#my first time translating to romaji

[yuurei20]

Hello YuuRei! Slight spoilers for Book 7 JP content below, if you don’t mind me asking! I saw Trey’s new Book 7 SSR get translated as both “Queen’s Court Chef” and “Queen’s Chef Coat.” I tried to look into it myself and learned that “coat” and “court” are the same (form what I understand, at least), so I was wondering if you knew which translation to go for, or is both technically correct? With Heartslabyul, honestly court works, too. Thank you so much and Happy Near Year! I hope you are doing well! ☺️

Hello hello! Thank you for this question! ♣️

You are correct! ^^ コート is both "court" and "coat"!

For a long answer:

Yana has done this before, with the Bloom/Broom series that is technically both the word "bloom" and the word "broom"!

We were never shown a romaji name for this series--it only appeared in katakana, where it is both words simultaneously--so if you were to ask "well yes but which one actually was it?," the only answer is: both!

This is one of those things that the Japanese language can do but English cannot, so EN was forced to choose one or another, and they went with "birthday bloom"!

And it happened again during White Rabbit Fes, when Epel says he has heard of someone called "ogama Duke" and Deuce begins to panic because "ogama" means cauldron.

But it also means "scythe" and Epel, who heard his information over the phone and never saw the word written down in kanji, assumes that it is the "scythe" ogama rather than the "cauldron" ogama.

More here!

For a super long answer:

The Japanese language has a lot of different words pronounced the exact same way and differentiated only by kanji: god (神), hair (髪) and paper (紙) for example, are all the same sound (kami).

This means there is a lot of potential for puns! And Yana has always been very big on wordplay, to the point that a pun was the entire basis for her kuroshitsuji manga:

There is a short comic at the end of the very first volume that shows a phone call between herself and her editor where she is telling him how she wants to create a manga about an amazing butler.

The Japanese language 「あくまで」 is used to emphasize that something is being limited or focused on something in particular, like 「あくまで執事ですから、私が決めることではありません」 (as I am only a butler it is not my place to decide).

It is also pronounced identically to 「悪魔で」, which means, "as a demon."

So in Yana's original manga series every time the demon character says "I am a demon butler" all the other characters are hearing it as "I am, ultimately, just a butler."

Since the characters can't see the kanji in his word bubble, he is technically saying both things simultaneously.

And similar wordplay is hidden throughout a large amount of Twst!

Rollo, for example, ends many sentences with a common way to end a question that is pronounced the same way as a word for "bell."

The very first line of Glorious Masquerade is that exact pun:

Kane no oto ga kikoeru kane

There is also Idia's "pretend I'm a bug and ignore me" (both "bug" and "ignore" are the same sound, "mushi"), Riddle's "Rose trees, tear his body apart!" (both "rose" and "apart" are the same sound, "bara") and more!

[whatudottu]

Combined with the mortifying realisation that loopified Odile (now named Nokosu) took me multiple hours to draw the first time, I decided to try and make one speak in Japanese :) :) :)

The Japanese sentences will be under the cut plus a more literal translation and some research notes-

自分は遺残の神である。「遺す」と呼んでもいいし、「残」の字を使ってもいい。お前 の草白鳥は、すでにお前 の小烏から 「イサ 」という名前を取っている。二人の人間に同じ名前を使うのは混乱しないか？ヴォーガルド語の「サ」の発音は「ザ」に近いので、特に必要である。そうだろう？

or in Romaji

Jibun wa izan no kamidearu. 'Nokosu' to yonde mo īshi, 'zan' no ji o tsukatte mo ī. Omae no kusa hakuchō wa, sudeni omae no ko karasu kara `Isa' to iu namae o totte iru. Futari no ningen ni onaji namae o tsukau no wa konran shinai ka? Vu~ōgarudo-go no 'sa' no hatsuon wa 'za' ni chikainode, tokuni hitsuyōdearu. Sōdarou?

Literally translated Nokosu says;

I am the god of remains. You may call me “Nokosu", or you may use the [Chinese character] for “remain". Your grass swan has already taken the name “Isa” from your little crow. Isn't it confusing to use the same name for two people? It is especially necessary since the pronunciation of “sa” in Vaugarde is close to “za”. Wouldn't you agree?

And for the explanations of a monolingual English speaker with barely even surface level understanding of Japanese.

Throughout my entire journey, Jisho.org kanji dictionary has been my saving grace and backbone in my choice of Nokosu's name and what first and second person pronouns one uses. My initial goal was to find a name for survival or persistance which lead to me finding terms like; 存続 (sonzoku) meaning survival, 存 meaning exist and 続 meaning continue; 耐久 (taikyuu) meaning endurance, 耐 meaning the affix -proof (of bulletproof or soundproof), 久 meaning long time; and finally 遺残 (izan) meaning persistence, 遺 meaning bequeath, 残 meaning remainder.

To kinda help expand my knowledge of the terms I was using, I also used a combination of google translate (primarily for the pronunication of words less the actual translations) and DeepL to kinda get the sweet deets and found that izan had meant - a more common definition - remains. It. Was. Perfect.

Perfect save for one thing... Isa- Sure, Isabeau is his full name and written down Isabeau and Izan are unique enough, but technically functionally the 'sa' in French (and thus in Vaugardian) is more voiced than the 'sa' in Japanese and sounds more like the 'za' in izan, and to have Odile refer to Nokosu as Izan when "only [Siffrin] call[s] him Isa" is an in-game quote; to say I was miffed was an understatement.

But then... I turned to words that use those individual kanji and hoped to mix and match to find what I wanted.

My first direction was to turn each kanji into hiragana to find their pronunciations and piece together a word from that; 遺 in isolation is noko, 残 in isolation is zan. Finding the term no ko zan-kiri (のこざん切り) on google gave me 'chopped into pieces' which well- look at my design that's a lot of pieces! のこ残 or nokozan (turning the first character into hiragana of course) lead me to 'remnants of a servant's body' as it's main translation on DeepL, but it also provided 'backbreaking exertions' as well as 'remnants of a defeated soldier'. Plus using DeepL again izan itself full kanji gave me 'vestiges' 'bequest' 'afterlife' and the ever present 'remains'.

None of these however were getting me closer to an ample replacement for izan however, not until I returned to jisho.org to pick out words from a list using either kanji.

Turns out, both 遺 and 残 can be pronounce 'noko' so long as it is followed by the hiragana す or su. And guess what either spelling of the word translates into? The 遺す version meaning to leave (behind), to bequeath, and the 残す version meaning that same thing but more, to leave (undone), to save/to reserve, to stay (in the ring).

SO! SO! That is how Nokosu came to be named! But- what about the Japanese phrase I wrote?

Well- let's stay on the Nokosu theme now that any Japanese readers in my audience have already processed the meta-joke that can only really exist in Japanese writing (or maybe not a joke but like... a fourth wall acknowledgement). Nokosu already introduces oneself as 遺す though doesn't mention how to spell it (since it's already spelt out to the reader), then introduces the second variant of the spelling exclusively referring to the second kanji of Izan 残 as zan. Maybe it's not really a joke but it'd kinda be like the 'you use he/they, it's in your profile' equivalent.

