here, i'm gonna spill some more ink over studio bones' decisions adapting ???% in mob psycho 100's confession arc... in a lighter color, perhaps.
some manga readers are upset at the lack of separation between '???%' and 'mob' in the anime vs the clear separation in the manga. that separation doesn't exist in the original japanese.
mob's 声優 (seiyuu) setsuo itō's voice acting in this scene from MP100's first season is by turns startling and visceral (tbh, most of the VA work in this scene is amazing, but i'm only referring to mob here).
youtube
given the above, i expected a voice come up from the depths of hell for ???% in the confession arc, but bones and itō-san did not indulge my whims here. what they gave us instead...
...actually reflects the source material.
while there is an audible distinction between ???%'s nonchalant contempt and mob's considerably-more-animated (thanks to all that emotional growth we've seen over the course of the story!) upset, they sound like the same person in the anime... because they are. i thought this a tidy way to convey that fact, and this subtle distinction is not that different in feel from what we see on the page in the original language.
inside the teenager's mind, shigeo (???%) and mob quarrel in the same font. tails on their speech bubbles eventually disappear as they continue to argue with each other. i found this pointed lack of separation a little confusing on first read, but eventually became used to it.
(for a breakdown of this full conversation in the manga, check out @exilepurify's awesome translation post.)
shigeo chafes at the thought of considering others' needs. he scorns mob for bending himself into a shape he thinks will suit tsubomi, mocks mob's desire to blend into the background and somehow escape notice. his own wish for tsubomi to accept him in all his explosive vainglory doesn't take her wishes into account, either.
and yet. his desires are subordinate to mob's.
he wants what mob wants -- only without that whole pesky 'consideration for other people' thing -- and he wants to keep mob alive. their full conversation reveals just how much shigeo actually loves mob.
for all practical purposes, any distinctions between shigeo and mob -- private vs public, subconscious vs conscious -- only exist in the boy's head. even then, they have been unfairly imposed... by mob himself.
the teenager laying waste to seasoning city?
the teenager his friends and family love?
one and the same.
his loved ones and allies address him with the names by which they know him; they assume he's the same person, just experiencing an involuntary loss of control and in need of some help. it's important to emphasize that. drastically different voices for shigeo and mob would have drawn a hard line between them where there is none.
studio bones removed and/or internalized ???%'s lines, apparently robbing him of speech. but ???% is talking to himself, and no one else can hear him.
in the manga, shigeo seizes control of the boy's speech centers and speaks out loud as ???%, in a scratchy, rough font meant to evoke a harsh voice. (it's the same font used for ???%'s last brief, conscious takeover when mob discovers the crispy fried corpses of his family in their merrily crackling home! you can hear itō-san's delightful interpretation of it in episode 9 from the second season.)
he says:
「僕の好きにやらせてもらう。」
boku no s'ki ni yarasete morau.
'i'll be free to do whatever i want.'
or more literally: 'i will take [from you] the allowance to do as i please.' his use of 貰う here emphasizes that he is forcing mob's hand.
this line and the shift in viewpoint serve to highlight the exact moment where shigeo gains the advantage in his argument with mob.
mob and shigeo squabble for external control for a while; ONE shows this by letting them both speak aloud in this same rough voice. both sides of the fight between the two (at least after 'i'll be free to do whatever i want') can actually be heard from the outside. we only get a few small panels of this as it's happening, but it's unnerving.
shigeo, who is winning this battle, not only gets far more lines as seen from without, but his harsh rasp even colors mob's external speech. this is mob's only line the mangaka lets us see in that font, and it's heartbreaking:
「だって… もしこ��が本当の僕の姿だっていうなら…」
datte... mosh' kore ga hontou no boku no sugata datte iu nara...
'because... if this [???%] is what i really am, as you say...
the line continues within:
「本当の僕になんて誰も近寄らない。誰も… 誰も助けてくれない。そんなの嫌いだ。」
hontou no boku ni nante daremo ch'kayoranai. daremo... daremo tas'kete kurenai. sonna no kirai da.
