#e137

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鬼神 / kishin "Devil God"

I want to make a distinction here, that the word they use to refer to Yuudias with doesn't simply mean something like "evil god", nor that he's possessed.

If he were just evil, they wouldn't call him a "kishin", but an 悪神 (akujin). If he were just possessed or "demonic", they would just call him an 鬼 (oni) or 魔神 (majin). They chose to use none of these words to describe Yuudias.

Read literally, 鬼神 is the combination of demon (鬼) and god (神) slapped together. Put together, and read as kishin, it attains two other meanings.

The first is "a terrifying and angry god", in the same vein as a monster (化け物, bakemono). Specifically, it is a formerly non-hostile or non-malevolent god that has been transformed into such a state, not the state of being terrifying and angry and divine itself. The implied transformation is important.

The second is "the soul of all things in the universe" (天地万物の霊魂). Notably, it means something that holds tremendous power, and can be considered both dead and alive. It can also be a Buddhist term to refer to someone who has attained supernatural abilities.

Both meanings imply a sense of movement. Yuudias is becoming a devilish god, someone who is terrifying and angry, and holds great power. They both imply that Yuudias has been "changed", not simply that he is angry. It's that "great transformation" Kuaidul mentioned 2 episodes ago.

I didn't want to go with "demon god" because it implies that Yuudias is nothing but a demon, something angry and evil. At the same time, there isn't a good way to really imply that sense of change in English that the Japanese does.

Eventually, "devil god" was chosen. It feels simple, but I hope by differentiating it from a demon and instead going with devil, it helps imply that there is more to Yuudias. Maybe something like "deal with the devil" or "cunning like a devil" in terms of association.

I write all this mainly because I think it's interesting the way they decided to use this to refer to Yuudias. Whatever conclusion you draw from it, I provide my knowledge just to get the juices flowing.

傷つくことが自分自身への戒めなの "All of this harm and injury is a punishment to himself."

When I got to this part, I knew the first thing I needed to do was provide a content warning for the episode. I know I sure as hell would've appreciated one.

There is a tangible difference between a character knowingly getting hurt as a result of trying to achieve something else (like Dark Zexal), versus purposefully seeking hurt as the main goal (Yuudias).

When Luge describes this, he is laying it very plain and clear that Yuudias is trying to self-harm in his angry and frenzied state. He describes it as Yuudias' punishment to himself. This is why he proceeds with such an aggressive push that hurts him.

Anyway, hope I made myself clear and that the warning was helpful.

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Contractions and Yuudias

As Yuudias gets angrier and angrier, we will be consciously using contractions for him. We're keeping it to a minimum outside of his outbursts in hopes that it hits just as hard as it does in Japanese.