigues. (the tank top sorta throws the look off, though.) But this was a theme that was dropped by the time the Visored got reincorporated into the story after their long absence.

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Yadoumaru(矢胴丸) Risa(リサ)

...is another odd one. Her surname, Yadoumaru(矢胴丸) has pretty clear implications, Ya(矢) means “arrow” and dou(胴) means “hull” as in the part of a ship, and maru(丸) doesn’t actually have an explicit meaning. The kanji does generally mean “round” or “whole” both in reference to a circle, but it is most notably a suffix used in naming both naval ships, and frequently boys. Given the rest of the name the imagery seems clear, Yadoumaru(矢胴丸) is meant to read as “Arrow-Hull Ship.“* And although the uniform has heavy ties to school girl aesthetics and fetishism (which in turn link to her preoccupation with adult books) the tie here actually seems to be to the origins of the Japanese school girl uniform as a modification of the European naval uniforms introduced to Japan in the 1800s.

*edit: I’m an idiot. A Yadou(胴丸) is the sleeveless chest plate and skirt piece in traditional samurai armor, which also carries over into kendo sports armor.

Adding to this, the name RISA (sometimes romanized as LISA) being written in katakana and not kanji or even hiragana works together with the naval associations would seem to imply she’s of mixed birth? Possibly the daughter of a foreign naval officer stationed in Japan, hence a Western name and a ship as a surname? In fact, most Japanese ships would be named after some mythical figure or indeed named like a person, so the literal descriptor of “Arrow-hull” actually sounds like what someone would call a ship they didn’t know the name of, tacking “-maru” on to the end.

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Let me also take a moment here to complain about the fact that Kubo originally wrote Rabu(ラヴ) and Roozu(ローズ) as katakana, pretty clearly denoting them as the English words LOVE and ROSE and while those seem pretty implicitly like nicknames it also implied in conjunction with their designs that they were both foreigners. So the fact that he retconned them to being nicknames based on more conventionally Japanese when he decided to make them previously SoulSociety shinigami names bugs me... But that being said

Aikawa(愛川) Rabu(羅武)

Man, what is it with Kubo and black people and “love” gimmicks? Zomarri’s Amor, and PePe’s The Love, Love’s whole thing... The name Aikawa(愛川) means “Love River,” and Kubo’s clever shorehorning of kanji into the phonetics for Rabu that he’d already used for the nickname Love use Ra(羅) for “silk,” but specifically a thin or sheer kind, and bu(武) for “warrior”/”soldier.“ The associations with sheer silk and negligee seem very intentional, so his name really is basically “flowing love, [sexy] silk soldier.“ And that’s it, it’s actually super straight forward. I dunno why he looks like an unemployed slacker, in a tracksuit and sneakers, lounging around reading manga, though.

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Otouribashi(鳳橋) Roujuurou(楼十郎)

This might be my favorite as far as name games within the Visored. The given name Roujuurou(楼十郎) means “Watchertower 10 Son;” Rou(郎) being an exceedingly common suffix in boys names meaning “son.” (this is incidentally how anyone with a rudimentary familiarity with Japanese knew for certain Yuushirou(四楓院) was a boy at first glance, where as a bunch of other people thought he was a girl. In case any of you were around certain fandom circles for that whole drama... More on him later though, because he’s got a fun name too.) It’s not super clear if the arrangement here denotes the “Son of the 10th Watchtower [family],” or the “10th Son of the Watchtower [family].”

The surname Otouribashi(鳳橋) is a great little work of poeticism, where Outouri(鳳) is the Japanese name of the Chinese Feng(鳳) which in the most colloquial sense could be translated as “Phoenix,” but there’s a little more to it than that...

See, the Feng is itself the male half of the mated pair of mythical birds together called the Feng-Huang(鳳凰). The Japanese pronunciation Outori is actually directly taken from Ou(王) meaning “King” and Tori(鳥) meaning “bird.” The mythical Feng-huang is in fact king of birds, but more broadly represents a union of yin and yang, and is a common visual element of Chinese weddings evoking harmony. As a part of this theme of unity it is said to share features of many different birds, and also of the 5 fundamentally opposed colors associated with Chinese daoism and fengshui: Red, Blue/Green, Black, White, and Yellow. This particular feature has been tweaked over time to depict the Feng-huang as more broadly multicolored, and associated with the rainbow. (it’s also the basis of the Pokemon Ho-oh, if that wasn’t apparent) For a number of different mythological similarities, the Feng-huang have become erroneously thought of as “the Chinese phoenix,” but I’m not going to get into all that here...

So, getting back to the name, Bashi(橋) means “Bridge.” The, again false equivalence based, but more easily understood translation of Otouribashi(鳳橋) thus being “Phoenix Bridge.” But what is shaped like a bridge and directly associated with the Feng? A rainbow. His family name is just a really fanciful and kind of poetic reference to a rainbow. In conjunction with the “Watchtower” referenced in the name Roujuurou(楼十郎) I’m tempted to take to the meaning of “10th [Floor of the] Watchtower Son” as it implies a high floor, and in the common mythological motif of rainbows as actual physical structures, a high tower would be the sensible entry point to a rainbow bridge.

Also this is why he has a bird mask.

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Kuna(久南) Mashiro(白)

Let me just come right out and say that I haven’t got a damn clue on this one. Mashiro(白) means “White.” Ku(久) means “long time,” na(南) means “South.” She dresses like a super sentai character, specifically one of the original Himitsu Sentei Goranger team, and her mask is a nod to Kamen Rider, with its antenna and big round bug-eyes. I don’t really see a connection with the name and the tokusatsu theme though.

Small aside, Tokusatsu is a genre of Japanese TV and film that was originally named for its emphasis on special effects like camera tricks and editing in post, used most noticeably in children’s shows like Super Sentai and Kamen Rider. That distinction became less and less relevant as special effects became more widespread, and so it is now used mostly to refer to live-action costumed super hero shows.

Super Sentai is btw the source material for the American franchise, Power Rangers, from which Saban Entertainment originally bought the footage that they would cut together with their own original footage, and later from which they would buy the costumes in order to shoot their own shows from scratch.

Also of note is that Ishinomori Shoutarou, author of the original Cyborg 009, was also the original show creator of Kamen Rider and Super Sentai. His work created the transforming(henshin) hero, the body suit and helmet aesthetic, and the heroic billowing scarf, effectively inventing the Japanese superhero almost single-handed.

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Ushouda(有昭田) Hachigen(鉢玄)

Another funky one... “[To] Exist [in] a Shining Field” might be the best way to read Ushouda(有昭田)? Its really the U(有) that gives me trouble here, as it just means “Exist”/”Existance.” And Hachigen(鉢玄) seems to read Hachi(鉢) meaning “bowl” and Gen(玄) meaning “deep,” “mysterious” and in certain contexts “occult.” I’m not sure if that “deep” is really a physical deepness or just a sort of “profoundness” that would fall more in line with “mysterious” and “occult.”

Either way I think the general meaning is actually pretty clear, “bowls of rice from a shining field” evoke an image of kind of mythical field of magical produce, eating from which grants a kind of magical quality and sustenance. In other words, his name is saying that Hachi is such a huge guy and so gifted at magic because he ate a lot of food that grants magic power.

