Part VI (3/3): chapters 75~78
Chapter 75
[Touji analysing Gojou’s technique arsenal]
"His stopping technique hasn't been as issue from the start”
Probably closer to “The stopping power has been there from the start”. You kind of have to guess what Touji meant here because the original line only says “as before”, “from before” but imo “hasn’t been an issue” just isn’t quite it...
"I can nullify the attraction technique with my extended reach inverted spread, even my speed is effective"
⇒ "The drawing power I can either dispel with the inverted spear or avoid with my speed, now that I have extended reach"
“Inverted spear extended reach” imo makes no sense - he’s got extended reach, sure, but that’s thanks to another cursed tool, inverted spear has nothing to do with this.
"Sorry, Amanai. Right now, I'm not angry for you. Nor do I feel vengeful toward anyone"
⇒ "(...) Right now, I’m not angry for your sake. Nor am I filled with hate towards anyone"
Kind of feels like they mistook 憎む (hate, detest) for 恨む ( to resent; to blame; to bear a grudge).
Cont. below:
"Right now it's just that everything feels right"
⇒ "Right now this world simply feels comfortable"
This is a simple but hard to translate line, so what I’m suggesting here is mostly a more literal translation to give you a glimpse of what the original wording was like. “Right” isn’t incorrect here per se but the original wording has a very strong nuance of “pleasant”, “comfortable”, “cozy”, “nice” etc. and “right” doesn’t really convey that kind of sentiment.
(jp)
"Motion and reversal. It is born by colliding both infinites. An imaginary mass rushes forth..."
⇒ "Standard and reversal. You create it through colliding both infinites together - you squeeze out that imaginary mass..."
What is meaning, when you could be making things sound Cool. Also, consistency, who?
Pretty sure that what inexplicably got translated as "motion" here previously was referred to as "lapse" (that’s the literal translation of the word used, too) as in "lapse technique" but since it doesn't actually say "technique" here, the translator probably didn't catch on that it's the same thing........ Or worse, they did realise and still chose to translate it in a completely different way. But tbh if I translated a single term a different way each time it appears, I’d probably get confused too 8D
Could probably go with “lapse and reversal” too.
(jp)
[Touji’s thoughts after being defeated by Gojou]
"But now the awakened power of the limitless stands before me. He's probably the greatest sorcerer alive. I wanted to discredit it. To crush it. The pinnacle of the jujutsu world and the Zen'in family. I wanted this for self-affirmation. And I deviated from my true self."
⇒ "But faced with an awakened user of the limitless technique, a sorcerer that probably has just stood on the top of the modern jujutsu world, I ended up wanting to deny him, to suppress him.The pinnacle of the jujutsu world and the Zen'in family that denied me. In order to affirm myself, I abandoned my usual self"
Emphasis mine because it kind of pains me what V*z did with this line… I’m guessing some of those choices were dictated by the bubble placements but still, personally I think they made it sound kind of disjointed. Not to mention, skipping “limitless user” when talking about Gojou and making it just “limitless power” is such a baffling move to me…
Also another terribly unfortunate example of the official English release doing away with any sort of repetition in text. Why would you get rid of Touji saying that he wanted to deny (also reject, renounce) Gojou the same way he himself got denied by what Gojou symbolises to him?? That was such an important part here and half of the point the line was making in the first place and they just cut it out….
[Touji to himself]
"I thought I had set aside such petty pride"
⇒ "Hadn’t you thrown away self-respect"
The word used here can be translated as “pride” and “conceit” but the main meanings are “self-respect” and “self-esteem” and imo the context strongly suggests it’s the latter here. Imo it wasn’t about “petty pride”, the thing that Touji said he had long abandoned was something much more fundamental than that. He just didn’t respect himself (or others) as a person. He says as much in the next line but that too got mistranslated… On top of that, making it specifically “petty” pride distances the translation here from such connotations even further.
Btw, this is another, rather major example of “written as” versus “read as”. So what Touji says out loud here is actually only “Hadn’t you thrown that away” and “self-respect” is only provided as context for “that”. Normally, in translation personally I try to prioritise whatever’s spoken out loud but imo in this particular case it’d make the line incomprehensible for English readers, so I agree with the decision to translate the additional context here instead. (Refer to part IV 4/5, ch. 48, Toudou’s “my friend” thing for a more in-depth explanation of the “written as but read as” device.)
Also ngl it kinda threw me off how they had him use “I” and then switch to “you” construction in the very next line when it was a direct continuation.
