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| Translation & Cultural Notes |
These Liner Notes cover the first 10 tapes. They are VERY long.
Who are all these people anyway?
Urusei Yatsura is one of Japan's comedic gems. Starting out as a hit Manga (comic-book) series, it spawned a long-running animated TV series, a series of feature films, and OVA's (short, made for video specials),that continue to this day. AnimEigo has released all of the Movies and OVAs, and many of the TV episodes.
For the benefit of those of you who have never seen Urusei Yatsura before, here is a guide to the characters and situations.
Ataru Moroboshi is the least lucky and most lecherous lout in the Universe. Bar none. Deep down, he has a good soul, but he tries to hide it, and usually succeeds. Alas, it's about all he ever succeeds in!
Lum is the princess of the Oni, a race of very strange aliens who inspired Japan's demon legends during a previous visit. When they come back to take over the Earth, they give us one chance to save our planet; a champion, chosen at random, must defeat Lum in a game of Tag (their national sport, and "the game of the Oni" in Japanese). Unfortunately for Earth, Ataru is picked as champion.
Miyake Shinobu is Ataru's long-suffering semi-girlfriend. When all seems lost, she promises that she'll marry Ataru if he beats Lum. Inspired to new lows of deviousness by the prospect of finally getting lucky, Ataru manages to beat Lum, but his victorious cry of "Now I can be married" is misinterpreted by Lum as a wedding proposal, which she accepts.
After more misadventures, Lum is living in Ataru's closet, and Shinobu is wondering if she's been jilted or saved from a life of misery. Ataru, for his part, can't bring himself to settle down with Lum: "so many women, so little time." Unfortunately for him, Lum has a high-voltage way of expressing her ire.
Mendou Shutaro is the scion of the richest family in the world. Their private army is bigger than Japan's, for example. Like most men, Mendou has the hots for Lum, and can't deal with Lum's infatuation with Ataru. By the time period of "Only You," Shinobu is starting to give up on Ataru and become interested in Mendou.
Lum's Stormtroopers are her self-appointed guardians, and they are always getting on Ataru's case for some Lum-related misdeed.
Ten is Lum's little cousin. He's always setting Ataru up for a fall.
Ataru's Father reads the newspaper and tries to ignore the chaos. His
Mother bemoans her fate and loudly wishes she'd never given birth to Ataru.
Cherry is a demented Buddhist monk whose mission it is to destroy evil spirits. Cleansing Ataru of his bad luck would be his crowning achievement, not to mention he figures it to be a life-long meal ticket.
Sakura is Cherry's niece, a Shinto sorceress who has taken the job of School Nurse for reasons unknown. All the boys have the hots for her.
Benten is a rooting-tooting intergalactic biker-babe, and one of Lum's best friends. She totes a big gun, and is notoriously inaccurate.
Oyuki is the cultured and refined princess of Neptune. To say that she is a "cool character" is putting it mildly.
Rei is Lum's ex-fiance. He looks like a god, is as dumb as a post, and has the bad habit of becoming a giant "Tiger-cow" when he gets upset.
Princess Kurama is the princess of the crow goblins, another race of aliens. She is fated to marry the man who awakened her with a kiss; alas, due to an error by a drunken crow goblin, it was Ataru. Needless to say, she'll do anything to escape her destiny!
Ran is one of Lum's childhood friends. Don't let the cute airhead demeanor fool you -- she's not a nice person, and she's out to get Lum for a variety of alleged slights and misdeeds.
Ryuunosuke is a girl whose father wanted a boy -- so he raised her to be one! She dresses, acts, walks and talks like a man, because her father won't let her be a girl (not that she'd have any idea of how to be one!). Ryuunosuke and her dad run the Hama Tea-shop, but they are perpetually broke.
Onsen-Mark is the high-school teacher who has to deal with all of the above. Some think that the only reason he hasn't gone insane is that he was nuts to begin with. His name literally means "Mark of the Hot Water Spring."
Asuka and Tobimaro ("Ton") Mizunokouji belong to the second richest in Japan (behind the Mendou clan, of course). Asuka's mother raised her apart from boys and men for some 16 years (when she first appears in the TV series, she's never seen her father, and neither she nor her brother know that the other exists), the result being that she flies into a panic at the sight of men, throwing heavy objects and leaping great distances to get away from them. To keep her from killing her brother, and her intended betrothed, Mendou Shutaro, her mother invents a special category of men called "Oniichan," or "Big Brothers," and all men in this category are non-threatening to Asuka. Unfortunately, all these good intentions only serve to further confuse Asuka about male-female relationships. For his part, Ton and Mendou are life-long rivals -- sort of.
Kotatsu Neko(literally, "Footwarmer Cat") is the large and vengeful spirit of a cat who died when its owners left it out in the cold. Given its fate, it is highly attracted to sources of warmth.
Puns in character names
Many of the character names in "Urusei Yatsura" describe the characters very well in the original Japanese.
"Moroboshi Ataru," for example, means "to get hit by a star." And since "star" is at least partially synonymous with "alien" in this series, it means that he attracts aliens and other weirdos, like it or not. "Shinobu" is another good example, for a different reason: the word means "patient," but in actuality, she is anything but.
As for the Stormtroopers, their nicknames come from their looks: "Megane" means "glasses," "Chibi" means "runt," and "Perm" and "Kakugari" get their nicknames from their hairstyles. The normal writing of "Mendou" means "trouble," but in the case of the Mendou family, the name is written with a different set of characters, giving a different official meaning ("face" + "temple," which in itself is somewhat descriptive), but nonetheless, the Mendou family lives up to the traditional reading of the word that is a homonym of their family name: they are lots of trouble. Benten is actually one of the seven Chinese gods of luck, Oyuki is a takeoff on the classic snow princess of Japanese myth, and Princess Kurama and the Karasutengu ("Crow Goblins") are also based on the mythical "crow people" that are their namesakes.
Notes about Names
The Japanese, like most Asians, put their family name first; all of the credits in these liner notes and the videos follow this convention. They also often refer to people by their family names; this is considered to be more polite. Use of a given name implies a certain level of familiarity and intimacy. In addition, the Japanese often use "terms of reference" such as "big-brother," "little-sister," "Aunt," and so on, both alone, as a suffix, and even in a friendly way to refer to people they are not related to, but who, if they were, would fit into that category.
For example, children will often call young women "Onee-san," which means "Big Sister." These same young women dread the day the children start calling them "Oba-san," or "Auntie."
On top of all this, suffixes are tacked on to names to add inflections of politeness, and to specify the position the person holds. Thus, if Mr. Suzuki were a company president, he would often be referred to as "Sukuzi Shachoo," "Mr. Company President Suzuki."
How to appropriately deal with all of these terms in a natural manner is the recurring nightmare of Japanese translators. We also had to deal with the problem that many of the characters call each other by their last names. English speakers would not do this, but if we changed the subtitle to read "what the person would say if they were speaking in English," you would read one name and hear another. Since some people find this dissonant, we have decided to subtitle what they say, except that we translate terms of reference to the appropriate name where it would be awkward to use them in English.
Since many of these terms of reference and suffix combinations are either rarely used or nonexistent in English, it is inevitable that some of the flavor of the original Japanese dialogue is lost when it is translated into English. The following brief guide to the most common terms should help you notice some of the nuances and increase your appreciation of the film.
Suffixes: suffixes are added to names to denote different levels of politeness or intimacy between the speaker and the person being mentioned. There are 4 basic suffixes.
-san: the basic neutral polite suffix, equivalent to "Mr.," "Mrs.," "Miss" or "Ms." in English.
-sama: denotes someone in a higher social position than the speaker, or whom the speaker holds in great esteem.
-kun: is the standard suffix added to the names of boys and young men. It is also used by older men in reference to younger men, especially subordinates in a business situation. "kun" is also more intimate than "san."
-chan: is the equivalent of "kun" for babies and girls, but it is also used when an intimate friendship or other relationship exists between the speaker and the person being referred to. While "chan" is rarely applied to adult men, in situations where two men have had a long and close relationship, they will often be "chan" to each other. "chan" also pops up in the mass media a lot, because of its intimations of intimacy; perhaps the strangest example of this is that in Japan, Arnold Schwarzenegger is often called "Shuuwaa-chan."
In Urusei Yatsura, Lum is almost always referred to as "Lum-chan," although Mendou uses the more polite "-san."
In addition to the top 4, there are many suffixes that denote job relationships, such as the above-mentioned "Shachoo." Of these, the most commonly heard is "-sensei," or "teacher," which is applied not only to teachers, but also to doctors, masters of particular art-forms and business mentors. Recently, due to all the people sucking up to other people by calling them "sensei," real sensei's have been complaining about "sensei-inflation" reducing the prestige of the term.
Terms of Reference:
The most common terms of reference are:
otoo-san: someone's father.
chichi: my father (very polite).
okaa-san: someone's mother.
haha: my mother (very polite).
onii-san: older brother.
onee-san: older sister.
otooto: my younger brother.
otooto-san: someone else's younger brother.
imooto: younger sister.
imooto-san : someone else's younger sister.
oji-san: uncle.
oba-san: aunt.
ojii-san: grandfather.
obaa-san: grandmother.
anata: "you." "Anata" is particularly used by Japanese women to refer to their husbands or lovers when talking to them. Depending on the tone, it can range in inference from sweet to caustic, though the usual meaning translates to "dear."
omae: lit. "in front of me." A less polite of saying "you."
kimi: a very sweet way of saying "you." More polite than "omae," but less polite than "anata."
sempai: "someone above me in a heirarchy."
kohai: "someone below me in a heirarchy."
About the Title: "Urusei Yatsura"
The series title is a pun, with a couple of layers to it. First, the word "urusei" is a very crude way of pronouncing "urusai," which is Japanese for "loud or obnoxious." But the way the series' creator, Takahashi Rumiko, writes it, it takes on a different meaning. For the "sei" portion of "urusei," she uses the kanji "hoshi," which has an alternate reading of "sei," and which is how it is read in this instance. This kanji means "star" or "planet," and thus gives the phrase its extraterrestrial significance: A bunch of noisy Alien People.
The Dappya Kaijuu (The "Dappya" Monster)
The Dappya Kaijuu is the fish-man in the environmental suit who appears from time to time, and gets his (or sometimes their) name from their habit of ending all their sentences in the original Japanese with "Dappya!" Turns out that they first appeared in Takahashi Rumiko's first published manga, "Kattena Yatsura" (Selfish Bastards), which won her a prize in Shoogakkan's Second New Comic Writers' Contest, in 1978, and is currently available in Vol. 2 of Rumic World, her three-volume short story collection. Our thanks to Tonghyun Kim for pointing this out.
Some Notes on Terms of Reference
Japanese has many terms of reference that are often used in speech that have no direct equivalents in English. For example, there are specific words for "older sister" (Onee-san), "older brother" (Onii-san), "younger sister" (Imooto) and "younger brother" (Otooto). Such words are often used in a more general sense, especially by young children; for example, they often refer to older girls as "Onee-san," and the day that they start calling a woman "Oba-san" (Auntie) can be a black one indeed.
On top of this, there are several suffixes that can be added to names depending upon the relationship between the two people; "-san" is the neutral suffix, "-sama" is a respectful suffix, "-kun" is a familiar suffix almost always used with boys, and "-chan" is an intimate one, used with children, very close friends (usually female) and lovers.
Depending on the relationships involved, a person can be addressed by his first or last name, by his profession, or by his relationship in the family or group. So, for example, Mr. Moroboshi often calls his wife "Kaa-san" (Mother). Mrs. Moroboshi often refers to her husband as "Anata," (literally, "you"), a common way for a wife to speak to her husband.
When these terms of reference are used inappropriately, it is almost always either an attempt at flattery or an insult. So when Ataru refers to Lum as "Lum-chan" in "Electric Shocks Scare Me!," he is buttering her up.
Please refer to the guide to Japanese name suffixes located on page 2 of these Liner Notes for more information.
Name that Name
Dealing with Japanese names can be a real problem. First there is the problem of all the different suffixes that Japanese people tack on to names to indicate the relationship between speaker and subject, none of which have any real equivalent in English. Then there is the fact that Japanese people often use last names instead of first names. If this were directly translated, it would give the wrong impression to the viewer. Our general rule is that we try and have characters "say what they'd say if they were English speakers." This often means using other parts of the dialogue to convey a similar tone to the original Japanese, and also occasionally using a first name when a family name was actually spoken. When a full name is used, we swap it around to English order, family-name last, except in the case of historical characters, where we leave it alone to convey some of the "olde" flavor.
Furthermore, in subtitling a character's name, we have to deal with vocal patterns that are common in Japanese, but rarely (if ever) used in English. Of these, the most common is the long vowel, especially terminal long vowels. The problem is that they look strange to the viewer's eye, and so make the subtitles harder to read. Our solution is to eliminate or modify the spelling of the names so as to (a) promote readability and (b) taking into account the way English speakers apply the rules of pronunciation, try to convey a good approximation of the real pronunciation. In addition, where a generally accepted romanization of a Japanese name exists, we use it, especially with respect to modern place-names. Thus, "Mendoo Shuutaroo" becomes "Mendou Shutaro," "Tookyoo" becomes Tokyo, etc.