'no one will come anywhere near the real me. no one... no one will be there for me. i won't have that.'
the full takeover, which happens a bit later, is marked by:
shigeo's dissolution of and absorption of mob's consciousness into himself;
reigen's 「すまない」 (sumanai, 'i'm sorry') for not knowing the nature of what his deshi was struggling to contain;
???%'s last glance back at the man before pressing on towards his goal... as reigen begs him to wait, running after him.
thereafter, we see ???% from without. we get two short glimpses of shigeo's internal perspective before dimple's reappearance, then rejoin him inside for his last explosion with mob.
the anime depicts the moment of full takeover thusly:
shigeo's dissolution of and absorption of mob's consciousness into himself;
a 「すまない」 from reigen, who senses something has gone even more wrong with the boy and renews his pursuit... begging him to wait;
shigeo's turning his back on reigen and walking on. we see him spurning his mentor from the inside, his face hardening against a stark black backdrop.
the outward shift happens on-screen too. while it eventually returns to an internal view just as the manga does, it largely stays there, owing to a serious expansion of the scene where shigeo indulges his thirst for revenge on reigen.
except for an audible sigh when teru remarks on how normal his friend's losing control of himself actually makes him, anime shigeo speaks to no one.
???% is alone when he speaks in the manga; reigen is nowhere within earshot and shigeo is only addressing mob. in other words, he's talking to himself. shigeo never utters a word to anyone else in either manga or anime, as if he owes no one an explanation for the choice to sack his hometown or injure his friends.
as bone-chilling and unsettling as ???% speaking out loud is on the page, as much as it enhances the reading experience... in my opinion, it adds nothing new to our understanding of this situation on the screen. viewers can see for themselves that:
an internal takeover has occurred in this boy's mind,
???% is sentient and human and ever so divinely enraged at having been chained up for so long;
???% is finally free.
so why should studio bones belabor this point by having him shout, in the middle of a tornado, to no one in particular? if a boy speaks in a tornado, and there is no one around to hear it, does he make a sound... ?
i also don't know that this would translate well to film. in real life, talking to oneself like that usually carries connotations of psychosis, and resolving it as is done here would honestly be an insult to real-life sufferers. i love it to pieces in the manga but understand why this was cut.
the only things removing ???%'s outward speech loses for me are:
one last opportunity for itō-san to flex that audible jump-scare STOMACH-TWISTING SNARL (oh, i will miss it so);
a slightly-less-vague sense of how shigeo might make his wishes known to tsubomi, were he to present himself to her like this... he wants her approval so badly, and is terrified of not getting it. would he be able to speak to her at all? in the manga the question becomes what would he even say to her?
HILARIOUSLY OVERDUE ANNOUNCEMENT: i did the japanese translation of yomi gardenia (quiesphere)'s 10min scifi adventure game goodbye tired stars! it's available in multiple languages, so now is a great time to play it if you haven't yet. plus if you donate a little money to the dev you can even get the artbook!
HD Nyako from the first volume of "The Complete Works of Nekojiru"!
I've made a discord server for collecting as much of material as possible from the Nekojiru series and sharing our love for the mangas, movie and anime. Feel free to join: https://discord.gg/dWABNCbjvz
Hi tumblr~ I'm Purin and I have 17 years experience of japanese language and I'd love to start a portfolio of JP > EN translations to kickstart my career as a JP translator. I'm open to try and translate anything from manga to professional documents! Please help to reblog to spread the word, and DM me to discuss pricing! THANK U SO MUCH <3
In the original dialogue, Grim is often referred to as a “tanuki,” an animal that is endemic to Japan and is something like a cross between a dog and a raccoon.
This was changed to “weasel” for the EN release.
Original Crowley: "--where the eggs of exceptionally talented magic-users that have been selected from around the world gather together."
EN Crowley: "It is an institution for students the world over who demonstrate a rare aptitude for magic."
には an emphatic version of the particle は, here used to show respect towards the subject of a statement.
頼り切り 〖 たよりきり 〗 overreliance, overdependence.
from a noun-y form of the verb 頼る (related, of course, to 頼む and 信頼) and 切る, meaning to cut, slice, truncate, end…
こそ used after a word or phrase, emphasizes it. think 'especially ~' or 'very much so ~'.
凡人 〖 ぼんじん 〗 ordinary, average or mediocre person.
for some reason, translated in crunchyroll's english localization for MP100 as 'commoner'... this word has almost no positive connotations in my native tongue.
向き合う 〖 むきあう 〗 face off against, confront.