I suppose an attempt at a joke was Odile thinking 'a very wordy Expression', but that's mostly from observing that translations through DeepL stopped run on sentences occuring from English to Japanese so... I have no idea if constant uses of commas isn't particularly Japanese, at least the joke would be that Nokosu is particularly more chatty than Odile might normally be.

And once again, people who know Japanese may have noticed the use of jibun (自分) and omae (お前) for Nokosu's pronouns. Lowkey I was thinking initially of making Nokosu's first person pronoun oira a la sans undertale 'country bumpkin' but found more interesting things with jibun and omae that I settled on those versions. jibun, a neutral formality pronoun literally meaning 'oneself', when used as a personal pronoun (like Nokosu does) it's with a sense of separation of distance to the self; I also found out in my translation hunt that jibun can be used as a second person pronoun which is very fucking fitting given who Nokosu talks to, but that's specifically from in the Kansai dialect and - well - I can't say for certain where Odile hails from especially since Japan in ISAT is Ka Bue, but she'd be well educated enough to connect the dots that Nokosu lays down. On the other hand, Nokosu's second person pronoun is omae (Fist of the North Star fans will remember it from the very iconic 'omae wa mou shindearu'), which is incredibly informal and very rude when said to elders (though in age technically Nokosu is older) as it's meant to express the speaker's higher status in non-casual relationships.

To note, though omae can be used by both genders, it and jibun are mostly used by men and in the case of omae it's more commonly used to refer to their wife or lover. This has a little extra significance to background headcanon where Nokosu calls Odile Nanafushi (七節) or literally walking stick AKA a stickbug as ones version of 'Stardust', but sometimes Nokusu would split the word in half and refer to Odile as 'Nana' which in English sounds like one is referencing a grandma but (BUT) I'm specifically using the French term which translates to 'chick' 'babe' 'girlfriend'. So when I saw that omae can also be used for that purpose, it really goes to show that at some point Nokosu had the time to perfectly craft a version of oneself that does get on Odile's nerves and has the gall to get away with it at least initially under the assumption that one is an Expression.

I've been trying to make this flow from one point to another but I don't know how to jump to Japanese nicknames, at least not the metaphorical ones that I used here (and took inspiration from the Word of God Odile nickname for Siffrin 'Little Crow'). What little I do know about Japanese nicknames is that they may take alternate readings of single kanji as a nickname or repeat a character, though that is in reference to Japanese names in the first place. I did see something about the metaphorical sort of nicknames that have connotations in the language itself but- honestly this is my most monolingual English moment yet. I will explain however what I did decide.

草白鳥 or kusa hakuchou is the character for grass 草, and the kanji combination for swan 白鳥. In DeepL however 草白鳥 translates to grasshopper and though I signifcantly lack the cultural context to know what grasshopper symbology has in Japan, I do know in English you call someone a 'grasshopper' because they're tall. But why start with grass swan at all? Well- maybe it's a stretch for whatever fantasy time-period ISAT takes place in to use an internet term but, 草 has been used in internet slang to mean lol or haha since 'w' is also a version of lol or haha, and when spammed like so - wwwwwwwwwwwww - it looks like grass. The reason for swan would be because of I guess this idea of beauty? Less due to Odile specifically considering Isabeau beauty and more so taking note of his care to his appearance - whether it be how he presents his perception of his appearance or how he makes people belief a different thing about what his views about his appearance are, white swan or black swan - and that whatever the case is, he does take pride in maintaining that appearance; a retroactive meaning to the nickname, especially when Isa starts more casually bringing up the fact he *had* Changed, would be an incidental reference to the ugly duckling, who ended up not being a duckling at all and was a swan all along. Whether the nickname actually works or not I don't really know, but what it boils down to Odile's nickname for him (and thus Nokosu's only title for him beyond fighter) would really mean 'funny (tall) beauty' which would probably fluster Odile to admit it as Isa would hearing it.

An interesting thing I found while finding kanji for little crow (specifically 小烏) was that there is actually kind of already a word for it already, Kogarasu Maru or 小烏丸, AKA "Little Crow" which is a unique tachi sword rumoured to be crafted by a legendary swordsmith like-! I don't know if that was at all intentional on Insertdisc5's part (and if I should change the pronunciaton of the romaji version of the original text to kogarasu), but beyond Siffrin's little habit to collect every little thing that shines and doesn't, what do you mean there's a unique tachi sword named 'little crow' that's like literally so Siffrin-coded I SWEAR TO GOD!

Oh, and I played ISAT in Japanese to get the correct spelling of Vaugarde and 語 (go) is just the suffix for language AKA the difference between Nihon the country and Nihongo the language okay BYE!

[tofueggnoodles]

Togainu no Chi Variety Voice CD

This Drama CD contains two short audio dramas (Toshima Urban Legend and Arbitro’s Plot), audio versions of Arbitro’s Room (Tracks 5-14) and a must-listen final hidden track (Arbitro Time – Vischio Company Song). Link to translations [Google Drive folder]

Track List: Summary

Track 01: Short Drama “Toshima Urban Legend” At Rin’s insistence, Akira and co. check out a certain urban legend. Is the building really haunted? Or is a flesh-and-blood monster responsible for the sightings? Did someone actually feed their pet cat Line for a laugh? [Translation]

Tracks 02-04: Compilation of Reactions The characters react to various scenarios: someone breathing into their ear, coming across an abandoned kitten by the roadside and being told by God that he will grant them one wish. [Translation]

Arbitro’s Room (Tracks 5-14) Audio version of a series of web pages on Nitro+Chiral’s official website, in which Arbitro (and occasionally, one or two of the other characters) answers selected questions from fans. The questions mostly revolve around the fans’ First World problems or their curiosity about Arbitro’s life. Arbitro’s ridiculous answers are truly worth reading for those with a macabre sense of humor. They are all just so typical of him 🤣 Click on the header (“Track....”) for the corresponding translation.

Tracks 05-06 How do I stop my grandmother from wearing my newly-bought socks? I’m too shy to speak to my crush. Does Arbitro keep his mask on at all times?

Track 07 My father’s voice is embarrassingly loud. What is the title of the song Arbitro hums at the beginning of each session? How do I become Arbitro’s pet dog?

Track 08 (Fill-in host: Keisuke) My two male pet hamsters seem to be more interested in each other than the sole female hamster. I’m depressed because I’m short. My dog hates me.

Track 09 (Fill-in host: Rin) I need an effective weight management plan for my chonky dog. My younger brother is a crybaby. How do I deal with a mouth ulcer?

Track 10 How do I leave a strong impression on interviewers?

Track 11 Someone is dumping their garbage in front of my house on days other than the collection days. My new boss keeps getting on my case.

Track 12 (Fill-in host: Akira) I am the only cat people in my social circle, which is filled with dog people. How do I get my hands on a mask similar to Arbitro’s? (unanswered)

Track 13 (Fill-in host: The Executioners) My arms are getting too thick. How can I make them slender like Arbitro’s?

Track 14 Is there any vacancy for a part-timer at Vischio? [Highly recommended!!]

