I confess I admitted defeat trying to translate this chapter in full, kind void. The yap game was too strong.
Editor's Notes
First Page: 迫りくる少国の脅威に対抗すべく、日本はー… [semari kuru shokoku no kyoui ni taikou subeku, nihon wa-...] "In order to counter the threat of Shokoku, Japan..."
Last Page: 成すべき事はー [nasubeki koto wa-] "What needs to be done is..."
Another name! Hasumi's given name is 晋作 [shinsaku]: 晋 [shin] - advance, Jin Dynasty (of China); 作 [saku] - make, prepare, build, work (of art), harvest, crop, technique. Our man is The Prepperrrrrrrr
Jokes aside, his name is very traditional and invokes a sense of someone who's hard-working and responsible. Seems to fit. And once again it's the name of a famous samurai in Japanese history: Takasugi Shinsaku [高杉 晋作], a guy who decided that classism was for chumps and formed the Kiheitai [奇兵隊] from samurai and commoners alike in 1863.
Anyway. Remember the legendary talk chapter that was 115? We are back to do it even bigger and better. Play Spot Kudo in the backgrounds if the walls of text get to be too much.
The same pun applies here: when the suits are talking about "ore veins", they are saying 脈 [myaku], which means "vein", "pulse", or "hope". Nice one there, Hokazono.
It's nice to see that Izaru was always a doubter and a hater, though. He's nothing if not consistent.
Realistically speaking, he's the rational asshole that every major organisation needs. He's correct in everything he says here too since only about five people know that Kunishige's the real deal, and only one of them is in this meeting. So of course they choose the more practical route of trying to buy time until a more reliable solution is found.
And that solution's name is...
At long last, Hiyuki crumbs!
Does the androgynous person in the back with messy hair have a name, and are they single?
She's the long-awaited wielder of Enkotsu (炎骨), or Flame Bone of the Starving. She's also about 19 years old in the present even though the math of her anticipated birth date (late September/early October) and her official one (January 8th) don't match up. Did Hokazono forget? Was her official birthday recorded later after she proved capable of wielding Flame Bone through the tests that were mentioned? Inquiring minds would like to now.
We've known the kanji for Hiyuki's name for ages now, but it's a pretty name so I'm going put it down here anyway. 緋雪 [Hiyuki]: 緋 [hi]: scarlet, cardinal; 雪 [yuki]: snow, snowfall. I think "scarlet snow" is the best character name in the series so far.
As for the Kagari clan, it's spelled 香刈. 香 [ka]- scent, smell; 刈 [gari]- reap, cut, clip, trim, prune. I think it's mostly meant to be a pun on 篝火 [kagaribi], bonfire/campfire/watch fire since the literal meaning is "harvester of scents" or "reaper of smells". Doesn't come across great in English anyway. In my humble and non-professional opinion of course.
...Are they really going to send out an infant though? It's great that Hiyuki will be able to wield Enkotsu and all, but she'll also not even be at the identifying shapes stage of development yet. I guess the plan would be to jingle keys in front of her and tell her to bring Rikuo out to play or something...? It seems pretty desperate even if they are buying a year's worth of time to make this work.
Which is why everything comes back to Chiaki and Kunishige.
Yeah. She's going through it, alright.
"The me that is Princess Soga... isn't important... to me..." sounds clunky and awful. It's a tough thing to translate naturally, yes, but this is supposed to be a professional product.
It comes from the discrepancy between the text in the dialogue box and the Ruby in the first bubble
Dialogue: 曽我の姫は… 私にとって… 大事じゃない…
Ruby: いまのわたしは… 私にとって… 大事じゃない…
In the blue text, she's saying "Princess Soga..." and in the pink text that was over top, she's saying "The me right now"... so we know she's not happy with her station and how she needs to present herself to fill the role of "Princess". The wide-eyed girl who admired the Princess became one herself and found out how hellish it really is. How powerless and constrained she is as an individual despite being so incredibly important to Japan as a whole. Chiaki's identity as Princess Soga isn't important to her.
So I think it would have sounded more natural as:
"Princess Soga"... isn't important... to me...
Putting it in quotes is the most direct way to make the implications loud and clear without the jank. But if you don't trust the audience, then it could be:
"Who I am now... isn't important... to me..." or "The identity of 'Princess Soga'... isn't important... to me...
That just says it flat-out while keeping the the same deep sadness of Chiaki realising that giving herself up is best for everyone... except her. Chiaki herself isn't important enough to get a say in things since she's the princess who acts for everyone else's sake. No matter what though, you really get the sense that she'd give it all up to be able to touch Kunishige and see her "commoner" friends again.
And another TL note. "Sogo" is a typo; Shiba's given name is Togo (登吾). Azami being "Sou-chan" (probably because he's a few years younger than the others) is really cute though. And at least one of these characters refers to their friends by their first names! Good job, Chiaki!
