Also translated the lyrics for all 10 vocal tracks from Slow Damage, also from the first press edition bonus.
Included the Japanese, romaji and English translation side-by-side for your convenience.
Spoiler warning that since they’re mostly ED songs some of these give away the content of the endings.
See here for just text versions of the lyrics/TLs without the side-by-side table formatting→https://rochisama.wordpress.com/2021/06/25/slow-damage-vocal-collection-lyrics/
Hi! I really love all the cultural aspects you help us understand! Your blog is really the best! I'm curious about a small impression I had when trying to read the manga (my japanese is still pretty bad! :c) Does any character have a particular way of speaking that is lost in translation? Kinda like something I remember reading somewhere about how the Rengoku family uses very traditional-archaic terms (even for Taisho period) when speaking.
Aww, thank you! I do my best.
That said, I will always second myself on the finer points of language, but I had that sense about Rengoku-san too. I love the "umu!!" XD Another character who speaks in a very similar manner is Kija from Akatsuki no Yona, whose village maintains very archaic customs, so the old speaking style kind of makes sense.
I went to a native speaker and fellow nerd friend to get her take on this (since you mentioned knowing a little Japanese I'll leave her comments as-is):
Rengoku-san often use words we don't use often nowadays.
Like, "うむ！" or"よもやよもや" or "穴があったら入りたい！".
Some of my friends and I even searched the meaning of よもや on Google lol!
In Kimetsu, Gotoge-sensei (often called as ワニ先生) use different way of speaking according to how the characters grew up.
Since Rengoku-san seems to have a rich family with an historical background, he speaks like well-bred.
It doesn't sound like Samurai but it sounds dignified.
On the other hand, Sanemi speaks more roughly.
He had a bad father and his family looked not rich.
ワニ先生 said he went around poor and insecurity area to kill demons on his own before he enter Kisatsu-tai, and the way he speaks got rougher than when he was living with family.
In Japanese version, he stretchs out the end of the word. ex)何だァ？
Other characters also have some insignificant habits in the way they speak but the comparison of Rengoku and Sanemi is obvious.
But in the translated version, I think those expressions have been losted.
It's Taisho period but not too far from Edo and people still had older way of life especially in countryside like Tanjiro.
Teoni (the demon who killed Sabito) said Urokodaki-san trapped him there 47 years ago in Keio era which is a part of Edo period.
When you calculate the years, you can see the story sets somewhere between Taisho 1st to 4th.
It means many older people were born in Edo period, and people still had old way of speaking.
I hope it helps😉
(She is indeed so helpful. And a licensed tour guide if anyone ever needs a recommendation for one. : D)
I went on to tell her about how Genya's switch from Aniki to Niichan was translated as going from Sanemi to Nemi. She and a literature translator friend and I all agree, in working with a purely English translation, that was a cute and clever move. : 3
I have not seen Mugen Ressha with subtitles, I do not know how distracted I would be by translations of his speech manner. xD If I were to try to capture the same effect and really have fun with it, I might have him say things like "Preposterous!" or other slightly stiff but very confidently used phrasing of things. But in looking up a list of synonyms for "yes" to find something that seems right for "umu" (I was thinking "affirmative" but that seems to big a mouthful and too cold), I saw "amen" and now it's past midnight and I am laughing to myself at Rengoku-san shouting "Amen!" as a catchphrase. XDDD Wouldn't exactly make for a non-distracting translation.
Ahh I accidentally sent this as anon.
Thank you so much to you and your friend for your amazing answers! I always thought う む was just a cute way of saying う ん, like when people make the "u" sound in "deSU" to make it sound cute haha I'm amazed to know it's actually an old word too!
I wasn’t able to put into words the special way of speaking of Rengoku-san but your friend described it perfectly! Now that I think about it's a good contrast how he can speak and act so dignified and educated coming from a high-class family while at the same time doing things like screaming UMAI at the train lol <3
And I love the explanation about Sanemi too! I remember even Tanjiro is surprised on how he can totally change the way he talks when speaking to Kagaya. Also I thought the “Nemi” thing came from Japanese! I'm surprised to know the original version was instead the change from “Aniki” to “Nii-chan”
I should keep trying to read it Japanese to notice all this valuable details! Thank you so much again!
when he proposes by holding ur hand
Like I said, the original crackheads in love 🍃✨ oh! And iruka sensei..
literally most things that people write off as just ‘textures’ to use in graphics are stolen & unsourced material created by artists or photographers NOT meant to be used as elements in projects without royalty payments. you can say ‘it’s just random tumblr posts they don’t care’ but you wouldn’t want someone to take your work and edit into their work so they can be praised for their beautiful style and creativity even if they just post it on social media w/o profit, would you?? so maybe if you browse pinterest or google images for pictures without finding the original source, you’re using images that you’re not allowed to use without realizing it.
you see it on here a lot especially in (i won’t link anything but i’m sure you know what i mean) those album track ‘aesthetics’ posts, au ‘aesthetic’ posts (you see these less in kpop, but where people use non-royalty free images to kinda craft a visual au), and even just rather typical graphics that have a lot of ‘texture’ elements. and texture packs too!! that’s often where the problem starts; people just collect images (often literal art), compile them in a folder w/o sources, then insist no one can repost those images w/o crediting the person who compiled them. what???
SO may i suggest some of my fave places you can get FREE, ROYALTY-FREE elements that are totally legal to use
I’m gonna add a few more:
if i were a little more like you
Seiyuu Switch (Sakurai Takahiro) Tomioka Giyuu ⇄ Sasori
It’s mostly self-indulgent and for fun because these two are my favorite characters in their series uhuhu //pepehands Did you know that Hino Satoshi (Rengoku) voices Sai of all people HCs and random tidbits about what they do in a different setting under the cut, with warnings here- -Because Giyuu is on the Protagonist’s side and Sasori is an antagonist, when both of them switch… they kind of do things that are OOC for them in their homeworld, so be careful bout that. Also TW Death, because, look at Sabito man
Les amis de l’ABC
The two pages of my portfolio’s project featuring the revolutionary boys.
I am actually not very happy with ALL of the designs, I would have loved to make a larger exploration with each of them… but considering they are like the “extras” in the project (despite the love I feel for them, which is only surpassed by my love for Gavroche) I can’t expend more time on them.
The second pic was intended to be a final illustration but my teacher almost screamed (?) when I said I wanted to finish it. Like “NO. It’s great like this”
I’m not that sure but ok (?)
the guide, the chief, the center