Episodes and Stories
There are two different numbering systems for Urusei Yatsura, Episodes and Stories, and both are used in these liner notes and on the LD labels. Episodes are complete 25-minute TV episodes. Early episodes in the series (Episodes 1-23) each contained 2 complete stories (Stories 1-46). Episodes after episode 23 contain 1 longer story per episode. In addition, a 1-hour special was shown between Episodes 21 and 22; this is referred to as "Special Part 1" and "Special Part 2." The LD 1-10 Set contains 38 complete 25-minute Episodes, containing 61 Stories, plus the Special.
With one exception, UY episodes in the LD 1-10 Set were broadcast in production order. The exception is Episodes 18 and 19. Episode 18 contains Stories 37 & 38, and Episode 19 contains Stories 35 & 36.
This information comes from the original Staff List documentation provided to us by Kitty Films.
Ep. 1, Story 1: "I'm Lum the Notorious!"
When the left fielder shouts, "Ataru zo! Ataru!" he means (and this is what the subtitles say), "It's gonna hit you!" But the character whose name is Ataru thinks that someone is calling his name, completely misunderstanding the shouting, with predictable results.
In the scene where Ataru first meets the invader (Lum's Father), Ataru's first response is to intone the phrase "Oni wa soto..." This phrase is part of the ritual incantation "Oni wa soto... fuku wa uchi," which means Oni (devil/evil) outside the house, luck inside. This phrase is typically used during Makemaki (a kind of bean-throwing ceremony intended to ward off Oni). In this case, Ataru is invoking it against real Oni, in an attempt to make them go away.
Ataru saying that he'd "rather go to Iscandar than fight and be killed by an Oni" is a reference to the highly popular Uchuu Senkan Yamato ("Space Battleship Yamato," better known in America as "Star Blazers") anime/manga series, created by Matsumoto Leiji and Nishizaki Yoshinobu. Iscandar, a planet some 148,000 light-years from Earth, in the Greater Magellanic Cloud, was the destination of the Yamato on its original voyage, a last-ditch attempt to save mankind from annihilation, much the situation that Ataru finds himself in at this point, though he thinks the trip to Iscandar would be the less risky venture.
When Shinobu calls Lum "oni no onnanoko"--"Oni-girl"--the phrase has a double meaning. There is its literal description of Lum as a girl of the Oni, and its more common slang meaning of calling a woman a "devil-girl," which roughly equates to calling a woman a "bitch" in English.
The word for Tag in Japanese is "Onigokko," which, literally translated, means "Game of the Oni." Naturally, therefore, the Oni would have it as their favorite sport.
Ataru has a number 4 on his running shirt. In Japan, "4" is actually an unlucky number, because it has two different pronunciations--"yon" and "shi," where the latter "shi" also happens to be a pronunciation for "death."
The guys interviewed on the news: Tanaka Kakuei was the Prime Minister who opened the way for normalizing relations with China (ending relations with Taiwan), and then went to jail in the Lockheed-Marubeni bribery scandal (think of Richard Nixon for an American parallel). He also provides a textbook example of pork-barrel politics: his home constituency of Niigata Prefecture still think well of him for all the good things he did for them, in spite of all the bad things he did in office--well enough to keep electing him in spite of his poor health. Again, like Nixon, he never admitted his guilt in the scandal. But unlike Nixon, he retained his popularity despite his involvement in scandal. Egawa Suguru, a high-powered high-school pitcher, became notorious for breaking the rules of the Japanese baseball draft, which require that one go to the team which drafts one, or not play at all. Instead, he cut an under-the-table deal to join the Yomiuri Giants, where he really wanted to go, by taking advantage of a loophole in the draft rules. His sneakiness, combined with a lackluster professional record, resulted in a love-hate relationship with his fans. The joke here is that, even though the fate of the Earth is at stake, he still thinks only of himself.
When Ataru grabs Lum's horns, he starts muttering, "I can get married!" Lum misinterprets his meaning, and agrees to marry him. The joke here is based on a myth that says that an Oni has to grant a wish to whoever grabs its horns. Ataru simply wasn't specific enough about his wish. This particular myth originated in Nara, where deer herds are abundant, and bucks are routinely shorn of their horns as a method of population control.
Ep. 1, Story 2: "It's Raining Oil in Our Town"
The words "Senshoo," "Tomobiki," "Sembu," "Butsumetsu," "Taian," and "Shakkoo" are known as "Rokki," a kind of "Rekichu," or diary reference, in Buddhist reckoning. They refer to how "lucky" a given day will be. These names are used to determine which days will be best for important events, especially weddings. "Taian," the luckiest day, means "great peace." "Tomobiki," which means "pulling friends" or "friends coming along," is the name of the high school and area of Tokyo (fictional) where much of the series takes place. It also means a day of no winners and no losers, wherein the early morning and late afternoon are lucky, and the rest of the day is unlucky, as opposed to "Shakkoo," which is just the opposite. People try to avoid having funerals on Tomobiki, because, as its name states, it will pull friends along, and cause them to suffer the same fate as the deceased. "Butsumetsu," which means "the death of Buddha," is considered the unluckiest day, and is also the name of the girls' school next to Tomobiki High. "Senshoo" means that the morning is lucky, and the afternoon is unlucky. It also means that one will be lucky with things which one is doing in a hurry. "Sembu" is the reverse: unlucky mornings, lucky afternoons, and luck in taking things easy. The joke about using these names for place names is that no one would normally even think of using them to name a place. Calling a school "Butsumetsu," for example, connotes a feeling of extreme unluckiness--certainly not a place where one would want to send one's daughter.
Early on, Shinobu says, "Don't call for Lum! If you do, she'll take over your life for sure!" The word she uses in Japanese, "toritsukareru," implies something evil is taking over, say, a parasite or an evil spirit. In other words, it means that Megane's plot to sacrifice Ataru in a ritual aimed at summoning Lum back to Earth will result in Lum taking possession of Ataru if it succeeds--a sort of techno-magic pun.
The term "UFO" is used in the series to refer not just to "unidentified flying objects." Lum's spacecraft is referred to as "Lum's UFO," for example. This is because UFO doesn't mean "unidentified flying object" in Japanese. It means basically any alien spacecraft.
Ep. 2, Story 3: "Mail From Space--Ten Arrives!"
In this story, Ten, Lum's cousin, arrives on Earth like Momotaro ("Peach Boy," a famous character in an old Japanese legend), encapsulated inside a peach. In the Momotaro legend, a very old, childless married couple, find the gigantic peach, talk about it for a while, then decide to "cut it up and see!" And bingo, there is a boy inside! In the story, Mrs. Moroboshi says the same thing, and then tries to slice the peach in question. The peach is very tough, and the knife doesn't go through--because Ten is doing the infamous Ninja sword-master trick! (stopping the incoming swing of a sword with bare hands above his head, which in Japan is considered one of the most difficult techniques, which can only be mastered after decades and decades of sword training!) Ten's name is also a joke. It's derived from "ten," meaning 'the place above the clouds, or heaven' where the Oni reside. Most people refer to "ten" as just that, and use "tengoku" to mean the utopia-heaven. And, on top of all this, Ten speaks in Osaka dialect.
Ten's calling Ataru's Mother "Oneechan" (dear young miss) in one scene is a blatant attempt to get on her good side.: In Japan, most women above the age of about 30, especially if they are mothers, would be called "Obasan" (auntie), especially by young children. Calling Mrs. Moroboshi "Oneesan," let alone "Oneechan," is either high praise or cheap flattery, depending on the situation. Needless to say, she eats it up with a spoon.
Propane delivery: In Japan, propane is a commonly-used fuel for stoves and heating. So propane companies deliver propane containers to homes.
Ep. 3, Story 5: "The Coming of Rei, the Handsome Shapechanger!"
This episode begins with a word play on "Ke." Unfortunately, unless you are able to read the Kanji used in the script, you can't understand it! Mrs. Moroboshi thought that Cherry said "Hair of something," though what Cherry really meant was "some evil thing." Both these words can be pronounced "Ke" in Japanese. Most likely, 99% of the original audience didn't get it as well!
Cherry follows up that pun with a somewhat more successful one on his own name. He introduces himself as "Sakuramboo," writing it with kanji that read "deranged monk." Mrs. Moroboshi misunderstands again, assuming the more familiar meaning of "cherry." Cherry then proceeds to reinforce her confusion by telling her to call him "Cherry," thus completing the pun.
The scene where Mrs. Moroboshi tries to keep her husband from leaving her after she gives Rei the eye is based on a classic Japanese melodrama called Konjikiyasha, originally a serial in the Yomiuri Times in 1897 by Ozaki Kooyoo, followed by a sequel in 1903 which was serialized in Shinshoosetsu Magazine. The story deals with the relationship between a couple, Kanichi and Omiya, who are engaged to be married. But Omiya decides to marry another man, because he offered her a diamond ring. Disappointed, Kanichi makes a famous quotation: "Tonight, I will make the moon cloud over with my tears." Eventually, Kanichi avenges himself by becoming a loan shark, and using the influence that this gives him to ruin Omiya and her husband. Mr. Moroboshi's use of a slightly modified version of this quotation in this scene, combined with the appropriately melodramatic background and music, lampoon yet another classic Japanese story.
Ep. 3, Story 6: "Die, Ladykiller!"
"Tora no Maki" (lit. "Tiger's scroll") is a nickname/synonym for "Anchoko/Anchoku" which means cheatsheet or super-easy study guide. In this case, it's a word play. Since Rei has tiger features, combined with the tiger markings on the scroll itself, his cheatsheet becomes 'Rei's Scroll,' or a literal as well as a figurative 'Tora no maki.'
Ep. 4, Story 7: "Kintaro From the Autumn Sky!"
Mr. Moroboshi's first lines in this story are a quotation from a famous letter called "ippitsu keijoo," which is considered a best shortest letter, from the Edo era. It was written by a samurai servant, and addressed to his wife. "Hi no youjin"--Literally, "Watch out for fires." Fire was the primary cause of disasters back then. "Osen nakasuna"--Lit. "Don't make the children cry." Parents wanted (they still do, of course) their kids to be peaceful and happy, and never wanted them to feel unhappy about anything. "Uma koyase"--Lit. "Let the horses eat all they want." Back then, people (esp. samurai) raised horses, and horses meant transportation. Actually, much more than that, as a Samurai's job required responsiveness and ability to move about quickly.
The letter is considered the best, because it told the basic necessities for the author at the time, using so few words. The joke here is that Mr. Moroboshi is answering Mrs. Moroboshi's question about what he thinks of his family by reciting the Ippitsu Keijoo.
"Koinobori" are carp streamers, a kind of flag shaped like carp, raised to celebrate Children's Day in the spring (May 5). The joke here is that no one raises them in the autumn.
"Mushiboshi" is what people do to dry out clothes, etc., stored up for a long time, to make sure that bugs and mold don't take up residence in them.
"Urusei" can mean Planet Uru, and is thus a homonym joke for 'loud/obnoxious' just like in the series title.
Ep. 4, Story 8: "Gonna Live Like a Man!"
When Kintaro says, "At the very least, take us to Tokyo Tower or Nijubashi!" he is referring to two famous landmarks in Tokyo. Tokyo Tower (which appears at the end of Ep. 2, Story 4, "Mrs. Swallow and Mrs. Penguin," is to Tokyo roughly what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris (except it is only half as big), and Nijubashi, or "double bridge," is one of the bridges to the Imperial Palace.
The "Nanking string balls" to which the preschool teacher refers are known as "Sudare." Sudare is a kind of meshwork, made using bamboo. It is usually used to roll sushi or futomaki (thick sushi). At many festivals, there are dealers/magicians who demonstrate the sudare by dancing with them, often doing some 'magic' tricks by folding, spreading, and twisting the sudare into many different shapes. This has been going on for many generations.
"Issun-hooshi" is the Japanese version of Tom Thumb. Only one inch tall, he nevertheless possessed tremendous strength, and eventually beat up lots of Oni.
About the string of insults Ten hurls at Kintaro near the end of this episode: "Kappa-danuki" is not an animal. Kappa is a legendary amphibian monster, which is sort of like a frog-man, with a sharp beak, and a bald spot on top of its head that holds water. Many centuries ago, people used to cut kids' hair to shoulder-length, and shave the top off. This was customary, and was called the "Kappa" hairstyle. The water allows a Kappa to come out to the land for a short time, just enough to feed on the blood of their victims. "Tanuki" literally means raccoon. In Japanese fairy tales, raccoons are often portrayed as blatant liars. So, when someone calls someone else a "tanuki," s/he means a 'liar.' By putting these two words together, you get 'bald-headed liar.' "Manjuu-hage" is similar. Manjuu is a round 'cake.' The word "Manjuu" is sometimes used in conjunction with something else, like an umbrella. Manjuu-gasa (Manjuu-umbrella) is a hemispheric umbrella, so named because Manjuu looks hemispherical when it's cut. Hage simply means bald-headed.
