Finally sat down to read again, just finished act 16 so I’m a couple of weeks behind. I was avoiding reading because I’d gotten into too much of a full comprehension mode of reading. So sitting down to read would be study time rather than just enjoyment. But realized that today so I sat down and read most of act 16 (I had started it like a week ago).
Not much to say except I’m sensing a sad pattern.
The sailor fighters really have hard lives, don’t they?
It makes me think of how in the anime, following the Dark Kingdom storyline, the girls had their memories sealed away, allowing them to return to living normal, carefree lives (even if it meant they didn’t know each other anymore). And then a couple of aliens with a big ol’ tree in need of energy just had to show up and start causing problems. Well, at least Sailormoon tried to fight off the enemy herself, so the other Sailors could keep living peacefully.
Is it just me, or have these last few Acts been a bit heavy on the dialogue? Considering the title of the next Act, I feel like we’re in for a lot more dialogue.
I’ve never understood why some artwork for Sailormoon, Naoko Takeuchi chose to give her white hair. I guess she just thought it looked right, or better than yellow, for the particular artwork?
And then there was that one time the anime gave her white hair.
Note: The tankoubon release labels this as Act 18.
This Act appears in the following releases:
Tankoubon vol. 5
Shinsouban vol. 4
Kanzenban vol. 3
Next week’s Act will be the final one in tankoubon volume 5. (This is a short volume, likely to avoid breaking up the following Acts.) The story will continue in tankoubon volume 6.
Participation
I’m reading along (ready for Act.19)
I’m taking my time (still on an earlier Act)
I’ve gone on ahead (Act.20 and beyond)
I’m no longer reading this series
0voters
You can always change your answer later if you’d like.
Pages
Release
First
Last
Tankoubon
51
100
Shinsouban
97
146
Kanzenban
189
239
(Last pages are estimated, so it may be a page or two shorter.)
I’d have to check, but that could be it. I’m used to the anime where Princess Serenity has yellow hair still, so that clouds my memories of anything from the manga. (I’m still trying to remember where in the manga Tuxedo Mask lost his hat since I’ve noticed it missing for at least a few chapters now.)
I’ve never seen Princess Serenity in the anime, so all impressions I have of her comes from the manga (and its color pages). Doesn’t mean it is correct though. ^^
As for your second thing, did you check the simplest answer that it disappeared between story arcs? Or if it has been gone for longer, from before he was kidnapped. I don’t have the first book currently, but if I can remember where I put volume 2, I could help you look through volume 2 and 3.
Edit: I just realized I’m hiding spoilers from the first story arc. Should I keep doing that since we’ve separated the threads, but someone could come in here, skipping the first story arc.
Personally, I don’t think it’s really necessary to hide spoilers from the Dark Kingdom arc. (I was being a bit silly in putting a spoiler on Tuxedo Mask’s hat being gone, because there was no plot element around it =)
I do know Sailormoon can produce her mask from nowhere. In the last arc, she transformed without it, then produced it when the group reached Kunzite. And in the current arc, she produces it on-demand to use as Mercury-style goggles to analyze some people-aliens. So I almost half expect to see Tuxedo Mask produce his hat out of nowhere at some point later on. (Not really.)
After all, it's not like he has Sailor transformation magic or anything.
Don’t worry, you aren’t alone. I’m also behind. I only finished act 16 a couple of days ago, and I’ve only peeked at act 17. Even if you are further behind that isn’t a problem.
@ChristopherFritz I looked for my volume 2 in the only easily accessible place and that isn’t where I put it. I’m currently living temporarily in my parents’ home until I can find a place for myself, that means I’ve only unpacked what I need for daily use and anything I finish (such as a manga volume) I pack away again, and apparently I was fairly diligent about it this time. And I can’t remember where I put it away so… Can’t help you with your search, sorry.
@Chellykins, as @MissDagger says, no worry on where you are compared to which week it is. That’s why the poll each week has options for being on an earlier or later chapter =D
No worries! I almost checked yesterday, but watched some episodes of Sailormoon instead… Since I have everything digital, it shouldn’t be too difficult to search to do a visual binary search. I’m certain his hat was in his room when Usagi first wakes up there, so that’ll help narrow it down.
Finally caught up! I really had no idea where Sailor Moon goes after the first arc (which I only very vaguely knew in the first place), so everything right now is exciting (and a little confusing). Ready to see what happens next!
I know the feeling. I thought I had read the newer English translation to the end of the Black Moon arc, but it turns out I only completed through Act.16. So it’s been all new since then, and my very limited memories from anime (which did things very different from the manga) are not helping me along!
So far I feel like I haven’t missed anything major by not know all the vocabulary. I’m looking up any unknown word that comes up twice, as well as any unknown word vital to understanding (such as a main subject or verb).
Oh man, I am so confused by the whole of this volume, haha. I’m consoling myself with the fact that this pseudo space time science magic probably doesn’t make sense to begin with… (… Is that even a spoiler?)
