In which I rant and overanalyze words

No real spoilers here... not really...
EDIT: okay fine there are spoilers because I decided to compare the two, Japanese and English. So there are spoilers at the bottom.



But seriously what is UP with that scene.
Watch it twice in one day 'cause you're collecting Draco Cantus's easy and normal drops (which are boring), and it still won't make sense.
Watch it in Japanese, several times, and it still won't make sense (though you'll learn that he speaks in -masu form whatwhatwhatiamconfused).
Tell yourself that this time, you are DEFINITELY GOING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS, and it STILL WON'T MAKE SENSE.

vvvvaaahh. D:
Isn't it basic human courtesy to provide context for what you're showing people. ISN'T IT?! That scene. Can be interpreted in so many ways and there is nothing to say which one should even be FAVORED.

In any case though, because I've just watched it in Japanese, I feel like I have received new information, so I'm happy right now and feeling very warm-hearted towards everyone, much like I did when I first saw the scene in English. It'll sink in eventually that I haven't actually learned anything cohesive.

Also Anguis is not a very good anguis. I checked. That tongue is definitely forked.

Anyway I have an essay to write today, which I really probably should do.


EDIT
ORRRRRR I COULD TYPE UP THE SCENE IN NIHONGO CAUSE THAT'S FUN
それにしても、今回の災厄[?]．．．、上でも[問題に?]なりますよ。
まっ、これでとりあえず元通りってことで。
ほら？なんだか寂しそうじゃないですか？
なんにしろ、彼らの世界をどうするか、彼らが決めてるんですがな。われわれはもう．．．
あー、やれやれ。素直じゃない方だ。

Notes: Overall it's not bad. Really nothing I'd say "No, they should have translated it as this instead" to. Some things I've noticed though...

• "Sore ni shite mo" = "Even so/nevertheless." Unlike "You know," "sore ni shite mo" gives a strong impression of continuing a conversation that was already going on.
• Saiyaku: What he says sounds like "saiya," which doesn't appear to be a word. "Saiyaku" means calamity or disaster, which is a bit... strong? Alternately just "sai" 際 means "circumstances" and the ya could be a weird, tacked-on... particle? Though the rest of his Japanese is fairly standard... (THEREFORE COMPREHENSIBLE WHOOOOO)
• Mondai: I'm not sure that's what he says, and the ni is only there because that would be how you connect mondai to narimasu. If it's not that, then it's a word I don't know.
• EDIT: Well, it's definitely not any word that translates directly to "repercussions" according to Jim Breen (ie the wwwjdic). Sounds more like "mondai" than any of the words there, but...
  
• Narimasu: WTFDMASUFORM. ...Seriously, that threw me for a huge loop. I've gotta look up how they talk to each other in like J-3 nstuff, because it would be incredibly odd for an adult to use -masu with a fifteen-year-old, especially considering Neku's comment that they "seem to go way back." To iu wake de, this would be a Composer-Producer thing, placing the two of them either at extremely distant with each other, or making the Composer the higher position. Something I've considered before, but... still odd. ...That aside, the punctuation here could just as well be a ~ as a period. He says it in a pretty sing-song voice.

• Toriaezu: "for now." OTL it'sgoingtohappenagain
• Motodoori: not "normal" but specifically "the way things were before." Well, I suppose in the end it's roughly the same, but... it feels different to me somehow. And I can't figure out if I feel that it's more positive, or less so.
• Tte koto de: vvmmm... I'm not sure if I've got this right, but this combined with toriaezu makes me feel like he's saying something like "Well we'll try this for now."

• Hora?: Doesn't seem like an ordinary hora. Might be a more masculine "ara"? XP Aiunno.
• Samishisou: asdfghjkl;' pretty much makes the entire Japanese version worth listening to for the fact that "samishii" is waaay more specific than "down." It means lonely. *o*
• Ja nai desu ka: ffffffff this sounds so much like something that would be in my textbook. Like the greatest eavesdropping assignment ever or something. Except then you'd get a question like, "g. What's going on in this exchange? How can you tell?" And I'd have to say I HAVE NO FREAKING CLUE, I GIVE UP. Also calling it an exchange would be a little... But yeah, this is where I caught on to the -masu form and did a double take.

• Nanni shiro: His attitude throughout this conversation is very very "whatever"-ish. Sore ni shite mo, Ma, Nanni shiro, and yareyare are all, like, go-with-the-flow sort of phrases...
• Kare-ra ga...: *tilts head* I call that a ga because a na would not make any sense there? It sounds like a na. I suppose it's just a very very nasal ga. Stupid nasal ga.
• Kimeteru: Are deciding, as a result of a change. A bit different from "get to decide."
• N desu ga na: (It's that) they are deciding what to do with it. (I'm speaking Jordenese. Someone shoot me.) Note that the n desu seems to apply to the entire sentence, and what's being explained by this comment is not in the conversation. Go figure. This goes back to that context issue. The "na" at the end knocks the tone down to slightly more casual and also implies that Josh should know this already, should already be in agreement.
  (I was kidding, Josh. Please put that down.)
• Wareware: A much more impersonal "we" than I was expecting. Nnn, what do I mean. I'd have to find out what word he uses for "me" (probably ore, I'd think), but I feel like that makes this much more distant. In English, I felt that he was saying "the two of us" whereas listening to the Japanese, it occurred to me for the first time that he could be talking about all higher beings.
• EDITTO: From TV Tropes, which knows everything: "我々 "We" or "us", used by both men and women to refer to a group. Generally used to refer to, say, one's people or one's company, rather than in a "me and my friends" sense." See, this is why I say learning by osmosis WORKS.

• Entire line: I like this. ._. It just seems... so... fond. I mean, the English similarly so. Kind of like a "Oh well, what can ya do?" sort of thing. I find it...... hard to reconcile.
• Sunao: Means either "obedient" or "honest." In this context, probably "obedient" (at least, the translator sure think so), but I like that it has both meanings.
• Sunao ja nai kata: Strange construction. It's not "not an obedient person," it's "a person who is not obedient." Like being disobedient is a defining characteristic or something. xD
• Kata: katawthkata. S-seriously. I need to go over the way I'm looking at things again. (Again for the hundredbillionthtime.)
  

And before you (inexistent reader) ask, yes, I did in fact do one of these for the English version, as well. Just on paper, and less analyzing-each-word, more trying to get a holistic idea of what they were talking about.
And failing.


Has this helped?
As I said, "samishisou" makes a huge difference. The theory that Joshua is "down" because he wants to join Neku-tachi is suddenly looking much clearer, almost to the point of confirmation. The fact that Neku does mentally invite him to join them... Even so I can't imagine how that would go over. ._.
What keeps it from being confirmed is my uncertainty under how that puts the entire conversation together. What is being explained that "they're deciding what to do with their own world"? Hm. The construction is a little weird because the "n desu" means it's an explanation--meaning new information; the "ga" implies that he's leaving something unsaid; the "na" asks for/assumes agreement. It's like he's saying, "The answer to your [unasked] question [or the reason you can't do what you want] is that they're deciding what to do with their own world, but you knew that already." bfffff I wish Yoshua hadn't flown off before he could finish his next sentence. I have no idea what he was supposed to be saying. None whatsoever.


So, still no holistic comprehension of what's going on. However some things have become clearer. So this was a triumph; I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.

Well, perhaps not huge.
ABOUT THAT SHUKUDAI.