I have no idea why he has the tux or the shaved hair though. Stage magician? Fancy gourmand? But again then why the shaved head and the cross bones? And Kubo did eventually come up with for him is strangely Balinese looking? It seems reminiscent of Barong, king of spirits; A benevolent lion/bear monster that defends mankind from Rangda, the demon queen and master of blackmagic. But apart from the superficial appearance and broad ties to magic, there’s not a lot really tying the two together.

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It’s hard not to just go off on all the weird little design choices, and loose ends, dropped plot points, and retcon’d details that surround the Visored in Bleach. They really were just such a great concept utterly wasted by terrible pacing and some truly confusing priorities as far as publication goes, eithe ron Kubo’s part, editorial, or both... But that’s a story for another time...

#Bleach #hirako shinji #sarugaki hiyori #muguruma kensei #yadomaru risa #aikawa love #otoribashi rose #kuna mashiro #ushoda hachigen #visored

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courage-a-word-of-justice · 6 years

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Warning for discussion of 18+, potentially triggery things within the DakaIchi discussion...and the nature of that show being a yaoi will tell you whether you want to read that discussion in the first place. (There are full stops and lines around it in case you want to dodge that particular part, since Radiant comes right after it.)

...Otherwise, have at it.

Cells at Work! 13 (FINAL)

Apparently “distal” just means your extremities…

For some reason, I already knew about the fact that you can die from losing one third of your blood…because I read a Tumblr post that was meant to be for action writers and it was about blood loss.

…Huh? Was this a blood transfusion? That would explain why these new RBCs are so clueless about our RBC. Update: Yup, guessed it.

Come to think of it, there’s a WBC Nendoroid and a Platelet one but no RBC. That’s a bit disappointing…

The WBCs using that wobbly stick thing in the background are amusing, eheh.

Anyways, that was fun, even if I did get used to the routine of RBC getting lost and WBC fighting antigens in the end. See you next time!

Double Decker! 2

We’re now properly in the fall season, and of course now that the first drop’s out of the way, we’re starting with the best show this season (at least for the moment).

So does that mean if we’re NEETs we’re not paying for these detectives…? Is this an incentive for people to pay their taxes (LOL)…? (Okay, I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Sheesh.)

DD Partners…? Sounds…uh, partnery, considering what DD stands for.

Why is Travis blinking so much when he’s apologising…?

Snarky narrator is fun. I thought it was Kirill during ep 1 (or at least, it was for a bit), but now this narrator’s talking too much in 3rd person for it to be true. Maybe…it’s future Kirill. *collective facepalms from the peanut gallery* Or maybe it’s Kirill and a narrator, and Kirill will then break the 4th wall somewhere.

Now that’s monkeying around…LOL. *gets pelted by tomatoes* Oh c’mon, can’t I get in a decent joke around here?!

Well, as much as the can thing Doug does to Kirill is tropey for anime, I gotta admit this ain’t monkey busin-eh? You want me to stop with the jokes? Aw. Fine then, I’ll stop…

There’s something utterly relatable about having gone down the path of your dreams, only for it not to work out. In fact, I think I’m going down that path right now and I need to decide where to head next. That’s why I’m watching this episode right now – to make sure I don’t regret my future, by focussing on the present with a good anime.

According to this link to Google Books I got when I googled “ignis” and “desperatio” together, this might have something to do with a Panegyric of the Saints…something to do with hell, worms, fire and despair…? Uh, wuh? Am I just investigating this the wrong way?

Sanctus Bridge? As in “sanctuary”? Wow, that’s…ironic.

The rabbit police mascot…you can see it on Deana’s dashboard, LOL. Plus the bird police mascot that goes with it.

The name shots you get of these criminals aren’t nearly as good as “dick suck” (sic) in Kekkai Sensen, but they’re pretty close. Plus they actually do have correct Japanese translations, unlike “dick suck” (LOL).

Seriously, what’s up with Doug’s head prodding? Is it to stop him from trichotillomania (which is the pulling out of hair)? I can see it getting vaguely annoying when the excitement of a new season wears off…

The CGI is kind of awkward in this. You’d need to stare at it for a bit to realise it’s CGI and it’s not the worst effort I’ve seen (*grumbles* Tsukigakirei *grumble*) but it’s still pretty bad…

Oh! Those doors! Is Doug’s car…a DeLorean? (dramatic piano SFX in background)

Was it just me, or did Kirill’s face go funny for a second as he was moping about how he didn’t get to do anything…?

“Let me be your Double Decker!” – That’s what he says as a double decker bus goes by…clever wordplay, huh?

“One is poverty. The other is class.” – Okay, my studies tell me that’s pretty much impossible. Even in social situations, you have a clear leader and subordinates. Poverty is fine and dandy in regards to giving the boot – heck, that’s why things like the Millenium Development Goals exist (or rather, existed in that case, since those were replaced in 2015) – but class? That’s a bit of a difficult one, unless you want to resort to hardline socialist methods, Marxist methods…or communist ones. Not that any of those are bad, it’s just that I happen to like capitalism,even with its flaws and no matter what imbalances it causes to others. It’s just that not having capitalism would mean everyone’s equal, but then everyone’s worse off as a result…because if everyone has the same stuff, no one is different and no one is diverse enough to make anyone special. Get what I mean?

I think this episode sold me even more on the show, the premise…the everything. Except maybe that “I want to get rid of class” part.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 1

I just memorise this show as “Slime Datta Ken”, so if you’re wondering what that is…now you know.

What was that opening segment for, man…? This is just a boring isekai intro.

I’m laughing! He values his computer over his life? As much as I know I’m attached to my computer, you should prioritise 1) getting Mikami an ambulance, 2) stopping the blood flow or 3) just getting Mikami to preserve his own life. Not that I’ve ever been in a life or death scenario, but that’s common sense, even if it’s a bit nihilistic or unrealistic.

Seriously, there’s currently no pull but how intriguing these unexplained “acquisition” scenes are. Like seriously. Those effects are cool and somewhat intriguing in the same way as Juuni Taisen was.

The picture of a flower…where did it come from? A child? Hmm, interesting way to express such a though process.

The CGI of the reveal was actually really good. Like, Houseki no Kuni good!

Actually, this is very Houseki no Kuni. Reestablishing what it is that makes humans human and what causes a creature to live and all that.

I never knew a slime could be this expressive…

“I see you have guts.” – That’s probably something you shouldn’t say to a slime, LOL.

Oh! This reminds me of a writing piece I had to do one time where you had to tell a tale from a monster’s perspective and make them sympathetic. I wrote about a dragon, so there’s something nostalgic about this.

There really isn’t a lot of movement in this show. Not that I mind it – Juuni Taisen I used to love a bunch and that was based off a novel, but this is an LN-based show…the level of writing in this show is clearly from the LN camp, for one thing. How it got such great production values, however, is another question entirely…

The slime and dragon friendship that just formed made me wanna go “ET!”, just because the gesture they did to seal said friendship did kind of look like that, haha.

Mechasoft Doors MX…hey, I am getting my fix of anime OSs this season after all! Just…not in Gridman yet. Update: There are zero OSs in Gridman, not in episode 1 at least...

Oh wow! That fight scene was so darned cool! It makes me wanna see more already! And the fact he (I already know from promo material the slime’s name is Rimuru) uses his slime form and human form interchangeably…that’s even cooler!