Track 15: Short Drama “Arbitro’s Plot” Gwen orders Akira to investigate an unprecedentedly odd activity at Vischio. The truth turns out to be something much more benign, and, in Akira’s words, “a letdown.” [Translation]

Tracks 16-17 Arbitro’s Monologue Arbitro Time – Vischio Company Song [version with romaji for those who would like to sing along]

Download the Drama CD here.(pw: aarin888)

Notes

Italics: POV character’s thoughts. (Round brackets): actions and sound effects. [Square brackets]: translator’s notes or clarifications. Double asterisks **: Stuff I am not sure of. Suggestions for improvements and corrections are more than welcome.

[fishyishy]

A3! Song Translation - Third Impact

TRANSLATION:

There is no shortage of rivals

Immediately lock on and assault

I won't let you get bored

We're facing each other

Don't assimilate into the past

Cut them apart, together

I'll give you one shot

Even if I have to be forceful

Whatever "we were like" doesn't matter

Let's just change only what lies ahead from now on

Everytime I repaint it, I feel it become an original piece with its unique charm

The Third Impact (oneXone)

Far away from what we've left behind

We're going beyond and moving forward

Can't stop now

Growing pain again

For some reason, the voice from that time is still ringing in my head

Growing pain again

We didn't make a single mistake that day

The downward swings have slowed down

Focus on the mistakes

A chance to get ahead

Keeping watch for the right opportunity

It's not about the appeal of momentum to start a gunfight

Shall we deliver some legit breaking news?

This time it's not just for show

We will be above the regression

Let's dance freely and go wild

The final scene we got was

the first one we drew

Let this be the proof (oneXone)

That there is no looking back

But by facing it, you can overcome the pain

From now on, engrave the future

(Don't ever lie to yourself

Give up you motherfucker

Shout it out to the world

You gotta break through the walls here we go)

(Yaah)

Don't ever let me down

(Yeah)

Did you ever get the feeling?

(Yeah, Don't ever let me down, Yeah)

(Did you ever get the feeling?)

Are you ready?

Everytime I repaint it, I feel it become an original piece with its unique charm

The Third Impact (oneXone)

Far away from what we've left behind

We're going beyond and moving forward

Can't stop now

Growing pain again

For some reason, the voice from that time is still ringing in my head

Growing pain again

We didn't make a single mistake that day

------------------------

ROMAJI:

Taikou ba toshite fusoku hanai

sokuza ni LOCK ON kyousyuu

taikutsu hasasenai

aitai shitendaro

kako ni douka shitenjanee

Ki ri sa keyomorotomo

ichigeki ku rawasete yaruze

Gouin demo ii

We were like nante dou demo ii kara

kono saki dakewo ka eteike

aji waina orijinaru toshite

nu ri ka eteiku tabi ni kanji ru

san do me no ita mi (oneXone)

o ite kita monowo haru kani

ko ete susu miyuku oretachi wa

mou to merarenai

Growing pain again

nanno inga kaano toki no koe ga atama ni hibi ite ru

Growing pain again

ano hi no oretachi wa hito tsumo machiga chainakatta daro

Shitabu rete suro surodoaun mo

yarakashini fo kasu shite

da shi nu ku chansu wo

koshitantan to nera tte

Donpachi hajimeru apiru ikioi idakejanee

maji no bureikingu nyuusu su o todo keshiyouka

konkai wa date janee

We will be datte kaiki no ue de

jiyuu ni odo ri kuru ttenze

saigo ni te nishita koukei wa

saisyou ni ega ita oretachi no

akashi tonareyo (oneXone)

fu ri kae rukoto hanai kedo

mu ki a ukotode ita miwo ko e

kore kara wo kizame

(Don't ever lie to yourself

Give up you motherfucker

Shout it out to the world

You gotta break through the walls here we go)

(Yaah)

Don't ever let me down

(Yeah)

Did you ever get the feeling?

(Yeah, Don't ever let me down, Yeah)

(Did you ever get the feeling?)

Are you ready?

aji waina orijinaru toshite

nu ri ka eteiku tabi ni kanji ru

san do me no ita mi (oneXone)

o ite kita monowo haru kani

ko ete susu miyuku oretachi wa

mou to merarenai

Growing pain again

nanno inga kaano toki no koe ga atama ni hibi ite ru

Growing pain again

ano hi no oretachi hahito tsumo machiga chainakatta daro

----------------------------------------

*msg for kanji !

god i love akigumi

[starling-song]

(photo: lyrics as printed in the first cd edition of Hurry Up Mode, 1990)

PLASTIC SYNDROME TYPE II

Lyrics: Imai Hisashi | Music: Sakurai Atsushi

Nothing to be done Burned into my memory Those tearful eyes So petty It became hard to see That reflection In dreams I can forget All of it

oh-PLASTIC SYNDROME oh-PLASTIC SYNDROME

You’ll never Be honest, eh? Before you know it Utterly changed Now lonely Feelings hidden In lies you can forget All of it

※oh-PLASTIC SYNDROME oh-PLASTIC SYNDROME oh-PLASTIC SYNDROME oh-PLASTIC SYNDROME

＊Since real feelings were forgotten Since painful thoughts were exhausting Since real feelings were forgotten Since painful thoughts were exhausting ………PLASTIC …PLASTIC …PLASTIC PLASTIC!!

※ Repeat

＊Repeat

Since real feelings were forgotten Since painful thoughts were exhausting (1986 vers. only: Since real feelings were forgotten Since painful thoughts were exhausting) Real feelings Painful thoughts

——————————————————

Dou shiyou mo naku Yakitsuite Namida gumu no wa Keihaku de Minikukunatta Sugata utsushi Yume de subete wo Wasureru sa

oh-PLASTIC SYNDROME oh-PLASTIC SYNDROME

Sunao ni nante Narene– ze Itsu no ma ni ka ni Kawari hate Sabishikunatta Kimochi kakushi Uso de subete wo Wasureru sa

※oh-PLASTIC SYNDROME oh-PLASTIC SYNDROME oh-PLASTIC SYNDROME oh-PLASTIC SYNDROME

＊Honto no kimochi Wasureta kara Setsunai omoi wa Tsukareta kara Honto no kimochi Wasureta kara Setsunai omoi wa Tsukareta kara ………PLASTIC …PLASTIC …PLASTIC PLASTIC!!

※ Repeat

＊Repeat

Honto no kimochi Wasureta kara Setsunai omoi wa Tsukareta kara (1986 vers only: Honto no kimochi Wasureta kara Setsunai omoi wa Tsukareta kara) Honto no kimochi Setsunai omoi wa

--------------

T/N: Repetitions and end chorus added to the romaji and translation of this song wrt the published lyrics as seen in the photo.

Next to "utterly changed" it should really also say "(derogatory)" as the implication is the bad kind of 'changed'. I tried to convey this by putting utterly in there as it is a more negative qualifier. Personally I think it's kind of hard to tell if the speaker is talking about himself the whole time, or half himself and half, say, a nasty ex girlfriend or something. There is definitely a feeling in the second part of talking 'to' someone, but you can just as easily talk to yourself as you could someone else! Imai wrote this one so I think it could go either way. Stay tuned to the version number at the bottom of this post for me to possibly change my mind later lol.

