#op ch23

[salteytakesonmanga]

Immediate refusal. And they were so polite about it lol

I've always really enjoyed Usopp as a sort of reader-insert character. He, like Nami, is super "normal" in a crew full of totally insane people and gives voice to reader thoughts.

Whomst amongst us hasn't had a daydream about joining the crew, or some sort of isekai fantasy where you, as a totally normal person, become the hero? Usopp is a vehicle for readers like that, and the fact that he keeps rising to the occasion as the story progresses - without ever losing his personality - is something I really love to see.

[youkaigakkou-tl]

Chapter 97 Extended Translation Notes

first off here's the spread without the text at the top. the stuff at the bottom, well..... see if i feel like it

this is mostly just unorganized thoughts nothing like my analysis posts

(future op after writing the whole post: this got kinda long lol)

ok now that im hidden in the readmore i can act insane. RAHHHHH AMAAKI ON THE COLOR PAGE RAHHHH WAHOOOOOO WOOHOOOOO BIG WIN FOR AME NATION ok got that out of my system im normal now

Rain or shine

In case you forgot, ame = rain, haru = sunny. I lose my mind every time this is relevant, like the ending of renren arc.

Whose mom is this

the other 3 are pretty obvious, but the 2nd one isn't immediately recognizable.

(also, 2 checks for "the couple's parents are meeting" for fujiogo and momo and gida)

just for fun, i process-of-eliminationed this

(cover page of chapter 57 my old friend)

everyone greyed out's parents statuses are confirmed, (other than akibe and koizumi, but given the physical features...)

though, i say i did this "just for fun", because i already kinda knew who's mom it was

(from this tweet)

it's mujina's mom. she's beside tamao's mom, the appearance matches, it makes sense.

Haha Sano what the fuck does this mean

the japanese says he "分からん" (wakaran), meaning "i dunno", and the chinese translation outright says "i don't have parents" which SEEMS to be what the jp is implying anyway

sano get back here you're not dunnoing your way out of this one

Also renren realised they don't share a surname. ebisu explain that you're not :>ing your way out of this one either

Shrines, huh

the plate over the torii just says "abe shrine" back in chapter 9, but given my google street view sleuthing and like, story details, even if its not the big fancy one in kyoto it is still an abe no seimei shrine. so on some level, haruaki, you're the god! what a coincidence, the "gods" are exactly as shocked as you are!

Tale of the bamboo cutter

This page was a damn nightmare to translate. (Mame's mistakes, not the actual story in grey. it's a well known classic that's been translated, no need to reinvent the wheel)

I tried to get the "hamuhane" part exactly like the jp, but mame's mistake on the 3 "sun" big child in the first 2 panels is a little different

He interprets "なる人" (naruhito) as "成人" (also naruhito); "hito" means person, the first "naru" means grow (like a plant) or contain (i think), the second one means "adult person".

I suppose I could have also went for "grown" person vs "grown person", but in any case, haruaki's explanation for what a "sun" is on the bottom 2 panels is almost exact, and i thought the "soon" comparison was a good way to get across that's how "sun" is pronounced

(also here's my "hamuhane" tl note)

anyway. nightmare page. looking forward to how the official tl does it when it comes out in (checks watch) like 2 years?

Ame and Ebisu interaction real

dunno if it gets across, but I think he has a height complex...

pretty weird thing to say, huh, Ebisu? to someone you just met? how do you know that anyway?

the only times Ame appeared has been ch8 when the gang went to Haru's house, ch23 when he pretended to be Haru (the rest of the class should be none the wiser) ch39 in the hospital (none of the class was there to see)

and then Ebisu gets introduced in ch 53, after that he hears firsthand that Haru has a twin in ch58, and then Ame is there in renren arc and outright says he's scared of youkai in ch76

Notice how Ebisu wasn't present for any of Ame's appearances prior. he wasn't involved in renren arc, and the person i think is his spy was turned to stone on the ground floor while the reveal on the roof happened.

of course, this could just be a combination of him projecting on Ame, and seeing him visibly scared of youkai a few pages prior. but "hate" is a fairly specific and strong word to use, and i also think he's too smart to not know Ame hates youkai, just a matter of where he got the info from.

