Lost in Translation #5 – Shôwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjû

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Hey guys! Time for another Lost in Translation! This entry comes from episode 5 of Shôwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjû: Sukeroku Futatabi Hen. Unlike the previous story of Jugemu, there isn’t that much information from English sources about the background story of Hangon-kou, so I did a little research for you guys, just in case you feel like you’re missing something in the events as portrayed in the story. I leave it to you to derive what symbolisms and parallelisms there are in the story to Yakumo’s own deep-seated emotional baggage. So enough chit-chat and let’s get to it! Continue reading →

[Side A] Winter 2017 – Thoughts on Week 5

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Strange realization when I saw this scene in Demi-chan wa Kataritai — I was scheduled to donate blood last Saturday, but I forgot to show up.

Oops.

Well yeah, go figure. The blood donation center is a good 2 miles from my house, and I can’t half-ass myself to take the bus going there at a chilling 5 degrees celsius at midday. UK weather is just incredible — if it isn’t freezing, it’s friggin’ raining!

Oh well, more reason for me to shut myself indoors during the weekend and enjoy a well-deserved break from a manic week. So enough chit chat, and let’s run down how Side A is doing so far! Continue reading →

Lost in Translation #4 – March comes in like a Lion

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Hey guys! Time for another Lost in Translation! This entry comes from episode 16 of March comes in like a Lion, where we are treated to a bit of Japanese culture in the form of the Hinamatsuri a.k.a. “Girl’s Day”.

Now if you’ve watched enough anime at this point, you’ve probably already encountered Girl’s Day and are familiar with the idea of how the Japanese celebrate young women and wish for their good fortune in life, marriage, and fortune by putting up dolls that mimic the formation of the imperial courts during the Heian period. But what I’d like to share with you today has more to do with the food items that were tossed left and right during the discourse. WARNING – I will not be responsible if you suddenly have the urge to go out for Japanese cuisine. Continue reading →

[Side B] Winter 2017 – Thoughts on Week 4

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I love reading books, but as of late, there have been many other things getting in the way of my personal reading time. For one, there’s a ton of scientific journals and textbooks that I have to read in relation to my projects. We’re talking 30+ journals a day for the sake of referencing just once sentence. And that’s probably 80% of what I have to read. The other 20% is sorta compulsory, because they’re updates for my medical practice.

The other distraction is video games. I also love playing video games — heck, I’m so psyched for the Nintendo Switch because it’s renewing my desire to play all over again. In fact, the last console I’ve ever purchased was a Sony PlayStation 2…

So yeah, I love reading books, and so I envy Lotte here, but I don’t envy her choice in reading material. But meh, to his or her their own. I can’t hate on someone just because they enjoy reading something I’m not particularly fond of. And that’s an attitude I wish other people had, as well. Rummaging through the comments of YouTube or Facebook, for example, turns up a lot of ugly responses to people who think differently. It’s a shame we can’t simply engage in sensible conversations IN SPITE of our differences.

But hey, how did we snowball into that topic? What about the animu? Yeah, I hear you. So let’s run down what happened this week in Side B — and SPOILER ALERT: all the shows actually did pretty darn well… Continue reading →

Lost in Translation #3 – Gabriel DropOut

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Hey guys! It’s time for another Lost in Translation. This entry comes from episode 4 of Gabriel DropOut where we see Satania throwing out a strange suggestion whilst the girls are discussing plans for their trip to the beach. Continue reading →

[Side A] Winter 2017 – Thoughts on Week 4

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And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the art of “clickbait”.

Well, if you’re in to that sorta thing, at least. But what does this have to do with my week so far? Actually, I’ve been pretty into following up on what’s going on with the Nintendo Switch, so much so that it’s come to the point that a big chunk of news articles online — from “reputable” sources, at that — are creating poorly-researched articles just to get in on the hype surrounding the reputed hybrid-console. Then there’s the over-hyped coverage of Trump’s recent executive order that’s got people bawling their heads out in agony. But don’t get me wrong — I’m not undermining the repercussions of these news articles in general. I’m simply trying to highlight the fact that there’s always an underlying message that is being communicated in the way all things are presented — be it politics or, you guessed it, anime.

And for the anime, at least, I think if they aren’t trying to push for a meaningful message, then they’re probably just toying around with the mainstay stropes that people have grown accustomed to. And that’s all fine, I can live with that. But that, in itself, has made me toss aside some titles in favor of things that offer more than pure self-gratification.

So what the heck happened this week to make me say all that? Well, let’s find out! Continue reading →

Lost in Translation #2 – Shôwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjû

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I was originally planning to save this post for a later date, but I was just so excited when I saw it that I couldn’t help but share it immediately! This entry comes from Episode 4 of Shôwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjû: Sukeroku Futatabi Hen, where the classic Jugemu story serves as the focus of this particular episode. Continue reading →

Lost in Translation #1 – Sound! Euphonium

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Hi guys!

I thought I’d start a new segment featuring short tidbits on things I’ve seen being “lost in translation”. Now take note, there’s a reason why simulcasts tend to have translational inaccuracies. The most common is due to the timing of release in that streaming services usually rely on professional translators that are not directly members of the Japanese production team. In some cases, there can be multiple translators, and even multiple translation groups commissioned on a single airing show depending on how the agreement is set up between the home (Japan) broadcast company and the online streamer. This is the reason why official translations on DVDs/BluRays are far more polished, because the transcripts are actually worked on from the ground up with cooperation between the publishing company/distributor and the home office.

Another reason is partly due to the language itself. There are many nuances in Japanese that don’t filter through as succinctly as they should given the format of subtitles. So that being the case, I figured I’d share some of those nuances with you in these posts.

To kick things off, let’s start with a show from last season, Sound! Euphonium. Continue reading →

[Side B] Winter 2017 – Thoughts on Week 3

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Yeah, it’s been a manic week. I think I’ve been overreacting a bit too much in my lab work to the point that I forgot certain steps in a protocol because I was trying to do too many things at once. And then when that blows up in my face, I go all crazy like Gabriel here.

And the same goes for anime. I dunno what happened, but I was under the impression that Granblue Fantasy was scheduled to be a Winter 2017 release, only to realize that they just aired two episodes as a teaser run, and the real series was to start in April as a Spring 2017 title. Er… Yeah, I think I missed the memo.

Oh well, that just means one less show to worry about. I dunno if I’ll share any thoughts on those two episodes, but I guess I might as well at one point. It’s an interesting show that has a different feel compared to Tales of Zestiria the X, and the artwork is just as impressive.

But yeah, on to what happened this week. I must say, the shows are actually doing a pretty solid job at selling themselves to me. Again, Side B has a hefty bunch of titles even without shows like March comes in like a Lion or Shôwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjû in them — so enough chit chat and let’s do this! Continue reading →

[Side A] Winter 2017 – Thoughts on Week 3

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Be unproductive. Be lazy. Be Edna.

But seriously, I had such a lazy weekend. That and the fact that I have so many deadlines, so yeah that’s definitely not a good thing. Still, Edna is just chill as f**k.

Quite similarly, things have been pretty “chill” during the third week of Winter. It’s funny in that the shows seem to be pretty comfortable quite early on, regardless of how quirky each of them might be. And that’s probably because one of them is the venerable March comes in like a Lion, which is by far just owning the pack at this point. But even without its head start, shows like Shôwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjû and, yes, even the prodigal Tales of Zestiria the X are re-proving their worth as the weeks go by. That almost makes the newer titles in this group, Demi-chan wa Kataritai and Urara Meirochô, pale in comparison.

So what just happened? Let’s run ’em down! Continue reading →