I’ve been rereading Acid Tokyo because I Love Suffering and I’m so fixated on that one panel where kurogane places syaoran’s eyepatch on fai because it always feels so oddly intimate to me. The way both of their figures are silhouetted with kuro’s expression hidden means it’s one of the few times the audience isn’t privy to something even though the other characters can see it. Idk I’ve always framed that panel as something for kurogane’s eyes only even though yuuko’s clearly in the background
“because I Love Suffering” is the most accurate description of this entire fanbase as far as I can tell. Is it this page here?
Because you’re absolutely right! It’s such an important and private moment, hiding it from us really lets us feel the intimacy in the action even as Yuuko tells us more dire information.
More lovely notes from the even lovelier @giniroangou!
Highlights include: more coherent wish conversations, lifespan clarifications, Kamui being even worse than before, it’s true, sweet lines from sweet people, Nick finally understanding why Sakura had to go into the Acid desert alone, clothing choices explained, touching moments all around, and Good Morning Kurogane Redux!
Chapter 125
p.5 - Yuuko says that if she were to save Fai herself, the price would be “too heavy.” This is why Kurogane looks so murderous - it sounds like she’s telling them she won’t do it. This also makes Subaru’s wish a few pages later feel less presumptuous. He’s not cutting in on the Tsubasa family; their turn is already over.
p.7 - As in the previous volume, this should be “Immediately after we came to this world” rather than “Soon after,” but I love the hilarity it’s caused.
p.12 - Subaru’s point is that the events that unfolded may have been inevitable, but they wouldn’t have happened within the reservoir if it weren’t for his presence there. It still doesn’t quite make sense, since it wasn’t his fault he got sucked in by the feathers in the first place, but it’s slightly more coherent than the translated version.
p.19 - It’s not that Fai must not receive vampire blood alone, but that if we were to receive just vampire blood he would end up drinking the blood of various people.
There’s also a subtle difference in wording about the wishes here that I feel changes the nuance slightly. Yuuko says: “Kurogane, keeping Fai from dying is your wish. Fai doesn’t want that.”
Chapter 126
p.30 - The sounds Fai is making in this scene are represented by a small tsu in Japanese (ッ), which indicates either a pause in speech or a glottal stop. To me, it gives the impression that Fai’s vocal chords are under pressure but there’s no real sound coming out, so it’s like silent/suppressed screaming. It’s up to interpretation, but if he is making any noise here it isn’t anything coherent enough to be the start of a given word.
p.32 - I would interpret Satsuki’s line as an apology for not being able to heal Fai earlier.
p.35 - Yuuko says that due to Fai’s enormous magical powers, he already had a long lifespan. For her line about his age vs Kurogane’s, “multiple times” could be an alternative translation to “many times.” In Japanese she says “nanbai mo,” which I’d say could be as few as four times (though it does have the potential to be much greater than that.)
As a side note, there is a fan translated version of this scene where Yuuko says that Kurogane’s lifespan will increase along with Fai’s. A large portion of the fandom was led to believe this and there are still people who are unaware of the proper translation, so if you see anything along those lines popping up in meta or fanfic, that’s where it comes from. It is based on a mistranslation, though.
p.36 - In the original text, Kurogane says that he saw the trust Mokona had in Yuuko when Mokona asked for her help. Since he trusts Mokona, he went along with the deal. (Just replace Mokona’s name with “that thing” lol.)
p.41 - Kamui’s “It was nothing” is ruder and more dismissive in Japanese. He says “...betsu ni,” which I think could best be represented in English as “...whatever.” It’s a total sulky teenager response.
Mokona is saying that things will be difficult for Fai from now on specifically because he’s a nice person.
p.43 - A little detail that I love: Yuuko refers to Fai as “that child” in this scene. It feels somewhat affectionate, but also gives the sense that Yuuko has been around for a very long time, especially in light of the recent revelation about Fai’s age.
Kurogane is actually setting his priorities here - he says there are still things he wants to ask, but the underground water comes first.
p.44 - Sadly, Subaru is not sharing the blame with Kamui in this scene - he’s still just saying it’s his fault.
Chapter 127
p.58 - Sakura’s first words to Lava Lamp are spoken in polite language vs the casual speech she used with Syaoran, creating an immediate distance between them that colors the silent exchange that follows.
