#also this is the official english translation cause i was not liking what the translator was giving me for the korean translation from nave

[skeletalheartattack]

Subtitles below the keep reading:

Hey you, shut your mouth and look at my paw! DON'T FORGET!! [Incomprehensible sped up gibberish] This... Journey... Money... Loads of coins. [Incomprehensible sped up gibberish] What-about-her? What-about-her? ... What-about-her? 'She still like me? [Quiet but mostly incomprehensible gibberish about subtitles] O P S O P N O-1 1. Here's the spell: Love the mermaid, for sure! The mermaid is HAPPY! Okay! It's pretty normal for a fish, right? Guuuyyyssss, beeeee caaarefuuulll wiiiiith theeee GIIIIIRRRRLSSS!!! [Incomprehensible] Oh! Silly! Oh yes! Lamb chop boy! [Incomprehensible] [Very quietly, while white noise is playing over it] Goood eevening, aand weeelcome too the shoooowww... [In the background] Ohhh, mooney!

[v3joker]

Fairy Dancer Fia

The psychic and dancer of the fairy realm.

While clumsy and unserious in her daily life, Fia transforms when she dances.

She, Heidi, and Leo have been close friends since childhood.

[doctorsiren]

Okay, doodle request:

Reigen meeting Serizawa before Claw got to him. Maybe helping him start leaving his room?

I had a lot of fun with this one. I wanted it to parallel the scene of Serizawa meeting Suzuki, and so pages 6-8 are directly referenced from the manga (just in a flipped format so it reads left to right like the rest of the pages) and I also referenced some shots from the anime (like the final panel of page 10). For the dialogue in those middle pages, I referenced lines from the unofficial English translation of the manga, the official English translation of the manga, and the anime. (I was picking and choosing which lines I liked better). I also had fun with the colouring, which is something I love to do in comics especially. It starts out with Reigen in a muted, paler, desaturated palette with no highlights. But when he meets Mrs. Serizawa (I gave the name “Azumi” because it means something along the lines of “safe home/harbour”), she’s much more warmer and saturated and she has highlights. Once she starts explaining her son’s situation, that’s when Reigen has the variation of colour as well as the introduction of some small highlights. Then, the colour palette changes in every panel after that point. Serizawa is done with a grayscale palette, with the only colour on him being the bright light of the TV screen (reflecting video games as his only joy and his escape from reality). As Reigen talks to him, Reigen slowly start to lose some of that variety and saturation (AKA hope) he got from Mrs. Serizawa until he goes grayscale as well when he thinks that Serizawa might know he��s a fraud. He decides to switch up his approach and actually open up, which is what causes the variations in colour to return. Serizawa stops being grayscale in the panel where Reigen reveals that he too is lonely. (He’s a gray-blue palette, but it’s not true grayscale). The next page is in bright colours as Reigen opens up and doesn’t lie, which causes Serizawa to have bright colour as well, since now there is light and hope. In the page after that, Serizawa’s colour fades until he is grayscale again because it’s him not believing fully and still having doubts, while Reigen maintains that bright colour. (Also silly Falsettos reference on that page). I have Reigen’s colours shift from yellow until he reaches pink which is the colour I just have assigned as His Colour (since his tie is pink). Serizawa gains colour again and he shifts from that muted dark blue to finally orange (which is his colour) as he finally accepts Reigen’s help. The light from the TV is no longer coloured, and is just white, because Serizawa now has a new source of colour in his life (that being a real friend.) It ends with them being in their normal palettes at a normal happy saturation, contrasting the muted colours of the start of the comic. With the umbrella, I still wanted to include it and give it a role in the story, but in a different way from how Suzuki used it. While Suzuki used it to directly manipulate and control Serizawa, Reigen used it as a way to open up a choice for Serizawa to either let Reigen stay or make him leave. He asks Serizawa if he can sit and stay for a while since it’s raining outside and he didn’t bring an umbrella, despite clearly having done so. And then I ended the comic with a shot of the umbrella to emphasize that point.

Sorry for the long and probably unnecessary explanation. I just really love explaining my intentions and symbolisms in my art. Yeah I just had a good time over the last few days doing this :) I thought it was an interesting idea and I couldn’t think of a way to reflect it better than in a comic (which was also partially inspired by this wonderful Ageswap AU comic made by @fend13th about Reigen helping Serizawa)

[drphonestre]

Jimmy | Psychological analysis of Mouthwashing's protagonist

Reminder: this analysis is based on my knowledge of psychology and on the sources I have seen in my studies (Psychanalytic and Clinic) at university. I apologize if my English isn’t perfectly understandable as it isn’t my primary language. Thank you for reading and feel free to express your POV, but also to share my post with credits (Phonestre).

Note: studying Jimmy’s personality and psychology isn’t an easy task as his anamnesis cannot be done completely, but only theoretically. Psychoanalysis isn’t much translated and possess mostly French and German terms. I have tried to translate them the best I could when I couldn’t find official translations.

Theory: Jimmy has BPD (borderline personality disorder) I will prove my point by evoking the symptoms from the clinical and psychoanalytic perspectives.

Psychanalytic perspective

First of all, it is highly noticeable that Jimmy is presenting symptoms of psychosis. Theses symptoms are a part of the borderline personality disorder (which is equivalent to the “trouble de la personnalité limite” which translates to “Limited personality disorder) in which we can find, as well, symptom of neurosis.

In Jimmy’s personality, the symptoms of neurosis which are the most noticeable are the need for control and the fact that he sets himself high standards. He needs to be the best and to succeed and tends to beat himself if he cannot be as good as he wants to be (saying that Curly is a way better captain than he could ever be, for example, and his mental breakdown after he realizes it).

We can also notice the Foreclosing (Forclusion in french) in Jimmy’s behavior and especially in his hallucinations : every mistake he make, every wrong step causing negative consequences ends up haunting him in a symbolic way, through visual and auditory hallucinations (for example : getting hunted by Polle which seems to be representing his culpability, the accumulation of his mistakes, and his possible unborn child with Anya. Each mistake from Jimmy only makes his hallucinations worse).

“The foreclosed symbolic will be brought back into reality through visual, auditory, etc. hallucinations. Delusional ideas can appear linked to sexuality, to the body, to love, or even to sexual intercourses.

There is a form of breach when it comes to the Other (with a big “O”, the unfamiliar individuals, the foreign), which makes building relationships or even having acquaintances difficult”

His only close friend seems to be Curly, in which he seems to recognize himself (the other with a small “o”, the familiar, the mirror).

In the limited personality disorder, there is a noticeable instability in the relation to others (with a small “o”), switching between idealization and depreciation.

In his friendship with Curly we clearly notice it :

Idealizing Curly as the best captain, the best version of himself, his best friend, the one he wants to be… (IDEALIZATION)

Raw hatred, feeling as if Curly was abandoning him, and that Curly was self-centered, egocentric, arrogant… (DEPRECIATION)

And yet, we can indeed acknowledge that he identifies himself to Curly (other with a small “o”), as he keeps switching between viewing Curly as the captain, then viewing himself as the captain, and showing some confusion about who really crashed the ship (thinking it’s Curly’s fault, then acknowledging it’s his own fault at the end, struggling with denial).

He wanted both: to have all that Curly had (job as a captain, success, and a form of social recognition) and to be Curly himself (getting a promotion from the company and starting a new life without difficulties, not ending up at the bottom again).

The imaginary registry will then be of major influence, causing paranoia with the persuasion of knowing what the others had planned and what they thought : persuaded that Curly wanted to abandon them and start his new life, that he didn’t like them and felt as if he deserved better than being with a bunch of “failures”, but also thinking that Swansea was keeping the cryo for himself, and that Anya was going to kill Curly when she locked herself in the medical room.

This is something we also find in the jouissance without limits (Lacan), he is persuaded that others will want to hurt him in one way or another and show a high instability in life (difficulties on earth, probably linked to having the past of a criminal).

“Jouissance causes an absence of phantasms at times, which is shown by a lack, or instability of personal goals (personal projects, professional, instable and/or that keeps changing) and irregular symptoms”

His relationship with others is driven by aggression (tendencies to yell on others, try to intimidate them, using his impulsivity to gain control on others by fear and authority) or erotism (for example: joking about being attracted to cartoon horses to Anya, SA…--> Inappropriate sexual behavior)

“The subject being stuck with difficulties to differentiate himself from others will stay in an erotic or aggressive attitude toward others.”

Jimmy seems to present a certain dysfunction in the symbolic registry : indeed, he seems to take idioms literally, for example “climbing at the top of the ladder”, needing to climb down to climb another ladder, saying that he keeps climbing even if Curly doesn’t. (Climbing at the top of the ladder means getting higher and higher in their profession in that situation).

Jim also seems to be attached to Curly, because he represents who and what he wants to be from one hand. It’s an attachment based on identification. The only moments where he seems to be friendlier and warmer with Curly is when he relates to him, or recognize himself in him (Before the crash : when Curly felt down and that they were both going to be in troubles, wanting to “fix” the situation for both of them. After the crash : realizing that they both failed when they tried to do their best, realizing ONLY when he ended up In a similar-ish situation)

“Most of his relations are empty of any warmth, and that most of the emotions are expressed in a formal way, the personal feelings entirely included. The identification seems like a solution.” (Deutsch)

Jimmy ended up identifying his job at pony express as his own life, so when he lost his job, he felt as if he lost everything. If he doesn’t identify himself as his role (co-captain, that gives him a sense of control), nor as Curly, he is nothing. He doesn’t have any particular hobbies out of weightlifting with Curly (source: devs), so everything seems to revolve either around Curly and or his job. This identification allows him to ignore his past filled with difficulties, which give him a sense of worth when it comes to his existence.

Clinical Perspective

For that part, I will use what I’ve learned from the DSM-5, for the Borderline personality disorder. Most of the things described as symptoms are fitting for Jimmy and what we can observe from his behavior through the game.

Unstable vision of himself and his identity

Unstable self-confidence, setting high standards toward himself (and others…) Ex. “I need to do everything myself” Dissociation under stressful events Hallucinations (Polle, Curly) Seeing himself in Curly

Unstable visions of his goals in life

Ex. Feeling like he lost everything because Pony Express doesn’t exist anymore, making him lose his job that gave a meaning to his life. Difficulties in the past with a noticeable demotivation (Ex. Curly had to motivate him to join the job, source : how fish is made)

Difficulties to understand and recognize the emotions of others with an interpersonal hypersensibility

Focus mainly on his own feelings and perceptions, which makes him have high expectations toward others and lack empathy

Perceptions of others based on negative aspects

Focused on what he thinks about others, points out everyone’s flaws : Seeing Swansea as a liar and useless, seeing Anya as useless and whiny, seeing Curly as self-centered and hypocrite, …

Intensity and Instability in relationships

Ex. With Curly --> strong bond but that keeps switching between “you’re the best” and “I hate you”

Mistrust toward others with suspicions of hidden intentions

Ex. Persuaded that Curly wanted to get rid of him and move on, that Swansea was trying to save himself, that Anya didn’t want to take care of Curly…

Needs of validation from others

Jealousy toward Curly, angry and annoyed whenever he hears about Curly being an excellent captain, wants to be him instead and getting the praise, doing his hardest to be called as captain

Anxiety toward abandonment (real or imaginary)

Saw the end of Pony Express as an abandonment from Curly which caused an episode

Unstable attachment pattern

Insecure Ambivalent. Ex. Sometimes, he listen to Curly expressing the way he feels, and does the same (trust), and at other moments, he doesn’t even want to hear him say anything and turns abusive

Negative affects

Anxiety, depression (with suicidal thoughts, ex. The crash), feeling of emptiness

Disinhibition

Impulsivity and risks taking (the crash, his behavior toward Anya and Curly, bursts of Anger…)

Antagonism

Hostility (always into conflicts in a way or another, with a passive-aggressive, sarcastic behavior, tendencies to victimize himself)

In men, BPD shows itself in a rather different way than in women. We can notice more : moods swings, difficulties to regulates own emotions, fear of abandonment, outbursts of anger or rage (resulting in violent behavior and more impulsivity), episodes of dissociations.

