TRC Translation Notes Volume 13 (Chapters 91 - 99 + Omake)
The wondrous third installment of the new Translation Notes from @giniroangou, now looking at Volume 13. I can’t believe how far we’ve come, this still feels so recent.
Highlights include: that’s so love, secret drugs, justice for Syaoran’s detective skills, improved Kuroparents, and cuddle pile!
Chapter 91
p.11-12 - Just for fun, the word that’s been translated as “love birds” is “raburabu”/“love love,” which is frequently used to indicate that two people are lovey dovey together, so to speak. Mokona continues to use the word “rabu”/“love” throughout her proceeding comments. First she says, “It’s love! It’s love!,” then she turns the word “love” into an adjective (so, “But it was so romantic” becomes literally, “But it was so love”), and finally, “Isn’t love nice?”
p.15 - Since a commenter asked, this world’s name rendered directly from the katakana is “Rekoruto.” I think the fan translation of Lecourt works the best as a country name, but I’ve always liked how the original name is reminiscent of the word “record” given all the libraries, so I can understand the use of Recort as an alternate translation. As far as I know there are no right answers here - I don’t think CLAMP has officially clarified? - but in fandom you’re probably most likely to see people using Lecourt.
P.22 - The translation has switched from “Daddy” to “Father” but the original Japanese is the same as it’s always been. As I mentioned earlier, this was “Otou-san,” for which “Father” would be a more accurate translation.
When Fai says that they’re “not permitted” to sell the swords, he’s really just saying they shouldn’t sell them. I’m pretty sure if they actually wanted to they could.
Chapter 92
p.31 - As a bit of trivia, Kurogane calls his mother “Hahaue,” which is a more formal and old-fashioned word for “Mother” than the commonly-heard “Okaa-san.” It’s something you’d be unlikely to hear from anyone today, but fits right in with the apparent time period of Kurogane’s Nihon. (Likewise, a little later he calls his father “Chichiue,” the equivalent word for “Father.”)
p.33 - In the translated version Kurogane’s father calls him a “brat,” but the term he uses is “wanpaku bouzu,” different from both words Kurogane has used for Syaoran (“gaki” and “kozou.”) While I think “brat” works well for the exchange between Kurogane and his father, normally I’d interpret this phrase a bit more warmly - it’s like he’s calling him a little rascal. Not that brat can’t be said fondly, of course.
P.34 - Following up from the previous note, Kurogane’s “I’m not a brat!” can be interpreted along the lines of “I’m not a kid!”
Kurogane’s father is referred to as the “ryoushu” (領主) indicating that he is a feudal lord, but the extent of his holdings isn’t necessarily as large as a daimyo (though it very well could be!) From the tiny bit of research I’ve done, ryoushu seems to be a fairly ambiguous term, so we have some leeway in interpreting his position. If anyone is well-versed in historical Japanese terminology and/or has more information on this, feel free to step forward!
p.35 - The translation of “kusa” as “grass” here is unintentionally hilarious - that is a legit translation of the word, but in this context “herb” would be more appropriate. (Either way they’re suddenly sounding like pot farmers though, HELP.)
p.38 - It seems like you may have misinterpreted the speech bubbles from your tags, but the parent who Kurogane is said to resemble is his father rather than his mother, much as I love the image of baby Kuromama climbing trees (though who’s to say she didn’t!)
Chapter 93
p.51 - Kurogane’s “I want to protect Suwa and everyone in it,” is spoken first as, “I [want to protect] Suwa,” then clarified to, “I want to protect everyone.” You could interpret this the way the official translation did, or you could say that to Kurogane, Suwa is equivalent to the people there.
More significantly, Kurogane’s vow of protection is, “I want to protect Mother and Father, who protect everyone else.”
p.59 - Now that Kurogane’s grown up a bit, he calls his father “Oyaji.” This means “Father” as well, but it’s used primarily by men - it’s rougher and more casual than “Chichiue” or “Otousan.” In English translations it’s often rendered as the colloquialism “my/the old man.” We see later that he still uses “Chichiue” when speaking to his father directly, though.