Chapter 128
p.70 - Here, Yuuko is saying that the impurity of the water is its strength; because it hasn’t been sterilized it still has its natural power. (The antidote thing is a mistranslation.)
p.75 - Fuuma’s comment about having no means of communication is specifically in reference to Yuuko: “Since coming to this world I’ve had no way to communicate, so it’s been a while since we last spoke.”
p.76 - Fuuma refers to Subaru as “Subaru-san.” He also says Seishirou is in Subaru’s debt (“osewa ni narimashita”) - it’s a polite expression that may imply kindness, but the focus is more on Subaru doing him a favor/helping him rather than on Subaru’s attitude towards him.
p.84 - Sakura’s actual original line was, “Tell me everything that’s happened up until now,” so though she’s logically asking about everything that’s happened in Acid Tokyo, you can totally interpret this as her asking about all the things that have happened since the start of the manga. Follow your dreams!
p.87 - I’m not sure if this got lost in translation or just didn’t fully sink in, but Sakura is going out alone because that specifically is the price. If someone went with her, it wouldn’t be enough for the deal - the true value of what Sakura’s doing comes from the fact that she is undertaking something dangerous without anyone to help her.
p.89 - Kurogane doesn’t specifically tell Sakura to come back alive, but he does tell her to go and come back (“ittekoi”/行って来い) so the implication is there. Then he says, “We’ll be right here until you return.”
Chapter 129
p.93 - In Fuuma’s original line there was no implication that Sakura’s trip would be easy, just that the compass would confirm the route for her.
p.97 - Fuuma doesn’t say that the Tower will be victorious, but that they’ll have an advantage without Kamui there.
p.103 - Mokona’s speech style made this scene difficult to translate, but she’s not really asking for permission to call Lava Lamp “Syaoran” - she doesn’t actually use his name at all outside of that one question. She’s just confirming that he does indeed have the same name as their Syaoran: “You’re named Syaoran too, aren’t you?” (The official translation really committed to the fact that Mokona never uses personal pronouns, which is pretty cool in theory but unfortunately ends up forcing some of her sentences into very different configurations. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s far easier to get by in Japanese without pronouns than it is in English.)
Chapter 130
Cover page - This chapter title should be “The Crossed Line” (In the sense of someone crossing or stepping over a line.)
p.116 - To highlight how significant this moment is, the original line has quotation marks around Kurogane’s name. It also comes after a pause, so it becomes: “…. Good morning, ‘Kurogane.’”
p.125 - There are some major mistranslations here. There is no implication that Yuuko was lying about Fai’s potential to stop being a vampire. Fai calls her soft for leaving that path open - he sees it as a favor she did for the other members of the group (implied: this isn’t something he wants for himself.) Yuuko then says that it may be more cruel to give them this option than to have Fai unable to return to the way he was before, but that’s up to Fai. (Implied: the choices Fai makes regarding his options are going to determine whether it makes things more painful for his family or not.) Side note: The word that’s been translated as “traveler friends” is actually “Syaoran-kun-tachi” (Syaoran-kun and the others) so it’s not as distant as it sounds, but it’s definitely stepping around Kurogane’s direct role and investment in Fai’s well-being.
p.126 - The word Yuuko uses can be translated as “reply,” but I think “answer” would be more appropriate. She says, “... So that’s your answer?” referring not to Fai’s literal reply to Kurogane, but rather affirming that pushing Kurogane away is his answer to the entire situation he’s in.
p.127 - Fai doesn’t speculate that Kurogane had never been given a nickname - Fai says that he himself had never called anyone by a nickname before.
p.128 - Once again, the word that’s been translated as “unhappy” also means misfortune in a general sense. It’s the same word Himawari uses to talk about her effect on the people around her. Happiness may be the ideal, but I would assume Fai is worried about much more serious things than just that - if the people he cares about are unhappy but otherwise unharmed, that’s still better than a lot of alternatives.
p.129 - What’s been translated as “all the young ones in your group” was originally Yuuko saying “those children.” Given that she referred to even Fai as a child a few chapters ago, it can be assumed she’s including Kurogane in this group. She also describes their relationship as reciprocal: “To you, those children are no longer just a passing existence. And to those children too, you are someone precious. Your pain is their pain as well.”