I've seen some lyrics for this song posted online with added english lyrics at the end. That isn't present in the Hurry Up Mode cd that was published in 1990. A goal of mine is to get ahold of the To-Search EP someday, but at the very least a review of the Hurry Up Mode 1990 cd (the first time this album was published in cd format- before then it was only vinyl) in a contemporary Japanese music magazine said that it was the same as the vinyl, just basically mixed a bit better for stereo/headphones. Something I really want to do with this page is post every print of the lyrics for a song exactly in case of a situation like this. Even so, even when listening to this track from Hurry Up Mode those supposed english end lyrics are not in the song. As B-T has not posted the original To-Search EP to spotify (they may not be legally able to), it's hard to tell if the version there and the version on Hurry Up Mode are different. I'll see if I can't find it somehow.

edit: Found it! Here's a spin of the OG original version of this song from 1986's 'To-Search' EP. It is a different, older recording of this song than from Hurry Up Mode (ie the version on spotify etc) and has two extra lines of chorus- but still no english ending! The mystery continues...

--------------

Disclaimers: Please do not use my translations or photos without express permission. All photos of lyrics are mine- these are from my own collection, even if potato quality.💗

v. 1.3 (12.28.24)

[ghawst37]

An explanation to camuroland the shipname: "犬炎"

Although I do supposed that at this point everyone just used to "camuroland" as their official ship name. But as part of the eastern side of the shipdom, mashing their names together should be taken it with some extra steps, for the sake of self-indulgance haha.

So I propose a side one that is "犬炎"

I included it in the template that I posted as sort of a teaser. But I feel like it deserves a bit of an explanation, as a bit of an apreciation for kuso en translation(?) team, just on some parts. (spoilers, Camu's deserve to be praised, Roland however, was a miss. Kuso, how you have fell off.)

Camu: Crocotta in chinese/original is 卡穆 · 狂犬 And Roland: Flambeau is 罗兰 · 戏炎 What's super interesting to me is that their frame's name does not change in the japanese version (Camu is カム · 狂犬, Roland is ロラン · 戏炎) "But, you don't know chinese, how are you gonna make any of this work," well I'm Vietnamese, and I can use transliteration to aid me. And trust me it helped me understand these two on a much deeper level. In that vietnamese guy we trust, always :D

Their names are simple, "卡穆" and "罗兰" are simply "Camu" and "Roland" in chinese dialect. The fun part is in their frames' name.

Camu goes first. And I would like to say that the direct translation for his frame's name is so insulting because why are they calling our boy a "rabid dog"?? Although that's the thing, it's really what "狂犬" means. "狂犬" in romaji is "kuángquǎn", and in Vietnamese transliteration is "cuồng khuyển." And to my other vietnamese people, I agree this sounds a lot better than calling him "chó dại" haha. "Cuồng" is basically to describe something wild and uncontrollable, you can use it to describe a natural disaster as well as a person, in some cases. Pretty much means "crazy," but unlike "rabid" that's mostly only used on an animal. "Khuyển" is pretty much an untamed dog. This is when I have to brought this up because I had issues with this too, specifically the differences between "cẩu" and "khuyển," as both of these words are to refer to a dog. A "cẩu" is a domesticated dog, a house pet. Obedient and behave nicely to its master. And a "khuyển" is a masterless dog, barks and bite and misbehave and uh yeah.... has rabies (this came clear to me from a lil comedic story that I came across explaning exactly just that haha.) At the same time, it's used in a very insulting manner, to refer to a lowly, pathetic dog. Now I think I understood whoever made Camu's frame see of him. SMH But to my knowledge, "masterless dog" can also be used to refer to wild dogs, namely hyenas. Which is absolutely interesting, because it's believed that hyenas were the animal that inspired the legend of the creature "Crocotta." I think the english translation team deserves some credit for this one 0)-(

Roland on the other hand, is surfacely the less intersting when first roughly translated during his debut in the cn server.

"戏炎" in romaji is "xìyán", and that is "hí diễm" or "hí viêm" (either way has a nice ring to the ears.) During Roland's debut his frame's name was translated to "theatrical flame", which is so much better than what the direct translation gave me (because "play inflamation" sounds like... absolutely nothing.) This is worth pointing out at least imho, using "戏", in romaji and transliteration is "hí", translated to theaters is pretty shallow in terms of meaning. To put it simply, it's not just any general theater, it belongs to the combination "戏曲", "xìqǔ" or chinese traditional opera, Peking opera is what it's more widely known currently. Now I'm not here to give a history lesson on something I'm not very well-versed, but for what Roland does, consider to what Peking is with its combination of story telling, singing, dancing, martial arts and acrobatic performance, I don't think the theater they refer Roland to is "just western theater," the good ol we all familiar with. Especially with the martial arts and acrobatic performance, for what Roland is capable of (or consider his battle performance), he exceed just being some reality show performer. That's traditional art. Albeit Roland is referenced (quite heavily) on a Frankish knight, that's very much just a title, much like his role on the stage. It's always better to consider him as someone more than just his role. And that is where the localization and translation team failed to make justice of what his name could have been, or if only someone could have point it out earlier. "Hỏa" ("火") means literally fire, but "viêm" ("炎") is a blaze (literally two fire syllables on top of each other.) It can also be use as an adjective to describe heat in some cases. "Flambeau" is pretty much a torch, even much less meaning than "theatrical flame", but it gave me this idea that said flame is being contained within an object and/or a place. Although it's not even flame, but an even much larger fire. (A friend after hearing me telling them all this said that it felt like a very symbolic fire, it could be seen as Roland's passion for the art of performance, which I very much agree. It burn hot and bright but it also contains him, imprisoned him almost.)

That's a long dissecting section, so what does that leave us with? Well, I tried all combination with each syllables including ones from their names, and only the combination of "犬" and "炎" sounds the less cringe (haha) ("chaotic opera" "狂戏" could've worked if only 狂 isn't a very fitting adjective for 戏) If i respect the shipping community rule of name position (top's name at the front, bottom's at the back) then that gives us "犬炎". But personally, it's doesn't matter, the Vietnamese transliteration left me with "khuyển diễm" but I'll fw "viêm khuyển" as well.

Còn với những ngư��i anh em đồng hương của tôi, con ship này cũng có tên việt, là "Sói Lửa" (camuroland can be very international)

And with the usual english speaker, my friend have suggested "Blazing Canine" and I happily approve of the idea (it's so much better than my "hot dog".....)

