Actually, this is the seventh anime I’m going to be involved in, and the fifth to be adapted from one of my works. Yet every time, I’m so deeply moved by it. This is the second time I was present at the announcement of one of these anime, and combined with the fact that this is going to be the first show based on something from the Kodansha Lanobe line, I admit to being a little anxious about how it’s going to go.

  On that note, I’m going to keep my hands off the scripting and such this time and just focus on writing the novels. I think they’ll have my head if I don’t. The schedule this year is really tight... (What, just this year?)

  The upshot is, while I might get to watch the episodes a little earlier than my readers, I’ll be just as excited as all of you to see the finished product.

  Okay, but what about this book?

  Just as I teased in the afterword to the last volume, I’ve introduced Hikaru as a sort of rival (?) for Shinichi.

  At first there were a lot of things about him that I found somewhat difficult to write, but when I got to work with him a second time (I mean when I did the revisions), I found I had managed to connect with him. I’ll leave it to you to read the book and see exactly what kind of character he is—but from the perspective of the work, he’s in something of a precarious position, so I’ll be curious to see how readers respond to him.

  In this volume, I did a somewhat extreme take on trading cards and ero games, but I promise there’s no malice behind it. I think going overboard on anything, not just cards or X-rated games, can lead to arguments and problems; this book just happened to focus on those two things.

  All right, then. If everything goes as planned, you should see the next volume in two or three months, where we’ll be taking a brief break from the main story for a collection of vignettes. I think the cover will finally feature you-know-who. Maybe.

  I’ll see you next time!

  Ichiro Sakaki

  31 March 2013

  Translator’s Notes

  Illustrations

  Figure

  The brand name “Magma” on the box of the Petralka figure is a reference to the Figma brand. The multiple faces for the character, one of which is visible in the upper right of the box here, are a well-known feature of Figma products. The box whose spine is visible besides Petralka says “Myusel Fourant.”

  Chapter One

  Even the Grass and Trees

  The proverb Shinichi is referring to is “Kusaki mo nemuru ushi mitsu-doki,” literally, “The third part of the hour of the ox, when even the grass and trees sleep.” In the past, timekeeping in Japan relied on a series of twelve “hours” (koku) based on the Chinese zodiac cycle, so that each of these divisions was equivalent to about two hours by Western timekeeping. In this system, the ox (ushi) represented the time before dawn, about 1 to 3 a.m. Koku could be further divided into four segments of about a half hour each, so the third segment (mitsu-doki) of the hour of the ox would be around 2:30 in the morning. Incidentally, this is also considered to be the “witching hour” in Japan, the time when one is most likely to encounter ghosts and spirits.

  Clumsy Shrine Maiden Ghosts

  Perhaps a reference to O-kinu, a ghost shrine maiden from the 1993 series Ghost Sweeper Mikami.

  Otherworld Monster

  In Japanese, zense majin. A reference to an early-70s drama called Diamond Eye, which features monsters who can change into human form. The allegedly famous words Shinichi never gets to say (“spirit wave of light that shines upon immoral beings” —in Japanese, gedou shoushin reiha) are used to force these monsters to reveal their true forms.

  Rose Princess

  The cleverly allusive Japanese is Bara-hime, which we’ve translated literally. The series is fictional, but is also a reference to Rozen Maiden, an early-2000s work about a group of porcelain dolls who are all named after different jewels. The character Suiren to whom Shinichi refers is probably a play on Suigintou, one of the characters in Rozen Maiden.

  Turn into a Sword

  Possibly a reference to Tenka Hyakken, a game in which some of the swords can change form between a weapon and an adorable shrine maiden.

  Stealing Holy Relics

  Probably a reference to the Fate series.

  Burning Prostrations

  Yaki-dogeza; i.e., prostrating yourself on something very hot (in the original metaphor, a teppan grill). The expression first appeared in the 1996 manga Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji (Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji).

  Destiny

  In the original, Shinichi says, “Think of the heft the word 運命 [destiny] has when you read it as sadame!” These two characters are usually read unmei (the standard word for “destiny”), whereas sadame typically means a law, a rule, or “what is appointed,” and might best be translated as “fate.” (Glossing a common word with a related word possessing a different nuance is fairly common in manga and light novels.) His point is that sadame sounds more portentous.

  Señorita

  The word o-jou-san (young lady) is glossed as senyoriita. Why? Not sure.

  Itadakimasu

  When Shinichi says he’s a little embarrassed to be reciting “itadakimasu” in unison because it feels like being in grade school, he’s thinking of how in schools in Japan, lunch is served in the classrooms, where the children all eat together. In fact, it’s also served and cleaned up by the students; much like cleaning up the school after class, this is considered a vital part of their education. At lunch, no one starts eating until everyone is ready and the whole class says “itadakimasu” together.

