#giniroangou

Chapter 167

p.10 - This happens a lot, but it’s more clear in the original text that Kurogane was aware that the voice he heard was Tomoyo’s and he’s just reaffirming it with her here; “That voice back then…” “It was me.”

p.11 - Though the translation has the gist of it, a closer translation of Tomoyo’s lines is as follows: “If you want to go together, if you wish it from the bottom of your heart, you must exchange something that holds the same magical power as him.”

p.12 - Waaaay back in chapter 2, when Tomoyo first casts her spell on Kurogane, she calls it a “shu” written with the kanji 呪. This word can mean “curse,” but it can also refer to a magical spell in general. This scene has her reveal its true nature by saying the word with the reading as 呪, but the base kanji as 守, meaning “protect.” It’s hard to express in English, but rather than have her call it a “ward and curse,” it’s more like she’s clarifying that the thing we were led to believe was a curse was actually a ward all along.

Tomoyo doesn’t habitually see people close to death in her dreams (at least that’s not exactly what she’s saying here) - she says that people have dreams before they die. She crossed into Kurogane’s dream (no mention of her wandering around various dreams, though I guess it’s still possible!) to tell him how to save Fai.

Tomoyo describes Fai’s curse as a spell that places the caster (in this case Fai) at its core/nucleus.

p.14 - The “...” on Kurogane’s line should come at the beginning rather than the end.

p.15 - Kurogane isn’t just asking whether Tomoyo knew that he would kill Ashura, but whether she knew that if he killed Ashura he’d end up like this (missing an arm.) Of course if you consider everything we know, the logic path becomes: Kurogane kills Ashura, inadvertently activating Fai’s curse, putting Fai in a situation from which he can only be saved by Kurogane cutting off his own arm and weakening himself.

 p.16 - Kurogane’s first line here is, “So that’s why you said all that about a ‘curse.’” We can gather that Tomoyo cast a protection spell but disguised it as a curse to try to discourage Kurogane from killing Ashura (and protect him from the events that would result) without having to tell him outright what she foresaw.

p.17-18 - Kurogane’s explanation of what he’s learned is a bit more nuanced in the Japanese version. Here’s a more direct translation: “I’ve… always wanted strength. So that no one else could take the things I hold dear away from me. But, having strength can also invite disaster. And… there are some things that strength alone can’t protect.”

p.19 - The official translation makes it sound a bit like Tomoyo’s saying Kurogane knew what true strength was all along, but no, this is growth!! I would translate her line as: “True strength… It seems you’ve come to understand what that is.”

p.20 - Regarding Fai’s outfit: I’ve seen a lot of talk in fandom over the years about what this means with people drawing all kinds of very specific implications from it, but in its broadest sense, the furisode is just a type of formal-wear for Japanese women. This is the frequent style for brides in traditional weddings, and that could certainly be something CLAMP was trying to evoke in this scene, but that is not its only usage by any means. The notion that male lovers of samurai used to wear furisode is one that I’ve seen mentioned a number of times, but have never seen a solid source on. A few years ago I searched the internet to see if I could find a Japanese source but came up with nothing. I’m not writing it off, but I am skeptical until someone can provide some reliable information about it. The closest I’ve seen is that younger samurai are often depicted in furisode because originally this was a style for both male and female children. Given that older samurai had a tradition of taking underage trainees as lovers, the two could become equated. All that said, I know very little about Japanese clothing traditions! I’d love to hear from someone who’s better informed than I am.

p.21 - Kurogane’s “Hey” here isn’t a “Yo,” which you’d normally expect from a casual greeting, but an “Oi.” WHAT IS THIS MAN.

Chapter 162

p.67 - The line translated as, “The guilty must be put to death!” is actually just a further description of the Valerian king’s madness - that he put innocent people to death.

p.78 - This is implicit in the translation, but when Kurogane mentions that it would have been better for Fai to use as much of his magic as possible to make himself stronger, he directly states that this would have made Fai’s curse more difficult to activate.

p.80 - In the translation, Ashura says it “wouldn’t be right” for Fai’s power to grow too great. His original lines feel a little more personal; it would inconvenience him/be troubling if this happened.

p.82 - I don’t know how clear this is in the translation, but the thing Kurogane says will be ripped apart at the seams is Fai’s past. Basically, he knows Ashura wouldn’t show them this past full of easily-spotted holes unless it was part of some larger plan.

