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#the references to Kokaji in the starting song were much more intricate than I expected
waterlinkedgirl · 2 months
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Musical Touken Ranbu: Tsuwamonodomo ga Yume no Ato english sub
A passion project if there's ever been one, it's been a longstanding want of mine to finally do this! Needless to say, Tsuwamono and everything it meant is still my favourite plot from Toumyu! I love its character-driven and intricate writing, its heartrending acting choices, as well as the way it invites one to think about what characters think and why, and why they do or don't (dare to) do the things they do.
However, another important reason that I'm letting myself indulge in this, is that recent Toumyu has taken a turn away from this plot, changing the way how Mikazuki is framed, tying different characters to themes that were tied to Kogitsunemaru, and put those characters into roles that would originally have been most natural for Kogitsunemaru to follow.
In that light, then, I hope that these subtitles will allow you to see, even if it's just the smallest sliver, what I loved in Toumyu's take of Kogi and Mika up to and including Kotobuki. To see that it was beautiful. Because I think it was. 💙💛🌙🦊
Keep in mind that the files in the folder below are only the subtitle files, timed and tled to the blu-ray and DMM senshuuraku distribution. The folder also includes a pdf with translation notes, some background information where I felt it would add, and just a little bit of eager gushing about the references made.
You can find the folder with all the aforementioned files here!
Please enjoy, even if it's just with me in your thoughts.
#touken ranbu#tsuwamonodomo ga yume no ato#toumyu#Water's translations#tsuwamono#Kogitsunemaru#Mikazuki Munechika#we're joining with sute's timeline in which Kogi (may as well have) never existed hahahaha (pain)#but let's put that aside and enjoy Tsuwamono for the beauty it is#I love tsuwamono and translating it has only made me love it more#the references to Kokaji in the starting song were much more intricate than I expected#and I believe the way Basho's haikus are incorporated is smart!#the many things Tsuwamono slyly implies about its worldbuilding are so so so so nice#and also the question of what it means to exist and to be remembered!#that things are never black and white and that even the people you fear may be hurt or will not understand may be different from how you se#and that (I think this is very nice about tsuwa) people make mistakes and make *choices* and that that's what makes them human#I very gently gesture at Mikazuki#I love how he's characterised and how Kuroba conveys that characterisation#He envies shadows and betrays his own advice and cannot lay the finishing blow#he forces smiles. His kindness sways his heart again and again to stab himself with it. He fights a futile battle. He tries anyway.#He lies- He fears- He doesn't speak-- in understandable fear of the devastation he may cause if his words reached the ears of those he love#He would rather risk breaking.#Mikazuki is such a complex and deafeningly HUMAN character and I love that painfully kind and undeniably human portrayal of him so much#and though a certain contrast with Mikazuki is a vital part of the way Kogitsunemaru enters the paintwork here it is ultimately the fact#that he was never black and white- that he ever sees the bigger picture ironically just as Mika said- that allows him to understand#even if with his own personal feelings and his discipline he can't follow the same road#this in deep contrast to Hizamaru- who would not even have hesitated or felt reluctant or even had to battle his feelings had he found out#and I think the relief of having someone dear to confide in- that's emphasized twice with Iwa in the myu- in the form of Kogi#is something that (up to TKO) would and should have meant the world to Mikazuki#that his unwillingness to follow the same path could much too naturally still have meant he could have supported Mikazuki in other ways
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