  There’s an interesting secondary linguistic question about this line. In the original text, Shinichi and his housemates all simply say “itadakimasu.” However, it’s not entirely clear whether they’re all reciting the phrase in Japanese, or if there is some Eldant equivalent that Shinichi’s magic ring is “translating” as itadakimasu. We chose to include both a call-out to the Japanese phrase and an English translation partly in deference to this quandary and partly for the benefit of readers who may not be familiar with Japanese table customs.

  Ayasaki Hikaru

  Here, the name Hikaru is written as 光流 (light + flowing). In general, it’s more typical to represent this name with just the kanji 光. In addition, whenever the name is glossed in this book, the family name (Ayasaki) is written in hiragana, as is usual, while the given name is glossed with katakana. “Hikaru” is usually a masculine name in Japanese (the female equivalent would be Hikari), so maybe Shinichi should have suspected.

  School Week

  Shinichi says he was at school five and a half days a week. Saturday classes were standard in Japan until about 1992, after which they were phased out in principle; however, many schools continued to hold at least Saturday morning classes.

  Order of the Dark Knights: Zero’s Revenge

  A Code Geass reference, previously mentioned in Volume 4.

  Shin-ku and Konpekisei

  These two character names continue the reference to Rozen Maiden, which has characters named Shinku (written with different kanji) and Suiseiseki.

  Kuuki Yomenai

  When Shinichi says that he, like many otaku, “can’t tell what others are thinking,” the Japanese expression is kuuki yomenai. Literally meaning “unable to read the air” and sometimes abbreviated to simply “KY,” this expression describes someone who misses social cues and/or just generally doesn’t “get” what’s going on in the minds of people around them.

  Layer

  Short for “cosplayer.” The word comes directly from the Japanese (leiyaa, from kosupureiyaa). We aren’t aware of this expression having currency among English-speaking cosplayers, but the meaning is clear enough that we let it stand.

  The Gift of the Magi

  This is a short story by O. Henry. In it, a woman sells her long hair in order to buy her husband a watch fob for Christmas. When he gets home that night, her husband reveals that he bought his wife a set of ornamental combs for Christmas—but he had to sell his precious watch to do it. The two of them realize how far they’ll go for each other. The connection to what Shinichi says here seems to be strictly that the story invokes the selling of hair (remember that he mentions, in passing, wigs being made of real hair).

  Bathing

  In Japan, it’s not uncommon for several people to bathe together when there’s a suitably large tub available. Although mixed baths (kon’yoku) do exist, most public bathing in Japan is separated by gender. Hence, it wouldn’t actually be that unusual for Shinichi and Hikaru to bathe together—it’s just that at this point, Shinichi is under some misconceptions about who Hikaru is.

  A Real and Fulfilling Life with a Woman

  Shinichi uses the term riajuu, a bit of 2-chan slang derived from “someone with a fulfilling (juujitsu shita) real (riaru) life.” Normally it refers, with a mixture of derision and envy, to people who are in a happy, committed relationship.

  Do You Want Me to Explode?!

  A Twitter expression with its roots in 2-chan, meaning basically, “Do you want me to get angry?” We might use the expression “pull an Incredible Hulk.”

  Chapter Two

  A Wasted Opportunity

  Shinichi says that even with (what he assumes is) a beautiful woman right there next to him, he doesn’t have the nerve to simply say, “Well, it would be a shame to waste an opportunity when it comes knocking, ho ho ho!” This line, somewhat verbose in translation, refers in the original to the saying “suezen kuwanu wa otoko no haji da,” literally, “It’s to a man’s shame not to eat a meal set out for him.” Here, suezen has the figurative meaning of a woman’s advances—that is, when a girl is practically throwing herself at a guy, he should be embarrassed not to act.

  I Mustn’t Stand Up

  Alludes to Shinji’s famous mantra “I mustn’t run away” from Evangelion.

  Calm Down and Count Your Prime Numbers

  Another catchphrase from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

  Dead Twin

  A reference to a scene in Adachi Mitsuru’s Touch!, in which the protagonist goes to a hospital morgue to view the corpse of his older brother after the latter’s death.

  The Yaranaika Guy

  Known in Japanese as “Abe-san,” Abe Takakazu is a character who has come to represent a certain kind of gay person on Nico-Nico; he’s especially famous for claiming, “I don’t mind straight boys” (nonke demo kuu).

  Harmful to Youth

  Yuugai zusho (“harmful books”) is what the Japanese call books that are considered to portray sex or violence in a way detrimental to young readers. The determination of what books (or games, etc.) fall into this category can be made on either the national or local level.

  My Maidenhead before My Virginity

  Shinichi says he doesn’t want to lose his 処女 (shojo) before his 童貞 (doutei). Shojo means a female virgin, while doutei is a male virgin, and what he seems to mean is that he doesn’t want to lose his virginity to a guy instead of or before a girl.

  Resumes

  The Japanese resume (rirekisho) usually follows a very specific format, and includes details that would not be found on a resume in, for example, the United States—including gender. This is why Shinichi surmises Matoba would have known Hikaru’s gender on account of having seen his resume. (Incidentally, rirekisho also include a space where the applicant is expected to paste a passport-sized portrait photo.)

