#I’m assuming that’s his name in the Chinese dub? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

i-am-a-fan · 5 months

Note

Dude. I need to know about the tails.

Invested

In that headcanon. I wanna hear a whole lore dump on your thought process on the latest peice

(If ya want ofc)

so. You wanted to hear my whole lore dump huh?

Please keep in mind that I am well aware that this is SUPPPEERRR off script for the show. This is just kinda like me playing with it like silly putty.

Link to artwork

Spoilers underneath and also long text.

Okay. So it stems from a lot of places.

First I’ll talk specifically about the tails since I think they’re the easiest to explain.

Tails:

The tails from from the season 4 special and the idea that Mk’s Kaiju form has three tails. That’s kinda what inspired it at the beginning.

I’ve outlined what I believe to be the tails in red so it’s easier to see.

Then we have Mk’s name sake in the Chinese dub (I think) Qi Xiaotain which roughly means “little sky” or “little heaven”.

If Wukong is the Sun, and Macaque is the moon, then would it not make sense that Mk, the one caught in between them is the sky?

I always try to draw Wukong’s tail to look like a fire ball, Macaque’s tail to look like a crescent moon, and Mk’s tail to look like a cloud.

Thus, you get the three tails that make up the controlled Kaiju form :D!

I also added the detail that the cloud swirl, what it outlined in orange, comes before wukong’s and Macaque’s tail to show that this feature is special to MK.

Samadhi Fire/ Teal Coloring:

The real thing that started everything was my crazy theory that Mk is the next person to get the samadhi fire.

The original smashing fire was also blue, which is why I made the painting be mixed with teal and yellow.

Link to Mk and the Samadhi Fire

I go into a LOT more detail in that post, but I’m almost certain that one of these 3 things happened to the samadhi fire in the show.

1. It got destroyed with the Lady Bone demon

2. Redson got it back and is unaware of it

3. Plot armor/ unexplained disappearance.

If it’s the first one, then onto the next topic.

Celestial Monkey(?):

I really hope that Mk turns out to be yet another celestial monkey, and if he is, I think it would make the most sense that he’s the “Connected Arm Gibbon” who can “seize the sun and the moon, shorten a thousand mountains, distinguish the auspicious from the inauspicious, And manipulate planets and stars.”

To me it makes the most sense since Mk is already somehow connected the the heavens and the planets.

More so, when Mk uses the Skeleton Key on himself, we get this frame… one that shows us a type of cosmic entity.

Plus, all the times that Mk has a cataclysmic power that shakes the universe.

If you combine this with the eye theory by @ imminent-danger-came , it seems like there’s some other version of MK that is watching and controlling what is happening to the Mk we are following.

- Eye Theory/ Eye Motifs with Mk

- Other Mk theory

There’s also the saying that the fate is written in the stars, and there’s a storyline relating Mk with destiny/ fate and how he can either be doomed to repeat it or change it.

If a version of Mk can truly control the stars, maybe by doing so he can change his fate as the harbinger of chaos.

Adding on, and with @spoofyleaf ‘s contributions, other Mk might be some protective seer of our MK. As seen in “Cooking with Chang’e” episode, Mk seems to simply be able to gain abilities from time to time and lose them.

Tang even comments on this and questions it, and if tang is our Normal Guy ™ who stands in as a Narrator and informant for the audience, then we can assume that this is not normal.

Referencing back to that image, look at the protective stance that the celestial version has over Mk, it’s almost protective of them (how I got inspired for the stance in the image).

Which brings me to the last part:

Reality Manipulation:

If Mk can gain new abilities when it is needed, and has the ability to control fate, does that entail that he has some sort of affect on the reality he’s placed in?

If so, that’s where I took creative liberties. If the Samadhi fire WAS destroyed, and it WAS the ultimate weapon for anything, wouldn’t someone who is obsessed with keeping everyone safe, try to reforge it? Wouldn’t the perfect person be someone who can change reality as they see fit? Wouldn’t that be someone who can distinguish the promising from the unpromising? Wouldn’t it be someone whom the bone demon tried to recruit again, and again? Wouldn’t the ultimate wildfire be wielded by chaos itself? Wou-

#lmk qi xiaotian #lego monkie kid #lmk #lmk theory #lmk analysis #honestly? I doubt this is the case and I hope I’m explaining this well because I’m so tired #speck rambles #long post #monkie kid #lmk mk #lmk season 4 #I wanna give credit to the other theorists and people whom I’ve shared my theo #my thoughts with. if you don’t want to be tagged. forgive me #but also check those people out!#lmk samadhi fire #I sleep now

44 notes · View notes

luna-rainbow · 2 years

Text

So today I opened up the canto dub of CATWS because I wanted to double check the dub for a fanvid (they dubbed Steve’s line of if you’re going to a fight you need to have a suit into “I promised him I’m never leaving him behind” and I was like NO WAY). Anyway bad news that was not the offical dub, but the end of the line quote is still super gay in both dialects of Chinese.

I seriously think the English version is softened by the addition of “the line”. I’m with you to the end of the line — the front line? The train line? The marching line? And maybe in context of them both joining the army, that seems to make it lean more towards bromantic than romantic. That ambiguity doesn’t carry through to the Chinese (or Japanese) translations.

Cantonese: (text) Because I’m with you until the end. (Dub) Because I’ll walk with you until [indefinitely]. (*) There’s slight variation between the two because the spoken dialect of canto doesn’t convert well to written.

Mandarin: Because I’ll walk together with you until the very end.

(*) Both Canto and Mando adds the word “陪” which is a more proactive word than “I’m with you”. It means “I’m willingly accompanying you” but it also has something more intimate than “accompany”, kind of like “I’ll have your back, I’ll be by your side, I’ll support you”. Even within the word itself, it has a sense that even if no one else is around, they will still be a companion.

Japanese: because [we’re] together unto the very end. (*) People who know Japanese will know that the language often implies the pronouns. This sentence can also be “because [I’m] together with [you] unto the very end”.

I also want to point out the lines before this (ahhh Japanese your pronouns are such a mine of treasure).

“君とは戦わない　親友だからだ” “貴様を殺す　それが俺の任務だ” (I’m not going to fight you, you are my friend / I’m going to kill you, that’s my mission)

Ahhhhh I died. The Winter Soldier calls Steve “kisama” (“you” derogatory), which is not surprising because he sees Steve as his enemy. But Steve calls the Winter Soldier “kimi”!! He calls him “kimi”!! 🙈🙈🙈

I dunno if that’s my weaboo going off but firstly as we said the Japanese tend not to use pronouns if they can avoid it, they’d rather refer to someone by name directly (even while they’re talking to them). But the translators decided to use “you”, and not only that, they chose “kimi” (okay I know there is a dearth of choices but still!) which is a word of endearment. Basically you use it to refer to juniors you’re very close to, your family (in your generation or younger) and your boyfriend/girlfriend 🙈 The term comes with a slight patronising sense which is why you’d never use it for people who have seniority over you.

I’m going to use this summary because it captures what I’m trying to get at.

Another way to look at this is assuming that the "you" you're talking about is some cute, sweet, frail creature of sorts. Ok, that's a bit extreme. But it holds that sort of meaning when you think it can be used by fathering figures (actual fathers, employers, elders) and by intimate friends or childhood friends. It's saying "you are not dangerous" in a way, and that may be perceived as "you are some weak nobody" which is why it can sound condescending or it can sound friendly depending on context. (Source)

So basically here’s Bucky screaming at Steve going “NO I DONT!! SHUT UP!!”

And here’s Steve going “oh you sweet little meow meow I’m not afraid of you.”

So no surprise Bucky responds with “KISAMA” which as they say is as close as you’d get to a “fuck you” in Japanese.

This is not even getting into the translation of “friend” as “兄弟” in Canto (“brother”) and “親友” (best/intimate friend) in Japanese 🙈

#languages #stucky #bucky barnes #steve rogers #meta #stucky meta

336 notes · View notes

deadmandairyland · 3 years

Photo

Guess who’s back with another tier list!

So I found another Black Lagoon tier list, this one including both Fabiola and Ginji, and this time I decided to go a different route with the list. Maybe some time I will use it to make a new, actual tier list, but today I decided to talk about probably one of the most confusing things about Black Lagoon (especially in the anime): the language barrier!

...So basically this list is just what languages the characters are speaking based on what I picked up on over the past decade of being a fan of this series.