The font down the bottom and up the top of the next episode box appears to say “Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken” (due to the frequency of one of the symbols that appears to be an S, then you do the same for E and you realise it works…then you realise the text is just stylised romaji). There are zeroes and ones on the left and right sides, which might correlate to Rimuru’s “analysis voice”…whatever that may be. Anyways, I’m pretty confident this’ll be something for my lineup, but it’s too early for judgement calls. It’s a keeper…for now.

Run with the Wind 1

Now here’s a show I didn’t expect to follow going in…I picked it up merely on ANN recs.

I’m laughing like a maniac! As much as it was a compelling opening, after the dude arrives on his bike and asks “Do you like running?” to a thief, I lost it. For some reason, I find it almost so unrealistic it became hilarious, in a stupid sort of way. Or maybe I just have a really bad sense of humour. Who knows?

That one guy running in the back in the OP is basically me every time I’m meant to do something physical. Even going up three floors via stairs gets me out of breath though and I live a fairly sedentary lifestyle, so I ain’t a good comparison.

That nickname “Shindo” puzzles me. I can’t think of a kanji combo that would result in wordplay with the characters for “god” and “child” using the name “Takashi Sugiyama”, but I guess maybe we’ll find out in a later episode…?

Thank…uh, goodness for the censorship on Musa…

Musa speaks unusually politely (because I noticed he used “gozonji desu” at one point, which is a keigo variant for “shitteiru”). Maybe it’s because they barely know each other that there’s keigo being flung about. That seems reasonable, at least.

There’s something authentic about this sense of camaraderie. I can tell because my extended family is huge, so gatherings are often like this but multiplied in scale.

“Tsuru no Yu” – Technically that translates to “Crane’s Bath”…”Public Bath” is the place’s purpose.

I was wondering why we’d somehow reverted to not having 10 dudes, but then they show this is actually Haiji’s perspective of the event from the start of the episode and show the scar on his knee. That’s gotta be important for later.

…and Haiji left his towel, LOL.

I still laugh every time I see Haiji’s stupid face (the one he makes when he asks “Do you like running?”).

I’ve associated the slurring of words like “yakusoku-ssu” to be for smol bishies like Yumoto, so having Haiji use it is a bit of whiplash. Then again, apparently that slurring is only used by men to assert their masculinity as far as I know…so, uh, yeah.

Actually…I’ve been wondering. How long are courses at this uni? Where I am, being a straight literature major is 3 years (assuming you also do other stuff that fulfils a straight Arts degree). Also, Fune wo Amu (by the same creator) is about a dude making a dictionary…hmm, so the creator really likes books.

Wait, as far as my short term memory operates, most of these guys at Chikuseisou do arts majors, aside from the law student and the smoker (who does engineering). They do literature or sociology, mostly. So if that’s correct…the author also likes sociology. I’ve been thinking about doing some sociology myself, it would really complement what I know about international studies.

As explained by Kyra, chiku – sei – sou. The sei means blue/green and the chiku means bamboo. Switching the two and reading them differently gives you “Aotake”.

Rent’s $300? Must be cheap, eh?

Also see Kyra’s post for information about the food-based suicide note.

The Kanto Gogakuren refers to this manga, Sakigake!! Otokojuku. It’s basically Again!!, but with more Fist of the North Star-style dudes.

Hmm…turns out you can refer to this show as KazeTsuyo. That’s going to make me confuse it with SekaTsuyo, though…(SekaTsuyo = Wanna Be the Strongest in the World!) Also, it turns out the character for “Kakeru” in this case means “to run” (normally it means “to dash” with a kanji normally used for flying). Wait…did I ever mention how much this show’s aesthetic visuals always look as if they’re a Powerpoint theme (see images below)? They do look like that, don’t they?

I still have no idea why Kakeru has a bad case of resting b**** face, but…uh yeah, forget I said that. The sound direction in this show’s really nice. It really takes advantage of quiet moment to insert natural sounds.

I think if you go “yes!” when Haiji says “I’m going to win over all the dudes”, then you’re sold on the show. I did go “yes”, just without speaking. You know those feelings you only get in your gut and heart? Yeah, like that.

Huh? I noticed a dude called Bruce Chiou is in the credits and he’s definitely on RErideD this season too…

Out of this one, Slime Datta Ken and Double Decker it’s ranked last, but this show’s still a pretty strong addition to the seasonal lineup. Only time will tell if I kick it out or not…

Bakumatsu 1

The only experience I have with this era in anime is Bakumatsu Rock, I think…and that means I don’t know much about it.

Actually…considering the OP, scratch that. I know a bunch because of Touken Ranbu and other similar historical shows.

A…boob window? On a man? I get the black skintight vest is meant to be sexy, but I can’t see the point of that diamond…it’s just something extra for the animators and the illustrators to deal with.

C’mon. Can we not have Dudes Swishing Their Swords at the 4th Wall as something meant to hype up the audience? It’s a cliché, almost as bad as the running scenes you often get in OPs and EDs…Seriously, I can’t believe I’m getting mad at 10 dudes swinging their swords like this (specifically I’m getting mad because they were all in succession – doesn’t matter if it was in time to the music or not).

Okay, who transplanted WWI into this? I know that’s the point of the show, but the sepia really sold the idea of “this is meant to be Old-Timey Wimey Stuff and whoever’s meant to be watching is meant to be a history buff so they can spot the difference”.

Part of the ep title is “Mou Ichido no Bakumatsu”, so a better translation is “The Bakumatsu (Era) – Again!”

Wait, I thought Kondo was meant to look hotter than this (especially because he had what appears to be a coin – or an old-timey family crest – on his head). The frumpy mouth doesn’t sell the goods, yo.

Somehow…I knew Katsura would have glasses. He has them in Bakumatsu Rock. But is it historically accurate to have glasses in the Bakumatsu era, though?

Come to think of it…something that controls time would be pretty hard to destroy, no?

I think I read on ANN that swords being too big to draw in ship quarters is accurate. Hmm.

If this is such an important treasure…then why not have more padlocks on it? Or more guards closer to it (although those guys probably ran away)? Or some other protection around it? Couldn’t this supposed Yoshinobu-sama fight for himself?...Then again, I think this is just a case of overthinking. (insert MST3K mantra here)

Puh-lease. As much as I want a kunoichi (lady ninja) in my shows, don’t make them Naruto run. That’s one of my pet peeves…

Uh…Hagi? That’s probably it, considering there’s a river in the show.

Kakesoba.

Kamaboko.

Tanuki soba.

Well, there’s something to be said about being able to steal Shinsengumi jackets while the men are eating noodles. At least it didn’t involve knocking them out though (weak LOL).

Okay…why do the Shinsengumi look like waiters now? As much as I like a dude in a waiter suit, if I wanted a waiter, I’d go to a fancy French restaurant…

I feel like I’m being clubbed over the head with themes in this show. C’mon, have more tact than that.

There’s basically no chemistry between these guys (Katsura and Shinsaku). How did they meet?

Wait, so Darker Blue is Sakamoto if Green is Katsura and Red is Shinsaku? Sakamoto (Ryouma) is the redhead in Bakumatsu Rock, isn’t he? Okay then. But who’s White?

Seriously, Shinsaku. Learn from the kunoichi and stay quiet and stealthy. I don’t need another shonen hero…

Oh man, Toshizou is normally one of the Shinsengumi I like best (or at least I recognise his name more) out of these kinds of shows. If he has Perma-Scowl, I can’t possibly like this version.