And with that I would like to conclude my TED talk. Thank you anyone who reached this point (❁´◡`❁) I hope it gave you something, or wasted your time in a enjoyable way haha /gets kicked off stage

//And if anyone is like "why does Roland get such a long analyzation for his part," here's a diet one for Camu. While Roland's chinese name is just a dialect of his name ("ro-ran") Camu's does has a meaning but it's on its own is so good and I'm not sure if anyone has point this out yet, and I frankly don't think it would be very fair if i take Roland's frame name just to combine it with Camu's name. "卡穆", romaji "kǎmù", Vietnamese transliteration "khải mặc" (or in any case of you stubborn people like, fine "ca mặc", it doesn't change the meaning) means "a silent protection." Consider he always has us play where's Waldo, he's really just at the flank and back protecting everyone on his own in denser punishing zone, it's rather fitting. And it's not that he doesn't complain, it's just that whenever he does and curse at Roland hahaha

[pearl-kite]

Something I miss on netflix is that subtitles used to be included for the openings/endings to anime. I remember for Soul Eater it would kind of go back and forth between the lyrics subtitled in romaji for one episode and then in translation for the next, which was really nice as someone who used to study it because it would help me pick out phrases that I recognize, like hey I DO know that word. Yeah, it's usually the kind of cliche ones, but still

I'm rewatching FMAB and they don't do it, which is sad because it was such a nice feature, but also I fucking adore the first opening but so much of it is so FAST I can't catch like. more than やめてよ.

So I finally decided to actually go out of my way to look it up, listening along, yeah some of these are those cliche ones I recognize, but is... Is that...?

It is, it's 吐き出す (to spit out/vomit)

So okay, that feels like the WEIRDEST thing to pick out, I know, but our professor in uni, who was also one of the librarians there, would teach us bizarre sentences to make vocabulary more likely to stick, and the sentence I remember best is 図書館にスイカが吐き出しました

Anyway, for the first time in my life the most bizarre sentence I know has come in handy ����

[daily-underrated-vocaloid]

Day 9

Content Warning: Flashing video

The Fly and the Pear by Tachibana Shitora

Vocals: Vocaloid Hatsune Miku

Illustration: Olime Sian

Video: Hazuqu

the video is so pretty and ethereal, especially with the mix of 2D art and animation with pictures as backgrounds. miku is tuned and edited in a very robotic/retro way, that fits well with the video game-like sounds throughout the song. the transparent character is sooo cute too

English translation by Mod Flower under the cut!

Stats at the time of posting:

Views: 43k

Subscribers: 1.6k

English Translation:

Right from the start, I knew you, and your sound, from your birth to your death, all of it, the beginning.

The color of the window, the hand that let go, they are not in my memories. It makes me sad. I cried. I realized. All of it, the beginning.

How much can the nectar of the fruit  of dried up time heal me?

The rushing blood and words become squirming legs. Holding back their breath, bugs are opening their wings somewhere now.

Words I loved disappeared, just like today did. Even if my first dream is not even a memory anymore.

Words I wished again and again make me keep going today. You’re surely waiting for me at any time, even in a world where the story is over.

It’s your sound. It’s your color. It’s your song. Beautiful words.

My sound… My color… My song…

It’s not a big deal that even the ending comes to an end at one point. I have realized the worst, but even so, I want to be with you. It hurts here.

“Words I loved, I throw them up and keep living” From the page whispering that, the story ends in the middle.

Romaji Lyrics:

hajime kara wakatteta yo kimi no koto ga, kimi no oto ga umarete kara shinu toki made zenbu zenbu saisho no koto

mado no iro ga, wakareru te ga kioku ni nai. kanashiku natte naiteita. kizuiteta. zenbu zenbu, saisho no koto

kawaita jikan no kajitsu no mitsu wa dore dake boku wo iyaseru no

aseru chi to kotoba ga, ugomeku ashi ni natte ikihisome bagu wa ima mo dokoka de hane wo hirogeteiru

aishite aishite aishita kotoba wa kyou no youni kietettanda saisho no egaiteta yume wa ima jya omoide sura naku natteiru noni

kurikaeshite negatta kotoba ga kyou no boku wo ikashiterunda kitto itsudatte matteru yo sutoorii ga owatteiru sekai de mo

kimi no oto da. kimi no iro da. kimi no uta da. kirei na kotoba

boku no oto wa. boku no iro wa. boku no uta wa.

taishite, taishite, taishita koto jyanai owari ni mo owari ga arutte koto. saitei ni kizuiteta boku wa soredemo kimi to itakute koko ga itakute

aishite aishite aishita kotoba wo haite boku wa ikitekundayotte tsubuyaita peeji kara sutoorii ga tochuu de owatteiru

[demonslayedher]

Kimetsu no Yaiba: Hashira Training Arc OP “Mugen” (MY FIRST STORY x HYDE) TV Size lyrics

(Transcription and translation are my own; I don't bother following any specific romanization system when I'm having fun. Japanese is a context-heavy language and any translation you see will vary greatly, but in my case I had fun with Pillars on the brain with my filling in of some English gaps.)

Japanese + Romaji + English

永遠の意味　知らぬ君に

答えを示す時だ

夢幻に続く螺旋の先へ

言い訳に聞こえた理由は

儚い未来手繰った弱さ

それを強さとはき違えている

憎い　憎い

醜い　醜い

月を隠すほどの

黒く　黒く

淀む　心

君さえ居なければ

ゆらいでる　ゆらいでいる

花のように意思をつなぐ

奪っていく　奪っていく

嵐のように心を裂く

永遠の意味　知らぬ君に

答えを示す時だ

夢幻に続く螺旋の先に

待つのは誰

-------

Eien no imi   Shiranu kimi ni

Kotae wo shimesu toki da

Mugen ni tsuzuku rasen no saki e

Iiwake ni kikoeta riyuu wa

Hakanai mirai tagutta yowasa

Sore wo tsuyosa to chigaeteiru

Nikui   Nikui

Minikui   Minikui

Tsuki wo kakusu hodo no

Kuroku   kuroku

Yodomu   kokoro

Kimi sae inakereba

Yuraideru   yuraideiru

Hana no you ni ishi wo tsunagu

Ubatteku   ubatteku

Arashi no you ni kokoro wo saku

Eien no imi   Shiranu kimi ni

Kotae wo shimesu toki da

Mugen ni tsuzuku rasen no saki ni

Matsu no wa dare

-------

It's time to show my answer

To you, who do not know the meaning of eternity

It's at the end of a spiral that leads into dreams

My reason sounds like an excuse

Because weakness that hauled in an empty future

Is something you’re mistaking for strength

Abhorrent and ugly

So much so that it could hide the moon

My heart would be black and stagnant

If you weren’t here

Swaying and unstable

We have to maintain our determination like trembling flowers

It gets snatched away

And our hearts get shredded like in a storm

It's time to show my answer

To you, who do not know the meaning of eternity

Who is it that’s waiting

At the end of a spiral that leads into dreams?

[absentmindedadmirer]

Charisma Battle Anthem [ENG Translation]

Fumiya Ito break went hard, huh.

English Translation for Fumiya's second solo, Charisma Battle Anthem-!

This is the first full-blown translation I've ever done so apologies if I miss anything! Google Doc version with Romaji attached

=== The amount of time and effort I spent on this is insane, this being the first thing to grapple with (Amahiko reference intended) was... interesting, I think I cried a little inside when Terra made a math pun. But it was so so fun. I love my just normal lil guys so much, thank you Mister Fumiya Ito.

That being said, I plan to do lots more translations in the future :]! I'll be hosting them on the dreamwidth for the sake of keeping them all in one place but as always, I'm always open for anyone to ask or request me anything. I will probably do it.