This list was inspired by the fact that people watching the anime tend to be very confused on what languages the characters are actually speaking because unfortunately there is no perfect dub of Black Lagoon that actually shows what characters are actually speaking at any given time. Don’t get me wrong, still one of the best English anime dubs of all time, I’m in full agreement of that, but both the Japanese and English dubs of this anime fall apart when the language barrier becomes a key component in the series. And honestly it’s not their fault. I imagine translating this over to anime must have been hell for both dubs.

One important thing to mention: I do not claim that this is 100% accurate. This is what I’ve picked up on as I read the manga and watched the show, but obviously there may be other languages these characters speak that either I missed or was just never really addressed in the series. Also in several places I filled in the blanks myself because, well, obviously English isn’t going to be the first language for, for example, Ibraha.

I also remember reading in a few places that it was confirmed that English is a common language in Roanapur, but I cannot find the official source that said this. This is one of the reasons why I’m not claiming that this is 100% accurate, because while I do think this is probably what was intended for the story, no proof means no proof at the end of the day. But it’s also worth noting that--spoilers btw--the United States basically runs the city behind the scenes, so that’s something to keep in mind.

Another reason why I’m not claiming that this is 100% accurate is because human beings are fallible and as shown in some of my corrections below I know I’ve made a few mistakes here and there in the list, and there could be more that I’m missing or that I’ve got wrong. At the end of the day, this list is not to be seen as a definitive answer to the question of “What languages do these characters speak?” but rather something to look at to get a better understanding of some of the more confusing parts of Black Lagoon wherever language is a key component in the story.

One final note: at one point I refer to the main mob bosses of Roanapur as the Big Four. This is just a name I came up with to describe the balance of power among the four mob bosses, so it’s not an official name as far as I’m personally aware. I figured I should point that out to clear up any confusion.

So with that being said, here’s the breakdown. Expect lots of spoilers.

Revy speaks English, and a small handful of words or phrases in Cantonese (as mentioned in The Wired Red Wild Card), and that seems to be it. She is the most likely person to tell some to speak English when they speak another language to her, or to just say that she doesn’t speak whatever language they’re speaking. In the Japan arc especially, if you’re reading the manga or watching the Japanese dub, it’s clear that she doesn’t understand what most of the Japanese characters are saying. Canonically the vendor she has a shouting match with is actually shouting at her to speak Japanese and she thinks he’s insulting her (and her being unable to talk to the vendor is why Rock goes back and forth between them in the first place to talk about the fixed game), she never actually communicates with Ginji or the kids verbally (she talks to them, but they don’t understand each other’s words), when Rock asks her if she and Ginji can work together in the anime’s English dub when they enter the bowling alley he’s actually asking if they can communicate (Revy basically says when the action starts, they’ll be in sync without needing to talk to each other), and the dude who’s like “I GIVE UP, SERIOUSLY, I GIVE UP” is actually desperately trying to say he gives up in English. Also if you’re only familiar with the English dub, this video is a great example of why this arc is so confusing for everybody, and why the English dub was like “Fuck it, we’re not bothering with the language barrier subplot.”

Benny speaks English. He’s also Jewish, so it’s possible he may know Hebrew or another Semitic language.

Eda speaks English. She’s a CIA agent who claims to be from Alabama and is shown to be very patriotic when in CIA mode. Not that I’m saying this automatically means she doesn’t know any other language, but I haven’t seen any proof that she does.

Lotton... is mostly speculation based on everyone else, particularly Sawyer and Shenhua. I don’t even think he has an official nationality, he just... exists.

Sawyer speaks English. She is British and her name is of English origin. It is possible she speaks a Chinese dialect as well since she seems to do jobs for the Triad and befriends Shenhua, but she seems to be more freelance than a member of the Triad so this isn’t very clear.

Rowan is also mostly speculation. His name is of Irish origin, his last name is likely Pigeon, and Revy can understand him.

Chief Watsup is the chief of police in Roanapur and is the only recurring character in the show who is actually Thai. He can communicate with both Revy and Balalaika, so whether or not he speaks English depends heavily on whether or not Revy and Balalaika speak Thai (and given that Revy says in The Wired Red Wild Card that she only speaks English and a tiny bit of Cantonese, it’s more likely that he knows English).

Yukio and Ginji speak Japanese and do not appear to speak English. It is ignored in the English dub of the anime, but everywhere else it is often brought up that Revy can’t understand what they’re saying and they can’t understand what Revy is saying. To add on to what I mentioned above in Revy’s section, also consider that Yukio curiously asks Rock if Revy is Japanese when they first meet, with the thought in mind that the first thing Yukio and Ginji see when they first meet Rock and Revy is Revy shouting in English at a Japanese vendor who is yelling at her to speak Japanese.

Mr. Kageyama obviously speaks Japanese, and I assume he speaks English as well as he seems to be able to speak to both Dutch and Balalaika, the latter of whom is confirmed to not know Japanese.

Chaka canonically speaks both Japanese and English. Not only can he and Revy understand each other, but being able to speak English is one of the things he brags about to Revy when they first meet, saying something along the lines of “Can’t run a place like this without being able to speak English.”

Takenaka obviously speaks Japanese, more than likely speaks English as he’s able to communicate with Revy, and likely speaks Arabic as he has allied himself with Ibraha.

Ibraha obviously would have Arabic as his first language and he presumably speaks English as well (and possibly French as he’s from Lebanon, but this isn’t relevant). The important thing is that he does NOT know Japanese, because it is implied that THIS is the reason why he gets angry out of nowhere during the interrogation. Takenaka and Rock are speaking in Japanese during the interrogation (signified by a change in font in the manga, which would only be important if the language barrier is important to the scene) and Ibraha interrupts by saying something along the lines of “Even I know this is no longer an interrogation!”

All of the canonically English-speaking cast can understand Roberta, Garcia, and Fabiola, whose first language is obviously Spanish. Rock and Fabiola both act as interpreters in different points of the series. It’s also worth noting that Lovelace is obviously of English origin, which suggests to me that the Lovelace family in particular has a very ethnically diverse background.

Rico communicates with Revy and Eda, but judging by his name he probably can also speak Spanish (or possibly Portuguese, but Spanish is more likely as there are many Spanish speakers in town).

Balalaika and Boris obviously speak Russian, but they can communicate with the English-speaking Lagoon Company as well as Roberta.

Hansel and Gretel are Romanian, can communicate with several English-speaking characters including Revy and Eda, and are working for the Italians.

Verrocchio obviously speaks Italian, and presumably English as well as he’s part of the Big Four of Roanapur (this again ties into the idea that English is a common language in Roanapur). Also where IS Ronnie the Jaws? Or Abrego for that matter? This list said “All Characters.” False advertising smh

Bao is Vietnamese, but often speaks to characters that don’t speak Vietnamese (e.g. Revy).

Mr. Chang would likely speak Cantonese as a leading figure of the Hong Kong Triad and would likely know Mandarin as well. He can communicate with Revy, who according to The Wired Red Wild Card only knows bits and pieces of Cantonese and likely not enough to hold a whole conversation. He is also the CIA’s lapdog, so unless Eda speaks Cantonese they are probably talking to each other in English.

Shenhua is from Taiwan and as such would most likely speak Taiwanese Mandarin. She speaks with Revy who makes fun of her for her thick accent and way of speaking when she speaks English. She also might speak Cantonese as well since she works for the Hong Kong Triad.

Ahbe from the WWII flashback obviously speaks German.

Sir Alfred the old Nazi fuck would also speak German, but he’s able to talk to Dutch over the phone and he has American Neo-Nazis doing his bidding so he likely speaks English as well. He is also apparently living in Spain so it’s possible he might also speak Spanish.

Caxton and Yolanda speak English as they are constantly speaking with known English speakers throughout their appearances. Caxton in particular is about as ‘Murican as it gets without being a negative stereotype. It is unknown if they know any other language.

Jane is almost always speaking with English speakers. She is from India, so she likely also speaks Hindi. She is also part of an international team of counterfeiters, so it’s likely she knows other languages as well. After I made this tier list I remembered she also speaks German at one point and I think Theo was also from Germany, so she probably speaks German fluently as well, but I’m not redoing this list.

Leigharch speaks drugs... and presumably English and Irish as well.

Rock pretty much knows every language that ever existed in the history of mankind. He is basically the go to guy to translate anything. That being said, Japanese and English are the languages he’s most fluent in.