Chapter 131
p.135 - The translation for Lava Lamp’s reply is accurate here but it might be the tone of Kurogane’s question that makes it feel off. He sees that Lava Lamp is self-conscious about wearing Fei Wang’s symbol and says, “It’s not like you wore that because you wanted to, right?” Though it invites confirmation, I would interpret this more as a reassurance than as an actual question. In starting his response with “though” (or alternatively “but”), Lava Lamp’s agreement is implied. Ie: “[I didn’t want to wear it] But I’m sure it’s not something you want to see.”
p.152 - Sakura says there will be more times when she will have to hurt people directly (not have people hurt themselves.)
p.153 - When Sakura says she wants to return Syaoran’s soul to him, she uses the verb “torimodosu,” one of the same words Syaoran used regarding her feathers. If the official translation were consistent, her line here would be, “I want to give it back.”
Chapter 132
p.157 - Fai uses the verb “ikaseru” (行かせる), which could be translated as either “make her go” or “let her go.” In this context, I would interpret this as Fai asking why they let Sakura go alone, rather than asking why they sent her alone.
None of your thoughts on Fai’s continued use of “Sakura-chan” are wrong, but I would say it’s not the “-chan” itself that indicates he’s laying claim to their relationship, but simply the fact that he hasn’t changed the name he calls her by. I wouldn’t necessarily view Fai’s consistent use of -chan and -kun with Sakura and Syaoran’s names as an inherent sign of familiarity. Note how in Fai’s discussion with Yuuko he distinguishes his nicknames for Kurogane from his more “proper” way of addressing the rest of the group. It’s normal for adults to add these suffixes to the names of children, even ones they don’t know that well, whereas many parents will drop suffixes on the names of their own children as a sign of intimacy. If Fai suddenly started saying “Sakura” instead of “Sakura-chan” it would likely have the opposite effect that saying “Kurogane” did. That being said, if he wanted to establish distance between them he could have switched to “Sakura-hime” or “The Princess” or something along those lines. Thankfully when changes of address do happen, the context usually helps make the meaning behind them fairly intuitive (as in the “Hello Kurogane” scene.) It’s just good to keep in mind that there is no solid rulebook for this stuff - it all varies depending on relative status, relationship history, tone, personality, surrounding events, etc.
p.162 - Kurogane’s original line here was, “Are you planning to go to the Princess?”/“Do you intend to go to the Princess?” so it doesn’t sound quite as harsh as the translated version.
p.165 - Sakura not knowing where to go was merely implied in the Japanese text - she originally just says that there are no more footprints.
p.169 - Kurogane refers to Sakura saying she’d come back as a “promise.” Then he says he’ll wait even if waiting is more painful than going with her.
p.171 - It may not have been clear in the translation, but Lava Lamp deliberately switches the name he uses for Sakura here from “Sakura” to “The Princess.”
p.172 - Lava Lamp differentiates between pain of the body vs pain of the heart (incidentally using the same word for “heart” that is used to describe Syaoran’s heart/soul.) If Fai was injured, the pain in Sakura’s heart would be far worse than any physical pain. This then informs the scene that follows - I assume Sakura knows her physical injuries are worse than Fai’s, but her concern for him encompasses both physical and emotional damage.
HONESTLY BLESS SUBARU FOR REALISING THIS IS NOT EXACTLY SOMETHING FAI WOULD WANT OTHER PEOPLE TO SEE
AND BLESS KUROGANE FOR TRYING TO HELP HIM THROUGH IT BY PHYSICALLY KEEPING HIM UP
Because I know this was partially what Kamui told him to do, but it’s also the opposite of what Kamui said. He wanted Fai “held down”, but Kurogane is keeping him up. Kurogane isn’t restraining Fai, he’s supporting him, and the difference between the two is 100% goodness.
Also, let’s recap:
Helpful people: Kurogane, Subaru
Unhelpful people: the room full of people who just casually watched this whole thing happen
Even less helpful people: Kamui, describing the process for everyone watching
I suppose if you wanted to be kinder to Kamui you could say that he’s saying this to Kurogane, as a way of reassuring him, but I am very much less inclined to assume the nice option where Kamui is concerned.
Kamui is SHOCKED that Kurogane would have agreed to this without actually knowing exactly what he was getting into.
But Kurogane is just like DON’T CARE.
IT WASN’T AN ISSUE.