Chapter 163

p.89 - The katakana reading of “supia” returns for the word “spell” on this page, and since this time it’s in reference to the sleeping spell Fai’s using, it’s safe to assume that this is what they call spells in general in Celes.

p.97 - Same meaning pretty much, but a more direct translation for Ashura’s line here would be just, “Let’s continue.”

p.99 - Ashura doesn’t actually speculate here that Fai created Sakura. He only references Chii as an artificial human, suggesting that the life in Sakura’s body is thanks to the power of the feather that Fai made Chii out of.

p.103 - Fai literally just yells, “STOP!!” here.

Chapter 164

p.112 - Fai’s instruction to Lava Lamp is even less clear in his original line than in the translation. I wouldn’t interpret this as him directly telling Lava Lamp to leave with Sakura, but merely entrusting Sakura to him. It almost feels more final - even if Lava Lamp and Sakura don’t leave that room, Fai isn’t expecting to be around to take care of her after what he’s about to do.

p.116 - Fai doesn’t specifically say he’s planning to fulfill their wishes. He says: “...Let’s bring this to an end, Your Majesty. Your wish… and mine as well.” My personal interpretation doesn’t differ from the official translation, since I originally assumed each of their wishes at this point to be their own deaths, but you could also read this as Fai giving up on his own wish of resurrecting his brother so I do like the added flexibility of the Japanese lines.

p.123 - Ashura doesn’t say here that Fai was trying to follow his brother into death, but that he wanted to put an end to the life that had forced his brother to die. Then Ashura’s, “You will not die” should be, once again, “You cannot die.”

Chapter 165

p.135 - Ashura’s words to Fai here are even more optimistic in the original text. He asserts that as long as he’s with the others, Fai will be able to overcome his curse.

p.147 - OG Fai’s final request for Yuui isn’t precisely to live free (though that is implied) but simply to become free.

p.150 - This line isn’t exactly mistranslated, but “It was all my fault” feels a bit broad compared the original. More literally, Fai says, “Because of me… this whole time… I never let him rest.”

p.151 - The reason Fai’s curse didn’t come undone isn’t because the wrong person killed Ashura, but because Fai didn’t kill Ashura himself. It amounts to the same thing, but the focus in the original wording is on Fai’s action (or lack thereof) rather than Ashura’s.

p.158 - This was already pointed out, but the result of Fai failing to kill Ashura himself should be that his curse will activate automatically (regardless of Fai’s own will.)

Chapter 166

p.159 - I’m going to respectfully disagree with the translation from Portuguese you were provided with. I would consider the official translation on this page to be correct. That being said, the implication is still that Fei Wang wanted/expected someone else to kill Ashura because he didn’t want the curse to be rendered moot.

p.161 - Fai’s line about not being able to leave could refer to the group as a whole, but it could also refer to himself alone.

The trap Fei Wang mentions here has no effect on Fai and Ashura; it causes harm to anyone aside from those two who uses magic on Celes. This explains Lava Lamp’s strange reaction and subsequent incapacitation once they arrived at the castle. As Fei Wang mentions on the next page, the purpose of this is to prevent any other magic-users from interfering with Fai’s curses.

p.162 - I think Fai’s “None of us” would be better translated as “Not all of us,” or potentially just, “We’re all…”

p.163 - Here Fai tells Lava Lamp, “Don’t let go of Sakura-chan and Mokona.”

p.164 - I’m so bewildered by this “I’m planning a departure!” translation, omg, it’s just super awkward?? “You’re getting out of here,” would be more accurate, or possibly, “We’re getting out of here,” depending on how optimistic you want to read Fai in this moment (it’s hard to tell whether he’s trying to cast his magic on both himself and Kurogane or on Kurogane alone.) It may be precisely this ambiguity that the translator was trying to avoid but… not so much.

TRC Volume 21 (Part 1)

Chapter 159

p.6 - Fai already knows at this point that someone is going to come for him, so he’s asking whether his future travelling companions will be the ones to do that (or not.)