Cont. onto:
"To be proud neither of myself nor others... You chose that path, didn't you?"
⇒ "Hadn’t you chosen a way of living where you value neither yourself nor others"
What I said above. Could go with “respect” here too but I liked “value” more. “To be proud” imo is just off here...
Chapter 76
[Gojou to Getou at the church after the latter says there’s no point in himself being fine when Riko got killed]
"I'm the one who messed up. Don't worry about it."
⇒ “(...) It’s not your fault.”
I guess the translation here isn’t correct per se but considering the bigger context, imo “it’s not your fault” works better here. Especially since the line seems to be a throwback to the “it was my mistake”, “that doesn’t even count as a mistake” exchange from ch. 70. Imo it seems to be an intentional parallel of Gojou refusing to accept Getou taking the blame, so “don’t worry” doesn’t quite work for me personally here.
"Do you want to kill them all?"
⇒ “Should we kill them?”
A nitpick but imo it was more Gojou offering to either kill them himself or to do it together (probably the latter) and wording it as “do you want to kill them” puts the focus fully on Getou instead.
Cont. onto:
“Forget it, it’s pointless. From the looks of it, there are only followers of the faith here. The ones in charge involved with the jujutsu world are probably long gone"
“Pointless, huh. Does there… need to be a reason?”
⇒ "No, there’s no meaning in that (...) The main culprits who know about us [jujutsu world] have probably long run away"
“Meaning, huh. Is that really necessary?”
“Involved with the jujutsu world” is imo taking it a step too far. Also, “jujutsu world” is only supplied here for context but what Getou actually says out loud is “us” (or “our side”).
More importantly, the conversation about “meaning” that is happening here is extremely important as it gets directly echoed in chapter 78 when Gojou confronts Getou in Shinjuku, post Getou massacring the village. So while “pointless” isn’t wrong here per se for that reason I find the way they worded it here kind of lacking. Also, meaning =/= reason imo!!
[After Getou and Ieiri throw stuff at Gojou as part of his experiments with limitless]
"An automatic targeting option for jujutsu techniques?"
"Yup! Technically it's me that's the target though"
⇒ "Automatic selection of the technique's target?" (Gojou’s reply)
Getou here was inquiring about the targets of Gojou’s limitless technique specifically, not various plural “jujutsu techniques”, and it’s those targets that are now selected automatically. Imo otherwise Gojou’s reply (which was translated correctly) doesn’t really make sense.
[Gojou saying how he’s been using reverse healing on himself almost all the time]
"A fresh brain at all times"
⇒ “Delivering a fresh brain at all times”
Imo it’s those tiny details that build up a character, so I wish they kept “delivering” in. He actually uses a slightly more formal/polite phrase here, so he probably was being playful.
[Getou after Gojou asks if he’s alright and comments on him losing weight]
"Just a little tired from the summer heat. It's not a problem."
I’d definitely go with “I’m fine” here, especially since “it’s not a problem” as a reply to an “are you okay” question just sounds weird to me.
(jp)
“An endless cycle of exorcising and consuming”
“Exorcise. Consume.”
⇒ "Exorcise. Take in. Rinse and repeat"
“Exorcise. Take in”
Not incorrect, just offering my own version. I really like how the original wording was very simple, it makes it all the more impactful.
"It's a taste that nobody knows. The taste of a curse. Like ingesting a rag used to wipe up vomit"
⇒ “They all don’t know it. The taste of a cursed spirit. Like swallowing whole a rag used to wipe vomit and excrements"
This is one of my absolute favourite lines in the whole manga for how visceral and gross it is, some of which was lost (on purpose to make it more palatable?) in the official English translation. First off, it’s actually “vomit AND excrements” and not just “vomit” and on top of that the verb used here means “to swallow whole” which imo is a testament not just to the taste the way a much milder “ingest” is, but also to texture, the sensation of it. It paints that much of a more detailed and revolting picture.
Also, “nobody knows” or “no one else knows” would sound better in English but with the way the original has it as “everybody”, “all” when there’s a perfectly fine and, as far as I can tell, more common grammatical construction for “nobody knows” in Japanese makes me think “everybody” was here used intentionally, so imo it’s better to preserve it somehow.
