Anime Immersion : K-On!

日本語の練習 第91週

Japanese Practice Week 91

2021年08月22日「日」第91週

Hello everyone! Kyuusei here to teach you Japanese and show what I find interesting about Japan. With that being said, let’s continue.

日本語のイベント

先週、ついに字幕なしで「けいおん！」を見始めました。９年ぐらい前、高校の友達に「このアニメを字幕なしで見て予定です。」と言った。もちろん、英語で。すなわち、その時、日本語ぜんぜんできませんでした。２０１４年、日本語を勉強している冒険を始めました。日本語クラスは楽しかったけど、日本語で話したとき、自信がありませんでした。僕の日本語の能力は自信がありませんでした。

卒業したとき、自分で日本語を勉強し始めました。今、自分で３年ぐらい勉強したも、能力ときどき信じられません。このマインドセットで無理だったと思いました。このマインドセットで原語日本のメディアに近づくのを妨げていました。たぶん怖かったと思いす。

ついに字幕なしで「けいおん！」を見ています。９０％ぐらい分りましたけど、これぐらいいいと思います。このアニメを見た、久しぶりだけど、まだ思い出せます。日本語で見たことがないのに。

とにかく、１０年前に好きなユーチューバのGiggukはこのアニメをレビューしました。これはもちろん、英語で。

N4　文法

[ようになる]

it has come to that, to turn into, to reach the point that

Used to express that something has changed. By itself, なるmeans to become. When put together with ように, it means to change something. It can be a change in a habit. It can also be a change in ability or possibility.

Ex: 夕べにチョコレートを食べるようになりました。

I didn’t used to eat chocolate at night. But now I do./ I started eating chocolate at night.

V[Plain-Form] ＋ようになる

V[ない-Form] ＋ようになる

Ex:目的は、日本語ペラペラに話せるようになることです。

　　(My goal is to be able to speak Japanese fluently. / My goal is to reach the point where I can speak Japanese fluently.)

Ex: 最近、携帯電話を使いすぎました。それでは、午後8時の後に携帯電話を使わないようになりました。

　　(I’ve been using my phone too much lately. So, I’ve started not using my phone after 8pm./I’ve been using my phone too much lately. So, I’ve come to the point where I don’t use my phone after 8pm.) 

[ようにする]

to make certain that, to try to

Used to say that you will make sure something will happen.

V[Plain-Form] ＋ようにする

V[ない-Form] ＋ようにする

Ex: メモを書いておく。よし、忘れないようにしますね。

　　(I’ll make a memo. Alright, I’ll make sure to remember it now.)

Ex: 午前５時なんですから、そっとに歩きますようにします。

　　(Since it’s 5 in the morning, I’ll try to walk quietly.) 

トピックスを答えましょうか

1. Your girlfriend/boyfriend is sick. Since you know they live alone, you decide to pick up some things for her/him. After cutting a couple of apples and cooking some porridge for later, tell them that you’ll be back after work and not to push themselves too hard.

仕事後で、帰ってくるよ。無理しないでね。

2. The neighbors are saying that it is going to rain today. Tell them that since it’ll rain, then tomorrow will be a bit cooler.

雨が降ってるなら、明日はちょっと涼しくなります。

3. Everyone at the detective agency is trying to find out what Murata’s boyfriend’s/girlfriend’s job is. Through a little deductive reasoning you guess that she is a programmer.

村田さんの恋人は、たぶんプログレマーでしょう。

4. To celebrate the success of the quarterly sales, the boss has taken everyone to his villa by the mountains for a weekend. Your boss asks you “where is Kudo-kun”. Tell your boss that he/she didn’t come because they don’t like the outdoors.

工藤くんはアウトドアが好きじゃないので、週末キャンプに来なかっただろうと思います。

対話

[学校に戻った：　その２]

It’s the first day back to school. We last left Sora and Airi waiting for their friend, Rena, to come down stairs so they could walk together. Sora and Airi have made a bet. If Rena comes down within 5 minutes Sora has to hold both Airi and Rena’s bags. Will she make it in time?