The person I think is his spy

after doing some thinking (furigana reads: seeing this post), I think there's someone who's fairly likely to be the spy.

observe, the chart for "people who we've seen the parents of" and "people ranmaru might have seen in ch62"

we've narrowed it down to one man. (ok well there's a few in common here, but satsuki doesnt get screentime ever and ogata twins are too obvious for how much emphasis the ranmaru scene was given)

the kudan, Kurahashi.

but wait, you say, we know he's a youkai. he's got horns. we've seen him use his abilities.

but consider everything else. how often he interacts with Ebisu. how often he sticks his neck out for Ebisu

(i also have a lot of Thoughts abt the part timing incident, specifically his prediction

in his first appearance, he mentioned he couldn't see Haru's future well (because of his exorcism power, which, mind you, still don't know how that works exactly)

wouldn't be a stretch to think that his prediction wouldn't/can't take a god's interference into account. the thug was going to say "the customer is god" either way, but there's also the possibility that the moment kurahashi stepped in, his prediction of "toubyou get punched" couldn't play out exactly so the totally different thing of Ebisu stepping in happened. anyway)

it's not like any individual event incriminates him, rather how frequently it happens. in fact, kurahashi has been involved almost every time Ebisu appears. (put it another way, Ebisu's only major appearances where Kurahashi wasn't involved in some way was this chapter, and the youkai train)

adding on to that, we don't have any info on what his personal life is like, odd considering the amount of screentime he gets. (all of this is relevant to this chapter bc this would have been the perfect opportunity to show his parents, IF HE HAS ANY) the only things we know about his personal life is he's in the basketball club??? and that he was "raised to help people in trouble" whatever "raised" or "help" or "trouble" means

and now, the final nail in the coffin: this alternate cover that came with the 2021 december gfantasy issue

(oh yeah its also my blog header)

none of the official images of it included the flap with ranmaru, and previously i was willing to believe it's just a coincidence for 4 characters related to gods and kurahashi to be on the back cover together, but now that i've seen the whole thing, i feel like ranmaru being there seals the deal that it's intentional

count em, 5 whole characters, basically every major character that is/was a god, and one kurahashi yuuta, who we know nothing about despite his frequent appearances? kinda sus

and now, to return to the first question, isn't he a youkai? horns and youkai powers and all?

and to that i say: he could be another creature. we've just seen an example of this, suzaku, divine fire bird, becoming a tengu, which is also a bird

looking up kudan, it has been theorized that it's based off another mythical creature: the Bai Ze (or Hakutaku), a divine cow-like beast from china, who shares many characteristics with the kudan, only difference being it's associated with good luck instead of misfortune

ok this is kind of a nonsense theory but can you imagine. at the very least, theres a lot of very sus things about kurahashi specifically regarding ebisu. on the off chance he is a bai ze, it would make this image very funny

beniko the zashiki warashi, an auspicious youkai; sano the god of pestilence, but as a person brings haruaki good luck; and then kurahashi, whats his deal man?

thats all i have to say! lemme paste this into google docs for a word count-

oh. oh no. what the fuck how did this happen wasnt this a tl note

anyway hope u enjoyed this tl-note-turned-ebisu-kurahashi-analysis post! there's still way more i could analyse of ebisu and i'll probably do that someday. i could pick apart every word he says and still not know what his deal is

[dufferpuffer]

Op you are so right, and I'm about to blab about it for many words:

I'm not sure if there is a race/species Wizards hate more than Giants. (approx 2000 words)

And Albus saving Hagrid is one of his most impressive feats.

Once plentiful worldwide - Giants are recent victims of genocide. Focused efforts to kill them, take their territories and drive them into the outskirts - to the point where they are facing extinction.

Ron looked around at Harry, his expression very serious indeed. “Did you know?” he whispered. “About Hagrid being half-giant?” “No,” Harry said, shrugging. “So what?” (some lines removed for brevity) “Well, they’re… they’re…” Ron struggled for words. “…not very nice,” he finished lamely. “Who cares?” Harry said. “There’s nothing wrong with Hagrid!” “I know there isn’t, but… blimey, no wonder he keeps it quiet,” Ron said, shaking his head. “I always thought he’d got in the way of a bad Engorgement Charm when he was a kid or something. Didn’t like to mention it….” “But what’s it matter if his mother was a giantess?” said Harry. “Well… no one who knows him will care, ’cos they’ll know he’s not dangerous,” said Ron slowly. “But… Harry, they’re just vicious, giants. It’s like Hagrid said, it’s in their natures, they’re like trolls… they just like killing, everyone knows that. There aren’t any left in Britain now, though.” “What happened to them?” “Well, they were dying out anyway, and then loads got themselves killed by Aurors. There’re supposed to be giants abroad, though…. They hide out in mountains mostly….”