(jp)
[Getou’s thoughts]
"Ever since that day it's been running through my head. What I saw was nothing out of the ordinary. A hideous evil, known to everyone. Knowing that full well I chose to protect them as a jujutsu sorcerer"
⇒ "Ever since that day I've been telling myself. (...) A universally known ugliness. I have always chosen to save people as a sorcerer supposedly knowing that full well"
“Running through my head” imo is too passive here, the verb used in the original implies active act of persuasion, that Getou was repeating those things to himself (that it’s nothing out of ordinary etc.). Also, “hideous evil” feels like they just translated the two kanjis components literally here, without checking the actual meaning of the word. Since later Getou talks about how he cannot find people’s ugliness “precious” anymore, “ugliness” works here better imo. (And it’s what the word actually means.)
Lastly, Idk why they translated “people” as just “them” in the last sentence here. (Btw, the grammatical construction used in that sentence suggests that Getou believes himself to have made that choice multiple times before.)
"Follow through with your duty as a jujutsu sorcerer"
“Duty” here could be also translated as “responsibility” but I’m mostly bringing this up as it’s another very important instance where the text and the reading differ - Getou says "sorcerer" out loud but the word is written as "the strong", which is a throwback to the conversation he had with Gojou in ch. 65 (part VI 1/3).
[Haibara greeting Getou]
“Hi, Mr. Geto”
...Needless to say in Japanese he calls him “Getou-san”. “San” usually gets translated as “Mr.” but it sounds just awkward here, considering there’s just one year difference between Haibara and Getou and they’re both technically teenagers AND still merely students. Not to mention, this is yet another example out of many where the official English release shows zero consistency where translating (or not translating) honorifics like “san” is concerned. Unlike the case where Nobara was talking about Ieiri and they translated it as just “Shoko” instead of at least making it “Miss Shoko” (ch. 63, part V 3/3), imo this should’ve either been kept as “san” or skipped entirely. (They actually did skip “san” in English when Haibara was referring to Getou in ch. 70, see part VI (2/3).
“What can I get you to drink?”
⇒ “Do you want anything to drink?”
A nitpick, but the official translation made Getou sound like a waiter here.
[After Haibara asked Getou what kind of souvenir he wants from his mission]
“Satoru will probably have some too so maybe something sweet”
Less certainty, “maybe will have some too” (just a possibility) instead of “probably” (most likely).
[Getou to Haibara]
"Are you okay with being a sorcerer? Doesn't it bother you?"
⇒ "Do you think you're going to be able to work as a sorcerer? You're not struggling?"
A more literal translation would be “isn’t it painful”, “isn’t it hard”, so imo “doesn’t it bother you” didn’t quite convey the original nuance too well.
[Haibara’s reply to above]
"Giving my all toward something I know I can help with is a great feeling!"
⇒ "Giving my best at things I can do feels good"
Phrasing it as “something I know I can help with” just doesn’t capture the nuance of giving your best at something because it’s something you can do that imo the original has and especially the “help with” bit just doesn’t fit. Not to mention the line gets echoed almost word for word by Getou in ch. 78 during his confrontation with Gojou in Shinjuku, so again “something I can help with” is a bit of an off choice.
Chapter 77
(jp)
[Haibara after Getou chides him for answering Yuki’s out of blue question about preferences in women]
“I’m a pretty good judge of character”
“Present company included?”
“? Of course!”
⇒ (...) “You say that sitting next to me?”
“? Yes!”
I guess you can deduce that since he’s the only other person left but Getou was speaking explicitly about himself here which imo isn’t immediately obvious from the English translation. For Haibara’s reply, it was more a confirmation of his previous statement rather than assertion of the sentiment in it. So, “Yes, I’m saying that” and not “Yes, I think that about you!” nuance wise. Like Yuki said - he didn’t get what Getou was actually hinting at.
“Is he your junior? Such an honest and cute kid”
⇒ "Isn't it cute how honest he is"
Could go with either translation but imo it makes more sense that she was saying Haibara’s cute because of his honesty instead of cuteness and honesty being two separate descriptors.
[Yuki after she says she hates the college]
“Just kidding. But I'm not lying when I say we do not see eye to eye"
⇒ "(...) But it's true that my and the college's policies don't match"
Could also go with "objectives" here. Overall imo it felt like a less emotion driven statement.
[Yuki listing the ways to “treat the cause” and create a world without cursed spirits]
“1. Eradicate cursed energy from all of humanity 2. Teach humans how to control their cursed energy.”
⇒ "(...) 2. Make all of humanity become capable of controlling cursed energy"
I guess "teach" is a bit too specific for me and implies a method where that wasn't the case in Japanese here.