Oh goodness. Souji’s a friggin’ sadist. Come to think of it though, I think this (Okita) Souji looks like the one from Gintama.

Why does Toshizou sound a frigton like any given Touken Ranbu sword…?

If that katana is symbolic…Toshizou must be hecka masculine, LEL. (Note: A “LEL” is not quite a LOL, it’s mostly done in jest. If anything, it’s probably about half a LOL.)

If that blonde ain’t Abe no Seimei, Yoshinobu-sama or some other important historical figure I know the name of, I’m eating my hat! (Not that I’m wearing one, it’s a figure of speech.)

I like Sakamoto’s face here, but man, I get distracted by the man candy below it…(i.e. his abs and bare chest, LOL. What did you think I was referring to?)

Oh great. (sarcastic) Sanada Yukimura almost always has that silly helmet, ever since Sengoku Musou I’ve pretty much tried to run away from it. I’d recognise it anywhere.

Who had the grand idea of letting Sanada keep his horse, anyway?

Okay, as much as I like making snarky comments, I made one too many here, methinks. Time for the drop pile.

Zombieland Saga 1

I read spoilers just a little bit, so I know the main twist is “zombie idols that sing death metal” already. If you didn’t want to know that at this point…sorry.

Whoa! They killed their protag off the bat? Not that I didn’t know that wouldn’t happen (already knew it would), but that’s gutsy. Truck-kun, go back to your darn isekai shows already.

Okay, I know this is a schoolgirl, but can we not with Sakura’s Schoolgirl Run for Dainty Ladies? This is a zombie show, dangit. Run properly. Can we also not with the boob jiggle?

Well, that’s one way to defeat a police officer (or get yourself arrested): Spade to the Brain.

Otsumami appears to be the name for the squid in Kotaro’s pocket.

You can’t see Kotaro’s eyes, even behind those sunnies…hmm…

Wow. Miyano sounds like he’s having such fun voicing Kotaro, y’know?

From the flyer: “They are coming soon from the underground...” Yup, that’s right, alright. Zombies have already come from the underground.

Tae’s credited under ????. They’re still holding out on us!

It seems like a pretty good keeper, provided you can keep up with who’s who.

...

DakaIchi 1

Yep, the BL anime. Thought I’d never try one? Think again.

As much as I do think I’d want to be hugged by Takato, his face…makes him look like he came out of Junjou Romantica…? Uhh…awkward.

Please don’t let this be a work full of sadism and BDSM. I’m not that kinky, y’know…?

Uh, if you ever knew “boundaries”, Azumaya, that would be great. Thanks.

LOL, what a way to win a dude over. $10! That is cheap for a star.

I’m still wondering if this all constitutes “assault” or some other illegal business. I mean, Takato agreed to everything under the influence of a bunch of drinks.

LOL, the director’s shirt says “concentration”. As in, “focus on the stuff you’re doing”.

Hey wait, how does anyone pull off a kabedon on an operation curtain?!

Uh…maybe it’s just my inexperience with the genre, but…what the heck was that scene with the feathers?

Dangit, Yaoi Hands. If I weren’t so aware of you already, you wouldn’t be breaking the immersion of this show!!!

Random Dance Ending? I so did not expect that, I’m laughing as a result.

Uhh…I cannot believe I did that. I watched an episode of a yaoi anime and coveredit without it ruining my pride! To think I watched 18+ shoujo ai before 18+ shonen ai is really something I cannot get my head around, though…not that I will ever tell you which shoujo ai show I watched. So…uh, it was actually pretty decent aside from the “I don’t get what the heck this scene is meant to be” bits which are probably staples of the genre.

...

Radiant 1

Uhh…why do I feel like I’m watching Deltora Quest for the 3rd time? Not that Deltora Quest is bad, it’s just too stereotypically high fantasy.

Mahoutsukai. Literally “mage”, but could be “wizard” or “sorcerer” if you went with it loosely. Then again, the French word for sorcerer must be pretty close to the English one which should be enough of a guide for translators, right?

Eh? It’s an…elephant –cow? What is this, Avatar the Last Airbender? (half-snarking)

I think as the show goes along, its comedic timing is actually getting…better. That’s something, huh?

The show’s just a tiny bit too heavy-handed with its themes of racism or whatever sorcerers stand for. Then again, this is a shonen show. It’s allowed to be this way.

Geez, stylised English really is the order of the day for anime these days, huh? Lessee here…Alma’s…uh, Observatory, I think it says…?

Uh…all this talk about grimoires is giving me bad flashbacks…bad, screamy flashbacks involving a certain Asta…

I just noticed Alma gets referred to that way by Seth. Are these two not related, even though they share the same house (?) and hair colour?

Oh great. (sarcastic) Toilet humour. One of my worst enemies, aside from fanservice…

What’s up with the bat (?)? It knd of seems to be Alma’s…

Hey, I…think I know this kind of story too well. It’s going to eventually end, after a long run, with an adult Seth and that girl from one of the key visuals together…or something. Shonen are weird like that. They always end with a happily ever after and an adult protagonist, or the “the adventure just keeps happening!” sort of thing…y’know?

The plural of Nemesis is “Nemeses”, but it seems the book Seth read said “Nemesis’ Egg”. So the plural is the same as the singular in this case.

Huh? They chose to put both fancily-written French and then Japanese under it, as a homage to the French origins of this work? Huh, interesting.

Tommy’s saying “Gyaaaaah!” not “Yaaaaaaah!” - there’s a difference between those two, y’know?

SSSS.Gridman 1

As a self-professed fan of heroes who never actually got into tokusatsu because I keep missing Power Rangers when it airs on local TV stations, this and Garo are filling in a genre space I never really had until I started wandering tokusatsu wikis...which was before the live-action Power Rangers came out, methinks.

Why do I feel like I’ve seen this font (the one “SSSS.Gridman” is written in)? I thought it was a Calvin Harris music video, since I have a few downloaded legally (due to a CD I found in one particular library), but Harris’s font is slightly different to this one…Well, after some experimentation, it seems to be Arial with extra kerning.

“Amnesiac” is starting to become an anime trope in itself…

Seven-Two-One, LOL.

Ahh, children in puberty. Can’t tell whether relationships are romantic or just platonic. (wistful)

If Utsumi isn’t the goth dude from earlier, I’m eating my hat! (Not that I’m wearing one right-oh, I’ve used this joke before, haven’t I?)

…dangit, now I have to eat my metaphorical hat. By the by, I thought Utsumi was an Ume sort of character (as in, the type who would usually get voiced by Yuichiro Umehara), but no, it was Soma Saito.

The girl with the purple hair reminds me of the Administrator (or whatever her name is, the AI) from Yakusoku no Nanayamatsuri.

Regardless of whether the scene was with volume or not, that awkward pause between Shinjo, Utsumi and Hibiki went just a weeny bit too long…

When Takarada approached Utsumi and Hibiki, the colours of her earphones and eyes really popped!

They seem to treat memory loss as something minor, like a cold. It’s a bit awkward, I think.

Utsumi, kid. If you think computers from the 70s and 80s are huge, you should see server rooms! Those computers are huge! Not to mention, the first computers filled up entire rooms (just like servers do). Even portable server units are about a good 160 cm tall with wheels…oh, you don’t want to hear me prattle on about this? Okay, moving on.