GoF Ch23, pg 429/430

...Giants are PEOPLE. They can breed with humans, they attend talks, speak in English learned as a second language to their own language/s. Wizards just hate them because of cultural differences.

Giants don't like bureaucracy, they settle disputes with duels (They can't sit without squashing a deer - they'd have different views on death), they dislike cramped and crowded places like Wizarding towns... They are labelled as savages - much like Centaur are labelled as savages for defending their constantly attacked, dwindling territory. They want to be left alone - but Wizards are active colonizers.

As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not — as he has always pretended — a pure-blood wizard. He is not, in fact, even pure human. His mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring amongst themselves during the last century. The handful that remained joined the ranks of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and were responsible for some of the worst mass Muggle killings of his reign of terror. While many of the giants who served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not among them. It is possible she escaped to one of the giant communities still existing in foreign mountain ranges. If his antics during Care of Magical Creatures lessons are any guide, however, Fridwulfa’s son appears to have inherited her brutal nature.

Rita Skeeters' 'DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE', GoF ch24, pg 437/438/439/440

Ah yes: they just decided to wipe themselves out, unprompted, when Wizards happen to be at their most territorial: fresh off a Goblin Rebellion, the two World War's and the Global Wizarding War... Giants started killing each-other without any Wizard involvement. Sure. Totally not having their land taken, being racially profiled, pushed to outskirts and having conflicts over space and resources...

As an Australian - the idea of 'savages' hurts. I'm sure people from other British/French/Dutch/Spanish/American etc. colonies relate.

Rita assumes that Fridwulfa fought for Voldemort, insinuates it is a shame Aurors did not kill her - that she 'escaped' punishment. She must be violent, she is a Giant. She must follow the Dark Lord, she is a Giant. She couldn't have simply migrated - she must be running from Wizarding law.

This is the view Wizards have on Giants.

Hermione didn’t seem to find the news that Hagrid was a half-giant nearly as shocking as Ron did. “Well, I thought he must be,” she said, shrugging. “I knew he couldn’t be pure giant because they’re about twenty feet tall. But honestly, all this hysteria about giants. They can’t all be horrible…. It’s the same sort of prejudice that people have toward werewolves…. It’s just bigotry, isn’t it?” Ron looked as though he would have liked to reply scathingly, but perhaps he didn’t want another row, because he contented himself with shaking his head disbelievingly while Hermione wasn’t looking.

GoF ch24, pg 433/434

“Envoys to the giants?” Fudge shrieked, finding his tongue again. “What madness is this?” “Extend them the hand of friendship, now, before it is too late,” said Dumbledore, “or Voldemort will persuade them, as he did before, that he alone among wizards will give them their rights and their freedom!” “You — you cannot be serious!” Fudge gasped, shaking his head and retreating further from Dumbledore. “If the magical community got wind that I had approached the giants— people hate them, Dumbledore— end of my career—”

GoF, ch36, pg708

Dumbledore gets it. They are people, not trolls, not beasts or animals to hunt to extinction, to push to the mountains.

Fridwulfa, even with a cultural preference for larger children and partners, stayed with a tiny Wizard and tiny little son for 3+ years. Maybe she left simply because she lost interest. Maybe she wanted company of Giants, or larger kids - I don't know. But I'm sure living near Wizards wasn't easy.

We know that Hagrid keeps his heritage a secret - more than a secret, actually, he LIES about it. Calls himself a Pureblood. Half-Giant's are hated, and he would be alone if he embraced it.