Dutch knows English, and--spoilers for L’homme Sombre btw--probably French as well, and also probably one of the many languages spoken in Burkina Faso, especially if he was born there (which I sadly didn’t think about until after I made the list). This arc is still ongoing in the manga, and more than anything I’m just excited to see Dutch's backstory being explored. It was long overdue. (Now we just gotta hope that the same happens for Benny.)

As I mentioned in that caveat, Roanapur is in Thailand, and it’s possible the people living in Roanapur may know Thai, but actual local Thai citizens are a rarity in Black Lagoon (with Chief Watsup being the only recurring Thai character), and American influence is so strong in the city that it’s probably the reason why people drive on the right side of the road with steering wheels on the left side, in a country where people drive on the left, and why US currency is accepted along with Thai currency, so that’s worth pointing out.

#black lagoon #revy #tier list #tagging revy because she was the character i used the most to determine if other characters spoke english #this post was partially inspired by an argument i saw in the comment section of a youtube video #where someone was very serious about everyone speaking japanese all the time just because it was an anime #chances are they are either a troll or twelve years old and it's not worth arguing with them either way #but it still inspired me to make this post because i think this aspect of black lagoon is genuinely interesting #not many stories dive into language barriers quite like black lagoon does #also should mention that me ripping on the ''all characters'' thing is a joke #i know that sarcasm is not easily understood in text so i figure i should say something now before anyone thinks i'm serious #like i said human beings are fallible

31 notes · View notes

antidotefortheawkward-art · 4 years

Note

Hey there! In regards to your post about white people adapting JTTW, how do you feel about Overly Sarcastic Productions' JTTW Videos?

Oh man I have a lot to say about this so I’m putting it under a cut, but

TLDR: OSP’s stuff is mostly harmless and I don’t think they’re being actively malicious or anything but like- they’re white and there is a loaded history behind white people using the stories from POC’s cultures, especially when the story seems to be made more “digestible” from an outside lens. Sometimes it feels like they don’t research enough, or even put in enough effort sometimes, and it sort of sucks to see when they’re profitting off it. It’s fine if you enjoy their adaptation and I’m not attacking OSP or anything, but I want people to recognize the experience they’re in for is a Chinese story through a white lens.

Also, tbh, just support Chinese people telling Chinese stories when you can. I know there’s no Chinese-made easily digestible mythology channel when you can watch JTTW right now, but that’s just a general rule of thumb. Support creators of color, please.

OSP’s stuff is mostly harmless and I don’t think they’re being actively malicious or anything but like- they’re white. As a POC, I’m never going to feel completely okay with white people adapting the stories of my culture without consulting some people from said culture. There’s a long history of POC’s religions being brushed off as “myth” and “fairytale” and although OSP don’t do that, the history of white people doing that is still there and thus as a POC, I’m not 100% comfortable with white people profitting off my culture’s stories. I think it’s great to introduce JTTW to more people, but honestly, I sort of wish they left that space to the people this story is important to. (Also, I get that their channel style is very light-hearted and humorous, and JTTW is only getting the same treatment as their other adaptations, but look- a white person poking fun at POC’s gods is going to feel off no matter what.)

Also, the fact that they ended up using the Arthur Waley names really rubs me the wrong way. You’re gonna call them by their correct names for a while and then default to what’s “easier” for you? Literally, there’s no reason for them to use the whitewashed 4kids names and given their platform, they’re influencing a lot of people’s first interactions with JTTW so I just really hate that decision. I’d honestly sit through them mispronouncing the actual names because that’d mean they tried. And if I’m being completely honest, it doesn’t sit right with me that white people profitting off JTTW (both in terms of video monetization and channel merch), don’t put in the effort to learn how to say names correctly.

I also really dislike it when people take what OSP say as gospel because there’s a lot they get wrong in a lot of little ways. (OSP saying they’re “nothing if not faithful to the source material” in the first ep is quite a bold statement from some gweilo ngl) I’m not really sure where they got “Sanzang is the main character” from, but most Chinese sources I know of don’t really say that? So? Hrm. Also small stuff like “studying the Dao! [shows drawing of Buddhist monks and not Daoist priests],” “I don’t know why they call him Sandy [if you google translate the first character, his surname is sand],” “the name Zhu Wuneng [shows characters for ‘Zhu Bajie”],’ “[makes the artistic choice to paint the Jade Emperor entirely green including his hat and therefore branding him a cuckold as per Chinese culture and THAT IS QUITE DISRESPECTFUL NGL]”, “[calls Taishang Laojun “Lao Tzu”]” make me feel like they’re not putting enough effort in doing their research? Like, yes, JTTW is a long story but stuff like mixing up Daoism and Buddhism and using the wrong characters for a name is stuff that’s really easily avoided.

And smaller detail but I don’t think they really get just how ubiquitous JTTW is in Chinese culture so I personally don’t find it as enjoyable an adaptation. Like, JTTW is an important story, but also it doesn’t occupy the space of a holy book where very few people actually go read it, and it doesn’t occupy the space of classical novels like Shakespearean literature where very few people actually go read it. As arguably the most approachable book out of the Four Great Classical Novels, JTTW is very common knowledge in people’s minds cuz everyone grows up hearing the story (some people even have it as summer reading). There are a few title chapters that people can instantly recognize, there are a few villains that people can grow up naming, and most people have a specific set of imagery that associate with each character. Stuff like this is humorously apparent when you do stuff like compare the English dub of Monkie Kid to the original Mandarin and discover just how much more added exposition there is. Small details in OSP’s adaptation, like Red Boy’s character design being a fully grown man instead of a baby, just bring you out of the story and remind you you’re not getting the full experience. It makes me feel like they just didn’t know Red Boy is traditionally a child with a huadian, whereas if I saw a Chinese adaptation with a fully grown Red Boy, I’d assume they were making a conscious choice to change it up.

Honestly a lot of their adaptation just feels very.... made digestible for non-Chinese audience, and not in a particularly faithful way? Like yeah you can make a story more easily accessible to people not originally from a culture, but don’t strip away parts of the culture, you can explain the parts of the culture and that’ll be infinitely more productive.

I understand a lot of people became interested in JTTW because of OSP’s work and I think that’s great! It’s cool to see JTTW gain more recognition in the western world! This isn’t an attack on OSP’s work and you’re totally able to enjoy watching it. I just want people to recognize OSP’s version of JTTW is a Chinese story told through a white lens.

And while i’m here, I just wanna say- tbh, just try to give the same support to Chinese people telling Chinese stories. I know there’s no Chinese-made easily digestible mythology channel when you can watch JTTW right now, but that’s just a general rule of thumb. Support creators of color, please.

#asks #anonymous #journey to the west #overly sarcastic productions #honestly a lot of this just comes down to representation #not a problem with osp personally but like- so many of their fans do stuff like ship Guanyin with people and call the Jade Emperor an idiot #and i feel like maybe OSP isnt emphasizing enough the nature of JTTW as a story if their fans feel comfortable doing *that*#hey people who found my jttw art from osp? please read this #edit: @dorkshadows also brings up the good point of..... wukong being misrepresented as someone who lacks braincells #like yes wukong has a shit ton of brute strength and he can solve problems by beating them up #but most of the time he doesnt? he is the literal embodiment of wit #he can make dumb decisions but honestly ive always seen them as arroange rather than pure impulsiveness #im an abc so im not the best authority but like... arent monkeys supposed to be seen as mischievously clever in chinese culture.....#its not the dumb ooh ooh ahh ahh monkey concept from western culture #idk the way wukong is portrayed just feels like a very westernized interpretation #please go look at @dorkshadows tags because theyre good too

125 notes · View notes

noragami-ru-manga · 4 years

Text

Shinki Names. Part 1

I should probably add a disclaimer that I don't know Japanese. I did spend a lot of time looking up all the kanji though and also consulted someone who does know some Japanese

»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»

A name is one the most important things a human can have. In ancient times, it was used to separate humans from nature, to guard them from evil spirits. Nowadays it’s more of a necessity, a primary part of one’s identity; a person without a name virtually doesn’t exist in the society.

In Noragami names, their meanings and functions are key elements of the magic universe created by Adachitoka. This two-parter is devoted to one of the name groups present in the manga – those belonging to shinki.

General rules of forming

Since shinki names are a part of Noragami’s magic system, there are certain rules for making them up. Many (if not most) of the readers of this post must already know those rules but I’ll list them just in case.

