#confusing kanji

肉薄；にくはく；1. closing in on (the enemy, first place, etc.); coming close to; pressing hard　2. pressing hard (e.g. with a question); taking to task; grilling  (literally, ‘meat thin’ ??)

破綻；はたん；failure; collapse; breakdown; break-up; bankruptcy​ [from the editor’s comment/catch-up]

lmao I already know 燃料 (fuel), 配管 (plumbing), 墜落 (fall [out of the air]) from work now... Don’t ever let anyone tell you that manga isn’t relevant to using Japanese professionally

切り出し；きりだし；1. pointed knife​　2. logging; cutting​　3. (beef) scraps​　4. starting to speak​　5. extraction (of a portion of a media file); splicing out​

牽引；けんいん；1. traction; towing; hauling; pulling; drawing　​2. driving (e.g. economic growth)​

兵制；へいせい；military system​ I didn’t know ‘heisei’ could mean that, too...

The boys have just met Rikiga. A lot of the words are from a short passage where they’re talking about Nezumi being on stage.

ぐっしょり (gusshori) - soaking (wet), wringing, dripping, drenched

毒づく, 毒突く [どくづく (dokudzuku)] - to curse (at someone), to call someone names, to speak bitterly

引き取る, 引取る, 引きとる [ひきとる (hikitoru)] - to take over, to take back, to collect, to claim

パラパラ (parapara) - flipping through a book, thumbing through a book, riffling cards (also has several other interesting meanings)

代物 [しろもの (shiromono), シロモノ (shiromono)] - article, goods, product

えも言われぬ, 得も言われぬ [えもいわれぬ (emoiwarenu)] - indescribable (in praise of something), exquisite, inexpressible, indefinable

優雅 [ゆうが (yuuga)] - elegance, grace, refinement

憂さ晴らし, うさ晴らし, 憂さばらし, 憂晴し [うさばらし (usabarashi)] - diversion, distraction

刺繍, 刺しゅう, 刺繡 [ししゅう (shishuu)] - embroidery

緞帳 [どんちょう (donchou)] - thick curtain, drop curtain

即興 [そっきょう (sokkyou)] - improvisation, impromptu, off the cuff, without a score

見開く [みひらく (mihiraku)] - to open one's eyes wide (I didn’t know there was a verb combining these two concepts)

垣間 [かいま (kaima)] - chink (e.g. in fence), gap (e.g. in hedge)

憂い, 愁い, 患い [うれい (urei)] - sorrow, grief, anguish, distress

さざめく (sazameku)- to be boisterously noisy

喉仏, のど仏 [のどぼとけ (nodobotoke)] - laryngeal prominence, Adam's apple (lit. “throat Buddha”)

This post brought to you by the kanji

憂

ON reading: ユウ

Kun reading: うれ.える, うれ.い, う.い, う.き

English: melancholy, grieve, lament, be anxious, sad, unhappy

and

優

ON reading: ユウ, ウ

Kun reading: やさ.しい, すぐ.れる, まさ.る

English: tenderness, excel, surpass, actor, superiority, gentleness

Now featuring lots of words written with kanji that make sense.

Also, just a note of interest, this manga has a ton of examples where the furigana say one thing and the kanji specify something else.  It’s mostly 長年者 = ぼくら, but there are other examples. 

打算　　ださん　　calculation; self-interest; selfishness​

屈辱　　くつじょく　　disgrace; humiliation​ I always forget this one

強引　　ごういん　　overbearing; coercive; pushy; forcible; high-handed​

一枚岩　　いちまいいわ　　monolith; large slab of rock​

如何　　いかん　　how; in what way​

鬱陶しい　　うっとうしい　　1. gloomy (e.g. mood); depressing​  2. irritating; troublesome

誘拐　　ゆうかい　　abduction; kidnapping; kidnaping​

即席　　そくせき　　extempore; impromptu; improvised; ad-lib; off-the-cuff; instant​

統制　　とうせい　　regulation; control​ Apparently this word is common in military and civilian settings as well.

誘導　　ゆうどう　　guidance; leading; induction; introduction; incitement; inducement​ The kanji mean ‘invite/recruit’ and ‘lead/teach’.

