ドラゴンボールSD (Dragon Ball SD) · Volume 4 Discussion 🐉

[Phryne]

I guess it makes sense that Puar and Upa opted out. I was surprised to see them fight in the first place! I should go back to reading the original alongside the SD volumes. And thanks for pointing out the subtext of 助かります, I think that confirms your interpretation of the events.

@Micki

Perhaps just a straightforward “thing” - their blood looks like a tasty thing?

I dug around a bit and found this reference:

That might fit with the context? It says it’s a feminine expression though… but I do sometimes wonder how rigid those classifications of ‘male/female speech’ actually are

Your mention of つきおった being a compound verb made me wonder if 弱点をつく is a fixed expression, and that seems to be the case! Different kanji though:

https://thesaurus.weblio.jp/content/弱点を突く

[Micki]

@Phryne

It says it’s a feminine expression though

Yes, this one makes perfect sense. I thought Dracula man was quite an effeminate character anyway!

@Phryne

弱点をつく

Bingo! I love it when the solution springs from the discussion. So we can say this phrase means “to exploit your opponents weaknesses”.

[Phryne]

Week 3

Start date: 3 July
Pages: 40-58

How is the reading going?

• I am reading along
• I am catching up
• I am dropping this book 🙅🏼

[Micki]

Chapter 31

After a little google search, the person in the background on page 48 is:

Summary

Ackman (アックマン Akkuman ) a 200-year-old demon kid and the main protagonist in Akira Toriyama’s Go! Go! Ackman manga.

The bat with him on page 58 is his companion Goldon.

Ackman | Dragon Ball Wiki | Fandom

On page 47, the final fighter is masked, but I love the little clues we get to their identity. The wrinkles on the side of the face, the bald head, the white moustache, the halo above the head…

Page 50
どんなによいこぶったやつにもぜったいに少しは悪の心がある
Is this よいこ (good boy) followed by ぶる (to assume the air of …; to behave like …​)?

No matter how much a person appears to be a good boy, there is always a little evil in their heart.

Page 51
時代が時代ならこのアックマンさまがドラゴンボール史上最強の悪役になっていたことだろう
Is anyone familiar with that construction at the start? Deepl goes for “If the times had been different,” (…this Ackman would have been the strongest villain in Dragon Ball history.)

[Phryne]

@Micki

Page 50
どんなに よいこぶった やつにもぜったいに少しは悪の心がある
Is this よいこ (good boy) followed by ぶる (to assume the air of …; to behave like …​)?

That’s how I took it! Maybe ‘pretends to be a good boy’, even? That sounds more cynical, hehe.

@Micki

Page 51
時代が時代なら このアックマンさまがドラゴンボール史上最強の悪役になっていたことだろう
Is anyone familiar with that construction at the start? Deepl goes for “If the times had been different,” (…this Ackman would have been the strongest villain in Dragon Ball history.)

I think it’s interchangeable with this expression:

https://www.weblio.jp/content/世が世なら#:~:text=「この人が存分,文脈で使われる言い方。

Thanks for figuring out the Ackman reference! I did wonder who that kid was

[Phryne]

Week 4

Start date: 10 July
Pages: 59-76

How is the reading going?

• I am reading along
• I am catching up
• I am dropping this book 🙅🏼

[Micki]

@Phryne

I think it’s interchangeable with this expression:

https://www.weblio.jp/content/世が世なら#:~:text=「この人が存分,文脈で使われる言い方。

I see, so not so much a grammar point but a fixed expression. Thanks for this. I see that 世が世ならhas an entry in Jisho too.

[Micki]

Loved chapter 32 - if you are like me you won’t be able to wait til next week to read on to the next chapter!

[Phryne]

I peeked ahead a bit This is my first time reading this franchise so I was shook to see the surprise! Can’t wait to dive in in a few days

[Phryne]

Week 5

Start date: 17 July
Pages: 77-94

How is the reading going?

• I am reading along
• I am catching up
• I am dropping this book 🙅🏼

[Phryne]

Are these exchanges on page 83 and 91 meta jokes again?

[Micki]

Yes, both are clever references to themselves appearing in other media.

The first panel goes:
I’m a little nervous appearing for the first time in a while.
Eh? You appeared in a movie recently so the kids haven’t forgotten you.

It presumably refers to one of the Dragon Ball Z movies released in 2014/15.

The second panel I read as:
Your way of speaking has changed a bit since your most recent appearance in Dragon Ball.
You are a well informed person Roshi-sama.

The cutaway is from Dragon Ball Minus - a special released in 2014 that was published in Jaco the Galactic Patrolman. It includes the story of Gohan finding young Goku.

I was pleased that my Japanese is good enough now to see the difference in his way of speaking between the two examples!

I spotted the exact panel in Grandpa Gohan’s wiki page

[Micki]

Page 86

To get the joke you need to know that the kid in the red hat is Goku’s son Gohan as a child.

[Micki]

If you read Jaco the Galactic Patrolman in the English translation on the Shonen Jump app the Dragon Ball Minus Story is not there.

But looking at the Japanese version available on Book Walker it’s there as the last story in the table of contents:

[Phryne]

We could just add it to the pile of possible spin-off book clubs of the spin-off book club

[Phryne]

Week 6

Start date: 24 July
Pages: 95-112

How is the reading going?

• I am reading along
• I am catching up
• I am dropping this book 🙅🏼

[Micki]

Page 97
ここであったが１００年目！
Did anyone understand this sentence?

Page 112
The picture shows Pilaf’s machine in “swan mode” - with the middle pod removed (in the original the middle pod took damage so they switched to this mode).

[Phryne]

@Micki

Page 97
ここであったが１００年目！
Did anyone understand this sentence?

Seems to be a fixed expression. That might explain why the grammar feels a bit off (or is that just me?).

I am puzzled by the next bit though: お前お倒し6つのボールをうばってくれる！ Why is くれる used? Who is the implied subject here…?

Page 110

Who’s saying these asides? There was another one at page 95. Just some sort of authorial voice?

I’m looking forward to a new storyline next week!

[Micki]

@Phryne

Why is くれる used?

I read it as Goku will do him the favour of letting him steal the Dragon Balls.

@Phryne

Who’s saying these asides?

I thought this was Bulma speaking, I think that’s because it was her who reacted to Kid Gohan last time he spoke up.

@Phryne

Seems to be a fixed expression .

Thanks for this, I hadn’t thought to search for this as a fixed expression. Out of interest what did you search for to find this link?

[Phryne]

@Micki

Thanks for this, I hadn’t thought to search for this as a fixed expression. Out of interest what did you search for to find this link?

ここであったが百年目. It’s just what my IME made of it when I typed it.

@Micki

I read it as Goku will do him the favour of letting him steal the Dragon Balls.

But then wouldn’t we get a causative?