レナ:お待たせ！

ソラ:あ、しまった。なぜ来るか。

アイリ:やった！勝利だ！

レナ:おはよう、みんな。

ソラ＆アイリ:おはよう。

ソラ:カバンを渡せ。

レナ:ふわ～何起こったんだ？

アイリ:頼む、ソラ。

レナ:さっぱりわからないけれど、よろしく、ソラ。

ソラ:重ッー。カバンのなかに一体なにか。

アイリ＆レナ:いろいろ。

ソラ:どういう意味だ？

アイリ&レナ:秘密。

ソラ:またかよ？！

アイリ:さ、行こう、ソラ、レナちゃん。

つづく

[Back to School Part 2]

Rena: Sorry to keep ya guys waiting!

Sora: Ah, darn it. Did you have to come now?

Airi: Yay! I win!

Rena: Uh, mornin’ guys.

Sora & Airi: Mornin’.

Sora: Give me your bag.

Rena: Yawn~ What’s going on?

Airi: Here you go, Sora.

Rena: I don’t know what’s going on but, take mine, too, Sora.

Sora: It weighs a ton. What the heck is in these bags?

Airi & Rena: Stuff.

Sora: What’s that mean?

Airi & Rena: That’s a secret.

Sora: That again?!

Airi: Let’s go, Sora, Rena-chan.

TO BE CONTINUED…

記事を読もう

Polish Woman Becomes Shogi Pro

25 year-old Karolina Styczyńska from Poland took interest in Shogi when she read manga in high school. Styczyńska learned how to play Shogi on the internet and came to Japan in hopes to become a pro. So, while going to Yamanashi University, she continued learning Shogi.

Styczyńska won her match on the 20th and became a professional Shogi player. Styczyńska said “It isn’t just Shogi. While also studying Japanese, I found that it is hard to live in a place where I don’t know the culture. I am grateful to my family and friends.”

According to the Japanese Shogi Association (JSA), she is the first foreigner to ever become a Shogi Pro.

Considering she got interested in shogi through manga, I thought it’d be through March Comes in Like a Lion aka ３月のライオン since it also began around the time she was in high school, 2007. But no, it was Naruto. There were some scenes where Shikamaru was playing shogi with his father and Asuma, so I assume this is what caught her interest in the sport. She took to 81dojo, an online shogi website that let’s players have matches around the world, and strived to become better.

This article is about 4 years old, but I’ve wanted to translate and share my thoughts on this for quite a while. Karolina is an inspiration to all foreigners and people who are learning Japanese and/or about its culture. From one manga, she started her path to Japan and it’s language. If that’s the case, then with dedication and drive, people can achieve great things. So how is she doing now? 

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/tooyamayusuke/20210814-00252736

According to this chart she is still a shogi pro rising up the ranks. As of this August, Styczyńska is a 1-dan in the C-rank, where veterans and newcomers alike have matches to get to a higher spot and perhaps get to B-rank and higher.

実況から勉強する：キングダムハーツ

Ah, that familiar music. Gotta love Traverse Town. Yoko Shimomura is a great composer. Anyways, the boys are trying to find out what these gummi pieces do. Hmm… I wonder if Leon will be helpful.

①＜今（いま）は入（い）れない＞

　  「隠（かく）された水路（すいろ）」への入り口（いりぐち）

• Can’t enter now.
• Entrance to the「Hidden Waterway」

②そうか。。。鍵穴（かぎあな）を見（み）つけたか。

　  ああ、キーブレードが勝手（かって）に閉（と）じちゃったんだ。

  　それで、いいのよ。

　  星（ほし）の海（うみ）に浮（う）かぶいつかの世界（せかい）にはそれぞれ鍵穴があるはずだ。

　  その鍵穴は、世界の中心（ちゅうしん）に続（つづ）いているらしい。

　  おそらく、この街（まち）にもあるだろう。

• I see… so you found a keyhole.
• Yeah, the keyblade ended up locking it by itself.
• There should be more keyholes in every world.
• That keyhole seems to be the center of these worlds.
• This world most likely has one, too.
   

③なんだそれ。

　アンセムさんのレポートに書（か）いてあったの。

　その鍵穴からハートレスが入り込んで（いりこんで・はいりこんで）

　世界の中心に何（なに）か影響（えいきょう）を与（あた）える。

• What, really.
• It’s written in Ansem’s reports.
• The heartless get in through the keyhole
• It has an impact on the world.
  