Chapter 94
p.67 - There’s nothing here I would consider a mistranslation, but I’d like to clarify some nuances in the dialogue. Kurogane’s “I’d rather have you feeling better!” is, “It’s fine as long as you get better.” When his mother responds by calling him a good child, the word she uses is “yasashii,” meaning gentle/sweet/caring. I really love this word choice in juxtaposition with Kurogane’s actions - he’s yelling, but his mother clearly recognizes that it’s coming from a place of care and concern.
p.68-70 - This is getting into nitpicky territory and I’m too lazy to write out the specifics, but please take my word for it that in the original text it feels clearer that Syaoran is actually in the process of figuring things out and heading towards a conclusion rather than just summarizing information he’s already said, lol.
p.79 - Since “You people...” sounds kind of alienating in English, I’ll clarify that Kurogane’s saying, “Everyone…”/“All of you…”
Chapter 95
p.87 - I don’t think it’s clear in the translation, but Kuromama tells Kuropapa that he mustn’t take Ginryuu with him without calling for her first (to bless the sword, as we learn shortly after.)
p.88 - The tone of this exchange is different as well - it’s not about demands being made but about the actions each of them choose to take. Kuropapa says, “You’ve always been like this. You keep pushing yourself too hard,” and Kuromama replies, “I could say the same of you.”
p.90 - A little elaboration on Ginryuu as the “Dragon of Water” - the original text refers to Ginryuu as one who rules over/controls the water.
Chapter 96
p.107-108 - I’m not certain that Kuromama’s final words are a request for Kurogane to protect Suwa. It’s difficult to tell because she’s speaking in sentence fragments, but she’s using the same structure for both “Suwa” and “You” (“Suwa wo...” “Anata wo...” vs “Anata ni/ga…”), and there is no pronoun associated with the following “Must protect…” This leads me to believe that she’s still struggling under her own obligations here, feeling that she must protect both Suwa and her son even as she dies.
p.120 - A clarification so Amaterasu doesn’t sound totally irresponsible here: She says she led her army in assuming that monsters would invade Suwa, the implication being that she came as soon as she could after hearing about Tomoyo’s dream.
Chapter 97
p.133 - Amaterasu isn’t trying to reason with Kurogane, as it appears in the translation. She’s speaking to the people with her (or the readers, however you want to see it), saying that he’s lost himself and that it can’t be helped, but she has to stop him. My interpretation would be that she’s ready to put him out of his misery here, tbh, hence the look of pain on her face. It’s brutal, but she believes it’s the only thing to be done at this point. Tomoyo literally saved Kurogane’s life here.
Chapter 98
p.142-143 - Since this became a topic of discussion, the “U” noises Kurogane makes here are indeed a sort of animalistic groaning noise (at least that’s how I would interpret them.) The Japanese “u” sounds like a shortened English “oo,” so just imagine he’s alternating between short and long versions of that sound and you should have an idea of what it’s supposed to be.
p.150 - I’m pretty sure this came up near the start of the manga, but as a reminder this castle is called “Shirasagi,” not “Shirasaki.”
p.153 - When Kurogane says his name here it’s “...Kurogane” rather than “Kurogane…” There are far too many weird punctuation-based tonal shifts in this translation, let me tell you.
p.156 - SPEAKING OF WHICH… Mokona’s line should end in an exclamation mark (“Syaoran is crying!”) and the ellipsis comes at the front of Fai’s line (“...He won’t let go.”) I don’t always point these out or even notice them but they’re deeply frustrating. As subtle as the changes may be, they still affect the way these lines come across.
Chapter 99
p.165 - It’s actually quite likely that Syaoran led with “I think I saw your past” - the language Kurogane uses in the original text implies that he’s confirming something that was already speculated/assumed. I don’t think it lessens the moment at all, though.
Omake
p.177 - What’s been translated as Yuuko telling Mokona to find a good place to stay was originally, “You need to make sure you get enough sleep.”
p.179 - Mokona’s actually saying here that everyone’s going to sleep together! Canon cuddle pile! :D