What secrets will be leaked this time? The answer might surprise you. I also have a handful of TL and culture notes because Japanese is a weird language. These are minor spoilers so be aware.
Kawausoiya Song
Okay, I should’ve done this one last week. “Soiya soiya” is just the chant that’s used during certain Japanese religious festivals, it doesn’t particularly have a meaning. However, here it’s been mixed together with kawauso, which means otter, and of course represents the antagonists. So it’s basically just a pun.
Keith, kiss, and kiss
All homonyms. Keith’s name sounds like kiss, and the common Japanese name of the sillago fish is also kiss. It is not, however, the same as the kissing fish, known as kissing gourami. His full name, Keith Mottoclay, is written properly as キスもっとくれ, meaning “give me more kisses”.
Sanmai Fillet
Another word deriving from Sarazanmai. A sanmai fillet (of fish) is when it is sliced into three parts—two of each side, and one in the middle containing the spine. How this relates to kissing people, only Ikuhara knows. I think he’s just going for the wordplay.
Edit: Whoops, forgot something. If you look closely at the phone (around 6 minutes), they misspell Jinnai Otone’s name as Jinnanai. No idea what’s going on there.
You thought episode 1 was crazy? Well think again. We should’ve probably gotten this out yesterday (winkwink), but circumstances and all that. In any case, the story and development is moving right along, maybe even faster than usual with less repetition than Ikuhara normally uses by this point. The only point of note I want to comment on is the following: The Luxury Fish that they feed Nyantarou have the term “zanmai” in it, just another little reference to the title. Once again, be sure to watch this episode until the very end.
Kuma Shock! Deliciousmell! Wait, wrong anime. Even so, get yourselves geared up for another wild Ikuhara ride! Once again, we’ll do everything in our power to give you the best scripts we can, but you never know when some unassuming term will be revealed to hold the key to understanding everything. Not to mention the mountainload of signs strewn throughout every scene. Because of all the weird stuff going on, the first thing I’m going to do is explain everything I can that I think needs it. Much of this you can find yourself, but I just wanted to compile a short list. If you want to watch this completely blind, feel free to do that first and come back after. Oh, and this is an original translation, as usual.
We don’t actually know for certain yet, although it’s explained in the episode. For now, know that sara means dish, and it’s possible that the zanmai is 三昧, so together it could mean “indulging in dishes” (or perhaps… a dish desire?). Or maybe it means three dishes.
What is shirikodama and why is it not translated?
This is explained as well, and do you really want to keep reading “small anus ball” or “assphere” or “anusphere” over and over again? You might also be wondering why none of the modern kids know what it is, since it’s traditional Japanese folklore and all, but according to some sources it’s becoming less common to know the origin story of kappa. These days they’re these cute river creatures, but they used to be horrible little monsters that shoved their arms up your ass and dragged out your soul ball to kill you. That particular myth may have come from how people who drown to death are often found with distended anuses.
ア
A
Kappa Lore
Way in the past, the “dish” was actually an indent into the kappa’s head in which water was kept. It’s said that if this water spilled or dried out, the kappa would lose their energy and potentially die. Over time, because it was called a dish, it came to mean an actual curved plate placed upside down on top of their heads. You can tell this is the case in Sarazanmai because of the source of the “dinging” sound heard in the first half from Keppi. Because kappa need to always keep it filled with water, you see the kappa shower thing on the calendar. Similarly, because kappa are so dangerous, if you run into one in the wild there are a few ways to defeat it and protect your shirikodama. First, you can bow deeply to them. Because they’re so polite, they’ll bow back and spill their water. Second, you can challenge them to a sumo match and try to make them spill with the intense movements. This is the whole “dosukoi” thing, which truly has no equivalent translation (yes, you can try, but it has no meaning anyway). Finally, one of a kappa’s favorite foods is cucumber.
What’s with Azuma Sara?
Her verbal tic is turning the sentence ender です into でぃっしゅ (dish). You’ll be seeing and hearing this a lot. There is also scroll text beneath the chyrons on her TV show that is in English, and starts with this odd warning that “Normal people cannot see this.” If you turn off subs, you’ll notice that every single one of these is actually in romanized Japanese. So yes, normal people can’t easily read it.
I can hear Sara singing a song…
There is nowhere on screen to put it. Seriously. You can listen to the clean version below with these lyrics we did.