Lum cleaning Ataru's ears is a customary thing for a woman to do to a man she is intimately involved with, whether it be husband and wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, geisha and sponsor, etc.
At the end of this story, when the preschoolers are watching the news reports about Kintaro, they comment that Kintaro is trying to tell them that life is more about money than rank or prestige. The joke is that the kanji "Kin" on Kintaro's garment, which is "Kin" of Kintaro, also means gold and money. So his name is "Money-boy," and money is what he lives for.
Ep. 5, story 9: "Sakura, Raving Beauty of Mystery"
Ataru's mask: Japanese people wear such masks to protect against dust and pollen in the air, as well as to stop the spread of diseases--both giving and receiving. Sometimes, famous people may wear them as well to conceal their identities, much like Westerners might wear sunglasses. But one thing you can't do normally when wearing one of those masks is eat through one -- unless, of course, you're Moroboshi Ataru!
Going Wide: In Japan, missing-person shows often appear on early-morning or mid-afternoon programs called "Wideshows," which are aimed primarily at housewives. If the missing person is important, then it would be major news, worthy of headlines and real news broadcasts, but shows such as these are typically of the tearjerker variety, meant more to evoke sympathy than any real help in finding anyone. This is not meant to trivialize the very real problems of the people involved, however. But shows such as these are more likely to give air time to the average person than the bigger, more serious news programs, because they are constantly looking for any little thing they can make a feature out of.
Manjuu are little cakes made of a sort of pancake-like batter, or sometimes with a rice-cake outside, and filled with bean-jam paste. Sooshiki manjuu (Funeral bean-jam cakes) are differentiated mainly by their black-and-white color. By contrast, red-and-white manjuu represent a happy occasion, such as a wedding. The joke here is that, normally, one tries to entice a missing loved one to come home by promising something special to that person. But sooshiki manjuu are not that big a deal.
Sakura is Cherry's niece. There is also a relationship between their names: Sakura means "cherry blossom," and Sakuramboo means "cherry" (the fruit). Note also that Cherry is a Buddhist monk, and Sakura is a Shinto priestess.
Ep. 5, story 10: "Virus in Distress"
Hakama are large, baggy pants, typically worn over kimono. They are also primarily worn by men. For women to wear them typically requires that the woman be in a profession like Sakura's, or be participating in a graduation ceremony. Female students during the Meiji and Taishoo eras wore them as well.
Ep. 6, story 11: "Black Hole Love Triangle"
Stupidity Personified: When Ataru's Mother calls him "the personification of the word 'stupid,'" the word she actually uses, "ikizukuri," refers to a method of serving sashimi. The method involves taking a live fish out of a tank in the restaurant, cutting off its meat while it is still alive, and laying the cuts of meat on the still-twitching head-bones-tail of said fish. Thus, Ataru's Mother means that he is both demonstrating and decorating the very concept of stupidity.
A Yen to Chat: When Ataru says he'll fight Lum as long as his ´10 coins hold out, he could well mean to put up an extended fight, because for local calls, ´10 coins used to last three minutes apiece in Japanese telephones. For ´100, he could stay on the line for thirty minutes, or make ten separate three-minute calls.
Futagoyama is a one-time yokozuna (the top rank in sumo), who retired and became a sumo stablemaster. He is also the uncle of current talented sumo wrestler (and teen-idol) Takanohana, who, as of this writing, may be in line to become the newest yokozuna. Often, he serves as a commentator at sumo contests, much like retired football players and coaches do in the US. Mitsugoyama is a pun on Futagoyama's name (meaning, roughly, "three mountains" rather than "two mountains"). It goes without saying that he's not a scientist, nor does he have any knowledge of Lum and Ataru, so he is the last person one would expect to make a significant comment on the situation.
Ep. 6: story 12: "It's a Lovesick Little Demon!"
"This is a pen..." is the classic English phrase that all Japanese seem to learn first thing in public-school English classes. Soon followed by "This is a pencil." These phrases have become such a clichˇ that they're often used in anime and manga to reflect a person's lack of English knowledge. School kids have been known to accost innocent foreigners and utter this dreaded phrase.
Ep. 7, story 13: "Electric Shocks Scare Me!"
There's more than one way to shed your skin: When Cherry says he'll try to "skin that cat," what he actually says in the original is "hito hada nugu," which literally means "I'll shed a layer of skin." The idiomatic meaning is "I'll make an effort on your behalf," though Cherry manages to combine both literal and figurative images in this scene.
Ep. 7, story 14: "Voodoo Dolls of Vengeance"
3-3-7 cadence is used normally for closing ceremonies at a job or a party. Everyone on hand will usually clap together in that cadence: three times, another three times, and then seven times. A variation calls for just one large clap.
Muchi laughs: Ten has fun with homonyms on the word "muchi," which has the usual meaning of "ignorance." He starts off with this conventional meaning by saying that Ataru is ignorant, and that he who is ignorant of his stupidity is also ignorant of his shame. But then he says "Muchi muchi pudding ga suki de," which means "You like muchi muchi pudding." Here, he uses a different meaning of "muchi," or rather, "muchi muchi," to wit, kind of roly-poly, like custard. Then he returns to his previous usage of "muchi" to finish up with "You're the great king of ignorance."
Preview Pun: The yokokuhen (preview) for the next episode (as well as the story itself) contains a take-off on the opening line from Yukiguni, a book by Kawabata Yasunari (1899-1972--suicide), winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. The line in the original work is, "Tunnel o nukeru to, soko wa yukiguni datta" (At the end of the tunnel was Snow Country). The take-off line is, "Oshiire no nagai tunnel o nukeru to, soko wa yukiguni datcha!" (At the end of a long tunnel in the closet is Snow Country!)
Ep. 8, Story 15: "Neptune is Beyond My Closet"
Kappa are mythical Japanese water-dwelling vampires, made famous in a novel of the same name by Akutagawa Ryuunosuke.
The name "Oyuki" means, appropriately enough, "Honorable Snow."
Yukionna (literally, "Snow woman"): A mythical fairy of the snow. She appears where there is an abundant snowfall, dressed all in white, very pale, and kills people.
The Eyes Have It: Me no iro ga kawaru (literally, "the color of his eyes have changed"), generally means that one is excited, angry, or worked up about something. In this case, Shinobu means that Ataru is hot for Oyuki, and his eyes have, in effect, given him away.
Ep. 9, Story 17: "Princess Kurama, Sleeping Beauty"
Kurama, the name of the new major character introduced in this episode, is the first of many references to Minamoto Yoshitsune, brother of Minamoto Yoritomo, who founded the first military government in Japan, at Kamakura, in 1192. "Kurama" is most likely derived from Kuramayama (Mt. Kurama), which is where Yoshitsune, under the name of Ushiwaka Maru (which he took in his youth, in a ceremony called "genpuku," or coming-of-age; see ep. 12, story 24), is supposed to have received training in swordsmanship from the Tengu, legendary goblin spirits. Tengu are also referred to as "Karasutengu," or "Crow goblins," because they resemble crows in appearance. The Tengu who reside on Mt. Kurama are additionally called, appropriately enough, "Kuramatengu," which is what Princess Kurama is--with an extraterrestrial twist.
Up Close and Personal: When Ataru leans over Kurama's sleeping form and says "Gotaimen," it is a reference to "Punch De Date," a TV matchmaking program which was popular at about the same time as Urusei Yatsura. A given couple would come on-stage, their identities kept secret from one another by a curtain. They would talk to one another to find out if there was any mutual interest. If there was, then the MC would say "Gotaimen!" (first face-to-face meeting), the barrier would be raised, and the couple would meet face-to-face for the first time.
First Impression: Kurama's first impression of Shinobu is not at all flattering. Kurama calls Shinobu "Zashikiwarashi," which are household guardian spirits in the Toohoku ("Northeast") region of Japan, which is the area of Honshuu (the largest of the four main islands of Japan) north of Kantoo, and is known for being cold and covered in snow a lot of the time. These spirits typically have the appearance of a plain, immature, round-faced, rosy-cheeked girl with a bob haircut, which happens to describe Shinobu very nicely at this point in the series.
Anima/Animus: The "Anima Ray" that Kurama uses on Ataru to try to change his personality is a reference to a major theme of Jungian psychology: that everyone has elements of both sexes in them. Jung refers to these elements as "Anima" (female) and "Animus" (male). In oversimplified form, the degree to which these traits manifest in a given person determines that person's sexual persona.
Ep. 9, Story 18: "Athletics in Women's Hell!"
And on top of this, tons of homework: Depending on the school, students often have the responsibility of cleaning up their classrooms after school. Students may be divided into groups in a given classroom, and those groups rotate their responsibilities. High schools in particular don't hire custodians as a general rule, so the students have to clean up instead!
Old Baldy: Ataru calling the giant-size Shinobu "Dainyuudo" is a reference to a type of "Yookai," or evil spirit, typified by its baldness. The reason Ataru can apply the term to Shinobu is partly due to her size, and also because her haircut looks like the silken artificial "hair caps" that monks would wear atop their shaven heads. Taira no Kiyomori, a leader of the Heike Clan (again, see ep. 12, story 24) was called Dainyuudo because he was monstrously successful in making his clan powerful.
Ep. 10, Stories 19-20: "Pitter Patter Christmas Eve"
Shades of "Ima Trapp": The name of the girl Megane and the gang create is, no surprise, a pun. "Kumino Otoko" literally means "Men of the Class," but Ataru is so blinded by lust that he doesn't notice this obvious hint.
No Time to Write: Normally, a Japanese letter is supposed to begin with greetings appropriate to the season. However, to simplify matters, "zenryaku," which means "the beginning of a letter," is often used.
Cafˇ Pigmon: This may or may not be a reference to the creature Pigmon from Ultraman. (Given the other references to Tsuburaya Productions that appear in both the manga and the anime, it seems unlikely that this would be coincidence.)
Ep. 11, Stories 21-22: "Ataru Genji Goes to the Heian Capital"
Kadomatsu: The "New Year's Pine" is made of bamboo stems and pine leaves, used for decorating entrances of houses on the New Year, to invite the god of that particular year into that house.
Poetic Cards: The card game Ataru, Shinobu, Lum, Sakura and Cherry are playing at the beginning of this episode is based on a volume of poems, the Hyakuninisshu (100-Poets' Collection), compiled by Fujiwara no Teika, who collected one great poem from the works of each of 100 greatest Japanese poets. The game is a popular New Year's pastime, wherein one person reads the first part of a poem from that collection and the players try to be the first to find the card containing that poem. Ataru, however, is playing to lose. The full versions of the two poems Cherry quotes are as follows:
"Tago no ura ni uchiirete mireba shirotae no Fuji no takane ni yuki wa furitsutsu" --Yamabe no Akahito (dates unknown)
"From the seashore of Tago, if you ride a boat on the ocean, you will see the beautiful white snow falling atop Mt. Fuji."
"Haru sugite natsu kinikerashi shirotae no koromo hosuchoo ama no Kaguyama" --Jitoo Tennoo (Empress (later Emperor) Jitoo, AD. 645-702)
"Spring has gone, it seems to be Summer already, because I see white cloth being hung out to dry on Kagu Mountain."
Author, Author: It's not certain, but Murasaki Shikibu, author of Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji) is believed to have lived between AD. 978-1014 or 1016. She wrote Genji Monogatari in the beginning of the 11th Century. She married once, to one Fujiwara Nobutaka, and had a daughter. But Fujiwara's death left her a widow. After his death, she worked for Shooshi, the daughter of Fujiwara no Michinaga, and also the luckier of the Emperor's two wives, Teishi being the name of the other. Shooshi's charmed existence seems to have rubbed off favorably on Murasaki, because she started writing Genji Monogatari to entertain the Empress Shooshi, and the more the Empress asked what would happen next, the longer the story got, until eventually the masterpiece resulted. The end of this episode says that Murasaki Shikibu never married, but that's just taking license for the sake of humor.
Genji Monogatari, commonly considered to be the world's first true novel, depicts life in the Heian Imperial Court in the 10th Century, roughly 100 years before the story was actually written. It is also considered the single greatest work of Japanese literature.
The Heian Era began in AD. 794 and ended in AD. 1192, with the establishment of the first military government at Kamakura. The Heian capital was established at Kyoto, and the Emperor resided there until the beginning of the Meiji Era (AD. 1868), when the Imperial Residence moved to Tokyo.
The Awa Odori is a type of dancing that originated in Tokushima Prefecture (Southwest Honshuu), and may not have anything to do with Kyoto at all.
Take-out: We translated "Daihanten" as "Chinese restaurant," but its original Chinese meaning seems to be "hotel." However, it seems to have been misinterpreted in Japan, and the literal reading of the Kanji (Chinese characters) was used to get the meaning of this word in Japanese.
