Lots of progress today due to not much dialogue that was pretty straight forward. Definitely getting more comfortably reading Japanese though, so that’s a bonus.
Slowly doubting if I’ll ever finish this bookclub thing though, the write up is more tiring than the actual reading!
Page 19
Plot:
Red knocks on Orchid’s door but no anwser, seeing that door is unlocked, Red invites himself in…
Vocab:
- カギ - lock/key
Grammar:
- 開いてた - 開く + ている form
Interesting Sentence:
カギあいてたのか
My Translation - “It’s unlocked?”
Somewhat hidden ている form. いる is in past tense, and is just た。開く is just to be open. のか turns it into a sort of rhetorical question. Red typically missing a particle out between カギ and 開く, which of course would be は/が and definitely not を because who would be silly enough to use を with an intrasitive verb?!
Page 20
Plot:
Orchid’s lab is full to the ceiling of Pokeballs containing Pokemon. Set on the side, Red sees a ball containing a フシギダネ - Bulbasaur. Red takes out the ball containing his Polywhirl and shoes it Bulbasaur (I’m guessing Bulbasaur are rare where Red lives), the Bulbasaur stares at the Polywhirl angrily…
Vocab:
- フシギダネ - Bulbasaur, strange seed. ふしぎ is strange or mysterious, だね being 種 with rendaku
- ホラー - look!
Grammar:
- 見てみろ - One of those grammar points I’ve studied but only seeing in the wild for the first time. てみる is to try, ろ is the imperative conjugation so Red is telling Polwhirl to try and look at what he’s showing Polywhirl.
Interesting Sentence:
背中にたねがあるんか！へーっ！
My translation “It has a seed on it’s back, huh?” Red is seeing a Bulbasaur for appears to be the first time. Bulbasaur’s Japanese name is literally Strange Seed, turns out Bulbasaur has a seed on it’s back, just in case you needed that point nailing home.
Page 21
Plot:
Orchid storms into the lab accusing Red of being a burglar! Red is startled and in attempting to stammer out an explanation, fumbles onto Orchid’s computer letting loose all the Pokemon in the balls!
Vocab:
- ドロボー - burglar/thief
- いや - errr…/well… Red is trying to explain himself but can only make noises with his mouth
Grammar:
- ~め - particle to show contempt in what you just said
Interesting Sentence:
こんの…ドロボーめ！
My translation “You! Thief!” Apart from Red’s vowels, this basically the only sentence one the page.
Pretty straight forward, the め particle at the end is new to me, however so it has some merit.
Page 22
Plot:
Orchid is furious with Red, but before Red can warn Orchid, a bird Pokemon poos on Orchid’s face! This doesn’t help his mood and he screams at Red to catch all the escaped Pokemon.
Red manages to reel in most of them however Orchid spots a broken window, surely some have escaped outside…
Vocab:
-
- 悪ガキ - brat, I’m guessing ガキ is a catch all brat term, I found one in a vtuber video the other day…
- とにかく - anyway/anyhow!
- 数十分後 - after a few minutes
Grammar:
- ようじゃの - "it seems’, according to natively this quite an archaic term and not really used these days. Maybe Red was right and Orchid is an eccentric, old geriatric after all…
Interesting Sentence:
何匹か。。。ハアハア。。。外へ出てしまったようじゃの。
My Translation “How many [Pokemon]…catches breath…it would seem some have gotten out[side]”. Pretty straight forward construction, just the ようじゃの bit that could trip you up if you’d never seen it before, I hadn’t. I’d omit the words in square brackets if I was translating the panel, however as a standalone sentence without context, I’d include them. Orchid is struggling to catch his breath after chasing all the escaped pokemon, in English, I doubt he’d waste what breath he has left on extraneous words. The context is pretty obvious when you read the comic.
Can’t wait to see all my mistakes!