July 15, 2012

"youkarou"?

In the second episode of Dog Days 2, at 03:30, Leo says something that sounds to me like youkarou. It means "alright, yes, I accept". What is the word or phrase? I can't find it in the dictionary.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Japanese at 08:36 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 39 words, total size 1 kb.

July 05, 2012

Mangajin

Some of you might find this useful: Mangajin

Mangajin was created in the early 90's as a monthly English publication for students of the Japanese language. Unlike most text books that focused solely on teaching people Japanese through boring text, Mangajin was different in that it focused on showing readers a page of manga and then a page of English translations. As great of an idea that this sounds today, it didn't catch on in the 90's and Mangajin ended in 1996. Now manga in America is as popular as ever, which is why I have decided to put Mangajin onto this web site. Fans of Japanese manga and who are looking to learn Japanese will undoubtedly find Mangajin very useful!

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Japanese at 09:26 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 122 words, total size 1 kb.

June 10, 2012

Marika's wham line

 Let's be clear; I like the translation: "If you want a fight, you've got one!"

But I have a suspicion that the translator took some liberties with that, and I find myself wondering just what Marika really said. Especially since it was the line they used for the calligraphy which is always at the end of each episode.

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Listening to her, it sounds like she's saying "kono kenka, katawa".

With that and the calligraphy, I get this:

こ の
ケ ン カ
?? たわ

kono (this)
kenka (fight, brawl),
something ta wa.

It's not a topic wa; that's printed as は.

It could be kaatawa or kattawa. The first syllable sounds long to me. But I can't make any sense of it, using the dictionary, and I can't figure out what the kanji is from the calligraphy. I can't find a kanji that looks anything like that.

片端 katawa is a word; it means "crippled" or "deformed". (That's the one in Katawa Shoujo.) But that's not what she's saying.

æ–¹ kata means "method of" or "manner of" and if that was it, the whole thing could be read as "This is the way we fight." But it isn't; that's not the kanji they're using. (Besides, what is the "wa"? It sure as hell isn't a feminine softener!)

There isn't any word that begins kaata. There isn't any word that makes sense that begins katta.

So I'm totally stumped. What is it?

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Japanese at 01:09 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
Post contains 244 words, total size 2 kb.

June 08, 2012

Now which syllable is it that you drop?

I just noticed that Grunhilde in Mouretsu Pirates pronounces a word differently than I expected.

Being princesses, both Grunhilde and Gruier use watakushi. Usually that word is pronounced wah-tahk-shee. Grunhilde pronounces it wah-tah-koosh.

Or at least in one case she does, ep 15 06:20. She's using it with -tachi because she's talking about both her and Gruier. So it's wah-tah-koosh-tah-chee. Maybe that's the reason why; wah-tahk-shee-tah-chee seems like it's more difficult to pronounce.

Or is it a deliberate affectation by the voice actress? Or is it an attempt to make watakushi not sound like watashi?

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Japanese at 09:47 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 103 words, total size 1 kb.

May 02, 2012

Magic Burger Crystals

This video is quite fascinating to watch. It's a product from Japan, containing various plastic parts plus a bunch of foil pouches full of crystals. If you follow the instructions, you end up with a microscopic burger-and-fries meal. Everything you need is in it, including tools and dishes. The only thing you have to provide is a pair of scissors to cut everything apart, and to open the pouches, and a few pieces of cellophane tape.

The video shows the process from beginning to end.

It's apparently edible, though I can't imagine that it's very filling. And all the cooking is done in low-power microwave ovens. (Does anyone really make a 500 watt microwave oven?)

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Japanese at 08:12 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 118 words, total size 1 kb.

April 18, 2012

Translation problems

I think the most difficult common word for subtitlers to translate must be sasuga. There isn't any single word in English with that meaning. There isn't anything even close, yet it gets used all the time in anime.

"Living up to our high expectations" is about what it means, but that's way too clumsy for normal use. "Just what we expect from..." is how it's often translated, but that feels stilted in English.

I noticed that in Mouretsu Pirates ep 15, at one point the translator made it "Way to go!" And that's really good. It obviously isn't literal, but that's about what Hyakume was thinking when he said it. (At 20:04.)

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Japanese at 01:24 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
Post contains 114 words, total size 1 kb.

March 30, 2012

Japanese: renshuu

There's a word I've heard a bunch of times, which sounds like renshuu. It's used to refer to a group of students at a school. Is it 連衆? (which would mean "group of people"?)

ç·´ç¿’ is pronounced renshuu but it means "practice". (renshuusei means "student", but that's not what they're saying.)

Just for reference, I just encountered it in Mouretsu Pirates ep 4, at about 14:45.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Japanese at 07:38 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 68 words, total size 1 kb.

March 07, 2012

Japanese -- It's not fair!

There's a word I've heard a couple of times that I can't find in the dictionary. One example is ep 9 of Mouretsu Pirates at 11:30. Another case is ep 3 of Railgun at 06:40.

It sounds like "surui" and it means something like "unfair". But I can't find it in the dictionary. What is it?

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Japanese at 08:36 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 61 words, total size 1 kb.

February 22, 2012

I'm very sorry

There's a phrase which is a very formal and abject apology which sounds to me like it's moshi wa ke arimasen but that's almost certainly not correct. One example of it is ep 11 of Daimaou at 18:44 (BD rip).

What is it?

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Japanese at 09:34 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 46 words, total size 1 kb.

February 21, 2012

Just a thought

Think maybe that the reason for "Measurement day" is to aggregate all the numbers so that the stores can stock the proper amounts of various sizes of school uniforms?

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Japanese at 10:14 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 32 words, total size 1 kb.

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