#ao no exorcist spoilers
I learned a neat thing years ago in a Japanese short stories class, and now I have a burning desire to share it with the Blue Exorcist fandom, so!
There come times in every human’s life where we need to tell a close loved one everything we feel about them at once. Maybe it’s because one of you is dying or going away forever, or maybe it’s just because you really wanted them to know you care right now. Either way, it’s impossible to just sum up an important relationship in a few words.
But despite that–or maybe even BECAUSE it’s impossible to do–we have a default for what to say. A stand-in for all those feelings that can’t get said in the time we have.
Where I’m from, it’s “I love you.”
Right? Just think of corny movie scenes; it’s always like “If I don’t make it back, tell my wife I love her.”
And that makes sense, doesn’t it? It’s like…Thinking about you fills me with joy. I want nothing more than to just be with you. You have left a deep impression on my soul. My life is better because you were in it. “I love you.”
But there’s no reason it HAS to be worded that way, is there? The people you care about make you feel a lot of things and “I love you” is only one convenient way to say them. There are others.
In Japanese, the default If-I-Could-Only-Say-One-Thing-To-My-Loved-One thing isn’t “I love you.”
It’s “Thank you.”
And that makes sense too, doesn’t it? It’s like…You helped make me into what I am. You support me in all the hard times. You’ve done so much for me and I appreciate it so, so much. My life is better because you were in it. “Thank you.”
And like…I’d be crying at that scene from the chapter ANYWAY but I am crying EVEN MORE because I know that little tidbit.
Me: First of all, rude. Second of all, where did you even LEARN a word like あばずれ?? All you’ve ever done was read a pile of books and then sit in a sewer for two years.
Also me:
man I sure learned a lot of words from this book
For the first time in ages, Blue Exorcist 121 has a title that isn’t all numbers and such! It’s called 無双(むそう/musou)! Let’s take a look at how a Japanese dictionary defines that word:
- Peerless, a cut above the rest, invincible, unmatched by anyone
- A garment where the inner and outer layers are made of the same kind of cloth
- A sumo move where you sweep away the opponent’s thigh with your arm, knocking them off balance
Personally, I’ve pretty much only seen it used for definition 1, though I think the Viz title (”Of the Same Cloth”) does a pretty snappy job with definition 2.
…What’s that? You want to know how on earth the same word means “invincible” and “using the same cloth for both layers”?
Well, you see…that’s because of the LITERAL meaning of the word.
LITERALLY, like if you just look at the kanji it’s made of? It means…uh…well…it means…
Twinless.
And I am NOT sure how to feel about that one, Katoh.
Nice, Yuri
Rinka (Rin) = One of Satan’s names
Yukiotoko (Yukio) = Snowman (basically)
next chapter’s spoiler
Forget Yukio possessed by Satan, THIS is the highlight of the year: a almost properly clothed Shura and doesn’t she look fine
One thing is being in the wrong place at the wrong time
And then there’s Yukio Okumura
Who manages to be in wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong weapon pointed to the wrong head in front of a very wrong live television crowd who’ll all think it was him
Just when you thought being possessed by Satan was as bad as it could get
This is Yukio
This is also Yukio
Please notice to how standard Yukio and Yukio possessed by Satan are equally terrifying.
Thank you. Have a good day.
I said Yukio lost it many chapters ago.
I keep saying it every month.
The point is… he keeps losing it more.
I don’t have an appropriate vocabulary to express how much deeply he has lost it anymore.
My recommended knows what it is doing….
Look at these angry (love) birds.