This week’s initial tentative super rough/literal translations under the cut.
1
その娼婦は一年程前から病に罹っていた
そのしょうふはいちねんほどまえからやまいにかかっていた
sono shoufu wa ichinen hodo mae kara yamai ni kakatte ita
That prostitute had been ill since about a year prior.
2
硬質の疣贅が左腕に生えていた
こうしつのいぼがひだりうでにはえていた
koushitsu no ibo ga hidari ude ni haete ita
A hard wart had been growing on her left arm.
tagline 1
"個性"が起こるよりも昔…
"こせい"がおこるよりもむかし…
"kosei" ga okoru yori mo mukashi...
Long before quirks arose...
3
彼女が自身の懐妊に八か月もの間気付かなかったのは
かのじょがじしんのかいにんにはちかげつものあいだきづかなかったのは
kanojo ga jishin no kainin ni hachikagetsu mono aida kidzukanakatta no wa
The reason she didn't realize she was pregnant for eight months
4
浮浪生活だけが原因ではなかった
ふろうせいかつだけがげんいんではなかった
furou seikatsu dake ga gen'in de wa nakatta
was not only because of her vagrant lifestyle.
5
全く身に覚えがなかったからだ
まったくみにおぼえがなかったからだ
mattaku mi ni oboe ga nakatta kara da
It was because she didn't remember it at all.
6
ソレらはいつの間にか彼女の胎に住みつき
ソレらはいつのまにかかのじょのはらにすみつき
SOREra wa itsu no ma ni ka kanojo no hara ni sumitsuki
Before she knew it, they settled in her womb
7
彼女の生きる力を吸い取っていた
かのじょのいきるちからをすいとっていた
kanojo no ikiru chikara wo suitotte ita
and were draining away her life force.
1
川のほとりで双子を産み落とした女性は
かわのほとりでふたごをうみおとしたじょせいは
kawa no hotori de futago wo umiotoshita josei wa
The woman, who gave birth to twins by the river,
2
そのまま死亡した
そのまましぼうした
sono mama shibou shita
died just like that.
3
彼女の疣贅はなぜか
かのじょのいぼはなぜか
kanojo no ibo wa naze ka
For some reason, her wart
4
きれいさっぱりなくなっていた
kirei sappari nakunatte ita
disappeared without a trace.
5
赤児達は
あかごたちは
akago-tachi wa
As for the babies,
6
二人きりだった
ふたりきりだった
futarikiri datta
they were alone, [just the two of them].
7
ねずみがやって来て遺体と赤児をかじり始めた頃
ねずみがやってきていたいとあかごをかじりはじめたころ
nezumi ga yatte kite itai to akago wo kajiri hajimeta koro
Just as the rats came and started to gnaw on the corpse and the babies,
8
増水した川が
ぞうすいしたかわが
zousui shita kawa ga
the rising river
9
双子をさらっていった
ふたごをさらっていった
futago wo saratte itta
swept the twins away.
1
一年後
いちねんご
ichinengo
One year later,
2
"発光する赤児"を皮切りに世界各国で"異能"の報告が相次ぐ
"はっこうするあかご"をかわきりにせかいかっこくで"いのう"のほうこくがあいつぐ
"hakkou suru akago" wo kawakiri ni sekai kakkoku de "inou" no houkoku ga aitsugu
starting with "the luminous baby," reports of "meta abilities" emerged one after the other from all over the world.
3
"異能"は先天性のもうだけではなく
"いのう"はせんてんせいのもうだけではなく
"inou" wa sentensei no mou dake de wa naku
Meta abilities were not just congenital.
4
二次性徴前後の青少年にも後天的に発現した
にじせいちょうぜんごのせいしょうねんにもこうてんてきにはつげんした
nijiseichou zengo no seishounen ni mo koutenteki ni hatsugen shita
Around when they developed secondary sex characteristics, adolescents also expressed them as acquired [traits].
(Note: "Secondary sex characteristics" means puberty basically.)