After all, his job brought him a sense of stability, of control… Something he seemed to not be able to achieve due to his “difficulties on earth”.

The loss of his job and the feeling of abandonment seems to have caused an episode, and even a “split” in the way he views Curly. The crash of the ship is nothing but the consequence of impulsivity, caused by the emotional despair. After all, we don’t really know… what if Anya didn’t hide the gun ? maybe he would have used it immediately to end himself. After all he could easily get the code to gain access to it.

The fear of what could happen once back on earth accumulated with all the negative, stressful feelings contributed to his impulsive acts. He knew he would end up “at the bottom of the ladder” again because of what he did to Anya (and that she was pregnant). He was probably fearing to get abandoned by Curly, who seemed to have done a lot to help him get through the difficulties of his past, since he helped him to get his job and become co-captain. Curly seemed to be his main source of recognition and pride, since he always pointed the positive in Jimmy, and believed in him. (Curly could be what we consider the “favorite person” of Jimmy, which is quite common in patients with BPD).

“I hope it hurts”

“pain is how we know we're still living”

From Jimmy perspective, it could be linked to him feeling constant pain, which is common in BPD. “I hope it hurts” could be seen as  “I hope you can get in my shoes”, or could simply being hope that Curly survived. I don’t think the second sentence was meant to be mean, but more of a fact that he relates, in a way.

“You are what you eat”. I think this popular sentence works well to talk about the scene where he cuts and eats Curly’s leg. Cannibalism is a metaphor I often saw in patients with bpd, and it’s true that the barrier between hate and love (whether it being friendship, romantic, etc.) is incredibly thin. So, it tends to mix together. I think that Jim might have craved being Curly, the captain, so badly that he ate a part of him to become him. I mean, in the end, he made Curly eat a part of himself, as if giving him back the role of captain, and right after that he apologized and took responsibility.

Psychosis allowed him to adapt post-crash, making reality more acceptable through delusion and hallucinations, so he doesn’t snap and kill himself. (ex. Victimization, feeling of persecution and fear of abandonment, pushing him to blame others for his own mistakes and misery).

This is why at the end, when he realizes that he is the culprit (since there is no one else but him and Curly, confronting him to reality), he ends up killing himself and saving Curly (since he still cared about him and genuinely felt sorry, after all, he thought the crash would kill them all, not only put Curly in such a state).

Indeed, people suffering from psychosis tend to snap and make a suicide attempt when they are confronted to raw reality, that is often unbearable for them if filled with guilt.

[doctorbunny]

More serious summary of the livestream

Unfortunately I can't provide a full translation because the entire time I was watching in autistic excitement like 😊🥰🤩 whilst my brain melted out my ears and didn't pick up on a lot

Luckily, I have a feeling someone will get around to translating this stream eventually since they finally had the BGM on a lower volume so everyone was audible the whole time Without further ado:

We started with introductions seating order is Yamanaka, Yurina (Es' VA), Minami (Amane's VA), Ryouta (Kazui's VA) and DECO (who dyed his hair blonde) They each have one of the 4th anniversary acrylic stands in front of them The actors have their characters but Yamanaka has Haruka and DECO has Muu

Yamanaka admitted to being a Haruka oshi/fan

Then Minami talks about being a Fuuta fan (she calls him cool) and she's handed the Fuuta stand and she pushes the Fuuta and Amane stand next to each other (and jokes about their height difference then imitates Fuuta going zenbu zenbu zenbu!)

But then Yurina sticks her Es stand in between them to separate them

And then they move the Amane stand next to the Kazui one and everyone coos

Before moving Amane and Fuuta back together in front of Minami Then they basically just lift all of the stands up on to the table and continue on

They discuss their thoughts on the trial

Looking at who got voted inno and guilty Minami is happy Amane got inno but has no idea how Mikoto wasn't guilty They note that the audience wasn't very happy with Kotoko for beating up the other prisoners Then they give some thoughts on the MVs from Daisuki to Deep cover They get most excited talking about Cat and Purge March Kazui says that he was able to put the right emotions into Cat because he recorded the voice drama first Yurina and Minami actually caused the microphone to peak with their excited shrieks at one point (ow)

They answer some audience submitted questions One question was answered along the lines of "Be prepared" One was submitted in English and they tried to but couldn't read it Then they got a question (in Japanese) from someone from 韓国/South Korea [side note: I feel like the south korean milgram fandom has gotten more prominent recently, its always been there but it feels bigger than ever and that's pretty cool]

After audience questions they made a few announcements Some things we already knew, the gratte cafe crossover, the Kotoko line stickers, Earbuds are still on sale (and they're making badges and stuff based on the earbud promo art) the 4th anniversary art/acrylici stands literally in front of them Then some new things: Minigram LINE stamps (everyone was especially pleased for the Kazui XP stamp) There's going to be a part 2 to the Karaoke collab (no details yet other than its coming)

They also announce this year's perk for annual members [the pain of being an annual member but living outside of Japan so you can't get these 😭] Blank lamenated cards of the prisoner's interrogations and a whiteboard pen so you can write your own interro questions and answers They bring out the cards for Kazui and Amane and do some examples

"Do you like cake?" "I don't eat it."

"What did you have for lunch today?" "Gyudon." [a beef and rice dish]

Then Minami just writes "Toilet paper" in katakana and everyone laughs (Then she writes Toilet paper rap/lap/wrap and I'm not sure what she means)

Most exciting is script books for the Hallucenation liveshow (scripts of the voice dramas and songs) The live show uses condensed versions of the voice dramas but this is the first time we'll have official transcripts of key moments to help check translations with

Then they start saying that T2 was hellish, but T3 is going to go beyond hell: They're going to send everyone to Super Hell And at this point my brain fries and overloads on eeby deeby memes as they all go back and forth talking about Super Hell

They all start doing their outros/saying goodbye

Yurina talks about upcoming challenges we have as guards meanwhile Yamanaka ominously holds the Haruka stand up in frame

Then that's basically it, not much going on because a lot of stuff (like Hallucenation, the plushes, earbuds) came out right before the 4th anniversary

[kukuandkookie]

People keep claiming Chinese BL manhua really only have stories featuring toxic male leads, so I offered to give recommendations with green flags... Someone finally said yes, so here's what I typed up in response!:

I Ship My Rival x Me:

One of my personal favourites!

Based on the hilarious novel, commonly known as I Ship My Adversary x Me and also has an audio drama adaptation on MaoEr FM. Basically a story about two actors who are seen as complete rivals by everyone except the actors themselves, which annoys the main character (Wei Yanzi) enough that when he discovers there are actual fans who ship them instead of pit them against one another, he’s so excited he sort of starts shipping them too (in like, an abstract, theoretical manner lmao). This of course causes shenanigans as he actually gets to know the person who people ship him with/pit him against, Gu Yiliang.

Gu Yiliang is a true sweetheart and the greenest of green flags. He’s a complete puppy and I love him. And this means, naturally, the only misunderstandings in this story are of the hilarious kind (you’ll know what I mean if you read it lol). 😂

This one actually used to be available officially in English on the Bilibili manhua’s international app before it got shut down, but it recently got picked up by Seven Seas, the company behind a lot of official English translations of danmei (Chinese BL)!

Touch Your World:

A literally colour-blind boy (as in, he cannot see colour at all and only sees things in black and white) discovers someone who he can see colour on. This person is a designer who has suffered past betrayal and trauma that has caused him to shut himself up and grow much more on edge, but this chance meeting draws both parties out of their shells.

Pixiu’s Eatery, No Way Out:

Not a green flag top in the traditional sense, but here we meet the mythical Pixiu: an ancient Chinese mythical creature who now runs a restaurant. While he’s a penny-pincher with a temper and he doesn’t get along with his love interest at first (a ghost named Wen Xi who he finds suspicious due to Wen Xi’s ties to a past rival of his named Taotie), Pixiu and Wen Xi eventually grow, quite naturally—and hilariously!—into a found family.

The Wife Is First:

Based on a novel of pretty much the same name (and is written by the same author as the popular manhua and donghua, No Doubt in Us (a heterosexual body-swap romance, which also has a subtle gay side ship)). Here we meet Jing Shao just as he’s about to lose everything: once a royal and a powerful general, he has been betrayed by all those around him…except the husband he has never treated well.

As such, when we first meet him, we actually witness his—and his husband’s—deaths. But then he awakens and finds himself back in time to the night right after he was forced to wed this husband of his, and Jing Shao vows to treat him well from now on because he stuck with him through thick and thin despite everything.

Don’t Say You Love Me:

A high school romance with a supernatural twist: Lin Yutong was confessed to by his best friend, Qin Weiyun, at their graduation party. When he drunkenly freaked out and ran away, Qin Weiyun was hit by a car during the chase…

Devastated by his loss, Lin Yutong quickly wakes up to find himself back at the start of his high school journey, right before he meets Qin Weiyun… And this time, he wants to keep Qin Weiyun safe.

But his overly familiar attitude at first gets the wary Qin Weiyun a tad suspicious, because he’s actually quite an aloof person.

The author and artist of this one is also behind another popular manhua titled Your Dream Is Delicious, which is about a demon named Yi Kui who discovers he enjoys eating the nightmares of Lin You. This eventually leads to them—you guessed it—falling in love.

It’s Not That I Want to Wear Women’s Clothing:

Our main character is hired to crossdress to help this CEO get over his gynophobia (fear of touching women) without him knowing. Naturally, this leads to an awkward romantic journey of both identities of our main character getting close to this CEO…who at first glance seems like the typical cold and aloof CEO type, except he’s actually quite a sweetheart.

Salt Friend:

A slice-of-life high school story about the “school bully” named Tong Yang who’s actually a crybaby and the aloof person named Xiao Zhen who discovers him crying. While the two don’t seem like they’d get along at first glance, this quickly becomes a friends-to-lovers story that navigates family drama alongside the romance.

How’d I Get a Heroine’s Script?:

A transmigration story with a twist. Chao Yi is wheelchair-bound but finds himself eventually as a young lord in what is basically a palace drama (court politics, intrigue, family drama, all that good stuff). His System, Qin Que, tasks him with wooing the difficult 7th prince, Gu Yunheng, who smiles on the surface but is quite cold in actuality.

Despite the two getting off on the wrong foot—mostly because Gu Yunheng is really hard to get close to—they soon end up as unlikely allies…especially since there’s a lot of secrets, such as regarding the death of the body Chao Yi’s occupying, the scheming princes, and even Gu Yunheng himself.