Look at those menacing ne'er-do-wells goofing around and getting into normal kid stuff. It's great that Chiaki got to experience that stuff before becoming the most important figurehead in the country. She might regret being the girl who gazed dreamily at the princess in her youth, but it wasn't her fault. She was just a kid from an unimportant branch family that didn't have many expectations placed on her.
Kunishige's handwriting really was awful.
So by the time she's ascended and ratted out, she's of two worlds: the ordinary one she grew up in, and the walled garden she's in now.
I get the accusations of misogyny and why there's a lot of strong opinions about Chiaki and how this arc is playing out. Kagurabachi has a lot of strengths but it's treatment of women in general is not one of them. We have way too many dead moms and a general dearth of women's stories compared to the massive effort put into the guy's.
That said, I don't think Chiaki is necessarily part of this issue so far. A prince in the same position as her would have the same obligations and the same feelings, and probably take the same actions.
Is it annoying to see a woman's story at last and it's her being forced to chose between her family/duty and a man? Yeah, not gonna fight that one. But I will argue that this situation isn't being told in a misogynistic way.
The very first thing we learned about Chiaki this arc was that she is in an incredibly powerful position. We are shown that the government and powerful clans hang on her every word; that the fate of the nation is in her hands. She could lie and get someone falsely accused. She could cause catastrophe with a single unclear phrasing. Japan's safety and security hinge on her!
Then we see her being an ordinary girl with a crush on her childhood friend. Now we are seeing how she's mistreated and how much pressure her mom is putting on her- and why. Surprise surprise, the Soga clan sucks at treating their princesses like people and are absolute asses about bloodline purity. We already saw this with the Sazanamis so we know it's not just to be cruel to Chiaki. Hokazono is commenting on how strict adherence to traditional values and systemic practices isn't healthy for the individual again.
Chiaki knows she's going to be replaced as soon as possible and the main branch of the family will be glad for it. Her mom's aware too and that's why she's hysterically demanding so much perfection. Chiaki's situation is absolutely shit and she can't do a thing about it. If the reader is angry, then that's intended! Get pissed that this woman is treated like a tool instead of a person!
So this chapter, she used the only agency she had to prioritise what means most to her: protecting Kunishige. She didn't refuse for the honor of her clan or Japan. She didn't accept for the safety guarantees and breathing room it buys the government. Chiaki accepted being handed over the Mikaboshi clan like a pawn because she wants to ensure the well-being of the one she loves despite how often she's told she's not supposed to.
I think what I'm trying to say is that showing Chiaki having a thing for Kunishige isn't to tie her to a man for narrative relevance. Given her position, she doesn't need Kunishige in her life at all any more. He could be more like Shiba and Azami, the childhood friends she used to play with before her fate changed forever. But she holds on to her affection for him and the time they used to spend together anyway.
Chiaki used to admire the princess and maybe want to be like her. She didn't realise how good she had it as a nobody to the clan until she was somebody and suddenly everything about her life was dictated to her. Now that she's the princess some other girl is adimiring, she gets it. She fully understands everything about what her actions and decisions mean and that's why she chose to symbolically burn the letters Kunishige sent her through Shiba: she's no longer Chiaki but Princess Soga.
So it's no surprise that she admitted that "Princess Soga" wasn't important to her and agreed to go to the Mikaboshis as a bargaining piece. Whatever her mom's plan is to cling to power, Chiaki doesn't give two whits. She doesn't care about that status and would probably be glad to be rid of it. That's the whole point of showing her relation to Kunishige in the first place.
And I mean, of course she has a crush on Kunishige... we know she's Chihiro's mom. The ideal scenario is that it's mutual between them, right? No assault or manipulation involved?
So yes it's distressing that she's putting herself in a position to be assaulted and used, of course that's upsetting. We are meant to be worried about her and anxiously waiting for whatever Kunishige's got planned.
But we should cheer for her too. She decided her fate on her own terms, and it wasn't for the "right" reasons according to her status and duty. She chose love instead. The silly crush that will lead her to have a son that's loved so much he will share half her name.
All that's left to do right now is hope she keeps a stiff upper lip and keeps managing the situation as she wishes. She's not some helpless damsel that needs to be saved here (though of course she probably would be glad to be bailed out so long as Kunishige could stay safe).
Honestly speaking, I'm on Team Ship Chiaki's Mother Off to the Mikaboshi Instead since she cares so goddamn much about appearances and tradition. What a horrible mother to be the worst about treating Chiaki as a "thing" instead of a person. Support your daughter while she's in that snake pit! She seriously needs at least one person who remembers she's a human being in there and it should be you! The Kyora/Sazanami parallels are strong here. Or maybe I have psychosis from missing Hakuri so much, hard to tell.
Anyway, I'm just gonna let Hokazono tell the story and see what happens. Peace and love and Happy Pride, dear void. Remember that resistance also means staying alive when others wish you would quit life. You deserve to be here, so stay safe and see you next week.