5
未知の病として調べていた研究グループは
みちのやまいとしてしらべていたけんきゅうグループは
michi no yamai to shite shirabete ita kenkyuu GURUUPU wa
A research group investigating them as an unknown disease
6-7
"異能"を「ヒトから枝わかれした新たなる遺伝子」と発表した
"いのう"を「ヒトからえだわかれしたあらたなるいでんし」とはっぴょうした
"inou" wo 「HITO kara edawakareshita aratanaru idenshi」 to happyou shita
announced that meta abilities were "a new gene branched off from humans."
1
それはあまりに無神経で早計だった
それはあまりにむしんけいでそうけいだった
sore wa amari ni mushinkei de soukei datta
That was too callous and rash.
2
群生性命を隔つその発表は
ぐんせいせいめいをへだつそのはっぴょうは
gunseisei mei wo hedatsu sono happyou wa
That announcement that subdivided gregarious life*
(*Note: "Gregarious life" may be a bit too literal to be comprehensible. I think the best way to think of this phrase would be something like "social species.")
3
混沌を加速させた
こんとんをかそくさせた
konton wo kasoku saseta
accelerated the chaos.
4
コンビナート方面で"異能"の連中が結集し始めたそうだ
コンビナートほうめんで"いのう"のれんちゅうがけっしゅうしはじめたそうだ
KONBINAATO houmen de "inou" no renchuu ga kesshuu shi hajimeta sou da
"It seems that the meta abilities gangs have begun to gather around the industrial complex."
5
昨夜デモ隊が衝突した奴等だな……
さくやデモたいがしょうとつしたやつらだな……
sakuya DEMO tai ga shoutotsu shita yatsura da na......
"They're the ones the demonstrators clashed with last night......"
6
連中が決起する前に叩くぞ
れんちゅうがけっきするまえにたたくぞ
renchuu ga kekki suru mae ni tataku zo
"Let's hit them before they rise up."
7
なんだ?
nanda?
"What's that?"
1
超常遺児か
ちょうじょういじか
choujou iji ka
"A paranormal orphan, huh?"
2
可哀想だが放っとけ!遺児は保菌者の可能性が高い
かわいそうだがほっとけ!いじはキャリアのかのうせいがたかい
kawaisou da ga hottoke! iji wa KYARIA (kanji hokinsha) no kanousei ga takai
"I feel bad for him, but leave him be! The possibility for an orphan to be a carrier is high."
3
ん
n
"Right."
4
何の音だ
なんのおとだ
nan no oto da
"What's that sound?"
5
ん?
n?
"Hm?"
6
え
e
"Huh?"
1
それは母親から「奪った」異能
それはははおやから「うばった」いのう
sore wa hahaoya kara 「ubatta」 inou
That was the meta ability he "stole" from his mother.
2
その赤児は生まれながらに不遜だった
そのあかごはうまれながらにふそんだった
sono akago wa umare nagara ni fuson datta
That baby was born conceited.
3
身の回り全てが自身の所有物であり
みのまわりすべてがじしんのしょゆうぶつであり
mi no mawari subete ga jishin no shoyuubutsu de ari
Everything around him was his own property.
1
泣けど喚けど自身を見ない
なけどわめけどじしんをみない
nakedo wamekedo jishin wo minai
He cried and screamed, but he didn't see himself.
2
何も与えない者が
なにもあたえないものが
nani mo ataenai mono ga
Those who gave him nothing
3
ただただ
tada tada
were simply
4
疑問だった
ぎもんだった
gimon datta
problems*.
(*Note: The word here means "problem, doubt, question." I think the description is saying that the baby would look at others and see them as the same as everything else in the world: something that existed as his property. Therefore those that gave him nothing were confusing, were question marks, and he harbored doubts and suspicions about them as a result.)
1
ダメ
DAME
"Don't."
2
イタイの
ITAI no
"That hurts [them]."
3
母親から与えられる筈の栄養を
ははおやからあたえられるはずのえいようを
hahaoya kara ataerareru hazu no eiyou wo
The nutrition his mother should have given to him
4
ダメ
DAME
"Don't."
