joy and shadows

Several dealers in cheap swords have been putting out Bleach replicas.

...Why is Shirayuki not one of them?

COME ON, BITCHES, SHOUT OUT FOR THE ICE PRINCESS, K?

Rabid anime fans, it's time to sit down and have a couple beers, and maybe relax a bit.

There have been three Bleach-related rants recently on the "Rant of the Week" section at Anime News Network. One of them was pro-dub. One of them was anti-dub. This week, there's some complaining about translating or not-translating honorifics, specific words to the anime, etc.

jaina and I were remarking that some terms in Bleach get English translations but not others (i.e. "zanpakuto" and "konpaku" are used as is, but "reiatsu" turns into "spirit force" and "shinigami" into "soul reaper.") The author of the rant is complaining that if all the Japanese terms aren't translated into English, then the meaning of the terms might be lost. And yet, I can bet you that next week, there's going to be another rant about how the dub isn't OMG PURE if you don't use the Japanese words, because the English translations are an approximation of the Japanese terms, anyway.

Well, guys, anyone who's done any translation at all understands that there's always a good bit of guesswork involved, and a balance between preserving the original meaning and getting the meaning across in the context of the new language. Let's take the ranter's complaint about "taicho" and "fukutaicho."

I don't know whether "taicho" is a rank in the Japanese military (the closest I found was Tai-sho, "general") or whether it's a political honorific. Taking the literal translation given in the rant of "division commander," then the proper rank translation is "major general," because major generals command divisions. The next rank below major general (properly) is brigadier general, and then colonel. So, should we start calling Byakuya-taicho Major General Byakuya instead? Colonel Abarai?

Let's consider the army definition of "division" - approximately fifteen thousand soldiers. That's a lot of people. So, should we translate ranks based on how many shinigami each captain commands? Is Byakuya's command more like an army captain's, so the meaning of his title is correct, and then Renji would be First Lieutenant Abarai? (Actually, I like First Lieutenant better than Vice-Captain.) But, captains only command 100 - 130 people.

And this is all just two words.

So. Which would you rather have, correct words or correct meaning? What is "correct," anyway? My feeling is that if you don't speak the language, you're not getting the full meaning anyway, and most decent translators are doing their best to take a nuanced language and make it understandable. But, the Japanese words do give the anime a little "flavor," since, after all, Our Heroes are speaking Japanese (as opposed to Trigun, where they're supposed to be speaking English.) So, everyone settle down, and enjoy the show.

Especially Urahara's English pothead voice. That makes me giggle all the time.

Stolen from everyone.

( the shipping meme, for Bleach )

There is no excuse for this post, except that I have a dirty mind, and Renji is wearing a necklace in the Sealed Sword Frenzy that looks like a penis. Feel free to steal, but please credit me.

Also, is it me, or is the end of Bleach 73 a porno fic waiting to happen? Consider this: we have all the right elements. Ishida has a fever, hurt/comfort, Yoshino's lost love, a lot of talk about lonely eyes, and a nearby bed.

Yeah. I'm so reading that one.

A billion million thanks to jaina for optimizing the icon so it was under 40K.

I haven't blabbed about my weekend in weeks! I'm sure you all missed it a LOT.

Busy weekend, but in a good way. Friday night we went out for a very swank dinner at 3 West with one of my husband's friends from the R&A. They're visiting the USGA this week, and husband is good friends with the technical director. I tried merguez for the first time, and we had a lovely bottle of cabernet to go along with dinner, and dessert was banana and peanut butter spring rolls with vanilla ice cream. Mmmtasty.

Saturday was spent on domestic duties such as cleaning the floor and bathroom and making polenta and spezzatino for dinner (alternately titled "How Arafel Discovered the Joys of Instant Polenta.") Normally to make polenta, you boil cornmeal in water while stirring until it softens and cooks, and it takes 30 to 40 minutes. Instant polenta - dump it in and it's done. w00t! Husband spent the day setting up our new home theatre system, and we tried it out on Serenity, which fadingembers gave me for Christmas.

Sunday was Team Haxx0r Cosplay Day. jaina came over about noonish, and we spent the day on our knees in the kitchen (not that way, you dirty pervs!) drawing lines on black fabric. I have to say that things went VERY well, and we had plenty of time to watch Bleach 64 before we moved on to basting pleats in front of the Steelers/Broncos football game. Lookin' good for Katsucon, yes. Afterwards, I did some work on my own cosplay while dropping in and out of watching the Panthers/Seahawks game. We had the Traditional Football Meal of bratwurst on a bun with sauerkraut accompanied by beer. Neither game was terribly exciting, IMO - both the Broncos and the Panthers committed four turnovers, and you can't do that shit esp. in the playoffs and expect to win.

Now, back to work. I have done nothing productive for work all morning. Oh, and GIP too.

Now begins the interesting part of Bleach (as of ep 15+). Ichigo and Ichida finish up their peeing contest, and Bleach starts in on the Soul Society arc. Ep 15 introduces Yoruichi, the best black cat in the history of anime (you learn why she's so cool much much later.)

Bleach 13

Bleach 14

Bleach 15

More Bleach yum-yums for you all. Here we introduce Ishida Uryuu, anal-retentive archer extraordinaire, and his peeing contest with Ichigo. In Bleach, it's all about how far you can pee!

PS. (Don't get me wrong; I love Ishida!)

Bleach 10

Bleach 11

Bleach 12

More Bleach for y'all.

Bleach 4

Bleach 5

Bleach 6

This might not look like much... but trust me, this took FOREVER.

Hakama are sent straight from hell. andmydog was right. I'm going to have to gather my resolve before I attempt the pleats.

I also made the shinigami kimono, but that wasn't nearly as onerous a task.

( click for picture )

About a week ago, riddering was so kind as to supply the entirety of the Bleach manga. I've picked through it, impatient person that I am, and all I have to say is this..

( BIG SPOILERS )