40
Here is an academic paper1 with an analysis of the concept of moe, including its history and origin, relationship to the socio-economics of Japan, previous academic studies of moe, otaku and fujoshi psychology, and a very in-depth analysis of what moe actually is.
A short table of contents of the topics covered:
Japanese critical discourse
Emergence of ...
36
It's a culture thing, and it's kinda like a fixed phrase, which is not translated accurately into English. If you can understand a little Chinese, its true meaning is 我饶不了你, in which 我(means I) 饶不了(means won't forgive) 你(means you), and the meaning is perfectly translated.
Its true meaning in English is more like this: I will not absolve you from guilt or I ...
28
According to Yen Press (the English publisher of the Spice and Wolf novels), they were instructed by the Japanese licensor to use "Holo".
Source: This comment at Yenpress.com
There was also a scene in the anime, season 2 episode 4, showing a hand-written letter that included "Holo".
Poor writing, but I think it's obvious that it's an L not an R.
28
Yeah, it's a pun. When read
悪魔で執事ですから
akuma de shitsuji desu kara
It means
I'm a devil and a butler, you see.
Whereas, when read as the identical-sounding
飽くまで執事ですから
aku made shitsuji desu kara
It means
I'm a butler through and through, you see.
This pun (aku made vs. akuma de) is a relatively common one in Japanese. For an example of ...
27
Not only is that the symbol for Japanese yen, the phone itself is also something utterly Japanese, a pink public phone:
They're very iconic (somewhat ubiquitous decades ago when you'd see them in shops or restaurants) but also very outdated (They only take 10 yen coins which is not much at all). If there are any still being operated then as something ...
26
As far as I can tell, it hasn't really spread back very much. However, my method of checking is a bit strange, so it's likely that a native Japanese speaker could answer this better. As you pointed out, the original version has 8000 rather than 9000. What Vegeta says in Japanese is "八千以上だ" which literally translates to "It's over 8000."
I looked on nico ...
24
Japanese can be written either horizontally or vertically. Vertical writing is known as tategaki (縦書き) and is notably used in manga. When writing vertically, columns of text are read top-to-bottom, right-to-left, which is why manga panels are also read this way. Horizontal writing is called yokogaki (横書き) and is written left-to-right, top-to-bottom exactly ...
22
I think it's just her random, meaningless word for "Good morning".
I found an interview with the producer of Non Non Biyori.
－－主要キャラクターの宮内れんげのせりふ「にゃんぱすー」はどういう意味があるのですか？
小学1年生が考えた「おはこんばんちわ」的な（笑い）、いろいろなときに対応できるあいさつです。また、れんげというキャラクターは1年生ですが、いろんな意味でませています。知識も多彩で通知表もオール5です。
What's the meaning of "Nyanpasu" from main character Renge Miyauchi?
...
22
"seme" is a noun derived from the verb "semeru" which means "to attack".
The expected opposite is probably "uke", derived from "ukeru" meaning "to receive".
what Kaoru said was "mamori", derived from "mamoru", "to protect".
Seme and uke are most commonly used in martial arts to describe the roles in a move: the seme is the person who takes the initiative ...
21
From what I remember (although I don't know enough Japanese to confirm this), he was trying every possible different spelling for the name of the victim.
The Death Note wiki page on the first episode also states this as a fact (in the sixth paragraph in the synopsis.
Now, if you've already watched the series and are currently re-watching it, you're already ...
20
Since calling him by his name "Yato" didn't work, Hiyori knows that name is fake.
Yet, she recalls how fondly Yato looked as his small shrine and the name engraved on it.
So she deduces the name engraved in the shrine is correct, but pronounced differently.
She changes the reading of the katakana ト(to) to the reading of the very similar kanji 卜(boku).
19
This is a reference to yaoi sex positions. Seme is the Japanese term for the dominant partner (usually on top), while the uke ("opposite" of seme) is the submissive partner, usually on the bottom.
This is also a pun in Japanese. Seme (same kanji) is another word for "offense" or "attacker". The opposite of which would be "defense".
So, I'm guessing the ...
17
Yes, huge liberties were taken with this phrase. The English phrase roughly corresponds to: "Can you think up a group of caged animals who are dreaming of handling fictional caged animals?"
The Japanese one, however, is more or less the following:
斜め七十七度の並びで泣く泣く嘶くナナハン七台難なく並べて長眺め
Naname nanajyuunana-do no narabi de nakunaku inanaku nanahan nanadai ...