  Card Costs

  Hikaru suggests that “a pack of ten cards costs a hundred yen.” At current exchange rates and making no adjustment for inflation, that would be a little less than one US dollar.

  Comiket

  A semi-annual “comics market” held in Tokyo. Chiefly features doujinshi or fan-made works, some original and some based on existing properties.

  Takai-sensei & Misagi-sensei

  These are probably references to Takarai Rihito (author of, among other things, the manga Ten Count) and Misasagi Fuhri, the artist for a game called Kichiku Megane.

  Gakuen Rakuen

  A reference to Gakuen Heaven, an old BL game. (Gakuen means “academy”; rakuen is the Japanese word for heaven or paradise, although it’s represented with the katakana loanwoard Hevun in the title of the original game.) Gakuen Heaven and Kichiku Megane were both released by a company called Spray. Although the Gakuen Heaven franchise originated with a PC game, it expanded to include a variety of media, so the “fan disc” mentioned in the text could be any of several things.

  Put Ice on a Century-Old Love Affair

  This isn’t a reference as such, but essentially proverbial; the phrase refers to any information (such as about a character trait or perhaps a bit of personal history) which, if known, could cause someone’s feelings for a person to change immediately. Here, Shinichi means that Minori’s unabashed adoration for BL material could cause someone to reconsider how they felt about her.

  The Drawl

  In Japanese, Shinichi suddenly begins speaking in Kansai (Osaka-area) dialect. This accent is generally considered to be humorous in Japanese (at least by people who don’t speak it), hence Shinichi’s reasoning.

  It’s Always My Turn

  Zutto ore no taan!, a Yu-Gi-Oh! reference.

  Playing for Keeps

  In its earliest forms, the seminal trading-card game Magic: The Gathering not only had “ante” (a randomly drawn card each player wagered at the beginning of the game), but made this feature a part of the gameplay, with some cards that instructed players to add another card to the ante or do other things with it. Ante eventually fell out of favor and was dropped from the rules many years ago. We mention this only for interest, and not to suggest that this scene is necessarily an M:TG reference; informal and to a lesser extent formal use of ante has surrounded plenty of similar games.

  The Opium Wars

  The two conflicts collectively known as the Opium Wars took place from 1839–1842 and from 1856–1860. Shinichi describes their motivation and methods pretty accurately; setting aside the effects of the actual drugs on Chinese society, the wars weakened the already ailing Qing Empire and allowed the British Empire to claim swaths of Chinese territory. The wars were an early feature of what China would later term its “century of humiliation,” during which the once-great empire was increasingly subject to territorial division and punitive treaties at the hands of the major European powers as well as Japan.

  Chapter Three

  An Old Saying

  The proverb goes, “Bijin wa mikka tateba akiru” (one tires of a beautiful woman after three days). It sometimes continues, “busu wa mikka tateba nareru” ([and] one gets used to an ugly woman after three days). The implication seems to be that looks aren’t as important as one might think in choosing a partner.

  Yugi WAR

  The first part of this name probably plays on Yu-Gi-Oh!. The second part may be a reference to Gundam War, a collectible card game first released in Japan in 1999 and which continues to this day. Alternatively, “war” may simply be a broad obfuscation of the sound “Oh.”

  Myuul-tan

  -Tan is a particularly diminutive honorific.

  Cave of the Sun Goddess

  Called Ama-no-Iwato (“the stone cave of heaven”) in Japanese, this comes from a myth in which the sun goddess Amaterasu retreats to said cave after her brother, the storm god Susano-o, treats her outrageously. Amaterasu stays in the cave, depriving the world of light. The other gods decide that in order to lure the sun goddess out, they’ll hold a raucous party just outside the entrance to the cave. (The party famously features one of the other goddesses doing a striptease.) Amaterasu, curious about what’s going on, peeks out, whereupon the gods pull her back into the world and seal the entrance to the cave with a stone. A more aggressive localization might translate this phrase as “fortress of solitude.”

  Kamishibai Games

  Kamishibai (“paper plays”) as a traditional form of theater in Japan using paper dolls. In video games, it refers to a genre similar to visual novels, but usually without any choices at all to be made by the player.

  Probatio Diabolica

  Latin for “the devil’s proof,” this is a fancy way of saying that you can’t prove a negative. To prove that something is possible, only one positive or affirmative example must be found; by contrast, to prove that something is impossible, in principle, every possible case would have to be tested and the result found to be negative. For example, I might claim that you can’t fly by jumping off a cliff, but since there are an infinite number of conceivable cases of people jumping off cliffs, and any one of them might—just might—result in someone flying instead of plummeting to their doom, I can’t technically prove my claim. In this scene, Hikaru asks Shinichi to prove that ero games and the like are not related to otaku committing crimes, which Minori calls out as impossible to do.

 

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