Next post is going to be a writing update for real!

=== Sketchie's Fandom Archives

===

LISTEN TO IT!!!! (You already did?) MORE!!!!

[yuurei20]

A little bit ago, I heard a fan mention something that implied Sebek’s grandfather’s name has two spellings in the English Server. I am not at Book 7 myself just yet, so I was not sure if it was true, however, I decided to look into it through footage on YouTube to verify if it was true. In Book 7 Chapter 26, Lilia mentions Sebek’s Grandfather’s name, and it is spelled “Baul.” Fast forward to Book 7 Chapter 56, and we get to see Sebek’s grandfather for the first time and his name is now spelled “Baur.”

Is either spelling technically correct? Why do you think the English localizers first spelled it “Baul” before changing it to “Baur”? Thank you!

Hello hello! ^^ Thank you for this question!

You are very correct: the first mention of Sebek's grandfather's name was written with an "L," while from the second mention onward it has been written with an "R," but the name is consistent on JP!

While I do not work for Aniplex USA I have been doing localization work for a few years now, and my guess would be: it was just a proof-reading error :>

It is possible that "Baul" was an early-draft localization that was changed to "Baur" at some point in the process, and they just happened to miss the first time that the name came up! Perhaps they opened the text files to 7-4 and did a search-and-replace for "Baul -> Baur," and did not think to check 7-2? ^^ We will never know!

(Aniplex USA is no stranger to continuity adventures: credit to Twitter's Kanna for discovering that EN has spelled "Felicity Cosmetics" three different ways.)

As for which is correct, we would have to ask Yana to be sure!

The Japanese language does not really have Rs and Ls--Riria, Lilia, Rilia, Liria? They're all the same in Japanese! (It is same with Rollo/Lolo/Roro/Loro and Ferro/Fello, etc., which is why there can be conflicting claims by both fan and even official translators (re: Baur/Baul) if a character's romaji has yet to be announced by the creator.)

Q: So how does someone know how their name is supposed to be spelled in romaji?

A: You decide for yourself! ^^ When you get a passport in Japan you register the romaji spelling that you want! So if Sebek's grandfather wanted to get a Japanese passport he could write either Baur or Baul, and whatever he chose would become the correct spelling!

Since he cannot decide for himself--as he is not real--the decision comes down to Yana, as his creator ^^ As of this post I do not believe that we have seen his name written anywhere in the JP game or on merchandise, etc., in romaji, so there is no way for us to know at the moment which she prefers.

This is likely the source of the problem with Felicity Cosmetics, as well! The EN team did not know the correct spelling as it was only ever written in Japanese, so they had to make something up!

We only just received the official spelling in the Tapis Rouge event :>

There is a new game guide coming out in September and there is a possibility that information about him will be included, so we may get confirmation one day! 🐊

[tanuki-02]

Progress Report

For 09.16.23 to 07.08.24

I plan on doing these progress reports weekly. Perhaps with the occasional post in between if I feel like I have some huge improvement within that day.

But for this first progrep, I'll try to detail as much as possible my learning from the day I started until now as I write this post.

For a little more info, I'm a 2nd year university student who is already fluent in 2 languages. I'd say my strong point is memorization which is incredibly helpful.

‎

— GOAL

Initially, I wanted to learn Japanese because of manga. Yes, I know fanlations exist and I can go buy physical English copies. However, English versions are waaaay more expensive and a lot of the manga I read have very slow fanlations or they've stopped translating it completely.

This brings me to my next point; I wanted to learn how to READ Japanese first and foremost. I hardly cared about other skills (but now I do understand their importance to the holistic learning of it all).

‎

— September '23 to November '23

I went into this language learning journey blindly. I had no idea where to start. But all I knew was that: 1.) Du*lingo is not your best option, 2.) DON'T use romaji to learn, 3.) Start kanji as early as you can. Looking back on it, I feel like these 3 points are important and I still do believe them now.

So, I went ahead and learned hiragana and katakana in less than 2 days. It was quite easy (although, katakana still does make my head spin sometimes).

After that, I went ahead and started with vocabs and kanji. Basically, I searched up vocab & kanji lists for the N5 level. After I found some good practice/list PDFs, I printed them out and used them as my main study material.

What I would do is to memorize them on my own accord (reading over and over again then, checking if I remember—rinse and repeat). I would say this worked out well for the first couple of months. The N5 lists had around 800 vocabs and 60 kanji which were pretty easy to memorize. I had this down in about a month. The following N4 lists had around an additional 800 vocab and 120 kanji. This one took me 2 months, but I'd say the mastery isn't as great as the N5.

With that in mind and the additional 4000 vocabs and 300 kanji that N3 offered, I started to doubt my method. It was then that I really began to search the web of an efficient way to learn this language.

It was then I discovered TheMoeWay and Anki.

‎

— December '23 to June '24

Plenty of people recommended TheMoeWay, so I had to check it out. It has a guide for the first 30 days of learning, but I ignored that because I was way past 30 days at this point. I read everything else and learned about spaced repetition systems (SRS); that's basically what Anki is.

It recommends to start with the N5 Tango Deck first and I did that. I began on December 6, 2023 and finished it on March 28, 2023. To consider it finished, all cards should be matured.

‎

‎

This deck was VERY easy for me at this point because the prior months of inefficient reviewing that I did. If I'm not mistaken, I did about 100 cards per day which explains why I was so fast.

I had to move on to N4 Tango Deck once I ran out of "New" cards in the first deck. So, at some point, I was doing both decks simultaneously. I began this one on January 17, 2024 and finished it on June 15, 2024.

‎

‎

Admittedly, this deck was a lot tougher than the last one for me at the time. I had to lower the daily card count to 50 (which is still a lot). But I can say after finishing both tango decks—vocabulary, kanji retention, and grammar—all improve drastically. These two decks are super duper helpful in the beginning and I would totally recommend them.

After accomplishing both decks, TheMoeWay says for you to create a mining deck of your own. So, as I was about to go through the N4 Tango Deck, I was deliberating whether or not I'd go through with what is recommended or go for something else.

I think making a mining deck would boost your skill by a huge margin, but I opted for the Core 2k/6k Japanese Vocabulary Deck which I learned from Livakivi on YouTube.

‎

— Current; July '24

I decided to take on the Core 2k/6k while I was doing the N4 Tango (This also explains why I did fewer cards 'cuz I was trying to balance both). I started this one on January 14, 2024 and I'm still getting through it little by little. By that I mean I'm not even halfway done haha.

This is what my progress looks like so far:

‎

‎

I'm doing 20 new cards per day while it's still summer break from university. Although, I'll definitely have to lower it once the semester starts. Maybe I'll go back to 10 or something.

Anyway, I found that by doing this, my retention for words and how they are spelled in hiragana have improved so much. Sometimes I can easily read random sentences on Japanese websites or books. Moreover, after doing this for some time, I found that my reading got a lot better (duh, you know more words). I can easily pass the N5 and N4 tests on the official JLPT website. The N3 tests... not so much just yet.