努力 〖 どりょく 〗 effort, hard work, striving.
避難(する)〖 ひなん 〗 taking refuge, finding shelter, evacuation. you may recognize 難 from 難しい。
関係ない 〖 かんけいない 〗 unconcerned, unconnected, irrelevant.
関係 can mean connection, relationship, concern...
災害 〖 さいがい 〗 calamity, disaster, misfortune.
中心部 〖 ちゅうしんぶ 〗 in medias res; in the heart of, central part of.
発作(する)〖 ほっさく 〗 fit, spasm, seizure.
例文(れいぶん)のを読み続けてください。
example sentences below the cut.
本章から例文
言葉が届いてない…?
my words aren't getting through to him...?
止むを得ない… 保護するよ。
there's nothing else to be done. i will keep you safe!
力が収まるまで… このまま拘束。
until your power subsides... this will hold you.
(literally: until [your] power subsides, in this way restraint.)
影山君には… 大事なことを教えてもらった。
kageyama-kun-niwa… you taught me some important things.
この”力”に頼りきりの僕こそが凡人だってコト…
that i, too dependent on these powers, am just an ordinary person…
超能力の無い自分と向き合うことの大切さ……難しさ…
that confronting the me without psychic powers is necessary… and difficult…
(literally: psychic powers-without-self confronting-thing importance of... difficulty of...)
僕は知ってる。影山君はその努力をしている。」
i know. you are making that effort.
(literally: i am knowing. kageyama-kun [teru is directly addressing ???% here], that effort...)
まだ避難していない人がいるよ…
there are still people here who haven't evacuated…
って関係ないか今のキミには…
does that mean nothing to you right now… ?
避難してください!! いまここが災害中心部です!
please evacuate!! you are now in the middle of a disaster area!
影山君…それは発作か何かなのかい?
kageyama-kun… are you having a seizure or something?
(literally: kageyama-kun… this, seizure...)
【お知らせ】 いつも作品を読んでくださり、ありがとうございます。 本日 「フィリグリー街の時計師」海外二次創作の翻訳 「当タコはいっさい責任を負いません ~Neither Full Credit Nor Blame~」 を、AO3にてアップいたしました。 かわいいカツのお話を創作し、そして翻訳をこころよく許可してくださった作者のmatchsticks_pさん、本当にありがとうごさいます! Thank you so much! 【全年齢・全1話・サニモリ】
作品には、ミランダの幅の広く正確な音楽参照が多分に含まれている。歪んだブリットポップ風のジョージ3世に始まり、デスティニーズ・チャイルドのように歌うスカイラー三姉妹。ノートリアスB.I.Gからケンダー&エッブへの目配せ。ミランダは詳しい知識を駆使し、『ショウボート』『ウエストサイド物語』の様な作品がメインストリームのマイノリティ文化に関する認識で重要な転機をもたらしてきた業界ーーアメリカのポップカルチャーの縮図に等しいーーについて機知に富んだ会話を導く。『ハミルトン』はこのプロセスを用い、サブカルチャーの音楽を使いながら、メインストリームの歴史を読み解いていく。ロジャース&ハマースタインの『南太平洋』から引用された人種差別に関する台詞(“you’ve got to be carefully taught”)はバスタ・ライムスと肩を擦り合わせる。ソンドハイムが『太平洋序曲』で試みた視点の実験は、スヌープ・ドックに出会う。ジョン・アダムスに関しては、『1776』からミランダが借りてきた節を使ったギャグもある。『1776』のオープニング・ナンバーは大陸議会がアダムスを黙らせようとする「Sit down, John」なのだが、ミランダも同じように、アダムスと彼が表象するアングロ中心のアメリカ社会に、脇にどけと伝える。ミランダはアダムスを劇中に登場させておらず、名前が出てくるのは二幕以降になるが、そこでハミルトンは「座れジョン、デブのマザーファッカー!」と歌う。もう少し(色んな意味で)控えめなものでは、ミランダはハミルトンに印象的な「満足することはない(I will never be satisfied)」の節を与えるのだが、これは『1776』のアダムスの台詞、「私はいつも不満足なんだ I have always been dissatisfied, I know that.”」に呼応する。
ミランダの詞は目が眩むようだ。ソクラテス(Socrates)は凡人(Mediocrities)とライムし、その前には農奴解放(manumission)と奴隷解放(abolition)と武器(ammunition)がつながる。ギルバート&サリバンはサンプルされるだけでなく、洗練される。ミランダは記者たちにギルバートの有名な歌詞を改善したと嬉々として語る。それは今やワシントンのラップとなる(Now I’m the model of a modern major general / The venerated Virginian veteran whose men are all / Lining up, to put me up on a pedestal.”)【ミランダはギルバート&サリバン『ペンザンスの海賊』の歌詞をここで引用していて、ずっとgeneralの韻はmineralじゃかっこわるいと思ってた、とインタビューで話すのが好きなのです】言葉に酔った陽気な作家のように、駄洒落が溢れている(“Local merchants deny us equipment, assistance / They only take British money, so sing a song of sixpence.”)