See You My King:

Zhang Li, a student interested in what is basically ancient Egypt, goes on an expedition to the ruined civilization and nearly loses his life. Except at the same time, he discovers an ancient tomb with a statue that actually comes to life and saves him…

And this statue even follows him home. This statue is sweet and loving despite its inability to speak, and Zhang Li grows attached to it (or him)… But then the statue falls apart and Zhang Li is devastated.

In wishing for a miracle to bring them back together, the statue’s stone heart sends Zhang Li back in time…to when this ancient civilization is still present. And that’s how he discovers his stone statue is the “tyrant king” of this region, and as cruel as he seems at first glance, both this king and Zhang Li eventually grow close and unfold the different sides to one another that makes them inseparable in the face of all kinds of threats.

Trapping the Foxy Doctor:

A doctor and a psychiatrist meet…except it doesn’t seem like a perfect love story at first glance. Not because the doctor is traditionally foxy (seductive and/or cunning), but because he’s so silly and on-the-nose that he initially kind of rubs the psychiatrist the wrong way. Except, of course, with the kind of sunny sincerity displayed by our doctor Zhi Banyi, you can’t resist him for long…

And the psychiatrist, Lin Li, is himself quite a polite soul despite his complex upbringing. As such, the two end up together through a series of cases where they have to collaborate and help clients, with a lot of shenanigans sprinkled in between (including the fact Lin Li has a side-job live-streaming as a woman—and “she” just so happens to be Zhi Banyi’s favourite streamer lol).

Pirouette Into My Heart aka Salad Days:

You know the “he was a skater boy and she did ballet” kind of set-up? Well here we have a boxer and a ballet dancer…and hey, “can I make it any more obvious”?

This one is basically a feel-good story of the century. It’s childhood friends to lovers, and it’s soft and cuddly and encouraging, as we follow the main character, Jiang Shen, in achieving his ballet dreams. And on every step of the way, he’s accompanied by the boxer Bai Jinyi, who’s also chasing his own dreams.

The draw of this one is that while there’s obviously conflict to drive the plot along, it’s ultimately a comforting story, so you get all warm and squishy inside reading it. Bai Jinyi and Jiang Shen are very supportive of one another, as is everyone around them.

There’s even extras at the very end that swap the classes of the two main characters, which makes for a similarly compelling AU. 🤭

Beryl and Sapphire:

Not always BL but often is. What do I mean by that? Well it’s a story that can switch to any universe even as the characters stay the same, and some worlds are just one-off gags while some are whole story arcs. The original manhua features stick figures, so if you really want to experience this one, I’d recommend the donghua. The first season also cleverly shows the main characters as actors in the OP, which explains all the world-switching pretty easily haha.

Don’t Pick Up Boyfriends from the Trash Bin:

Unfortunately I’m not sure the manhua for this one is still ongoing, but the original novel (all about transmigration and hopping multiple worlds) 100% features a green flag top.

The Guy Inside Me:

I know the title sounds sexual lol but it’s actually a joke about how it’s a body-swap story. 😆

The original Chinese title is “This Question Is Too Difficult”) and of course, the author also wrote Fake Slackers, which has two very smart students act like terrible ones due to not wanting trouble.

Falling to Where I Belong:

The thing about this one is that the top is 100% a total green flag... It's the main character that's more of a red flag, in the sense he at first only asks the top out to humiliate him due to a misunderstanding.

But it's still a heartfelt story filled with regret and growth, and I did really like the portrayal of Cheng Feichi. Personally I think the manhua humanizes him a bit more than the novel since we didn't really get his POV in the novel that often, but I did hope for even more emotion in the ending... Still, it was a satisfying read, and while I would like to comfort the main character, Zhen Yeming, over his regrets, I really want to just give all the good things to Cheng Feichi, who definitely deserves it after everything he went through.

More Than Brothers:

For the "non-freaks" out there, they're not actual brothers, don’t worry; not adopted brothers either. Just a guy who saw his younger friend as his bro…until this friend disappeared from his life and apparently got into a bad crowd… Except in reality he is being harassed and is struggling to leave his abusive family.

The Protagonist Just Wants to Fall in Love:

Kind of a classic in the transmigration genre, except now we get multiple worlds in multiple arcs. Our protagonists are Systems on their final mission, aiming to become human by the end of it, and their task is to guide their protagonists away from the path of "darkening" (essentially corruption).

And each and every one of these systems do so by getting their protagonist to fall in love with them lol.

Unsurprisingly, my favourite arc so far—in the manhua at least!—is the historical one between the advisor and the emperor, but the third—and currently ongoing as the time of me writing this—world between two university students who started getting close during military training and by playing games is also quite cute.

And okay, man I could really keep going, especially with the manhua that are based on novels, but this post is already really long asjakfl. It was, in fact, so fucking long YouTube wouldn't even let me post it at first until I cut it down AMFKGSJDFGS.

But I still want to at least give a shout out to some of the manhua with pretty healthy, green flag tops/gongs!:

Like Han Yuan, despite the characters not getting along at first and Yu Han being rather aloof to the spoiled Luo Linyuan, is still quite sweet at its core. Lovely Allergen is as well, even with their "brotherly" relationship being the forefront of the conflict between Song Yu and Yue Zishi.

Another kind I wanted to bring up is the ones where their worlds or stories are dark, but the characters aren't necessarily. Like The Film Emperor, He Insisted on Being My Patron has a very green flag gong (he's such a puppy!), but he and the main character are up against the reddest of red flags of a villain LMDFKGSJFD.

It's also not a manhua I think people who want green flag leads would necessarily enjoy, given that beyond being "darker," it also goes into the territory of fan service-y and "problematic" nsfw content, but again, the male lead is really quite sweet to the main character despite the shitty situation they're in.

And I thought of Bu Chonghua from Tunhai aka Swallowing the Seas (another one based on a novel), since the main character there, Wu Yu, comes to see Bu Chonghua as so good and just that he pushes him away because he feels like he can't dirty such a man with his own darkness, both in his past and personality. It's a trope I really enjoy.

I'll briefly mention some ⚠️ spoilers ⚠️but the reason I wanted to highlight it is because: the latest chapter of the manhua has Bu Chonghua overhear Wu Yu saying he likes Bu Chonghua, and this is after Wu Yu disappeared and Bu Chonghua is worried he skipped town for good. He follows Wu Yu, all while wondering if the like Wu Yu holds for him is the same as his liking of Wu Yu, and when Wu Yu is about to be gravely injured in an underground fighting ring, Bu Chonghua steps in to save him... The chapter ends with Wu Yu holding him back pleading with him to stop because it's not worth dirtying his hands with such a man as his opponent, and that's such a delicious flavour of angst because like...Wu Yu thinks it's fine for he himself to fight against such a person, but he doesn't want Bu Chonghua to. ;-;

Oops. I didn't mean for this to become a deeper ramble of Tunhai KMSGFKGHSJ. It's just interesting to me since Tunhai and its prequel, Poyun aka Breaking Through the Clouds, may not have what the people who prefer green flag tops want in terms of content, but its tops are technically not that much of a red flag either.

Which also get us to the kind of stories where plot can also sort of outweigh whether a top/gong is a green flag or not. Like No Arguing With Mr. Mo has two characters who struggle greatly in their relationship, with the question of "are they in love?" being an overarching issue for them, meaning it's not exactly healthy, and prevents them from being fully either green or red flags.

I also didn't bring up a lot of historical/xianxia manhua, which I'm sure some people may disagree with... Like the leads in Tianbao Fuyao Lu are arguably quite good, and while I haven't read Dinghai Fusheng Lu yet, I assume it's in a similar boat as something set in the same world.

And then there's the ones that develop into green flags... Like Mo Ran starts off awful, yes, but he does become much better later on!! But I don't think that's what those people after green flags want to hear lol. Plus I'd argue Erha is best experienced in novel (or audio drama) form over the manhua anyway—the manhua feels more like something made for established fans in my opinion.

Regardless, I hope this shows that with so many listed above, many manhua actually feature male leads who really do care for their love interests in a healthy, respectful way, whether they're 100% green flags or they develop into green flags or they're not even complete green flags. ^^

Edit: Oh I forgot to link my full list of danmei/baihe manhua recs HMSKFJSKS. I currently don’t have any summaries, tags, or content warnings in this list though, but there’s quite the range of stories!:

[yekokataa]

hello what is Polish Boys? is it a book? how is it related to DE?

anon you have no idea how excited i am to randomly talk about this book, this ask is like a christmas present to me. polish boys is a lightly fictionalized history of the za/um cultural collective, aka the group of people who usually get called 'disco elysium's original devs' these days. it was written by an author who goes by mudlum. her real name is made luiga. she's martin luiga's mother and she was also part of the cultural collective. her approach to fictionalizing it was basically to transport everyone to poland, give them fake names, and set it in an ambiguously retro 20th century time period.

if you're looking for DE lore, there really isn't any. the events of the book take place in the years leading up to it, and it's only really mentioned in passing towards the end, fictionalized as sulisław, the character based on kurvitz, working on a cartoon.

the style of the novel is a meandering bildungsroman, beginning with the childhood of adam (martin luiga), his struggles in school, and his friends teofil (argo) and sulisław. other portions are focused on adam's mother, their family history, and a few other characters that i couldn't correlate with their real life inspirations. the group sits around, gets drunk, talks politics, moves into a dilapidated old house, and eventually forms a cultural magazine. then, with the help of a character based on kaur kender, they take over an official cultural magazine, a real life event that caused a bit of a stir in estonia.

unfortunately the book hasn't been published in english, but a translation does exist. the main way to access it is through a series of readings in this playlist on youtube. it's a very poetic, evocative book. i really enjoyed it a lot and i plan on buying it if the english version ever gets published.

[kaialone]

Official Guilty Gear Anthology- Short Story "Street Light" (English Translation)

This will be a full English translation of the short story "Street Light", written by プランナーM (Planner M)

It’s the fifth out of five short stories included in the "Official Guilty Gear Anthology", which was available online for a limited time only from April 1st to April 8th 2024, as part of April Fools’ Day celebrations.

--

Street Light

"ISN'T IT ABOUT CLOSING TIME?"

"Right, we're almost sold out. Could you clean up in the back today?"

"ALRIGHT. DON'T FORGET TO CALCULATE THE SALES."

How many months has it been since I came here?

To be honest, I did not expect to be accepted by this town as quickly as I was.

At times, my past actions still weigh heavily on my heart.

However, the townspeople's smiles, their words of gratitude—they never fail to soothe it.

And so, every passing day leaves me feeling happy and fulfilled.

Suddenly, the doorbell chimed.

I was certain I had just put up the "Closed" sign, but a customer might have overlooked it.

Regrettably, I would have to ask them to leave.

"Apologies, but we are closed for the-"

I fell silent the moment I turned to the door and saw the one who had just entered the shop.

"You're…"

A fearless expression lurking behind a pair of sunglasses.

A well-toned body showing from beneath a black coat.

In spite of the laid-back aura emanating from him, I could find no opening in his posture.

I know of only one man with such a presence.

"Is this that famous place where they got a handsome boy baking some really good bread?"

"…I don't have an answer to that question. But this is indeed a bakery."

Johnny, leader of a group of chivalrous bandits known as the Jellyfish Pirates.

Although we were loosely acquainted, I couldn't think of any reason why he would come to meet me in person like this.

And our acquaintance went back to my time as an assassin. Therefore, the situation was even more difficult for me to assess.

…Still, I had no reason to be discourteous towards him.