This brings me to my next point: I am lacking in grammar and reading comprehension. To remedy this, I've tried immersing a bit through reading news on NHK or random stories on Tadoku Graded Readers (honestly, boring, but I have to). I tried reading manga, but I'd skip so many speech bubbles that it made no sense anyway.

At the moment, I'm doing an Anki deck related to grammar, another one based on Tae Kim's guide, and a third one for listening comprehension (because my listening skills are also doodoo).

‎

TL;DR

I'd say I'm around the higher N4 level or maybe a very low N3. For my level, I'd say I'm pretty good at reading... everything else not so much. I barely do output so writing and speaking are non-existent skills for me and listening is something I only started now.

[tofueggnoodles]

My Drama CD translation workflow

The first Drama CD I ever translated is One-Day Store Manager. That was in July 2022, nearly two years ago. Until recently, the workflow was simple, at least on the surface. I listened and either typed out the first thing that came to mind or looked up what I heard in jisho. If the sentence was long and complicated, I would listen to it at half-speed a few times, transcribed it into romaji and tried to figure out the translation as I stared at the transcription. Obviously, it was a slow and painstaking process.

During the past few years, rapid progress has been made in the fields of machine transcription and translation. Even back in 2022, I had the nagging feeling that things could be sped up.

Last April, I finally did it. After scouring the world wide web, I cobbled up some python scripts to do a couple of things.

1. Automatic transcriptions from mp3 files. Yep. This removes the major pain in the neck. However, as they say in computer science, garbage in garbage out (GIGO). The quality of the transcription depends on the audio quality of the mp3 file, of course. The amount of corrections I have to make is correlated to the bitrate. If the quality is good, I only have to correct about five percent of the transcription.

2. Automatic translation. Not so great, but it takes away the hassle of translating simple sentences and stock expressions. It is equivalent to copying and pasting into Google Translate site, but in bulk. Again, the GIGO principle applies. Hence the importance of making sure the Japanese text makes sense in the first place.

I will use a short scene from Kyouka Suigetsu to demonstrate the advantages and the pitfalls of automation in Japanese to English translation.

The speech to text output is a chunk of text, sans punctuation and indication of who is speaking. The script is particularly bad at transcribing our guy’s names. Hakkai is either eight floor, destruction, eight times or Bajie. (The last is not technically wrong, though.)

Here is how the translation looks like. Of course, it is also a chunk of text.

Here is the edited transcription. I corrected the obvious mistakes and indicated who is speaking at the beginning of their lines.

Again, GIGO. The output of machine translation this time is much better. It is not perfect, but I find it so much easier to re-translate with the Japanese text just below each line.

Still, the fact that even the automatic translation from the automatic transcription makes more sense than a translation made by a human being nearly twenty years ago is a testament to how far the transcription and translation technologies have come. The fears expressed by some professional translators are far from unfounded.

The day Google Translate matches a human translation more than ninety-five percent of the time is the day yet another job becomes obsolete thanks to AI. (Yes, I’m quite pessimistic about this. Why are we letting AI do all the fun stuff [art, writing, translation] and none of the soul-crushing or dangerous jobs?)

Advertisement: I made a wordpress blog for putting my BL Drama CD translations. If you happen to be a BL Drama CD fan, you can compare my manual translation to the one using this semi-automated workflow (ongoing, first disc completed).

[fishyishy]

A3! Song Translation - Ticket

TRANSLATION:

From "us" to "me", we have chosen to connect now

from "now" to the "future",

until the day when

we can paint over the continuation of our dreams

with new stage directions,

Will you keep trying your best?

A song of joy for us who are setting off on a journey, here again,

As I looked forward, there was only one path in front of me

An intersection that appears like a

a surprise attack, a detour, the spring buds

I can't just keep nodding,

there is surely no mistake in this question without an answer,

Each one of us held on tightly to a brand new ticket,

proudly held it up

From "us" to "me", we chose to

connect from "now" to the "future",

(Soar high),

If there are still doubts in your heart,

accept it as a part of you

Let's celebrate the continuation of

this unforgettable season together,

LA LA LA LA LA LA LA

To the you who was stretching yourself with

dreams that can't be held,

Have any of them come true, even just a little?

You'll probably laugh and say "there's still a long way to go "

But that's okay,

I just wanted to know the right answer,

pretending to be clever,

It felt unbearable, like something was wrong with me

I took a deep breath,

As I throw away the usual, I take my first step forward,

Smiling as I say, "I'm off"

The flowers sing to inspire us as we set out on the road from here,

somewhere

Don't be afraid,

I'm just being spoiled by the moments you've been waiting

If you keep relying on the present,

you'll be laughed at in the future, asking yourself

"What are you doing?"

I'll come back the during the season where cherry blossoms fall throughout the sky

There are things here that won't change

To the new me and the new you

Nothing can stop the bell that has began to ring for a new beginning

(We are)

We'll bloom here no matter how many times,

from "us" to "me" from the now to the future

We have chosen to connect

(Soar high),

If there are still doubts in your heart,

accept it as a part of you

Let's celebrate the continuation of

this unforgettable season together,

With your usual smile, can you still see your dreams?

----------------------------------

ROMAJI:

Bokura kara boku-e

ima kara mirai i e

tsunagu koto o no erabe ta

bokura yo ima

ko yume no tsuzuki o

arata na to kaki de

nuritsubuseru sono hi made

ganbatte miru kai

Tabidatsu bokura e

yorokobi no uta o

mata koko de

Mae no muku, me no mae ni wa

hitotsu no michi

sore shika nakatta

Fuiuchichi no yō ni arawareru

kōsaten michikusa haru no tsubomi

Unazui tte bakari mo i rare nai sa

kotae no nai toi ni

machigai nante kitto nakutte

boku tachi o

sorezore ga nigitta

makototsu shin na CHIKETTO

hokorashige ni kazashi ta

Bokura wa kara boku e

ima kara mirai de

tsunagu koto o erabeta

bokura no yō ima

(Maiagare)

Kokoro no doko ka ni mayō ni aru nara

sore mo subete jibun da to

mitome shimae

Wasu rare nu kisetsu no tsuzuki o

bokura de iwao u

LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA

Mochi kire nai kurai no yume o

dae te ha senobi o shi te ta kun e

sukoshi wa kanatsu no kai ?

Madamada to waraudarou

Soredo ī sa

Sekai bakari o hoshi gatte

Kashikoku yatsu ta furi

iwakan bakari da

Rashiku mo nai to i

ki wo sutta

itsumo wo nagesute te

fumidasu saishou no ippo

Itte rai masu, to warau

Koko kara doko ka e

fumidasu bokura o

furuitata seru you ni

hana wa utau

Osoreru na

Kun ga matsu ima ni

amae te bakari ja

ano goro ni warawareru zo

nani yatte n da, tte

Sakura mau kisetsu no goro ni wa

Kaette kuru yo

Kawaranai mono ga koko ni aru kara

Atarashii boku to

Atarashii kimi ni

arata na makuake o

Naridashi taberu o

yameru mono wa nai

(Bokura wa)

nani do demo bokura wa koko de saku kara

bokura kara boku-e

ima kara mirai e

tsunagu koto o erabe ta

bokura-yō ima

(Maiagare)

kokoro no doko ka ni

mayoi-i ga aru nara

sore mo subete jibun da to

mitomete te shimae

wasu rare nu kisetsu no tsuzuki o

bokura de iwao u

Itsumo no egao de, yume wa mada mie masu ka?