17
There is one particular style of traditional Japanese comedy called manzai (漫才), which is a type of two-man act. One man is called the boke, who is the buffoon; the jokester; the funny guy. The boke will make jokes, many of which (to American audiences at least) are groan comedy. The other member of the pair is called the tsukkomi, and his job is to react to ...
17
Dattebayo (だってばよ) is not really proper Japanese, but you can sort of see how it would come about linguistically as a sentence-ending phrase. It's very impolite, somewhat childish, and basically just combines different ways of putting emphasis on the statement in a not terribly meaningful way.
First, the da (だ) is a standard way to end a sentence (copula) in ...
17
Okay, so a bit of a Japanese lesson:
'B-gata' would normally refer to the blood type. The Japanese are pretty fond of associating blood types with certain personality traits; and a B-type person is considered to be a bit impulsive, passionate, but their actions 'don't come across clearly' to others. (That seems to describe Yamada's character rather well, ...
17
himouto is a blend of the words imouto (妹: Little sister) and himono (干物).
himono literally translates to dried-fish, however the slang himono-onna is used to describe girls who put on a different face for when they're out of the house.
The top Urban Dictionary listing defines it as:
"himono-onna - girls in their twenties whom outside their home puts on ...
16
As far as the "English" language is concerned, from the Wiktionary entry about "anime":
Noun: anime (countable and uncountable; plural anime or (proscribed) animes)
(uncountable) An artistic style heavily used in, and associated with, Japanese animation, and that has also been adopted by a comparatively low number of animated works from other countries
...
16
In Japanese, there are multiple words for "I", the most common being watashi, atashi, boku, and ore (I'll transliterate to romaji thoughout). Most of these pronouns are definitively gendered, and it would be quite the social faux pas to use an improperly gendered pronoun. This video does an excellent job explaining the subject.
From S02E19 Zekken
Yuuki: ...
15
It really comes down to awkward translation.
許さない (yurusanai) is the word being used. This is the negative form of the Japanese verb for "to forgive", which also has other nuances and can mean to permit or accept something. Despite it seeming odd this is a natural enough expression in Japanese; however, it presents a bit of a dilemma for translators. Some ...
15
My question is: why does Satsuki Kiryuin use "kisama" to address the Elite Four? They should, at least, be worthy of a bit more of respect.
Well, for the one thing, this is anime. Typical conventions governing the use of honorifics in actual spoken Japanese frequently go out the window in anime.
[...] or is there a different meaning for "kisama" I'm not ...
15
To reiterate, アカメが斬る (Akame ga Kiru) means "Akame cuts/slices/kills". Kiru also has another meaning: "to perform surgical incision", though the kanji is 切る in the case of this definition. This aligns well with the settings of the series: the goal of Akame and her group is to perform the necessary surgery on the corrupted empire by eliminating the tumors.
...
15
What Hades pronounced is「お前のゆいとおりだ」, which is a pun on 「お前のゆうとおりだ」 ("exactly as you say", "you're correct").
To break down:
お前 omae: "you"
の no: (subject marker)
ゆう yū: a colloquial pronunciation of the verb 言う (いう), "to say"
とおり tōri: "as", "like", "the way"
だ da: (copula, "is")
ゆとり is not relevant.
So in the Japanese version, it's the pun on Yui (the ...
14
I strongly suspect the use of katakana here is just to give an archaic flavor to the typography. Historically (pre-WW2 or thereabouts), katakana was actually used in many contexts where hiragana is used today - not just for loanwords (note, though, that even today, katakana has other uses). In the same vein, the show's typography exclusively uses pre-...
14
From the SBS (質問を募集する, "I'm Taking Questions") question and answer column of volume 62, chapter 609, page 122:
D: Like "Mugiwara-ya", Law-san tends to call people with the "-ya" suffix, but in the case where the person's last name is "Tsuchiya", then does that become "Tsuchiya-ya"? Please tell me Law-san♡ P....
14
Nishikyougoku Ramuko (西京極ラム子) is a wordplay on Saikyouyaki Ranko (西京焼蘭子), the name of the author of the fictional magical girl series, the story within story Majokko Mirakurun (魔女っ娘ミラクるん), from which Toshinou Kyouko's doujin works are derived. We do actually know the name of the author of Majokko Mirakurun through the eyecatch featuring Toshinou Kyouoko:
...
14
That's just the Japanese word "yen", written as a word 円 en rather than with the currency symbol ¥.
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