“This really is a pile of junk, huh?” I had to go back and check someone hadn’t skipped a word – they did skip the word, in fact.

T-This is what Trigger have held out on us for? A monster like this looks terrible in CGI, man. Even if it is one of the better efforts. I mean, the eyes don’t even look in the same direction…

Why does Utsumi refer to the computer as “Junk”?

The Ultra series? Y’mean Ultraman?

Let’s just say…Gridman looks much better than the kaiju here.

They didn’t even dispose of the kaiju head properly, LOL.

I feel like the battle didn’t quite get my blood boiling. (Probably because I was grumbling too hard at the kaiju and the parts where the execution got a little too silly.) I’ll put it on hold and see if it gets better in a few episodes, but I’m not holding my breath. Since this is Trigger, it could pull off some great stuff if it tried…it’s just this seemed a little soulless in comparison to everything else I’ve seen them do. Or maybe my increased consumption of anime this year has left me jaded...

#DakaIchi - I'm Being Harassed by the Sexiest Man of the Year #Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken #Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru #chesarka watches hataraku saibou #double decker! doug and kirill #hataraku saibō #DakaIchi #that time i got reincarnated as a slime #Bakumatsu #Zombieland Saga #simulcast commentary #Radiant #SSSS.Gridman #run with the wind #Chesarka watches ZLS #Chesarka watches Double Decker!#Chesarka watches SSSS.Gridman

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hello-language-that-is-all · 6 years

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hisokasasss

Sup guys, Tenka (Aka Ponzorz) here - I said I’d write a post about how I self studied Japanese, sooooo I guess this is it. I learnt Japanese from Zero to Fluent in about 2.5 years, and this is my method. It’s probably not the most interesting (I didn’t watch any anime… lol… I only started watching Anime these past 1, 2 years - back then I only read a few Manga, and that was in English) and it’s hard, but maybe it can shed some light on to a study regime you can set up for yourself.

Before reading, keep in mind that there is never a single best way to study Japanese, and the most important thing about studying a language is not what textbook you have or what shows you watch - it’s always that you keep yourself going and push yourself to carry on.

I had a pretty set way I studied Japanese, so I’ll talk about that here, and since I gained proficiency I have found a lot of other methods to help people who are learning Japanese - and I’ll draw on those experiences too to inform people in this post.

Ikuzooooo.

[ Learning the Writing System ] This is step one. Japanese has three sets of difference characters. Most people don’t get it at first, but I’ll just try to explain each one below.

Hiragana （あいうえお - this is the Japanese vowels a-i-u-e-o in Hiragana） - This is the most basic one, you can use this to write everything you need to - but only knowing this one would be like some ponyo/sousuke level writing… aka like a five year old. As a person learning Japanese for a second/third/fourth/99th language though, Hiragana is definitely a solid start.

Katakana　（アイウエオ - this is the Japanese vowels a-i-u-e-o in Katakana） Everything that can be written in Hiragana can be written in Katakana - it’s like two different versions of the same alphabet.

However, Katakana is mostly used for ① Foreign vocabulary/Proper nouns that can’t be written in Kanji, and ② Emphasis/Nuance. ① is “Borrowed Words”, ie. Words in Japanese that originated from another language, will be written in Katakana.　For example, Camera (“Kyamera” キャメラ), and “Naruto” is ナルト <- This is Katakana. The second situation of emphasis/nuance is more difficult to explain, but just think of it this way: Writing “Baka” in Katakana, can give off a different feel to if it were written in Hiragana.

Kanji - Kanji is very, very, very, important. Most people beginning their Japanese studies won’t know very much Kanji, which is totally normal - and they will probably hate it at some point. But, writing Japanese without Kanji islikereadingenglishwithoutspacesinbetweenthewords. It kills the reader and if you are serious about studying Japanese, learn yo’ Kanji. Kanji are chinese characters that make up portions of a verb in Japanese, or a lot of nouns can be written completely in Kanji. Hiragana is used to support Kanji and used to fill particles and prepositions and subject markers etc, in a sentence, as those things do not have a designated Kanji - or it is not commonly used. It probably sounds confusing as hell right now but you’ll get it really quickly once you start learning. Every Kanji has a reading, so it may be hard to learn the different readings for each Kanji but it gets easier as you go, I swear.

Originally posted by studiotrigger

I started learning the writing system slowly and piecemeal, just writing the seperate kana on paper and getting more or less used to them and memorising the readings. I talk about how I learnt this in the next section, but in the meanwhile… I thought of another method.

This may be off topic but I learnt how to read Korean Hangul in like an hour by playing an online “drill” game, so I think from that experience it may be a lot faster to learn Katakana and Hiragana that way.

I found some drillers where you see the kana and just type in the romaji (ie. english version of Japanese lol):

http://kana.icann.se/

http://kagan.mactane.org/software/kana-drill.html

Try those!

( A bit about watching Anime - I think if Anime/dramas is what you’re interested in, definitely watch it. Just gonna put it out there, doing that alone probably won’t get you fluent. But it’s important because it keeps you interested, and it’s about immersion and keeping in contact with the language. :D Don’t spend 90% of your “Japanese study” in anime, but if it’s what you enjoy, go for it and it will help.

I recommend Slice of Life anime over Shonen - why? Because you’d use SoL anime dialogue more. FYI No one seriously uses “Dattebayo/-ttebayo” in Japanese, ever, “Bankai” is zero help if you want to make conversation, and most Shonen protagonists and villains speak in such an informal/brash way I’d only recommend if you want to get in to a fight. ;9 <3 )

[Actually studying the grammar and the vocab]

Because there is not much point in knowing the writing system without actually understanding what all those squiggly characters mean, it’s best to press on and learn some vocab and grammar.

First, I’ll talk about the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). JLPT is a benchmark exam for Japanese, it has 5 levels from 5 -1. 5 being the easiest, and 1 being the hardest. You don’t have to worry about sitting the exam or anything, but it’s just a really solid curriculum to base your Japanese studies off.

I started studying off

Tim’s Takamatsu -

this website is practically my godsend. I printed out everything, had it bound in to a book - you’ll see that most of the tutorials here are in Romaji. How I studied was I scribed in the Katakana, Hiragana, and Kanji (Where applicable) under the Romaji. This helped me memorise and write Hiragana and Katakana really fast, get used to using basic Kanji, and learn all the basic grammar and vocab up till around N3 level. This took me about 3 months. Then I’d say it’s all downhill once you hit N3 level.

Even after I was through with Tim’s Takamatsu, I bought Schaums Outlines of Japanese Grammar just to help me solidify stuff. It’s not the best book nor the most interesting book, but it helped.

http://www.tanos.co.uk/ is a fantastic website to look at all the vocab/grammar you need for each JLPT standard, and strive to learn them and gradually progress from 5-1. I printed off the grammar lists from Tanos, and learnt all the ones I wasn’t sure of.

I also listened to a lot of podcasts, like Japanese 101. This helped me with listening skills, and I also learnt a lot of vocab and grammar. I find the stuff you learn from podcasts really memorable, compared to what you’d learn by reading off grammar books all the time. It’s a nice change.