Fei Wang doesn’t seem as certain of Kurogane’s future in the Japanese text. He says that his original plan was to have Kurogane accompany them, but Yuuko forestalled him. It seems at this point that Fei Wang was prepared for Kurogane to get in the way somewhere down the line, but didn’t necessarily expect him to be traveling with the group the whole time.

p.7 - Fei Wang uses the same word for Kurogane (in relation to Yuuko) that he did for Fai in the previous chapter - “itte” (pawn/a move in a game.)

p.9 - Fei Wang describes the memories in Sakura’s body not as various worlds but as various “time axes” (時間軸/“jikanjiku”). I personally would interpret this as a way to express the concept of different dimensions, just with a specific focus on each dimension’s timeline.

For poetic justice, Fei Wang says the ruin “sleeps” in Clow Kingdom (meaning, of course, that it’s dormant.)

p.10 - Fei Wang doesn’t have the sense of (presumably false) surprise that’s there in the translation. It feels a little more like he’s reasoning with Fai: “You killed your twin by choosing your own life over his - what reason would you have to hesitate over killing a stranger?”

p.17 - Since the translation for this seemed a bit odd, Ashura says that in Celes fluorite is considered an “omamori,” which you can google for the full cultural context, but it’s basically like a protective talisman. Usually fluorite is simply written in katakana as フローライト, but in this one instance when Fai first hears the word he repeats it with the kanji underneath as 蛍石 (“hotaruishi” - the Japanese word for fluorite), presumably to make sure the readers know what it is, hahaha.

p.20 - Ashura’s lines are little warmer in the original - he says, “Let’s cut your hair,” and “Let’s start a new day.”

p.21 - Though the translation says, “I will not die,” this should be Fai’s habitual, “I cannot die.”

Chapter 160

p.27 - Again, “I will not die” = “I cannot die.”

In the Japanese version Ashura responds with, “Well then, I guess you’ll have to kill him,” which is less poetic than the English version, but I like that it’s more straight-forward about what’s being expected of Fai here.

p.32 - The original lines here specify that the “D” title is held by top-ranking wizards.

p.33-34 - This isn’t that different, just a slight change in nuance, but Fai’s lines here are closer to, “I can’t smile very well. I’m not used to it.” The girl’s response to this is, “Then you just need to practice!”

p.35 - I think this has come up before, but Japan uses the same word for both “laugh” and “smile,” so everything on this page ties more directly back to the previous ones.

p.36 - Fai just calls Ashura “Ou” (“King”/“The King”) here rather than “Ashura-ou.”

Ashura doesn’t just say “the valley” but specifies that it was “the western valley.”

Font note: I have no idea why so many of Ashura’s lines are in italics in the translation. I don’t see anything differentiating them in the original text.

p.41 - Re: Ashura’s explanation of the tattoo - for now I will just say that nothing in the translation is messing up the wording here. You would have had the same reaction to the Japanese version.

p.42 - Ashura’s request is a little more broad in Japanese - he asks Fai to destroy anyone who brings harm to the people of Celes.

p.43 - When Fai agrees, it feels more hesitant and more conditional - he knows he’s not going to be spending the rest of his life in Celes, so he’s making sure it’s okay that he’ll only be able to fulfill this request during the time that he’s there.

Chapter 161

p.48 - “Spell(s)” is the proper meaning of the word Ashura uses here, written with the kanji “jumon”/呪文 (“spell”), but the katakana reading is “supia” (スピア). I’m a little uncertain on this one. My first instinct would be that this is the Celes word for spells in general, but if that’s the case I have no idea what the word’s origin is, and as far as I know it doesn’t appear outside of this scene. My best alternative guess is that the name of the spell Fai is using in the present time is “Spear,” since it looks like he’s shooting magical spears into the air, and this is a flashback to when he learned that spell.

p.54 - A minor adjustment - I would assume that the liquor was brought as a gift for Fai specifically; Ashura says it was delivered in thanks for Fai melting the lake.