1. A shinki’s name is always (well, almost always, but we’ll get to that in Part 2) is written using a single kanji – a character that came into Japanese from Chinese. A kanji can have several meanings, one of which is chosen to be the name. The meaning’s two respective readings become two shinki names: kun-yomi, or Japanese native reading, refers to a shinki as a person while on-yomi, or Chinese sound reading, refers to their instrument name.

2. Even though shinki names are represented on their bodies by a single kanji, the kanji reading isn’t generally used as a name on its own. Another kanji is added to the kanji forming a shinki’s personal name to make yobina, which is the name a god uses when referring to their shinki in everyday life. Generally it’s a kanji that the gods use towards all of their shinki, i.e. their family/clan name. Here are examples of family names in Noragami:

音 – “ne”, Yato’s shinki’s family name. Means “sound”.

喩 – «yu», Tenjin’s shinki’s family name. Means “metaphor”.

大 – «dai», Kofuku’s shinki’s family name. Means “great”. The only prefix in this list.

麻 – «ma», Bishamon’s shinki’s former family name. Means “flax”.

巴 – «ha», Bishamon’s shinki’s current family name. See the meaning in the family names paragraph.

弥 – «mi», Ebisu’s shinki’s family name. When read as “mi” isn’t really a noun. One of the meanings is “more and more”.

云 – «un», Takemikazuchi’s shinki’s family name. Means “cloud”, “to talk”.

Known exceptions:

Noras: three out of four of Nora’s known names – Hiiro, Eyami, Mizuchi – do not include a family name (“chi” in “Mizuchi” isn’t actually a kanji for a family name, it’s part of kanji 螭's reading). Tenjin also refused to give Kugaha the “yu” clan name when gave him the name “Saku”;

Sakura and Nana, who aren’t noras but still have no family names;

Daikoku and Daigo – their clan name is added to their instrument name, not their name as a person

3. The instrument name also isn’t used on its own: kanji “ki” 器 (“instrument”) is added to it. As seen in the manga, characters in Noragami prefer to use “name + ki” when talking about a shinki’s instrument form.

Keeping these rules in mind, I’ve made this table that I borrowed from Wiki and expanded upon:

On the one hand, it seems like there’s no common theme in the names of the shinki belonging to the same god. There’s also no connection between a shinki’s name and instrument form in most cases. All in all, gods appear to name their shinki intuitively without actually thinking much about the meaning of the name. If we take Yato’s shinki as an example, three of them were named based on whatever Yato saw nearby: Yuki (snow) – it was snowing that day; Tomone (partner) – he just wished for someone to stay beside him; Sakura (sakura) – they met under a sakura tree. Momo has got a name that actually corresponds to his instrumet form – 100-yen store scissors; Hiiro’s (scarlet) and Kazune’s (calendar) seem to be a little more symbolical. Father, on the other hand, seems to be the only one to choose the names of his shinki deliberately. He gave Mizuchi the name of the monster that she turns into as an ayakashi; Edachi is literally his “servant”; and now he has Hagusa as well, “something that appears good, but isn’t”.

On the other hand, everything is not as simple as it seems. For example, look at these two translation notes about Nana’s name (Volume 16):

Moreover, “shi” means “death” in Japanese. Anything that sounds like “shi” has a connotation of “death”. A warrior is also “shi”. Number 4 is “shi”, number 7 is “shichi”. The Japanese mostly say 4 and 7 in kun-yomi in order to avoid saying “death” as much as possible. Bishamon, on the contrary, invites it. She is a warrior (“shi”), calling “shichi” to her service by her instrument name (on-yomi) – all of that does not bode well for any Japanese.

And here’s another example with Kiun’s name form Volume 17. When he recalls the day he was named by Take, he says that he was given “a very noble name” Ki.

Yellow is also the color of Amaterasu and her descendants, the Imperial dynasty. There are even several shades of yellow that can be used for dyeing the emperor’s clothes only.

So the reason why there’s no clear theme in the names of shinki of the same god and why they usually have nothing to do with shinki’s instrument forms is because each name has unique circumstances that surround it.

(BTW, regarding the “seven tools”: it’s a little far-fetched, but Yato technically has all of them as well. Yukine is his long sword and short sword while Kazuma is the rest – clothes (armor), bow, arrows, the scarf that also covers his head (helmet & cloak), and katana, because sure, why not).

Naming incantations

To give shinki a name, either for the first time or to someone who’s had a name before, a special incantation needs to be used.

This translation note was super helpful back when I first started reading Noragami. However, it was made in Volume 1, when little to nothing was known about the significance of names in the lore of Noragami, so I’m going to update it a bit.

Apparently, imina is the real name of a deceased person or a noble that is changed to a posthumous name; a forbidden, avoided name. Early on, before I reached the part with the gods’ greatest secret, I assumed that imina referred to the kun-yomi reading of a shinki’s name (like Yuki for Yukine). I thought that the reason gods added a family name to the kun-yomi reading was, just like it says in this note, to avoid the repetition of that name. But then there are noras, who almost always don’t get a family name, and shinki like Sakura and Nana, who are not noras and still don’t have family names either. So imina can’t possibly be the kun-yomi reading - if it really is an “avoided name” that shouldn’t be used for any purpose other than reverting a shinki from their instrument form, surely gods wouldn’t risk using it as a yobina (the name the gods call their shinki in everyday life, like Yukine) as well? That’s why I think that the first two lines of the incantation are a literal description of how the god’s greatest secret works. The god “grasps”, i.e. learns and conceals, a deceased person’s actual name – grasping thy true name, I bind thee here – and replaces it with the name that he/she makes up for that person – with borrowed name, I dub thee my servant. Karina, or the borrowed name, is the one that seals away the true name that should never be spoken. Lines 3 and 4 are pretty much an instruction for using a shinki. And the part about “mei” meaning both “command” and “destiny”,“life” explains why the last line was translated as “I use my life to make you my servant” in the anime. Wiki says that the reason why gods and shinki have this connection that can end up killing the god is because they use their life to create shinki, and I support the notion. After all, if there’s a line or word in Noragami that has more than one meaning, it’s 99% chance that it’s intentional. The last line shows that a shinki isn’t just a servant but a huge responsibility that a god may end up paying for with their life.

There aren’t any specific conditions to be met when naming a shinki (apart from the fact that a corrupted soul can’t become one, and even that’s… debatable); a spirit can receive a name voluntarily or forcefully. With regular ghosts who get a name for the first time it’s often not consensual since they don’t even know that’s a possibility (though there’s actually a cute scene in which Yato tries to persuade an old lady spirit to become his shinki freely). A shinki who has been released before can ask another god to name them, like Sakura did. Or, they can ask for a name without being released and become a nora. Finally, a god can forcefully give a name to a shinki who’s already serving another god, which is what Tenjin did to Kugaha. This, however, doesn’t mean that a shinki is defenseless against a god who wants to name them against their will, as shown in this scene with Yato, who wanted to make Kazuma a nora “for a bit” but helped him learn how to use borderlines instead:

Another interesting detail regarding the naming incantation is that it can only be used once – a god doesn’t get to name their former shinki for a second time (chapter 72).

Apart from the naming incantation used on shinki, there’s also a similar one for ayakashi (chapter 27).

The name Ebisu gives the ayakashi is Ryōki (菱鬼).It sounds like a shinki name (Mineha’s instrument name is also Ryōki), except here “ki” means “ghost”, “demon”. The first two lines of the incantation are very similar to the one used on shinki. Which is strange if you think about it, ‘cause unlike shinki, ayakashi don’t really have a name that must be concealed. Though they are born from human emotions, and some of them are even former humans (former shinki), so maybe that’s it. The difference in the first two lines of the two incantations is that an ayakashi is also tied to a mask. And there’s an entire translation note to be made about the rest of it.

The “one visage” probably really is the god using the incantation since Ebisu seemed to get blighted by his ayakashi the way shinki sting their masters when they sin – not on a surface level but with a deep, indelible blight.

Also, an ayakashi gets only one name, not two.

Finally, there’s also a hybrid incantation Father used in chapter 84 in combination with kotonoha to give names to shinki who started turning into ayakashi.

The first lines aren’t shown but they are probably the same as the ones in the regular incantation. Like any other shinki, Hagusa receives two names, as a person and as an instrument. The part resembling the incantation for naming ayakashi is the line about “obeying one name”, though with ayakashi it was “one face”. The last line is unique to this version of the incantation – using the kotonoha, Father orders Hagusa to retain his human form (in fact, we don’t know for sure if the incantation is actually necessary or if Father is simply imitating the gods while the only thing really needed for the naming is the brush).