加担　　かたん　　support; participation; assistance; complicity; conspiracy​ /You were complicit in my downfall when we were playing Settlers of Catan/

露見　　ろけん　　discovery; detection; exposure​ The kanji mean ‘expose’ and ‘see’. 

寝返る　　ねがえる　　to change sides; to double-cross; to betray​ The kanji mean ‘lay down and return’

余地　　よち　　place; room; margin; scope​ A little like 余裕 ‘yoyuu’ I guess. 

朗報　　ろうほう　　good news The kanji mean ‘good’ and ‘information’. 

売り込む　　うりこむ　　1. to build a market for; to promote (a product); to sell; to become well known​  2. to promote oneself; to sell oneself​

懐　　ふところ　　bosom; bust​ Four furigana for one word makes this hard to read.  And it means ‘bosom’ in the literary sense, as in “I’ve been able to see the cards my enemy holds close to their bosom.”

周到　　しゅうとう　　scrupulous; meticulous; careful​

愚策　　ぐさく　　1. stupid plan; inane way of doing something 2. (one's own) plan or project​  (humble language) This seems like two opposite meanings...

諸共　　もろとも　　(all) together

正論　　せいろん　　sound argument; fair argument; just reasoning​

無謀　　むぼう　　reckless; thoughtless; rash; ill-advised; impulsive; mad (e.g. scheme)​

錠前破り　　じょうまえやぶり　　breaking a lock; picking a lock​

挽回　　ばんかい　　recovery; restoration

不穏　　ふおん　　disquieting; threatening; turbulent; restless; unsettled; disturbing​ Literally ‘not calm’.  Don’t confuse that on/calm/穏 with dan/warm/暖 (like I did)

逐一　　ちくいち　　one by one; in detail; minutely​

A lot of these come from descriptions of characters. I’ve bolded words that come up more than once or are particularly important to understanding the plot. (Also, chapter 10 was hard to understand >< ) 調子者　　ちょうしもの　　person easily elated This one’s kind of weird because it’s literally like ‘mood person’. 

内通者　　ないつうしゃ　　betrayer Literally ‘inside communicator’

切り札　　きりふだ　　ace up one’s sleeve; secret weapon

迂闊　　うかつ　　careless, stupid, thoughtless, heedless, unobservant, inadvertant, incautious

無邪気　　むじゃき　　innocence; simple-mindedness Used to describe Ema, the main character, since she wants to protect everyone even though it will be difficult or impossible.

暴き出す　　あばきだす　　to dig up and expose a criminal matter Only ‘abaki’ was used, but the meaning came through anyway. 

根刮ぎ　　ねこそぎ　　root and branch; thoroughly; by the roots; completely

ダミー　　dummy    (as in ‘false’)  

好奇心　　こうきしん　　curiousity; inquisitiveness           later, 好奇心旺盛　　こうきしんおうせい　　brimming with curiosity

寄り目　　よりめ　　crossed eyes

大らか　　おおらか　　placid; composed; serene; calm

正常　　せいじょう　　normalcy; normal

憶測　　おくそく　　guess; speculation; supposition This ‘oku’ is the same as in ‘kioku’, memory, not to be confused with 億 meaning 100,000,000.

標的　　ひょうてき　　target augh I assumed forever that this meant ‘superficially’, which made things really confusing until I finally looked it up... This ‘hyou’ is also in 目標 (mokuhyou, ‘objective’), 標準 (hyoujun, ‘standard’).

手先　　てさき　　underling; stooge; tool; pawn; minion  (also fingers; fingertips,  but not in this context)

あぶり出す　　あぶりだす　　to bring into the open; to reveal; to uncover (evidence); to bring to light

猶予　　ゆうよ　　postponement; deferment; extension (of time) 猶 is an out of date kanji for 尚 (nao).  This word is a little like 余裕　よゆう  surplus; margin; leeway, room; space; time; allowance; flexibility     but the pronunciation is backwards?

謝罪（しゃざい）

is not

射　罪    (shooting  +  crime)

一泊     いっぱく (ippaku) 1. stopping one night​