Cont. onto:
"1) is not a bad idea. There was a model case for it after all"
⇒ "For 1), I thought it would go quite well. And there was a model case for it, too"
Could also translate it as "I rather thought I was on the right track with 1)". For the second bit “after all" makes it sound like there being a model case for the method was specifically the reason why it was a good idea where imo this was more of the case of it being an additional perk (because she'd be able to research the real thing).
[Yuki as part of her explanation why Touji was a model case for method 1)]
"There have been several cases where heavenly restriction has reduced a person's cursed energy to normal levels"
"Normal levels" is really vague and unclear imo, what it actually says is, "to that of an ordinary person" (i.e. a non-sorcerer).
[Yuki explaining why curses don’t get born out of sorcerers]
"There is a difference in how much we consume and use cursed energy because of our profession. But the real reason lies in how it flows through us sorcerers. It flows heavily within us"
⇒ "There's the matter of the amount of cursed energy that gets used up through [jujutsu] techniques and the overall difference in capacity but the biggest is flow. The cursed energy of a sorcerer circulates largely inside them"
Imo “because of our profession” was kind of vague when the original mentioned the consumption of cursed energy via techniques specifically.
“Then… why not just kill every non-sorcerer?”
⇒ "Then... we should just exterminate all non-sorcerers"
The original says 皆殺し (minagoroshi) which is an actual word that means also “massacre”, “annihilation”, “wholesale slaughter” whereas the translator clearly translated it as if it was just 皆を殺す (minna wo korosu, lit. “to kill everyone”). Obviously, those are two different expressions that paint rather different pictures. Imo “annihilation” implies a much more encompassing and systematic action.
[Yuki after agreeing that Getou’s proposed solution makes sense]
"Weed out non-jujutsu sorcerers and create a situation where survival rests on adapting to a jujutsu sorcerer-based society"
⇒"To continue culling non-sorcerers and force them to adapt into sorcerers as a survival strategy"
Idk, the official translation to me feels like complicating the statement for the sake of it… Especially stuff like “society”. Also, Yuki very explicitly mentioned “continuing” to cull (weed out) non-sorcerers which suggests it’d be a continuous process and effort.
"I used to think jujutsu sorcerers existed to protect non-sorcerers. But recently I've been doubting whether non-sorcerers are worth fighting for"
⇒ "(...) But lately something akin to... non-sorcerers' "worth" within me is wavering"
Emphasis mine. Getou was clearly struggling here to put his feelings and thoughts into words, which you just can't tell at all from the official translation. Also imo putting it as "worth fighting for" is over-interpreting it.
"The part of me that looks down upon non-sorcerers... The part of me that tries to resist that feeling..."
⇒ "The me who looks down on non-sorcerers. The me who denies that"
Ngl, to me “tries to resist that feeling” is putting a lot of words into Getou’s mouth that he didn’t say here… Also, phrasing it as “the part of me” feels a bit lacking to me when Getou is speaking almost as if there were two of him, at war with each other.
"If being a jujutsu sorcerer is like running a marathon, then the finish line is much too unclear"
⇒ "This marathon game called 'jujutsu sorcerer'. The vision of what’s at its end is much too unclear"
Mostly proposing a wording imo closer to the original. Also important since it gets repeated at the end of the chapter, almost word-for-word, but the official English translation for some reason elected to tweak the wording in that other instance...
[After Yuki expresses her regret at not having been able to meet Gojou in person]
“I’ll send your regards to Gojo”
Getou says “Satoru” here, he doesn’t call him “Gojo”. He never calls him “Gojo”, period. And Gojou never calls Getou with his surname in turn. It’s always, always the first name basis for them which is hugely important for their dynamics with each other AND also has a major plot significance in Shibuya arc…..
Also, the whole sentence had a nuance of Getou presenting himself as someone who can receive greetings on Gojou’s behalf.
[Yuki saying Getou shouldn’t be so down about Riko being killed]
"Whether there was another vessel, or another vessel was born. Whatever the case, Tengen is stabilized"
⇒ "Back then there was another star plasma vessel or a new vessel had already been born. Either way, (...)”
Emphasis mine. Imo it’s enormously important here that Yuki said “back then” (“at the time”).