He at least showed no signs of hostility or nosiness.

"Your visit is appreciated, but we do not have any of our best-selling products left at this time of day. It would be preferable if you arrived before the sun has set."

"What're you talking about? If a handsome specimen of a man such as myself showed his face during prime time when all the ladies are out shopping, your business would go down the tubes."

"Huh…? Er, thank you for your consideration…"

I wasn't sure of his intentions, or what he was even talking about.

Nonetheless, I thanked him for his—in his own way—thoughtful words and actions.

"…Oh, I get it, you're a clueless fella… I can see how that'd make you popular."

He looked dumbfounded for a moment and began muttering something to himself, but soon directed his attention back to me.

"I know this is sudden, but I came over 'cause I got a personal question for you."

"For me?"

"Yep. After all, you're not just an up-and-coming young baker who suddenly showed up in town. You're also a hero who keeps an eye on the scoundrels and protects the town's peace."

How does he know about that…?

Although, thinking back, it was I who raised my voice in defiance towards those men in the alleyway. No one else.

I shouldn't wonder if word of said incident has since been spread by the elderly man who bore witness to it.

And in any case, considering the vast information network at his disposal, he may have sources I could not even guess at…

"So, here's my question—Are you willing to risk your life for this town?"

…Where was this going?

There was no need to think about it. The answer to his question was etched into every fiber of my being.

"What a foolish thing to ask. If it's for the sake of that which I must protect, I will gladly throw away my-"

"Now, hold up."

He cut me off with such a firm tone that my breath caught in my throat.

It wasn't aggressive or domineering. And yet, his voice shook me to my core.

He carried on like that.

"You wanna protect this town, right? But I'm sure there's more to it than the town itself."

"…That is correct. The people and the bonds between them. Their feelings, their hopes. I wish to protect the web of connections woven into this town to the best of my abilities."

All of this was true.

I doubt a man like him would assume I could speak these words without the determination they demanded.

"You know…"

Seeming almost in disbelief, he looked me straight in the eye while he spoke.

"You're a part of that web, too. 'Course, so's your friend in the back."

"…What?"

Indeed, there was no denying that the townspeople would support me every day. And as such, I may have been made a part of their web myself… Thinking about it, I suppose I did feel that way.

But to me, the most important thing of all was to protect this… That's why…

"You're looking kinda troubled there, son. That hard to take yourself into consideration? If you're not even aware of it, this might be a more deep-seated issue, huh…?"

I was at a loss for words. It might have been a harsh thing to say, but I knew full well that he'd hit the nail on the head.

"Here's the thing though—You and your friend are part of this town now. So, if you wanna protect this town, you know where the best place to start is, right?

"But I-!"

"No buts! Listen, I'm not one to just complain, so let me give you a little lesson."

He made a pistol shape with his hand, pointed it in my direction and solemnly continued.

"I know that you've been literally putting your life on the line for as long as you've had it. But from now on…"

He took off his sunglasses, piercing me with a stern glare.

"Never throw your life away. But do risk your life. That's the way a man's oughta fight."

He concluded with those words.

"…Well, I'm gonna be protecting all of the ladies myself. So you only gotta protect half the people."

I could have taken it as a flippant remark, but it didn't seem like a joke. The tension surrounding us just moments ago had completely dissipated.

I thought I had died as an assassin and then been reborn, but…

Contrary to my expectations, life in the sunlight doesn't always go as planned.

"Well, I gotta get going now. Bread's the best when it's freshly baked, so I'll ask someone in my crew to stop by while the sun's still up."

He put his sunglasses back on and turned to leave.

"In that case, let them know that we will give them a discount if they mention your name. Consider it payment for the lesson you just gave me."

"Whoa there, I wasn't gonna bug you about it or nothing."

He laughed with a shrug and made his way towards the exit, only to turn back around one more time.

"I appreciate it, though. Well then, see ya later."

"…I must also express my gratitude. Please visit us again."

I bowed deeply as I watched his figure slip outside.

"HEY! I'M ALMOST DONE OVER HERE! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?!"

I could hear my friend call out from further inside, sounding impatient.

"Oh, my apologies. I'm sorry to ask, but could you help me out with this?"

"UGH, WHAT AM I GONNA DO WITH YOU…? I SWEAR, YOU BETTER OIL ME LATER!"

Everyday life resumed.

Everyday life… I, Venom, find it to be both difficult and invaluable.

Something I must protect above all else.

And I must be aware that I, too, have made myself a part of it.

However, I know there is no need for me to rush. For this is not something one can rush to obtain.

"I will… protect this town. As one of the people of this town."

--

[sonadowwiki]

The Differences Between SEGA of Japan and SEGA of America/Europe (Part 1)

On this page, we will talk about the difference between SEGA of Japan and SEGA of America/Europe; the difference between Japanese SEGA and English SEGA. Please be sure to read through all the text for a complete understanding of the topic.

An often misconception made throughout the whole Sonic the Hedgehog community is that Japan and Western SEGA are the same or share the same views. Although both are SEGA, SEGA America and SEGA Europe are international branches of SEGA Japan. They do not inherently own the Sonic the Hedgehog series. SEGA Japan (or SEGA Sammy), who is the main branch, owns them. SEGA Japan and SEGA West can share very different opinions on the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Because of this, not all material from the English/West side of SEGA are canon or official and can't be seen to reflect the current outlook on things due to not being fully approved by the Japanese side of SEGA (the ones who truly own the series). Western SEGA is known to make decisions without Japan's full consent or with only Japan's initial consent on multiple occasions. Some examples of this are: Archie Comics, IDW Comics, Mobile Apps, Sonic Speed Simulator on Roblox and even posts on the official American Twitter accounts. For the mobile apps, they are looked over by HARDlight in Europe; they are part of the Western Europe branch of SEGA. Although Sonic Forces: Speed Battle was initially approved for creation by Takashi Iizuka, he did not overlook its development after approving its creation and he does not represent SEGA Japan's wishes. Therefore, it has been under the supervision of Western SEGA and does not always have the approval of both the Western and Japanese side of SEGA when decisions are made.

When responding to a fan about why the Japanese and English versions of the Sonic the Hedgehog content were so different from each other, Eitaro Toyoda of Sonic Team hinted that the Western side of SEGA has an agenda when translating or handling their content.

SEGA West often portrays the Sonic the Hedgehog characters very differently than SEGA Japan. One such major difference is in how they handle Shadow the Hedgehog. In English medias, Shadow is often portrayed in a very mean manner where he doesn't care about anyone but himself. Such examples of this are English created series like Sonic Boom and the IDW Comic series. English medias often portray Shadow more mean than usual on purpose to give the impression that Shadow is the type of person to be completely alone, someone who doesn't want to help anyone but himself, someone who hates everyone completely and someone who wants to kill people all the time. This can also be seen in the translations of things like the video games from Japanese to English.

Japan, on the other hand, makes Shadow more stoic and cold, but not completely mean. He is more robotic than the very angry person English medias portray him as. Though, even though Shadow is seen as a bit stand-offish, Sonic Team themselves have said that Shadow is kind and sweet. Eitaro Toyoda even mentioned that, "Shadow is not a bad guy by any means, but he's not completely good either… At any rate, I trust he will not act in a way that discourages us! :)" The reason for this can be derived from Shadow being a Tsundere type of person. Meaning, he is the type of person to deny anything nice he has done. An example of this behavior can be seen in the Sonic x Shadow July Calendar Story where he denies helping the people in the town for a good cause. Shadow is not the type to want credit for doing something good, but he is still an Anti-Hero who will do what he thinks is right if it means doing the right thing or creating the right results. This is often not portrayed correctly in English medias due to them making Shadow seem like a reckless person who will fight for what he thinks is right, even if it's completely wrong to do. Shadow has more morals than that and will not cross certain lines like hurting innocent people for no reason. In Sonic Battle, he even states that his desire is to bring hope to humanity. And since it is his desire to bring hope to humanity, him hurting humanity for no reason or for the fun of it doesn't make sense. Therefore, that characterization of Shadow is incorrect. Though an Anti-Hero, Shadow is still a hero and Japan often portrays that in their medias or when they have some control over some American medias like Sonic Prime's Season 2 Episode 1 and 8.

Another character that is often portrayed differently by SEGA West is Sonic the Hedgehog himself. There are many instances where Sonic is portrayed differently than what the Japanese originally portray him as. One such prime example is how Boom Sonic is shown to have complete fear of water compared to Modern Sonic who has a dislike for water, but doesn't fear it in Japanese medias. Another difference that can be easily seen is how Sonic is shown to be apathetic in most situations in English medias compared in Japanese medias. An example of this is how in Sonic Frontiers Sonic showed to not care about SAGE's death. This is not a normal occurrence for Sonic as he has shown to care about other character's deaths or similar like Chip going back to sleep in Sonic Unleashed, Shadow being thought to have died at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 and other emotional situations. Though despite this, Sonic has been shown to be quite apathetic in English medias or only care in sudden bursts of emotion for his friends at random points in time. Other differences are like how Prime Sonic is shown to be less smart and more touchy (physically wise) than Modern Sonic. Though the movie is from the English, the movie was overlooked heavily by Japanese officials for Movie Sonic to be more accurate to their view of Sonic or to how they want Movie Sonic to be in movies 1, 2 and Knuckles' TV Show. Because of this, even Movie Sonic shows some traits that Modern Sonic from Japanese medias show. One such trait is how Sonic doesn't like to be touched by people he is not comfortable with. In Movie Sonic's case, this would have been Movie Tails. At the time he first met Movie Tails, he wasn't comfortable with him hugging him. But Movie Sonic was comfortable with his family hugging him because he was more comfortable around them since he knew them longer and finds them family. This trait of Sonic being more physically touchy is usually seen in English medias like the IDW Comics, Sonic Prime and even Sonic Frontiers.

[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Movie) - Movie Tails hugs Movie Sonic]

In Japanese content such as Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Generations, you can see Sonic push away physical contact or see him feel very uncomfortable from the contact. It's a very stark difference between mostly English medias and Japanese medias. Though there are individuals that Modern Sonic is comfortable touching. Such examples are Tails, Knuckles and even Shadow back in Sonic Adventure 2 when they clasped hands after defeating the BioLizard/Final Hazard. For Tails and Knuckles, you can see him freely touch them in several medias. One such prime example is the calendar story pictures from 2021 where Sonic holds hands with Tails and sits on top of Knuckles' head. There's also Sonic Heroes where they often touch each other to move through the stages. He is also not bothered in touching people when it is necessary to save them, help them in some manner or make things go by quicker.

[Sonic x Tails 2021 Calendar Image from Sonic Team]

[Sonic x Knuckles Calendar Image from Sonic Team]

[Sonic Adventure 2 - Sonic and Shadow claps hands in victory after defeating the Final Hazard]

Though, there is one Japanese media that is exempted from this and that's Sonic X. The reason why this one has Sonic touching others a lot compared to other Japanese medias is due to who was in charge of Sonic Team at the time. The one in charge at the time was Yuji Naka. Yuji Naka can also be included in as one of the individuals who had an agenda while he was working for SEGA because his views are vastly different than the main Japan company today. He has left SEGA a long time ago in 2006 and was even said to be a criminal in 2023 by admitting to participating in inside trading (JP news article) while working in Square Enix. Also, one of his policies in working with people was to dangle people's dreams in front of them to make them work well, but never allowing them to have it. Because of all of this, it is best not to take what he thought or says as anything official/canon anymore. This should especially be the case because Sonic Team's views have been shown to be very different and has changed drastically since Yuji Naka has been the head of Sonic Team.