P.59 - Fai isn’t so much suggesting that beast isn’t from Celes here, just that it hasn’t existed in the country before this point, driving home that Ashura’s response is, “It’s been here the whole time” (even before people were dying.) These lines hit so much better in Japanese to be honest. I hate saying that and not giving a decent English approximation, but translation is hard!!*

p.62 - “It might take quite a few days,” sounds a bit weak - Fai is essentially saying he’s prepared to bring down the beast no matter how long it takes.

Chapter 117

p.5 - The word Kamui says aloud is “nakami” (the contents/substance) but it’s written with the kanji for “soul” (tamashii/魂).

p.16 - It’s ambiguous (especially at this point in the chapter) but I’m fairly certain Kamui is speaking to Subaru here. His last line is, “Or were you pulled in by this thing’s sleep?” He expected Subaru to wake up once the feather’s power vanished and is concerned that Sakura’s soul is keeping him asleep now.

p.21 - Kamui’s tone is less questioning in the original text - it’s more like, “You’re game, aren’t you?”

p.22 - Kamui’s clarification here is just a change from katakana to kanji - エ to 餌 - so the word is still spoken as “e.” I have to assume communicating through telepathy allows him to convey the meaning of his words through something other than pronunciation. The kanji 餌 means “esa,” which is bait or animal feed. I think the use of the word “game” is a clever way to preserve the ambiguity of the term in earlier scenes, but I believe most people in the fandom prefer the word “prey.” Both lean more towards the word “emono” (獲物) in meaning, but that could easily be something CLAMP was hoping to evoke here as well and given the context either word feels appropriate as a translation.

Chapter 118

p.36 - Just a subtle correction, but Kamui says that Subaru fell asleep immediately after they arrived in Tokyo.

p.42 - There is a difference between Syaoran’s line here, “I will give them all back to her,” and his similar earlier lines. The verb he used in the earlier scenes was “torikaesu” (取り返す), which as I explained before means to take something back. In this scene, he uses “torimodosu” (取り戻す), which means roughly the same thing, but with a stronger implication of returning the feathers to where they came from. He also adds “subete” (全て) or “all of them,” where before he didn’t clarify, which I would interpret as a hardening of his resolve rather than a true difference in meaning.

Chapter 119

p.53 - To elaborate a little on Kamui’s explanation, he’s saying that beings who live off of blood keep “game” (in the sense of keeping an animal) to serve as their food supply.

p.54 - After Kamui learns that Syoaran doesn’t belong to Fai, I interpreted his line as questioning whether Syaoran belonged to Seishirou instead. The wording is ambiguous enough that I suppose he could be asking whether Fai works for Seishirou, but that wouldn’t have been my first instinct.

p.55 - I feel like the translation takes some of the punch out of Fai’s words here. They feel a lot sweeter in the original text - I actually started tearing up, lol. It’s not a huge difference, but what he should be saying is, “You’re wrong. He’s a really good kid.” ...this is never going to sound as nice in English as it does in Japanese but at least this should be slightly better?

p.59 - Lava Lamp is described here as Clow Reed’s blood relative (no mention of being his heir) using the same word that was used earlier to establish Fei Wang as part of that lineage as well.

Syaoran is described in the translation as an “image,” but the original Japanese word was “utsushimi” (写身). I discussed this word a bit back in chapter 66, since Ashura uses the same word with different kanji for feather-Yasha. To repeat what I said back then, the original word “utsushimi” is a form of “utsusemi,” meaning one’s transient body/existence, but it’s not written with these characters. The verb “utsusu” when written as 写す means “to duplicate/imitate,” so when it’s paired with “mi” (身/body), it implies a replication of a previously existing body, as is the case here. The popular fandom word for this is “clone,” which I feel encompasses the concept much better than the official translation.

This may already be implied in the translation, but Fei Wang says that Syaoran was created in order to gather the feathers.

p.62 - In the Japanese text, the implant isn’t Lava Lamp’s soul but his heart/spirit (“kokoro”/心). I think it amounts to the same thing, but this word allows for a little more focus on the potential to feel emotion, particularly love.

p.64 - The translation on this page is kind of unclear. Basically, the magic Lava Lamp used to implant his soul also caused clone Syaoran to fall apart if his eye was removed (as you’d expect from one of Clow’s bloodline, Fei Wang says.) The main reason Fei Wang decided to send Syaoran out as is was because it would have been too difficult to create another copy that held the same power as the original.

p.65 - Fei Wang describes Sakura specifically as the key to the power of the ruins.

