Meeting Mikage and asking Anthy for answers
Answering I want the Rose Bride leads to Anthy’s ending
“Do I seem that pathetic to you?” is an interesting choice in translation.
I’m not really saying it’s wrong. In fact, it’s kinda great. Interpreted like that, it’s kind of a wham line of Anthy’s resentment seeping through. But I feel like if that’s what Anthy intended to convey she would use the word “nasakenai” or something similar. Now, my japanese is nowhere near perfect, so everyone is free to correct me on this, but she said “kawaiso”.
So I think a more accurate translation would be something like “Because I’m pitiful?”. It’s less direct, but it’s still a challenging statement. By leaving the question somewhat open it allows for a double sense within it. Am I pitiful because you condescend me? Because you actually want to do good by me? Maybe a bit of both? Whereas the translation here kinda leaves it as a more strict binary. Either the mc chooses to condescend Anthy or to get what she actually needs and wanted from her in the first place. Again though, this doesn’t necessarily mean the current translation is wrong. After all, choosing the rose bride brings out the worst impulses in the mc, so there’s truth to that interpretation. I just think this other possibility should be considered.