Take-offs: Hikaru Genji, the title character of Genji Monogatari, was the son of the Emperor by a favored concubine who died soon after his birth. However, a fortuneteller told him that remaining the Emperor's son would be unlucky for him, so he changed his name to Genji, that of a servant, and lowered his status as well. One of his sons, by his mother-in-law, Fujitsubo, would eventually become Emperor, though most people believed that this child was the son of the Emperor himself. This should give the viewer an idea of why Ataru was cast as Genji, though the literary figure had much more class, and was much more successful with the ladies.
Too no Chuujoo was Genji's best friend, sharing a similar rank, and every bit the playboy that Genji was. They shared numerous escapades together, but eventually they would become rivals. Therefore, it seems fitting that Mendou Shutaro should be cast as Too no Chuujoo.
"Tsubo," as in Genji's mother-in-law, Fujitsubo, means a woman of high rank. "Tsubone" designates a lady-in-waiting, a servant, to a tsubo or other person of high status. Hence the name, "Shinobu no Tsubone."
The legend of Momotaro ("Peach Boy") says that an old childless couple, Ojiisan and Obaasan, found a large peach drifting down a stream one day, when Obaasan went to do her laundry. When they opened it, out sprang Momotaro When he grew up, he went to hunt the Oni, who had stolen all the wealth of the people years before. Along the way, he met a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant, all of whom joined him when he gave them one of his "Nippon-ichi no kibidango" (Steamed shiratamako flour with white sugar on top; they taste like rice-cakes.) When they reached Oni-ga-shima ("Oni Island") in the Inland Sea, a great battle took place, and Momotaro took all the treasures back to the people from whom they had been stolen. He also ensured that Ojiichan and Obaachan would be well taken care of.
All the Oni have navels that stick out, known as "debeso" in Japanese. Calling someone "debeso" in Japanese is roughly akin to saying "Your mother wears Army boots" in English.
Double Takes: "Kakuheiki" means "nuclear weapons." But Momotaro, not knowing of such things, mistakes the "kaku" in "kakuheiki," which means "nuclear," for a different "kaku," which means "angle." With "maru" meaning "circle," and hence "maruheiki" meaning "circular weapons," we get the pun on "kakuheiki/ maruheiki:" Momotaro was actually saying "angular weapons" and "circular weapons," misunderstanding Ten's meaning entirely.
Ol' Four Eyes: Grading in Japanese schools is done all on bell curves, as opposed to the straight percentage method often used in the US. The difference is that, whereas the latter scoring method is an absolute, the former is a relative measurement, all students against each other, so that the top scorer, regardless of his actual score on a given test, is considered the A student, and everyone else is measured against him. A score of 50 on this deviation is considered average, and the 75 that Momotaro gets is very high, though it only means that he is doing better than the other students. It doesn't show how well he's learned a given subject.
Behavior reports are made by teachers. They make evaluations of the personalities of students, which seem to be little more than whether they are "good" boys and girls or not. They follow a student to the high school or college to which he applies, so students have to be careful that their teachers have a good opinion of them. These reports are kept secret from the students, and recently there have been several court cases in which students and parents have managed, after much resistance, to see them.
Koshien is where the Summer High School Baseball Tournament is held. Productivity in Japan plummets when the "Boys of Summer" go to Koshien.
The Naoki Sanjuugo Sho and the Akutagawa Ryuunosuke Sho are literary awards named for two well-known Japanese writers. The Akutagawa Sho is primarily for "serious" writing, and the Naoki Sho is aimed at more "entertainment" novels. Getting these awards confers a high status, and is often a ticket to a career in writing.
The FNS Record Contest is roughly to the Japan Music Awards as the American Music Awards are to the Grammies.
The bronze statue is a mark of glory hunting, much like some people will make a donation for the ego-boost of being recognized as having made that donation, rather than for any good that their donation will do.
First Steps: "Oni-san kochira. Te no naru hoo e. Anyoo wa joozu korobu wa heta," (Over here, Mr. Oni! To the sound of the hands! Your walk is good, falling is bad...) is a chant sometimes used by parents to encourage their children to walk. It is also sometimes used in Onigokko (the Japanese name for Tag, a.k.a. "The Game of the Oni.")
Kirk to Enterprise: "Ryuusei-go, ootooseyo" (Come in, Ryuusei) is from a popular anime series of the late 1960s called "Super Jetter." Many Japanese series have "in-joke" references to Japanese and American series (especially "Star Trek"), and recently, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" has been returning the favor.
Military Intelligence: "Heian Booeigun" (Heian Defense Force) is probably a joke at "Chikyuu Booeigun" (Terran Defense Force) from such series as "Ultra Seven" and "Uchuu Senkan Yamato" ("Space Battleship Yamato," also known as "Star Blazers." in the US.)
She'll stick it to you: The Naginata is a sort of Japanese pole arm, originally intended for use by infantry against cavalry. Later, it came into common use by monks and women, the latter especially during World War II.
Ep. 12, Story 23: "Battle Royal of Love"
When Ataru's Father says "I'M the one who always gets stuck with the bills for HIS girl chasing," the original Japanese is "Aho wa onnazuki, ore wa loanzuke da!" This is a better joke in Japanese than it is English (as so many of these are). "Onnazuki" means "hot for women," and "loanzuke" means "stuck with loans/mortgages." So a more literal translation would be "He's hot for women, and I'm stuck with the mortgages!"
What's in a Name (a regular feature of these notes!): The name Ozuno Tsubame itself contains a couple of jokes. First is his family name, Ozuno, which seems to be derived from "Oz no Mahootsukai," which is the title of the Japanese translation of The Wizard of Oz. "Oz no" (or "Ozu no," as it would be pronounced in Japanese) becomes "Ozuno." It might also reflect his having gone to the West to study. Tsubame, his given name, which literally means (the bird) "swallow" (see Ep. 2, Story 4, "Mrs. Swallow and Mrs. Penguin"), is also slang for "himo," which in this case means a man who lives off of a woman, something typically considered degrading in Japan.
Go West, Young Man: Tsubame's going to the West to study (Seioogaeri) is part of an old tradition, dating back to the early days of Japan's first push toward modernization, in the Meiji Era (1868-1912). In order to try and catch up with advanced Western countries, Japanese would travel to those countries to study things not known in Japan, and bring back what they had learned to Japan (they still do, but not nearly as much as they used to, now that Japan is an industrial leader in its own right). In Tsubame's case, he went West to study magic, because magic is supposedly more advanced there than it is in Japan. His use of the word "Seioogaeri" to describe his studies in the West is a nod to the old-fashionedness of this particular journey, reflecting the superior attitude of Japanese who made such trips in earlier times.
Cherry Green: When Megane says, "Hey, with Cherry around, you can get run down crossing the street on a green light!," he is punning on a saying that was popular in the last decade or so: "Akashingoo minna de watareba kowakunai." This phrase literally means, "You can get away with crossing at a red light if you do it with a lot of people." The underlying meaning is that if you get a lot of people together to help you break the law, you can get away with it. It's a way of justifying things one isn't supposed to do. However, what Megane means is that, if you do something with Cherry, no matter how legal and innocuous it may be--like crossing at a green light--you'll end up in a pile of hurt. Language Note: "Aoshingoo" literally means "blue light," though it is usually translated as "green light." This is because some shades of what are referred to as "green" in the West are considered "blue" in Japan, especially with regard to traffic lights and greenery. There are references in old Chinese literature to calling green plants blue, which may have had an influence in this area.
Bring out the Vote: Tsubame shouting "Ozuno Tsubame ni kiyoki ippyoo" is a take-off on a slogan commonly used by politicians campaigning for election. It literally means "Give your one pure vote to Ozuno Tsubame (in his campaign to marry Sakura)!"
Y'all come back now, heah: When Tsubame makes his summonings, he finishes them up with the phrase, Come on out, y'all!" The original, "Oidemasse!" comes from an advertising slogan for Yamaguchi Prefecture (in the Chuugoku region of Honshuu, near the Southern end of the island): "Oidemasse Yamaguchi e," or "Come on out to Yamaguchi, y'all!" which was famous at the time this episode originally aired (around Dec., 1981-Jan., 1982). The Yamaguchi accent is, roughly, to Japanese what the Southern accent is to American English, which is why we chose this particular translation.
A Story that Bears Repeating: When he first fails to summon Satan (because Japanese spirits don't understand anything but Japanese), Tsubame tries again, calling out "Akuma!" which can be translated variously as "demon," "devil," or (as in this case) "Satan." But he screws up again, turning Ataru into a bear, or "kuma," which is the Japanese word for same. Then the pun is completed when the onlookers start saying, "Aa! Kuma! (Ah! It's a bear!)" which can be (and is) confused with "Akuma."
Flying the Friendly Skies: The disc jockey calling Lum "a high-flying woman" ("Tonderu onna") comes from "Tobu no ga Kowai," the Japanese translation of Erica Jong's "Fear of Flying." This phrase became popular for referring to a woman who does her own thing, and succeeds in doing so; an independent, challenging woman, characteristics which seem to describe Lum rather well. So this phrase is both literal and figurative.
His Face is His Fortune: Tsubame saying "My face!" in the subtitles when Ataru trips him up is a shorthand way of trying to explain an idea that can be expressed in just one word in Japanese, but is not nearly so simple in English. His actual line is "Nimaime ga!" The term "Nimaime" might best be translated as "matinee idol." It usually refers to a really good-looking actor, along the lines of Robert Redford, Clark Gable, or James Dean. What Tsubame means is that his good looks have been messed up by Ataru, and they are what he is most concerned about at the moment. A related word, "Sammaime," refers to comic actors. Both terms have their origins in Kabuki.
Ep. 12, Story 24: "Father, You Were Strong"
The title of this episode comes from the title of a song, "Chichi yo, Anata wa Tsuyokatta," which was popular in Japan during World War II. It was a propaganda song used by the Government to keep up the people's morale.
Sometimes, translating is easy: When the Karasutengu says he can "stretch [his] feathers," the original Japanese phrase, "Hane o nobasu," means just that, literally. But it also has a more common, idiomatic meaning of "stretch out, take it easy," which means that the Karasutengu is speaking both literally and figuratively.
And then again, sometimes it isn't: Lum's conversation with that same Karasutengu, shortly thereafter, leads to the following exchange:
Karasutengu: To become a disciple of a certain man...
Lum: ...a disciple of a monkey?
Karasutengu: No, Her Highness's ideal man. She's going to train him like a monkey...
The joke in the original Japanese is a pun on the word "saru," which can have the meaning of "a certain..." as in the phrase "saru otoko (a certain man)," and which is the meaning the Karasutengu intended. But Lum misunderstands, thinking the Karasutengu used another meaning of "saru," which is "monkey" or "ape." Hence the confusion, and yet another example of maddening puns!
And on this one, we just gave up: When Ushiwaka Maru first sees Lum, his reaction prompts Ataru to pound him in the head. However, instead of saying "Sukiari!" (a traditional kendo term meaning that one's opponent's defenses are down, i.e., he is wide open), Ataru says "Sukimono!" (someone who likes sex) at the crucial moment. Ataru is punning on how the sight of a nearly-naked woman has caused Ushiwaka Maru to let down his guard.
And you thought learning American History was tough: The great rival of the Genji Clan (a real-life clan not to be confused with the fictional Genji of the previous episode) was the Heike Clan. The Heike Clan came to power in the late Heian Era and grew arrogant as a result of their prosperity. But they rested on their laurels, and fell into decline. Finally, they were destroyed by the Genji Clan, the final battle between the two taking place in Dannoura, in 1185, which is now Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Minamoto no Yoshitsune was commander for the Genji ("Minamoto" being the "kun," or Japanese, reading of the kanji "Gen" in "Genji," of which "Gen" is the "on," or Chinese, reading), and led them to decisive victory. But after his brother, Minamoto no Yoritomo, established the first military government at Kamakura, in 1192, he began trying to kill Yoshitsune, because Yoshitsune promoted himself without Yoritomo's permission, and this caused a rift that made it impossible for them to live together. So Yoshitsune fled, eventually traversing a large portion of Japan. It is generally believed that Yoshitsune committed suicide, but there are legends that maintain that he went to China and became Genghis Khan.
Ushiwaka Maru was the name used by Minamoto no Yoshitsune in his youth.
The full name of Benkei the monk is Musashiboo Benkei. He was fighting many warriors on a bridge (Gojoo no Hashi, in Kyoto), and taking their swords, as it was his intention to collect 1000 swords, and it was Ushiwaka Maru (later Minamoto no Yoshitsune) who defeated him. As a result, Benkei decided to serve Ushiwaka Maru, and remained faithful to him the rest of his life. When, as Yoshitsune, he ran from his brother Yoritomo's assassination attempts, Benkei went with him as well.