Extra Materials for Basic Grammar etc - these are awesome, kudos to the people who made these - print it, stick it up in your room! I wish I had found them when I was studying. (T_T) http://cheatsheets.nihonshock.com/sheets/basic-japanese/

http://cheatsheets.nihonshock.com/digital-cheat-sheets/cool-japanese/

http://www.tofugu.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/japanese-particles-cheatsheet1.pdf

There links below are more explanatory stuff rather than “cheat sheets”. It’s like Tim’s Takamatsu - so I would use them to supplement each other.

http://www.guidetojapanese.org/grammar_guide.pdf

http://thejapanesepage.com/grammar.htm

http://www.japaneseverbconjugator.com/JVerbList.asp

This is probably one of the most important parts of my Japanese studying journey. Don’t give up if you’ve made it this far! :D You can do it!

Originally posted by toctocpiopio

[Advanced Japanese]

Okedoke, so how do you get from N3 to N1? You’ve gotten yourself this far, so just keep doing what you’ve been doing the whole time and don’t give up. Keep referring back to the JLPT standards to see what you need to still learn, in terms of grammar, and go for it.

N2, N1, levels require a lot of Kanji readings and Vocab Knowledge. How I tackled this, was by flashcards. I played a game on my phone called “Japanese Flash” (on iOS) and it was the only “game” I had on my phone for almost a year. Anki, or any other flashcard system will work the same. I find flashcards the most effective way for me to pick up vocab/kanji readings the fastest - the hardest thing about it is persevering. I’d play the flashcards on the bus, at home, in bed, in the shower jks , some days I felt like I was going to throw up from flash carding… but it’s a bump you’ve gotta get over. It gets better as you pick up more readings, and you’ll find you’re able to correctly guess heaps of Kanji combinations as you go.

I had the book “A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar”, and the beginners version of that book, to help me through all the difficult grammar. Plus google.

http://www.imabi.net/ is a fantastic website too, with basic - advanced Japanese grammar. I wish I found this earlier as well. (T_T)

[Notes about my particular circumstances] So hitting N1 took me about 2.5 years. I do realise this is probably not what most people want to do - spend so much time manically studying Japanese, I had tunnel vision for a long time and it was literally what I spent my spare time doing, so hear me out.

Originally posted by opioide

I think at that point in my life, I was a stupid teen and I really hated my own situation, resented it, and I wanted to leave my city so bad and go somewhere - anywhere. In short, I was pretty desperate. For a lot of rebellious and otherwise personal reasons, I decided to go to Japan. (Eg. My family is Chinese, and I’ve been fed loads of nationalistic shit since toddlerhood about how Chinese people hate Japan blah blah don’t go there blah blah all Japanese are bad blah blah which I refused to believe and I wanted to see Japan with my own eyes since I was sure I would be able to make friends since I think there are nice people, as well as terrible people, eeeeverywhere in the world in any place.)

I needed a scholarship in Japanese, so that’s why I studied madly. Otherwise, I’d never be able to have the $$ leave and I felt like I’d have been trapped in a city I don’t belong in, forever. Yeah… >_> I had serious attitude issues, pls don’t judge me. I love my city now that I’m back, and I ought to have given the people around me more credit. .___.

Originally posted by galaxymoonbird

That aside though, I want to talk about Kanji. I realise in this guide, I never talked much about learning to familliarize with or write Kanji. I suppose the easiest way to explain this would be, well I’m Chinese in origin so that wasn’t much of an issue to me, but that would not only be misleading, but discouraging to a lot of people who don’t have a chinese background. There is no easy way learning how to write Kanji, you have to put in the legwork - that’s all there is to it. I never had an education in Chinese, English would be my first language as I passed my years from toddler onwards in Middle Earth and various other places, but I suppose one could say that I did my Kanji learning prior to learning the rest of my Japanese. Strict parents = learning at least X amount of Kanji/day before I could leave the house to go run around outside, and I distinctly remember one summer when I was around 11, my Kanji knowledge sky rocketed as a result of being forced to stay inside and learn it all summer.

I wrote a Kanji 20+ times till I memorised it, and that’s probably how I got my foundation. Once I’d started studying Japanese, I still had to get used to how Kanji was used in the Japanese language system - a lot of stuff is written differently, and my Kanji wasn’t perfect to begin with so I had to learn a heap of new ones, and since all the readings were completely different to what I was used to, I had to learn those too (hence flash carding). I think my Chinese probably got better as a result of studying Japanese, lol…. I’m serious. >_>

Originally posted by ghibli-forever

#anime #Kanji #Japanese #Japan

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poppun-chan · 7 years

Text

The Year of Keroro Challenge Update 6 (Yes Sir)

I’m finally back (^.^) And Sweet Goodness I’m far behind in terms of writing, though at least some of the episodes I have to catch up are already written about

So before we do anything, let’s cover the names of the partner Humans, we all know about the Hinata family’s season themed naming but there’s another neat pattern to find

Fuyuki Hinata: Fuyu=Winter Ki=Shrub (it can be a bush or small tree too), while Hinata means Sunny Place, so his full name in proper order is Sunny Place Winter Shrub

Natsumi Hinata: Natsu=Summer Mi=Beauty, so her full name is Sunny Place Summer Beauty. It’s also worth noting the “Mi” is read that way when paired with another kanji as part of a word, either way it’s a surprising names considering her birthday is in December

Momoka Nishizawa: Momo=Peach, Ka=Blossom, Nishi=West, Zawa=Swamp or Marshland. So her full name is Western Marsh Peach Blossom

Saburo/Mutsumi Houjou: Saburo means third son while for Mutsumi Mutsu=Harmonious Mi=Truth, but considering the meaning of the first kanji it could mean someone who is emotionally close to/on friendly terms with the truth Hou=North Jou=Castle, So his name is Northern Castle Third Son or Northern Castle Harmonious Truth. It’s also worth noting that he uses numbers to write regular name and radio persona name and each is the reverse of the other (Saburo=326, Mutsumi=623)

Koyuki Azumaya: Ko=Small/Little, Yuki=Snow, but together it can mean light snowfall, Azuma=East, Ya=Valley. So her full name is “Eastern Valley Little Snow”

As you can see, the other Humans have a compass direction theme set completed by Alisa Southerncross. During one of the next two sets I’m hoping to cover the Keronians’ forms of “I” and their sentence endings (I may have to split this one up, but the “I” needs to be done before I write about episode 65)

And The Plan Count:

Serious Plans: K66:18 D66:1 MMK:1 TMM:1

Funding Plans: K66:4

It’s a plan, I Swear!: K66:8 (Yes Powered Natsumi falls under this category, I’m fairly sure it was mostly to needle Natsumi & Giroro)

Oh look! Progress!: K66:3

Episode 36: Now I’m curious just how cold it actually gets in this part of Japan during the winter (I know from the Northernmost islands to the Southernmost there’s quite a difference, but most of it is around the temperate zone). I have to admit my reaction to people complaining about the cold on T.V. is more curiousity than anything else since I have a fairly good tolerance for the cold....Not quite because I’m Canadian, mind you, even other Canadians seem a bit surprised by my tolerance for the cold (though it bothers me more when it’s only slightly cold, so that raining cold from the fall actually bothers me much more than the cold in mid-winter when the snow is two feet deep).

Also why does Tamama care about how big his bonus is? He can basically buy whatever he wants regardless (Though given what we learn in episode 40, it does seem weird they get paid so little). And it’s a bit surprising that Dororo isn’t the one in the old fashioned straw snow suit.