5
ほとんど兄に奪われたので
ほとんどあににうばわれたので
hotondo ani ni ubawareta node
was largely stolen by his older brother, so
6
弟はとても小さく脆弱だった
おとうとはとてもちいさくぜいじゃくだった
otouto wa totemo chiisaku zeijaku datta
the younger brother was very small and frail.
7
自身に何も与えない存在だったが手に持っていた所有物なので
じしんになにもあたえないそんざいだったがてにもっていたものなので
jishin ni nani mo ataenai sonzai datta ga te ni motte ita mono nanode
[The younger brother's] existence gave nothing to [the older brother], but [the younger brother's existence] was a possession [the older brother] held in his hands, so
8
兄は弟を決して手放そうとしなかった
あにはおとうとをけっしててばなそうとしなかった
ani wa otouto wo kesshite tebanasou to shinakatta
the older brother tried to never let go of the younger brother.
1
ーー溝が深まる一方で"発光する赤児"が自ら先頭に立ち
ーーみぞがふかまるいっぽうで"はっこうするあかご"がみずからせんとうにたち
--mizo ga fukamaru ippou de "hakkou suru akago" ga mizukara sentou ni tachi
"--While the gap* intensified, the "luminous baby" has taken the lead"
(*Note: The "gap" is referring to the rift between humans with meta abilities versus those without.)
2
平和と安全を訴えています賛同者は日増しに増加しておりーー
へいわとあんぜんをうったえていますさんどうしゃはひましにぞうかしておりーー
heiwa to anzen wo uttaete imasu sandousha wa hima shi ni zouka shite ori--
"to call for peace and security, with the number of supporters increasing day by day--"
3
僕に黙って何を読んでる?
ぼくにだまってなにをよんでる?
boku ni damatte nani wo yonderu?
"What are you reading without telling me?"
4
まだ文字の勉強中で難しい本は読めないんだけど…
まだもじのべんきょうちゅうでむずかしいほんはよめないんだけど…
mada moji no benkyouchuu de muzukashii hon wa yomenainda kedo...
"I'm still learning letters so I can't read difficult books, but..."
5
すごいよこのコミックって本
すごいよこのコミックってほん
sugoi yo KOMIKKU tte hon
"this comic book is amazing!"
6
絵で読めるんだ
えでよめるんだ
e de yomerunda
"I can read it by the pictures."
7
描いた人の願いが絵で伝わってくる
かいたひとのねがいがえでつたわってくる
kaita hito no negai ga e de tsutawatte kuru
"The wishes of the person who drew it are conveyed through the pictures."
8
ヒーロー…
HIIROO...
"Hero..."
9-10
僕もいつかこんな風になりたいな…
ぼくもいつかこんなふうになりたいな…
boku mo itsu ka konna fuu ni naritai na...
"I want to be like this someday too..."
11
弟はまだ兄を諦めきれなかった
おとうとはまだあにをあきらめきれなかった
otouto wa mada ani wo akirame kirenakatta
The younger brother couldn't give up on the older brother yet.
1-2
かすかに憶えているあの手を兄の優しさだと信じたかった
かすかにおぼえているあのてをあにのやさしさだとしんじたかった
kasuka ni oboete iru ano te wo ani no yasashisa da to shinjitakatta
He wanted to believe that hand he faintly remembers was his older brother's kindness.
3
三年後
さんねんご
sannengo
Three years later
4
例の"発光する赤児"さぁ…あいつのシンパがとうとう1000万人を超えたんだってさ
れいの"はっこうするあかご"さぁ…あいつのシンパがとうとう1000まんにんをこえたんだってさ
rei no "hakkou suru akago" saa...aitsu no SHINPA ga toutou 1000mannin wo koetanda tte sa
"Well, for example, that 'luminous baby'...they say that guy's sympathizers finally surpassed 10 million people."
5
兄さん…
にいさん…
niisan...