[Getou about the mission that Haibara died during]
"Get some rest for now, Nanami. Gojo took the mission"
⇒ "(...) Satoru took over the mission"
This makes it two very impactful scenes in the same chapter where Getou calling Gojou “Satoru”, i.e. with his first name like he always does, got randomly changed to surname basis instead. Needless to say it’s such an important piece of characterisation of both Getou himself and the Getou-Gojou relationship and it’s just horrible that it wasn’t preserved correctly.
What I’m comparing here are the magazine versions for both JP and EN but the English volume release containing this chapter was published just recently (at the time of posting) and needless to say, those two mistakes didn’t get fixed there. This means that fans that only read the official English release of the manga will mistakenly believe that Getou used “Gojou” in those scenes and draw their own equally mistaken conclusions from it...
[Nanami about Gojou]
"Why not just let him take care of everything by himself from now on?"
Not incorrect per se but the original line is much shorter, impactful and almost callous, in a way. Something like ”Isn't that person alone enough already?” or “Isn't that person fine already by himself?”. Mind you, "can't he just do it all by himself" works too as does the official translation although I feel like it’s a bit too wordy but I wanted to point out how this line can be read on multiple levels. Also, Nanami referring to Gojou here literally as “that person” (so not even “he”) imo further drives home the sense of distance and frustration.
[Getou’s thoughts]
"If being a jujutsu sorcerer is like running a marathon, what if what's at the end of that road is a mountain of our fellow sorcerers' dead corpses?"
⇒ "The marathon game called 'jujutsu sorcerer'... What if at its end all there is a mountain of sorcerers' corpses?"
Written "comrades", read as “ sorcerer".
This is basically Getou answering the question he himself posed earlier in the same chapter - that’s why imo it’s of utmost importance that the wording is kept the same, especially since that is also the case in the original. But here the official English release goes with “at the end of the road”, when they used “finish line” just some ten pages earlier…
Also, “dead corpses”, just what? What is English language even… (They fixed this one for the volume release. Small mercies.)
"Mission Summary Spirit kidnappings and abnormal deaths within said village. The curse thought to be responsible was exorcised"
⇒ "(...) Mysterious disappearances and violent deaths occurring in the village. To exorcise the cursed spirit thought to be causing them”
So basically the first line was delineating what’s happening in the village and the second was the mission’s objective. “Was exorcised” makes no sense because why send Getou there? And “spirit kidnappings” is such an unclear phrasing…
Chapter 78
[After Gojou says “huh?” in reaction to Yaga telling him about Getou massacring a whole village]
"I also have no idea what the hell is going on."
Yaga actually only says here that he has no idea what's going on, there’s no expletives involved.
[Ieiri to Getou after he seeks her out in Shinjuku]
"If it isn't the culprit himself. What do you want?"
⇒ "Oh, it's the criminal. Want anything from me?"
The word used by Shoko here means both criminal and culprit but considering the bigger context imo “criminal” fits better.
"I'll ask for the hell of it - are these accusations against you false?"
Like with Yaga’s case earlier, all she says here is, "I'll ask just in case". Why try and make her sound edgy for the sake of being edgy here?
“Another one for ya”
...Again, Shoko doesn’t use any slang here. (She kind of does in the lines that follow.)
[Getou to Shoko]
"I'm not a child anymore. I don't need everyone to understand."
⇒ "I'm not a child. It's not like I want everyone to understand."
Mostly fine but there’s no “anymore” in the original and imo that’s also not what the line’s nuance was. (Imo it was more along the lines of “I’m not a child, I know that it’s impossible for everyone to understand”)
[After Gojou finds Getou and demands an explanation]
"You already heard from Shoko, didn't you? That's all there is to it."
"That's reason enough for you to kill all non-sorcerers? Even your parents?"
⇒ "(...) Nothing more and nothing less to it."
"And that's why you'll kill everyone besides sorcerers? Even your parents?"
Imo, “that’s reason enough” just doesn’t work here since I believe Gojou’s line was alluding specifically to Getou’s plan to “create a world with sorcerers only”. So it’s more of “and for that reason you will (...)”, “and to achieve that you will (...)” sentiment wise.
"You were the one who said pointless killing is useless!"
"There is a point and a meaning to it. It's also justice."
"No way! Killing all non-sorcerers to make a world of only sorcerers?! That’s impossible!!"
⇒ "Didn't you say not to kill when there's no meaning to it?"
"But there is meaning to it, as there is significance. There's even a cause."
"There isn't!! (...)"