ANY PRICE TO HIMSELF WAS WORTH KEEPING FAI ALIVE.
HE WASN’T GOING TO WAIT ANY LONGER TO FIND OUT THE SPECIFICS
(especially after that extra long speech Subaru god damn)
GUYS HE?
LOVES?
FAI SO MUCH??
OK THAT IS A LOT TO PROCESS AT ONCE.
STARTING AT THE TOP I GUESS.
Kurogane just straight out dismisses whatever Yuuko was thinking (becaue Kurogane) and instead explains that he put all his trust in Mokona.
And we’re building directly off the explanation that both Kurogane’s AND Fai’s lives were on the line here. He trusts Mokona IMPLICITLY to the point that he trusted whatever deal Mokona was willing to facilitate to keep Fai alive.
But also. Like.
Kurogane: *explains how he trusts Mokona quite literally with his life without thinking*
Also Kurogane: *still refuses to use her name*
MOKONA’S HAPPY SMILE THOUGH
EVEN AS SHE CRIES THROUGH THE AGONY OF FAI’S TRANSFORMATION
OH MY LORD THIS IS A MOMENT™
Meanwhile, Yuuko goes on to explain that if they ever do manage to get Fai both his eyes back, he will have enough magic to just UNDO his own vampirism.
Which is fascinating in its own right, but in terms of characterisation I love the fact that in no part was this part of the deal when Kurogane accepted it. There’s a possible way out of it now, but Kurogane didn’t know that. Kurogane was willing to accept a joint existence with Fai for the rest of their lives.
No, not just ‘willing’. He DID accept that joint life. Until this moment that’s what he thought the deal WAS.
And I’m not entirely convinced they will get that eye back, so maybe that’s a moot point to begin with.
Bonus question: If they did eventually get the eye back... after living as Kurogane’s partner for so long, would Fai want to take his eye back, if it meant he would then outlive Kurogane?
I really really enjoy the side eye Kurogane is shooting Kamui for not sharing this information EARLIER when it was useful.
What I enjoy even more is Yuuko actually sitting down and going “Okay so I’m just going to confirm and deny the relevant pieces of Vampire lore for you now”, because you KNOW I’ve been thinking about this constantly for a week straight.
Aka that’s kind of what life does. Unless you’re Fai, now, I suppose.
I’m unsure what the splash text is implying exaaaactly. The disctinction between fate and destiny is a bit loose at the best of times and I was tempted to dismiss it but HEY YOU KNOW WHAT, LET’S DIVE INTO IT ANYWAY. VAGUE DEFINITION TIME: LET’S GO.
Fate is something that has to happen. You don’t necessarily have to be active to make it happen. It can happen to you, but either way, it was always going to happen, because it must.
Destiny is what you were MEANT for, but is not guaranteed. You can be destined for greatness and never achieve it – which is interesting in the context of fate, because it implies that, if you don’t achieve your destiny, then your destiny was not fated for you.
A Destiny can happen, but Fate must happen.
I would love to see what the original Japanese was talking about here, because Hitsuzen seems closer to the idea of Fate than Destiny, but who knows if they bringing Hitsuzen into it at all?
But with that in mind, the splash text seems to imply that Fai becoming a vampire wasn’t necessarily hitsuzen or fate. It didn’t need to happen.
But achieving vampirism is fulfilling his destiny.
Which sounds like they mean he was always meant to become an immortal undead who drinks blood, but it wasn’t fated to definitely happen. But that’s not it. The wording is a bit hard to follow but it sounds like they aren’t about the vampirism itself, but the cause of it.
But the causes here are many and wild. Especially since, technically, vampirism is the cause of vampirism. Also, technically, anything that’s happened in the last 20 chapters could also be the cause of this. But which of these feels like a DESTINY?
I would point towards the relationship between Fai and Kurogane more than anything else. Fai was going to die, but it was Kurogane’s feelings that forced him into living as a vampire instead.
And if that’s what the text is talking about, then… are we saying Kurogane and Fai weren’t fated to fall in love, necessarily.
But being together was their destiny? The greatest intention behind and fulfilment of their lives?
BECAUSE I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT. LET’S GO WITH THAT ONE.
Meanwhile we have the vampire twins lounging on a chandelier and I think that’s just what vampires do for fun these days.