  

④影響。。。って、どうなるんだ？

　  最後（さいご）には世界が無（な）くなっちゃうって。

　  え！？

　  だから、ソラ。

　  お願（ねが）い。鍵（かぎ）を閉（と）じて。

• Impact… what’ll happen?
• The world will end up disappearing.
• Huh!?
• So, Sora…
• Please. Lock the keyholes.
   

⑤あなたにしか出来ない。

  　俺。。。だいじょぶかな。

  　おまえにとって世界をめぐることは消（け）して無駄（むだ）ではないはずだ。

  　そうだよ！

　  ともだちや王様（おうさま）を捜（さが）さなくちゃ！

　   たしかに。。。そうだな。俺、やる！

• You’re the only one who can do it.
• I wonder if I can.
• As long as you go around the other worlds, you should be.
• He’s right!
• We gotta look for your friends and the king!
  

⑥あのさ、レオン。

　  このグミブロック、なんだか他（ほか）のと違（ちが）うみたいなんだけど、何（なに）か知（し）らない？

　  。。。。。。。。。

　  シドさんに聞けばいいよ、きっと。

• Hey, Leon.
• This gummi block, it looks kinda different from the others so do you have any clue what it does?
• … … …
  • Wow, Leon’s stumped about something.
• You should definitely ask Mr. Cid about that.
  

⑦そうだ、ソラ。これを持って行け（もっていけ）。

　  大地（だいち）のかがやきを手にいれた！

　  この石（いし）は強（つよ）い力（ちから）を秘（ひ）めているらしい。

  　 お守り（おまもり）に持っていたんだが、おまえにあずけておく。

　   どうやって使（つかう）うんだ？

   　。。。。。。。。。

• Oh yeah, Sora. Take this with you.
• Obtained Earthshine.
• It appears that this rock has great power hidden within it.
• I’ve been keeping it as a good luck charm but I’ll let you hang on to it.
• How do you use it?
• … … …
  • Dang Sora you’re 2 for 2 with stumping Leon.
    • Maybe 3 for 3 since you beat him.

⑧なんだ？ お！グミブロックじゃねか！

　  うん。

　   で、これ何？

　   おいおいおい！おめえらナビゲーショングミも知らないでグミシップに乗ってんのかっ！

   　星の大海（おおうみ・たいかい）なめるんじゃねえぞ！

  　

• What is it? Oh! Ain’t that a Gummin Block!
• Yeah.
• What is it?
• Hold up! You guys don’t know about the navigation gummi and your riding a gummi ship!
• Don’t underestimate the vast universe!
  

⑨何にも知らなくて悪（わる）かったな。

      何にも知らないけどな、それでも俺たちは行かなきゃならないんだよ！

       おって。すまねえな、てめえがそうだったのか。

　   そうとわかりゃあ、手をかさねわけにはいかねえか。

   　たのむ。

• Gee, sorry for not knowing everything.
• We don’t know anything but, we still gotta go (to other worlds)!
• Oh. So that’s how it was. Sorry.
• I guess I’ll help ya out.
• Counting on you.
  

⑩ナビゲーショングミってのはな、船（ふね）につけると新（あたら）しいルートが開（あ・ひら）ける、イカしたブロックだ。

  　おめえらの船につけるだろ？

  　もちろんオレ様がつけてやる。

  　でもな、急（いそ）ぎの仕事（しごと）かかえててな。。。届けものなんだけど。。。

  　 何を届けるんだ？

• When you put this on your ship, new routes will open up. The navigation gummi, it’s all the rage right now.
• You want it on your ship right?
• I’ll put it on for you.
• But I have a quick delivery job to do first.
• What is it?
  

⑪ 本だよ、本。

   　だいぶ古い本でな、バラバラになりそうってんで持ちこまれて。。。

   　ところどころページが破（やぶ）れてて

　   元通りって（もとどおりって）訳にゃいかなかったが。

   　なんとか、直（なお）したのよ。

• Just a book.
• It’s a very old book, it was brought in tatters like this.
• The pages are torn here and there.
• Can’t make heads or tails of it the way it is right now.
• Gonna have to get it fixed somehow.
  