Emphasis mine. Imo “point” and “meaning” aren’t interchangeable and Getou definitely uses the latter here. The word Getou says at the end can indeed mean “justice” but it also means “cause” and “purpose” and I like the latter two more here. (Also, ngl the issue of translation aside, “it’s also justice” just sounds kind of grammatically off…)
Cont. below:
"I'm saying that trying something impossible is pointless"
⇒ "What I'm saying is that there's no meaning in agitatedly doing something that's just impossible"
Gojou was harsher here in the original, both the word he used for “impossible” (also “something you just can’t do”) and the adverb he further emphasised it with were kind of patronising.
"You could do it, Satoru"
⇒ "If it was you, Satoru, you could do it"
Getou:"You're trying to convince me that it's impossible when you yourself could do it"
⇒ "And yet when it’s others, you tell them that something that you can do for them is ‘just impossible’?”
I find it interesting that Getou doesn’t, in fact, say “me” here but speaks as if in hypotheticals and says “others” instead.
Cont. below:
"If I could be you, wouldn't my impossible ideal become possible?"
⇒ "If I could become you, don't you think even this foolish ideal of mine would become realistic?"
“Become you” instead of “be you” is the biggest one but the whole line in the original was just more poetic. E.g., what I translated as “realistic”, while one of the possible translations for the phrase in question, literally means “one's feet touch the ground”, which is just so much more descriptive. Interestingly, the phrase usually gets used with the verb in the negative (“don’t touch the ground”) but that’s not the case here when Getou says it.
"This is the life I've chosen. All I can do now is give it all I got"
⇒ "I've chosen my way of living. Now all that's left is to do my best at things I can do"
Emphasis mine. This is an almost word-to-word throwback to Haibara’s line in ch. 76 but with the way the official English release translated (and slightly mistranslated for Haibara) those two lines, you might not have been able to make the connection. Needless to say, it shows how deeply Haibara’s life and death have impacted Getou.
[Getou to Gojou who was aiming his technique at him]
"If you want to kill me, kill me. There's meaning in that too."
⇒ “(...) There is meaning to that”
There was just no “too” here, the emphasis was fully on “there is meaning to THAT”. So Getou’s telling Gojou that killing him right here and now is the one thing that definitely has a meaning to it.
Also, the word used here is the same as the one used both in ch. 76 (church scene, multiple times) and earlier in this chapter - those instances got translated by VIZ either as “reason” or “point” (“pointless”) instead, which ngl ruins the whole continuity of it.
[Gojou in a conversation with Yaga, after the Shinjuku confrontation]
"I can only save those who are prepared to be saved"
⇒ "I can only save those who are prepared to be saved by others"
Emphasis mine on the bit that got skipped by the official translation as imo it’s a significant one.
[Getou to Shiwoo as he prepares to meet the organisation he’s planning to take over]
"I thought the Time Vessel Association had disbanded?"
"There are other groups with similar ideals"
⇒ (...) "Even if the organisations are different, the roots are the same"
So it’s possibly not so much that the ideals are similar but that those other organisations are just another form of the original TVA.
“Numerous voices of opposition”
Not incorrect but this could be also translated as "majority against" with the "the nays have it" nuance like you would have in parliament. The brief illusion of democracy before Getou murders someone in cold blood.
[Getou to assembled organisation members after a demonstration of power]
”Obey me, you monkeys.”
“I don’t like monkeys. That’s the truth I decided on”
⇒ “(...) I hate monkeys. These are the true feelings I decided on”
True feelings, you know? The ones Getou was struggling over in the last 3 chapters? Those true feelings? Got translated here as “the truth” instead. Needless to say but “I don’t like” is way too mild here.
Also, this is probably impossible to truly capture in translation but the word used here (true feelings) is 本音/honne and its kanji components literally mean "true” and “sound" respectively. In this particular scene where Getou first addresses the organisation members from the stage, he uses a fairly standard polite speech (-desu, -masu forms).
After he kills the Sonoda guy (possibly the same Sonoda who we’ve seen collect Riko’s dead body from Touji) the way he speaks takes a 180 turn, becoming very direct and unembellished - when Getou says “obey me”, he uses the imperative form.
So the true feelings, THE TRUE SOUND is depicted here via him literally rejecting "polite sound" and fake smiles.
[Tiny Megumi to Gojou]
"Who're you? And why're you looking at me like that?"
⇒ "(...) Or more like, what's with that face"
Not incorrect, just proposing a different wording.
[To be continued with Shibuya Arc]