Family names

Kazuma explains the existence of family names in chapter 18.

As mentioned earlier, “ne” and “yu” mean “sound” and “metaphor” respectively. The reason for the “ne” name, as we know, is very personal, while “yu” might have something to do with Tanjin being the god of learning and also a poet in his human life. Explaining the “ha” name will take a little longer.

Kazuma might think that family name is “really nothing”, but gods would clearly disagree. One of the things indicating that they don’t consider a family name “a nothing” is refusing to give one to noras. Tenjin did not give Kugaha the “yu” name when made him his nora Saku. Nora only has one name that has a family name attached to it – Tsutsumi, which she received from Ebisu. Ebisu himself is an exception though since he would name any shinki capable of drawing a borderline, so all of his shinki have the “mi” name, whether they are a nora or not. Another exception is Kazune but that is a special case since Yato and Kazuma have known each other for a long time; no wonder Yato decided to give Kazuma his family name.

Yato’s first two shinki, Sakura and Hiiro, didn’t have family names either, but that’s because Yato didn’t know he could or was supposed to give them one. Kazuma’s guess about creating a family bond through a common name is also correct – Bishamon explicitly states she doesn’t want to give Nana the “ha” name ‘cause she doesn’t want to become too attached to the girl who’s supposed to be her “disposable” weapon.

Finally, gauging the importance of a family name without knowing its backstory is hasteful. Yato’s family name “ne” simply meaning “sound” doesn’t seem to be very important at first. But to Yato it’s more than just a sound:

And Bishamon had a similar reason for not giving Kazuma the “ha” name after the Ma clan was wiped out.

This makes the names Father gives to his shinki – like Mizuchi and Edachi - all the more interesting. They sound like they have a family name “chi” but are actually written with a single kanji. So Father is basically creating an illusion of a family name that isn’t there. Another notable thing is that he did not choose a name ending with –chi for Hagusa. Does it mean that Father doesn’t want to make him a part of this “family”, however fake it is?

Summoning a shinki

To summon a shinki, all you need to do is call their instrument name. There are some nuances though. Firstly, sometimes shinki can have a delayed response, like how Yukine only answered to Yato’s call after his second attempt in chapter 26.

It’s hard to tell whether all shinki are capable of this. Yukine is a hafuri here, so we can’t be sure if his new status affects his ability to resist his master’s call or not. It’s also not clear if Yukine decided to help out on his own or if he couldn’t refuse his nature as an instrument after all. There are, however, other instances of shinki not coming after being summoned. Takemikazuchi’s senior shinki outright refused to respond to his call the night they killed him:

And then there’s Kiun who apparently can simply sleep through being summoned.

The reason why this is important is because it influences our understanding of the nature of the bond between a god and a shinki and shinki’s level of autonomy. Are shinki bound to transform because of a magical contract embodied in their name, or can they choose freely? The second option suggests a more trust-based connection between shinki and their masters. If they are able to ignore the summoning but willingly come to the gods’ aid without questioning the need to do so, it means they want to support their masters no matter what. New shinki can’t resist the call though, as seen here:

Secondly, there’s an entire group a shinki who definitely can choose whether to respond to a call or not – noras. Hiiro ignored Yato several times: when Yato and Ebisu called her at the same time, she chose Ebisu; when Yato was calling for her to fight off the masked ayakashi, she did not respond.

Noras’ ability to choose if they want to take their instrument form or not makes sense regardless of whether it’s something all shinki can do or just them. Even if they are magically bound to transform when called, in a situation with two masters summoning then at the same time they will have to do something eventually. If they can’t ignore the summoning and also can’t split into two different instruments, it makes sense that they’d be at least able to choose whose call to answer. And as for Hiiro ignoring Yato’s call in a situation where there was no need to choose, there are several different explanations here. Maybe the ability to choose is simply always present for them, even when they aren’t summoned by two gods at the same time. After all, noras are resistant to name-binding spells in general. Another explanation can be that Hiiro is a half-shinki, half-yakashi who was named using the kotonoha. If her bond with Father is stronger than with any of her other masters because of that, then no wonder ignoring Yato was so easy for her.

Another thing I’m curious about is long-distance summoning. It wasn’t a thing in the beginning of the series – Yato did not call for Sekki when Kugaha attacked him near Suzuha’s sakura tree; the seven gods of fortune didn’t even try to summon their shinki when they were under arrest by the Heaven’s guard. However, Takemikazuchi calls his shinki from Takamagahara to Earth like no big deal (well, except for Kiun, who overslept).

And he also expects them to appear in Takamagahara if he summons them there:

I can see two possibilities here. 1) There had to be a reason why gods didn’t try to summon their shinki in the the cases mentioned. Like Yato not wanting Yukine to find out that Suzuha was dead, or the seven gods of fortune not wanting to get their shinki into trouble with the Heavens. 2) Adachitoka didn’t think of long-distance summoning in the beginning of the series and added it later.

Finally, shinki only answer to their master. Someone else pronouncing their name as an instrument or name as a person won’t work. There’s only one exception – the ruler of Heavens, the goddess of sun Amaterasu, who knows the name of all the gods and shinki and can call them. She was able to summon Sekki to put him into the box where he was supposed to spend the rest of the eternity. She also reverted Kokki by calling his name “Kuro” when she saw how he was trying to do something on the ground.

Releasing shinki from the name

Gods can release their shinki on their own will and upon request; no special incantation is needed. All a god needs to do is to write the name in the air and say that they release their shinki. After that the kanji tattooed on the shinki’s skin breaks and vanishes.

A released shinki looses their abilities (such as using borderlines) until they find themselves a new master but other than that the procedure is harmless.

However, there’s also Liberation, which breaks shinki names forcefully. Saying their original human name in the presence of a shinki or a direct question about the cause of their death leads revealing the gods’ greatest secret. That destroys their god-given name and the shinki turns into an ayakashi under the weight of all the regrets about the life they could have lived. There are only two shinki known to have survived the Liberation – Nana and Mizuchi. Mizuchi can even reveal the secret herself, although that power seems to be limited to her Chiki form.

Finally, there’s another unpleasant aspect of the lore that’s tied to releasing a shinki: if a god vanishes before taking the name from their servant, that name still remains. It’s one of the reasons some shinki end up being noras – a name no one can call is useless, so the only way to get a home and a shelter from ayakashi is to find another master. It’s not as easy as it sounds since the gods’ distaste towards noras is so strong that simply having a name given by another god is a reason enough not to take in an abandoned shinki.

Conclusion

I think it’s brilliant – to use the linguistic peculiarities of the Japanese language to form this unbelievably interesting and probably one the most memorable aspects of the magic system. I’m even more amazed at how much significance it has for the plot and characterization of the manga’s, well, characters. This theme will probably be further developed in the series, so I can’t wait to read new chapters of Noragami to find out other secrets of shinki names that Adachitoka have in store for us.

#noragami #noragami manga #theories #shinki #noragami meta

182 notes · View notes

365days365movies · 3 years

Text

January 11, 2021: Come Drink with Me (1966)

Wuxia.

Wuxia in an of itself is a form of fiction, highlighting martial arts. You always know a wuxia film when you see it. Like your more traditional kung fu/martial arts film, it usually focuses on one or a few protagonists facing enemies using the martial arts skills. However, wuxia is...different.

First of all, most wuxia take place in ancient China, or during periods of high conflict. Second of all, wuxia heroes are usually independent agents, not working for anyone in particular, but still with a personal code of honor. And thirdly, at least when talking about film...it’s kind of hard to explain. It’s more of a visual thing. See, look:

And yeah, I put Kung Fu Panda 2 in there, SUE ME IT’SWUXIAINSPIRED!!!!

Ahem.

To be fair, wuxia’s been a little Flanderized over the years, with the slow-motion, bold color palettes, and non-existent physics eventually taking over as genre-staples. If you’d like some proof of that, have no fear. That’s the point of today’s movie, King Hu’s 1966 classic Come Drink with Me.

Fun fact, by the way, if you search “wuxia” in the Tumblr gifs engine, this is the first one that comes up! Fitting, since this is considered one of the greatest Hong Kong movies of all time, was nominated for a Foreign Language Film Oscar. Additionally, it’s often considered the seminal wuxia film by many. Which is why I’m watching it! And yeah, there are other wuxia films on my list this month, but I really wanted to see this one first.