Episode 37: I feel in a way the first half of this episode illustrates most cases where you go to teach something that people have a certain image of and they expect what they see in movies and T.V. shows instead of what the thing you’re teaching actually is or at best expect to be doing the advanced things right away. Part b was also a bit surprising in terms of the range of emotions it runs through since at first it doesn’t seem like it would go in that direction at all; it starts off with a sort of Jurassic Park premise but actually ends up surprisingly sweet at times.

Episode 38: So apparently the opening shot with Sumomo is quite famous as one of the strangest anime gifs ever, hmm. Alright I’m going to admit, I think I’ve only seen this one once before and I know Giroro & Natsumi is a really popular pairing for the series and it’s not that I dislike it but I don’t really have any strong feelings about it or a lot to say about this episode.

Except that I’m fairly sure that password was chosen specifically to embarrass Giroro, and that the bit about the apron might tie into how Geisha would leave a small portion of the back of their necks unpainted because it suggested the bare skin under their make-up (It’s been a while since I read the book it’s from).

Episode 39: I’m going to admit that I really like Japan’s “Always been fun” Christmas, in some ways more than what we have here; namely because here there are a lot of people who have trouble with Christmas because it went from having a lot of emotional meaning to being commercial and Japanese Christmas seems to be in a nice middle ground where it never had the meaning it used to for Westerners, but didn’t go the other way either. Or maybe it’s more commercial than I think, either way the episode is really sweet and charming.

As for part b. I know about the Japanese tradition of having a big clean up around the end of the year to have a fresh start in the new year, but I have to wonder if having Fuyuki throw out those books was really necessary. I know my books don’t really fill the entirety of their space on my bookselves and you can fit more books or even an entire second row behind them, and Japanese books are generally much smaller than Western ones (probably because it take fewer characters to say what you need to) plus there’s all that space in the secret base. Long story short, I sort of like to think that Keroro didn’t actually throw out Fuyuki’s books (or at the very least took them out of the trash) and sold them to Momoka to make up for getting such a small bonus

Episode 40: It’s the News Years episode! And goodness it’s different from it’s manga counterpart, really, really different. Now in a way I can understand why they changed it; even though children’s anime have no problem showing adult characters getting drunk (Ojamajo Doremi actually has a few episodes where the girls’ magic teacher/mascot is shown using alcohol as an emotional crutch when she loses ownership of her store), minors are a different matter entirely and in this case it’s a bit of a grey area since Mois’ Human form is based on a girl who is either in high school or late middle school and we don’t know what stage she’s in in terms of her own species, the latter sort of applies to Tamama as well. Actually, speaking of the manga, there’s a good bit that seems to either have been dropped from the earlier chapters or possibly was part of some trial and error process; I know the first few volumes included a chart that shows Giroro’s organs as including a reactor and they had an interview with Tamama which, along with a few other moments makes it almost seem as if he was originally planned to have some form of hypopituitarism, the one that keeps you from aging normally....

Moving right along, the kite bit is a pun on kite & octopus both being pronounced “tako” (this isn’t the first show to do this pun) and the “Tamaya!” is something that’s commonly done when fireworks are launched (Though some shout “Kagiya!”); it started as the result of a competition between two firework making rivals to make the most spectacular fireworks, each would call out his own surname every time one of his fireworks was launched.

Also sweet goodness this episode got a bit meta, possibly more than the one where they make anime.

Episode 41: I’m really curious about sugoroku, I’ve never actually seen a normal version of the game; not simply I’ve only seen it in T.V. shows where the game is enhanced by either magic or technology and has you do things that normally wouldn’t be possible or practical, even the versions I’ve seen that are regular board games are always themed.

Dororo’s story was quite nice, though it’s a bit funny that 556 misremembered his name as “Terere”, “Tereyasan” means “Shy Person” (”Tere” being what marks it as “shy”) it’s also really close to his name if you look at a syllable chart (both are one place off from where the right one is). Either way it was really nice seeing him get the spotlight and be noticed for once, even if it was short lived (though I wonder why when all of them lost their footing none of them tried to grab the cliff face again).

Episode 42 (I’m warning you now, this one is about to get weird):

♪Viva the beautiful game, it’s what saturdays are for. Ooh! Ah! The triumph and pain. Work to live, but live to score. We’re on our way now! To Wemberly~ Up for the cup it’s the classical game, the marvellous game. Thank Frog for football~♪

Actually my opinions on soccer aren’t especially strong either way, I just really love musicals (This one is called “The Boys in the Photograph” which is an updated version of “The Beautiful Game” but with a happier ending)

Now part 2 is adorable but rewatching it left me wondering, how exactly does the timing of this episode work? To clarify the opening scene shows this episode starts directly after part one with Keroro being punished for losing the game (how is the barbed wire actually working by the way? Keronian hands are small enough to fit between the barbed section) but then it seems an entire winter goes by over the course of this episode, one where he goes to the park every day in case the boy comes back; even if we go by the snow actually holding and not being the very first snowfall of the year and taking place after the Natsumi Birthday episode and ending before valentines day when there clearly was no snow on the ground, that still leaves a lot of episodes where Tamama would have gone to the park at some point that day and there are a few where I have to wonder when he had the time to do that.

Even if we say that the episode started in fall 2004 the opening of the first part mentions the approach of spring so that would mean feeling the approach of spring before winter even starts....Or was that snow just a random one from that weird point where it can snow and hold for a few weeks, but the bulk of snow from the winter melted earlier?

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courage-a-word-of-justice · 5 years

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Mob Psycho II 9

So…uh…is this the first time we’ve had lyrics for the OP???

For some reason, “you little s***” is a hilarious nickname…in my head.

Is it just me, or did the style of Teruki’s eyes change when he got that stack of hair off his head?

My Roommate is a Cat 9

Please don’t let that random voice be the do-oh no. I was right *sigh* As much as I think dogs are fine and cute and all, this is a show about a cat, so naturally I feel diametrically opposed to dogs when watching.

Long ago, the writer and his cat lived in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Signing attacked! …Yeah. I couldn’t resist the Avatar pun…of course.

Aw…Kawase is a good guy, even if he’s a bit obnoxious to poor Haru.

As someone who’s currently volunteering at a charity store, I forget to say “thanks” all the time. It eats me up, it really does…

That post-credits sequence was funny, but only because I could read the “dying message” (it’s katakana ha <-> kanji hachi -> number 8).

Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka 9

Oh hey, a cheerleader stamp (sticker...?) from the Cheerleader vs Megaton Shark movie!

Wait, whaaaaaaaaat?! I thought Asuka was Tamara’s older sister (metaphorically), but…she’s nottttttttttttttt??? Also, why doesn’t Tamara get creeped out by the fact her stuffed toy could be a Disas in disguise?

Why is everyone so…for lack of a better term…gay for Asuka?! Even Tabira…

Ouch for Tabira. I’m just laughing because it’s like seeing SekaTsuyo or Bikini Warriors being torn up in front of my face – I’m thanking whoever made this for that image alone!

Cenobite. Basically…it’s another horror reference.

The Osprey stands out so much…CGI..it’s so garish…

Garish CGI strikes again, this time in the form of a 4WD!

Shield Hero 9

Naofumi’s such a dad…haha.

