clear skin, clairvoyant, clear vision

I was just made privy to the fact that the demon actually didn’t say his stomach was filled. Here is what my friend said,

and my attempt to translate it literally but with some ambiguity… though I may be way too bias, I’m still really stuck on the idea that Sebastian is totally empty, has never “taken a meal”. Even the intro margin says he’s *chewing* it.

I’ve edited this from the last time I posted it, because I scrutinized it more and decided that the official’s version “take down a meal” is more accurate. Do you think that it’s notable how we had a line about that before which could have been gotten a callback, but he said something else instead?

More recently, I’ve been trying to map words for “hungry” and “eat”, for my own reference. So far it’s:

空腹 -> hungry or empty stomach 飢え -> ravenous

召す -> have 食べる -> eat/munch/chew/taste etc. 喰う -> ravage, bc definition websites give it sexual connotations 喰らう -> chomp/chew up/chow down, or like, eating a punch? 🤔 like when a person wipes out on a skateboard and you say they’re eating it (the pavement) lol. Tare it up

So I want to ask if you recall whether or not the ‘swollen stomach’ phrase has been used in kuroshi before, and in what context? I would imagine it’s been used for Ciel, maybe. I at least went to check that one scene in the Murder Arc where Sebastian is explaining how seasoning can curb your appetite (help sate you?) and faux meat can be as good as the real thing. Have a looksee

My mind also goes to the initial confrontation with Will, where the idea is basically that Sebastian can’t be satisfied by frivolous encounters but doesn’t exactly refute Will saying that he is like a bottomless pit. Made two versions but I don’t want to elaborate on how I hear these with different registers right now haha, I go off on a tangentZzz

The English version was too on the nose with this, but I think it’s supposed to almost be like Sullivan is making the same accusation that Will made towards Sebastian. And it is not about lust, it’s about wants and needs, and the suggestive tone that’s comes out occasionally is just the vehicle for its sentimental subtext (when it comes to the protagonists) .

This is why I want to map the terms for myself. It makes these themes a lot easier to parse concretely. So here’s more of that…

this one’s literally ‘take up’ or something, right?

I imagine the subtext here being ”take/have as much of me as you like” — then Ciel throws up for what’s been at least the third time the first day they met, because he can’t stomach Sebastian

And other stuff ⤴️ because I’m getting tired U_U

“Lies” as theme needs explored in its own posts because it’s really important for twisted words to get translated properly too, but I digress. I have one regarding that which comes into play here: I think Snake and Sebastian are deliberately paralleled from the start.

and in his record, he was in a cage as a freak show attraction, and made to eat mice for shock value, but he spits them out.

“Its all a lie”

He doesn’t mention eating Ciel at any point, and only now was he saying it about Anna… drives me crazy. He doesn’t even bring it up in the character guide? (My translation with friends)

I know he makes that Itadakimasu (いただきます) pun at the end when he goes “I will receive your soul”, that can’t count…. But you might think this is funny, so I’ll end the post with it. The that really embarrassing and horribly translated “Lady Lessons” cd drama, Sebastian has a line at the end that I took to be pun-y:

いただきました (Itadakimashita)

→腹が膨れた does mean "stomach is full", like your friend said - but I agree that it has more of a connotation of gorging oneself or eating until your stomach is bloated as opposed to being happily sated. so, it's giving the impression that he ate a huge meal (regardless of how it tasted). perhaps you could translate that line as something like "my stomach is quite bloated enough from the main dish" but I think "quite full enough" would do the same job and there's not a huge difference in meaning.

btw, this is kinda off-topic, but when ciel asks "is that delicious?" I feel like the nuance got lost in the official translation. the vibe of that question is more like "does it even taste good to you?"

→ sebastian eating human food: the word 食事する has a connotation of "dining," as in, like, sitting down and eating with a plate and a fork and knife (or chopsticks, etc). so it's much more civilised than whatever demons do with souls, I would assume, lmao. so this is referring to seb eating human food specifically.

→ 腹の足し i would say is more about satisfying one's hunger and less about the stomach being "full" at all - more like something to keep the hunger at bay until the next meal. so yes it has a different connotation to 腹が満たされる (more about eating one's fill) but I can't speak as to whether these two phrases were being contrasted at all or whether it was just a coincidence

→ as for your map of words

飢え is more about starving than being very hungry (though of course you are hungry when you're starving - but for example this is a word used for when someone starves to death, i.e. 飢餓 or 飢死).

召す is just the very formal/polite word to use for "eat."

喰う i would say is more "devour" (and you can also use this in a sexual context too, i.e. "i want to devour you")

喰らう is less about chomping/biting and still about "eating" (or "drinking") - it just has much more violent connotations, i.e. someone is eating or drinking in a very careless, sloppy way. the skateboard thing is correct though!

→ I don't think 腹が膨れた has ever been used in the manga before as far as I can remember 🤔

→ I do think sullivan's reference to "desires of the flesh" could've been a fun little reminder about sebastian's hunger as well as the sexual context in which she was using it (but I don't think she knows about sebastian's identity - more of a pun from yana)

→召し上がる very much just means "eat" (or "drink") - it's just a formal way of saying it.

→ your point about snake's fake eating is very fun! I do think it could parallel to the way sebastian puts on a "demonic" show killing everyone in gwa for ciel because that's the way ciel expects him to act lmao