  
  

⑫てなわけでおまえら、ひとつこの本を届けちゃくれねえか？

　  ３番街（ばんがい）の先（さき）の屋敷（やしき）だ。

　   炎（ほのお）のマークが目印（めじるし）だぜ。

　   古（ふる）びた本を手にいれた！

• So, could you guys deliver this for me?
• Pass the house in the 3rd District.
• There’ll be a flame mark.
• Received Old Book!
  
  

⑬な、なんだ！？

　  ん？からくり館（やかた）のかねが鳴ってやがるようだな。

　  かねを見物(けんぶつ）に行（い）く前（まえ）にちゃんと本を届けてくれよ。

　  終（お）わったら、３番街の家（いえ）に来（き）てくれ。

　  ヤボ用（よう）でそっちにいるからよ。

• Wh-what was that!?
• Huh? Oh that? That’s the bell from the clock tower.
• You can check it out after you deliver the book.
• When you get that settled, come to the house in the 3rd District.
• We got a little business to take care of there.
  
  

⑭なんか用か？

　  買物させて！

　  世間話でも

　   なんでもない

   　エーテル

• What d’ya want?
• Let me buy something!
• Chat
• Nothing
• Ether

※Welp, I guess Paradigm Shift was like “forget that, I’m taking this thing down first.”. I used to deal with Merlin and Riku first. Then, fight this boss. The new and improved model is a bit tough. I remember the ramming move and the cannon gave me a lot of trouble. Didn’t think to block the darn thing. Plus, I was more of a muscle head back then and never really used magic.

⑮最大HPアップ！！

　 最大APアップ！！

　 グーフィートルネドをおぼえた

• Donald: Max HP UP!!
• Goofy: Max AP UP!!
• Goofy: Learned “Goofy Tornado”
  

⑯風の力を手にいれた！

　 エアロの魔法を覚えた！

      ナビグミのかけらを手にいれた！

• Obtained the power of wind!
• Learned the magic Aero!
• Obtained Navi-gummi fragment!

Now that we got the big bad boss out of the way （笑）, it’s time that boys go see Merlin again. Wonder if we will see what’s in the book. Knowing Paradigm Shift, probably will pass on that altogether. While at Merlin’s, maybe they can find info about that other thing that Leon doesn’t know.

ヒトリゴト

他の言語が話せているは英語です。それだけです。日本語ができるけどまだ初心者です。それより、韓国語やドイツ語やベトナム語を話せたいと思います。理由何ですか？じゃあ、理由を教えてあげます。

韓国語は面白そうです。ドイツ生まれです。ベトナム人の友達はベトナムの映画を見せてもらいました。それらの言語を話せたいと思います。そのために、LingoDeer、よろしくお願いします。

Another language that I can speak is English. That’s about it. I can speak Japanese, but I am still a beginner. Apart from that, I would like to speak Korean, German, and Vietnamese. Why, you ask? I’ll tell you.

Korean seems to be interesting. I was born in Germany. My Vietnamese friend showed me a Vietnamese movie.

I think I want to be able to speak these languages. For that reason, I hope that LingoDeer can help.

タイトルを見る

紅を狩る者

紅（くれない）

No, not that Kurenai. But her eye color gives what this word means away. This is a word that is associated with a bright red color. Better known as scarlet or crimson. 

Another word for crimson could be 深紅 （しんく）which has 紅（くれない） as it’s second kanji. I only know this word thanks to Jojo’s Part 2’s OP 「BLOODY STREAM」 by Coda. So, in a way this too is a Jojo’s reference. And as it is a Jojo’s reference, I think it is best to use “crimson” instead of scarlet. Plus, it’s the name of my favorite color.

を

Just your friendly neighborhood object marking particle here. Nothing to worry about. In other words, some action (a verb) will be acting upon the previous word “crimson”.

狩る（かる）

Now, this verb has the kanji for 狩（かり）which by itself can mean hunting an animal, searching for a criminal or even to gather berries and mushrooms. The last one is a bit more peaceful. Alas, this anime doesn’t have berry picking. Therefore, I think that “hunting” works best here for now. 

So far we have something like “Hunting the Crimson”. I add “the” here because of the show’s context. I’ll get into what Crimson’s are after the official translation. And perhaps gush about the show.

We have one last thing to breakdown so let’s hold off on a full translation for now. 

者（もの）

Our last word means “person”. When put with a verb or an adjective it can bring something new to the word. For example 若い者 “young people” or in this case, 狩る者 “hunter”.

