Ginban Kaleidoscope:Volume1 Translator's Notes
Translation notes for Ginban Kaleidoscope Volume 1.
Dramatis Personae
What follows is the dramatis personae that was included on the inside cover flap.
Sakurano Tazusa – A sixteen-year-old figure skater. Blessed with beauty and promise, she is unpopular due to her high-handed personality and saying things without thinking.
Pete Pumps – A ghost that somehow came to possess Tazusa. Apparently, he’s sixteen.
Shitou Kyouko – The best skater in the country. Is fighting with Tazusa for the chance to be the Olympic representative of Japan.
Takashima Yuuji – Tazusa’s coach. A single guy with a gentle personality and a touch of nobility.
Sakurano Youko – Tazusa’s little sister and a menacing, precocious brat.
Honjou Mika – Tazusa’s best friend. She’s good at designing costumes.
Mishiro Yukie – Nicknamed “The Third Nasty.” The president of the Figure Skating Association.
Prologue
Senshu
A suffix used for athletes. Like many Japanese honorific suffixes, it doesn't translate well, but I think taking it out entirely would be unnecessary loss of context, so I'll leave it as is.
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Chapter 1
Sama
"Sama" is an honorific in Japanese that is a bit hard to translate. I would equate it with "Lady" or "Lord," in this case: "Lady Tazusa."
San
"San" is a neutral honorific used in Japanese, equivalent to "Mr." or "Miss" in English. Here, the Sister is calling Tazusa the equivalent of "Miss Sakurano."
Comics/Manga
The author sometimes uses "comics" (コミック) and sometimes "manga" (マンガ), so I will respect the distinction.
Shizuka-chan
I have no idea what this means, either. The book doesn't give any extra explanation for it. I assume, since Tazusa is super into anime and manga, that it's a character from an anime or manga.
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Chapter 2
My position
Taken at face value, it sounds as if Pete is being an arsehole with this line. He's just making a dad joke about being dead.
119
One of the emergency numbers in Japan, used to call for fire and emergency medical services.
The Third Nasty
Tazusa has given this nickname to General Manager Mishiro because the kanji from her last name are written with the characters for "third" and "generation." 三代
junior
Junior is referring to the junior skaters rank (11-14 years old). Senior is 15+. Because Tazusa is sixteen, she's now a senior skater.
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Chapter Three
Ow
This line in the Japanese version was originally in English, hence Tazusa's remark about it being "obviously a foreigner."
Edge into your foot
I felt like this was worth mentioning, as it can be hard for an outsider of the sport to understand. Similar to ballet, a figure skaters' feet are under high stress when they're practicing, for obvious reasons. Sometimes it can even feel like the blade is piercing their foot from inside the boot.
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