Often, a samurai would change his name and hairstyle upon officially entering the ranks of the samurai, to signify his coming of age, and becoming a real samurai. This ceremony was called "gempuku," and it is with this ceremony that Ushiwaka Maru confers full samurai status on Ataru, in his Karasutengu identity, by giving him the new name of "Crow Yoshitsune" (a take-off on the name that Ushiwaka Maru himself would eventually take).
Ep. 13, Story 25: "Hawaiian Swimsuit Thief"
Cold winter nights: The "heaters" Ataru refers to are "kotatsu." A Kotatsu is essentially a short square table with a heater underneath it, over which one puts a blanket, and then another table-top. In older houses, there is often a square pit in the center of the room (normally covered by a tatami mat) where the heater can be placed. In winter, people sit around kotatsu with their legs underneath it to keep warm. Another thick blanket is often put on the floor underneath the kotatsu to keep warmth inside the room as well.
Here's mud in your eye: In the final scene, when everyone is fighting the octopus in the dark cave, it squirts ink in both Ataru and Sakura's faces. Sakura's response is to pick it up bodily and shout, "On top of everything else, you throw mud in my face?" The original expression, "Kono ue, mada watashi no kao ni doro o nuroo to iu no desu ka?" has both a literal and a figurative meaning, leading to a pun (no surprise). The idiomatic meaning of this particular line is that "your actions have caused me to lose face," which the octopus (which everyone thinks is Cherry) has done.
Ep. 13, Story 26: "Full Course From Hell"
The drink Sakura orders at the beginning of this story, which reads "lemon soda" in the subtitles, is actually called "Lemon Squash" in the original. "Lemon Squash" is essentially carbonated lemonade, and, to the best of this writer's knowledge, does not exist under that name outside of Japan.
One important note about the foods that were served: they are a deliberate mix of everyday fast-food and fancy dishes -- the all-you-can-eat restaurant is sort of a combination of a 4-star restaurant and a burger stand.
The 300-gram steak mentioned in the restaurant scene is huge for a steak in Japan. The average size for a steak in a Japanese steakhouse (for example, the Victoria Station in Shibuya, where many AnimEigo meetings have taken place) is around 150 grams, because beef is very expensive in Japan (2-3 times more than chicken or pork, and even more for grades of beef high enough in quality to be used as steak).
Cherry saying, "I haven't had steak in years!" and Sakura retorting, "Be honest. It's the first time in your life," are continuations of the above reference to how expensive beef, and especially beef steak, is in Japan. We think they are exaggerating.
The "fermented beans" that came on rice is actually called "natto." If you don't know what natto is, consider yourself extremely lucky. Foreigners either swear by natto, or swear at it -- usually the latter.
The "onion" in "liver and onion" is actually a vegetable called "nira." It's green, with a long stalk, often served in Chinese restaurants.
The "extra-large box lunch" is "Tokudai Hinomaru Bentoo". "Hinomaru Bentoo" is so-called because the main dish (which is usually the only dish) is a circle of umeboshi (pickled plums) surrounded by rice, which makes up the shape of the Japanese flag, Hinomaru. It was usually eaten when people couldn't afford anything else.
"Bonito sashimi" is actually a dish called "katsuo no tataki," a specialty of Shikoku (the third of the four Japanese home islands). Katsuo, or bonito, meat is skinned, then grilled very lightly (a few seconds or so) so that only the surface gets cooked at all. Then it is dipped in cold water, sliced, and served with a cold soup of lemon, green onions, and soy sauce.
"Rice with miso soup" is actually "miso-shiru bukkakegohan." Typically, rice and miso soup are served separately, but some people seem to like having them mixed together, though it is usually considered vulgar to do so.
"Rice-fish casserole" is actually called "nekomamma," which literally translates as "cat food," though not the kind one finds in pet shops. It's a mix of scraps and leftovers, usually not served as a dish in restaurants, often consisting of bonito flakes, rice, other small fish, etc.
"Noodles with rice cakes" are actually known as "chikara udon," or "power noodles," because rice is believed to give strength.
When this episode was originally made, whale meat was more easily available commercially than it is now, hence the "whale steak" reference.
"Steamed sweetbuns," or "ampan," are a bun filled with sweet bean-jam paste. An animation character popular with small children is called Anpanman because he looks like one.
Mentioning that Ataru, Sakura, and Cherry are at "table number four" is also a joke, because four is a bad-luck number in Japanese.
The shot of Sakura with the fork in her teeth is reminiscent of Spanish flamenco dancers with roses in their teeth.
Ep. 14, Story 27: "Mendou Brings Trouble!"
The opening of this story is a tribute to a popular, long-running historical-fiction series, or "jidaigeki," called "Mito Koomon." Mito Koomon was an actual Edo-period historical figure, whose real name was Mito no Mitsukuni, and he was a member of one of the three main Tokugawa families. The basic plot of each story is the same: Mitokoomon travels the land, his true identity concealed, rooting out evil. The jokes in this scene are that Grandfather Mendou resembles Mito Koomon in both dress and appearance, and the shot of Shutaro showing the cup with the family crest on it, the latter referring to Mito Koomon showing his crest when he reveals his true identity, namely that he is a member of one of the families of Tokugawa. Also, the decoration of the room is in the style of rooms that the shogun would have, in the best traditional style.
Episodes of Mito Koomon always have the following in common: The bad guys are rich, noble oppressors of the people, and, after the big "by the way, have you seen my family crest?" scene, the bad guys attack Mito Koomon and his assistants, whereupon the body-count becomes astronomical. The bad guys are always offed in reverse order of their importance, and the top bad guy usually gets it while trying to run away. Surprisingly, none of the bad guys ever get the bright idea of attacking the good guys en-masse; they go to their graves one at a time.
Grandfather saying "Did you remember your handkerchief? And your tissues?" is the sort of thing a typical Japanese mother would say to her children-- if they were in kindergarten, that is.
At the time this story was made (Winter 1982), ´5 trillion was worth about US$19.2 billion.
"Field Day" is actually called "Undookai" (Sports Meet, or Sports Day). It's a collection of various activities, ranging from track events to tug-o-war to "fill up the basket" (tamaire), about which see story 29, "The Great Spring War."
The pose Lum strikes when she zaps Mendou to protect Ataru is a pitching technique invented by Hoshi Hyuuma, star of the popular manga/anime series "Kyojin no Hoshi" (Star of the Giants), called "Dai-League Ball Nigoo" (Big League Pitch No. 2). The technique involves raising one's leg up in the air, thus kicking up lots of sand. When the ball is thrown through the sand, the sand creates a smoke screen effect which makes it disappear just before the batter is about to hit it.
To atone for his defeat, Shutaro prepares to commit seppuku, in truly traditional fashion.
Ep. 14, Story 28: "Constellation-Go-Round"
The computer Lum uses at the beginning of this story is a pachinko machine, a very popular form of gambling in Japan. The idea is to shoot balls up into the machine, and have them bounce off the pins and into scoring slots (which pay off with more balls). There are two basic types; "airplane" and "fever." In an airplane machine, getting balls in certain slots briefly open up "wings" that allow balls to go into a central area ; if a ball manages to go into the "V-zone" in the central area, the machine goes "uchi-dome," and the wings open repeatedly, making it easy to win several thousand balls. In a fever machine, getting balls into certain slots start a slot machine-like device working, and if the numbers line up, the machine goes "uchi-dome." Gambling is illegal in Japan, so pachinko parlors cannot give out money; players are supposed to trade in their balls for prizes like food and sundries. However, invariably, each parlor has some weird little prize like lighter flints or tiny bottles of toilet water that, purely by coincidence, can be sold at a tiny shop just around the corner for cash.
Ep. 15, Story 29: "The Great Spring War"
Setsubun, or, "The Day Before Spring," comes on February 3rd, according to the old Japanese calendar. On that day, people throw roasted soybeans to ward off Oni, in a ceremony called "Mamemaki" (see Ep. 1, Story 1, for additional information).
The list of foods Ataru asks his mother to make in celebration of what he thinks is Cherry leaving them is an assortment of Japanese holiday foods in the original:
"sekihan," literally, "red rice," made from "mochigome," a type of rice used to make "mochi" (rice cakes) and azuki beans (which give it its red color). They're steamed, and given on special occasions such as births, passing the university entrance exams, graduations, weddings, etc.
"botamochi," made of mochigome and sweet bean paste, about the size of an egg. Unlike ampan, the bean paste is on the outside, and the rice on the inside. Given on the Equinoxes, primarily the Autumnal Equinox (Sept. 21).
"chitose-ame," A special candy given on Nov. 15, the "Shichi-Go-San" (Seven-Five-Three) Day, which celebrates children reaching those ages. It's a long stick-shaped candy, in white and pink colors.
The joke about this sequence is that none of these foods have anything to do with one another. Ataru just wants to use anything and everything he can think of to celebrate Cherry's leaving.
Sukiyaki is considered a special meal in middle-class Japanese households, because it contains beef. In addition to beef, it consists of "yakidofu," lightly grilled tofu, "shirataki," noodles made of konyaku, a kind of no-cal potato, that look like jello, "negi," green onions, "shimeji," champignon mushrooms, and "shungiku" and "hakusai," a pair of vegetables that have no apparent English equivalent. It's flavored with soy sauce, sugar and sake (or sometimes cooking wine instead of sake), cooked in a deep iron pan, and eaten right out of same. More ingredients are added as it's eaten as well, and one helps oneself out of the pan and into one's bowl. Sometimes people put a raw egg into their bowls, dip their sukiyaki into said egg, and eat it that way as well.
Shichifukujin (The Seven Gods of Luck) are Buddhist Guardian Spirits, gods of warfare and the household, often placed in the kitchen. They are generally regarded as representing good fortune in the same way Oni represent misfortune.
Daikokuten: Mahaakaala in Sanskrit. In Tantric (esoteric) Buddhism, an avatar of the Hindu god Shiva, of which Daijizaiten is another name in Japanese. Symbolized by the zukin (skullcap) on his head, the large bag on his left shoulder, and the uchide-no-kozuchi (mallet of luck) in his right hand, which, when shook, rains gold and other precious objects. Also has a bag of rice underfoot.
Ebisu: Originally Hirokoonomikoto, Guardian Spirit of Nishinomiya Shrine in Hyoogo Prefecture. God of the oceans, fishing, and business. Often wears a hat called "kazaorieboshi." Carries a fishing pole with a snapper on it.
Bishamonten: Vaisravana in Sanskrit. One of the Shitennoo (Four Devas); also one of the Juuniten (Twelve Guardians). Guardian of the North Ward. Known as Tamonten when referring to the Shitennoo.
Benten: Originally Bensaiten. Sarasvatii in Sanskrit. Goddess of music, oratory, luck, wisdom, longevity, and victory. Also called Myooonten and Byonten. Together with Kichijooten (Vishnu, or Srii-mahaaderii in Sanskrit), she was the most respected goddess in India. However, the two were mixed up in Japan, and came to be regarded as a giver of fortune, thus becoming one of the seven Gods of Luck.
Fukurokuju: In China, an avatar of Nankyokusei (the Southern Cross). Known for a short body, a long head, an abundant beard, and the prayer wheel he carries. Often followed by a flock of cranes.
Juroojin: An actual person believed to have lived during the Ganyu Period. An old man with a long head, prayer wheels, a fan, and followed by deer. Said to bestow long life.
Hotei: A Zen Buddhist in China during the Too Period (AD. 618-907). He lived on a mountain called Shimeisan. Has a huge body, exposes his belly, and slings a bag over his shoulder. Wanders in search of charity. Regarded as an avatar of Miroku (Maitreya). Known also for constantly happy expression.
War Games: "Tamaire" (Fill Up the Basket) is a very common event at "undookai" (Field Days). Two teams try to fill baskets with balls of a certain color, each team trying to put in more than the other.
Ep. 15, Story 30: "The Benten Gang's Return Match"
When Shinobu says, "We're firing a shot for tomorrow!" it's yet another cultural-linguistic in-joke. The original, "Asu e mukatte ute!" (Face Tomorrow and Shoot!) is the Japanese title of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."
When Cherry says, "I forecast a new high of misfortune," it was an attempt to deal with still another culture-specific reference. The original phrase, "Akamaru jooshoochuu," means "red circle rising," and is used to refer to hot songs on the Japanese music charts, which are marked with a red circle.
When Ataru says, "Purr!" to Benten, it's almost literally what he said in the original. "Boronya!" is the onomatopoeic sound of a cat nuzzling up to someone.
Name Games: The names of the daughters of the Gods of Luck are themselves derivations of the names of the Gods themselves, though at least one of those derivations comes from a somewhat unexpected direction: "Kuro" is the Japanese reading of the kanji which is read "koku" in "Daikokuten." On the Japan Railways Tokyo Yamanote Line, Ebisu and Meguro Stations are right next to one another. The "Sha" in "Shala" is the same kanji "sha" in her father's name, "Bishamonten." "Roku" is derived from "Fukurokuju" the same way. "Kotobuki" is the Japanese reading of the kanji which is read "Ju" in "Juroojin." And "Tei" is taken directly from "Hotei."