Inside trading is the trading of a company’s securities by individuals with access to confidential or material non-public information about the company. Taking advantage of this privileged access is considered a breach of the individual’s fiduciary duty. [Cornell Law School]

Inside trading is an illegal offence that is more widely known as Leaks or Rumors to the general public. It is basically stealing confidential data within a company and giving it to others without permission. Many game companies go through this, including SEGA. Those who participate in leaks/rumors/inside trading are criminals who are stealing data from companies and are giving it to others illegally. What they are doing is against the law and can be punished by the law. The reasons why people do this vary, but most do this to invest in stocks to gain a profit from projects they believe will do well like Yuji Naka did in Square Enix. Other reasons can be to invest fans into something to make them buy the game to make more profit on it or not buy it to make less profit on it or to gain power and fame by giving out information before it is released for clout.

[Part 2]

[pruneunfair]

Rating FL's part 3

Shuri

12/10: I just started reading A step mothers marchen (and it's probably gonna take a while to finish it since Bato doesn't have a full English translation) but from the few chapters I read I agreed with fans of the book that Shuri is without a doubt one of the best FL's. There's actual development between her and the step-children and she succeeds at being relatable without making her too overpowered.

Athanasia

7/10: Okay while I don't really care too much about WMMAP, I still think that for one of the first most popular otome isekais Athy was a pretty good protagonist and most of my complaints about her are mostly just ant hills. I don't have much to say on Athy other then she's a good start for OI protagonists but could be a little better.

Aisha

9/10: Is she generic? Yes, does that make her a bad protagonist? No. I don't understand what people mean when they say Marianne overshadows her unless they're talking about the fandom specifically because as someone who also really loves Marianne, she barely shows up on screen so to say that she overshadows Aisha just because Aisha is a typical sweet saintess heroine is stupid. Sometimes ITLA can be a little on the nose with how nice she is but I still find Aisha pretty well made.

Sienna

9/10: Okay I officially love manhwa where the maid is the protagonist instead of a noblewoman and as short as the manhwa she's from is, I still think she's a sweetheart. My only complaint is that the story keeps randomly inserting sad backstory memories so you feel bad for her, like one minute she'll be doing something ordinary and then next she's basically just like "This reminds me of when my step-mom hit me with jumper cables after I spilled one drop of tea." And then it goes back to the present within one panel.

Hae Soo

6.5/10: I'm sorry but people meat ride her WAY too much. She's not a terrible FL but there is so much better and she's really not all that because you can kinda tell by the way that she's the only female character thats likable and with that bodytype that she's just a self insert character.

Ruby

8/10: For once we have a piece that actually looks into the typical white lotuses point of view, Like Helena except way darker when it comes to backstories. I like that Ruby is shown to be more emotional cause I never liked how a lot of manhwa imply that emotions=crybaby FL, it all depends on how it's handled and I think thr author was very respectful when it came to her abuse and ED. However like Sienna there are times when the author is trying too hard and ends up forgetting certain parts of Ruby's trauma. For example they mentioned early in the chapters that Ruby's beloved older sister had died but it's barely mentioned in the future on how it affected her, so it ends up feeling like it was just a way to feel bad for her even more.

Aria

6/10: so on one hand I'm really glad that Aria is actually evil instead of the comic just saying " Oh no! She's not evil! She's too nice for that" because if villainess is gonna be in the title then she should keep some of her villainous traits, but I really don't know if I should see her as super smart if all her enemies are too stupid to combat her, it makes Aria look really stupid when she got killed in the first timeline if they're so bad at crimes.

Eris

10/10, Love my girl Eris! Kill the villainess was great for a lot of things, a knight for the ML instead of the prince, the ogfl not being a white lotus out to ruin Eris's life, and morally corrupt villains that felt like obstacles, but what they did the best was the FL because Eris actually retains her goal on going back to her world instead of shrugging it off and going to sleep because you know most people would be freaking out if they woke up as a historical woman in a time period where women had no rights and it was easy to die after getting sick once.

Roxana

9.5/10: She's overrated but that doesn't make a character bad by default. When I finally read Roxana after seeing the hype I could understand why they loved Roxana so much. Now as much as I don't like evil protagonists who don't suffer consequences, the story makes up for it by being self aware that the Agriche family are a bunch of lunatics with the exception of Roxanas mom and her late brother. Being chaotic is simply part of the plot so I don't think it's fair for me to fault it. That being said as much as I loved her I do think that her takeover during the end chapters shouldn't have been done and done so easily and quickly.

Verta

7/10: similar to Roxana, Depths of malice is self aware that Verta is a terrible person even though she has a tragic backstory, it's only an explanation for why she's like this not an excuse. If you know me, you know I love the white lotus women so seeing one as a protagonist was something extraordinary since I thought everyone but me and a select few hated two faced women. She only really earns a 7 because as good as she is, there are better ones.

[aeria-arc]

[LoveAndDeepSpace Translation Review] | Main Story | Homecoming Wings CH 02 Night Unending: 09 "Captive Bird"

Bringing you an unfiltered version of the EN translations for the infamous "Captive Bird" cutscene. This is for the girlies who appreciate Caleb in all ways and form. Caleb is not my man but consider me intrigued. ~♡🍎

EDIT 7-Feb-25: added notes for title's meaning

Disclaimer: I'm Southeast Asian Chinese (english/chinese speaking). Not from China. Not a language expert. Just a lore and Xavier girlie who's way too invested. My reviews are my interpretation and should not be taken as facts. -More Details: HERE

Key: Orange = official EN version Pink = official CN version « » = my version (based on CN's script) Blue = external links [EDIT] = notes added after initial draft ★ = bullet points

09: Captive Bird

Caleb: Sit first. We need to tend to your wound. Caleb: 坐好，你的伤口要尽快处理 «Sit properly, your wound needs to be treated quickly.»

MC: Is the Colonel ordering me around? Or is Caleb worried about me? MC: 这是长官的命令，还是哥哥的关心？ «Is this an officer's order, or an older brother's concern?»

Caleb: Do you remember that injured cat you brought back home? Back when we were kids. Caleb: 还记得小时候，你抱回来了一只受伤的猫吗 «Do you remember when we were young, you brought back an injured cat?»

Caleb: We kept it in the backyard. But that cat always kept trying to run away before it fully recovered. Caleb: 我们把它养在院子里，它却不领情，伤还没好就总想逃 «We raised it in the courtyard yet it was ungrateful. It kept wanting to escape even though its injuries have not healed.»

MC: I don't want to listen to this. MC: 我不想听你说这些 «I don't want to listen to you talk about this.»

Caleb: Do you want to know what I did in response? Caleb: 后来，你知道我想了一个什么办法么？ «Then, do you know what I came up with?»

Caleb: I got a collar with a bell. I put it on the cat. That way, it couldn't escape without being noisy. Caleb: 我给它系了一个铃铛，走到哪里都叮铃铃的，它就再也逃不掉了 «I attached a bell to it and it made a ringing sound wherever it went. That's how it will never run away again.»

Caleb: If I had that kind of bell right now... Caleb: 你说，这样的铃铛…… «What do you say, a bell like this...»

Caleb: I should make you wear it, right? Caleb: 我是不是也该给你系一个？ «Should I also attach one to you?»

======================================= Choice 1 <Is this your "protection"?> <这就是你的“保护”吗?> «same as EN»

MC: Is this how you'll "protect" me? I just need to be glued to your side? MC: ……把我困在身边，这就是你所谓的“保护”吗？ «...keeping me trapped by your side, is this your so-called "protection"?»

Caleb: I know it's unfair. But... Caleb: 这的确对你不公平，可是…… «This is indeed unfair to you, but...»

======================================= Choice 2 <Fine. I'll let you do what you want.> <好呀，哥哥做什么都可以> «It's all fine, older brother can do anything you want.»

MC: Okay, fine. I guess I'll let you do what you want. MC: 好啊，你是哥哥，自然做什么都可以 «Fine, go ahead, you are the older brother, naturally you can do anything you want and it'll be ok.»

Caleb: Is there anything I can do? Caleb: 身为“哥哥”，我能对你做什么 «As the "older brother", what can I even do to you?*»

[*NOTE: He is responding to mc being sarcastic about how older brothers have the 'authority' to do anything. She probably wants to get a rise out of him out of frustration but caleb doesn't take the bait. He shuts it down by saying as a brother in the proper sense, he can't do anything to her that will cause her harm. By saying this it is implying that in his mind, keeping her by his side is not "harmful" but for "her own good". He goes on to 'justify' this by talking about her wound infection.]

=======================================

Caleb: Because of that monster, your wound is infected. Caleb: 被那种怪物攻击，你的伤口已经轻度感染了 «After being attacked by those kind of monsters, your wound has already been slightly infected.»

Caleb: Is there truly a way for you to run around without getting injured? Caleb: 你说，我要怎么安心放你一个人到处跑？ «Tell me, how can I be at ease and let you run around out there alone?»

MC: Are you still the Caleb who confronted danger with me? MC: 你还是那个和我一起对抗危险的夏以昼吗？ «Are you still the same Caleb who fought against danger together with me?»

Caleb: ……

MC: I've had enough of... your "protection". MC: 你所谓的保护，我也受够了 «Your so-called protection, I've had enough of it.»

Caleb: If being with me only brings you pain, then just put up with this for three more days. Caleb: 如果待在我身边让你这么痛苦，那么，最多再三天 «If being by my side makes you suffer so much, then, three more days, at most.»

MC: What are you going to do? MC: 你要去干什么？ «same as EN»

Caleb: Tie up loose ends. Caleb: 最后的善后 «The final clean-up.»

Caleb: And then... All of this will be over. I just need three more days. Caleb: 三天过后，这一切就都结束了 «After three more days, all of this will come to an end»

[Three days later...]

News Report: Our reporters out in the field confirmed the lockdown will be lifted after being in effect for weeks. The Farspace Fleet assures everyone that the explosion in the Cascade District will not happen again... News Report: 本台前线报导，持续数周的全面戒严已结束。远空舰队称，流云区爆炸案将不会再次发生…… «um whatever EN says lol»

Caleb: After all this is over... The Fleet will return to the Deepspace Tunnel. You'll be safe. For now. Caleb: 这次动荡过后……舰队会回到隧道里，你暂时安全了 «After this recent unrest...the Fleet will return to the Deepspace Tunnel, you will be safe for now.»

MC: In other words, you'll just disappear again? And not even say anything? MC: 所以这一次，你又要什么都不说就离开吗？ «So this time around, you're also going to leave without saying a word?»

Caleb: I'll be gone. Aren't you happy you won't have to see me then? Caleb: 看不见我，你不是应该很开心吗 «Not seeing me, shouldn't you be happy?»

Caleb: I'm about to leave. It'd be nice if we had a meal together. Caleb: 我就要走了，陪我再吃顿晚饭吧 «I'll be leaving soon, come have dinner with me once more.»

MC: So I have to listen to the Colonel even when it comes to eating and drinking now? MC: 不仅是行动，现在连吃什么喝什么，我都要遵从执舰官的命令吗？ «Not just my actions, now it's what I eat and drink too? Do I need to obey the colonel's orders for everything?»

