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secret answer is fun bc it’ll be like a math test or something and “your affection kills me” “shut up mafu im trying to divide by 6”

#Akire being dumb #Utaite #Secret Answer

K’suke & Aoi — “Secret Answer” by XYZ Tour (Araki, un:c, kradness, Sekihan, Soraru, nqrse, Mafumafu, & luz)

On Nico Nico Douga: sm29743806

#k'suke #aoi #secret answer #xyz tour #odottemita

Yoah affection kills me

Yo affection kills me

Your afFECTion kills me

Your affection kills me

PUM BA DUM

#secret answer #kradness #sekihan #Mafumafu #luz #I love Mafu's emphasis at the middle of 'affection'

hey im not sure if it counts as a mistake but on your secret answer translation, translating "shoujo" as "little girl" gives heavy pedophilic vibes since the song is so sexual, and im sure mafumafu didn't mean it like that. I know "shoujo" does inherently mean "little girl", but it also can mean just a young lady, and i think that was the aim of such heavily sexual lyrics. it could cause awful misunderstandings, so would you mind just changing it to "girl" normally?

Hey, I’m assuming this is the same person who dm-ed me on Twitter as well, but I’m going to explain it in a longer post publicly for anyone who may have had the same thoughts:

If you look at the song as a whole, the female subject is described as sly & adept to the deceitful, “adult” society in the song, which overall assumes that she is an adult － particularly as the setting of the song seems like a dance club and serves alcoholic drinks. For the particular line where the specific term “little girl” is used in the chorus, [“Only in these arms of mine / Can you stay as a little girl”], please pay attention to the fact that she is not a “little girl” all the time, but only during a conditional situation aka “when she’s in the speaker’s arms”. This proves that the phrase “little girl” refers to her innocent mental state, and not her actual age or physical appearance.

My specific wording of “little girl” instead of alternatives like “young girl” or “girl” is to emphasize this contrast between the female subject’s sophisticated attitude on the surface and her actual childlike naivete/flaws when in front of the speaker. The original Japanese word “shoujo” generally is in reference to girls who have yet to reach adulthood, and is not like the English word “girl” which is commonly used for both adults and minors in casual remarks (ex. “hey girl”, “girl, you’re looking great”). This is why “shoujo” (& “shounen”) appear frequently in songs in rebellion to adult society, b/c the words are assumed to be the opposite of “adulthood”. In addition, the word “shoujo” contains evident implications about purity (in both the sexual & non-sexual way) especially in NND, which is why I did not find “young lady” and “girl” to be a good fit with what the specific line because they refer to a general group of girls with no distinct characteristics. If I simply wrote “girl” [”Only in these arms of mine / Can you stay as a girl”], the lyrics would be suggesting that the female subject cannot show her feminine side in public and that does not align with the rest of the song.

I believe that if you read the full translation in a bit more depth than taking every word at face value, the misunderstanding for “little girl” should not appear. However, as I understand there are people who may read the lyrics at a shallow level, I have changed the words into “young girl at heart” to emphasize its reference to a mental/emotional state and not age. This being said, the exact “pedophilic” issue that is mentioned right now can occur all the same if the original Japanese lyrics are taken at face value because that is how cryptic the song is written － even if that interpretation is not Mafu’s intent (though there is also no way to know what the composer’s intent is as mere readers).

For the most part, I try to relay all of the lyrics I translate without inputting my own thoughts in because I find the numerous interpretations that can stem from one song to be the beauty of music. But given how issues like this can stem from Western readers, I guess I’ll have to be more aware of Western standards and norms in the future.

#secret answer #ask