OK, let’s do it! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap

Two prisoners are being escorted through a field by a large party of soldiers, when a man, Jade-Faced Tiger (Chan Hung-lit), blocks the path. He gives a letter to the warden in charge, and the soldiers attack the man in white and his cohorts. They quickly lose, and a battle ensues. And for a movie in the ‘60s, it’s surprisingly brutal and bloody. The group of bandits kidnaps the warden, Master Chang.

They torture the warden to discover where their leader’ll be taken. Chang is the governor’s son, making him a valuable hostage to exchange for their leader. They have nothing to fear...except for Golden Swallow, whomever that is.

We cut to a village, where a young woman is seated at a table in an inn. She works for the Governor, and is seeking information on Chang. She speaks with one of the bandit leaders, and reveals that Chang is her brother. It also turns out that this is Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei-pei), and the bandits decide that it’s time to kill her.

And it is at this point, where the English dub REALLY got to me. It’s uh...it’s bad, you guys. IT IS SO BAD. And, yeah, it’s probably because I’m not used to dubs, but I needed the subbed version SO MUCH. So, I searched far and wide, and finally found the subbed version in Mandarin. Man, it is SO much better, Jesus.

Oof. Anyway, even the bad dub can’t distract me from the coolness of this scene, as Golden Swallow takes on this bar of bandits, led by Smiling Tiger (Lee Wan-chung). After defeating them handily in an cool fight, Smiling Tiger leaves, stating that they will kill the hostage in 5 days if their leader isn’t returned.

Meanwhile, the bandits are staying at a Shaolin temple, where they KILL A CHILD. No joke, a kid dies in this scene, and the bandits laugh about it.

Meanwhile, a drunk beggar from earlier barges into Golden Swallow’s quarters as she retires for the night, asking to stay with her. I should mention, by the way, that she’s been referred to by male pronouns for the entire movie at this point, even though she’s clearly female. I’m assuming that’s an honorific thing that I’m unfamiliar with, but I figured I’d mention it. MOVING ON.

She chases the beggar away in a neat little chase sequence, then goes back to her quarters. Turns out that the beggar interrupting her was a good thing, as she was about to be ambushed in her sleep, and she takes on her would-be attackers. Morning comes, and the Beggar’s singing to the patrons of the inn about his lifestyle.

Golden Swallow attempts to thank the beggar, who introduces himself as Drunken Cat (Yueh Hua). He mostly ignores her thanks, then asks for money in exchange for another song. He sings another song, in which he sings...about the bandits. Sending a message directly to Swallow. Realizing Cat’s usefulness, Swallow tries to confide in him and ask for help. However, the Cat doesn’t even seem truly aware of his own usefulness, and brushes Swallow off. However, in one last song, he sings about a Chinese character, which means temple. Yeah. He tells Swallow the location of the bandits THROUGH THE SONG. That’s pretty goddamn cool.

youtube

Which is why it’s AMAZING that the English dub I was originally listening to DOESN’T TRANSLATE OR DUB THE SONGS. DO. NOT. WATCH. THE ENGLISH DUB. I CANNOT stress this enough.

Swallow makes her way to the temple, and...is referred to as a woman by the bandits when they confront her. Wait...It’s not an honorific thing? Do the Beggar and Bandits think that Golden Swallow is actually a man? DESPITE ALL EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY? Huh. Sexism in action, I guess.

Anyway, the bandits all gather together in the temple to fight her, and it’s awesome. She goes up against Jade-Faced Tiger directly, as well as a few more, yeah, GODDAMN is it cool.

Should be noted, by the way, that this is before a lot of widespread wire-work and some of the more sensational wuxia trends that you see in more modern films. Still, this is pretty great, and actually...this is what I wanted from live-action Mulan. Real talk. If we got more like this movie in last year’s travesty, I’d be all in for it.

One-on-one against Jade-faced Tiger in the courtyard of the temple! Blood’s shed, hair is cut, and Cat returns as a mysterious benefactor for Swallow, tossing a sword back to her and throwing off the archers. But at the end, Jade hits her with a poisoned dart as she escapes.

She doesn’t make it far, and faints in the forest When she comes to, she’s in the care of Drunken Cat. She blames him for setting a trap, but he blames her for rushing in too early, eager to show off her prowess. There’s more to Cat than meets the eye, it would seem.

Still not doing great, Swallow remains in the care of Cat, who eventually reveals that he’s a master of kung fu, not just a random singing drunk. He easily and immediately takes down some intruders, LIKE THAT.

Cat disguises himself as a drunk beggar, and delivers the bodies to the temple, claiming that Swallow herself took them down. But this ruse fails when Abbot Liao Kung (Yeung Chi-hung) from Cat’s temple appears, confirming that he’s the kung fu master that killed these men. He also reveals that his true name is Fan Da-Pei, the Drunken Hero. He stole the bamboo pole of the original leader of his temple, and is considered a traitor by the abbot.

As they go to kill Cat (yeah, still calling him Cat), he’s already escaped his guard. We see him back at the temple, where he does this:

He’s an Earthbender.

After doing more cool kung fu tricks (MOOOOORE), he reveals that the Abbot is evil, and that he killed their old teacher for the bamboo staff that Cat stole. Additionally, he’s much stronger than him, AND once did Cat a huge favor. This makes Cat feel both inferior and indebted to him, complicating things.

Despite this, Cat agrees to help negotiate for Chang’s release, in exchange for the release of their leader. He also encounters the Abbot, and the two set up a time for them to settle their score.

Prisoner exchange time! Ah, but it’s rigged in the Governor’s favor, as Cat betrays the bandits to keep their leader imprisoned, while getting Chang back. Which, obviously, the bandits are pissed about. They ambush Swallow and the governor’s procession by firing arrows and CRUSHING THEM WITH ROCKS.

Also, just want to note that the guard around the bandit leader is primarily female. Alongside the female protagonist, I’m surprised that Tumblr’s slept so hard on this movie! Seriously, the women kick ass here.

Golden Swallow outdoes them all, though, and absolutely wrecks the Tigers and the rest of the head bandits. Just as he’s about to finish Jade-Faced Tiger, the Abbot heads her off, and is...stab-proof? Kung fu, man. He outclasses her, but our man Cat shows up in the nick of time!

Surprisingly, though, the Abbot’s defeated pretty quickly. Cat spared his life, then returns to his home. BUT THE ABBOT WAS FAKING! He comes back for revenge, and the two have a quick airbending sesh.

They destroy Cat’s home in the woods (which was very cute, by the way), and after a much longer and bloodier fight, Cat kills the Abbot. And man, lemme tell you, that’s a fight to watch too.

Golden Swallow leaves with her female warriors, and Cat and his kids watch them ride off.

And that’s Come Drink With Me! Awesome. Definitely more understated than many of the movies I’ve seen this month, but also a great classic film! We gotta bring more attention to this one, Tumblr. If was HAAAAAAARD to find GIFs for this one. Thanks, @martialartsactionclub, you bodied this one.

2 notes · View notes

courage-a-word-of-justice · 4 years

Text

HGPC 17 - 21 | Koi to Producer 2 - 6 | Appare 5 - 8 | Fugou Keiji 4 - 6

...only just realised I was missing some tags. They should be there now or soon.

HGPC 17

Why do I get the feeling the Sawaizumi family will be held hostage one day…? (Maybe I’m just being negative?)

The episode title mentions Chiyu by name, so I wonder why the translation didn’t…

Customer service! You can’t get away from it, even in COVID times…! (Impressive!)

Hmm…you can actually read part of the booking for the Smiths in the book if you know the kanji.

I thought the Smiths would speak in English, but they actually speak in fluent Japanese if the word “susume” was any indication.

Ah, Sukoyaka sweet buns! (from the other episode about the festival)

HGPC 18

Don’t burn down your house with scented candles, kids!

Also remember to use your knees when lifting heavy boxes! (<- says a charity store volunteer, who does this stuff on the regular)

These days the mascots usually have a human form. I wonder if this is implying that particular direction…? (I woke up today and was craving a certain oneshot I’d read during my scanlation days…if it is, it would fill that niche nicely.)

I wonder if the kids will recognise this Ashita no Joe parody…?

HGPC 19

“…since you were young?”

Oh! Element of Wind again!

Koi to Producer 2

This almost feels like Victor is assigning a school project to Protag-chan…it’s a bit sad, really.

It’s nice they let Protag-chan have a personality.