Caleb: You can be mad, but don't let it affect your health. Caleb: 你可以生气，但不要以身体为代价 «You can get angry, but not at the cost of your health.»

MC: I'm not mad. MC: 我没有生气 «I'm not angry.»

Caleb: Growing up, we knew each other well. Better than most, even. Caleb: 从小到大，我是最了解你的人 «Since young, I'm the person who understands you the most.»

Caleb: I could see through your lies when you'd blink. Bite your lip, and I could tell you were upset. Caleb: 你眨一下眼睛我就知道你在说谎，咬下嘴唇就知道是受了委屈…… «You'll blink and I would know you are lying, bite your lip and I would know you must have felt wronged.»

MC: In that case, tell me. What am I thinking about right now? MC: 既然是最了解我的人，那哥哥知道我现在在想什么吗？ «Since you know me the best, then older brother do you know what I'm thinking right now?»

MC: I wonder. How did you turn into someone I hardly recognize? MC: 我在想，你怎么会变成一个让我这么陌生的人 «I'm thinking, how could you have become someone who is like a stranger to me.»

Caleb: Oh I know. You're thinking some chip got put into my brain, right? And now, I'm no longer who I used to be. Caleb: 我知道你想说什么。你想说，我是不是也被什么芯片控制了，变得不像我自己 «I know what you want to say. You're thinking of saying, could it be I'm also being controlled by some chip, and have turned into someone unfamiliar(/not like myself).»

Caleb: What if I told you I was always like this? Caleb: 如果我说，我本来就是这样的人呢？ «What if I said, I have always been this kind of person?»

Caleb: Your life has threats around every corner. Caleb: 是你还活在想象的世界里 «It's you who is still living in an imaginary world»

Caleb: The people who are after your power, who wanna hurt you—they should all just... disappear. Caleb: 那些觊觎你力量、想要伤害你的人，不论是谁……都该消失 «Those who covet your power, those who wish to harm you, no matter who it is....they all need to disappear.»

Caleb: You're only safe when you're by my side. Caleb: 只有我身边才是最安全的 «You are safest only by my side.»

MC: I'd rather face danger head-on than "safely" live like this! I don't need you— MC: 比起这种“安全”，我宁愿去面对危险！不需要你来…… «Compared to having this kind of "safety", I'd rather face the danger head-on! I don't need you to...»

Caleb: You don't need me? Is that what you think? Caleb: 不需要我？ «Don't need me?»

Caleb: All right. What do you need? You can tell me. Caleb: 好啊，那你需要什么？我都可以答应 «Fine, then what do you need? I'll agree to anything»

Caleb: We can return to Linkon if that's what you want. Caleb: 你想要回临空，我们就回临空 «You want to return to Linkon, we can return to Linkon»

Caleb: If you want to return to the past, we'll rebuild our old house and move in together. Caleb: 你想回到从前，我们就把老宅翻修，一起住回去 «If you want to return to the past, we can rebuild the old house and live in it together again.»

Caleb: And if one house isn't enough, I'll build you a whole maze. Caleb: 一座房子不够，那就给你建一座迷宫 «If a house is not enough, then I'll build a maze for you.»

Caleb: I'll decorate it with everything you could ever want. It will be the most beautiful, stunning garden you've ever seen. Caleb: 我会在里面给你准备最好的一切，把它建成世界上最漂亮的花园 «Within it I will prepare the best of everything for you, make it the world's most beautiful garden.»

Caleb: No one will be able to find you ever again. I'll protect you forever. Caleb: 有我陪着，以后，他们就再也找不到你了 «With me keeping you company, in future, they will never ever find you again.»

MC: Caleb... You can't just... MC: 夏以昼……你不该是这样的 «Caleb......you shouldn't be like this.»

MC: You're very important to me. And no one could ever replace you... MC: 你明明是我的哥哥，是我重要的家人…… «You are clearly my older brother, my important family member......»

Caleb: Really? Caleb: 哥哥？ «Older brother?»

Caleb: (MC name), I've always held myself back and endured. Day, after day, after day. It was suffocating. Caleb: (玩家)，你最大的错，就是以为我愿意一直扮演你的好哥哥 «(MC name), your biggest mistake, is thinking I was willing to keep up the act as your good older brother»

Caleb: But now, I'm tired of playing these games. Caleb: 这种过家家的游戏，我早就玩腻了 «This game of house, I've long been tired of playing it.»

Additional Notes

★ Chapter Title Meaning

The chapter title "Night Unending" in CN is "无昼长夜", and it has a double meaning. The phrase has the character "昼" in it, which is also part of Caleb's CN name (夏以昼). A quick breakdown of his name: 夏 (xià) = summer 以 (yǐ) = with/by (preposition) 昼 (zhòu) = daytime

Caleb's name roughly translates to something like "summer by day".

Back to our title, the actual idiom referenced is "无昼无夜", it refers to living as if there's "no day, no night"; i.e. it means being so occupied with something all through the day and night, to the point that there's no distinction between daytime and nighttime. The writers changed it from "无昼无夜" to "无昼长夜", so now it means "no day, long night". In other words, "without caleb, long night". The EN title "Unending Night" is not wrong, it's just missing the wordplay on his name.

My guess: On the surface this is likely referencing Caleb's long disappearances at night during the chapter, but if we think deeper, it might have to do with mc's feelings about Caleb's absence (nights are long without Caleb).

[EDIT] About the title's double meaning, after reading Caleb's Endless Summer memory I realized I might be looking at it too literally. The character for daytime (昼) in the idiom does not represent Caleb as I previously thought, but instead it is a part of Caleb, just as it is a part of his name. Daytime is usually associated with light and good things and it's how MC thinks of Caleb in her memories. But he has become someone unfamiliar to her in this chapter. So "无昼长夜"="no daytime, only long night", meaning Caleb has lost his "daytime" and has turned "dark" and unrecognizable to MC.

[*fun fact: any tales of themis fan here? In case u didn't know, Luke has the same CN surname as Caleb. Coincidence? ;) ]

[haveyouplayedthisttrpg]

A 2024 retrospective

It's the 15th of december and I don't think there will be a lot happening in the last weeks of the year. I will schedule polls until the 22nd and then it's a break till it's 2025. In the mean time, let's do a little retrospective of my year

Running a Poll Blog

In February I started this blog. As of writing, we've had 529 games and i'm sure there's some "big names" that haven't been polled yet. And we haven't got the big D game either. Don't worry, there will be a special day for it.

Anyway thank you all for voting, rebloging and submitting. I am glad to be part of the tumblr ttrpg community.

Playing TTRPG

I like stats. I like having sheets for thing like sessions played, whole collection and my bed.

This year I have played 51 sessions total. It's actually a 50/50 of online and in-person (26-25). Being in a ttrpg club really helps (21 sessions). I also played a lot on @anim-ttrpgs discord book club, great place ( and it's no wonder that Eureka is one of my most played this year).

I mostly played One shot ( 25 sessions)

I was a GM only 19 times, that was a vacation.

My busiest month was July with 10 sessions, that was.... a month.

My most played game this year are :

1 Knight an avalon RPG

2 Eureka

3 Triangle Agency

4 City of mist, The Dark Eye and Vaesen

In total I played 24 official games plus 4 different home systems

Game Design

I had a long pause of writing games. This year, I went out of my funk, created and published again. It felt good. I wanna thank the Nagademon and the Anim TTRPG communities for this.

I published Cooking in Dungeon : a solo larp game for those who have no idea what to cook for their meals

The TCG Oracle : a game that uses any trading card game cards for gmless adventures.

Chaos at Cosplay Con : Everyone at the con became their cosplays. Some lost their mind to the characters, but you didn't and now your group needs to get out before the costume consumes you.

A TTRPG addict

I love ttrpg, I wouldn't run this blog otherwise.

This is seen by my ever growing collection, both books and pdf. I bought games that I discovered thanks to this blog. The blog also made me think about where my games come from, and I tend to consume locally a lot, either with original creations or translations.

I am also impatient (the main reason i learned english is because the english manga scans were further ahead than the french ones) and a good target for FOMO so i often pledge for crowdfunding projects. I am waiting on a lot of them still, mostly pdf, I have my own trello to keep track of them.

Good thing with pdf : they don't take place on the shelves and you don't pay an import tax on them. Bad thing : you can't use them to build a house out of books cause your addiction went awry.

Here's to 2025

Here's to a new year that I hope will be better than the last, and so forth for any future year. May I not lose myself between too many projects and ideas and not finish any of them. I have already started a new one this december, somewhat anonymously and already I hate the white page in front of me.

And here's to staying on tumblr cause it's my trashcan thank you very much, and I will only leave by the force of the bayonets.

[hello-vampire-kitty]

Servamp chapter 133 translation "One"

Read the chapter on MangaDex!

Oh boy, while this chapter doesn't have as much dialogue like the rest that I have to work on, I had some lines that gave me trouble, like you will see in the TL notes, so please look over them. Translation notes

Although it's trivial and I'll be going over something from an early chapter but hey, you'll see just how bad the English translation is, especially with the early volumes.

Some time ago I asked on Twitter if people recalled the nickname Kuro had for Sakuya, because I had the impression he had one for him in the early chapters, similar to how Kuro calls Misono "kisama-chan", which I translate as little bastard xD Kuro refers to Sakuya as 外ハネ "soto hane" which I translated simply as "curly hair", rather than "flipped hair" which is what you'll see if you google the term. I looked into the anime subs and it was translated as "side flare." I could have used that, but to quote Mahiru, "Simple is best" xD

IIn the official localization of the manga it's not even translated T_T

The 2nd and 3rd panel are poorly translated, like the "grungy" joker part, Kuro just calls him "joker" and that's where he also calls him "soto hane. Oh boy but the last two lines in the 3rd panel are soo bad. What Kuro said originally was "I don't think little bastard and him would get along", to which Mahiru replies "Little bastard...you mean Misono?!" Yeah, so it's quite different. Okay, so let's move on to the other notes I have for this chapter.

Tsubaki's last line had me like "What?" Hopefully I haven't misunderstood it. So, Tsubaki uses the word 貯蔵庫 which means storehouse which sounds weird...The way it's written in Japanese, his line could also be translated as "Put away the "prototype" used for storage", but that doesn't make sense, right? Also, I can't say if it's singular or plural regarding the word prototype. I used the plural only because he said "siblings", cause I think it refers to them. So yeah, it's weird, what does he mean regarding storage? We'll have to see if it's brought up in other chapters.

While most of the characters' abilities have two different readings to them, in this case, the furigana reading which is the intended reading is actually used to show the pronunciation of the kanji.

Tanaka-sensei used different kanji with the same pronunciation to spell the words "shura" that is written as 修羅 and "sousou" (funeral) which is written as 葬送 Shura (or Asura), has been brought up before by Tsubaki, but with another meaning, such as fighting; carnage.

Tsubaki's ability in Japanese is written as 朱羅葬想

修=朱

送=想

So instead of the usual kanji 修羅葬送 (shura sousou) in this case, the first and 4th kanji were replaced like I showed above, both having the same pronunciation and you can't exactly get a translation for the words, so I will just breakdown each kanji to see what they represent.

The first kanji 朱 means "red; vermilion; cinnabar; scarlet". This one is probably used to make a reference to blood in my opinion.

The fourth kanji 想 means "thoughts, emotions, feelings".