S.17.32
This is what I think Usagi is saying:
そこが - that place
敵地 - enemy land (enemy territory, perhaps)
という- is called
こと - gerundizer
も - also (I don’t get what this guy is doing in this sentence, or is ことも its own thing?)
考えられる - can consider (potential, or is it passive - is considered?)
わね - yeah
So put it together and you’ve got “Maybe we should consider calling that place ‘enemy territory’” Or something like that. Google gives me: It’s possible that it’s an enemy land, and the English translation I’m checking has “Maybe what you saw was the enemy’s headquarters”, so I’m in the general vicinity.
It’s fascinating how translators make their choices. Because I like things in neat, tidy boxes (lol, I know!), I like to try to be as literal/direct as possible in my understanding. How do y’all translate these sentences as you read, or are you at the point where you don’t really translate anymore and you can just absorb the Japanese?
32-33
This feels a little too close to home these days. Covid-19 is caused by evil aliens, confirmed!
I’d say in this case google is a bit closer than your translation. ということ has a meaning in itself. In this case I think it is probably about making a phrase a noun, sometimes translated as “it means” but sometimes doesn’t really translate to English at all. 考えられる often means “can be considered as” or similar meaning. And after looking at the actual panel and what came before it, I think も might just be the also particle in this case. So from these definition (I got them from BunPro.jp), it would become something like:
“That place can also be considered enemy territory.” / “It means that place can also be considered to be enemy territory.”
DeepL says: “I suppose it’s possible that it’s hostile territory.”
So yeah, something along those lines. I haven’t quite read up to this part, so I wouldn’t know which nuance to go with exactly.
I tried to translate very literally early on in my reading (not Sailor Moon), but when I started to get a general understanding, I stopped doing that. Translating Japanese to English is way too much of an art. The languages are structured differently, but also come from entirely different ways of thinking/speaking, so translations often miss a lot of meaning unless you are willing to add in a lot more English to get the nuance across.
I personally started to feel that if I truly wanted to understand Japanese by itself, that is gonna take a lot of context. A LOT OF IT. And the sooner I stop trying to force Japanese to fit into my English understanding of language, the sooner Japanese can have a chance to truly take hold. At least this is how I feel and comes from my experience with getting so fluent in English that people usually can’t tell at all in text that I’m not a native speaker writer.
So I don’t know if I will go back to really try for full comprehension again, it might depend on how hard something is for me to read. The harder it is, the more full comprehension of sentences is needed to even get the gist of what is happening.
Last year when I read 結婚しても恋してる 1 (manga), I had to struggle through every sentence, barely understanding anything by itself. Both a lot of vocab, casual language, and just grammar I hadn’t seen. I might be reading volume two as soon as I get my books (they are currently with a friend in Japan since they didn’t manage to ship out before shipping mostly closed down), and I don’t know if it will still be as hard for me, but if it is I will once again have to go back to really digging into every bit, because with that manga missing part of the sentence could mean missing the whole tone of a conversation.
Sailor moon is not like that for me. Whether it is because I just understand most of the language anyway (except for a lot of words that enemies use, *le sigh*) or because it is written for a younger audience so the language is slightly simpler because of that.
Oh wow, just falling further and further behind. I guess I need to start slotting some daily reading or something. I really wish the arc could be moving a bit slower (and I’m only on act 16), I had hoped for more character development, aka actually getting to know the characters. And I think that is partly the thing slowing me down. (In that way I guess the anime with its “filler” episodes did get more of that across. Although I only saw most of the Dark Kingdom anime arc as a kid so relying on memory here.)
That’s how I feel on my 多読 for the year. I hope that that’ll turn around now that I’m getting in reading near-daily. Since Sailormoon is my big read for the year, I prioritize it first each day. Sometimes I slide a little on others (Yotsuba, Flying Witch), but I do try to get in extra reading over the weekend. I’m lucky that my daily life allows for it.
My memory of this arc in the anime is spotty because the original English dub actually didn’t finish dubbing this arc at first. (When the remainder of the arc was dubbed, they were aired as “lost episodes”.) So, I’m familiar with the first 13 or so episodes. Once we get past the four sisters, it’s essentially all new to me.
Looking back on the first story arc, the main enemies feel a bit on far with the “monster of the week” type anime. They come in, they attack the good guys, and they get killed off. Not to criticize, of course. I imagine when the comic was serialized in Nakayoshi, getting one chapter per month gave readers plenty of time to re-read the chapter and feel like they were getting to know the characters.
I have ADHD, so routine is very important to helping me remember to do the things I want/need to do. And while it’s not the end of the world, deviation from routine can really throw me for a loop. I have all the time in the world most days because of Covid-19. I should be AHEAD! But my at-work routine has been obliterated, and I had built Japanese study (including Sailor Moon reading) into that comfortable, familiar workspace.
Luckily, today is an at-work day, and I’ve got my book with me!