『ハミルトン』はオペラと同じように、ほぼ歌い通しである。話す台詞はほぼない。多くの人が示唆するほどは、ラップは多くない。ラップが現れるとしたら、それはジェファソンとハミルトンの閣僚会議をエミネムの8mileばりのラップバトルで表すような「実用的で戦略的な聡明さ(practical tactical brilliance)」を伴っている。ハミルトンとバーの宿命的な決闘はギャング抗争と関連づけられ、自身もギャング抗争が元で亡くなったノートリアスB.I.Gの「Ten Crack Commandments」がサンプリングされる。「ワシントンの後ろ盾があるのはなんと素晴らしいことだろう」とバー、ジェファソンとマディソンは歌う。これは一義的にはハミルトンの後ろ盾のワシントン大統領のことを言っているのだが、同時に現代のワシントンDCから疎外された(政治から疎外された)市民が感じる政治的不平等とも呼応する。”Wait for It”はバーの性格に関する歌であるが、同時に「順番を待て」と言う言葉が有色人種のコミュニティにとってなんと破滅的なものをもたらすかということについての歌でもある。
詞と同じく、音楽も、単にスコアとしての意味だけではなくむしろ歴史的な要素としても利用される。ジェファソンとバーはそれぞれ二幕に大きなソロがある(ミランダは寛大にも、自分ではなく共演者たちに良い曲を振っている)。パリから帰ってきたジェファソンが歌う“What’d I Miss?”は、ブギウギ調のピアノリフを生かしたストライドやラグタイムの混じったディキシーランドジャズ【初期のジャズ】的な音楽だ。このラップの祖父としてのジャズの起源の召喚は少し場違いでーーしかもジェファソンを演じるダヴィード・ディグスは「ジャズ・ハンド」まで使って演じるーー同時にシリアスなものだ。ジェファソンはハミルトンや他の閣僚よりずっと歳上だからなのだ。ミランダは若いキャラクターにヒップホップの影響を与え、ジェファソンにオールドスクールなジャズを歌わせるが、またそのジャズの中にもキャブ・キャロウェイのような、ラップの起源を感じさせるボーカルにもオマージュをはらっている。劇が進むたび、ジェファソンのバーにもたらす影響は強まっていく。二幕の最大のバーの見せ場“The Room Where It Happens”では彼の音楽スタイルはシフトし、ジェファソン風のディキシーランド・ジャズスタイルを取り入れていく。バーの歌はコール・ポーターの“Blow, Gabriel, Blow”やフランク・レッサーの”Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat”のような1世紀以上使われ続けるゴスペル風の、観客が足を弾ませるようなコーラスをバックにしたショー・ストッパーだが、これらの楽しく、あまり意味がない歌とは違い、“The Room Where It Happens”は歴史の記録について語ったーー足を踏み鳴らしたいぐらい素晴らしいーーインスタント・クラシック・ナンバーである。
この曲は劇の多くの意味での転換点となる。バーは待つのをやめる。歴史の空白は政治的排除のメタファーとなる。“The Room Where It Happens”は、語られる歴史がどのように権力の神話を作り上げるか、または現実の政治がどうなされるかの歌だ。バーは「誰も実際は知らない/政党がどう同意に持ち込まれるか/チェスの試合で何が捨て駒にされたか/何かが起こったとはわかるが/実際にそれが起こった部屋には(自分達は)いない」そして力強いバース「ことが起こる部屋に/自分も居たい」の前にバースをつなげる。