MaruMA:Vol01:Translator's Notes

Chapter 1

1. Shibuya and Harajuku are places in Japan that are relatively close to each other. You can look up information about both of these places easily. (Return to Text)
2. Yuuri can be spelled with many different kanji that have different meanings. The way it is spelled means "advantageous" or "profitable", which is connected to banking. "Furi" means "Disadvantegous" or the opposite. The other spellings mean various things or may not have a direct meaning. (Return to Text)
3. Mukokuseki, means to be 'stateless'. In other words, to have a mixed or blended look that doesn't adhere to any nationality. (Return to Text)
4. Called a 'day pack', it's pretty much the same thing. But I've never heard anyone call it a 'day pack' in English. (Return to Text)
5. Souseki-sensei - He was a prominent writer in the Meiji Era. His face is on the 1,000 yen bill, so he pulled out a pair of 1,000 yen bills (about $20 total). It would be like us saying "He pulled out a pair of Hamilton's". (Return to Text)
6. Kashishiburi - "Unwillingness to lend", referring to banks. (Return to Text)
7. Approximately $5. (Return to Text)
8. "Blue bills". The 1,000 yen bills are blue. So he's referring to those again. (Return to Text)
9. In Japan, you have to take an entrance exam to be accepted into a public high school. (Return to Text)
10. Yuuri talks about it being like accidentally stapling yourself with a stapler. (Return to Text)
11. By tourists, Yuuri means Japanese tourists. He believes that they're still in Japan, and that they're foreigner who have set up a tourist attraction. (Return to Text)
12. After this, Yuuri starts to speak as if he is talking slowly or simply so that they can understand. (Return to Text)
13. Black magic. (Return to Text)
14. A type of watch. (Return to Text)
15. A chestnut horse. In the original, Yuuri uses a word that is more specific to horse-racing that the average Japanese person wouldn't understand. (Return to Text)
16. Japan Racing Association. (Return to Text)
17. Yuuri says implies something to the effect of "brawns over brains". (Return to Text)

Chapter 2

1. Tonarigumi - Neighborhood associations were established in Japan in 1944 to protect from fires and air-raids. These neighborhood groups were made of about ten to fifteen households. (Return to Text)
2. 4LDK - 4 room apartment with Living, Dining and Kitchen area. (Return to Text)
3. In the original, Yuuri says "Bikei", which is 'beauty', and then "Keibi", which is "guard". The meaning of the second word doesn't matter, he's just tripping over his words. He continues to play with the sound of words in the next sentence, but it doesn't translate well. (Return to Text)
4. Yuuri is saying that Günter, as he was aging, has a more mature, elegant look than someone who is younger. (Return to Text)
5. By 'after', Yuuri means after he left the baseball team. (Return to Text)
6. Yuuri originally says that he is saying "o" too much, which is used in front of honorific words in Japanese. (Return to Text)
7. Yuuri originally says, "Narunia, janakatta, naruhodo". Similar to when he said "keibi" instead of "bikei", he's mispronounced what he meant to say again to make a pun. (Return to Text)
8. Yuuri would be worried that Günter would use the ruler to discipline him. (Return to Text)
9. Japanese word for dragon. (Return to Text)
10. List of endangered species. (Return to Text)
11. Demon race (Return to Text)
12. Demon king (Return to Text)
13. Yuuri says "Honyara" in place of "Maoh". "Honyara" is like saying "Blankityblank", it doesn't really mean anything. This is from a typical 'poem' studied in grade school in Japan called "Maoh". The poem is originally in German and you can read more about it here. (Return to Text)
14. "Hakushon Dai Maoh" was a television show about a genie and his daughter genie. The main genie had to give wishes when someone sneezed (hakushon = achoo) and the other when someone yawned. (Return to Text)
15. Yuuri seems to have made up a word, and not even he knows what it means. He then plays with the words for a little bit. In the end it seems he equates a "honyara" with being the same thing as a "maoh". (Return to Text)
16. 川 is the kanji for river, which has three straight lines. Sleeping "like the character of the river" is like sleeping in straight lines next to each other. (Return to Text)
17. Sound of a horse. (Return to Text)
18. Majutsu is 'Black Magic'. (Return to Text)
19. Doraemon has an "anywhere door" that can take him, well, anywhere. The "bamboo copter", usually called "take copter", is also from Doraemon and is another way the characters transport themselves. (Return to Text)
20. Like a Ouija Board. 50 symbols are written on a piece of paper and then touch a 10 yen coin to the paper. You call on something and get answers depending on how the coin moves. (Return to Text)