It’s a Filo-and-fish! Hahaha! (Update: I’m aware there are some of you who might never have heard of a Fillet-o-fish and so…there you go. It’s a McDonald’s meal name. It makes me hungry just thinking about it, to be honest though.)

Why does Motoyasu even care so much for underage girls? Sure, they have their rights too, but…is he a lolicon???

They talk about “white privilege”…so maybe there’s “hero privilege” as well…hmm…

Motoyasu’s “treasure-protection shields” versus Filo = 0 to 2, Filo’s victory! Hahaha!

Morose Mononokean 10

The idea of Rippou being amused by “a mundane world plank”…amuses me. So does the idea of Abeno and Ashiya walking around as a shingami and witch, respectively…Come to think of it, Ashiya’s always the one who dresses like a woman if the need arises, huh?

I feel sorry for Zenko, to be honest…I mean, she’s wearing what’s meant to be Abeno’s outfit! She’s going to trip, y’know? Where are the OH and S concerns (OH and S = occupational healh and safety, though...yeah, I make that mistake a lot)???

Come to think of it, I wasn’t tracking where Abeno’s book went. So he left it in the Mononokean…I see.

Poor Fuzzy! He got taken by Komon!!!

Smol Itsuki…I swear I’ve seen a similar character in a manga before – and somehow I know it’s a manga, but I don’t remember which one…

Double Decker! EX 2

Couldn’t you just ask “Milla” (even if he’s not a Police Academy graduate)? Pretend Valery is Kirill or something, maybe.

I can’t believe they’re still making jokes about Doug’s laundry…

I feel kind of bad at snickering at this crossdressing thing – you know how the LGBTIQ+ community feels about this stuff, don’t you?

Travis’s pick-up lines are too cheesy for this earth…*shakes head with grin on face*

There’s a police bird mascot on the dashboard of the Seven-O car.

When I realised what Mr Goldman was doing to Kirill (potential sekuhara and disguise reveal, if you know what I mean)…my face went all funny…

I don’t think I’ve seen a Kirill and Valery eyecatch before…hmm.

The fact there were two men making out in the change rooms…I wonder if that was played for humour? If so, that’s nasty to the LGBTIQ+ people, y’know?

“Max, that’s mine. Take good care of it.” – Your…what, Deana? Your target???

The next-ep preview had me laughing! Travis, don’t give yourself away!!! But now I get why Kirill was in a wedding dress.

Price of Smiles 10

Y’know, Lily, you shouldn’t wish for a kid to be confined to their house forever. Kids grow up and then need to make a living…at least, that’s what I’ve learnt.

I honestly (almost…?) thought we’d only see casualties on Yuki’s side…guess I was wrong.

Shield Hero 10

Notably, a lot of Western-inspired fantasy works such as this use “runes” based on stylised English…including the map that appears in this ep.

This knight that’s doing all the talking…his name is Ake, according to the interface.

My Roommate is a Cat 10

The irony of that dog bag of Haru’s (the human girl’s).

Cats and Dreams (Neko to Yume) = a parody of Hana to Yume (Flowers and Dreams).

All these thoughts Subaru has of his mother make me want to hug mine…

“50 inches”, my butt! (The newspaper says there’ll be 50 centimetres of snow...)

I expected Okami to be at the supermarket (Nana, not her brother)…but instead, Hiroto showed up. What a small world it is in this anime…(well, it is all set in the same neighbourhood, with the exception of that signing, so it should be. At least, I guess so.)

F*** it, Hiroto. I thought you were annoying in the past, but you’re nice too! What’s up with this show??? Why do I feel everything Subaru feels??? (Uh…past me, maybe, that’s the point of this show…?)

The cat show is also relatable in how I peel apples…and that would probably carry over to other fruit and veg too…

If there’s one thing I can annoy this show about, it’s how to transition between human and cat perspectives. Aside from that, it’s A-OK!

Morose Mononokean 11

Wait, these birds have one foot (each) and ear wings??? Wuh???

Oh, now that Abeno mentions it, Chungo has a crescent, but one of the other bros has a heart on his belly. Another one has a circular pattern with a round dent where the head is (like a partial moon, with the smaller edge inverted).

One of the “birds” has two dents in his belly pattern (like the one I described just before, but this time with a W shape).

Hmm…in much the same way the police act as a representative of the state, the reason there needs to be a master of the Mononokean is to represent it…and maybe the Legislator. Is that right, people?

Come to think of it…”chun” roughly means “tweet”, hence “Chunichi”, “Chunji” etc.

The name of this episode is Kii (literally, “return to residence” as far as I understand it…I may have misinterpreted that second kanji though).

Is Komon a “she”? It’s hard to tell, really.

Mob Psycho 100 10

“Prime Minister Yabe”, eh?

I think I saw “ONE” written on one of the buildings.

I sort of saw the comparison between Sho and his dad coming as soon as I saw Ritsu and Sho hanging out together.

I found my old first season predictions from summer 2016 and now I just remembr Dimple as a “green cloud”, LOL.

Well…sorry to break it to you guys, but someone’s post was called “Dimple makes the Body Improvement Club PLUS ULTRA” so I sort of know where this is going…

Hmm…this “muscles with psychic power =/= muscles with training” thing reminds me of the tomatoes from s2 ep 1.

Mob Psycho 100 11

(Mob says something along the lines of “you need to rely on others to help you survive.”) - Welp, Mob, that’s a consumerist post-Fordist society for ya.

“…don’t use your psychic powers against others.” Don’t think I’ve corrected any subs in a while.

…and randomly, Reigen.

Post-credits scene. Keep watching!

I just realised these “courses” mentiond in the next-ep previews are related to the Japanese side of things – BDs, DVDs, events and manga.

Egao no Daika 11

Almost done with the season, eh?

Couldn’t Huey have been shown giving the money, rather than keeping it a secre until the rest of the group did it…?

Please say that’s an armistice, Yu-oh no.

I feel like revealing Izana’s death to his family now…is a bit late.

That’s Stella’s fish bowl! Great Scott! (Okay…that was a terrible pun. Y’see, Scott was the one who believed Stella was Layla’s daughter…and he was right.)

Oh…end of credits segment. Keep watching.

Notably, the ep 12 title (”The Price of Smiles”) is written in kanji + hiragana, instead of the katakana of the show title.

Spec Ops Asuka 11

“I don’t want to run.” – Well, with Nozo-chan leaning on her like that, Sayako definitely won’t be running…in more ways than one.

Ken can mean “dog” in certain contexts, y’know. So Kenjou seems like a good name for a dog boi...spirit…thing?

My Roommate is a Cat 11

I’m going to miss this show when it’s gone…

I feel like a better episode title translation would be “Overlapping Feelings”.

Hmm…I never thought he (Subaru) was wearing a tonne of blue because he liked it. I just thought it was a good aesthetic choice on the part of the mangaka…welp, at least there’s a reason for it now.

Rabbiteye blueberries. I’d never heard of them before, to be honest. (Isn’t blue meant to be rare in nature???)

I could tell from the silhouette it was Kawase…

I know that feel…haven’t you seen the meme that goes…oh, I’ll go find it. Then you’ll understand what I mean.

^…This one.

LOL, that image of Haru on Kawase’s computer.

This show makes me wanna hug my parents…Update: Hey, I said that a few episodes ago. That makes me feel really stupid.

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