So, together we have something like “Crimson Hunters”. That doesn’t sound poetic enough so how about…

“The Person Who Hunts the Crimson”

or

“People Who Hunt the Crimson”

Now let’s check what Funimation has put out.

Those Who Hunt Crimson

That’s better than what I thought up. This title comes from the Episode 9 of ヴァニタスの手記 or Case Study of Vanitas. This episode will be airing next week but I have been putting off talking about this series here for far too long. 

There is this vampire named Noé who meets a human that is a self-proclaimed vampire doctor named Vanitas. Vanitas wants to save vampires whether they want it or not. And he does this with The Book of Vanitas. This man by the name of Vanitas, acquired this book and his name from the actual creator of the book, Vanitas. So, what’s so special about this book? 

In the anime’s lore, this book is supposed to cause nothing but strife and destruction to the vampires. All the more reason why this man who claims to want to save vampires with the said book, comes off as a quack and needs to be eliminated. Especially, considering that the book is supposedly the cause for vampires losing control and attacking people and vampires alike. However, everything is not what it seems and it is up to Vanitas and Noé to figure who is truly behind it all.

The aesthetic of the anime is great. The OP and (especially) the ED are wonderful to listen to. I seriously want to buy a MP3 of the ED. It’s a mixture of English and Japanese which is surprising for anime. It’s a welcomed surprise nonetheless. Another surprise, there are two versions: English and Japanese versions. I wonder if the artist, LMYK, is like Hikaru Utada and does more songs in a bilingual format.

Here’s the ED’s Music Video(EN ver.):

(JPN ver.):

Wow, now I’m conflicted. I like them both. But yeah this is hands down the best ED song for the Summer 2021 season. Oh, right. *Ahem*. 

This is the PV:

レイの日記

シオンタウンに出かけた。イナズマ嬉しそうだね。そんなに悪かっただろう？１２番道路はいい釣り場らしいだ。たぶん釣り人の奴らに戦えば、イナズマ、よろしく。おまえの１０万ボルトを見た、久しぶりだね。ボルトをたくさん使う後で、カビゴンの眠り場についに着いた。さって、起きろお前。

ちょーこれは吹く。。。どうやって。笛だけど、レコーダーみたいなあ。それって同じだろう。まいいか。俺はやる。あ、起きた！やばい、あいつが怒った。じゅぶん寝たみたいくせに。イッコケセイ、させてやる！くそ！あいつのずつきが強い。いや、イナズマ、頼む。イナズマは「かげぶんしん」の技を使ってできる。それに、カビゴンはでかいポケモンだから、イナズマなら、もっと叩くにくい。

よし、捕まった！「弱肉強食」のキョウショクを読んでやる。ついに捕まってよかった。タマムシシティに戻らなきゃ。草タイプのジムリーダーのエリカはそこにいる。シッコクハとチョウムはそこに役に立つ。だが、コクヨウガンは別のポケモンにスイッチしなきゃ。キョウショクは果物や野菜が好きかなあ。エリカなら、たぶんたくさん植えてる。

REI’S JOURNAL

I left Lavender Town. Inazuma looks happy. Was it really that bad? Route looks like a good place to fish. Probably will run into some fishermen, so I’m counting on you, Inazuma. Been a while since I’ve seen a thunderbolt. After fighting a lot of fishermen, I finally made it to Snorlax. Time to wake up. 

Wait, how do I play this thing? It looks like a recorder so I’ll play it like that. Ah, it woke up! Crap it’s angry. Even though it slept enough. I’ll let Ikkokesei handle this! Darn that headbutt is strong. Nah, I’ll leave it to Inazuma. Inazuma can use double team. Plus, since Snorlax is a huge Pokemon, I think Inazuma will be harder to hit. 

Alright, I caught it! I’ll name you Kyoushoku from the idiom “Survival of the Fittest”. Finally caught it. We should go back to Celadon City. The grass type Gym Leader, Erika is there. Shikkokuha and Choumu will be useful there. Better switch Kokuyougan out with someone else though. Wonder if Kyoushoku likes fruits and vegetables. Erika probably plants a lot.

In conclusion, I hope that this series is helpful with your journey to learning Japanese and/or taking an interest in the country’s culture. Until then… また来週！