"Brother..."
6
おかしいよなだってあれは戸籍登録が一番早かったってだけで
おかしいよなだってあれはこせきとうろくがいちばんはやかったってだけで
okashii yo na datte are wa koseki touroku ga ichiban hayakatta tte dake de
"That's strange, isn't it? Since it's just because his family registration was the fastest."
7-8
インドなんかじゃその二周間前には50人は異能が産まれてたって話だぜ
インドなんかじゃそのにしゅうかんまえには50にんはいのうがうまれてたってはなしだぜ
INDO nanka ja sono nishuukan mae ni wa 50nin wa inou ga umareteta tte hanashi da ze
"They say that, in India, 50 people with meta abilities were born two weeks before that."
9
その姿は
そのすがたは
sono sugata wa
"That appearance..."
(Note: Yoichi is reacting with surprise at how AFO looks like he's been in a fight or something.)
10
おかしな話だよそんなので人を集められるなんてさ
おかしなはなしだよそんなのでひとをあつめられるなんてさ
okashina hanashi da yo sonna node hito wo atsumerareru nante sa
"It's such a strange story, that he could gather people together like that."
1
だから殺して「奪って」やった
だからころして「うばって」やった
dakara koroshite 「ubatte」 yatta
"That's why I killed him and 'stole' [his meta ability.]"
2
……なんで…
......nande...
"......Why..."
3
だって
datte
"Because"
4
あのコミックに描かれていたろ
あのコミックにかかれていたろ
ano KOMIKKU ni kakarete ita ro
"it was depicted in that comic."
5
ONE FOR ALL…
ワン フォー オール…
WAN FOO OORU...
"One For All..."
6
ALL FOR ONE良い言葉だよな
オール フォー ワンいいことばだよな
OORU FOO WAN ii kotoba da yo na
"All For One, they're excellent words."
1
ヒーローは正体を隠して孤独に戦っていたけれど
ヒーローはしょうたいをかくしてこどくにたたかっていたけれど
HIIROO wa shoutai wo kakushite kodoku ni tatakatte ita keredo
"The hero was hiding his true identity as he fought alone, but"
2
悪の魔王は皆が恐怖して全てを差し出すんだ
あくのまおうはみんながきょうふしてすべてをさしだすんだ
aku no maou wa minna ga kyoufu shite subete wo sashidasunda
"everyone feared and offered up everything to the evil Demon King."
3
おまえがそうであるように…皆が僕の為だけに存在する世界
おまえがそうであるように…みんながぼくのためだけにそんざいするせかい
omae ga sou de aru you ni...minna ga boku no tame dake ni sonzai suru sekai
"A world where everyone exists just for my sake...just like you do."
4
僕にも夢ができた!
ぼくにもゆめができた!
boku ni mo yume ga dekita!
"I was also able [to come up with] a dream!"
1
待て何故行ってしまうんだ
まてなぜいってしまうんだ
mate naze itte shimaunda
Wait, why are you leaving?
2
"力"を与えてやったじゃないか!
"ちから"をあたえてやったじゃないか!
"chikara" wo ataete yatta ja nai ka!
Didn't I give you power?!
3
なんだおまえは!離れろ!
なんだおまえは!はなれろ!
nanda omae wa! hanarero!
What are you? Get away [from him]!
4
僕のだ僕を見ていろ!
ぼくのだぼくをみていろ!
boku no da boku wo mite iro!
[That's] mine, look at me!
5-6
僕のものにならないなら
ぼくのものにならないなら
boku no mono ni naranai nara
If you won't become mine,
7
もうーー
mou--
then--
tagline
その手はー…
そのてはー…
sono te wa-...
That hand is-...
The world of the Estonians’ ancestors – Metsik, the forest elves
Metsik is the elf of the woodlands. According to ancient Estonian folklore, Metsik were wood elves who lived everywhere there were trees, from coniferous woodlands to shallow swamp forests. When Metsik appears to people, they assume the appearance of a bird, a wild animal, or a beautiful tree. A singing bird who truly is Metsik sings songs that humans can understand. They can also understand the language of the aspen tree that rustles in the wind for that aspen tree is Metsik.