I kneel down alone inside of a deserted classroom (kappa)
I contemplate alone about today’s mysterious happenings (kappa)
When I get to school
On top of my desk
I found a single flower placed
No matter who I try to talk to I never get a response
Maybe they just don’t see me
Everyone just seems to stare straight through me
They simply can’t see
No matter who I try to talk to I never get a response
Maybe they just don’t see me
Everyone just seems to stare straight through me
They simply can’t see
Everything has once more come to a close, and a new beginning of rebirth. While thinking upon and overcoming each of their own regrets and insecurities, we’ve watched all of these characters reach a new chapter of their lives. Although it was only a small amount of time, and they were only able to change one tiny part of history, the waves of repercussions will travel into the future, and hopefully be able to change someone else’s life for the better. Translating Hisone and Masotan did have its difficulties, as many fantasy themed anime have, but at the core of it the heart and soul of each character remained my impetus and guiding light each week. And from here on out, even if only a little, I too will think hard on what I take for granted, and the value that exists between me and others. And maybe, if I can, I’ll become a little more honest in my own life, both to myself and to those around me. Thank you once more for joining us on this flight through Okada Mari’s (and Higuchi Shinji’s) world. May you shine brighter than the stars.
tsuru: Hello hello, tsuru here. HisoMaso was an… interesting show to work on. Between the military terminology and ranks; the weird English (?) terms like ‘レアメタル’; obscure titles (taifu and the rest); their own personal terms like matsurigoto, fushido, and kusabime, all three of which we got wrong; and random other crap (the legendary comm-bus, which thankfully only showed up the one time), the show exacted a blood toll, though at least it was Japanese this time and not Greek. Overall, it was a bit different and just about entertaining enough, but perhaps a little like the $20 box of White Lovers I saw in my local supermarket the other day: probably decent, but not at that price. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed coming dragonvoring with us and agree that Iiboshi is best girl. Tune in again next season for batch fixing, mountain climbing, magic casting, room camping, and last touring. Thanks as always for watching.
Staff:
Supervision: joletb (1)
Translation: Akatsukin
Editing: tsuru
Timing: Akatsukin
Typesetting: joletb
Encoding: joletb
Quality Checking: Akatsukin, joletb (1)
Song Translation: Akatsukin
ED Edit: tsuru (original)
Song Styling: joletb
A little sad, a little happy, a little moving. This journey expanded out further from Teko and Pikari, going through my absolute favorite arc with Mato-chan, but in the end, it all comes back together. Being able to dive into Amano Kozue’s world once more was truly an honor and a privilege, and the way she touches hearts is comparable to no other. While I personally feel that Hisone and Masotan is something almost required of me, Amanchu Advance was a personal project I did entirely because I wanted to, because I wanted to convey Amano’s world in my own words. If you’ve enjoyed our subs, even if only for the encoding and typesetting and songs, even if you don’t care for our scripts, then I still thank you, and deeply wish that you enjoyed the show as much as I have. Like the third-years, all of us too will depart from this spring season that will never come again; but one day, perhaps we may be able to meet once more, in another blue, beautiful world.
tsuru: Hello hello, tsuru here. I hope you all enjoyed the show. I don’t have too much (nice) to say in addition to what Aka already has, so all I’ve got is this: Ane > Katori, Kotori, Kodama (henceforth ‘the Klan’) >>> everyone else; change my mind. Thanks for coming diving with us, and join us in Summer when we have cute girls doing niche outdoor activities for the third season in a row with Yama no Susume S3! And if you’re still waiting for the other Room Camps or SSR, thanks for your patience, and hopefully we’ll get those out soon.
If Pikari’s mom was this amazing the whole time, where’s she been? Also, Pikari has an Aniki too?
Slowly, slowly, it all comes together. Like threads in a braid, they intertwine, and once more we reach the beginning. With each loop, we grow ever more mature, and ever stronger. Next time, we will set off on a new adventure once again.
Imagine the man who gets to enjoy Father’s Day with this woman
It’s in my nature to focus heavily on the writing of every anime I watch, as a translator, but Hisone and Masotan is made so much better due to the truly emotional art and animation, not to mention the flow of music and use of the OP theme. But really, the facial expressions are unbelievable and conveying so much in this show, far above the usual in anime.
So there are things to explain, things you can easily google, and things I’m not going to mention just in case they were meant to be secret (or nothing at all). The most immediately obvious change is Okonogi from High Steward to Senior Vice-Steward. Turns out last week’s closed captions were wrong (go figure)! The other is this weird term 楔女 which we have as a contraction of Bind-maiden. You can see what each of the kanji mean on your own. Oh, and then there’s the しめ縄, the braids, which are those large braided ropes you see hung everywhere at Shinto shrines. That’s about all I can remember to say for now. Meanwhile, Natsume is being written as an interesting foil to Hisone, and I’m excited to see this explored in more depth later, as well as the resolution of a certain earlier foreshadowing thread that is quite loose right now.