Ep. 16, Story 31: "Oh! Lone Teacher!"
The new teacher, Kuribayashi Sanjuuroo, is a takeoff on the character of Sanjuuroo created by Mifune Toshiroo in two classic films by Kurosawa Akira: "Yojimbo" and "Sanjuro." Note particularly his entrance at the beginning of the episode.
The persistent references to someone or something being a "cancer" (gan) are because it was a very popular phrase at the time the episodes were produced (c. 1982).
Kuribayashi saying, "I can see her... No, I can't..." is a literal translation of the original: "Aeru... Aenai..." The reason we translated this line this way, and not as, "She loves me, she loves me not..." is because the original phrasing is not normal in Japanese either. Usually, in Japanese, one would say, "Suki, kirai..." which almost literally means, "She loves me, she loves me not..." (see Ep. 9, Story 17 for another example). But Kuribayashi uses a form that is variant even in the original, so we did the same thing here to connote that deliberate difference.
Ep. 16, Story 32: "Terrifying Visiting Day"
When parents visit their children's school in Japan, there are typically three different events. One is "open class," where parents come and actually watch a (supposedly) typical class period, so that they can see how their children are doing. Another is a PTA meeting and discussion, covering various topics, including student entrance examinations and electing PTA officers. Also, for high-school juniors and seniors, there are meetings between parents, teachers, and students, about university prospects. The fancy dress that all the mothers are wearing is unusual because they only dress up to show off in front of all the other mothers; it becomes a competition, and no one wants to be left out. It's hardly a fancy-dress occasion, but they do it anyway. The kids don't help matters by keeping an eye out to see whether their mothers are looking nice.
Ep. 17, Story 34, "Demonic Jogging"
Ataru's quotation of "A lion will exert himself to the utmost even when entering a tiger's den to throw baby rabbits off the cliff!" ( Lion wa tora no ana ni haitte usagi no ko o gake kara tsukiotosu no ni mo zenryoku o tsuksu to iu) is another example of his mangling of Japanese quotations and proverbs. The line is partially based on an old saying from China, "Koketsu ni irazumba koji o ezu," which literally means, "You can't get the tiger's cubs without entering the tiger's den," (eg: "No risk, no reward." ) Next, Ataru piles on a reference to the manner in which lions treat their young. Supposedly, because they are by nature independent, lions push their cubs off cliffs so as to foster independence, at least in the survivors. Finally, never content to leave well enough alone, Ataru (aka the Lion) attempts to use the above as a rationalization for crushing Mendou (aka the Rabbit). Despite the fact that a lion would not exert himself any more than was absolutely necessary to accomplish a task, Ataru intends to show no mercy, so he cooks up this half-baked excuse.
Ep. 18, Story 37, "Girl's Day! The Coming of Ran"
Girl's Day, March 3, is celebrated with displays of dolls in traditional Japanese dress, usually arranged in seven levels representing the various tiers of feudal Japanese society, with the Lord and his Lady on top, and their various layers of servants below. These dolls are known as "Ohinasama." Of course, Lum has her own alien versions of these dolls.
Boy's Day, March 5, is also officially called Children's Day, which has its own set of dolls, decked out in armor. Unlike Girl's Day, Children's Day is a national holiday.
Ep. 19, Story 35: "The Tearful Diary of Tomorrow"
Ataru saying "The early bird gets the worm" is an idiomatic rendering of the Japanese original, "Hayaoki wa sammon no toku," which would literally translate as, "Waking up early is worth three mon," mon being an old standard unit of Japanese currency. The meaning is that, by getting up early, one can either find three mon lying around that nobody else has noticed yet, or else find an early bargain while shopping.
When the jogger says, "Take him to the Public Health Center!" or, "Hokenjo," she is referring to a facility that has no functional equivalent in the US. The Hokenjo encompasses a number of health-related services, available to the public for free, or at reduced prices, which is possible because of Japan's national health insurance system. The Hokenjo provides such services as immunizations, AIDS and other STD tests, sheltering stray cats and dogs, and other health services.
When reading Ataru's diary, Lum mentions that the day is "Butsumetsu," which is a direct tip-off to Japanese viewers that today isn't Ataru's day. The words "Senshoo," "Tomobiki," "Sembu," "Butsumetsu," "Taian," and "Shakkoo" are known as "Rokki," a kind of "Rekichu," or diary reference, in Buddhist reckoning. They refer to how "lucky" a given day will be. For details, see Ep. 10, Stories 19-20, "Pitter Patter Xmas Eve, Parts 1-2." For Ataru, it seems, every day is "Butsumetsu."
The ramen delivery-man saying, "Mountain!" and Ataru replying, "River!" are literal translations of the original: "Yama!" "Kawa!" Used this way, these words are a password/countersign combination so common as to be stereotypical in Japan.
Ep. 19, Story 36: "Whose Kid is This?"
The "Tsurezuregusa," by Yoshida Kenko, is a collection of essays from the Kamakura Era, believed to have been written between AD. 1310-1331. It is most renowned for two essays in particular, "Sooheki" and "Makura no Sooshi," which are considered the greatest essays in the history of Japanese literature.
There is a brand of instant ramen called "U.F.O." in Japan. It's possible that Chibi's remark about the alien's spacecraft being "a ´100 UFO" is a pun on this brand-name, as it apparently existed back when this story was made (early 1982), and would probably have cost about that much a serving.
Ep. 20, Story 39: "Sleepy Springtime Classroom"
The name Shunmin, lit. "Spring Night's Sleep," comes from a Chinese saying: "Shunmin akatsuki o oboezu," which means that the Spring nights are so short and comfortable that one can easily awaken in the morning.
"Sleep! Sleep!" The original, "Nemure, nemure," are the lyrics to Schubert's Lullabye, set in Japanese.
"Acho" is a Japanese dig at Bruce Lee and other chop-socky films. It's essentially the sound made when a movie martial artist uses his art, be it karate, tai chi chuan, etc. She's basically being deliberately silly, copying and parodying Bruce Lee's moves and noises.
Manchinro and Heichinro are two famous Chinese restaurants in Yokohama Chinatown. They get used a lot as names of Chinese characters in Japan, when a writer is feeling too lazy to find anything else.
"Non-stop bullet-cloud!" The original, "Chootokkyuu!" means "Super-Express," referring to the fastest of the Japan Railways (hereinafter JR) trains, better known to most English-speakers as the "Bullet Trains." Put together with the line preceding it, in the original, "Nikyuu yori tokkyuu ga kagiru de no," which means, "No second-class; only the best," this refers not just to the grade to which Shunmin gets promoted, but also to the classes of travel on JR trains: Second-class (Nikyuu), Express, or first-class (Tokkyuu), and Super-Express, or Extra-first-class (Chootokkyuu). However, these terms also refer to grades of sake, which Manchinro has been drinking, and so it is possible that he thinks that sake is what Shunmin is talking about, not her promotion.
Ep. 20, Story 40: "Peach-blossom Poetry Contest"
"Waka" literally means "Japanese song." But the kanji for "song," "uta," which is the "ka" in "Waka," can also mean "poem." This leads to Ataru and Mendou's confusing argument about whether "Waka" is poem or song, and then to the inevitable "Waka/Baka" (poem/idiot) joke.
Ataru saying, "A peach petal got in my nose," is nowhere near as funny as the Japanese original, because that line, "Momo no hana ga hana ni haitchatta," is a pun. The words for "flower" and "nose" are pronounced the same in Japanese: "hana."
Otomo no Yakamochi was a poet from the Nara Period (AD. 710-794). He is considered one of Japan's thirty-six greatest poets. More of his poems are included in the Manyooshuu (the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry) than any other poet. He was also one of the editors of the Manyooshuu...
When the Peach Spirit shouts Ataru's name, it would appear to be in response to his persistent entreaties that she do so. But given the following situation, i.e., when Kasen hits Ataru and the ground Ataru is standing on, it takes on an added significance: "ataru" is normally an intransitive verb in Japanese, roughly meaning "to be hit." So the Peach Spirit shouting "Ataru!" is more a cry of, "You're going to get hit!" than Ataru's name. For further reference, see Ep. 1, Story 1, "I'm Lum the Notorious!" and the Inaba-kun TV Special (OVA 1).
When everyone says, "Absolutely! Moroboshi Ataru, number one!" it is a reference to a popular and extremely long-running series on NHK (Japan's public broadcasting network), NHK Nodojiman (NHK Singing Skill Contest). The show travels all over Japan, and in every city, town, and village, they find some twenty or thirty amateurs who are willing to attempt to sing on TV. If their performances are good, they get to sing all the way to the end of their chosen song. If not, they get gonged. A panel of commentators provide additional color. The joke is that, when these people get up on stage, they introduce themselves by saying what number they are (ichiban--number one, niban--number two, etc.), followed by their names, and sometimes what they are going to sing.
Kasen's line, "I'm the canary who forgot how to sing!" is originally from an old children's song, a sad lullabye that was popular in the pre-WWII Shoowa Era (c. 1925-1940).
The Peach Spirit saying, "Good-bye, good-bye!" is an in-joke. The original, "Sainara, sainara," is the trademark of Yodogawa Nagaharu, a famous movie critic. He ends each of his shows with that expression.
Ep. 21, Story 41: "The Duel! Ataru vs. Ataru"
There's an old wives' tale in Japan that certain foods, eaten together, are bad for digestion. This phenomenon is known as "tabeawase," and some examples are given in the episode itself; i.e., the mixture of eel and sour plum, or tempura and ice water. It's not entirely clear whether these notions have any basis in medical fact, though research is said to be in progress on the subject.
In the final fight scene, a horse can be seen in the background. This is a pun on the word "yajiuma," roughly equivalent to "rubbernecker" in English.
Ep. 21, Story 42: "Wake Up to a Nightmare"
This story, which originally aired in 1982, was the inspiration for the 1984 Urusei Yatsura movie, "Beautiful Dreamer," featuring as it does the first appearances of Mujaki and Baku, as well as a harem dream sequence on which Oshii Mamoru would elaborate to a truly impressive degree.
The name "Mujaki" itself is a pun with a couple of layers. The conventional reading of this word means "innocent" or "guileless." But "Mujaki" as it refers to the name of this character is written with an entirely different set of kanji, which have a similar reading, but a different meaning: in this case, the kanji that make up the name "Mujaki" mean "Dream-interference Demon," or, more colloquially, "The Demon that Interferes with Dreams." And Mujaki is, literally, "mujaki" (innocent) by his own lights. He's just doing his job.
As for Baku, there is a Japanese myth that says that Baku is the name of a monster that feeds on nightmares.
Hanafuda, the card game Lum and Ataru stayed up all night playing the night before, is similar to Bridge. The cards feature pictures of flowers, scenery (i.e., Mt. Fuji), and birds, among others, rather than numbers.
Mah Jongg is a game that originated in China, using engraved tiles as playing pieces. It is designed for four players to play, each representing one of the four directions, or "winds." Starting with the East Wind, each player takes a turn as dealer, arranging the tiles and giving out thirteen to each player. The dealer changes counterclockwise whenever a dealer loses a hand. The dealer in a given hand also gets certain advantages with certain tiles that the other players do not. The basic object is to get a better arrangement of the tiles in one's own hand than one's opponents. When the robot says, "Now we'll have enough players!" the term he uses in Japanese, "mentsu ga sorou," means a complete group (of four), which is necessary for a proper game. Then, when he says, "You should at least join in a half-game!" the term he uses, "han-chan," means the first two Winds, or half of a normal four-Wind game.
When the tiger in this scene takes off his coat, revealing the ornate tattoos on his shoulder and back, it indicates that he is a yakuza, a member of one of Japan's organized-crime syndicates. His speech patterns are also very coarse for Japanese, another trait that marks his gangster background.
Okayu is rice boiled with enough extra water to make it very sticky, often eaten in a variety of ways, such as sha-ke (salted grilled tuna), pickled plums, and pickled vegetables. In China, it's a breakfast food, in addition to being good for people with stomach problems because of its easy digestibility (this last the author can attest to personally--the last time he had stomach flu, okayu was about the only thing his stomach could tolerate).
Fugu is blowfish. Fugu liver is considered a delicacy in certain Japanese culinary circles. There are restaurants dedicated to its preparation and serving. The reason is that this particular organ is normally lethally poisonous, but if prepared properly (and one needs special certification in order to work professionally as a fugu chef, in addition to specially-manufactured utensils), there is just the merest hint of the poison in the liver, enough to tingle the taste buds. Improper preparation, however--and even the best chefs are not 100% perfect--results in a quick death. A fugu victim's last words are usually "My, that was tasty... Urk!"
Tanuki-domburi is a bowl of rice with "tanuki" (in this case, tempura batter, not a raccoon) and a soy-based sauce. Combined with things like Beefbowl and Miso soup, all of which Ataru calls "richer" than okayu, the joke that results is that these foods are not gourmet cuisine, but rather, plain, cheap food for ordinary people, along the lines of a hamburger.
