Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 1 Translator's Notes

Translator's Notes and References

4-Koma

Pochi & Blackie

↑ They are common dog names (Pochi & Kuro).

Common Names

↑ They are old-fashioned guys' names. They mean something like First Lad (Tarou), Second Lad (Jirou).

Ferris's Pun-ishment

↑ Ferris employs a dajare (ie. pun).

Original sentence: 一ヶ月はみたらしだんごのみたらしダレ抜きの刑だ！！！ (Ikkagetsu wa mitarashi dango no mitarashi dare nuki no kei da!!!)

This is how the original romanized sentence looks like with literal translations in parentheses:

Ikkagetsu (One month) wa (topic particle) mitarashi dango (a type of dango dipped in a syrup made from soy sauce, sugar and starch) no ('s indicating possession of the next noun) mitarashi (purifying; to be exact this means a bowl of purifying water for shrine use, but contextually here it can be seen as adj-noun) dare (in this context, it's a contraction of darake, meaning lazy) nuki (to pull out, remove) no ('s indicating possession of the next noun) kei (penalty, punishment, sentence) da (is / be).

Not perfect, but that's how the translation ended up as it is. In case it's still not obvious, the pun word is "mitarashi"

Chapter 1

Snow Joke

↑ What Ryner meant was that the likelihood of him getting pumped up was as low as the likelihood of snow falling tomorrow (contextually inferred to be impossible); hence he made the joke that it's going to snow tomorrow since he's getting pumped up here.

Ahotaare

↑ Ahotaare is derived from Sion's original family Astal, which is romanized as Asutaaru. "Aho" (あほ, アホ, 阿呆) refers to idiot and is a word originating from Kansai dialect.

Chapter 2

Oyaji

↑ Oyaji (親父), in this particular context means boss of an establishment. In other contexts, it could mean father or old man. It's less cumbersome to use Oyaji than to keep using shopkeeper or shop owner in Ryner and Ferris's dialogue (since this is used in the novel as well).

Mitsuan-Dango

↑ Literally means "honey red bean paste dango".

Zashiki

↑ Zashiki (座敷) is a type of Japanese styled room with tatami flooring.

Ocha

↑ Ocha (お茶) means tea in Japanese but in the Japanese context, usually by default it refers to Japanese green tea.

Shin

↑ The kanji for God (神 - normally pronounced as "Kami") can also be pronounced as "Shin". Similarly the kanji for truth (真), can also be pronounced as "Shin".

Chapter 3

Sneezing

↑ In many Asian cultures, it is believed that if you sneeze suddenly in the absence of flu or obvious irritants, it is a sign that someone is talking behind your back.

Chapter 4

Outstretched arms

↑ A figurative form of speech, meaning Ryner doesn’t have the power to reach Sion yet.

tteba

↑ A particle which in this context, indicates emotional closeness.

Afterword

Ame-chan

↑Or Ame. Essentially Japanese version of yeot. There are many different types with different shapes and forms. Because of the syrup, it's supposed to be quite sweet, and used as a snack. Search アメちゃん images to see more pictures.

Working hard like a corpse

↑ A figurative form of speech, meaning the person is working so hard, lacking sleep probably, that he's like a zombie / corpse.

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