Chapter 3

1. Huis Ten Bosch means "House in the Woods". It's an area on Hario-Jima island that is influenced by Dutch designs and has many areas with their own themes. (Return to Text)
2. The name of an 18nth century thoroughbred race-horse. (Return to Text)
3. Dyeing your hair gray often gives a purple tint. (Return to Text)
4. Uchuu is space, uchuujin is "space alien". Yuuri is stuttering. (Return to Text)
5. Naoto Ogata is a current actor. (Return to Text)
6. Maurice Ravel. (Return to Text)
7. Edward Elgar. (Return to Text)
8. In Japan, 'keigo' is used to be polite to people that are higher than you (student to teacher). Günter uses extreme amounts of 'keigo', which confuses Yuuri. Wolfram is very blunt with Yuuri. (Using Keigo with your friends isn't recommended, it sounds like you're distancing them. It would be like calling your close friend "Mr. Smith" instead of "John".) (Return to Text)
9. Yuuri is referring to the way he describes things with a lot of action. He's making fun of the way he's talking. (Return to Text)
10. Famous Japanese announcer and actor. (Return to Text)

Chapter 4

1. Haafu, or "Half", in Japanese refers to someone who is mixed race. Normally this would means along the lines of, "You're only half Japanese". (Return to Text)
2. Daburu, or "Double", means someone of mixed race also. But instead of saying you're "half" of something, it instead says you have "two cultures". (Return to Text)
3. In Japanese, "bon kyu bon" refers to a shapely woman, meaning the 'big small big' in reference to her breasts, waist and buttocks. So when Yuuri says the first one is hitting him, he means her large breasts. (Return to Text)
4. Studio Alta is where the popular TV show "Waratte ittomo" is filmed in Japan. It's a variety talk show, and the studio is famous for it. Consider this similar to Yuuri saying if he was an audience member on a TV show like "Whose Line Is It Anyway" or "Montel Williams". (Return to Text)
5. A lantern in Japan that has pictures all over it and revolves quickly. It could symbolize many thoughts running through someone's mind. I've also seen it called a "running horse lantern" and a "shadow picture lantern". (Return to Text)
6. Yakult is a place. (Return to Text)
7. Hochinosu is the second stomach of a cow. Mino is the first stomach. Ginoa may be the fourth stomach. Yan is a Korean way to pronounce stomach. In English they're called the "rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum", but most people probably wouldn't know these either. (Return to Text)
8. I tried to keep it close to the original meaning, but I had to switch around words to make it fit into a "haiku" in English. (Return to Text)
9. In Japanese, "kyuukon" can mean "engagement" or "bulb", as in a plant. (Return to Text)
10. Tulip means "perfect love" in Persian mythology. Hyacinth is a story from ancient Greece about a close friendship between 'Apollo and Hyacinth'. (Return to Text)
11. Spaghetti Western - a nickname for a sub-genre of Western films. (Return to Text)

Chapter 5

1. Giants are the most popular team in Japan. However, there's a Giants team in Japan and a Giants team in America. (Return to Text)
2. A type of baseball used to throw fast balls. (Return to Text)
3. A rising fastball is a myth in baseball. It would be the opposite of a 'sinker', where, as the ball approached the plate, it would go up instead of down. It has been described as an optical illusion on the batter's part, and switching from a two-seam ball to a four-seam ball can have this effect. (Return to Text)
4. Generally catchers are thought to be larger, and Yuuri thinks he'll be more sympathetic because he's a "skinny catcher". (Return to Text)
5. Most baseball stadiums in Japan have domes now, because of how often it rains. Yuuri is noting that there wasn't a dome at the time he had this class. (Return to Text)
6. There is more than one "Rhodes", so Yuuri is specifying who he means by saying where he comes from. (Return to Text)
7. Originally Yuuri mentions "Chikyuu no Arukikata" meaning "How to Walk the Earth", which is a famous traveler's guide in Japan. Lonely Planet is a famous traveler's guide in English. (Return to Text)

Chapter 6

1. Engiwaru means Bad Omen. (Return to Text)
2. A type of bread that tastes like rye. (Return to Text)
3. Musashi - A historical TV drama. Yuuri is into these. (Return to Text)
4. A television show in Japan. (Return to Text)
5. A famous baseball player. (Return to Text)
6. The type of fish this is for the Japanese is a bit different than our thought of a swordfish, but the pun still works. Japanese would think of this fish. (Return to Text)
7. Gunter is attempting to say "towel". In the original, Yuuri uses English to say "towel" and "give up", confusing the others. (Return to Text)

Chapter 8

1. Jigoku is the Japanese word for "Hell". (Return to Text)
2. B-movie usually refers to "bad movies". Movies like "Killer Klownz From Outer Space" are often thought of as B-movies. (Return to Text)

Chapter 9

1. In the Edo period, the strongest fireman carried a "matoi", a large stand with the symbol for their brigade, to show that a fire was in a building or somewhere nearby. (Return to Text)

Chapter 10

1. A large brown cicada. (Return to Text)
2. Yariika is a loligo bleekeri. Yanbaru Kuina is a gallirallus okinawae. (Return to Text)

Afterword

1. "Captain Supermarket" is the Japanese title for "Army of Darkness". (Return to Text)