In the dream sequence, when Ataru and Mendou charge one another, the statues they draw are themselves noteworthy. The one Ataru draws is called "maneki-neko," or "The Beckoning Cat," and is traditionally placed outside of stores to invite customers and ensure that the business will flourish. The one that Mendou pulls out is a Shigaraki-yaki tanuki (a raccoon made of Shigaraki-yaki pottery, about which see below), which serves much the same purpose as a maneki-neko. It was invented during the Edo period. The straw hat, or amagasa, which it wears symbolizes protection against bad luck or hazardous events. The Tokkuri, or Sakeboro (sake jug), in its right hand means sufficient food and drink to live on. The moneybag he carries represents treasures. Its big round eyes are for kikubari, or being aware of people around oneself. Its big smiling face means aisooyoku, or having good relations with others. The big belly represents a bold, decisive nature. The overall point is that having these statues in one's home or business invites good luck and virtue and all that good stuff.
When, at story's end, Mendou chases Baku for eating the great sword of his ancestors, he says, according to the subtitles, "You stupid Baku!" But in the original Japanese, he actually says, "Kono Bu-waku-mono!" This turns out to be a multilayered pun. The word is both a combination and a corruption of "Baku," "bakemono" (monster), and "bakamono" (stupid).
Spring Special, Part 1: "Urusei Yatsura All-Star All-Out Attack!"
This segment is the first part of a one-hour special that was broadcast out of the regular series continuity, and is not counted among the regular episode listing by Kitty Films, the series' producers. It is composed of out-takes from the preceding episodes, with dialogue recorded (and sometimes re-recorded) ad-lib, in the studio, and recaps the preceding first 21 weeks of the TV series.
Spring Special, Part 2: "The School Excursion! Run, Kunoichi!"
General Note: the places listed in this story are well-known tourist attractions in Nara, ancient capital of Japan. School excursions to these places, such as the one in this episode, are very common.
At the beginning of this story, when the tour-guide says, "Please enjoy your trip over the roads of the ancient capital of Nara, about which many praises have been sung," the word she uses in the original Japanese to refer to these roads, "Yamatoji," means, more literally, "the road to Yamato," which in this case is the ancient name of what is now Nara Prefecture.
Horyuji Temple in Nara is the oldest intact wooden structure in the world, having been built in AD. 607. It is reputed to have been built by a man named Shotooku Taishi, who is one of the most famous political figures in Japanese history. He established the first Constitution in Japan, as well as establishing missions to China, and building many temples to promote Buddhism. One story about his wisdom is that he supposedly once carried on seven different conversations, with seven different people, all at the same time. His face also used to be on the ´10,000 bill, before being replaced by Fukuzawa Yukichi, founder of Keio University, and author of Gakumon no Susume (A Promotion of Study) in the Meiji Era, among other things. The joke is that, even though important people are officially credited with building structures such as Horyuji, the fact is that it was the carpenters of the day who actually did the work, and this is a fairly common one-liner in Japan.
Yumedono (Dream Palace) is the central building of Too-in (East Temple), built in AD. 739 in appeasement of Shootoku Taishi's spirit on the remains of his original home. It is octagonal in shape, and is representative of the architecture of the era.
Kaede, Yatsude, Mukade, Kumade: aside from all of these names ending in "-de," all of them are actual words, with the following meanings:
Kaede: maple tree, which explains the pattern on her kimono.
Yatsude: a type of evergreen shrub.
Mukade: a centipede.
Kumade: a rake.
When Ataru shouts, "Men! Dou!" he is heaping a new layer of pun on Mendou's name. These two words, as used in this scene, are terms from kendo--Japanese fencing--referring to body locations. Men is hitting the face mask. Dou is hitting the abdominal armor.
Kaede's phone number, "007-009," is an homage to two classic fictional characters. 007 is James Bond, of course, and 009 is Cyborg 009, one of the many excellent works of Ishimori (now "Ishinomori") Shootaroo.
"Shigaraki-yaki" is a type of Japanese chinaware named for Shigaraki, the place where it originated. See Ep. 21, Story 42, "Wake Up to a Nightmare," for details.
When Lum says, "Playing with fire is the cause of bedwetting!" she is messing around with a serious statement, "Hiasobi wa kaji no moto," or "Playing with fire causes conflagration." But in this case, Lum is just trying to insult Kaede's fire trickery.
Kaede's "secret trick of hog-raising," or "yooton no jutsu," is a play on the way ninja attach the word "jutsu" (trick or technique) to almost everything that they do. It's deliberate nonsense, done for the sake of being ridiculous. (So what else is new?)
Normally, "smart" is synonymous with "intelligent" in English. Sometimes, depending on to what one is referring, it can take on a slang meaning of "sharp" or "stylish." It was this latter meaning that was assigned to this word when it was adopted into Japanese, and is what Mukade and Kumade mean when they use it just prior to their initial "attack" on Kaede.
The reason Kumade chews out the little ninja for using all their smoke, and making Ataru "disappear," is that ninja usually use smoke to make themselves disappear, not someone else. However, these little ninja have long been in the habit of using their smoke under any circumstances, and simply acted out of reflex.
Cherry's joke about "jumping from the stage of Kiyomizu" (Kiyomizu no butai kara tobioriru) is based on an idiom of the same wording, which means that one is doing something that is, in all probability, risky or dangerous in some sense to the person doing it. Such risk or danger does not have to be physical; any such personally challenging and hazardous act comes under this heading. Emotional or financial hazards are additional examples. The joke here is that, when Cherry says this line, he is standing on the real stage of Kiyomizu Temple (a very high place indeed), making the idiom a literal statement. As for Kiyomizu itself: one of Kyoto's most famous temples, Kiyomizu is the main temple of the Kyoto branch of the Hossoo sect of Buddhism, which, together with the Kegon, Sanron, Kusha, Joojitsu, and Ritsu sects, make up the six original sects of Nara-period Buddhism.
Ep. 22, Stories 43-44: "The Great Space Matchmaking Operation"
Ataru sneezes while Jariten and Lum's Father are talking about him behind his back. In Japan, the superstition goes that, if you sneeze, it means someone is doing just that.
To find out about the "Ventura" that Ataru suggests to the Gang of Four as a means to bring Lum back, see Ep. 1, Story 2, "It's Raining Oil in Our Town."
Ataru's first reaction, upon seeing Jariten's spaceship for the first time, is, in the subtitles, "Your potty?" This is because Jariten's spaceship resembles a Japanese toddler's porta-potty, or "Omaru," which is what Ataru actually says in the original Japanese.
Ep. 23, Stories 45-46: "The Big Springtime Picnic Uproar!"
"Surume" is a Japanese snack food, a sort of squid jerky.
When Shinobu refers to the "dried and impaled prey of a shrike," she is referring to the Mozu, or butcher-bird, which stores food by impaling it on thorns.
Kappa are mythical creatures, similar to vampires, which look like frog-men with sharp beaks and a set of 'head fins' that hold water. Kappa are amphibious, but can only survive on land as long as there's enough water on its head. A few shrines in Japan are said to have fragments of Kappa mummies and Kappa legends recorded on old scrolls, so perhaps the Kappa actually did exist. Kappa love cucumbers, and it is said that feeding them their favorite food will keep them from sucking blood. Ataru, apparently, doesn't like cucumbers much, which is why he isn't impressed by the delicacies given to him, which are all made of cucumbers.
Dragon Palace ("Ryuujuugoo") which the Master Kappa takes Ataru to is a reference to the legend of Urashima Taroo; this legend is also the basis for the second Urusei Yatsura movie, "Beautiful Dreamer." In the story, Taroo found a sea turtle that had washed up on a beach, and was being tormented by some cruel children. He rescued the turtle, and in return, the turtle took him to Dragon Palace, where he was wined and dined by the Princess of the Palace. This is why Ataru asks where the Princess is, and why he is disappointed by the answer he gets. When Taroo decided to leave, the Princess gave him a box as a going-away present, with a warning that he must never open it. After returning to the land, Taroo discovered that over 100 years had passed, even though he had only been away a few days. He finds that all his friends have aged and died, and that his village has changed so much as to be unrecognizable. Finally, Taroo opens the box, and the gas that was contained within released him from the magic that had retarded his aging, swiftly turning him into an extremely old man.
When Ataru torments Mendou by saying "Look! Over there!" to Lum and Shinobu, he is making a reference to a children's game ("Atchi muite hoi!") of the same name; the object of the game is to avoid looking in the direction the caller is indicating.
Mendou's speech that culminates in his saying he must "bear the unbearable, and eat" is yet another in a series of takeoffs on the famous speech the Shoowa Emperor made when Japan surrendered at the end of the Second World War. The original line is "Taegataki o tae, shinobigataki o shinobi" (bear the unbearable, conceal the unconcealable); Mendou mangles this into "shino-bigataki o tae" (conceal the unbearable).
Ep. 24, Story 47: "Beware of Earmuffs!"
The Sukiyaki which Ataru's parents are secretly feasting on when Sakuramboo (Cherry) surprises them in Ataru's body is a Japanese delicacy, all the more prized because it has a lot of meat in it, which is very expensive in Japan. Sukiyaki actually means "cooked meat that I love," so it's no wonder that Ataru's parents were trying to trick everyone into eating cheap instant noodles so they could hog the good food for themselves. For more Sukiyaki tidbits, see Ep. 15, Story 29, "The Great Spring War."
Ep. 25, Story 48: "Fly, Imo!"
"Imo," the name Ataru gives to the caterpillar, is actually a cute short form of "imomushi," which is Japanese for caterpillar.
The small wooden or plastic lunch-boxes (and the lunch within them) that everyone uses are called "Bentoo," or "Obentoo ." Inside the box is rice, pickles, and all sorts of other tidbits, all neatly packed together, as well as a few treats to eat and trade. Just as American kids lust after lunch-boxes with their favorite characters on them, Japanese kids bug their parents to get similarly adorned Bentoo.
The scene with Megane and Ataru making weird noises like "Acho!" is an homage to the king of martial-arts films, the late, great, Bruce Lee. See Ep. 20, Story 39, "Sleepy Springtime Classroom," for more details.
Ep. 26, Story 49: "Ten's Love"
The Carp Streamers, or "Koinobori," which are fluttering in the Spring breeze at the start of this episode, are traditionally flown on May 5th, Children's Day (formerly Boy's Day). They are also a pun on the episode title; depending on the Kanji character used, "Koi" can mean "carp" or "love." The name of the coffee shop where Ten and Sakura meet, "Pigmon," is most likely a reference to a spiny red monster of the same name who appeared in Tsuburaya Productions classic series, "Ultraman."
"Ocharaka," the game Kintaro and his bear play while they are waiting for Lum to talk to Sakura, is a Japanese kids' game; it is sort of a cross between Patty-cake and Rock-Scissors-Paper.
After Ten's phone conversation with Sakura, Kintaro says, "All right, Ten! Tomorrow, a homerun!" This is a play on a famous commercial for a Gyuudon (Beefbowl) fast-food restaurant chain named Yoshinoya. In the commercial, a father comes home bearing a gift for his little-league son, a baseball promotional item he got when he ate at Yoshinoya. Upon seeing the gimmick, the son is so inspired that he exclaims, "All right, Dad! Tomorrow, a homerun!"
When Kintaro sees Ten off on his date, the subtitle reads "You look great." The original Japanese is "Otokomae," a compliment to men that means he looks neat, handsome, and generally good-looking. However, it is an old term not currently used by the current generation, but rather by their parents or grandparents.
At Pigmon, Ataru orders "Two extra-large American coffees." American coffee is just that: coffee that Americans drink. It is weaker than normal, Japanese coffee, which it itself weaker than European coffee. Also, the word Ataru uses to mean "extra-large," "oomori," is usually used to refer to extra-large portions of food, not drink.
Finally, in the next episode preview, mention is made of Dracula's assistant, Koomori. This is the Japanese word for "bat." However, since the word is used twice in the sentence, as a name and a description, we subtitled it as "Koomori the Bat."
The episode title itself has a great pun in it that we couldn't translate. The original Japanese line was "Tonda Dracula." "Tonda" can either mean "flying" or it can mean "ridiculous" or "stupid." Both of these meanings are quite accurate, as we shall see next time.
Ep. 27, Story 50: "What a Dracula"
The title of this episode is a joke. "Tonda," the past tense of the verb "Tobu" (to fly), normally means "flew." But when used as it is here, it is an adjective, with the added meaning of "What a..."--usually meaning "What an idiot." Therefore, it has both a literal and figurative meaning in this case: Dracula both flies, and is also a "flying" (flipping) lunatic.
"Koomori" is Japanese for "bat," but it is also the name of Dracula's bat servant.