“I jus’ knew... knew you were like me.... Was it yer mother or yer father?” “I — I don’t know what you mean, ’Agrid....” “It was my mother,” said Hagrid quietly. “She was one o’ the las’ ones in Britain. ’Course, I can’ remember her too well... she left, see. When I was abou’ three. She wasn’ really the maternal sort. Well... it’s not in their natures, is it? Dunno what happened to her... might be dead fer all I know....” Madame Maxime didn’t say anything. And Harry, in spite of himself, took his eyes off the beetle and looked over the top of the reindeer’s antlers, listening.... He had never heard Hagrid talk about his childhood before. “Me dad was broken-hearted when she wen’. Tiny little bloke, my dad was. By the time I was six I could lift him up an’ put him on top o’ the dresser if he annoyed me. Used ter make him laugh....” Hagrid’s deep voice broke. Madame Maxime was listening, motionless, apparently staring at the silvery fountain. “Dad raised me... but he died, o’ course, jus’ after I started school. Sorta had ter make me own way after that. Dumbledore was a real help, mind. Very kind ter me, he was....” Hagrid pulled out a large spotted silk handkerchief and blew his nose heavily. “So... anyway... enough abou’ me. What about you? Which side you got it on?” But Madame Maxime had suddenly got to her feet. “It is chilly,” she said — but whatever the weather was doing, it was nowhere near as cold as her voice. “I think I will go in now.” “Eh?” said Hagrid blankly. “No, don’ go! I’ve — I’ve never met another one before!” “Anuzzer what, precisely?” said Madame Maxime, her tone icy. Harry could have told Hagrid it was best not to answer; he stood there in the shadows gritting his teeth, hoping against hope he wouldn’t — but it was no good. “Another half-giant, o’ course!” said Hagrid. “ ’Ow dare you!” shrieked Madame Maxime. Her voice exploded through the peaceful night air like a foghorn; behind him, Harry heard Fleur and Roger fall out of their rosebush. “I ’ave nevair been more insulted in my life! ’Alf-giant? Moi? I ’ave — I ’ave big bones!” She stormed away; great multicolored swarms of fairies rose into the air as she passed, angrily pushing aside bushes.

GoF Ch 23, pg 427/428

...One of the saddest parts of this is that Madame Maxime runs a school full of half-Witches... and yet being a Half-Giant is still so horrible she cannot face the shame of it. Even when she is listening to someone who knows what its like. I doubt the near-extinction of Giants is unique to the British Isles.

So I wonder what sort of life would have faced Hagrid, a 13yr old orphan Half-Giant - without a wand and accused of causing the death of a human.

He is NOT getting a job, thats for bloody sure - at least not a job that doesn't treat him like shit for his size and strength. Does he have much choice other than to seek out Giants? But he is small - he will be a bottom-rung of their society... A society already under pressure from Wizarding kind - which he is half. He would be exposed to Voldemorts recruitment - only held back by the fact he knew Tom as a kid - and wasn't happy with him.

Basically its just terrible. His future was non-existent and bleak. He had nowhere to go and nobody who could possibly want him.

...Then his Transfiguration teacher stands and makes a big hullabaloo about keeping the Half-Giant that killed a little girl. A grounds keeper out of a 13yr old without a wand?! Just because he 'has a way with animals' - yeah, a student DIED because of that-!!!

This was BEFORE Albus defeated Grindelwald, too. How did he convince the Board of Governors and the Ministry? He can barely convince the Governors or Ministry of anything as an accomplished multi-war-veteran celebrity-!

It is no wonder Hagrid adores him. They both give the misunderstood, the outcast, a place to belong.

And you know? Albus didn't even turn on Tom, the little orphan who has nothing outside of Hogwarts... apart from a bright future. He couldn't be sure what Tom did, or how, or why... perhaps he didn't even think Tom had anything to do with it at all. Or hoped he didn't. But we can see how he treats Tom after Myrtle's death:

‘What are you doing, wandering around this late, Tom?’ Harry gaped at the wizard. He was none other than a fifty-year-younger Dumbledore. ‘I had to see the Headmaster, sir,’ said Riddle. ‘Well, hurry off to bed,’ said Dumbledore, giving Riddle exactly the kind of penetrating stare Harry knew so well. ‘Best not to roam the corridors these days. Not since …’ He sighed heavily, bade Riddle goodnight and strode off. Riddle watched him out of sight and then, moving quickly, headed straight down the stone steps to the dungeons, with Harry in hot pursuit.

CoS ch 13, pg 183

We hear from Tom that Albus 'didn't like him as much as the other teachers, who adored him' - yet THIS is the extent of that 'dislike': "Go to bed please, it is late - but I won't force you."