It’s fine if you can’t read the katakana, but Gavin’s name is Haku in Japanese, so it throws out the immersion somewhat…also, I know I shouldn’t be complaining – I’m the target audience here – but do these guys look kinda similar or what…? (partially kidding)

High school sweethearts, huh? “Childhood friends” is my favourite angle of a romantic relationship, but it gets so overused by harems it comes around to being boring…!

I-Is this Stand My Heroes…?! (LOL…?)

Can we not with 1st person cam…?

As cute and dorky as this stuff gets…how does Gavin never get found?! Does nobody ever look up in this city?!? (I thought Evolvers were meant to be a secret…?)

GPS tracker? That’s no better than large corporations using your location data…Isn’t that creepy…?

Hold on, when did she get his phone number? You would assume it was before this entire chase after the boy happened, but still…?

LOL, the English on the board.

This anime is gonna cause me some frustration, but it gives the good stuff in roughly equal measure. It seems to omit the fact you interact via phone with your bois for intimacy (in the game).

Koi to Producer 3

LOL, that’s so clearly Gavin…

By googling, you find out Uptown and Queens are in New York.

Ohmygosh! Did the creators know I love the trope where only people with superpowers can move in certain circumstances?!

Uh…his name is Kira in Japanese? Did someone read the katakana wrong?

Pictured: Depressed bishonen eating bad pudding. (…That joke sounds better in my head. I forgot what meme I was meant to be parodying there, but I had a meme in mind.)

Lemme guess…this man (I dunno if it’s one of the previous bishies with an identical face or a new one) is looking for MC-chan. *sigh* Update: Yep, just Victor again. To be honest, I don’t like anyone who calls harsh words “their sign of love” – love should be honest and upfront. That’s how it becomes heartmelting.

Koi to Producer 4

Okay, in order, it seems to be hexadecimals, Javascript (you can tell from the “const”), some kind of profiles which are apparently for human lab rats (which seem to have some kind of nonsense filler text), a DNA model and DNA bases (ACGT).

The text on the screen says something along the lines of this being an official broadcast of this man’s arrest and this man was a genetic researcher. Obviously, if I wanted to put more attention into what it meant, I would, but I won’t sweat the details this time (because it doesn’t seem to impact the plot).

The guy’s name is Minor because minor key (geddit?)…that’s my guess.

I started playing the game due to this anime, if you didn’t know, and I unlocked an expert in ch. 2. I thought he was Minor, but turns out his name is Spine (an older man).

The diary, true to form, contains details about either one case or several cases, two involving children. The bottom of the 1st page says “if it’s fake, I’ll laugh”.

Hey, I once told Crunchyroll I wanted an anime about hacking (so is this a dream come true? I reveal all in the next sentence!). Hackers don’t congregate like this…they’d be too conspicuous, even with the secret hideout!

The code in the top left appears to be…C? I think? (Note they declare “unsigned int”.)

Kiro sometimes reminds me of Masayoshi (SamFlam)…it puts a derpy smile on my face.

*blah blah blah I’m Key* - Wuh…? F*** you, Kiro!!! (There is such a thing as piling too much cool stuff on to a character, y’know – I’m guilty of it in my own writing.)

3684 isn’t a very safe password (says someone who once aspired to be in cybersecurity).

What bugs me is that Simon is a perfectly fine name…it’s just a bit boring. Kiro/Kira I get (a bit), but Lucien/Simon…? *shrugs*

Ohh! Based MAPPA! Thank you for making this adaption look great!

Koi to Producer 5

Oh, I got an SR in the game recently and it has a line like, “Only a fool stays up all night to do others’ work. Victor talks like that a lot…

The sign so obviously says “Renka”, meaning “love flower”. “Loveland” really is a step down from that…

Where’s Gavin’s guest badge…?

“Happiness Noodle Store”…?

“…the end of our first year…”

If this weren’t a Chinese work by origin (or Japanese work by translation), I’m sure Protag-chan would have gone after Gavin, despite being told the contrary.

Kanya = Minor. I’ll take a note of that.

One of the books behind Minor says “Gale Start”…hmm…

That GPS tracker is still unintentionally creepy, IMHO.

Koi to Producer 6

…oh. (dejected) Probably a beach episode or something.

What the actual heck was going on with Lucien…? It’s like he was having a tiny stroke there…

Lucien’s power is listed as “???” in the game. I thought he was an aura-reader when he said “show me your colour”, but that shield thing he did means he might just have various psychic powers…? *shrugs* We’ll find out eventually.

Running in heels is hard…

LOL, that’s so clearly recreating a CG from one of the cards.

This is the 2nd time this has gone pseudo-isekai. As much as I like to joke about it…I fully expect someone to be sent to another world at this point.

I couldn’t possibly see Victor on any kind of game show, come to think of it.

Appare 5

This guy’s middle name is “Rich”! That’s silly!

A boombox from the 19th century…makes sense, somehow.

I only just (?) realised Al has a tiny tie on his usual outfit.

Back to the beginning already…just start!

Appare 6

…I just realised Appare mouths “I got it!” in the OP.

Al Lion (sic…?)

Isn’t Sofia in that train…? Update: She might have been, she might not. Hard to tell when they don’t confirm.

This series seriously could’ve done with a dub…Even with weird hokey Hetalia accents, it would be good stuff.

These bunches of people at designated points…reminds me of the book I was reading while in Japan. The Long Walk by Stephen King (part of a compilation). It still gives me shivers down my spine when I remember it.

This “leave in the middle of the night” thing reminds me of the Amazing Race.

“Valley of Despair” is made-up, but Death Valley exists. It’s one of the hottest places on earth, hence the name.

LOL, Kosame scores himself one (1) prarie dog and two (2) Hototos.

I thought Appare was being inconsiderate at first…but he’s being considerate, in his own way.

Oh! I didn’t realise, but Saito Soma is Al.

Appare 7

“It’s not one plus one, but one times one!” – LOL.

Hybrid engine? In the 1900s? Hmm…

LOL, I think Al just did a hadouken.

This stuff’s like an animated Galaxy Brain meme! It’s amazing!

I managed to successfully predict – without watching ahead – Appare would catch himself with his traps.

Kosame with his hair down…is rare. Not exactly attractive because we have to care about the racers rather than lust after them (and the artstyle actually prevents me from doing so, because it’s deliberately quite cartoony), but it’s rare.

Appare is surprisingly childish…that’s what makes him more than a Sheldon Cooper, I think.

The spelling of the place is actually “Ely”, if Google-sensei is any indication. C’mon, subbers! You’re American (most likely)! Can’t you put in the legwork (or the Google-fu) to discover what place in Nevada this is?!

Subbers make characters say “shit” a lot in this show, hmm? (contemplative)

Now this evil guy here *points to screen*…that’s hair I like.

Appare 8

I just love this OP…don’t you?

I like how the steam/gas boat/car has Chinese numerals on its dial.

Kosame means “small rain”, so “heavy rain” is obviously to contrast that.

The Hototo joke never gets old.

I thought I just saw someone leave the saloon…

Nice hair + terrible face = bad equation.

I can almost imagine the wee-oo-wee-oo-ooooooo…wah-wah-wahhh…(You know the one sound snippet, right? The one theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - or whatever movie it is – that maybe involves a tumbleweed rolling across the screen, and then a huge shootout? If you don’t know it, play a sample on this Wikipedia page!) playing in the background.

It’s convenient the prarie dog didn’t appear when Hototo (old) had his revenge spree.

I noticed there’s a bit of a mark under Kosame’s left eye…it suggests that he’s been crying (or maybe it shows tiredness from the race…?), but it’s not that noticeable.

So that’s the real Gil…and tose were his henchmen that threatened to hang everyone bar Kosame. Got it.

(notes to self) So, for charting a course with Appare Ranman!, it’s Los Angeles -> Death Valley -> Ely -> Denver -> ??? -> New York. Got it.

Fugou Keiji 4

“Daisuke-sama” isn’t “Lord Daisuke”, it would be “Sir Daisuke”, I think…but “lord” has a proper translation in Japanese.

The truck has a Shinagawa licence plate. Anime really does like Shinagawa, huh? (Based on ID: INVADED and this.)

I think it’ll be interesting to see Kambe handle this without HEUSC.

The board for Sanchome (which is equivalent to a suburb…or a county, I guess?) has posters saying stuff like “take your dog poop home” and “let’s protect the environment!” (technically, it says “let’s protect the region/area!”, but that doesn’t translate right. There’s even a flea market. Still, those posters don’t have any big hints…not that I know of so far.