So yeah, written like this 朱羅葬想 it can't be translated and the kanji that were used are most likely meant to be representative for Tsubaki. That's my opinion.

He also says the word 迎え (mukae) which means "meeting; greeting; welcome". I can't say how it relates to "shura sousou", but I thought that maybe his ability has styles? Perhaps the "welcome" is one style like from what we see, he makes some kind of barrier and when he's attacked, he vanishes and appears behind Kuro Maybe he has other fighting styles used for close combat.

Oh my God, like maybe it sounds dumb but I legit didn't know how else I could adapt what Kuro says about the counter-attack, because there were hardly any examples of how some of the words in Japanese were used, like one of them was from what I gathered, a term used in sports that translates as "take the field first" and another one basically meant ""going second" and there was another example that basically meant "going second", then there was another word that I only found in a single example...It was awful.

Cleaning the speech bubble was tough and I think it looks decent.

As you might have seen, I added this page again at the end of the chapter on Mangadex to show the other reading of the ability, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust" because I couldn't add it because there wasn't enough space in the speech bubble. So, when I looked up the word, it was interesting that Wiedergänger share similarities to strigoi from my country's folklore. I think others might have brought this up regarding inner Kuro, but the fact that he uses a stake to pierce himself and uses it as a weapon that takes the form of the thing that was used to kill Kuro, a stake is used to kill a strigoi to keep them in their coffins.

Regarding inner Kuro's last line, the intended reading is "let's talk" but the other reading says "let's fight".

Also, he uses the verb 引きこもる "hikikomoru" and when you make it into a noun, you get hikikomori which is how Kuro is described. I had to chose a word that would fit both character's lines, because I couldn't have inner Kuro says "hey come on, don't be a shut-in", "or "don't seclude yourself from me", it would have sounded weird.

I think it's clever how Tanaka used that specific verb instead of just saying something like "Hey, don't stand so far away" So yeah, hopefully my insights were helpful :)

[minugasakuranohana]

Kōyō and Mori related post, part 2

... about that problematic Mori's phrase from ch 37

Please read [Part 1] before reading this

[In Russian] and [abt translation of this dialogue in Russian]

@emilover-1 and @plinko-mori, I hope you'll read it once 𖹭 Happy new year!

And about his line of behaviour in this situation at all.

Previously Kōyō said: Of course. But sad to say, I need to help our unreliable boss get this organization back in order. The one to whom my hatred belongs is your predecessor. Right now, I'm feeling pretty good about being here.

(Japanese: 無論じや。じゃが生憎と頼りない首領が組織を立て直す手伝いがあるでのう。彼の人の仇は先代じゃ。今は此処が気に入っておる)

What did Mori reply (in Japanese)?

He said: 嬉しいけど私の守備範囲は十二歳以下だよ？

To begin with, during the research process, let's maintain absolute neutrality.

meme (or not meme) about it ↘️

Now you are ready, so we're gonna dissect this fucking phrase!

The best known translation are:

I'm quite happy you said that, but I'm only interested in those under 12 years old.

I'm very glad to hear that, but I'm only interested in those under 12, you know?

Please, don't worry.

嬉しい - happy, glad. Here = «I'm quite happy you said that», «I'm very glad to hear that» (I prefer the second one, because it rhymes. There wasn't something like this in Japanese version, and I didn't see it in Russian, but here... 🥺 Let them talk in rhyming banter with each other). From the beginning Mori choose the opposite line to her words «sad to say», 生憎と. It's funny.

けど - «but», follows is contradictory to what comes before. (And you use が to say «but» when ideas are in contrast)

私 - I (official or just gender neutral version of the pronoun «I», using by many people now)

私の - my

守備範囲 - that fucking word 😒🙄🫣

Dictionary says:

しゅびはんい — 守備範囲 — noun

area of the field one is supposed to (or able to) defend (sports term)

(one's) field, (one's) scope, area of expertise, range of topics one can converse about, breadth of one's interests and knowledge

one's type, kind of person one is attracted to

You can use this word meaning «defence» only when you talk about sport. So this isn't about defence in Mori's phrase. Even Japanese dictionaries say so:

Goo:

守備範囲

スポーツで、自分の守るべき範囲。また、守ることができる範囲。スポーツ = sport, スポーツで = in sport. Meaning: «The scope of one's protection. Also, the extent to which it can be protected

自分がすべきことの範囲。また、自分ができることの範囲。«The scope of what you should do. Also, the scope of what you can do»

Weblio:

守備範囲

守ることができる範囲、または守るべき範囲、などを意味する表現 。 That sport term.

趣味・嗜好・異性の顔の造作などにおいて、好みとする対象の広さなどについて言う場合もある。«It may also refer to the extent of one's preference in hobbies, tastes, facial features of the opposite sex, etc.»

The best words to keep together 2nd and 3rd parts from English dictionary entry is «something what you are interested in». Because there's a probability he meant 2nd part and there's a probability he meant 3nd.

は - you really wanna know? Go and read about grammar. Okie, it's the word you use to mark the topic. [Link for grammar]

十二 = 12

歳 - years old

以下 - under

だ - marks present tense and positive sentences. (There are other ways for other sentences) It's a casual form of です. [Link for だ grammar] and [Link for difference between だ and です]

よ - «It indicates that the speaker is offering new information or a new perspective to the listener. Or at the very least, it gives the impression that something new is being offered.» Someone who translated manga added «you know?» for this nuance. [Link]

Mori replied «I'm very glad to hear that, but I'm only interested in those under twelve years old, you know?» Sorry, not sorry, it's really these words.

But the game ain't over at all!

What was it about? You know, words, it's a complicated thing...

Noticed something about «glad/happy»? It sounds a bit strange. He can be happy 'cause she doesn't hate him, or she is content to be here. But after the words «unreliable boss»? Is it irony?

Some thoughts of meaning:

Kōyō, but you are an adult! Stop insulting; stop attacking friends! You aren't Elise (Mori, you really thought at least one of them would stop?) In this case, does Elise have Kōyō's traits?

«You hate only the former boss + You like to be here» ➡️ «You like / love me, right? Oh, you know, with your childish behavior, if you were 12, I might have liked you too, maybe» 🤣 Remember, she canonically doesn't love «love». Mori just fights back.

On the other hand, I've heard the version that her words could be a romantic thing. But then he's just a master at shooting people down in the most cringe-worthy way.

Another point: it could be something like «Oh my, you really tHaT oLd? Are you seriously saying you can teach me running the organization? Behave yourself, my another traumatized adopted child» Some years ago she was angry when Chūya called her «Ane-san», but now 🤭

In any case, he made her feel uncomfortable with his shitty words. That's the punishment for willfulness and impoliteness (?)

Why, or what for?

Because she really hurts his feelings

Her phrase and his face are placed on the same frame. It makes sense, and it matters. Look at Mori! His eyes are open, but the lower lid is tensed / squinted, and you can see the expression lines. The iris is white – he usually has black eyes, so she's hit the mark, hit a nerve. The eyebrows are in a normal position, but it feels a little strained. The lips are composed, or there's just a general tensing of all the facial muscles.

✨ Some interesting information ✨

Why he smiled after - because he understood her feelings and thoughts. As an adult is surprised by a child's antics, but then shakes his head with a smile)

Anime makes this scene worse. Mori's reaction is too weak. All they drew was the basic emotion of surprise, and Mori is a complex character. Harukawa reflects this complexity of emotions: he's surprised, but Koyo's words also evoked displeasure (I'm 99% sure ), a little anxiety is there too (maybe 60-70% sure), insecurity, fear and regret are likely there.

He isn't shocked just a bit surprised but almost calm

For comparison:

In anime, I like to hear their voices and sound effects. The musical background puts a clear emphasis on the phrase koyo, this is the punchline of the dialogue.

I don't wanna say that Bones didn't try to do their best, but Harukawa is... an entirely different matter. There's no comparison to begin with. Just as... nobody would compare Goddess with anything, right?

Sorry - not sorry, I'm too lazy to do another gif with eng sub. «Конечно» = «Of course», « К сожалению, мне нужно помочь неуклюжему лидеру восстановить организацию» = «But sad to say, I need to help our unreliable boss get this organization back in order», «Я благодарен, но интересуюсь только теми, кому меньше 12» = «I'm glad to hear that, but I'm only interested in those under , you know?»

And she isn't t that calm yelling at him: «SHUT THE FUCK UP! I will sew your lips together!», if you pay attention to the size of kanji and lines of speech bubble.

Yes, 黙れ is a very rough word. Don't use it, please.

I found this scene in stage play here, file with stage plays, «Bungo Stray Dogs on stage 3». Timeline: start at 2:16:33 and end at 2:17:50

But video shows HER face when she's saying that phrase, so I can't say anything about Mori's facial expression in that moment 😭 How could them -

There's no «彼の人の仇は先代じゃ。今は此処が気に入っておる» (The one to whom my hatred belongs is your predecessor. Right now, I'm feeling pretty good about being here) Both anime and stage play cut these sentences out. Why? The next Mori's phrase looses its sense a little bit in this way, isn't it?! Wtf

Anyway, right after she said her part, and Mori replied, and then she said «damare…», they laughed together. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

'Cause he's boss

And the insubordination (or something similar) didn't vanish. Akutagawa is his own punishment; honestly, I'm totally agree. But Kōyō – he's just… Taunting her? Hahaha. Best boss ever, isn't he?

Whatever he meant, she's not okay with these words and we're too. That's the whole punishment. Just to check the box ✅

Boss-of-the-Port-Mafia-Mori-Ougai be like:

And because Mori cares a lot about Kōyō, if you look closely

...he couldn't do something more

I see Mori-Kōyō relationship as his redemption arc. He learns to respect human soul and heart, [心]. (That actual reason why Fukuzawa and Yosano dislike him). He combines therapeutic moments for Kōyō with his «evil mafia plans.» At least he didn't want to traumatize her with the possibility of killing that girl.

It's very interesting to analyse it one day. I will, but not before I read «Kokoro» by Natsume Sōseki. They talk about character-Natsume tactic, and then there's just the concept of the [heart] / [心]. But in Japanese, you read it as [こころ], [kokoro], got it? 🧐

I strongly believe that Mori planned more than that. Why else would he forbid her to take Kyouka back before the conflict started? (Chapters 17-18) He let her see the light to get her away from the mafia. As he let Dazai go. As he offered Higuchi. As 14 y. o. Kōyō wanted. It's good for her to see Kyōka's story, to let her go, to become a better person than the former boss. It's her character development. Mori isn't evil. He does bad things from time to time, but he also does good things.

Guild arc wasn't an easy one for Kōyō. Even if he unintentionally triggered her trust issues and anxiety, he tried to help.

I haven't said anything about 守備範囲 as «(one's) field, (one's) scope, area of expertise, range of topics one can converse about, breadth of one's interests and knowledge», have I? Oops)

Imagine, for example... What if Fukuzawa's words were important to Mori? We didn't even know what happened between them when Rampo and Yosano escaped. Did Fukuzawa run away after «the clock struck 12»? 🤭 Or did Mori actually lose that battle? Or did he lose because he didn't want to win at all? As Natsume's "subordinate" or sth he has to do everything he can for their tactic. But as a human being, well, he regrets traumatizing Yosano. What if he not only let her go but also started learning psychology, soul science?