Reminder that Hagrid was just 13 years old when Riddle framed him and got him expelled. A 13 years old boy with a good heart that was already facing major discrimination from the Wizarding World.

Like out of all the things Riddle could have done in that situations he chose to target an already discrimated younger student.

Hagrid who’s mother left him when he was 3. Hagrid who’s father died when he was 12. Hagrid who by all means was also an orphan.

If not for Albus’s kind heart and good nature, who put his effort into making Hagrid the groundskeeper and allowing him to stay at Hogwarts, Hagrid would have nowhere to go, nobody to look for, no future due to his expulsion and half-gigantism and no ability to manage a life on his own.

[stephanericherthanyou]

Ch21-30

Ch21: 6/17 Op.5 Fighting Boy

Ch22: 6/17 Op.6 Battle on Graveyard

it’s an interesting reversal of the stuff with chad & the parakeet--this time rukia is the one taking care of karin but she’s still saying “leave this to me ichigo”

i love how the first page after the chapter title has no sfx/dialogue, just images. it’s quite cinematic, feels weird to say i could hear the silence haha? but it felt like a very pre-jumpscare atmosphere

KON PLS

Ch23: 6/17 Op.7 Sharp Intent, Dull Blade

Ch24: 6/17 Op.8 All One Way Sympathies

yknow at the time i first read/watched i did think he was going to finish off grand fisher there! perhaps wrong genre savvy of me, i do not know

Ch25: 6/17 Op.5 Fighting Boy 2 (The Cigar Blues Mix)

isshin with the gucci loafers on the title page

“oh yeah dad doesn’t know” /sips drink

“it’s not anyone’s fault” (except your great something grandfather who is planning on taking over the universe in 2 years and looks like the old man who lives inside of you and is the manifestation of your spiritual weapon that you can’t even see yet)

tatsuki likes cargo pants huh....right on time for the trend to be swinging back around heh. also it’s a nice detail that she wants her name to look cute imo

MAN I WISH WE WOULDA GOTTEN MORTICIAN ISSHIN...nice nod to his shinigami past. but maybe he wanted to do something different given the chance?

Ch26: Paradise is Nowhere

nnn i love them.

Ch27: Spirits Ain’t Always With Us

i love don kanoji so much

yknow at the time i never appreciated how relatable orihime’s acting awkard around her crush and feeling weird about it was....maybe it’s a perspective thing in that i was too close to that sort of thing myself if that makes sense?

Ch28: Symptom of Synesthesia

another fave of mine is “tempting fate by outlinint exactly what you think isn’t gonna happen but obviously is”

Ch29: Stop That Stupid!!

ily <3

Ch30: Second Contact (It was outside of the scope of our understanding)

me, reading the title: ahhh scope creep

yes indeed, what /should/ be done...idrk if urahara is referring to everyone seeing ichigo or what, but.

[salteytakesonmanga]

No, they’re never listening. As long as someone else is around who can worry about the details (Nami) they will absolutely not pay attention to expository backstories. (They actually will listen to backstories if they’re the only one around to pay attention or if it’s about fighting.)

[salteytakesonmanga]

Oh man the gags are going to increase exponentially now. Technically One Piece is an action/adventure story, but with how liberally Oda sprinkles jokes in everywhere it’s practically a comedy series.

[salteytakesonmanga]

I know people like to track the tall tales Usopp told Kaya, many of which have actually come true by now, but I also like thinking about the situations where these smaller lies could also come true.

[salteytakesonmanga]

HI USOPP!! His design has evolved so much over the course of the series he’s practically unrecognizable here.

[salteytakesonmanga]

Priorities

Also this damn translation is killing me. I get that they can’t be quite as open about a 19yo drinking but it’s not like anyone is fooled with this bullshit “talk like a pirate” schtick. (They do switch to "booze" eventually.)

[salteytakesonmanga]

Priorities pt. 2

[salteytakesonmanga]

Oda’s really getting into the groove with the covers now.

I’ve always enjoyed the idea that at the end of the adventure Zoro will wind up like Rayleigh, using the excuse of being a craftsman to just bum around and fly under the radar. And because of this cover I can’t shake the thought that he’d be a cooper, making barrels for brewing alcohol.