If birdsong is heard, it may be a Metsik singing. People can hear Metsik in an aspen tree that rustles in the wind. Metiks are the guardian spirits of the forest. They do not approve of cutting down trees, bonfires and, above all, waste dumping. When people enter the forest with cruel intentions, Metik misleads them away from their sacred home.
It lives in the extreme temperatures and pressures of the deep ocean. It scours the ocean floor for food, and when it finds it, it sucks it into its body along with surrounding sand and rocks. It breaks down this material into minerals which it constructs its shell from, and ejects the waste as smoke.
Cysmoke
It eats microscopic life and scraps, and devotes all of its attention to growing larger. It uses its tentacles to stir up the ocean floor and then swims around, sucking everything out of the water. When it senses danger, it buries itself in the sand up to its helmet and ejects bursts of smoke.
Volcanicle
On reaching adulthood, it fixes its shell to a place on the ocean floor and eats through the ground, converting it into more shell. This process creates a massive amount of heat and smoke, which attract other deep sea life to its location. Creatures that get too close to the smoke vent are sucked in and eaten.
Name origin
ノープ comes from nauplius, the larval stage of barnacles. フジツァン is a combination of フジツボ (barnacle) and 富士山 (Mt Fuji, an active volcano). These are all based on the lifecycle of a barnacle and deep sea hydrothermal vents.
The world tree is a motif present in several religions and myths around the world. It is represented as a colossal tree which supports the heavens, thereby connecting the heavens, the terrestrial world, and, through its roots, the underworld.
Many Eurasian mythologies share the motif of the "world tree", "cosmic tree", or "Eagle and Serpent Tree". More specifically, it shows up in "Haitian, Finnish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Norse, Siberian and northern Asian Shamanic folklore".
The World Tree is often identified with the Tree of Life, and also fulfills the role of an axis mundi, that is, a centre or axis of the world. It is also located at the center of the world and represents order and harmony of the cosmos. Each part of the tree corresponds to one of the three spheres of the world (treetops - heavens; trunk - middle world or earth; roots - underworld) and is also associated with a classical element (top part - fire; middle part - earth, soil, ground; bottom part - water).
Its branches are said to reach the skies and its roots to connect the human or earthly world with an underworld or subterranean realm. Because of this, the tree was worshipped as a mediator between Heavens and Earth. On the treetops are located the luminaries (stars) and heavenly bodies, along with an eagle's nest; several species of birds perch among its branches; humans and animals of every kind live under its branches, and near the root is the dwelling place of snakes and every sort of reptiles.
A bird perches atop its foliage, "often .... a winged mythical creature" that represents a heavenly realm. The eagle seems to be the most frequent bird, fulfilling the role of a creator or weather deity. Its antipode is a snake or serpentine creature that crawls between the tree roots, being a "symbol of the underworld".
The imagery of the World Tree is sometimes associated with conferring immortality, either by a fruit that grows on it or by a springsource located nearby. In some descriptions this "water of life" may also flow from the roots of the tree.
The world tree was an important element in shamanistic worldview as well, and it is said that the giant bird ... hatches shamans in the branches of the World Tree.
Some species of birds (eagle, raven, crane, loon, and lark) are revered as mediators between worlds and also connected to the imagery of the world tree. Another line of scholarship points to a "recurring theme" of the owl as the mediator to the upper realm, and its counterpart, the snake, as the mediator to the lower regions of the cosmos.
Northern Eurasian and Central Asian traditions wherein the World Tree is also associated with the horse and with deer antlers which might resemble tree branches.
Some scholars have pointed out that, from the perspective of evolutionary biology, the concept of a world tree may have originated in human thought. This is because our ancestors lived in trees for about 60 million years, and for them the trees were everything in the world. This is why the collective unconscious that the world is made of giant trees has remained with us to the present day.