I kind of forgot that dude was the gardener for Kambe’s house…er, mansion.

I noticed a poster in the kouban says haru (spring) on it. That’s probably the same one that Haru’s name is signified by, assuming that’s not in combo with another character or few.

Oh great…the sister is an overbearing one.

Ahh…he doesn’t like natto. So that’s the problem. Daisuke is childish (like Appare)…Note I don’t like natto either, but I wouldn’t run away from home (or similar) because I was fed natto.

I noticed Kambe uses shinseki (which doesn’t refer to close family). “Relative” is a correct translation of that word, I just wanted to check that word was the right one for the context.

There’s a green tea bottle by the sink…I don’t think I’d mistake that shade of green for anything else.

LOL, I didn’t think we’d actually get to see Kambe with his hair “down”, so to speak. It’s…an interesting look, for sure.

Oh my gosh! It cost him (Haru) $15!!! (LOL, cheapskate…says the cheapskate…*suddenly droops and stops laughing*) Update: Sorry about the sudden downer there. I was having what the kids these days call a “woke moment”…at least, I think that’s how they use that term.

…I’d watch that crime drama. It’s funny.

Just realised Kato has an older model of phone than Kambe does.

This episode was kinda like a Tokyo Sonata kind of thing, huh? The sensational in the middle of the not-so-sensational…”sensational” for this show, anyway.

Those kids look like the ones from Erased.

*lightbulb goes off in brain* What if the dog went to Kambe’s…?

Can Suzue actually hear HEUSC while Kambe is using it…? $2.46 though…that is cheap, in comparison to the ham.

This was the cheapest episode so far (about $550)…probably because it was an insight into Kato’s life, more than Kambe’s.

Fugou Keiji 5

The flag seems to be based on Cameroon’s (which is in Africa, not America) and the “Arita Kinen” seems to refer to Arima Kinen, meaning this episode is set around Christmas-ish. Credit goes to Kambe Zaibatsu on this show.

I-It’s a Humvee!

Polyadoll (sic)…?

The Poliador guy speaks perfect Japanese…(?)

The star! It’s a key thingy!

I thought Kamei was the 1st Division dude with the reddish hair. Turns out it was the blonde…? Update: Redhead is Hoshino.

Ummmmmm…he was reading porn…? Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh…okayyyyyyyyyyyyy…

…oh, the costs for Kambe’s tuxedo are on there. So’s the cost for repairing the bike Suzue rode.

Fugou Keiji 6

I never knew there were so many money proverbs to be used as episode titles…

What is Kambe doing with his hands…? He’s not even using the computer.

Imura seems to use a Windows 10 with Cortana on the taskbar.

HGPC 20

What’s with all the Naruto running this episode…?

HGPC 21

(no notes, sorry!)

#simulcast commentary #healin' good precure #fugou keiji: balance unlimited #millionaire detective #Koi to Producer: EVOL x LOVE #mr love queen's choice #Appare Ranman!#Chesarka watches AR #Chesarka watches HGPC #Chesarka watches Koi to Producer #Chesarka watches Fugou Keiji

3 notes · View notes

phanique · 4 years

Text

‘Review’ of My Roommate is a Detective 民国奇探

Firstly, not a professional reviewer or even a good critic of anything, this is just more of my thoughts and stuff so yeah.

Do note that I watch the drama with Chinese subtitles, I know iQiyi has 4 episodes on YouTube with English subtitles and 18 with premium subscription but not too sure where you can watch all the episodes with English subtitles.

Next, I did not have much idea of what the drama would be like as I discovered when I was looking for some dramas that Hu Yi Tian had acted in and this was one of the few that I could find. I did see some pages that said that it was based on a BL novel but not much else.

Also, after watching the drama, I did try to find the novel and did read one that seems like the original but I really cannot confirm since it was not BL as I thought it was based on what other pages have said. The novel I read is also in Chinese and I doubt there are translations of it in English as of now.

***After some googling, apparently it’s just bromance so the novel I read should be the original.***

It’s set in the mid 1920s from what I read off from other pages. I myself am not too sure as I’m not familiar with Chinese history at all. From the drama, there are British and opium which I felt would be more of the early 1900s but that is just based on my vague understanding of the opium wars. There is definitely a contrast I would say as there are building that are really old, regular folks who dress ‘traditionally’ like woman in 旗袍 (qipao or cheungsam or long dress) while there are also more modern Western looking architecture with the main characters in suits.

Next, we have the three main people.

Lu Yao or San Tu (portrayed by Hu Yi Tian)

Qiao Chu Sheng or Qiao Si (portrayed by Leon Zhang Yun Long)

Bai You Ning (portrayed by Xiao Yan)

By the way, why Lu Yao is called San Tu is due to the Chinese character 垚 (Yao) is written with three (三 san) mud (土 tu), this is the same with this sister who is 路淼 (Lu Miao) that is three water (水 shui).

Anyway, the drama itself is pretty interesting with how they solve mysteries. I do think it’s logical but there are still certain things that I do not really understand.

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FROM HERE

First of all, Lu Yao or Henry which is his Chinese name that I found out after like 20 episodes, speaks perfect English since he studied in Cambridge, and most of the non-Chinese characters speak Chinese too like Salimo and Norman but why the heck does Lu Yao speak in English and Norman speak in Chinese for the same conversation?? Like I really hope that they stick with one for one conversation since this is unusual for a professional situation.

By the way, Hu Yi Tian is definitely dubbed over, but one thing I noticed is that he is not mouthing the English words at all, like the script just decided to let him talk for this duration and they dubbed it over. Hopefully other dramas can take note? At the very least let them mouth the words.

On the other hand, the non-Chinese characters when speaking in English, I would say they actually are speaking in English.

***After some googling since I was interested to know if the non-Chinese actors could actually speak Chinese, and yes, they can. Most of them seem to have established their acting careers in China so I assume they would be able to speak in Chinese to a certain extent.*** Source

Next, I really like the chemistry between the three of them. You really can tell that they are brothers/sisters. HOWEVER, I do not really see myself pairing Lu Yao and You Ning together, like I would really see them more as close friends (not really brother/sister like You Ning and Chu Sheng) so when they kissed in episode 30, I was really really surprised since I did not expect any romance to really come through this drama but since it did, it’s kind of done.

A lot of pages mentioned disliking You Ning and I actually agreed initially but as the drama goes on, I think she toned down much more and definitely became more likeable. Roughly from the time that her teacher in Xin Yue Daily Paper was murdered. I could also understand why she disliked her father so much which is largely due to her mother who, roughly from the drama, was caged up by his father and smoked opium, causing her death. I do think that she did treat her father better as things progressed from episode 30 where the Bai Leader discovered Zhou Ying(?) was caught producing heroine and he really did his best to protect Lu Yao and her.

The ending was a little ambiguous for me and I really thought Lu Yao went back to Shanghai but based on the novel, Lu Yao didn’t and likely decided to really let Chu Sheng do the crime solving for the case. I might interpret it wrongly but that was how I was it.

The part where Lu Yao’s father insisting that he leave Shanghai and then finally decided to let him do what he wanted was also blurry for me. I just took it as Lu Miao was happy enough with what she saw with Lu Yao and persuaded their father to let him go.

There is one thing that became more and more obvious to me as the drama went. That is who the murderer was. It always seemed to be the first person they would interview/see in a sense so as the drama went on, I could predict who the killer was.

There isn’t really much difference between the drama and novel for the cases and such, though the one with the lady killed in the bathtub full of roses is not in the novel if I remember correctly, along with the male teacher shot dead at the piano (it was mentioned that there was a case but it was just handled by the station separately I think).

The translation of the title is a bad one by the way. 民国奇探 is more of Detective of Mysterious Cases in Shanghai kind of title than My Roommate is a Detective which really does not represent this drama well, like yeah You Ning and Lu Yao are roommates and he is a detective but that title makes it hint more of how your roommate behaves given that he work as a detective than you guys solving the crimes ‘together’.

So, would I rec this? Yes, the plot and acting was good for me. Opening song is one that I really like and have been listening on repeat. Should you read the novel after the drama? I would say yeah if you have time, you would notice that some of the lines for the characters have been switched, some cases are not there, and that the drama does stick with the novel consistently which is good.

#my roommate is a detective #hu yitian #leon zhang #zhang yunlong #xiao yan #民国奇探

2 notes · View notes