-------------------------

*msg for kanji

*ahhh citron is the one that sings the "To the you who was stretching yourself with...." part and that just makes me so !! 🥹🥹

*i wish i could make out a lot more of their voices but its just so...!

*especially when sakuya goes "With your usual smile, can you still see your dreams?" at the end...ojqhfeuaiuodj he sso precious

citronctirontironctriontrciotnr

[starling-song]

(photo: lyrics as printed in the first cd edition of Hurry Up Mode, 1990)

TELEPHONE MURDER

Lyrics: Imai Hisashi | Music: Imai Hisashi

Because even if it’s a lie, let me hear it— That was the first time I said those words Cheating Escaping Betraying Shot in my heart｀ Bewildered fingertips shaking And violent heartbeat Uncontrollable Whispering Murmuring Betraying Shot in my heart

※TELEPHONE MURDER ABSOLUTELY END OF THE LINE Nothing else, this is it If I spin the dial^

Just as much euphoria As telling lies Having premonitions That’s the kinda night it is Cheating Escaping Betraying Shot in my heart

※Repeat

TELEPHONE MURDER ABSOLUTELY END OF THE LINE Tangled in the radio waves Dream is over

＊Woo No more tear drop Woo Once more fantasy Woo No more tear drop Woo Once more fantasy

＊Repeat x2

——————————————————

Uso demo ii kara kikasete Hajimete itta kotoba datta Gomakasu Nogareru Uragiru Shut in my heart｀ Tomadou yubisaki furuete Hageshii kodou Osaekirezu Sasayaku Tsubuyaku Uragiru Shut in my heart

※TELEPHONE MURDER Zettai-zetsumai Mohaya Kore made sa DAIYARU mawaseba^ Ukareta bundake Uso tsuku Yokan ga hashiru Sonna yoru de Gomakasu Nogareru Uragiru Shut in my heart

※Repeat

TELEPHONE MURDER Zettai-zetsumai Karamaru denpa de Dream is over

＊Woo No more tear drop Woo Once more fantasy Woo No more tear drop Woo Once more fantasy

＊Repeat x2

--------------

^For those perhaps too young to understand the line, phones used to have round dials on them that you would stick your finger into and manually spin to “dial” a number. This is what this line is talking about. At the time of this song the phone would have been old fashioned but not unheard of. You could still run into them in the wild even until the mid 1990s. And now I feel old for having to make this note.

｀I watched the 1990 live performance of this song several times and I’m rather strongly convinced that Imai has misspelled “shot” for this line. The katakana eigo pronunciation of shut and shot is identical and he simply got the vowel wrong. I’d give him a C-. With that said, I’ve taken the extremely bold liberty of correcting this in my translation but retaining it in the romaji as the pronunciation is, again, identical either way in katakana eigo, but please do take note. I really do just think he spelled it wrong lol.

T/N: Another punchy number from Imai going back to at least 1986. What makes this song special is the Merseybeat drums that Toll ingeniously brought to this song. The drum line really is the star of this song. I don't think they ever pulled out Mersey-style drumming again after this- it was a one and done. But it gives it a very, very nice, punchy retro feel, especially coupled with the imagery of the rotary phone throughout the song. Seems our boy is going through a break-up via a phone call instead of in person- ouch. Telephone Murder indeed lol.

--------------

Disclaimers: Please do not use my translations or photos without express permission. All photos of lyrics are mine- these are from my own collection, even if potato quality.💗

v. 1.0 (1.8.25)

[holly-natnicole]

Rokku fighting Naruto then Sasuke right before the Chūnin Exams begin and Team Kakashi Trio (a.k.a. Neo-Sannin Trio, but they're not at that level yet) meeting Maito Gai (Part 1)

[Image Description: a Japanese comicbook page in digital form. It's from 'Naruto' (1999).

The first panel shows the heads of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto. Sasuke says via a speech bubble "You want to fight me... here and now?" whilst Sakura is saying: "But that's..."

The second panel shows Rī Rokku's head & hand as he looks down at someone off-panel while holding onto a railing or a balcony with his hand and saying: "Yes!"

The third panel from above shows Rokku in mid-air due to somersaulting off the balcony or whatever he had been standing on before. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are looking up at him.

The fourth panel shows Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto from behind as they stand somewhat near a long set of stairs.

On the left of the third panel and the fourth panel, a squatting Rokku is over both instead of being inside a comicbook panel. He's scowling and had just landed onto the wooden floor of the spacious room.]

Rokku: "My name is Rock Lee."

(Side Note: That's his American English translation name. His original name is 李 六九 in Kanji & リー ロック which in Romaji are Rī Rokku.)

Rokku: "Among sticklers, etiquette requires one to introduce oneself before asking for the name of another ...Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke: ")Huh... So you knew who I was all along."

Rokku: *takes some type of martial arts stance* "I'm calling you out! I want to test the effectiveness of my techniques against the last surviving member of your legendary clan. Besides..."

Sasuke: "So you're challenging me, even knowing my lineage? In other words, you're a fool. So, dog-brow... Do you really want to learn what it means to be an Uchiha?"

Rokku: "Absolutely!!" I can hardly wait I'm going toe-to-toe with the cream of the rookie crop, first time out! Now you'll get the proof you require, Master Gai!

Naruto: "Hold it!!"

(Side Note: Sasuke, it's rude to nickname someone based on their appearance when you haven't been given permission to do so.)

Naruto: "Let me handle dog-brow. He'll be toast. Just give me five minutes."

Rokku: "I have no interest in fighting you. Only Uchiha."

Naruto: *dashes towards the older, a few inches taller ninja* "Story of my freakin' life!! 'Sasuke, this!' and 'Sasuke, that!' 'til I could just puke!"

(Side Note: Naruto, I hope you learn humility someday. No-one owes you their attention and there's nothing gross 'bout other ninja wanting to challenge Sasuke instead of you. Also, you shouldn't be using the rude nickname for a random stranger. Honestly, I hope you 2 kids learn manners some day...)

Rokku: *is in a fighting stance and has an intense facial expression*

Rokku: *suddenly kicks with 1 leg before Naruto's fist can reach the 13- or 14-year-old*

Naruto: *barely sees the kick coming and tries to dodge it, but isn't fast enough; it connects with his stomach*

Rokku: *looks down at Naruto who has 1 hand on the floor*

Rokku: *spins fast a full 360 degrees before Naruto's foot can kick the older shinobi's head*

Rokku: *left foot connects with Naruto's back* "Gale Force Technique!!"

Naruto: "AUGH!!"

Rokku: *spins fast another full 360 degrees, sending Naruto tumbling along the floor with loud thumps*

Rokku: *stands up straight* "Mark my words... None of you will beat me."

Sasuke: *frowns*

Sakura worriedly: "He's pretty tough after all. Amazing!"