Become My Servant

become my servant

Just some clarification since the post is back on my dash:

I always took the first panel with the line “I wonder if he saw the person he was thinking about...” to be Izanami asking herself if he saw her as the “person he was thinking about” - as in, if that was how she appeared to him - not as her literally wondering if he ever saw the Pockmarked Girl again.

That’s why the official translation threw me off when I first read it, and raised a lot of questions that were totally different from the ones I had when I read the unofficial. I wonder if any of ya’ll also took the unofficial line like that too or if it’s just me. 🤔

Unofficial vs. official translation of the line about the girl Father saw Izanami as in the Underworld

Two translations with two wildly different meanings with way different connotations 🤔🤔🤔🤔

Can we skip the angst and have them forgive each other, thanks

I was foolish enough to remind myself about that “a gentler version of myself would suit him better” frame, and this is the result.

JLPT Level: N1

Three JLPT words in a row? What is happening?

Okay. I knew going in that this kanji wasn’t going to have a very cheerful etymology because of its meaning, but it’s way, way darker than I had imagined. Brace yourselves for some pretty morbid stuff.

嘆 is made of two parts: 口 (mouth) and 漢 without the ⺡. Generally, 漢 represents “China.” But not in this kanji. Ohhhhh no. Strap yourselves in.

In ancient Japan, many different sacrifices were made to different gods, and when there were famines due to drought, miko (Shinto shrine priestesses) were burned alive as human sacrifices.

The 漢 part of this kanji represents 旱魃 Kanbatsu, which can mean either “drought” or “the God of Drought.” 

So if you put mouth 口 and the God of Drought 漢 without the ⺡together, you get, “a cry to the God of Drought.”

Nowadays, I would say that almost no Japanese people know about the dark rituals this kanji alludes to. This word is used most often for grieving or mourning, though, so there is still a connection to death. 

Unofficial vs. official translation of the line about the girl Father saw Izanami as in the Underworld

Two translations with two wildly different meanings with way different connotations 🤔🤔🤔🤔