This episode brings up the Japanese writing system, in the form of Dracula's love letter to Lum. A serious dissertation on the subject is beyond the scope of these notes, but in brief, there are three different writing systems used in modern Japanese: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. The first two are syllabaries (i.e., one symbol for each sound used in Japanese), and the third is pictograms, originally taken from the Chinese writing system. The main difference between hiragana and katakana is in usage: the former is used mainly for Japanese words, and the latter for words borrowed from other languages, such as English, German, and French. Not using kanji in one's writing makes it seem childish and unsophisticated; this is why Koomori chides Dracula for not using kanji in his letter. Another problem with not using kanji is that Japanese has a lot of homonyms, and very often one can tell which of several words with similar pronunciation is meant only by seeing the kanji itself. Dracula's retort that "you can't write the word 'date' in kanji" refers to the word "date" being a foreign word, and thus cannot be written in kanji: that's what katakana is for.
Koomori and Lum talking about Dracula's "misspelling" was an attempt to deal with a concept that doesn't exist in English: that of "Ateji," or substitution, whether arbitrarily or incorrectly, of kanji, usually ones that have readings similar to those which one wants to write, but that one either doesn't know or can't remember. Ateji is also used when a writer wants specifically to have a reading for a given set of kanji that is not its normal reading. The title of this series is an example of that.
Dracula saying that "Tonight is awfully bad" is a reference to a type of fortune telling which was popular around the time this story was made, based on calendar calculations about an individual--birthdate, age, etc. The word he uses in the original, "Tenchuusatsu," means, in this fortune telling style, that one is having, or is going to have, a bad time--day or year, usually. It soon passed into common use, being used whenever one was having a bad time: "Today is my Tenchuusatsu," "This year is my Tenchuusatsu," etc., and Dracula uses it in this latter manner.
Ep. 28, Story 51: "Lum's Boy's Education Lecture Course"
The caption on one of Ataru's childhood photographs reads, according to Lum, as "The embarrassment of 7-5-3 Day." The original, "Shichigosan," is a festival for girls of 7 and 3 years of age, and boys of 5 years of age, intended to celebrate the attainment of these ages, which takes place on Nov. 15. Their parents take them to Shinto shrines to receive blessings from the gods for their children's health. The children themselves are dressed in their very best, and parents often spend large amounts of money buying or renting traditional costumes. In modern times, it has become standard practice to mark the occasion with a formal photograph.
The sound effect Lum makes when she dives into the teacup, "Shuwachi!" is the sound which Ultraman made when taking off into the sky.
The songs that Ataru was trying to sing and couldn't remember are songs about pigeons and rain, songs which preschoolers learn and normally can memorize before entering grade school. That Ataru, as a first-grader, not only cannot remember them but also gets them mixed up only serves to emphasize that, even as a little kid, he was a moron.
Ataru's Father saying (in the subtitles) that "It's that new house state of mind" was another attempt to deal with a difficult pun in Japanese: the word "shinkyoo," used by Ataru's parents, is a homonym, in that it can be written in two different ways, each with a different meaning. When Ataru's Mother says "shinkyoo," she means "new house," as in "Let's take a commemorative photo in front of our new house." When Ataru's Father says "shinkyoo," he is using its other meaning, "state of mind." But because of the way he says it, "Soo iu shinkyoo da na" (It's that sort of shinkyoo), the word ends up having both of the above meanings, creating a pun which would come out more literally in English as something like "It's that kind of new house state of mind." Not nearly as eloquent or as funny in English as in the original Japanese.
Ep. 29, Story 52: "From the Gardenia, With Love"
The central pun of this story is the name of the flower itself. Kuchinashi (Japanese for "Gardenia") can also be written with kanji that mean "without mouth," or "without speech." This joke crops up several times in the course of this episode, in various forms. First is when Ataru tries to ask the flower-shop girl for her name and phone number. Her reply is that "Gardenias don't make phone calls!" In the original, she says "Kuchinashi," giving it the double meaning of both the flower, and those (people and things alike) that cannot speak. Naturally, neither is capable of using the phone. Later, when the giant gardenia appears, it clearly has a mouth, even though it is "Kuchinashi." It also proves to be quite garrulous, again in contradiction of its "name." Finally, there is Ten's line, "Die! Die! Dead men tell no tales." This line in the original, "Shinin ni wa kuchinashi da," is normally the Japanese equivalent of the idiom, "Dead men tell no tales." But in this case, because of the double meaning of the word "kuchinashi," it ends up meaning much more... and less.
Ataru's Father saying "Well, it might work..." is a reference to a phrase, "Ataru mo hakke, ataranu mo hakke," which means that things like fortune telling, weather forecasting, etc. have a 50/50 chance of being right. However, used in reference to Moroboshi Ataru, it becomes a pun on his name as well.
Ataru telling Ten that he's "not Mito Komon" is a reference to the hero of a popular, long-running "jidaigeki" (Samurai Drama), which are roughly the Japanese equivalent of American Westerns. For more information, see Ep. 13, Story 25, "Mendou Brings Trouble!" (Mendou wa Trouble to Tomo ni!)
At traditional omiai (matchmaking meetings between prospective marriage partners), where both interviewees kneel on tatami, in front of a low table, it is common for the woman to seem very shy and unsure of herself, and typically she will trace the hiragana character "no" on the tatami, as a sign of her shyness and embarrassment. It is this action to which Ten is referring when he points out that the Gardenia is doing the same thing. It indicates the Gardenia's bashfulness.
There is a joke in the flower-shop girl's choice of flower to which she chooses to dedicate her life. Japanese quince, in Japanese, is called "boke," which can also mean "a senile person," or "a person who is stupid in a senile fashion."
Ep. 30, Story 53: "A Beautiful Girl Brings Rain"
Amamori Tsuyuko's name is a couple of jokes in itself. Literally translated, it means "Rain-forest Dew-girl."
Tsuyuko calling herself "a rain woman" has a larger meaning in the original Japanese. The word "ameonna" (or the male equivalent, "ameotoko") refers to a person who seemingly attracts rain wherever he or she goes. If one is having some sort of outdoor activity and invites this person, one can expect that outing to be rained out, or so the story goes.
Some of the ways in which Tsuyuko's Father mangles Ataru's name are actual words themselves. "Morokoshi" means "corn," "Monohoshi" means "clothesline," and "Morodashi" means "totally exposed," particularly of something embarrassing.
"Daruma-san koronda" is a Japanese children's game. One person, the Oni, stands at one end of the playing area, facing away from the other players, who are at the other end. The Oni chants "Daruma-san koronda," during which time the other players advance on the Oni, and when the Oni finishes, he turns around, and catches anyone he finds still moving. Those people have to link hands with the Oni, while those who are still free try to reach the Oni and touch the hands that are holding the other players, to set them free. The specific rules for a given game are often negotiated by the players at that time, and thus can differ from one game to the next.
Ep. 31, Story 54: "Gimme Back My Horn!"
In the opening fight scene, some of the thrown objects include Shoonen Sunday magazines (the Shoogakkan manga magazine in which Urusei Yatsura was serialized) and early collected volumes of Maison Ikkoku, another excellent Takahashi creation, which began serialization at about this time in Big Comic Spirits, another Shoogakkan weekly manga magazine. Ms. Takahashi was, for several years, doing two weekly manga serials at the same time!
After Ten belittles Ataru for being so dumb as to throw burnable things at him, Ataru responds by throwing a bag of unburnable trash. The reference behind this joke is that for a number of years, some parts of Japan (most notably Tokyo) have required that garbage be separated into burnable (things which can safely be burned) and unburnable (those which cannot).
"Deer Brand Rice Crackers," or Shika Sembei, are a type of rice cracker sold to tourists in Nara Park, so that they can feed the resident deer population. Of course, Ataru is just cracking wise about the horn of Ten's dilemma.
In the scene where Ran calls up Lum to come outside, a fleet of hearses (Japanese style, of course) goes by. One suggested explanation for this scene comes from a superstition which says that it's a bad omen to stick out one's fingers when one comes across something having to do with the dead. Ran is sticking out her finger to dial the phone while the hearses go by.
An additional point about "crane, turtle:" images of these supposedly lucky creatures are often displayed at weddings and other events where one wishes to bring good luck. But one doesn't normally say the words themselves for that purpose.
Ep. 32, Story 55: "Shocking Library--Quiet, Please!"
Organized sex education in Japanese schools is practically nonexistent. Most young people, boys and girls alike, get their initial information from videos and photo collections such as the one Ataru and the Gang of Four are reading at the beginning of this story.
The "Chirico Collection" on the librarian's desk refers to Georgio di Chirico (1888-1978), a pioneer of the surrealist movement in art.
Lum shouting "Week after week!" as she chases Ataru and "the assistant" refers to the series originally being a weekly one on Japanese TV.
The character who asks Ataru how to get to Takadanobaba (a real area in what is now central Tokyo) is an actual figure from Japanese history, Horibei Yasubei (1673-1703). He was one of the Akoorooshi, the people featured in the Edo-Period revenge epic, "Chuushingura" (The tale of the 47 Roonin). Supposedly a master of archery, he and his fellows waited many years to avenge their master (who had been trapped into committing seppuku) and then killed themselves. Known to be good-looking and aggressive, Horibei Yasubei was a central figure in this story, with side stories of his own. The story has become a classic piece of Japanese literature, with numerous Kabuki plays and puppet shows written concerning it. A TV drama about the incident airs annually in Japan at year's end, and movies about it have been made and remade. Takadanobaba was where Horibei supposedly killed a number of samurai at one time in the course of the Akoorooshi, but historically, he is supposed to have killed only one or two people in Nara. That may not have been thought interesting enough to write an epic about, thus causing the Takadanobaba story to come about.
There are lots of visual jokes at the end of the episode, featuring popular characters from Japanese and American TV and comic books. The dancing peasants, however, are a reference to the peasants' revolt at the end of the Edo Period, c. 1867. It was based on the rural custom of visiting Ise Shrine, in Kinki (Western Japan). Over a wide area, including Kinki, Shikoku, Tookaido and Kooshu, mass frenzy overtook the peasants, who chanted "Ee ja nai ka" (What's wrong with it), and danced like crazy. But so long as they danced on their way to Ise Shrine, saying this phrase, the samurai couldn't do anything to them. Since the event took place during the overthrow of the Tokugawa Military Government, the phrase has taken on a sense of reform, especially political.
Ep. 33, Story 56: "Mr. Hanawa Arrives! It's the Springtime of Youth"
Like some American schools, Japanese schools, in general, assign homeroom numbers. These numbers are usually of the form "Year-X Group-Y," where X is the year that the students are in, in their school, and Y is an arbitrary number. Unlike the American system, Japanese schools do not number their grades 1-12 straight through. Instead, it goes 1-6, 1-3, 1-3. The years 1-6 are spent in Shoogakkoo ("little school"). The next 3 years are spent in Chuugakko ("middle school"). The last 3 years before college are in Kookoo ("high school"). In each grade, the student body is randomly divided into several groups, depending on the number of students enrolled. Each "group" is then assigned a number or letter code, just to differentiate them from one another. Ataru's homeroom is thus 2-nen 4-kumi (2nd year in high school, 11th US-grade, group 4).
Okamoto Taroo, a leading modern artist who achieved his greatest fame in the 1970's, made the phrase "Geijutsu wa bakuhatsu da!" (Art is explosive!) famous. In the scene where Mr. Hanawa runs the students' gauntlet, the class puns on that line, saying, "Geijutsu da! Bakuhatsu da!" (Artistic! Explosive!).
When Mr.Hanawa tries to ask Ataru about Lum's horns, he tries to come up with a proverb that will get his point across, scanning through a couple of bad examples:
"Tonbi ga taka..." -> "Tobi ga taka o umu" (A black-eared kite gives birth to a hawk). The tobi (tonbi) is considered a very average bird in Japan, and the taka, conversely, a very rare and special one. So when average parents give birth to exceptionally talented children, this expression is used to describe it.
"Shusse no himitsu..." (The Secret of One's Birth) is something similar, referring to something hidden concerning one's birth or upbringing.
The net result is nonsense, as Mr. Hanawa tries to approach with delicacy what he thinks is a delicate issue.
Japanese girls would probably name Buruma (Bloomers) the number one most hated apparel, as they are short pumpkin-shaped trainer-pants that were (in general) required to be worn during gym classes. They're considered just plain ugly. There are many nicknames that exist for these generally regarded as hideous pieces of clothing. One which Ataru mentions is "Chouchin buruma." Chouchin is a round lantern made of paper, which is typically displayed during festivals. They were much more common 30-50 years ago then they are now (they began disappearing some twenty years ago, and are now practically nonexistent). That Mr. Hanawa would spring them on Lum just goes to show how old-fashioned he is.
When Perm refers to Ataru as "...the boys' volleyball team's sixth man..." he is making a pun on the title of Graham Greene's "The Third Man."
Ep. 34, Story 57: "Goblin in Distress, Yearning for People"
Green tea over steamed rice is called "Ochazuke," and is popular when one doesn't feel like cooking anything elaborate, as it | |