Chapter 120

p.68 - Lava Lamp wasn’t just growing older. Yuuko uses the word “seichou” (成長), which refers to both growth and development. It’s often used to describe someone becoming more mature or improving their abilities.

p.70 - A correction to the first line on this page: Lava Lamp awakening is equivalent to the seal on Syaoran’s eye breaking. The first event inevitably causes the second.

p.71 - A tiny bit of key information got lost in the translation here. After confirming that Xing Huo sent Lava Lamp to Yuuko, Fei Wang says, “Considering your origin, I suppose it can’t be helped. And besides, you’re another one of my failed creations after all.”

p.72 - This line should be, “I guess you can’t hear me anymore,” which makes a lot more sense all things considered.

Chapter 121

p.99 - I feel the need to mention that there are no exclamation points or question marks in Kurogane’s original dialogue on this page. It’s not like family members getting eaten is anything new for him, haha… ha.

p.100 - Syaoran’s line here is, “I’m taking his right eye too.”

p.110 - Kurogane isn’t talking about Fai being able to smile, but about the kids being able to smile. It’s a callback to the conversation Kurogane and Fai had in Piffle (conveniently featured in one of the flashback panels here). Fai changed in order to do whatever he could to preserve Syaoran and Sakura’s happiness.

Chapter 122

p.122 - Lava Lamp specifically says that Fai tried to return Syaoran’s soul ALONG WITH his left eye. I’m assuming Fai managed to implant the soul within his own eye before Syaoran took it, hoping that by eating the soul along with the eye Syaoran would be restored. If you ever wondered why Fai didn’t even try to fight back, here’s your answer.

p.124 - VERY IMPORTANT CHARACTER NOTE about Lava Lamp: I’m thrilled you noticed that he isn’t using Fai’s name. Lava Lamp’s speech style is totally different from Syaoran’s - it’s something that isn’t nearly as apparent in translation, but in the Japanese text it establishes them instantly and obviously as separate personalities. Lava Lamp, like Kurogane, rarely uses other characters’ names. There are exceptions, but after so many chapters of hearing Syaoran say “Kurogane-san” and “Fai-san” it’s quite striking to see that disappear altogether in Lava Lamp’s speech. He also uses more casual language overall, which again creates a strong contrast with Syaoran’s persistent politeness. Mostly it makes him feel more mature, and it puts him on a more equal standing with Kurogane and Fai. (I’ll mention here as well: autopilot Syaoran doesn’t use polite language either.)

p.127 - Lava Lamp doesn’t just say Sakura is precious to Syaoran, he says “That Sakura.” Also, the official translation finally starts using “heart” here instead of “soul” but it’s still the same word, as I discussed earlier.

p.132 - Kurogane doesn’t ask for his sword in this scene, but he’s not specifically asking for Syaoran’s either. He just wants a sword, lol.

Chapter 123

p.143 - The use of “I am betting” in the translation doesn’t have quite the right nuance, IMO. When Lava Lamp implanted his soul into Syaoran, he knew it would only be temporary. He was taking a gamble and placing his hopes on Syaoran being able to grow his own soul before he inevitably lost the one Lava Lamp gave him.

Chapter 124

Cover page - “The Value of Life” isn’t a mistranslation, but I would probably translate this title as, “The Price of Life.” The word in the title is “taika” (対価), the same word Yuuko uses when she makes deals with people.

p.169 - There are not supposed to be any exclamation points on this page. *sighs deeply*

p.170 - I believe this is less that Lava Lamp doesn’t know where Fei Wang went (I don’t think he went anywhere?) but that he doesn’t know where he was being kept in the first place.

p.171 - The translation isn’t as consistent, but the original text differentiates between Syaorans by putting quote marks around the original Syaoran’s name, so it always looks like 『小狼』. There’s technically no difference in what people are calling him, but as readers we can still differentiate, and I suppose it implies a different emotion/perception on the speaker’s part.