Kōyō is also traumatized. Mori and Dazai know this. Mori lets her go, but she isn't happy. And what's more, she's using defensive reaction. And Mori just like «You need therapy, girl. But you know, I'm a child psychologist. And it would still be a violation of medical ethics if I were your psychotherapist. (Yeah, sometimes I respect medical ethics)»

What do you think?

...

After the Yosano story, Mori is generally more relaxed about disobeying orders. Because he's not in the military. (Down with bureaucracy!)

Because he realised that if an order was broken, it could be something very important to the person. He doesn't want to break people for the sake of some discipline. And for Koyo, choosing to cooperate with the agency was part of personal growth and healing. She saw herself in Kyōka, and protecting the girl meant protecting them both, and vice versa. Mori couldn't break her. That would be unjustified. He wasn't angry at Kōyō for her decision.

Bonus. Some parallels from the Guild arc:

Mori-Dazai, Kōyō-Kyōka: «We are not the same person, actually. I'm me, you're you. You have the right to choose your path» It was about mentoring, parental love, and letting go.

Mori-Kōyō, Dazai-Akutagawa: «You become stronger. Accept your past and move on from it»

Dazai-Kōyō, Atsushi-Lucy (+ Mori as a mastermind who made these lines possible with his orders abt Kyōka and Q): «Do not abandon the past versions of ourselves»

And keep in mind 2 things:

Mori must keep a balance between etiquette, subordination, and responsibilities on the one hand and his feelings and ulterior motives on the other hand

Sometimes he's a living cringe and a lying liar who lies 😑

The characters' phrases cannot be viewed without context. They don't exist in a vacuum. They have reasons, occasions, and purposes for saying certain things.

I have many other thoughts about these phrases and this dialogue!

But not today

[danceofthephilos]

"Repent and Make Efforts"

Kaoru's calligraphy display in episode 5 is very obviously targeted, but between natural difficulties in translating idioms, changes made in the English dub, and misunderstandings of the general meaning of "repentance", exactly what he's communicating often gets lost in translation - which is a shame, because it's not only a very telling moment about Kaoru's own feelings about Adam, but one that ends up being very important to the themes of the entire show and many of the central character arcs.

To give some quick establishing information, what Kaoru is writing in this scene is a called a yojijukugo (四字熟語), or four-character idiom - set idiomatic phrases that are very similar to (and originate from) Chinese chengyu (成语), which you may be familiar with if you've read any linguistic analysis of danmei. Four-character idioms are very common subjects for calligraphers like Kaoru, and the ways they can be used in speech make them very difficult to translate concisely. The particular idiom Kaoru has written here, read from right to left, is 悔悟奮發, a real four-character idiom (though usually written 悔悟憤発 in modern Japanese - Kaoru is using the Chinese hanzi.)

Read kaigo funpatsu, both the Crunchyroll subs and the dub translate this as "repent and make efforts", which is... fine enough given the complexity of translating yojijukugo. It's quite a literal translation, looking at the phrase broken down into its components - 悔悟 can indeed be translated to "repentance", and 奮發 means "to exert oneself." As an idiom, it means "to regret one's mistakes, and work hard to recover." It generally refers to remorse, but can also mean coming back from a loss. In this exchange from a Japanese website explaining the use of the idiom, it's used to describe recovering after a loss in a competition:

Tomoko: You must be in high spirits, to be practicing on your day off. Kenta: Everyone was shocked when I was eliminated in the first round of that tournament the other day. Next time I'll get my revenge. Tomoko: Oh, so you're trying to make a comeback*, good luck!

(*in a perfect example of how difficult yojijukugo can be to translate when used in regular speech, a translation as literal as "repent and make efforts" would sound very silly in English here.)

And this idiomatic meaning is how Kaoru explains it - and where I believe some misunderstandings are originating from, both due to the overall interpretation of the word "repent", as well as changes in nuance in the explanation given in the dub. To begin with, let's look at Kaoru's dialog in Japanese. (Due to him immediately explaining the meaning, I chose to leave kaigo funpatsu untranslated, unlike the official subs.)

And the same dialog in the dub:

It should be apparent just from this that Kaoru in the original and Kaoru in the dub are saying completely different things. Originally, Kaoru makes no mention of making peace with people that have been hurt, because that isn't what kaigo funpatsu is referring to. Kaigo is personal, internal regret - kaigo funpatsu is about self-reflection, recognizing one's mistakes and striving to do better, considering your past in order to take your next steps in the future. That could involve making amends with wronged parties, but it's not part of it inherently - Kaoru's original dialog doesn't even allude to people being hurt at all, because it's not relevant to the idiom.

It's here that I believe the word "repent" is causing some trip-ups: it's being taken in the Christian sense of atonement or penance, an action done to achieve forgiveness from others or redeem oneself for sinning, but Kaoru is simply talking about realizing you've done something wrong and feeling remorse for it. (Or, specifically, about Adam realizing he's done something wrong and feeling remorse for it.)

And while his last line in the dub is at least a bit more in the spirit of kaigo funpatsu, it's still missing what is at the heart of Kaoru's feelings about this idiom, and about the man it's clearly targeted at - the idea of coming back from one's mistakes, something that does not come up in the dub at all. The first word Kaoru uses, bankai (挽回), does mean "to recover", but also "to regain what was lost" or "to return to the original state." Torimodosu (取り戻す), as well, specifically means to regain something that was lost - in fact, it's the very same word Tadashi uses when speaking of Adam "regaining his love."

Kaoru is not asking Adam to personally make things up to him, or to anyone - Kaoru, at heart, believes in Adam, and believes that he can, and should, still come back from everything. Even in the finale - after the Full Swing Kiss, after his naive hopes of simply returning to how things were in high school are shattered - his first concern is still for Langa to make Adam understand that.

Like with Kenta in the example exchange above, kaigo funpatsu isn't about Adam atoning for his sins - it's a call for him to recognize he screwed up and move forward without making the same mistakes.

And he does, or at least he's beginning to take those steps. He recognizes the mistake that matters most to the themes of the story, and that led to everything that happened in his life since - that he lost sight of the innocent love for skating he had as a child.

He finally admits what Tadashi meant to him;

he directly defies his abusive family's wishes by working against Takano rather than throwing Tadashi under the bus;

and he finally shows up as Adam in daylight, on someone else's "turf", to celebrate his own defeat - reaching out to his former friends and gracefully accepting loss, things he refused to do even an episode prior.

He may not be begging for forgiveness, and with this coming at the very end of the series there's a long road still ahead of him, but he's recognizing that he did things wrong and he's making an effort to move forward in a better way - and in doing that he's regained the most important thing he lost, his love of skating.

And Adam isn't the only one whose character arc kaigo funpatsu describes, either. Reki regrets his mistakes...

...and comes back from them.

Langa recognizes his mistakes and comes back from them - and is even able to help Adam do the same.

Tadashi, more clearly spelled out than anyone, recognizes his mistakes...

...and he's able to come back from them, too.

None of these resolutions involve big direct apologies, or any kind of penance to earn forgiveness. (Personal forgiveness isn't something SK8 takes much interest in dwelling on or making characters earn in the first place, and its approach to forgiveness could easily be a whole other meta in and of itself.) They don't have to, because in the end, Kaoru's idiom is not only a message to Adam - one that he ultimately does receive, if a bit later than Kaoru hoped - but a moment that spells out a big part of the show's thesis.

Everyone is going to do things wrong in their life, one way or another - but anyone who regrets their mistakes and makes an effort to do better should be able to recover from them and regain what they lost.

Only season 2 can show us what moving forward is going to look like, but when it comes to what counts to the core narrative, everyone's taken the first steps.

[funishment-time]

🔵 Kodaka BlueSky Q&As: Male DR Characters (Specific) Part 2

(See part one, most of 2024, here.)

⚠️ DISCLAIMER: Please be advised! Translations of all Japanese answers derive from a combination of Google Translate and my manager's three-quarters-remembered Japanese. We've tried our best to work out what he's saying, but there will be mistakes here and there. Do not take this as gospel!

To avoid spreading (too much) misinfo, where we're completely boggled about an answer, we've decided not to even make an attempt. We'll still list the post, but mark it accordingly.

➡️ AN IMPORTANT NOTE FROM KODAKA BEFORE READING:

First of all, the questions answered here are not official. Everything that is official is what is said within the work. In contrast, this is simply what Kodaka, the creator, thinks, and it is not the correct answer. Use this as a starting point to enjoy the depth of each character, or to say, "That's not right!" and enjoy it with your own interpretation. I think of this as a way of communicating with the characters who live in fiction. This is important, so please spread the word.

🦃 NOV 2024:

Q: Excuse me for asking a question. How smart is Soda-kun in his grade or class? If possible, I'd like to know his best and worst subjects.

A: He is good at math and physics, but is terrible at Japanese, history, and English.

/////

Q: Excuse me for asking a question! What would Kazuichi Souda's punishment be like? I love the punishment elements in Danganronpa so I'm always looking forward to the answer T.T🙏🏻‎

A: A punishment that is done behind the scenes without anyone seeing it, not even the player can see it

/////

Q: How do you think Ouma-kun will react if you give him some pig's feet?

A: In return, a pig's head is secretly planted in your room.

/////

Q: Why is there no depiction of Matsuda working on Kamukura in anime 3?

A: Room for imagination

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Q: I wonder what it would be like if Komaeda were to be punished🧏🏻‍♀️✨

A: The player's game console and PC are destroyed.

/////

Q: How did Amami-kun perform academically at school? 

A: “I think my grades are very good.”

/////

Q: Did Kamukura predict what would happen to him in the end? 

A: “I made predictions and then moved on to something more unpredictable.”

/////

Q: Momota is treated as a pretty stupid character, but does passing the astronaut exam mean that he’s good at studying? I'd also like to know how his grades were at school.

A: Actually, good grades

🎄 DEC 2024:

Q: What are Hinata's parents like? Did he grow up in a normal family?

A: They are so normal that they don't even realize they are normal.

/////

Q: Is Korekiyo Shinguji based off Woo-Jin from Oldboy? In the art book for Danganronpa V3, I remember you wrote that Shinguji was inspired by a Korean film or other Korean media. And I remember the plot twist of Oldboy was the reveal that Woo-Jin had an incestuous attachment to his sister.

A: It's hard to explain in English, but it's based on a music band or culture that was popular in Japan in the 90's.

/////

Q: Sorry if this has already been mentioned...! Ki-Bo can't cry, so why does he sweat (and have a runny nose?)? I was curious as to what purpose this function was added, and why they couldn't add a crying function.

A: Windshield wipers.

/////

Q: Do you have good grades, Ouma-kun? If you're attending classes normally, do you sleep in or something?

A:" I'm sleeping but my grades are good."

/////

Q: Please tell us about Yasuke Matsuda's profile. :3

A: This will cause a fuss so I'm keeping it a secret

NOTE: That is to say, Matsuda's general bio/backstory. I wonder why Kodaka's dodging the question...or if he's just being playful?

/////

Q: Is Kuwata good at sports other than baseball? Or is he not so good at anything other than baseball?

A: “I don't know the rules.”

/////

Q: I have a question. Does Tanaka-kun's pets include fish?

A: It depends on the situation in the demon world at the time.

/////

Q: Who do you think would be a good boyfriend in Danganronpa? 😆

A: Wouldn’t it be Ki-Bo? It's worth the effort to keep updating his version.